Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 141
Palash Biswas
Footnotes
The most militant Bengali contributors to Dalit Voice have argued that Ramakrishna and disciple Vivekananda were subtle caste-supremacists: G.D. Biswas , ...
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Brute! Killer regemented Hegemony Ruling West Bengal | Palash ...
Killer regemented Hegemony Ruling West Bengal Fire in Burrabazar rages and Buildings collapsing, Army called amidst Blast Palash Biswas ...
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Chapter Palash Biswas - Blogs, Pictures, and more on Blogged
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 81 Palash Biswas Nuke Nanoseconds is the Prime story in Indian Media along with ... related tags: bengal politics ...
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nandigramunited
Resistance against persecution of Bengali Refugees in India Palash Biswas contact: c/o Mrs Arati Roy, gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolata-700110, India. ...
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Palash biswas :: articles
Palash biswas द्वारा 16 अगस्त, 2008 11:18 PM पर पोस्टेड # ... Dreams: Chapter 39Palash Biswas Bengal famine of 1943 - Wikipedia, ...
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WAYN.COM - Profile of Palash Biswas (palashbiswas1963), Kolkata ...
Palash Biswas. Gender, : Male. Age, : 44. Nationality, : Indian. Location, :. Kolkata, India (Home). Last login, : 11th November 2008 ...
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Bengal has no Anil Sarkar | Palash Speaks
Bengal has no Anil Sarkar,Read Palash Speaks Blogs, » Bengal has no Anil Sarkar Blogs ... Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, ...
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A Short History of Bengal
For other pages discussing Bengali history, you can also look at NOVO's page and Bongoz' page about the history of bengal. Palash Biswas's blog often cuts ...
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Fwd: dangers of citizenship amendment bill
Palash Biswas journalist, jansatta,kolkata( Indian ExpressGroup) Writer( Hindi, English and Bengali) GostoKanan, Sodepur, Kolkata-700110. ...
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black-magic-of-bengal - Palash Speaks
black magic of bengal - Who dares to disobey the corporate dictation Black Magic of ... Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, ...
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Genocide of Hindus in West Bengal by CPM+ illegal Muslims... no ...
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Palash Biswas ( Pl publish the matter. Contact: Palash c Biswas, ... and persecution faced by Bengali refugees outside of West bengal. We ...
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Advani to be PM if NDA regains power: Rajnath
Bhopal, Jan 10 (PTI) In the midst of former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat raking up the issue of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, the party today said L K Advani would occupy the top post if NDA regains power at the Centre.
"The NDA would win the Lok Sabha polls with a comfortable majority and L K Advani would become the country's next prime minister," BJP President Rajnath Singh told a press conference here.
The BJP president claimed more allies were joining NDA.
Singh, however, declined to comment on Shekhawat's move to contest Lok Sabha polls saying "if you respect a person, you do not talk much about him".
Shekhawat had created a flutter when he said he had plans to contest Lok Sabha polls if his health permits amid media speculation that his idea could be a challenge to BJP prime ministerial Advani for the top post.
"Those who have taken a dip in the Ganges do not go for a swim in the well," Singh had said, to which Shekhawat had hit back saying "I never demanded a ticket from BJP and if the party does not want to allot ticket, it is the party's sweet will. I have nothing to do with it".
Over Rajnath's statement that someone who had held a key constitutional post should not indulge in electoral politics, Shekhawat had said India's first Governor General C Rajagopalachari had contested elections and had become the Chief Minister of Madrass after leaving the post.
The BJP president denied Shekhawat's statements had caused any problem to BJP. PTI
Hidden Apartheid : Dalit meaning oppressed or ground down | Palash ...Ironically, the Intelligentsia Bengal is more than cooperative to close all those ..... One need to give due credit to V.T.Rajshekar, editor of Dalit Voice, ...
indiainteracts.com/members/2007/08/04/Hidden-Apartheid--Dalit-meaning-oppressed-or-ground-
Dalit Voice - Naxalism gets complicated with RSS & big business ...The editor of Dalit Voice is a former Naxalite himself I think .... The Dalit Voice speaks for those known in the West as "Untouchables" in India. ...
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Dalits Ask For Justice In West Bengal By V.B.Rawat... who shout atop of their voice against global imperialism while condoning their own brand of racist imperialism in Bengal which the migrant Dalits face. ...
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Why Dalits in West Bengal are on ProtestAnd perhaps it is the black day in the history of Dalits in West Bengal that 36 .... The communists at that time had raised their voice through the party ...
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NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Dalit (outcaste)Dalit Voice is a publication that was founded in 1981 by V.T. Rajshekar. ... called the Vidyasagar University Act 1981 (West Bengal Act XVIII of 1981) after ...
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Rasmani, Rani (1793-1861) philanthropist and a religious activist. Born in a humble peasant family, Rani Rasmani was married to wealthy Rajchandra Marh.
Widowed at the age of forty-three, Rasmani continued to use the family wealth for remarkable feats of planned social works as well as charity. Her most considerable benefaction, the dakshineswar temple, was an instance of social reform no less than piety, for she was of low caste and the Brahmins had opposed the foundation of the temple. She fought for the cause of the poor fishermen and won for them the right to fish in the Ganges, and in stopping certain steamer services to that end she spent a lot of money.
Rasmani commanded vast estates in the city, including several prominent markets such as Jan Bazar, Rasmani Bazar and Jadu Babu's Bazar. The last mentioned bazar was named after her grandson. Her title of 'Rani', however, was not derived from her rank or property: it was simply the name by which her mother fondly called her in her childhood. [Aksadul Alam]
http://banglapedia.org/HT/R_0136.HTM
Kulin Brahmins
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Kulin Brahmins are those Brahmins in Bengal who can trace themselves to the five families of Kanauj (Kanyakubja), Uttar Pradesh who migrated to Bengal. The five families were of the five different gotras (Shandilya, Bharadwaj, Kashyap, Vatsya and Swavarna). They are widely believed to be at the apex of Bengal's caste hierarchy.[who?]
The kulin families are further divided into two sections:
Barendra : Belonging to those families who settled at the north or north east region of Ganges or Padma river.
Rarhi : Belonging to those families who settled at the south or southwest region of Ganges or Padma river.
The five common surnames of Barendra kulin brahmin families are (ranked equally):
Lahiri (Shandilya)
Moitra (Kashyap)
Bhaduri (Kashyap)
Bagchi (Shandilya)
Sanyal (Vatsya)
The five common surnames of Rarhi kulin brahmin family are (ranked equally):
Banerjee (Shandilya)
Chatterjee (Kashyap)
Mukherjee (Bharadwaj)
Ganguly (Swavarna)
Ghoshal (Vatsya)
Apart from these many other surnames like Chakroborty, Bhattacharya, Ray/Roy, Choudhury, Majumdar etc. could also be Kulin if they are either Barendra or Rarhi Brahmins.
Kulin Pratha (Kulin System) was initiated by the Sena Kings in Bengal whereby the kings gave land and power to the brahmins to promote vedic principles in the society, leading to a strict and disciplined lifestyle. Simultaneously they also enforced strict rules on family and marriage rules on Brahmins, leading to the birth of Kulin Brahmins, an apex section/class/caste of the society. It was said that a person is kulin if and only if all the 14 generations on his father's and mother's side were kulin. This created a very problematic divide in the society. This was also opposed by many brahmins. Yet it became a norm, probably because the kulin brahmins got lured by the newly acquired power in the society.
Kulin Pratha was a very strict practice leading to lot of problems in the Bengali society. If a daughter of a Kulin family doesn't wed in a Kulin family then the parent family looses their kulin identity. These led to several problems like young girls getting married to old kulin married men out of deparation of finding a kulin groom. It was not uncommon for kulin grooms to have several wives, most of which stayed at their parents home, just to be wed (for the sake of the ritual) to a kulin and hence maintain their kulin status.
Nowadays many Brahmins have shunned their Kulin identity and have mixed equally with all the Brahmins in Bengal and other parts of India. It is hard to state the current stand of these families on Kulin Pratha. Probably it does surface during marriage etc. But probably the youth are least concerned.
Reference: "Hindu Castes and Sects", Jogendranath Bhattacharya, Thacker, Spink & Company, Calcutta, 1896.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulin_Brahmins
Caste System in Bengal
See also this web page for a different discussion of the caste system in bengal and the associated myths. A somewhat different perspective is also available as part of a book description.
Even though formally there are four castes in hinduism: brahmins, ksatriyas, vaishyas and shudras, the social reality is very different in different parts of India. The social rules enjoined by the religions also differ in different regions. In Bengal, much of the development of the first distinct bengali hinduism took place during the rule of the sena and barman kings: and is described in the writings of bhavadeva, aniruddhabhaTTa, vallAlasena, lakSmaNasena, guNaviSNu, halAYudha etc, as well as in the bRhaddharma and brahmavaivarta purANas. To a large extent, they codified, formalized and made immutable some of the existing social structure, as well as making it very much more rigid. In fact according to traditional stories, which however are not history, brahmins originated in bengal during this time.
The society described therein does not contain (though they still appear in origin myths) any kSatriYas or vaishyas except when some of the rulers are referred to as kSatriYas and today most of the people who call themselves kSatriYas have variations of varman or malla as their surname; and some jewellers claim descent from the vaishyas. The brahmins were divided geographically into rADh.I and bArendrI with a variety of village associations, but according to aniruddha had forgotten their vedic tradition. The rADH.Is are divided into kulInas and vaMshajas, and the Barendras into kulInas and Kaps. The Kulins are organized into 56 villages and 36 mels and thAks like phUle, vallabhI, khardA and sarvAnandI. In addition, there were vaidika brahmins who came (according to tradition, during shyAmalavarmA's rule) from the north (including sarasvati region) and south (including utkala) India, who acccording to halAYudha were the only brahmins who knew the vedic tradition. They are organized as a pAshcAtya and a dakSiNAtya group. Mention is also found of brahmins from shAkadvIpa (who, according to tradition, came during shashAGka's rule and were called grahavipra; the latter, according to brahmavaivarta purANa, however, are children of devalas, who are true shAkadvIpI brahmins, and vaishya women) who were not respected in society. A subcaste of them called agradAni used to perform shrAddha ceremony for the shudras. Also found is another group of brahmins not respected in society: the bhaTTa brahmins, presumably related to the Bhattacharyas.
According to the rules developed in this period, the respected or shrotriya brahmins could not perform priestly duties for anyone other than the 20 high shudra subcastes. (According to vRhaddharma purANa, these shUdra subcastes arose from mixture of castes forced by king veNa; the upper subcastes had parents belonging to unmixed caste, the middle ones had fathers of unmixed caste, and the lowest had both parents of mixed caste.) Those that violate the rule get the subcaste of that person and thus we find, in addition, varNa brahmins who could not even serve water to the true brahmins. In additions, certain occupations like teaching shudras, doing priestly duties for them, practicing medicine or astrology, or performing painting or other artistic activities, were forbidden; though certain others like farming and fighting, or working as a minister, go-between, religious leader or general were all allowed.
The non-brahmins in Bengal were almost all classified as formally 36, but actually 41, subcastes of shudras and came in three categories. The exact enumeration varies somewhat, but the list in vRhaddharma purANa is presented here as an example. The top subcaste (from whom the brahmins can drink water, and for whom they can be priests) consist of record keepers (karaNa or kAYastha; karaNa seems to become less prevalent with time, kAYastha more, though there are exceptions), doctors and medicine makers (ambaSTha or vaidya; doctors in the early part are being described as karaNa; in south India some doctors were also brahmins; in bihara, one can also find the ambaSTha kAYastha caste, said to be descendants of citragupta and zobhAvatI; in bengal, ambaSThas seem to merge into vaidyas), fighters (ugra), envoys and messengers (mAgadha), weavers (tantuvAYa), scent traders (gAndhikavaNika), barbers (nApita), writers (gopa), ironsmiths (karmakAra), betelnut traders (taulika), potters (kumbhakAra), brass smiths (kaMsakAra), conch smiths (shaGkhika), farmers (dAsa), betelleaf farmers (vArujIvI), sweetmeat makers (modaka), florists (mAlAkAra), praise singers (sUta), rAjaputra, and betelleaf traders (tAmbulI). Some of these people, the kAYastha/vaidyas (these terms have taken much broader meanings) often call themselves (in accord with their origin myths as found in, for example, brahmavaivarta purANa) kSatriyas or vaizyas, and some of their origin myths are closely tied to those of the brahmins. Manu also provides origin myths for many of these as arising out of violation of caste rules: thus ambaSThas of brAhmaNa father and vaizya mother (two degrees apart is not considered proper), karaNas of some kSatriYas who had given up his duties. As a result, some of them consider themselves vaidya-brahmins (and use both the vaizya indicator gupta and brAhmaNa indicator sharmA), and like the non-shudra castes in ancient texts have limited rights to the veda and sacred thread ceremony.
The Kayasthas divide themseves into the uttararADh.Is, the dakSINarADh.Is, and the vaMgajas. The dakSINarADh.Is include the kulIna ghoSa, basus, and the mitras and the maulikas who divide themselves as the upper dey, datta, kar, pAlit, sena, siMha, dAsa, and gUha, and the lower seventytwo. Among the vaMgajas the gUha are the only kulInas.
The middle subcaste consisted of engravers (takSaNa), washermen (rajaka), goldsmiths (svarNakAra), gold traders (svarNavaNika), milkmen and cowherds (AbhIra), oil traders (tailakAraka), fish traders (dhIvara), alcohol traders (shauNDika), actors and magicians (naTa), descendants of buddhist leaders(?,shekhara), fishermen (jAlika; possibly, buffalo keepers arose from these later) and another unidentifiable category (shAbAka). The lowest subcaste (who are untouchables) consist of cleaners (malegrahi), those that cremate the dead (cANDAla), carpenters (takSa), leatherworker (carmakAra), boatmen (ghaTTajIvi), chairbearers (dolAvAhI), wrestlers (malla) and two unidentified groups (varuD.a and kuD.ava). In addition are desribed the mleccha or foreign groups like pukkasha, pulinda, khasa, thara, kamboja, yavana, sumha, shavara etc, who were left outside the entire classification. In contrast, brahmavaivarta purANa mentions the top subcaste exemplified by gopa, nApita, bhilla, modaka, kuvara, tAmbuli, svarNakAra (later demoted), and vaNika; followed by karaNa and ambaSTha. Then of the nine sons of vishvakarmA by a shUdra: mAlAkAra, karmahAra, shaGkhakAra, kuvindaka, kumbhakAra, and kaMsakAra are explained as being high, and sUtradhara and citrakara are also demoted. suvarNavaNika is also demoted because of association with svarNakAra. After this there is a long list of fallen subcastes including aTTAlikAkAra, koTaka, tIvara, tailakAra, leTa, malla, carmakAra, shuNDI, pauNDraka, mAMsaccheda, rAjaputra, kaivarta, rajaka, kauYAlI, gaGgAputra, and yuGgI. The really low subcastes included vyAdha, bhaD.a, kola, koJca, haDDi, Doma, jolA, vAgatAta, vyAlagrAhI, and cANDAla. Traditional stories try to explain the bizarre patterns with mythological stories: thus the goldsmiths claimed they were vaishyas who were insulted by vallAlasena who invited and placed them with the satshUdras at dinner, and who, furthermore borrowed a lot of money by force. When they tried to revolt against him, he lowered their status; and he further disallowed wearing of the sacred thread by traders. Overall, however, the low position of the artisan class fit well with the agrarian turn at the beginning of the pala period.
The rules developed in this period prescribe strict limits on brahmins intermixing with the rest of the society. Some examples can be provided. They were not allowed to eat food cooked by shudras, except for fried items, rice cooked in milk and in time of distress. However they could not drink even water touched by the untouchables, neither could they be touched by untouchables. Elaborate rituals were needed to clean oneself of violations of these rules. Similarly, even though intermarriage between upper caste men and lower caste women was allowed, the normal rule was marriage within ones own caste. Rules made it clear that a wife of a lower caste had less rights than one of the same caste. Marriage rules for brahmins, and possibly upper category of shudras, had to follow the endogamy/exogamy rules of sapiNDa (exogamy for parts of an extended family), sagotra (exogamy for a group of paternally inherited markers called gotra) and samanapravara (exogamy outside related gotras). Marriage was also forbidden if it took place according to high ceremony and any of the seven male ancestors along the father's line and five along the mother's line coincided. Low marriage ceremony only required exclusion for five and three generations, but pushed one to the shudra caste. Even the kAyAstha kulIna rules are complicated today: the first three sons who married had to obey rules to stay in the caste, whereas the fourth (madhyAMsha dvItIya), fifth (kaniSThya), and the younger (vaMshaja) ones had laxer rules, as they were not considered as high in caste status: they traditionally married elder maulikas.
Note that this does not imply that the society, either before or during the sena period, was very spartan or puritanical in the modern sense of the word. vAtsAyana's kAmasUtra (3rd/4th cent AD), as well as kalhaNa's rAjataraGgini (describing 8th cent AD puNDra), decribes the dancers who attracted the young men. bhaTTa bhavadeva's writings, sandhyAkara nandI's rAmacarita and poet dhoYi's pavanadUta sings praises of the beauty of the city and temple prostitutes, thus providing supporting contemporary and internal evidence. Though brahmins marrying shudra women was looked down upon, extra-marital relationship between them was overlooked. During the 10th day of durga puja, during the shAradotsava festival, men and women with mud and leaves only on their body used to sing and dance to primal images; as descirbed in the contemporary kAlviveka and slightly later kAlikApurANa. bRhaddharmapurANa seems to speak against it, unless the participants were followers of shakti. Similar festivals during holaka=holI and kAma-mahotsava are also known. Poetry (e.g. govardhana's ArYa satashatI, jaYadeva etc.) also desribe physical love. Descriptions of fine clothes, gold, silver and pearl ornaments, palacial houses and temples also abound. The village society, however, often shunned many of these behaviour and considered them shameful as is clear from descriptions in saduktikarNamRta.
Though we can clearly see this in Bengal even today, a lot of this varies as we move across the different districts of Bengal. For example, the kAYasthas who were the top of the non-brAhmin hierarchy, are rate in places like rural bÃkurA, vIrabhUma, varddhamAna, and medinIpUra, where the farming sadgopas are at the top of the hierarchy. The advent of vaishnavism in the middle ages also led essentially to a new caste, which was to be reviled by the traditional society.
Up to the ancient period in the history of Bengal
http://tanmoy.tripod.com/bengal/caste.html
Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren agreed to step down at the end of a marathon six-hour meeting with MLAs and executive members of his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha!
Recent statements of PRANAB, the DEfacto Prime Minister and MULFORD the American in New Delhi, Both speak the language AMERICANISM! Neither the CORE nor the PERIPHERRY Economy is al ittle bit concerned with the issues like Food Insecurities, Calamities, Starvation, Poverty, Basic needs of the day to day life, Livelihood of the Masses, job Crunch, Epidemics or Global warming! Once again, it is the LANGUAGE AMERICANISM injected into the indigenous VERNACULARS and acute DECULTURALISTION on the other hand. In a Poverty STRUCK GEOPOLITICS only the Zionists and CASTE HINDU Ruling Hegemony may talk on the FUCKING RISILIENCE and all the FUCK in the Global market never touching the interests of the Enslaved masses!The US has contended that the dossier given by India to Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks was "credible" but suggested that New Delhi should allow time to Islamabad to act on it.US Ambassador [Images] to India David C Mulford said the dossier contains extensive inputs from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. United States of America is quite HABITUAL to speak the language of WAR and CIVIL WAR which we call the Language Americanism. In this divided BLEEDING South Asian Geopolitice either the BRAHAMINICAL HEGEMONY in India or the MILITARY HEGEMONIES elsewhere, ironically have already MASTERED Language AMERICANISM! The FREEsenSEX Affluent FUCKING Ruling Class in India speaks nothing but Language Americanism even speaking VERNACULAR ONLY. SANSKRIT has been AMERICANISED in the chemistry of FASCISM IMPERIALISM POST MODERN MANUSMRITI APARTHID FUSION! And it happens to be our VISION quite BLINDED with BLIND NATIONALISM and RSS branded Hindutva RESURRECTION as well as MARXIST GENOCIDE CULTURE!
The Marxists enacted the Best of REALITY Show withdrawing SUPPORT from UPA on NUKE DEAL Issue only after the INDO US Strategic Realliance was fFINALISED and the DEAL Became AUTO OPERATIONAL. For long FOUR years Indian marxists and COMMUNISTS supported the ANTI PEOPLE UPA RGIME remote controlled by Italian Sonia snadhi and run by RRANAB MUKHERJEE ELITE BENGALI BRAHMIN, though headed by a SIKH, the washington planted Prime Minister, the ARCHITECT of Indian LPG NEO Liberal STRUUCTURE of Disinvestment, Destruction and genocide. With strategic realliance in US lead and continuing War against Terrorism by USA, it became MANDATORY for the LEFT to convince its SECULAR image to the VITAL MUSLIM Vote BANK in three Marxist ruled states of WEST BENGAL, KERALA and TRIPURA. Since the Parliamentary NUKE REALITY Show IOndian Hypocrite LEFT had been projecting MAYAWATI as the Dalit PRIME MINISTER Face. Now all of a sudden,Ruling out any election alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party in the coming Lok Sabha polls, the CPI(M) today said the two parties would, however, come together on common issues to keep the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA at bay. In fact, the LEFT had to BEAR REVERSE REACTION of the CASTE HINDU Solid Marxist vote Bank in West Bengal for this newfind DALIT FRIENDSHIP most DESPISED by Caste Hindus in West BENGAL. It is the same SCENERIO in KERALA where a MASS LEADER like GAURI Amma had been rejected as Chief Ministerial candidate just because she was a Dalit! Ultimately, she was ousted from the party. Not only the Marxists, the MAOISTS also bank on anti DALIT psyche of caste Hindus! Hence a DALIT Maoist leader like GADDAR have been sidelined!
"The BSP is a party which does not enter into poll alliances. Everybody knows that. So neither the BSP nor the CPI(M) is talking about having seat or electoral adjustments. Since they are also taking a stand to fight the Congress and BJP, we are making contacts," CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat [Images] told reporters here at the concluding day of the party's three-day central committee meeting.
"We have talked to BSP to come together on common issues. On issues like the Indo-US nuke deal and trust vote, the two parties took a common stand, so we are going to cooperate," he said.
The BSP has assured CPI-M that it would fight for the defeat of the Congress and the BJP, Karat said.On whether there would be any post-poll alliance with BSP, Karat said, "Cannot say anything now. As far as we are concerned, they are part of Non-Congress Non-BJP camp." On alignment with parties which are part of the ruling central government, he said, "if they come out of the alliance with UPA, definitely we will consider. There are secular parties in both UPA and NDA."
Here you are, the CUNNING brahmins heading Marxists and indian Left, specially from West Bengal keep OPEN the Possibilities of a FRESH EQAUATION led by CONGRESS, the BRAHAMINS in POST POLL situation quoting SECULARISM Once AGAIN!
"We are told that in Andhra Pradesh, the TRS has distanced with UPA and is holding talks with Telugu Desam Party (TDP). There are other parties also who are weighing their options," Karat said.
The RECENT HISTORY OF BENGAL is full of GENOCIDE by Brahmins including the Marxists!
Protests and support for Satyam's Raju
HYDERABAD: Several people from B. Ramalinga Raju's village shouted slogans in support of the disgraced Satyam Computer Services founder, while
angry investors wanted to see him behind bars: that was scene Saturday outside the house of the magistrate who sent Raju to jail for two weeks.Utter chaos prevailed outside the West Maredpally residence of the magistrate who remanded B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother B. Rama Raju to judicial custody for two weeks.
A few well-wishers of Ramalinga Raju had come all the way from Bheemavaram in West Godavari district to show solidarity with him. "We have come from Bheemavaram to show our support for Raju because he has done a lot for people in our villages," said Ramesh Verma, an agriculturist. However, some investors showed their anger for the Rs.70 bn fraud he has admitted to.
Asserting that certain manufacturing jobs cannot be outsourced, US President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said that his proposed $800 million recovery plan would create millions of jobs in the country. In his weekly radio address, Obama said a report prepared on this has found the 'American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan' would not only create three to four million jobs, but also 90 per cent of it would be in the private sector.
We all know where the BAILOUT Money goes! knowing the SATYAM ASATYAM we may also understand where the THREE LAC TOHOUSAND Corores of Indian bailout have landed! how RBI and FINMIN led by world Bank Gangsters Pumped Public Money and national revenue into the killer Money machine BYPASSING PARLIAMENT and Constitution, no body has asked! No body doubted the BIGGEST EVER DEFENCE Deal signed with United states of America followed by Indo US NUKE DEAL and Mumbai carnage! Congress has assured INDIA incs to feed THREE TRILLION DOLLAR as Indian ECONOMY had been valued just One trillion dollar before the GLOBAL MELTDOWN. Wher from the Money comes and where from the MONEY goes, it is BEYOND any BUDGET in India!
Now the BAILOUT Money will do all the Bloddy FUCKING for the RULING Hegemony annihilating the COMMON MASSES. The Masses, we the INDIAN people have never been INFLATING the ECONOMY based on FREEsenSEX and DEVASTATING the INDIGENOUS Production systems, natural resources and Prodctive forces! The Ruling Class did it. the war zone had been shifted into our Heart by the hegemonies ruling South Asian colonies of United states of america. We never happen to be RESPONSIBLE for neither the Unprecedented RECESSION despite so called RISILIENCE nor for Terrorism or Terror strikes or the WAR and Civil war RED ALERT situation! But the BAILOUT Money got from Production system, disinvestment, FII, World bank and MNF, public money, TAXES paid by the People , PSUS, Banks, Savings, MF, PF and national revenue is being DIVERTED to the POCKETS of India Incs representing Satyam Asatyam, corporates, MNCs, REALTY industry, MEDIA PET, Muscle Power, politicians, Bureaucrates, Policy Makers, public servants, builders and promoters. We have to pay more for FOOD, HEALTH and Education. We have to lose Home, land, livelihood, life and Natural Resources around us. We have to BEAR THIS BLOODY FUCKING GLOBAL RECESSION. Only We! The ruling Hegemony means NO BAILOUT for the Common masses. No saftey, No security for the masses. NO FOOD, NO JOB, NO Home for the Masses!
Indian companies have started to review and document their risk management policies and practices to check corporate fraud in the wake
of the Rs.70 bn Satyam Computer Services scam, a survey by an industry lobby says.
A quick analysis by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) with feedback of over 400 leading corporates, said that to deter possible corporate frauds, companies have commenced re-codifying their risk management policies.
However, about 85 percent of the respondents said although Clause 49 of the market regulator's Listing Agreement clearly states that the management and the board of directors must accept responsibility for not issuing accurate financial statements, most officials at this level managed to get off the hook even if found guilty.
On the other hand, about 80 percent of respondents argued that putting these programmes and controls in place will help organisations to set the tone of zero-tolerance to fraud and create a mechanism for employees to report wrongdoing to the appropriate authorities.
About 50 percent of corporates said the control systems in vogue are presently geared to detect errors but not fraud and, therefore, there is need for stringent internal control systems to completely plug the scope for corporate frauds.
The big question on survival of Satyam Computer is giving anxious moments not only to its over 50,000 employees but also to over Satyam from the BCCL archives
half-a-million people, who would get impacted indirectly if the IT firm does not come out of the trouble, CII President K V Kamath said on Saturday.
Kamath said each of over 50,000 Satyam employees supports a family of four. "Every white collar job creates four another jobs. (So) you are talking about anything between half-a- million to a million people, who could directly or indirectly have been impacted by this single event," Kamath said.
He said the crisis had such a social magnitude that made the government act swiftly and save the company.
Days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Pakistan's official agencies could be involved in Mumbai terror attacks, the US today said "accusations" should not be made without evidence.
"I don't think we want to take a view that we make accusations against certain parties without the usual evidences, proofs," Ambassador David C Mulford said when asked whether the US agrees with Singh that Pakistan's official agencies could have had a role in the Mumbai attacks.He said the US was determined to work "non-stop" and "as long as it takes" to ensure that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks [Images] are brought to justice.
India may not REPLICATE ISRAEL as UNITED STATES of America would not allow it! Though the Indian ZIONIST LOBBY pressurises most and the Internal CRISIS demands an ESCAPE ROUTE as everyone is aware of the TOOL called BLIND NATIONALISM as most EFFECTIVE for SUBVERSION. But this time, US interetss are so much so involved in STRATEGIC Balance in South Asia that US would not allow an ISRAEL growing right here. TENSION fulfills the TASK to feed the GLOBAL WAR Machine. Full FLEDGED war may hit US itself as it is engaged murderously in AFGANISTAN and needs Pakistan more than INDIA!Israel's current assault on the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by self-defense. Rather, it involves serious violations of international law, including war crimes. Senior Israeli political and military leaders may bear personal liability for their offenses, and they could be prosecuted by an international tribunal, or by nations practicing universal jurisdiction over grave international crimes. Hamas fighters have also violated the laws of warfare, but their misdeeds do not justify Israel's acts.The United Nations charter preserved the customary right of a state to retaliate against an "armed attack" from another state. The right has evolved to cover nonstate actors operating beyond the borders of the state claiming self-defense, and arguably would apply to Hamas. However, an armed attack involves serious violations of the peace. Minor border skirmishes are common, and if all were considered armed attacks, states could easily exploit them -- as surrounding facts are often murky and unverifiable -- to launch wars of aggression. That is exactly what Israel seems to be currently attempting.
Clarifying the ZIONIST Option, DOES the indian Minsister and supreme Policy maker JUSTIFY the Zionist AGGRESSION against GAZA? Israel had not suffered an "armed attack" immediately prior to its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Since firing the first Kassam rocket into Israel in 2002, Hamas and other Palestinian groups have loosed thousands of rockets and mortar shells into Israel, causing about two dozen Israeli deaths and widespread fear. As indiscriminate attacks on civilians, these were war crimes. During roughly the same period, Israeli forces killed about 2,700 Palestinians in Gaza by targeted killings, aerial bombings, in raids, etc., according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
Surgical strikes can't be carried out, says Musharraf!Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf [Images] today said surgical strikes cannot be carried out against Pakistan and if such an eventuality arises the country is prepared to respond with "full force."
"In my opinion, surgical strikes cannot be carried out in Pakistan," he told reporters when asked about the possibility of India carrying out surgical strikes.
"We have maintained a force level which is adequate for deterrence. And we have the resolve to use the force if there is any danger," Musharraf said.The country would respond to any eventuality with full force, he said ahead of his departure for the US to deliver guest lectures.Musharraf said threatening statements would only create tensions and people should not make such statements for "political expediency".Replying to a question, he said the Mumbai [Images] attacks had led to war hysteria in both India and Pakistan. The former military ruler, who resigned last year to avoid impeachment by the PPP-led ruling coalition, refused to comment on the government's handling of the situation in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
"Political disputes like Palestine and Kashmir have to be resolved. Israel has adopted a regressive policy to deal with the issue by attacking Palestinians in Gaza. They are deteriorating the situation," he said.
In India, it is said that the threat from the sea continues to loom large over the country and the attacks on Mumbai, where the terrorists arrived in the city on a boat, is just a beginning. it means that the ISLANDS have to be CATERED away to some or other Corporate company, Mnc or INDIA INCs representing SATYAM ASATYAM!
According to intelligence agencies, nearly 1,200 islands surrounding the country are vulnerable to terrorists.This has been confirmed by two suspected militants in the Karnataka police's custody. Tausif and Firoze -- picked up recently for their alleged connection with Riyaz Bhatkal, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist -- told the police that Bhatkal had told them that the Lashkar wants to convert the coastal belts into terror bastions.The islands, which are said to be on the radar of the Lashkar and its terror twin, the Jaish-e-Mohammad, are located around Kerala [Images], some of the Andaman and Nicobar islands, Purbasha island near Bangladesh, the Lakshwadeep islands and the coastal belts of Karnataka.Intelligence Bureau officers told rediff.com that the idea to convert the islands into terror nodes is a plan currently being executed both by the Lashkar and the Jaish.
Our Policy makers talk to much with striking TERROR centres in pakistan with surgical Precision. Media HYPE is all about that. For example, if you BROWSE any Indian News channel, every NEWS ITEM, Every Show happpens to be all about HATE PAKISTAN consequently branding the entire Minority community as terrorist and putting wieght behind the Anti People Laws as AFPSA, POTA, CITIZENSHIP Amendment act and the latest Twin Terror Act. While we see the DOMESTIC POLICE and RPF, GRPF and RLY officials CASHING in the HARRASSMENT of not only innocent Muslims but also bonafied Indian Citizens with Vailid tickets and Identifying documents including those working outside, the RESIDENTS of West Bengal. I have brought this issue in Public and personally talked to friends in CPIM and MEDIA! They pose HELPLESS and advises me to put EVIDENCES in such incidents! certainly I amm looking for Evidences. But everyone is aware of the FACT as in any RED ALERT situations the MEDIA encounters with POLICE engaged in BRIBE COLLECTION! You may not stop it. The VICTIMS never COMPLAIN. We may never trace the VICTIMS to lodge a Legal complaint as soon as they come over the sudden calamity. Now, the greatest CALAMITY in this geopolitics happens to be the WAR Against Terrorism. terror strikes the common Masses. BEARING all bloody CALAMITIES, the innocent Masses have to face all kinds of VIOLATION of CIVIL and Human RIGHTs as the governments, administration concerned and the TOILET MEDIA speak and understand only the LANGUAGE AMERICANISM even while they speak BENGALIM< HINDI or any other vernacular language!
Deliberate attacks on civilians that lack strict military necessity are war
crimes. Israel's current violations of international law extend a long
pattern of abuse of the rights of Gaza Palestinians. Eighty percent of
Gaza's 1.5 million residents are Palestinian refugees who were forced from
their homes or fled in fear of Jewish terrorist attacks in 1948. For 60
years, Israel has denied the internationally recognized rights of
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes -- because they are not Jews.
Indian Air Force Sukhoi jets being retrofitted with cruise missile pods
NEW DELHI: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30MKI combat jets have been sent to Russia for a retrofit that would enable them launch the aerial
version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that India and Russia have jointly developed, an official said.
"The aerial version of the BrahMos missiles will be delivered from the Su-30MKI platform. We were in talks with Sukhoi and the IAF for it. Finally two Su-30MKIs of the IAF have been sent to Russia for retrofitting," a senior official of BrahMos Aerospace that manufactures the missile, told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The aerial version of BrahMos is coming along very well. After being programmed, the missile will be released from the aircraft and will auto-launch towards its target when it reaches an altitude of 50 metres," the official explained.
"The aerial version is nearly nine metres long and this requires modifications of the aircraft's fuselage. Since the Sukhoi company is busy with designing a fifth generation fighter, (India's) DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists, along with Russian experts, will carry out the necessary modifications," the official said.
The modifications will be completed by early 2010.
Once this happens, BrahMos will become a "universal cruise missile" due to its ability to be launched from land, sea - from both ships and submarines - and the air.
The land and naval versions have already been inducted into service with the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.
The navy has integrated anti-ship versions of the BrahMos on its warships, including INS Rajput, and is integrating it on to two other ships of the same class. The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000-tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai's Mazagon Docks.
The navy had Dec 18 last year test-fired the missile from a vertical launcher on a ship in the Bay of Bengal. All earlier launches had been carried out from inclined launchers.
The missile, which takes its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, has a range of nearly 300 km and carries a 300 kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.
BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited was established in India as a joint venture through an inter-governmental agreement signed between India and Russia in February 1998.
The devastating Israeli firepower, unleashed
largely on Palestinian civilians in Gaza during two weeks of fighting,
is the product of advanced U.S. military technology.In
this Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 file photo, Palestinians carry the bodies of
three toddlers Ahmed, Mohamed, and Issa Samouni, who according to
Palestinian medical sources were killed in an Israeli strike, during
their funeral in Gaza City. The U.S. weapons systems used by the
Israelis -- including F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical
missiles and a wide array of munitions -- have been provided by
Washington mostly as outright military grants.
Although Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, it
continues to tightly regulate Gaza's coast, airspace and borders. Thus,
Israel remains an occupying power with a legal duty to protect Gaza's
civilian population. But Israel's 18-month siege of the Gaza Strip preceding
the current crisis violated this obligation egregiously. It brought economic
activity to a near standstill, left children hungry and malnourished, and
denied Palestinian students opportunities to study abroad.
Israel should be held accountable for its crimes, and the U.S. should stop
abetting it with unconditional military and diplomatic support.
Meanwhile, it is the BENGALI BRAHIMIN who takes the CREDIT to launch Rahul Gandhi as the PROJECTED FACE of Prime Minister. Congress has ensured that the DYNASTY RULE continues! Being so, it would be once again OPEN GAME for Bengali Brahmins, LEFT as well as RIGHT to hold key positions in the CENTRE! It means the Pangs and Plights of aboriginal indigenous people in Bengal, across the Bordre and within the BORDER, in other states, DO CONTINUE. WE have to face much more DISASTROUS Time! Only recently, OBC RANI RASMANI ruled KOLKATA REGION and she established the DAKSHINESHWAR Temple killing PANDA culture and Abolishing Untouchability in Holy Places. She, despite being a very strong QUEEN who dared to stop British Ships in Hugli river to protect the Fishermen of Bengal as she belonged to the clan! She was known as a KAIBARTYA or MAHISHYA woman in power identical with SC as well as OBC! The BRAHMINS opposed Rani rasmani and her Dakshineshwar Kalibari! The Elder BROTHER of Thakur Ramkrishna made himself available to be the first Priest of dakshineshwar as all KULIN BRAHMINS refused to associate with the temple established by an OUTCASTE woman! Later a personality like RAMAKRISHNA PARAMHANS and his wife MOTHER SHARADA elevated the dakshineshwar temple as a GLOBAL Centre of Indian sprituality! Mother Kali is a Goddess SAVIOUR following the aboriginal indigenous legacy.Contrarily, Kalighat Mandira was established by the EAST BENGAL king of Jashore, from the PRATAPADITYA family at first as the GODDESS in the dense forest, had been worshipped on the Ganges Bank by only the people on the way of Gangasagar Pilgrimage, KAPALIKS, DAKAITS and Sadhus! The old Temple does not exist. Sabarna Chowdhury family, the owner of KOLKATA region zamindari, KULIN Caste Hindu built the present kali Mandir. It has never been mentioned in old scripts as a SHAKTA PEETH. As Job CHASRNAK established KOLKATA and the place became the capital of British India, the SCRIPTS included Kalighat as the Prominent PEETH and it was associated with the MYTH of Sati and DAKSHAYAJNANASH!
Rani Rasmani Challanged the CAPTURE of aboriginal indiginous GODDESS by the ELITE BRAHMINS!
I have got the MISSING links of Bengali History and I would try to classify it and make it available for others. Before the Great PALAs, our people ruled Bengal. Karnataki Khatriya Bijoy SEN and Ballal Sen turned the tide. Buddha bengal was converted in a Brahmin Raj which got strenghthened during British Raj. Even after Rani Rasmani the Indigenous rulers existed in bengal and had beeen diluted by the BRAHMINS. Just before Rani Rasmani, in 18the century itself, during CHUAR REVOLT a string of aboriginal indigenous RULERS ruled entire East India including Chhattish Gargh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bengal, East Bengal,Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Manipur. The brahmins destroyed all of those states and Rulers allying with the British Raj. Aboriginal indigenous people and the peasants of EAST India led several INSURRECTIONS and had beenCRUSHED with the REPRESSIVE Brahminical hand!
That ELITE Measure of REPRESSION and PERSECUTION of aboriginal and Indigenous people of EASTERN INDIA consisting of SC, ST, OBC and converted SC, ST and OBC people, the Minorities is REINCARNATED in PRANAB MUKHERJEE! Perhaps it would be better for us if the DYNASTY continues. Then, it would be ITALIAN RULE only. Provided the BRAHAMINICAL Hindutva ressurects in POWER or a person like PRANAB Mukherjee rules INDIA, the entire country will have to share the DESTINY of the Aboriginal Indigenous people residing in EAST, North Iest India which is well symbolised as the THIRTY YEAR MARXIST GESTAPO RULE OF CASTE HINDU GENOCIDE CULTURE AND IDEOLOGY in BENGAL!
But on June 19, 2008, Hamas and Israel commenced a six-month truce. Neither
side complied perfectly. Israel refused to substantially ease the
suffocating siege of Gaza imposed in June 2007. Hamas permitted sporadic
rocket fire -- typically after Israel killed or seized Hamas members in the
West Bank, where the truce did not apply. Either one or no Israelis were
killed (reports differ) by rockets in the half year leading up to the
current attack.
Israel then broke the truce on Nov. 4, raiding the Gaza Strip and killing a
Palestinian. Hamas retaliated with rocket fire; Israel then killed five more
Palestinians. In the following days, Hamas continued rocket fire -- yet
still no Israelis died. Israel cannot claim self-defense against this
escalation, because it was provoked by Israel's own violation.
An armed attack that is not justified by self-defense is a war of
aggression. Under the Nuremberg Principles affirmed by U.N. Resolution 95,
aggression is a crime against peace.
Obama is tight-lipped about the Israeli aggression against the civilian population of Gaza. Will he demand an investigation of Israeli war crimes?
The Israeli army is cowardly attacking worn-out, innocent people, while they claim that they are defending their people. I call on the people of Israel...
The disruption affected the global cereal market for two years.
Ms. Naylor, who is director of food security and the environment at
Stanford, said the study emphasised the need for countries to invest in
adapting to a changing climate. To develop new crops to withstand
higher temperatures could take decades, she added. Mr. Battisti and Rosamond Naylor, at Stanford University inCalifornia, combined climate models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and historical examples of the impact of heat waves on agriculture, and found severe food shortages were likely tobecome more common. Among the periods they examined was the record heat wave across western Europe in 2003, which killed an estimated 52,000 people and also cut yields of wheat and fodder by a third. In 1972, a prolonged
hot summer in south-east Ukraine and south-west Russia saw temperatures
rise by between 2 and 4 degree Celsius above the norm, driving down
wheat and coarse grain yields for the whole of the USSR by 13 per cent.
Harvests of staple food crops such as rice and maize could fall by
between 20 per cent and 40 per cent as a result of higher temperatures
during the growing season in the tropics and subtropics. Warmer
temperatures in the region are also expected to increase the risk of
drought, cutting crop losses further, according to a new study.
The worst of the food shortages are expected to hit the poor,
densely inhabited regions of the equatorial belt, where demand for food
is already soaring because of a rapid growth in population.
A study in the U.S. journal Science found there
was a 90 per cent chance that by the end of the century, the coolest
temperatures in the tropics during the crop growing season would exceed
the hottest temperatures recorded between 1900 and 2006.
More temperate regions such as Europe could expect to see previous
record temperatures become the norm by 2100.
Top Pak officials meet to frame response to Indian dossier
ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistani officials held a meeting on Saturday to review and frame a response to the information dossier provided by India on the
Mumbai terror attacks.
Officials of the interior and foreign ministries and some security agencies met at the Foreign Office to review the Indian dossier and to formulate a response, TV channels said.
The dossier comprising confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested for the Mumbai attacks, transcripts of phone conversations between the attackers and their Pakistan-based handlers and other technical evidence was handed over to Pakistan on January 5.
Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said that Pakistan's ISI has given to India its "feedback" on information about the Mumbai attacks that was shared by the US.
Diplomatic sources said that US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden had told Pakistani officials during a visit to Islamabad on Friday that Pakistan should cooperate with India in probing the Mumbai incident in the "wider interests of international security".
Biden informed Pakistani leaders that India had given "enough evidence" about the Mumbai attacks, the sources said.
The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama would like to see "visible action" by Pakistan against the perpetrators of the attacks, Biden said.
India has blamed Pakistan-based elements and official agencies for planning and executing the Mumbai attacks that killed over 180 people.
After continued denial, Pakistan acknowledged this week that a preliminary investigation had established that Kasab is a Pakistani national. Islamabad has said its own probe into the Mumbai incident is continuing.
NSA invoked against leaders of striking truckers
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police today acted tough against striking truckers and invoked the stringent National Security Act against six persons, including
leaders of transporters, for continuing with the strike and disrupting supplies of essential commodities.
The decision to invoke the provisions of NSA came a day after the Delhi Government asked the police to explore the possibility of invoking the Act against agitators to normalise the situation.
The NSA was imposed on all the six arrested members of the All India Motors Transport Congress (AIMTC), including its President Charan Singh Lohara and Secretary S Venugopal, who were remanded to 14 days judicial custody by a court here.
They were produced at the residence of Metropolitan Magistrate J P Nahar who sent them to judicial custody till January 24, Lohara's lawyer P K Sharma told PTI.
The lawyer said he came to know about the invocation of the NSA when the AIMTC President was produced before the court.
All the six members of the association were arrested yesterday for violating provisions of the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act.
A top official of the Delhi Government said "we had asked Delhi Police to clamp NSA against those who have crippled city's supply line of essential commodities".
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting in which the top Delhi Police officials were present, the officer said.
Meanwhile, those arrested have moved their bail application on which the hearing will be held on January 12.
Decline of Buddhism in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Decline of Buddhism in India, the land of its birth, occurred for a variety of reasons, and happened even as it continued to flourish beyond the frontiers of India.[1] Buddhism was established in the area of ancient Magadha and Kosala by Gautama Buddha in the 6th century BCE, in what is now modern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.[2] Buddhism, over the next 1500 years became the region's dominant belief system, spreading across the Indian sub-continent (see History of Buddhism).
After the death of Gautama Buddha, Buddhism saw rapid expansion in its first century, especially in northern and central India.[2] The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304-232 BCE) and later monarchs encouraged the expansion of Buddhism into Asia through religious ambassadors.
Chinese scholars traveling through the region between the 5th and 8th centuries CE, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, I-ching, Hui-sheng, and Sung-Yun, began to speak of a decline of the Buddhist sangha, especially in the wake of the White Hun invasion.[2] A continuing decline occurred after the fall of the Pala dynasty in the 12th century CE, continuing with the later destruction of monasteries by Muslim conquerors.[2]
Buddhism was virtually extinct by the end of the 19th century. In recent times, Buddhism has seen a revival in India from the influence of Anagarika Dharmapala, Kripasaran Mahasthavir[4], Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.
The rise and decline of Buddhism's Indian social base
The Buddha's period saw not only urbanization, but also the beginnings of centralized states.[3] While the Brahmin law-givers of this time were explicitly hostile to towns, there is evidence that the Buddha's message appealed especially to town-dwellers and the new social classes.[4] Buddhism became successful by filling the moral vacuum in the new social world of commerce and city life with a universalistic social morality which was lacking in both the Brahmanical and shramana religions.[5] In turn, the successful expansion of the Buddhist movement, with its surge of monasteries and monuments, depended on the growing economy of the time, together with increased centralized political organization capable of extracting and channeling surplus.[6] Regardless of the religious beliefs of their kings, states usually patronized all the important sects relatively even-handedly.[7] This consisted of building monasteries and religious monuments, donating property such as the income of villages for the support of monks, and protecting previously donated property by leaving them exempt from taxation. Donations were most often made by private persons such as wealthy merchants and female relatives of the royal family, but this was correlated periods in which the state also gave its support and protection. In the case of Buddhism, this support was particularly important because of its high level of institutional organization and the dependence of monks on donations from the laity. State patronage of Buddhism took the form of massive propertied foundations.[8]
Buddhism flourished in the strongest states, and was welcomed by rulers in India and later throughout Asia who were centralizing power in areas previously organized on the basis of clans. Although the Buddhist monks deliberately kept themselves uninvolved in affairs of state, they were useful for rulers as they promoted peaceful societies with their moral preaching and provided institutions for literate education.[9]
During the Maurya Empire, in which period Ashoka banned Vedic sacrifices as contrary to Buddhist benevolence, Buddhism began its spread outside of its Magadha homeland. The successor Shungas reinstated the sacrifices and persecuted Buddhism, but without much success. The overall trend of Buddhism's spread across India and state support by various regional regimes continued.[10] The consolidation of monastic organization made Buddhism the center of religious and intellectual life in India.[11] The Gupta Empire period was a time of great development of Hindu culture, but even then in the Ganges Plain half of the population supported Buddhism, and the five precepts were widely observed.[12] The Hindu rulers and wealthy laity gave lavish material support to Buddhist monasteries. After the Guptas, the Shaivite kings of Gujarat also patronized Buddhist monasteries, building a great center of Buddhist learning at Valabhi.[13] The Buddhist emperor Harsha and the later Buddhist Pala dynasty were great patrons of Buddhism, but Buddhism had already begun to lose its political and social base.[14]
The gradual expansion in the scope and authority of caste regulations shifted political and economic power to the local arena, reversing the trend of centralization.[15] The caste system gradually expanded into secular life as a regulative code of social and economic transactions. In ancient times, the four varnas were primarily a categorization scheme; the Vedas contained no prohibitions regarding intermarriage. There were, however, large numbers of jatis, probably originally tribal lineage groups. Brahman legists organized these groups into castes. The law books of Manu and Yajnavalkya, which were attributed to legendary figures, reached their canonical forms around 200 CE. These lay out caste duties, prohibitions, and penalties for violating their regulations.[16]
Brahmans developed a new relationship with the state. It became the duty of political officials to enforce the caste regulations written by Brahmans.[17] Caste regulations grew over a long period of time. As they did, states gradually lost control of landed revenue. A key transition was the downfall of the Guptas. Indian social structure developed in a manner opposite to that of China or Rome, where administration of law was dominated by government officials. Instead, Brahmans became hereditary monopolists of the law in a series of weak, ephemeral states.[18]
Brahmans came to regulate more and more aspects of public life, and collected fees for the performance of their rituals. Eventually, caste laws controlled everything from guilds and interest rates to criminal penalties.[19] Caste law, administered by Brahmans, was built up to control all local economic production and much of its distribution.[20] The transformation of Brahman priests to linchpins of the caste system transformed the functioning property system.[21] The political ascendancy of Hinduism and its displacement of Buddhism's political and social base came by this indirect route.[22]
[edit] Decline of Buddhism under various governments
[edit] The Sungas
Following the Mauryans, Pusyamitra Sunga is linked in legend with the persecution of Buddhists and a resurgence of Hinduism that forced Buddhism outwards to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria. There is some doubt as to whether he did or did not persecute Buddhists actively.[23]
A Buddhist tradition holds him as having taken steps to check the spread of Buddhism as "the number one enemy of the sons of the Sakyas[24] and a most cruel persecutor of the religion".[23] The Divyavadana ascribes to him the razing of stupas and viharas built by Ashoka, the placing of a bounty of 100 dinaras upon the heads of Buddhist monks (bhiksus) and describes him as one who wanted to undo the work of Ashoka.[25] This account has however been described as "exaggerated".[25] Historian Romila Thapar writes that the Asokavadana legend is, in all probability, a "Buddhist version of Pusyamitra's attack of the Mauryas", and reflects the fact that, with the declining influence of Buddhism in the Imperial court, Buddhist monuments and institutions would receive less attention. [26]
The accuracy of the Buddhist texts that record Pushyamitra's persecution of Buddhists has been debated by historians. The first accounts appear two centuries after Pushyamitra's reign in Asokâvadâna and the Divyâvadâna. Sir John Marshall states that it is possible that the original brick stupa built by Ashoka was destroyed by Pusyamitra and then restored by his successor Agnimitra.[27] Archaeological evidence is scarce and uncertain.[28]Following Ashoka's sponsorship of Buddhism, it is possible that Buddhist institutions fell on harder times under the Sungas but no evidence of active persecution has been noted.
The Sungas were patrons of Hinduism and their lack of royal patronage was also a setback to Buddhism, resulting in the splintering of Buddhism into many forces. Some of them were: the Saravastivadins, Mahasargikas, Sthaviravadha, and Yogacara. This resulted in a diversity of opinions and interpretations that led to a conflict between warring schools shortly after the fall of the Mauryans. [25]
Traditional Hinduism is said by some writers to have competed in political and spiritual realm with Buddhism [25][23] in the gangetic plains while Buddhism flourished in the realms of the Bactrian kings.[25]
[edit] Contribution to Buddhism
However to many scholars, Sunga kings were seen as more amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut.[29]
An inscription at Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple records the construction of the temple as follows: "The gift of Nagadevi the wife of King Brahmamitra" So then this further means that the Sungas were in support of Buddhism. Another inscription reads: "The gift of Kurangi, the mother of living sons and the wife of King Indragnimitra, son of Kosiki. The gift also of Srima of the royal palace shrine."[30] [31]
[edit] Guptas
Buddhism saw a brief revival under the Guptas. By the 4th to 5th century Buddhism was already in decline in northern India, even as it was achieving multiple successes in Central Asia and along the Silk Road as far as China. It continued to prosper in Gandhara under the Shahi kingdom.
[edit] White Huns
Central Asian and North Western Indian Buddhism weakened in the 6th century following the White Hun invasion, who followed their own religions such as Tengri, Nestorian Christianity, and Manichean. Their Saivite King, Mihirakula (who ruled from 515 CE), suppressed Buddhism as well. He did this by destroying monasteries as far away as modern-day Allahabad, before his son reversed the policy.
[edit] Harsha
In the North and west the collapse of Harshavardana's kingdom gave rise to many smaller kingdoms. This led to the rise of the martial Rajputs clans across the gangetic plains. It also marked the end of Buddhist ruling clans, along with a sharp decline in royal patronage. This carried on until a revival under the Pala Empire in the Bengal region.
[edit] Buddhism in Southern India
In the south of India while there was no overt persecution of Buddhists at least two Pallava rulers Simhavarma and Trilochana are known to have destroyed Buddhist stupas and have had Hindu temples built over them. However, Bodhidharma, a patriarch of Zen Buddhism of was a Brahmin prince from the Pallava dynasty.
Nagarjuna, the founder of Mahayana Buddhism, was a Brahmin from southern India.
The Satavahanas were worshipers of Buddha as well as other Hindu gods such as Krishna, Shiva, Gauri, Indra, the sun and moon.[32] Under their reign Amaravati, the historian Durga Prasad notices that Buddha had been worshiped as a form of Vishnu.[33]
Furthermore a vigorous Hindu revival of Vaishnavite Hinduism in the region led to a sharp decline of Buddhism.[5]
[edit] Muhammad bin Qasim
In AD 711, Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Sindh bringing Indian societies into contact with Islam. Nicholas Gier believes that he succeeded partly because Dahir was an unpopular Hindu king that ruled over a Buddhist majority.[34][35] Gier also believes that Chach of Alor and his kin were regarded as usurpers of the earlier Buddhist Rai Dynasty.[34] However, Chacha's brother was a Buddhist ascetic[36] and in succeeded the kingdom from 671-679. It is believed by some scholars that Chacha himself may have been a Buddhist.[37][38] Further, after Dahir took control, he allowed for a Buddhist monk to run the city of Nirun in his kingdom. However in the war with Qasim, the monk surrendered to Qasim.[39] The forces of Muhammad bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir in alliance with the Jats and other Buddhist governors. His campaign's success is ascribed to the support of Buddhists and the people of lower castes like Jats, Meds and Bhutto tribes.[35]
The Chach Nama records a couple of instances of conversion of stupas to mosques such as at Nerun[40] as well as the incorporation of the religious elite into the ruling administration such as the allocation of 3% of the government revenue was allocated to the Brahmins.[34] As a whole, the non-Muslim populations of conquered territories were treated as People of the Book and granted Hindu and Buddhist religions the freedom to practice their faith in return for payment of the poll tax (jizya).[34] They were then excused from military service or payment of the tax paid by Muslim subjects - Zakat.[41] The jizya enforced was a graded tax, being heaviest on the elite and lightest on the poor.[41]
One revealed inscription reads, 'The nephew of Dahir, his warriors, and the principal officers have been despatched, and the infidels converted to Islam or destroyed. Instead of idol temples, mosques and other places of worship have been built, pulpits have been erected, the Khutba is read, the call to prayers is raised, so that devotions are performed at the stated hours.'[42]
While proslytization occurred, the social dynamics of Sind were no different from other Muslim regions such as Egypt, where conversion to Islam was slow and took centuries, and generally came from among the ranks of Buddhists.[41]
[edit] Mahmud of Ghazni
By the 10th century Mahmud of Ghazni defeated the Hindu-Shahis, effectively removing Hindu influence and ending Buddhist self-governance across Central Asia, as well as the Punjab region. He demolished both stupas and temples during his numerous campaigns across North-Western India, but left those within his domains and Afghanistan alone, even as al-Biruni recorded Buddha as the prophet "Burxan".[43]
Mahmud of Ghazni is said to have been an iconoclast.[44] Hindu and Buddhist statues, shrines and temples were looted and destroyed, and many Buddhists had to take refuge in Tibet.[45]
[edit] Palas
In the East under the Palas in Bengal, Mahayana Buddhism flourished and spread to Bhutan and Sikkim. The Palas created many temples and a distinctive school of Buddhist art. Mahayana Buddhism flourished under the Palas between the 8th and the 12th century, before it collapsed at the hands of the attacking Sena dynasty.
However some scholars believe that they were also Shaivaite judging by the image of Shiva and His ox on their coins and the etymology of their names.[46] Art of Shiva also exists in temples such as the Melakadambur in Bengal where Nataraja and his bull are found.[47]
They had also dedicated shrines to Vishnu.[48] Figures of Vishnu were substantial in number in the Pala Era.[49]
Other than figures of Buddha, Vishnu and Shiva there were also those of Sarasvati.[50]
[edit] Muhammad of Ghor
Muhammad attacked the North-Western regions of the Indian subcontinent many times. Gujarat later fell to Muhammad of Ghor's armies in 1197. Muhammad of Ghor's armies destroyed many Buddhist structures, including the great Buddhist university of Nalanda.[51]
In 1200 Muhammad Khilji, one of Qutb-ud-Din's generals destroyed monasteries fortified by the Sena armies, such as the one at Vikramshila. Many monuments of ancient Indian civilization were destroyed by the invading armies, including Buddhist sanctuaries near Benares. Buddhist monks who escaped the massacre fled to Nepal, Tibet and South India. [52]
[edit] The Mongols
In 1215, Genghis Khan conquered Afghanistan and devastated the Muslim world. In 1227, after his death, his conquest was divided. Chagatai then established the Chagatai Khanate, where his son Arghun made Buddhism the state religion. At the same time, he came down harshly on Islam and demolished mosques to build many stupas. He was succeeded by his brother, and then his son Ghazan who converted to Islam and in 1295 changed the state religion. After his reign, and the splitting of the Chagatai Khanate, little mention of Buddhism or the stupas built by the Mongols can be found in Afghanistan and Central Asia.[53]
[edit] Timur (Tamarlane)
Timur was a 14th-century warlord of Turco-Mongol descent [54][55][56][57], conqueror of much of Western and central Asia, and founder of the Timurid Empire.
Timur destroyed Buddhist establishments and raided areas in which Buddhism had flourished. [58][59]
[edit] Mughals
Mughal rule also contributed to the decline of Buddhism. They are reported to have destroyed many Hindu temples and Buddhist shrines alike or converted many sacred Hindu places into Muslim shrines and mosques.[60] Mughal rulers like Aurangzeb not only destroyed Buddhist temples and monasteries but also destroyed Hindu temples and replaced them with Islamic mosques. [61]
[edit] Ideological and financial causes
The period between the 400 BCE and 1000 CE saw gains by Hinduism at the expense of Buddhism. Some Hindu rulers resorted to military means in an effort to suppress Buddhism. However it is seen that the evolution of Hindu ideology influenced by Buddhism was more important factor for the growth of Hinduism.[62]
Hinduism became a more "intelligible and satisfying road to faith for many ordinary worshippers" than it had been because it now included not only an appeal to a personal god, but had also seen the development of an emotional facet with the composition of devotional hymns.[62]
[edit] Xuanzang's Report
Much of what we know about the state of Buddhism in the second half of the first millennium CE comes from the 7th century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who traveled widely and documented his journey. Although he found many regions where Buddhism was still flourishing, he also found many where it had sharply and startlingly declined, giving way to Jainism and a Brahmanical order.[63]
Xuanzang compliments the patronage of Harshavardana. He reported that Buddhism was popular in Kanyakubja (modern day Uttar Pradesh), where he noted "an equal number of Buddhists and heretics" and the presence of 100 monasteries and 10,000 bhikshus along with 200 "Deva" (Hindu) temples.[64]. He found a similarly flourishing population in Udra (modern Orissa). He found a mixed population in Kosala, homeland of Nagarjuna, and in Andhra, and Dravida which today roughly correspond to the modern day Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.[65] In a region he calls Konkanapura, which may be Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra, he found great numbers of Buddhists coexisting with a similar number of non-Buddhists, and a similar situation in norther Maharashtra. In Sindh he finds a large Theravada population. He reports a fair number of Buddhists in what is now Pakistan.
In Dhanyakataka (today's Vijayawada), he found a striking decline, with Jainism and Shaivism ascendant. In Bihar, site of a number of important landmarks, he also found a striking decline and relatively few followers, with Hinduism and Jainism predominating. He also found relatively few Buddhists in Bengal, Kamarupa (modern Assam). He reported no Buddhist presence in Konyodha, few in Chulya (in the Tamil region), and few in Gujarat and Rajasthan, except in Valabhi, where he found a large Theravada population.
During the reign of the Chalukya dynasty, Xuanzang reported that numerous Buddhist stupas in regions previously ruled by Buddhist-sympathetic Andhras and Pallavas were "ruined" and "deserted".These regions came under the control of the Vaishnavite Eastern Chalukyas, who were not favorable to Buddhism and did not support the religion[66].Xuanzang's report also mentions that, in the 7th Century, Shashanka of the Kingdom of Gouda (Bengal), was expanding his influence in the region in the aftermath of the fall of the Gupta Empire. He is blamed by Xuanzhang and other Buddhist sources for the murder of Rajyavardhana, a Buddhist king of Thanesar. Xuanzang writes that Shashanka destroyed the Bodhi tree of enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and replaced Buddha statues with Shiva Lingams. However, it has been claimed that Xuanzhang had a Buddhist bias in favor of the buddhist rulers such as Harshavardhana and that his account may therefore be slanted.[67].
[edit] Philosophical convergence
See also: Buddhism and Hinduism
Literary evidences point towards an absorption of Buddhist elements by Hindu culture over a period of centuries.[68] Anti-Buddhist propaganda was also reaching its peak during the 8th century when Shankara modeled his monastic order after the Buddhist Sangha.[68] An upsurge of Hinduism had taken place in North India by the early eleventh century as illustrated by the influential Sanskrit drama Prabodhacandrodaya in the Chandela court; a devotion to Vishnu and an allegory to the defeat of Buddhism and Jainism.[68] The population of North India had become predominantly Shaiva, Vaishnava or Shakta.[68] By the 12th century a lay population of Buddhist hardly existed outside the monastic institutions and when it did penetrate the Indian peasant population it was hardly discernible as a distinct community.[69] Buddhist monasteries were well-funded and life within was relatively easy. To avoid unwanted members, many monasteries became selective about whom they admitted, in some cases based on social class.[citation needed]
[edit] Islam
The Turkish invaders described Indian Pagans as but-parast (idol worshippers), and idol-breakers as but-shikan. The word "but" is derived from Buddhism, but the Turks used it for "Indian paganism" in general.[70] When the Arabs arrived in Sind there were only glimpses of Buddhism nor any evidence of a provincial government in control of the Buddhists.[71] During the seventh to thirteenth centuries when Islam arrived it replaced Buddhism as the great cosmopolitan trading religion in many places accompanied by a consolidation of the communal peasant religions of Hinduism.[71] The Tibetan scholar of the seventeenth century Taranatha writes that during the time of the Sena king Stag-gzigs (Turks) had begun to appear on horses and that monasteries had been fortified with troops stationed in them; however, they were overrun and monks at Uddandapura were massacred, the monastery razed and replaced by a new fort and further north-east Vikramshila was destroyed as well.[72]. Hardly a contemporary evidence however exists on the destruction of Buddhist monasteries.[71] Brief Muslim accounts and the one eye witness account of Dharmasmavim in wake of the conquest during the 1230s talks about abandoned viharas being used as camps by the Turukshahs.[71] Later historical traditions such as Taranathas are mixed with legendary materials and summarized as "the Turukshah conquered the whole of Magadha and destroyed many monasteries and did much damage at Nalanda, such that many monks fled abroad" thereby bringing about a sudden demise of Buddhism with their destruction of the Viharas.[71] Buddhism lingered longer in Iran than South Asia and was officially professed under fifty years of Mongol conquest.[71] With the conversion of Ghazan to Islam in 1295, the backlash resulted in the destruction of many Buddhist places of worship and the further migration of monks into Kashmir.[71]
Many places were destroyed and renamed. For example, Udantpur's monasteries were destroyed by in 1197 Mohammed-bin-Bakhtiyar and the town was renamed.[73] Taranatha in his History of Buddhism in India (dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'i chos bskor gyi byung khungs nyer mkho) of 1608 C.E. [74], gives an account of the last few centuries of Buddhism, mainly in Eastern india. His account suggests aconsiderable decline but not an extinction of Buddhism in India in his time.
[edit] Sufis and the Bhakti movement
When Islam arrived in India, it sought conversion from, not assimilation to or integration with, the already present religions. Under Sufi influence, the pressures of caste, and with no political support structure left in place to resist social mores, many converted to Islam in the Bengal region.
After the Mongol invasions of Islamic lands across Central Asia, many Sufis also found themselves fleeing towards India and around the environs of Bengal. In Bengal, their influence, caste attitudes towards Buddhists, previous familiarity with converting Buddhists, a lack of Buddhist political power, Hinduism's resurgence through movements such as the Advaita and the bhakti movement, all contributed to a significant realignment of beliefs that relegated Buddhism in India to the peripheries.
[edit] Survival of Buddhism in India
At the beginning of the modern era, Buddhism was very nearly extinct in mainstream Indian society. Some tribal peoples living in the territory of modern India did continue to practice Buddhism.
In Bengal, the Bauls still practice a syncretic form of Hinduism that was strongly influenced by Buddhism. There is also evidence of small communities of Indian Theravada Buddhists existing continuously in Bengal in the area of Chittagong hill tracts among the indigenous Chakma people up to the present. [75] Though they are under increasing pressure from mostly Muslim Bengali settlers. There was genocide of the Chakma and Buddhists by Islamists in East Pakistan.[76] The Chakma spiritual practices are a blend of Buddhism/Vaishnavism.[77]
Buddhist institutions flourished in eastern India right until the Islamic invasion. Buddhism still survives among the Barua (though practicing Vaishnava/Hindu elements[78][79]), a community of Bengali/Magadh descent that migrated to Chittagong region. Indian Buddhism also survives among Newars of Nepal.
Buddhism survived in Gilgit and Baltistan until 13-14th century, perhaps slightly longer in the nearby Swat Valley. In Ladakh region, adjacent to Kashmir valley, Tibetan Buddhism survives to this day. The historic prevalence and history of Tibetan Buddhism in the above mentioned Northern regions of Jammu and Kashmir is reported in the Rajatarangini of Kalhana written sometime during 1147–1149 CE.
In Tamilnadu and Kerala, Buddhism survived until 15-16th century. At Nagapattinam, in Tamil Nadu, Buddhist idols were cast and inscribed until this time, and the ruins of the Chudamani Vihara stood until they were destroyed by the Jesuits in 1867. [80] In the South in some pockets, it may have survived even longer.
[edit] Revival
Further information: Buddhism in India and Dalit Buddhist movement
On pilgramage to Bodh Gaya in 1891, the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala was shocked to find the temple in the hands of a Saivite priest, the Buddha image transformed into a Hindu icon and Buddhists barred from worship.[81] The Buddhist revival then began in India, when he founded the Maha Bodhi Society.[82][81] The organization's initial efforts were for the purpose of resuscitation of Buddhism in India and of restoring the ancient Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinara.[83] The Buddhist renaissance inaugurated by Anagarika Dharmapala through his Mahabodhi Movement is also described as "conservative" for it held the Muslim Rule in India responsible for the decay of Buddhism in India in the then current mood of Hindu-Buddhist brotherhood.[84] The organization's initial efforts were to restore various Buddhist shrines that had been neglected under Hindu administration, and to open to the public various Buddhist sites and temples that had been destroyed in various periods of Muslim invasion.
Later in the 1950s Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar pioneered the Dalit Buddhist movement in India. Dr. Ambedekar saw conversion to Islam and to Christianity as a factor contributing to the "denationalisation" of India.[85] The revival movement of Buddhism in India underwent a major change when after publishing a series of books and articles arguing that Buddhism was the only way for the untouchables to gain equality, Ambedkar publicly converted on October 14, 1956 in Nagpur and then in turn led a mass-conversion ceremony for over 380,000 dalits. Many other such mass-conversion ceremonies organized since and has become a politically charged issue.[86] Since Ambedkar's conversion, numerous similar many more people from different castes have converted to Buddhism. Many Dalits employ the term "Ambedkar(ite) Buddhism" to designate the Buddhist movement, which started with Ambedkar's conversion. [87]
in 1959 Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama transitioned from Tibet to India and set up the government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamsala, India, [88] which is often referred to as "Little Lhasa." Tibetan exiles numbering several thousand have since settled in the town. Most of these exiles live in Upper Dharamsala, or McLeod Ganj, where they established monasteries, temples and schools. The town is sometimes known as "Little Lhasa", after the Tibetan capital city, and has become one of the centres of Buddhism in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Buddhism_in_India
We welcome Chitpavan Brahmin bid to strengthen their caste : Bahujans have to follow same route
We have received many communications on our announcement on the Pune Chitpavan Brahmin global conference of Dec.23, 2007.
We welcome the Chitpavan efforts to consolidate their caste, instill in them the spirit of "caste identity" and fight for their rights. Every caste in India, particularly the oppressed SC/ST/BC castes, must learn from the Chitpavans and try to strengthen their respective "caste identity". For further information on this subject, our English book, Caste — A Nation Within the Nation, (Books for Change, Bangalore, 2004, Rs. 140) may be ordered. The book is also available in Hindi and Kannada.
Endless confusion: While SC/BC castes are pushed into endless confusions on "caste identity", every Brahmin and other upper castes are boldly organising their caste conferences and strengthening their "caste identity". Meanwhile, the SC/BC castes, made unthinking morons, never find fault with upper caste open and defiant show of strength. But the same unthinking fellows rain all sorts of abuses when DV recommends "caste identity" as the only right royal way to liberation.
Look at the courage of the serving Air Vice-Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale, inaugurating the Chitpavan conference in his full Air Force uniform. Brahmins are the country's most fearless community. A Brahmin President of India was regularly attending RSS shakas in Delhi in half-pant uniform. None questioned him. Who can question a Bhoodevata?
From where does the courage come? Courage is not for sale. You can't go to a shop and ask for Re. 1 worth of courage. Courage comes from within. Likewise, fear also comes from within.
Courage of Air Marshal: A Chitpavan Brahmin, brother of Nathuram Godse, was boldly living in his old Pune flat without any fear. When we met him we asked if anybody troubled him being the brother of the killer of the "Father of the nation". He said none.
Bhushan Gokhale too was fearless. No paper commented about a serving Air Marshal in full official uniform inaugurating a caste conference, which goes against the code of conduct of military officers. Neither the Defence Minister nor the Prime Minister had the courage to question a Bhoodevata. Did not the Chitpavan Godse kill Gandhi and defend his action in a book? (photocopy available with DV).
Vidyadar Date, formerly a senior correspondent of the Times of India, Bombay, and himself a Chitpavan who attended the conference in his article in the Tehelka (Jan.19, 2008) finds fault with such caste conferences. "This betrays a worrying increase in upper caste consciousness", he says
DV welcomes caste conferences: But we welcome such caste conferences by Brahmins. Because in such conferences, the leader of the community will be seeking the "unity of Brahmins". It is the very same Brahmins who also demand "Hindu unity". Somebody may ask: Will not the call for "Brahmin unity" go against "Hindu unity"?
The Hindu terrorist party says SC/ST/BCs are also Hindu. But when these people hold their caste conferences the Hindu leaders criticise them and say such sectarian conferences go against "Hindu unity". Are not Chitpavan Brahmins, heading the country's Hindu terrorist parties, going against "Hindu unity"?
Brahmins must choose between the two: "Hindu unity" or "Brahmin unity".
Killer Parashuram: Brother Date brings out one important highlight of the conference: Air Marshal Gokhale glorifying the Brahmin Parashuram and his killer axe (Parashu) by which he annihilated all the Kshatriyas of India. Parashurama's fierce-looking towering cutouts holding the parashu in a menacing pose were kept on the stage and all over the conference venue.
Did caste die: Another interesting aspect of the Chitpavan conference was it was attended by the top brains of the caste: academics, scientists, IT engineers, bankers, lawyers, journalists, doctors and the entire cream which day in and day out harangue us that "caste is dead" and "the country's salvation lies in market economy". Why did the highly educated "leaders of thought" jump into their caste cauldron instead of the market-driven LPG? Why did the Chitpavan leaders give a call to their youth to marry only within the caste?
Why did the conference decide to raise Rs. 1,000 crores for the "poor among them"? Why they did not think of the "poor" in general? Because the Brahmins know that their jati is their "nation".
This is because the Brahmins (3%) are deeply worried about their getting drowned in the surging floods of "caste politics". The caste is killing the castiests.
During the Hindu terrorist party regime of Vajpayee they almost succeeded in killing the country's parliamentary democracy that strengthened every caste. All the three Dwija caste groups of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya got drowned in the flood of parliamentary democracy which strengthened "caste politics".
Elected leaders lose power: Yet the Brahmins managed to hold on and still rule the country by weakening the country's democratic structure and shifting real power to the higher judiciary, media, financial services, communication, art, literature, culture etc. Elected leaders have lost the real power which has passed into the unelected judiciary, services, media etc.
Chiptavans may be a tiny fraction among the country's 3% Brahmins but the Hindu terrorist party that controls the entire Hindu empire is their monopoly. Vidyadhar Date in his Tehelka report criticises the Chitpavan conference agenda as it stressed "continuously of personal advancement of the community". Nothing wrong.
Caste is an extended family. There is nothing wrong in a family leaders looking after its well-being. The problem comes only when a caste (or even a person) thinks that its well-being can be promoted only by destroying the well-being of another caste (or person).
All the upper castes (15%), despite being the country's rulers and the highest educated, do not know this. The struggle of the country's over 85% oppressed people comprising SC/ST/BCs and Muslim/Christian/Sikh is only against this 15% upper caste bid to prevent them from coming up.
Anti-women hatred: When the Chitpavans exhibited their guru, the axe-wielding killer Parashuram fiercely starting at us, they are loudly announcing that they are against our progress.
The Chitpavans like their jati counterparts also exhibited their anti-woman hatred. Date says "it is not surprising that women found very little representation on the dais". He also notes that whenever the killer Narendra Modi's name was mentioned the assembled Gandhi-killers burst into applause.Non-Brahmins, particularly the Bahujans, have to learn a lot from Chitpavan Brahmins. Particularly their deep commitment to their caste and caste consolidation through "caste identity".
The ruling upper castes are fooling us by asking us to "forget our caste" but believe in market economy. The brainiest among the Brahmins have called the bluff of this statement.
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/feb_a2008/editorial.htm
NCR lawyers to go on strike on Jan 14 against CrPC amendments
NEW DELHI: Lawyers of the different bar associations of National Capital Region (NCR) are going to observe a day-long strike on January 14,
demanding withdrawal of the proposed amendments in the CrPC allowing the police not to arrest an accused in offences punishable upto 7-year jail.
A meeting of the Co-Ordination Committee All Bar Associations of Delhi as well as other districts of the NCR and adjoining area was organised at Tis Hazari courts here where a decision to go on strike was taken.
The advocates of 24 bar associations including that of Ghaziabad, Noida, Moradabad, Bulandshahr and Alwar would abstain from court on Janaury 14, Rajiv Khosla, spokesperson of the Co-Ordination Committee told reporters.
"The proposed amendment removing mandatory arrest provisions in the offences punishable upto seven years would remove the fear from minds of criminals who will misuse the provisions under the garb of personal liberty," the bar leaders said.
They said that after notification of the amendments, there could be no arrest even in cheating cases like Satyam scam of more than Rs 7,000 crore.
Harbouring of an offender of cases like Mumbai Terror Attacks and Batla House encounter and selling of counterfeit stamp like in Telgi scam would incur no arrest, they said, adding that the police would the liberty to arrest or not arrest offenders under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Five district courts bar association had earlier on January 7 also observed a strike in order to oppose the proposed amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code.
The bar leaders said that they are going to meet the President soon to demand withdrawal of the amendments in the statute.
Economists see longest US recession since WWII
10 Jan 2009, 1234 hrs IST, REUTERS
WASHINGTON: The US recession will probably be the longest since World War Two and could worsen without heavy government spending, according to a
closely-watched survey of economists released on Saturday.
The Blue Chip Economic Indicators poll of 52 economists from top financial firms, major companies and academia found that most expected a tepid recovery to begin later this year, with growth returning to more normal levels in 2010.
A majority of those polled thought the recession would officially end in the third quarter of 2009, which would make this the longest downturn since World War Two.
However, more than half of respondents thought unemployment would peak no earlier than 2010, suggesting that economic pain may linger long after the recession is technically over.
For 2009, the consensus view was that real gross domestic product would fall 1.6 per cent, gloomier than the previous month's forecast for a 1.1 per cent decline. A drop of that magnitude would be the worst yearly performance since 1982.
Merrill Lynch held the most pessimistic view, predicting a 2.8 per cent decline, while Fedex Corp (FDX.N) was the most optimistic of the bunch, forecasting just a 0.2 per cent dip.
"Much likely will depend on the relative success or failure of ongoing and prospective stimulus measures applied by government," Blue Chip's monthly newsletter said, adding that absent a stimulus package, "prospects would be much darker."
The consensus opinion was that the stimulus plan would total $778 billion, with estimates ranging from $635 billion to $900 billion. President-elect Barack Obama has encountered some resistance in Congress, but a large spending package is widely expected to be approved next month.
The economists seemed to conclude that government efforts to push down mortgage rates may stall. On average, they expected rates on 30-year conventional mortgages at 5.1 per cent at the end of 2009, roughly where they are now.
They forecast that the consumer price index would fall 0.4 per cent this year, which would mark the first year-over-year decrease since 1955 and no doubt deepen investors' worries about deflation.
The panelists were split on the outlook for the US dollar, which some economists have warned may be headed for a steep slide this year as the US deficit soars and the Treasury Department issues a record amount of debt.
Nearly 48 per cent thought the trade-weighted value of the dollar would end 2009 higher than its current level.
Bankruptcies jump 74% in 2008: Report
10 Jan 2009, 0250 hrs IST, REUTERS
NEW YORK: The number of publicly-traded companies that filed for Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2008 rose more than 74 percent compared with
2007, BankruptcyData.com said on Friday.
Of the 136 public bankruptcy filings in 2008, 12 were in the banking and finance industry, and the total pre-bankruptcy assets of these 12 companies was about $1.1 trillion, according to a statement released by the website.
BankruptcyData.com said excluding financial companies, there were 124 filings in 2008 with $65 billion in assets compared to the 2007 figure of 71 public company bankruptcies and just $7.3 billion outside the financial sector.
The combined pre-bankruptcy assets for 2008 stood at about $1.159 trillion, the highest since 1980, and seven of the top ten bankruptcies were in the financial services industry, the statement said.
The year 2001 saw the highest number of public companies going bankrupt with 263 filings, according to BankruptcyData.com.
Rani Rasmani
The story of Rani Rasmani is of a humble devotee who while will never be tremendously well known, lived bravely, did much good for others, and gained the grace of the divine. Her story is charming to read for those who are lucky enough to encounter it.
Rani Rasmani was born in Kona, a village located about 30 miles north of Calcutta, in Bengal province. Her family were very devout, but faced severe poverty. The devotion of her family sustained them through the poverty they faced. But destiny had singled out Rani Rasmani to become one of the richest and most influential women in Calcutta. She was exceptionally beautiful. One day, a wealthy landlord from Calcutta observed her from his luxury boat. The boat passed, but the man, Rajchandra Das, was stunned and couldn't get Rani out of his mind. He returned later to ask Rani's father for her hand in marriage.
Rani Rasmani became the wife of Rajchandra Das, and overnight the poor girl became a multi-millionairess, and lived in a mansion in Janbazar, Calcutta. But her years of marriage did not last long for Rajchandra suddenly fell ill and died. Rani became a widow at age 44 and was left to manage single-handed four young daughters and a vast estate. It was expected by relatives that Rani would not be able to manage this tall order, but she in fact managed very well. She ran the estate and brought up her family with love, intelligence and wit. The main deity that she expressed her devotion to was Kali, the great Mother of Time. Her devotion to Kali made her fearless and she became an outspoken champion of civil rights. She would take up the cause of the poor and dispossessed. When the British Government imposed a tax on fishermen whose livelihood depended on fishing in the River Ganga, Rani was determined to help. She brought the fishing rights of a part of the Ganga (between the towns Gushuri and Metiabruz) from the British, for the then large sum of 10,000 rupees. She erected a barricade by putting chains across the river, so that no ship could pass. When the British demanded that she remove the barricade, she retorted "Your ships disturb my fishing area, which cost me 10,000 rupees. But if you return the money and abolish the fishing tax, I'll be happy to do as you want." The British Government had to yield. "My Mother Kali will protect me, and if she doesn't then none in the world can save me," she often said. Fear of punishment and death depart any person who understands Mother Kali. On one occasion, she fought the British over a curb on her religious freedom. She had started Durga Puja at her mansion and as part of the ritual a priest would go to the Ganga and collect fresh water. With the priest a procession of musicians would travel, with drums and cymbals. This was an ancient part of the religious life of the land, but certain British gentlemen complained about the noise, since many wealthy Europeans lived near Janzabar. A ban was placed on this part of the morning ritual by the local government. Rani flouted the ban, and had to pay a fine, which she readily did. But on the same day, she erected a bamboo barricade across Babughat Road which she owned, preventing traffic flow between North and South Calcutta. The British government repeatedly asked her to remove the barricade, but Rani did not give in until the British returned her fine and granted her full religious freedom.
Sri Ramakrishna, the famous saint of those days said about Rani that she was one of the eight companions of the Divine Mother. She had many noble qualities, one of which was her compassion for the poor, to whom she would distribute food and gifts. Yet her name is etched in the history of Hindu civilisation not for these great qualities, but for her most famous act which was the erection of the grand and splendid Kali temple estate in a town along the banks of the River Ganga, named Dakshineshwar. The temple has now become a famous pilgrimage, as the temple at which Sri Ramakrishna lived and worshipped for most of his life, and where Swami Vivekananda got his education in religion. In 1847, she decided to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi. In those days there were no trains or aeroplanes in India, so she prepared to travel by boat, together with her family, priests and servants. But the night before the journey (or maybe at the first stop of the journey, which was at Dakshineshwar), Kali appeared to Rani in a dream and said, "There is no need to go to Kashi. Install my image in a beautiful spot on the bank of the Ganga and arrange for my daily worship and food offering; I shall manifest myself in the image and accept your worship daily." Hence, in the morning, Rani called off her pilgrimage, and began an intensive search for a place to create a splendid temple complex. A 20 acre plot of land was found in the village of Dakshineshwar on the Eastern bank of the Ganga. Rani Rasmani began the construction in 1847, and it took eight years to complete. The complex also included a Vishnu Temple and 12 Shiva temples. She spent 50,000 rupees for land, 160,000 rupees for building an embankment along the river, 900,000 rupees for the Kali Temple complex, and 226,000 rupees for property used as an endowment for the maintenance of the temple. A beautiful black image of Kali was sculptured out basalt, and white Italian marble was used for the form of Shiva.
Since the day of the temple's consecration was to be a big day in Rani's life, she prepared for it by practising strict austerities and spending long periods in japa (repetition of names of God) and meditation. Rani had not fixed a date for the consecration. One night, in a dream, Mother Kali appeared and said "How long will you keep me confined in this way? I feel suffocated. Install me as soon as possible." When the box which stored the image was opened, the statue was found to be moist with perspiration. To many a modern and questioning mind, who have not a great experience in Indian spirituality, such stories seem far fetched. But to an experienced Sadhak (spiritual seeker), the Hindu deities, which portray the awesome powers of the cosmos (Kali being the deity of time which is the primeval energy of creation and destruction), are real consciousnesses that can be communed with by intense devotion and spiritual practice.
There was an obstacle in the consecration (which had been set for the day of the snana-yatra, the bathing ceremony of Sri Krishna). This obstacle was caste. The caste rules which were prevalent at the time, and still persist in some of the Hindu world, would not allow a person of the lowest caste, like Rani to own a temple and cook food for Brahmins. The Brahmins had great love for her, but the society was steeped in such rules at the time. These casteist rules, where much emphasis on birth is placed, arised out of the ideas of law-makers in medieval India, as a reaction to the conditions and challenges of the time. These law books themselves are not classed as scriptures or endowed with religious authority, but nevertheless have held tremendous sway over the lifestyles of the people. A way around this problem was planned, which was to consecrate the temple in the name of Rani's guru, Ramkumar. Hence the temple was consecrated on Thursday 31 May 1855. It is recorded by contemporaries that Rani desired the temple to be of benefit to all, irrespective of caste and religion. Her wishes were quickly fulfilled, as all portions of society would attend the huge temple complex. There was readily available food for all as well as secluded areas for intense meditation.
The 19-year old Sri Ramakrishna was also present at this occasion. He was a younger brother of Ramkumar, in whose name the temple was consecrated. Rani, and her son in law requested him to become a priest, which after some hesitation, he accepted. Ramkrishna's worship was unique. Whenever Rani got a chance she would try and listen to Ramakrishna's devotional songs to Mother Kali. One incident which passed is worth recounting here. One day, Rani sat inside the shrine, whilst Ramkrishna sang a song of devotion for the Divine Mother Kali. Suddenly he stopped and slapped Rani's face. "What," he shouted. "You are thinking worldly thoughts even in this holy place." The temple guards rushed forward, to drag Ramkrishna out of the temple, but Rani stopped them. "No, don't disturb him," ordered Rani. She said that the Divine Mother herself had issued the punishment. She wondered how Sri Ramakrishna knew that she was in fact thinking about a lawsuit at the time.
Rani fell seriously ill in 1861. The best doctors of Calcutta tried their utmost to cure her but at last gave up hope. Shortly before her passing away, she was brought to the bank of the Ganga. Seeing some lamps lighted in front of her, she exclaimed: "Remove these lights. I don't care for this artificial illumination anymore. Now my mother has come and the brilliance of her form has illumined the whole place." After a short pause she passed away, saying "Mother, you have come." Rani Rasmani was a farsighted woman and had purchased a huge property for the temple's maintenance, the rent from which was intended to support the temple activities after her death. Yet she could not foresee the 1947 partition of India. This land was in a part which fell in East Pakistan (today Bangladesh). All of her property which was on the wrong side of the border was confiscated by the government. From then on, the Dakshineshwar Kali temple has had to be maintained through its own income.
The information for this article was taken from the book "Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineshwar," by Elizabeth U Harding.
http://www.shaktimarg.com/hindumystics/ranirasmani.htm
The Foundress of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple
A Brief Life Story By Elizabeth Usha Harding
Excerpt from Kali: the Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, Nicolas-Hays, York Beach, 1993, (pp. 159-168).
The historic Dakshineswar Kali temple was built by an extremely liberal woman, Rani Ramani, whose life was dedicated to Kali. The Rani's life story is mysterious, and so is the story behind the building of the Kali Temple.
The Rani was born in Kona, a village located about thirty miles north of Calcutta. Her deep devotion-from an early age-to Mother Kali sustained her and her family, for they were very poor. Although she was born into an indigent farmer's family of the lowest Hindu caste, destiny had singled our Rani Rasmani to become one of the richest, most influential women in Calcutta.
She was exceptionally beautiful. One day, when she was bathing in the Ganges, a wealthy landlord form Calcutta observed her from his luxury boat. Silently, the boat passed the girl, but the rich man could not get her out of his mind. He was so stunned by her beauty that the thought of her remained in his heart and he returned at a later date to ask the farmer for the hand of his daughter.
Rani Rasmani became the wife of Rajchandra Das, and, overnight, the poor girl became a multi-millionaress and lived in a mansion in Janbazar, Calcutta. But her years of marriage did not last long for Rajchandra suddenly fell ill and died. The Rani became a widow at age 44 and was left to manage single-handed four young daughters and a vast estate.
Contrary to dire predictions by relatives, the Rani managed Rajchandra's properties with great skill. She ruled with love, intelligence and wit. Her devotion to Kali made her fearless, and she became an outspoken champion for civil rights. When the British government imposed a tax on fishermen whose livelihood depended on fishing in the Gages, the Rani took up their cause.
"I want to buy the fishing rights on the Ganga from Gushuri to Metiabruz," said the Rani. And as soon as the British sold her the rights for the then enormous sum of 10,000 rupees, she erected a barricade by putting chains across the river. No ship could pass.
When the British demanded that she remove the barricade at once, she replied, "Your ships disturb my fish which cost me 10,000 rupees. But if you return my money and abolish the fishing tax, I'll be happy to do as you want." The British government had to abolish the tax.
On another occasion, the Rani fought the British over the rights to perform religious services. She had started Durga worship at her mansion in Janbazar, and since the ritual calls for fresh water from the Ganges, a priest would go early in the morning to fetch the water. To the great chagrin of a certain British gentleman, a procession of musicians with drums and cymbals accompanied the priest thought Janbazar, a noble section of Calcutta where many wealthy Europeans lived. Being awakened early in the morning by the religious music, he yelled and threatened and finally filed a formal complaint against the Rani at the police station. The Rani was summoned by the British and ordered to stop all devotional music in the morning.
She disobeyed and was fined 50 rupees. Rani Rasmani paid without a word of complaint, but on the same day, she erected a bamboo barricade across Babughat Road, which she owned. Not traffic could pass from South to North Calcutta and vice versa. The British government repeatedly asked her to remove the barricade, but the Rand did not give in until the British returned her 50 rupees and allowed her devotional procession to fetch water form the Ganges early in the morning.
The Rani's fearlessness and courage had a lot to do with her total dependence on Mother Kali. "My Mother Kali will protect me, and if She doesn't, none in this world can save me," the Rani often said. One day, a group of rowdy, drunken British soldiers forced their way into the Rani's mansion. Since all the men happened to be away at the time, the Rani herself took up arms and stood ready to confront the soldiers. Fortunately, an officer of higher rank passed by and stopped the soldiers from harming the Rani or her property.
Sri Ramakrishna said about the Rani that she was one of the eight companions of the Divine Mother. Among her many other noble qualities was a genuine sympathy for the poor. Many times, she distributed gifts and fed poor people. But today, when people think of her, they probably remember her most for her devotion to Kali.
In 1847 she decided to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi because she had an intense desire to offer special devotions to Vishwanath Shiva and to the Divine Mother in the form of Annapurna.
In those days there was no railway line between Calcutta and Kashi and it was more comfortable for the rich to make the journey by boat. The Rani planned to travel with her entourage by boat. We are told that her convoy of twenty-four boats was made ready with provisions for six months. There were seven boats for food and other supplies, one for herself, three for her three daughters and their families, two for the guards, two for their servants, four for the other relatives and friends, two for her estate officials, one for the washer man, one for four cows, and one for fodder...
The devout Rani Rasmani's mind had reached a climax of fervor and delight at the prospect of the holy pilgrimage. But the night before the journey, Mother Kali intervened. (Another version of this story tells that the Rani started out on her pilgrimage, and her first stop over night was near Dakshineswar.) She appeared to the Rani in a dream and said, "There is no need to go to Kashi. Install my image in a beautiful spot on the bank of the Ganga and arrange for my daily worship and food offering; I shall manifest Myself in the image and accept your worship daily."
The next morning the Rani gave orders to cancel the pilgrimage. All the piled up food and provisions were distributed among the poor and needy. All the money meant for the journey was now put aside for the holy undertaking of building a temple. The inscrutable way of destiny was accepted by the Rani with full devotion and humility, for had not the intervention come from her Chosen Ideal, Mother Kali? Through the engraving on the official seal of her estate did she not proclaim to the world that she was "Sri Rasmani Dasi who only longed to attain the feet of Kali?"
After an intensive search for a suitable place to build a Kali temple, the Rani found a 20-acre plot of land in the village of Dakshineswar on the eastern bank of the Ganges. The ground had the shape of the back of a tortoise. Part of this land belonged to an Englishman. The remaining part consisted of an abandoned Muslim burial ground, associated with the memory of a Mohammedan holy man. Such a burial ground, according to the Tantras, is very suitable of the installation of Shakti and Her sadhana.
The Rani began construction in 1847, and it took eight years at great expense to complete the Kali Temple compound, which also included a Vishnu Temple and twelve Shiva temples. She spent 50,000 rupees for the land, 160,000 rupees for the building an embankment along the river, 900,000 rupees for the Kali Temple complex, and 226,000 rupees for property used as an endowment for the maintenance of the temple.
When the temple construction neared completion, the Rani contracted a sculptor to make the Kali image. The sculptor carved a beautiful, black image of Kali in basalt and used white Italian marble for the form of Shiva. Once Kali was completed to the satisfaction of the Rani, the statue was safely packed into a box lest it should be damaged.
Since the day of the temple's consecration was to be a big day in the Rani's life, she began to prepare herself early by practicing severe austerities. She bathed three times a day, ate only simple food, and spent many hours in japam and meditation.
Time went by and, still, the Rani had not fixed a date for the temple consecration. One night, she had a dream wherein Ma Kali appeared and said, "How long will you keep me confined this way? I feel suffocated. Install me as soon as possible." When the box which stored the image was opened, workers found the statue of Kali moist with perspiration.
The Rani quickly fixed the installation ceremony of Ma Kali on the day of the snana-yatra . All was ready-almost. While building the Kali Temple, the Randi had overcome many obstacles at great expense and energy, but the greatest came at the end. This obstacle threatened to bring the entire project to a halt. Its point was the subject of caste. Even thought the Rani had gained the respect from Brahmins and many high-caste Hindus, she, in spite of all her wealth, was looked upon as a person of low birth. And as such, she could not possibly own a temple and hope to feed Brahmins with cooked food.
The Rani consulted with many pundits, but none could come up with a solution to her problems until Ramkumar, Sri Ramakrishna's elder brother suggested consecrating the temple in the name of a Brahmin and thereby bypassing the strict caste rules prevailing at that time.
The temple was consecrated in the name of Rani's guru, and Ramkumar, officiating priest, installed the image of Kali in the new temple with great pomp on Thursday, May 31, 1855. Many professors of the shastras (scriptures), Brahmin pundits, and famous scholars came from faraway places like Kashi, Orissa, and Navadvip.
The extremely liberal-minded Rani, who desired to bring all people-irrespective of cast and religion-to the Kali temple achieved her goal soon after Kali was installed. Monks and pilgrims on their way to Gangasagar or Puri, all stopped at the Dakshineswar temple for darshan and prasad. Sadhus liked Dakshineswar for its holy atmosphere, easily available food, and surrounding secluded places for meditation.
"At certain times," said Sri Ramakrishna, "particular kinds of sadhus gathered in large numbers in Dakshineswar. At on time, the sannyasins, at another the paramahamsas. Once a sadhu stayed here who had a beautiful glow on his face. He used to sit and smile. He came out of his room once in the morning and once in the evening, gazed on everything-the trees, the plants, the sky, the Ganga-and then beside himself with joy, he danced with both his arms raised. He sometimes rolled with laughter and said, "How wonderful is Maya." That was his worship. He had the realization of bliss.
"On another occasion, a sadhu came who was inebriated with divine knowledge. He looked like a ghoul. He was nude, with dust all over his body and head, and he had long nails and long hair. On the upper part of his body he wore a wrapper of shreds that looked like he had picked them up where dead bodies are burnt. Standing before the Kali Temple, he looked at the image and then recited a hymn with such power that the whole temple seemed to shake. Mother Kali looked pleased and smiled."
The 19-year-old Sri Ramakrishna was also present at this auspicious occasion. Noticing him as the brother of Ramkumar, the Rani and her son-in-law Mathur Mohas Biswas asked him to become a priest in the Vishnu Temple. At first Sri Ramakrishna did not want to accept any kind of binding engagement but, later on, he had to yield.
Ramkumar, who served as priest in the Kali Temple, died within a year after the dedication ceremony, and Sri Ramakrishna took over his duties. Sri Ramakrishna's worship was unique. Whenever the Rani got a chance, she tried to listen to Ramakrishna's songs of devotion to Kali.
One day, the Rani sat inside the Kali shrine while Sri Ramakrishna sang a song full of longing for the Divine Mother Kali. Suddenly he stopped, turned and slapped the Rani's face. "What," he shouted. "You are thinking worldly thoughts even in this holy place."
The temple guards rushed forward to protect the Rani and drag Sri Ramakrishna out of the temple. "No, don't disturb him," ordered the Rani. "The Divine Mother Herself punished me and illumined my heart." She wondered how Sri Ramakrishna could have known that she was thinking about a lawsuit.
The Rani fell seriously ill in 1861.
The best doctors of Calcutta tried their utmost to cure her but, at last, gave up hope. They then suggested that she be moved to a healthier place. It was Rasmani's desire to go to her garden house at Kalighat, in Southern Calcutta, which was on the bank of the Adi Ganga, a small stream flowing into the Ganga.
Rasmani knew that her death was imminent and there was one task which she had left unfinished. The property which she had bought in Dinajput (now Bangladesh) as an endowment for the maintenance of the Dakshinswar temple was still not transferred to the temple trust. She executed the deed of endowment on February 18, 1861 and died the next day.
Shortly before her passing away, she was brought to the bank of the Ganga. Seeing some lamps lighted in front of her, she exclaimed: Remove, remove these lights! I don't care for this artificial illumination anymore. Now my Mother has come and the brilliance of Her form has illumined the whole place." After a short pause she passed away, saying, "Mother, you have come!"
Although the Rani was a farsighted woman and had purchased a huge property for 226,000 rupees to assure proper temple maintenance after her death, she could not foresee the 1947 partition of India. Her land was located in a zone that became Bangladesh, and the government confiscated all her property. From then on, the Dakshinswar Kali Temple had to be maintained without income from this property.
http://209.85.175.132/search?q=cache:QSHJZ9uf_fEJ:www.kalimandir.org/library/libraryhome.asp%3Fpage%3Darticles%26item%3D15_rani.xml+Rani+Rasmani&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=in
The Kali Temple at Dakshineswar
and Sri Ramakrishna
Swami Prabhananda
One day Sri Ramakrishnn was talking to some devotees when he said, The feeling of "I" and "mine" is ignorance. People say that Rani Rasmani built the Kali temple; but nobody says it was the work of God. ... After attaining Knowledge a man says: "O God, nothing belongs to me - neither this house of worship nor this Kali temple. ... These are all Thine. Wife, son, and family do not belong to me. They are nil Thine."
Two Significant Events
One event after another, like surging waves of a mountain stream, sweeps through the valley of time. But very few leave any imprint deep enough to be noticed for even a short period, while those of most are quickly washed away. The imprints of a few, however, are what bear witness to the great movements that shape the course of history. During the nineteenth century two important streams, flowing around two extraordinary personalities, had their source in Bengal: one in the elite urban centre of Calcutta, the capital of British India, and the other in the quiet village of Kamarpukur, then untouched by British culture. Ultimately these streams merged, forming a mighty confluence, at a small village called Dakshineswar, just north of Calcutta. It was here that an exquisite temple to the Divine Mother Kali was built, and a profound spiritual milieu was created by one of the greatest men to walk this earth. And here a new history was created that drew people from all walks of life, including some who were destined to help in a movement that would bring new hope to the world.
Of these two personalities, one was the incomparable spiritual genius, Sri Ramakrishna (1836-86), who is now worshipped as the embodiment of five thousand years of the spiritual life of India. The second was the powerful and influential mistress of a very wealthy and aristocratic family of Calcutta, Rani Rasmani (1793-1861). Rani Rasmani is still adored in Bengal as a paragon of intelligence, piety, compassion and character.
Dakshineswar in the Early 1980s and Before
In the early decades of the 1800s, there were only a few huts in Dakshineswar and the adjacent villages on the eastern bank of the Ganges. We can get an idea of the condition of this area about a decade before the temple was built in a description given by J ? Marshman in the January 1845 issue of Calcutta Review. There he wrote: 'A little higher up we have the village of Dukhinsore, remarkable chiefly for the country seat, mapped down in the map of Hastie's Garden, but which has repeatedly changed hands during the last thirty years. To the north of it lies the Powder Magazine. During the last four years which have elapsed since Joshep's map was published, four elegant houses have sprung up to the south of the garden.' (2) The houses mentioned here include the garden houses of Jadulal Mullick and Shambhucharan Mullick.
According to an old legend, the illustrious King Vana had his palace at Deulpota, which is now the heart of the urban area of Dakshineswar. The original name of the village was Sonitpur, though some say it was called Sambhalpur. As the family deity of King Vana was known as Dakshineswar Shiva, eventually the village came to be known by the name Dakshineswar. Some say that Dakshineswar Shiva can no longer be traced, while others say that the present Buro Shiva of Shivtala, near the bank of the Ganges, is indeed this same Dakshineswar Shiva.
About three hundred years ago the entire area of what is now Dakshineswar, including Doulpota, was a dense forest. Only a handful of families of fishermen and boatmen were settled here and there in the area. Then Durgaprasad Roy Choudhury and Bhavaniprasad Roy Choudhury, of the well-known Savarna Choudhury family, came from Barisha and settled there. They brought with them a number of people, cleared the forest, and developed the village in their own way. An illustrious descendant of this family was Yogindranath, who became a monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and was known as Swami Yogananda. (3) From such an obscure origin, Dakshineswar has risen to become an internationally renowned spiritual centre. Today the life of Dakshineswar centres around the Kali temple that was constructed by Rani Rasmani and sanctified by the life and spiritual practices of Sri Ramakrishna.
Sri Ramakrishna's Arrival at Dakshineswar
Sri Ramakrishna was the youngest son of the saintly Kshudiram Chattopadhyaya and his wife, the kind-hearted Chandramani Devi. His childhood and adolescence were spent in the environment of rural Bengal, which in those days was almost untouched by British culture. His extraordinary memory, sharp intellect and pure character, along with his sweet and guileless behaviour and his wonderful talents in art, music and acting made him the darling of the whole village. The death of his father when he was only seven years old as well as a divine vision of the Goddess Vishalakshi determined the future course of his life. He turned his back on what he considered mere bread-winning education and instead became drawn towards the knowledge that would help him realize God. In 1853, when he was seventeen years old, he came to Calcutta with his elder brother Ramkumar to assist him in his duties as priest for some families living in Jhamapukur. By then the construction work on the Kali temple in Dakshineswar was almost complete, but its consecration and formal opening had been postponed for various reasons. Perhaps this was divinely ordained so that the young spiritual seeker Sri Ramakrishna could be brought there. Why? Because it was meant for him to awaken the all-powerful Divine Mother in the stone image of the temple and release the energy of the universal kundalini for the welfare of humanity.
Rani Rasmani and Her Philanthropic Activities
Rani Rasmani was the daughter of a poor couple who lived in the village of Kona, in 24-Parganas. Her father, Harekrishna Das, built huts as a profession and was also a farmer. Her mother, Rampriya, died when Rasmani was just seven years old. In the year 1804, when Rani Rasmani was eleven, she was married to Rajchandra Das (5), the zamindar of Janbari. He had married twice before but both wives had died young, so Rani Rasmani was his third wife. Soon after the marriage the income of her husband's family increased, so her arrival in the family was considered propitious. Rajchandra himself was given the title 'Rai Bahadur' and was appointed an honorary magistrate. He had to his credit many philanthropic activities such as the construction of Babu Ghat, Hatkhola Ghat and Babu Road (now called Rani Rasmani Road), the donation of the land for the excavation of the Beliaghata canal, the construction of a shelter for the dying and their relatives at the Nimtola crematorium, the digging of the Talpukur pond at Barrackpore, the building of Metcalfe Hall for a library, and also donations to the Famine Relief Fund. The couple had four daughters, named Padmamani, Kumari, Karunamayi and Jagadamba. In 1836, at the age of fifty-one, Rajchandra died from an attack of thrombosis.
Mathurmohan Biswas was the husband of Rani Rasmani's third daughter, Karunamayi. He was cultured, well-mannered, quite intelligent and had an English education. When his wife died, he married her younger sister Jagadamba. With the assistance of Mathurmohan, Rani Rasmani was able to administer her estate very well. She increased her property holdings considerably, and also earned a substantial amount through trade and business. This success, together with her numerous charitable activities, spread her name throughout Bengal. Among her many philanthropic activities, especially remarkable were the excavation of the Sonai and Beliaghata canals, the setting up of the bazaar at Bhowanipur, the construction of a bathing ghat as well as a shelter for the dying and their relatives at Kalighat, the construction of a ghat on the bank of the Ganges at Halisahar, and also the construction of a substantial part of the road from the Suvarnarekha River to Puri in Orissa. Moreover, she earned the profound gratitude of her tenants for her protection of them from oppression by the indigo planters. Again, she also paid for the excavation of the connecting canal between the Madhumati and Navaganga Rivers, which alone cost her lakhs of rupees. Her generosity and concern for the welfare of others became proverbial in the homes of Bengal.
Her Memorable Achievement
However, her most memorable achievement was the establishment of a temple to Mother Kali at Dakshineswar, and along with it, providing Sri Ramakrishna with all the necessary facilities to carry on his long and intense spiritual quest. While it was Rani Rasmani's devotion, hard work and perseverance that made the construction of the temple possible, it was the thirty years of Sri Ramakrishna's God-intoxicated life that elevated the temple complex into one of the greatest pilgrimage places of the world.
The account of how the pious yet resolute Rani Rasmani came to build the temple at Dakshineswar is truly a combination of the extraordinary and the popular. It is said that in the year 1847 (1254 BS) (6) Rani Rasmani was making arrangements to visit the holy city of Kashi. For many years she had cherished a desire to make this pilgrimage and worship to her heart's content Lord Vishvanath and the Divine Mother Annapurna. She had also set aside a large sum of money to meet the expenses for the trip. Earlier she had bought some land at Kashi in order to build a temple there. (7) Perhaps she intended to go there and make the final arrangements herself for establishing the temple. It was decided that the Rani would be accompanied by her three daughters and their husbands, plus other relatives, and a host of servants, maidservants, watchmen and armed guards. Twentv-five large barges had been commissioned. The elaborate arrangements were almost complete.
At that time a famine had cast its dark shadow over the entire country, and people were in a state of panic. The agonizing cries of thousands of starving people and the news of hundreds of deaths from starvation made the Rani restless. While going for her daily bath in the Ganges she also personally observed the unspeakable miseries of the starving people. The night before the Rani was to leave on her I journey she had a dream of the Goddess. According to another version, however, the Rani had already set out on the pilgrimage and had reached the village of Dakshineswar. There on the boat she received a divine command in a dream. The Goddess told her that there was no need to go to Kashi. Instead, a beautiful temple should be built on the bank of the Ganges where the Goddess would be installed and regular worship and services offered. The Goddess assured her, 'I will manifest myself in the stone image and will regularly accept your daily worship and offering of food.' The next morning the Rani recounted her dream to Mathurmohan and told him to call off the pilgrimage. The food and other supplies stored on the barges were then distributed to the famine-stricken people. In addition, the Rani donated some more money for their relief.
From Sri Ramakrishna's account we learn that after the Rani received this divine command she gave up the idea of going to Kashi and resolved to build a temple for the Goddess on the bank of the Ganges. However, the statement she gave in legal document for the endowment executed by her in the year I860 (1267 BS) mentions a different reason for building the temple. There she said: 'During his lifetime my husband had a desire to build a temple and offer service to the Lord. But as he suddenly died and could not fulfil this desire, I have purchased by bill of sale, for carrying out his wishes, revenue-generating land measuring 54 1/2 (fifty-four and a half) bighas, bearing an annual revenue of... .' In another part of the same document, the Rani's reason for establishing the temple was more clearly stated. It was 'for the fulfilment of the desire of my deceased husband and for his spiritual welfare'. Of course, there is no difficulty in admitting that both the aforesaid divine command and the unfulfilled desire of her husband were behind the establishment of the temple.
There is a saying, 'The western bank of the Ganges is as holy as Varanasi.' The Rani had great faith in this and searched extensively for land at Bally, Uttarpara and other places along the western bank of the Ganges, but she failed to find a plot anywhere. The well-known Das Ani and Chay Ani group of zamindars declared that it would be beneath their dignity to step in the Ganges from a ghat built by someone else on their land. According to another account, the Rani had tried to build the temple within the precincts of the Siddheshwari Kali temple at Balidaghat in Halisahar on the bank of the river. But even with the promise of huge sums of money the Rani could not secure any foothold there due to the stubborn opposition of the influential brahmin and kayastha communities. (9) Thus she was compelled to search for land on the eastern bank of the Ganges, and she finally selected the land where the present temple complex stands.
The Temple Land
The major portion of this land had been owned by an Englishman named John Hastie (10) and was popularly known as Saheban Bagicha ('Saheb's garden'). Another portion was a Muslim cemetery and was the burial place of a Gazi (a Muslim saint). This land was shaped like the back of a tortoise, and according to the Tantras, such a graveyard is ideal for establishing a temple to Shakti, the Divine Mother, and for practising sadhana of this path. Sri Ramakrishna observed, 'Therefore, as if guided by Providence, the Rani chose this piece of land.'
Swami Saradananda wrote in the Lilaprasanga: 'It is recorded in the Endowment document that the land of the Kali temple complex is 60 bighas.' In the document itself, however, we find that the land measured 54 1/2 bighas, and it was described as being bounded by the Ganges on the west, by the land of Kashinath Roy Choudhury and others on the east, by the government's powder magazine on the north (11), and by the buildings previously owned by John Hastie on the south, where Jadulal Mullick's garden house was built. Rani Rasmani purchased the land at a cost of Rs 42,500 from John Hastie's executor, James Hastie, the attorney of the Supreme Court. The day was Monday, 6 September 1847 (22 Bhadra 1254 BS). In order to expand the area, the Rani acquired additional land from some boatmen on the north, and part of the Muslim cemetery on the east (12). Thus the total area of the land came to 60 bighas, and altogether it cost the Rani Rs 55,000.' (13) Later a portion of the land on the south had to be given up for a railway line and for the construction of Vivekananda Bridge. Thus the present amount of land held by the temple authorities is approximately 58 bighas.(14)
The Northern Part of the Temple
To the north of what is now the temple courtyard there is a building called the Kuthi Bari, which was the house of the previous owner, John Hastie. Possibly it had originally been built by some indigo planters, as the Bengali Kathamrita indicates that indigo planters used to live there. The ancient banyan tree and the platform around it, which was used by Sri Ramakrishna, had also been there earlier (15). And the holy shrine of Gazi Saheb in the Muslim cemetery was quite ancient.
In Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master, Swami Saradananda gives us a vivid picture of the northern part of the compound:
In those days the land surrounding the Panchavati was not as even as it is now. It was full of pits, ditches, lowlands, jungles, etc. There grew an Amalaki tree among the wild trees and plants. It was a burial ground besides being a jungle. Therefore people hardly went there 'even in the day time. ... We have heard from Hriday that the [amalaki] tree grew on a low piece of land. So, anyone sitting under that tree could not be seen from the high land outside the jungle.' (16)
Swami Saradananda also informs us that when the small pond called the goose pond (Hanspukur) was re-excavated, the ground around the old Panchavati was filled with mud from the pond, and in the process, the amalaki tree was destroyed. Sri Ramakrishna then set up a new Panchavati. He planted a holy fig tree to the west of the small hut, and Hriday planted saplings of a banyan tree, an ashoka tree, a vilva tree, and an amalaki tree. Around this Sri Ramakrishna added saplings of the holy basil and the aparajita creeper and then had the whole place fenced in with the help of a temple gardener named Bhartrihari. The basil plants and aparajita creepers grew quickly, so in a short time the place was quiet and secluded and suitable for meditation.
Shortly after the whole plot was acquired, boundary walls were put up with two gates - the main gate for people coming from Calcutta, and a second gate meant to facilitate access to the Ganges for bathers from the Vachaspatipara, Mukherjipara, Bhattacharyapara and Choudhurypara areas. A brick embankment, retaining wall and a cement bathing ghat on the Ganges were also constructed then. But the strong current from the flood-tides in the river which come from the southwest - from the bend in the river at Ghusuri —struck the property with such force that the embankment and retaining wall were soon washed away. Rani Rasmani then assigned the project of constructing a new embankment, retaining wall and ghat to M/s MacIntosh & Burn Co. The work was completed at a cost of 1,60,000 rupees. After the embankment and retaining wall were built, the construction of the temple complex as well as the digging of the pond, planting of trees and saplings, and laying out of flower gardens could begin.
The Temple Architecture
The name of the architect of the temple and other such details are not known for certain, but it is not difficult to identify the principal traditions that influenced its design. Regarding temple architecture of Bengal, generally four traditions have been followed: Rekha or Shikhar Deul, Bhadra or Pida Deul, Stupashirsha Bhadra or Pida Deul, and Shikharashirsha Bhadra or Pida Deul. Well into the Muslim period, however, temple architecture in Bengal developed a truly indigenous character, as the temples were built in a style modelled on the thatched huts of the villages. These temples can be broadly classified into three categories - Bangla Mandir, Chala Mandir and Ratna or Chura Mandir, which are differentiated by the design of the roofs. (17) The design of the Ratna Mandir, with its graceful turrets on the roofs, was truly an indication of the genius of Bengali architects. And one of the finest examples of the Ratna Mandir design is the Navaratna temple (a temple with nine turrets) of Kali at Dakshineswar. The roof has two tiers. On the first tier there are four turrets - one at each of the four corners. Then four more turrets grace the corners of the smaller second tier, and a large ninth turret crowns the centre. The Navaratna style is truly majestic and was a special innovation in temple architecture. The total height of the temple at Dakshineswar is 100 feet, and the area at the base is 46 1/2 square feet. (18) Besides the Navaratna temple to the Divine Mother, there are also within the complex a row of twelve Atchala temples (that is each temple has a two-tiered roof, each tier having four sides) to Shiva, plus a temple to Radha-Govinda. The whole complex is arranged in a beautiful and harmonious manner.
(to be continued)
Notes and References
1. M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda (Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2002), 456.
2. Counterpoint, ed. Alok Roy (Calcutta: Riddhi-India, 1977), 1.201.
3. Subodh Kumar Roy, Itivritla - Ariadaha ? Dakshineswar (1971), 80-90; and Sashi Bhusan Samanta, Dakshineswar Mahatirthe Sri Sri Ramakrishnadever Lilatattva (1345 BS), 1-2.
4. Her mother called her Rani, but her given name was Rasmani.
5. Rajchandra's father, Pritiram, in association with a moneylender from East Bengal, opened a depot for selling bamboo at Beleghata. A large quantity of bamboo could be tied up and despatched from thereby floating it down the river to another point. A large bundle of bamboo was called banser madh, and from this, Pritiram got the title 'Madh'. In 1813, Pritiram started building 'Satmahala' (a house with seven sections) in Janbazar, but he died before it was finished. Eventually, in 1821, his son Rajchandra completed it. The total cost was Rs 5,00,000.
6. From the deed and other documents it is known that the land lor the temple at Dakshineswar was bought on 6 September 1847 (22 Bhadra 1254 BS),so the arrangements for the Rani's pilgrimage must have been made either earlier that same year or in the preceding year.
7. Some years later, Mathurmohan's son Trailokya built temples on that land in Kashi dedicated to Trailokyeshwar Shiva and to Lakshmi-Narayana.
8. According to the Lilaprasanga, about one hundred boats, big and small and laden with various supplies, were berthed on the river.
9. Kumarhatta Halisahar High School Centenary Volume (1854-1954), 49.
10. John Hastie lived on this property in the Kuthi. An industrious man, he became involved in setting up a jute mill there. After finalizing part of the plans, he left for London to purchase the machinery, but died during the journey, and the jute mill was not built.
11. A powder magazine had been established there in the 1840s. Wimco Match Factory is located there now. (Itivritta, 101.)
12. Dakshineswar Mahatirthe Sr iSr iRamnkrishnadever Lilatattva, 7.
13. Swami Jagadisvarananda, Dakshinesware Sri Ramakrishna (Umambazar, Hooghly: Sri Ramakrishna Dharmachakra, 1359 BS), 26.
14. Information courtesy of Sri Kushal Choudhury, Secretary, Dakshineswar Kali Mandir and Endowment Estate.
15. Swnmi Nityatmananda, Sri Ma Darshan, (Calcutta: General Printers and Publishers, 2nd edn), 3.216.
16. Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1991), 1.157.
17. Asim Mukhopadhyaya, Chabbis Parganar Mandir (Calcutta: Ananda Bazar Prakashan, 1377 BS), 2-5.
18. David J McCutchion, Late Mediaeval Temples of Bengal: Origins and Classification (Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 1972), 52.
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Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna was born on 18 February 1836 in the village of Kamarpukur about sixty miles northwest of Kolkata. His parents, Kshudiram Chattopadhyaya and Chandramani Devi, were poor but very pious and virtuous. As a child, Ramakrishna (his childhood name was Gadadhar) was dearly loved by the villagers. From early days, he was disinclined towards formal education and worldly affairs. He was, however, a talented boy, and could sing and paint well. He was fond of serving holy men and listening to their discourses. He was also very often found to be absorbed in spiritual moods. At the age of six, he experienced the first ecstasy while watching a flight of white cranes moving against the background of black clouds. This tendency to enter into ecstasy intensified with age. His father's death when he was seven years old served only to deepen his introspection and increase his detachment from the world.
As a Priest at Dakshineswar Temple
When Sri Ramakrishna was sixteen, his brother Ramkumar took him to Kolkata to assist him in his priestly profession. In 1855 the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar built by Rani Rasmani was consecrated and Ramkumar became the chief priest in that temple. When he died a few months later, Ramakrishna was appointed the priest. Ramakrishna developed intense devotion to Mother Kali and spent hours in loving adoration of her image, forgetting the rituals of priestly duties. His intense longing culminated in the vision of Mother Kali as boundless effulgence engulfing everything around him.
Intense Spiritual Practices
Sri Ramakrishna's God-intoxicated state alarmed his relatives in Kamarpukur and they got him married to Saradamani, a girl from the neighbouring village of Jayrambati. Unaffected by the marriage, Sri Ramakrishna plunged into even more intense spiritual practices. Impelled by a strong inner urge to experience different aspects of God he followed, with the help of a series of Gurus, the various paths described in the Hindu scriptures, and realized God through each of them. The first teacher to appear at Dakshineswar (in 1861) was a remarkable woman known as Bhairavi Brahmani who was an advanced spiritual adept, well versed in scriptures. With her help Sri Ramakrishna practised various difficult disciplines of the Tantrik path, and attained success in all of them. Three years later came a wandering monk by name Totapuri, under whose guidance Sri Ramakrishna attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest spiritual experience mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. He remained in that state of non-dual existence for six months without the least awareness of even his own body. In this way, Sri Ramakrishna relived the entire range of spiritual experiences of more than three thousand years of Hindu religion.
Following Other Faiths
With his unquenchable thirst for God, Sri Ramakrishna broke the frontiers of Hinduism, glided through the paths of Islam and Christianity, and attained the highest realization through each of them in a short span of time. He looked upon Jesus and Buddha as incarnations of God, and venerated the ten Sikh Gurus. He expressed the quintessence of his twelve-year-long spiritual realizations in a simple dictum: Yato mat, tato path "As many faiths, so many paths." He now habitually lived in an exalted state of consciousness in which he saw God in all beings.
Worshipping His Wife
In 1872, his wife Sarada, now nineteen years old, came from the village to meet him. He received her cordially, and taught her how to attend to household duties and at the same time lead an intensely spiritual life. One night he worshipped her as the Divine Mother in his room at the Dakshineswar temple. Although Sarada continued to stay with him, they lived immaculately pure lives, and their marital relationship was purely spiritual. It should be mentioned here that Sri Ramakrishna had been ordained a Sannyasin (Hindu monk), and he observed the basic vows of a monk to perfection. But outwardly he lived like a lay man, humble, loving and with childlike simplicity. During Sri Ramakrishna's stay at Dakshineswar, Rani Rasmani first acted as his patron. After her death, her son-in-law Mathur Nath Biswas took care of his needs.
Contact with Some Notables
Sri Ramakrishna's name as an illumined saint began to spread. Mathur once convened an assembly of scholars, and they declared him to be not an ordinary human being but the Avatar of the Modern Age. In those days the socio-religious movement known as Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, was at the height of popularity in Bengal. Sri Ramakrishna came into contact with several leaders and members of Brahmo Samaj and exerted much influence on them. His teaching on harmony of religions attracted people belonging to different denominations, and Dakshineswar became a veritable Parliament of Religions.
Coming of the Devotees
As bees swarm around a fully blossomed flower, devotees now started coming to Sri Ramakrishna. He divided them into two categories. The first one consisted of householders. He taught them how to realize God while living in the world and discharging their family duties. The other more important category was a band of educated youths, mostly from the middle class families of Bengal, whom he trained to become monks and to be the torchbearers of his message to mankind. The foremost among them was Narendranath, who years later, as Swami Vivekananda, carried the universal message of Vedanta to different parts of the world, revitalized Hinduism, and awakened the soul of India.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna did not write any book, nor did he deliver public lectures. Instead, he chose to speak in a simple language using parables and metaphors by way of illustration, drawn from the observation of nature and ordinary things of daily use. His conversations were charming and attracted the cultural elite of Bengal. These conversations were noted down by his disciple Mahendranath Gupta who published them in the form of a book, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita in Bengali. Its English rendering, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, was released in 1942; it continues to be increasingly popular to this day on account of its universal appeal and relevance.
Last Days
The intensity of his spiritual life and untiring spiritual ministration to the endless stream of seekers told on Sri Ramakrishna's health. He developed cancer of the throat in 1885. He was shifted to a spacious suburban villa where his young disciples nursed him day and night. He instilled in them love for one another, and thus laid the foundation for the future monastic brotherhood known as Ramakrishna Math. In the small hours of 16 August 1886 Sri Ramakrishna gave up his physical body, uttering the name of the Divine Mother, and passed into Eternity.
Chronology of Main Events related to Sri Ramakrishna's Life
Year
Event
1775
Birth of Kshudiram, Sri Ramakrishna's father.
1791
Birth of Chandra Devi, Sri Ramakrishna's mother.
1805
Birth of Ramkumar, Sri Ramakrishna's eldest brother.
1814
Kshudiram settles at Kamarpukur, Sri Ramakrishna's birthplace.
1826
Birth of Rameshwar, Sri Ramakrishna's elder brother.
1835
Kshudiram's pilgrimage to Gaya.
1836
Birth of Sri Ramakrishna, known in boyhood as Gadadhar, February 18, about 5:15 a.m.
1842 or 1843
First trance of Gadadhar at the sight of white birds and dark clouds.
1843
Death of Kshudiram.
1845
Gadadhar's sacred thread ceremony.
1850
Ramkumar opens his school in Kolkata.
1852
Gadadhar comes to Kolkata.
1853
Birth of the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, December 22.
1855
Dakshineshwar Kali temple founded. Ramkumar became priest of Kali Temple. Gadadhar, known as Sri Ramakrishna, took over the dressing and decorating of the Divine Mother. Hriday, nephew of Sri Ramakrishna, assisted Ramkumar and Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna appointed first priest of the Vishnu temple and then of the Kali temple. Ramkumar appointed priest of the Vishnu temple.
1856
Death of Ramkumar. Sri Ramakrishna's first vision of Mother Kali as ocean of Light.
1857
Sri Ramakrishna remains mostly in a God-intoxicated state. His treatment under Ganga Prasad Sen.
1858
Haladhari, Sri Ramakrishna's cousin, appointed priest at Dakshineshwar. Sri Ramakrishna goes to Kamarpukur.
1859
Sri Ramakrishna's marriage. Stays at Kamarpukur for 1½ years.
1860
Return to Dakshineshwar. Mathur's vision of Sri Ramakrishna as Shiva and Kali.
1861
Death of Rani Rasmani. Meeting with Bhairavi Brahmani. Tantra practice under the Brahmani starts.
1863
Completion of Tantra practice. Chandra Devi comes to live at Dakshineshwar.
1864
Sri Ramakrishna's practice of vatsalya bhava under Jatadhari. Practice of madhur bhava. Initiation into sannyasa by Totapuri.
1865
Akshay, Sri Ramakrishna's nephew, replaces Haladhari. Totapuri leaves Dakshineshwar.
1866
Sri Ramakrishna in the Advaita plane for six months. Practice of Islam.
1867
Sri Ramakrishna at Kamarpukur. Brahmani bids farewell.
1868
Pilgrimage with Mathur to Deoghar, Varanasi, Allahabad and Vrindaban. Meeting with Ganga Ma, a Vaishnava woman devotee.
1870
Visit with Mathur to eastern parts of Bengal including Kalna and Navadvip. Meeting with Bhagavandas Babaji at the Colootola Harisabha.
1871
Death of Mathur.
1872
The Holy Mother's first visit to Dakshineshwar. The Shodashi Puja.
1873
Death of Rameshwar, elder brother of Sri Ramakrishna.
1874
The Holy Mother's second visit to Dakshineshwar. Sri Ramakrishna's practice of Christianity, and vision of Christ.
1875
Sri Ramakrishna's first visit to Keshab Chandra Sen. Sri Ramakrishna's last visit to Kamarpukur.
1876
Death of Chandra Devi.
1877
Death of Shambhu Mallick. The Holy Mother's third visit to Dakshineshwar.
1878
Close contact with Keshab and the Brahmos.
1879
Coming of disciples begins. Ramachandra Datta and Manomohan Mitra come to the Master.
1880
Surendra Nath Mitra comes to the Master.
1881
Dismissal of Hriday. Rakhal (later Swami Brahmananda), Narendra (later Swami Vivekananda) and Balaram Bose come to the Master.
1882
M. (Mahendra Nath Gupta) and Baburam (later Swami Premananda) come to the Master. Visit to Pundit Vidyasagar. The Holy Mother again at Dakshineswar.
1883
Adhar, Shashi (later Swami Ramakrishnananda) and Sarat (later Swami Saradananda) come to the Master.
1884
Kalipada and Kaliprasad (later Swami Abhedananda) come to the Master. Death of Keshab. Meeting with Pundit Shashadhar. Gopal's Ma and Nag Mahashay come.
1885
The Holy Mother comes to live at Dakshineswar for the last time. The "inner circle" of disciples becomes complete with the coming of Purna. Last visit to Panihati. Illness and removal to Shyampukur. Association with Dr. Sarkar. Removal to Cossipore.
1886
Treatment at Cossipore. Organization of disciples. Mahasamadhi on 16 August, at two minutes past 1 a.m.
Message of Sri Ramakrishna
The message of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world, which he gave through his life and through his recorded conversations, may be briefly stated as follows:
The goal of human life is the realization of the Ultimate Reality which alone can give man supreme fulfilment and everlasting peace. This is the essence of all religions.
The Ultimate Reality is one; but it is personal as well as impersonal, and is indicated by different names (such as God, Ishvar, etc) in different religions.
The Ultimate Reality can be realized through various paths taught in world religions. All religions are true in so far as they lead to the same ultimate Goal.
Purity of mind is an essential condition for the attainment of the Ultimate Reality; real purity is freedom from lust and greed. External observances are only of secondary importance.
Through spiritual practices man can overcome his evil tendencies, and divine grace can redeem even the worst sinner. Therefore one should not brood over the past mistakes, but should develop a positive outlook on life by depending on God.
God realization is possible for all. The householders need not renounce the world; but they should pray sincerely, practise discrimination between the Eternal and the temporal and remain unattached. God listens to sincere prayer. Intense longing (vyakulata) is the secret of success in spiritual life.
God dwells in all people but the manifestation of this inner Divinity varies from person to person. In saintly people there is greater manifestation of God. Women are special manifestations of Divine Mother of the Universe, and so are to be treated with respect.
Since God dwells in all people, helping the needy should be done not out of compassion (which is an attitude of condescension) but as humble service to God.
Egoism, caused by ignorance, is the root-cause of all suffering.
Life is an expression of the spontaneous creativity (Lila) of God. Pleasure and pain, success and failure, etc are to be borne with patience, and one should resign oneself to God's will under all circumstances.
Contributions of Sri Ramakrishna to World Culture
1. Spiritual Ideal : One of the important contributions of Sri Ramakrishna is the reestablishment of the ideal of God realization in the modern world. In a world in which people's faith in traditional religions has been considerably reduced by the relentless attack of the forces of atheism, materialism and scientific thinking, Sri Ramakrishna established the possibility of having direct experience of transcendent Reality. His life has enabled thousands of people to gain or regain faith in God and in the eternal verities of religion. As Mahatma Gandhi has stated: "His (Ramakrishna's) life enables us to see God face to face. No one can read the story of his life without being convinced that God alone is real and that all else is an illusion."
2. Harmony of Religions: Sri Ramakrishna, however, is more well known all over the world as the Prophet of Harmony of Religions. He did not say that all the religions are the same. He recognized differences among religions but showed that, in spite of these differences, all religions lead to the same ultimate goal, and hence they are all valid and true. This view is nowadays known as "Pluralism": Sri Ramakrishna is its primary originator. The uniqueness of Sri Ramakrishna's view is that it was based, not on speculation, but on direct experience gained through actual practice. Since conflicts among religions and the rise of religious fundamentalism are a major threat to the peace, prosperity and progress of humanity, Sri Ramakrishna's doctrine of harmony of religions has immense importance in the modern world. Regarding this, the distinguished British historian Arnold Toynbee has written: "… Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence and Sri Ramakrishna's testimony to the harmony of religions: here we have the attitude and the spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family – and in the Atomic Age, this is the only alternative to destroying ourselves."
3. Bridge between the ancient and the modern: Sri Ramakrishna is the real link between the ancient and the modern. He showed how the ancient ideals and experiences could be realized even while following the normal modern way of life.
4. Boost to moral life: Sri Ramakrishna's emphasis on truthfulness and renunciation of lust and greed has given a great boost to moral life in modern times. He also cleansed religious life of immoral practices, external pomp, miracle mongering, etc.
5. Divinization of love: Sri Ramakrishna elevated love from the level of emotions to the level of the unity of all Selves in God. Although the principle of oneness of the Supreme Self and its immanence in all beings is a central point in the Upanishads, it was seldom applied in practical life. Sri Ramakrishna saw the Divine in his wife, in his disciples, in others, even in fallen women, and treated them all with respect. The famous dictum of the New Testament, "God is Love", found its verification in Sri Ramakrishna. Divinization of love and human relationships is another contribution of Sri Ramakrishna which has immense significance for the welfare of humanity.
Some sayings of Sri Ramakrishna:
He is born in vain who, having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life.
You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.
One cannot have the vision of God as long as one has these three – shame, hatred, and fear.
Be not a traitor in your thoughts. Be sincere; act according to your thoughts; and you shall surely succeed. Pray with a sincere and simple heart, and your prayers will be heard.
Do not let worldly thoughts and anxieties disturb your mind. Do everything that is necessary in the proper time, and let your mind be always fixed on God.
You should remember that the heart of the devotee is the abode of God. He dwells, no doubt, in all beings, but He especially manifests Himself in the heart of the devotee. The heart of the devotee is the drawing room of God.
Pure knowledge and pure love are one and the same thing. Both lead the aspirants to the same goal. The path of love is much easier.
Who is the best devotee of God? It is he who sees, after the realization of Brahman that God alone has become all living beings, the universe, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. One must discriminate at first, saying 'Not this, not this', and reach the roof. After that one realizes that the steps are made of the same materials as the roof, namely, brick, lime, and brick-dust. The devotee realizes that it is Brahman alone that has become all these — the living beings, the universe, and so on.
Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud, but its skin is always bright and shiny.
I tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind toward God; otherwise you will not succeed. Do your duty with one hand and with the other hold to God. After the duty is over you will hold to God with both hands.
The breeze of His grace is blowing day and night over your head. Unfurl the sails of your boat (mind), if you want to make rapid progress through the ocean of life.
One should constantly repeat the name of God. The name of God is highly effective in the Kaliyuga. The practice of yoga is not possible in this age, for the life of a man depends on food. Clap your hands while repeating God's name, and the birds of your sins will fly away.
Recommended for further reading:
1. Mahendranath Gupta (M), The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, tr. Swami Nikhilananda, Two volumes. Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math
2. Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master, tr. Swami Jagadananda, Two volumes. Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math
3. Life of Sri Ramakrishna. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama
4. Christopher Isherwood, Ramakrishna and His disciples. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama
5. Romain Rolland, The Life of Ramakrishna, tr. E. K. Malcolm Smith. Kolkata:
Advaita Ashrama
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Online
http://209.85.175.132/search?q=cache:tfMbGaWwzBgJ:www.belurmath.org/sriramakrishna.htm+Rani+Rasmani&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=in
EPILOGUE
When the Gods lay exhausted after warring with the demons, the evil-natured demon king Mahishasura took the opportunity to assemble an army and declare himself Lord of Heaven, Ruler of the Universe.
This blasphemy reached Vishnu's ears and, in anger, he shot forth a terrible light from his forehead. Shiva, too, was angry. ascended from his lofty state of meditation and beamed a sharp ray of blinding light in the same direction as Vishnu. Brahma, Indra and the other mighty Gods did likewise, each issuing forth piercing rays of light. All the Gods' rays joined at one point and, slowly, the blazing concentration of light took shape in the form of a woman.
The light of Shiva formed her face; Yama gave her hair and Vishnu her arms. From the light of Chandra, the moon God, her two breasts were formed. Indra modeled her waist and Varuna her thighs. Earth gave her hips and Brahma gave her feet. The light from the fire God, Agni, fashioned her three eyes. Thus, all gods contributed their power to manifest the auspicious Devi, the great Mother Goddess ("Devi" is derived from the Sanskrit root word "div" which means "to shine" - the Shining One).
As soon as the Devi was fully formed, the Immortals prayed to her and worshiped her with praise, ornaments and weapons. Shiva gave her a trident drawn forth from his own, Vishnu a powerful discus, and Indra, the king of the Gods, gave her a thunderbolt identical to his own. Surya, the sun God, bestowed his rays on all the pores of her skin, and Varuna, God of the ocean, gave her a divine crest jewel, earrings, bracelets and a garland of unfading lotuses.
"Victory to the Mother," shouted the Gods as they watched the demon battalions approach with the beating of drums, battle cries, and the blowing of conches. Since the
Devi was of enormous size and highly visible, the demons marched straight toward her, attacking from all sides with arrows, clubs, swords, and spears.
Unperturbed, the Devi roared loudly and laughed a frightening, defiant laugh. Again. And again. And then her ten arms rotated, alternately smashing weapons of the demons and hurling them back at her attackers. With great ease, she picked up dozens of demons at once, killing them with her sword. Some demons she didn't even bother to pick up. She stupefied them with the tremendous noise of her bell and then crushed them with her mace.
The demon Raktabija gave the fierce Mother Goddess a fair amount of troubles. He possessed a special magical power which allowed him to create new demons from his own blood. Whenever the Goddess wounded him, each drop of blood that spilled to the ground sprouted another demon full of strength and brutality. But in the end the Mother outwitted him. She picked up Raktabija and lifted him high into the air to avoid spilling his blood on the ground, and then, gnashing him between her teeth, she drank his blood and swallowed him whole.
Other demons, too, tried to confuse the Goddess with their magical powers. Whenever they were threatened by the Devi, they changed their form and color. But, who can escape the great Mother? Bound by her noose and spitting blood, these demons were soon caught by the Devi. And like a child pulling a toy train, she dragged them over the battlefield where scores of demons already lay split into two by the sharp slashes of her sword.
Snatching some elephants with one hand, the Devi flung them into her mouth and, together with the demon drivers, she furiously ground them up with her teeth. She seized one demon by the hair and another by the neck. One she crushed by the weight of her foot and another she crushed with her body.
The Mother's terrible presence filled even the sky. Black clouds gathered and terrifying lightning lit up the ghastly shapes on the ground. There were demons without arms, without legs, and demons torn asunder in the middle of their trunks.
When Mahishasura, the king of the demons, saw his army devastated by the blows of the terrible Mother Goddess, his fury knew no bounds. He expanded his body to take on the fierce shape of a giant buffalo. Intoxicated with his own strength and valor, he roared and charged toward the Devi.
"Roar, roar, O fool," shouted the Goddess. "Roar for a moment. When you are slain by me, the gods will soon roar in this very place."
The earth began to tremble under the stomping feet of the Goddess. Mahishasura fought with all his might but could not conquer the Devi. So he appealed to her sense of justice, complaining that she fought in an unfair way. The Devi, he claimed, received help from so many fierce Goddesses - Durga, Kali, Chamunda, Ambika, and others - and he, Mahishasura, had to fight all by himself.
"I am all alone in the world here," thundered the Devi. "Who else is there besides me? See, O vile one, these Goddesses are but my different powers which again enter into my own self. I stand alone. Don't back off; defend yourself."
The savage fight continued, and the great demon attacked the Mother Goddess with showers of arrows. He hurled discuses, swinging his clubs and mace. To no avail. The Devi killed him with her spear, releasing the soul from its evil-natured body and mind.
Dust clouds carried the stench of singed skin and rotting flesh to the blood-red horizon. The demons had been killed, and their blood flowed, accumulating here and there in small pools around the carcasses of elephants and horses. Only some headless torsos of demons who refused to give up life still fought the Devi. The battle shrieks had died and the only cries now were those of jackals and hyenas. There was nothing left to kill, but the blood-intoxicated Mother in the form of Kali continued the carnage - smashing and slashing dead demons all over again.
The Gods, who had begun to celebrate victory, became filled with fear. Who was going to stop her? There was only one who could: Shiva, the great God. Besmeared with ashes, the third God of the Hindu Trinity went to the battlefield and lay down motionless among the corpses while the rest of the Gods watched from a safe distance.
The intoxicated Kali staggered across corpses until, suddenly, she found herself standing on top of a beautiful male body - nude and besmeared with white ashes. Awed, she stood still for a moment, looked down at him, and saw straight into the eyes of her husband Shiva. When she realized that she was touching her divine husband with her feet - an unthinkably disrespectful act for a Hindu wife - Kali stretched out her tongue in shame and the destruction came to an end.
For those who have grappled with their own ego, the personification of the demons in this story is striking. When the demons first glimpsed the Mother they charged. The darkness sees the light and does not comprehend it. The ego attacks that which it does not understand or that which threatens it.
The demon with the magical power of sprouting a new demon each time a drop of its blood reaches the ground is reminiscent of spiritual pride. This is the power of the ego to inflate itself over "perceived" success in making spiritual progress. Thus spiritual progress is next to impossible as long as spiritual pride keeps sprouting a new demon each time the ego is slashed by some spiritual insight or experience. The ego whispers in our ear, "See what a great spiritual aspirant you are."
Other demons changed form when threatened by the Devi. The ego shifts its position with astounding cunning by the power of rationalization. Mahishasura, the demon king, was intoxicated with his strength and valor and changed into a buffalo. The ego is always consumed with self-importance. When he saw that he was not winning, he tried to fool the Mother with self-pity and claimed that Her many forms were an unfair advantage. The Mother saw through the ploy and destroyed his self-pity with the Truth stating that there was only one Mother. The ego was destroyed and the soul found liberation in Her quick and deadly spear of compassion.
TEMPLE ORIGIN
In the year 1847, the wealthy widow Rani Rasmani prepared to go upon a long pilgrimage to the sacred city of Banaras to express her devotions to the Divine Mother. In those days there was no railway line between Calcutta and Banaras and it was more comfortable for rich persons to make the journey by boat rather than by road. We are told that the convoy of Rani Rasmani consisted of twenty four boats carrying relatives, servants, and supplies. But the night before the pilgrimage began, the Divine Mother, in the form of the goddess Kali, intervened. She appeared to the Rani in a dream and said, "There is not need to go to Banaras. Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges river and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place." Profoundly affected by the dream, the Rani immediately looked for and purchased land, and promptly began construction of the temple. The large temple complex, built between 1847 and 1855, had as its centerpiece a shrine of the goddess Kali, but also had temples dedicated to the deities Shiva and Radha-Krishna. A scholarly and elderly sage was chosen as the head priest and the temple was consecrated in 1855. Within the year this priest died and his responsibility passed to his younger brother, Ramakrishna, who over the next thirty years would bring great fame to the Dakshineswar temple.
RAMAKRISHNA @ KALI MANDIR
Ramakrishna did not serve for long as temple's head priest however. From the first days of his service in the shrine of the goddess Kali, he was filled with a rare form of the love of God known in Hinduism as maha-bhava. Worshipping in front of the statue of Kali, Ramakrishna would be overcome with such ecstatic love for the deity that he would fall to the ground and, immersed in spiritual trance, lose all consciousness of the external world. These experiences of God-intoxication became so frequent that he was relieved of his duties as temple priest but allowed to continue living within the temple compound. During the next twelve years Ramakrishna would journey ever deeper into this passionate and absolute love of the divine. His practice was to express such intense devotion to particular deities that they would physically manifest to him and then merge into his being. The various forms of god and goddess such as Shiva, Kali, Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Christ and Mohammed frequently appeared to him and his fame as an avatar, or divine incarnation, rapidly spread throughout India. Ramakrishna died in 1886 at the age of fifty but his life, his intense spiritual practices, and the temple of Kali where many of his ecstatic trances occurred continued to attract pilgrims from all over India and the world. While Ramakrishna grew up and lived within the domain of Hinduism, his experience of the divine went far beyond the bounds of that, or any other, religion. Ramakrishna fully realized the infinite and all-inclusive nature of the divine. He was a conduit for divinity into the human world and the presence of that divinity may still be clearly experienced at the Kali temple of Dakshineswar.
The 'Siva-Mahimna Stotra' composed by Pushpadanta is the most popular hymn on Siva in North India. Sri Ramakirshna certainly knew it by heart. One day he was reciting this hymn in one of the twelve Siva temples at Dakshineswar when he came to the following verse:
"Asitagirisamam syat kaijalam sindhupatre
Surataruvarasakha lekhanipatramurvi
Likhati yadi grihitva Sarada sarvakalam
Tadapi tava gunanamisa param na yati."
which means: "Oh Lord, if the blue mountian be the ink, the ocean the ink-pot, the biggest branch of the heavenly tree be the pen, the earth the writing leaf and taking these if Sarada, the goddess of learning, writes for eternity, even then the limit of Your virtues will not be reached."
Reciting the aforesaid verse, Sri Ramakrishna entered into an ecstatic mood and cried out again and again, "O Great God, how can I express your great glory?" All came running towards that spot hearing the cries of Thakur. Mathur Babu was in the temple at that time. Hearing the uproar, he also came and prevented others from removing Sri Ramakrishna forcibly from the Siva temple. Mathur had already formed a high opinion about Sri Ramakrishna by that time. When Thakur came down to normal consciousness and saw the crowd, he asked Mathur whether he had done anything wrong. Mathur saluted him and said, "No, Ba Ba (father), you were reciting a hymn: I stood here lest some one should disturb you unthinkingly." Thus Mathur Babu protected and served Thakur in all possible ways for fourteen years like Nandi who eternally serves Lord Siva. Truly Mathur Babu and Hriday were to Sri Ramakrishna, what Nandi and Bhringi are to Siva. At another time, Mathur Babu actually saw Sri Ramakrishna as Siva and Kali alternately, as Thakur was pacing up and down.
Jyotirlingas at the Kali Mandir
There are twelve most holy Sivalingas known as Jyotir-Lingas, the manifestations of Siva in the form of emblems representing light. In the Dakshineswar temple also, twelve temples of Siva have been constructed in a row by Rani Rasmani, who perhaps had in mind the twelve Jyotirlingas. Sri Ramakrishna himself was a living Jyotirlinga of Siva as he was the embodiment of divine light which arose out of Jugi's Siva Temple of Kamarpukur. Thus it is no wonder that Thakur was much devoted to the twelve 'Jyotir Lingas' or Siva installed at Dakshineswar.
Sri Ramakrishna could not worship for long the twelve Sivalingas in the Dakshineswar temple which are called Yogeswar, Jatneswar, Jatileswar, Nakuleswar, Nakeswar, Nirjareswar, Nareswar, Nandiswar, Nageswar, Jagadiswar, Jaleswar and Yajneswar. Among these twe1ve Sivas, Jagadiswar (literally, Lord of the world) seems to be especially important, as the real name of the Kali at the Dakshineswar temple is 'Sri Sri Jagadiswari Mahakali.' Sri Ramakrishna himself was Jagadiswar-Siva who actually realised that the Jagad (world) itself is Iswara (Siva). He said "One day while worshipping Siva I was about to place a betle- leaf on the head of the image, when it was revealed to me that this Virat, this Universe, itself is Siva. After that my worship of Siva through the image came to an end." But he used to send his young disciples to the twelve Siva temples for meditation.
Kali Pooja / Origins
Kali Ma called the "Dark Mother" on the night of Diwali (Amavasya, the darkest night), while the rest of India worships Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, Eastern India, particularly West Bengal worships Kali, the Goddess symbolizing strength. Spectacular images of Kali, installed by the community, are worshipped and immersed in rivers or sea. Kartik is the opening month of the year of the Vikram era.
A 1768 publication Shyam Sarpya Biddhi by Kashinath mentions, the celebration of Kali Puja. It is said that Maharaja Krishnan Chandra of Nawadweep gave an order that everyone, in his domain should worship Kali. Punishment was given to the defaulters. Thus more than 10,000 images of Kali began to be worshipped in his domain. Before the present Kali Puja, Ratanti Kali Puja was celebrated in ancient times.
It is believed that the present form of the image of Kali, is due to a dream seen by Krishnanand, author of Tantric Saar, that he should make her image after the figure, he saw first in the morning. The image should then be worshipped. At dawn Krishnanand sa a dark complexioned girl with left food protruding and making cow dung cakes with her right hand. Her body was shining with white dots. While wiping off the sweat from her forehead with left hand, the vermilion had been spread in her parted hair. The hair was disarranged. All of a sudden, seeing an elderly, she ejected her tongue with shame. Thus so formed the image of Kali.
Kali Puja is only a onenight festival (darkest night of the dark fortnight of the
Kali Ma – A Global Perspective
Kali Ma, called the "Dark Mother," is the Hindu goddess of creation, preservation, and destruction. She is especially known in her Destroyer aspect, squatting over her dead consort, Shiva, devouring his entrails while her yoni sexually devours his lingam, penis. Kali, in this aspect is said to be "The hungry earth, which devours its own children and fattens on their corpses…" In India the experience of the Terrible Mother has been given its most grandiose form of Kali, which just is not simple imagery; it is the image of the Feminine, particularly the Maternal, for in a profound way life and birth are integrally connected to death and destruction.
Kali serves as the archetypal image of the birth-and-death Mother, simultaneously the womb and tomb, giver of life as well as the devourer of her children: the identical image was portrayed in a thousand ancient religions. Current psychologists face this image with an uneasy acknowledgement of its power. Apparently the image of the angry, punishing, castrating Father seems less threatening than the destructive Mother--perhaps because she symbolized the inexorable reality of death, whereas he only postulated a problematic post-mortem judgment. Perhaps this is one reason the Roman Catholics maintain the teaching of purgatory, to divert the final end.
The full importance of the profound meaning of the functions of Kali as the live-giver, preserver, and destroyer have been dismissed or destroyed over the centuries, as have been the aspects of other manifestations of the goddess. Many western interpretations of Kali in art and literature just depict the destructive aspect of this goddess, which tend to portray her as fearsome and evil. In the London Museum is an image of her which is labeled "Kali-Destroying Demon." The Encyclopedia Britannica devotes five columns to the Christian interpretation of the Logos and dismisses Kali's part in the creation of the world. This deity is mentioned in a brief paragraph as the consort of Shiva, and "a goddess of disease."
In Hinduism Kali's three functions are assigned to the gods: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. It is noted that Vishnu, who is thought to have brought the world out of the primal abyss, wrote the following about Kali: "Maternal cause of all change, manifestation, and destruction…the whole Universe rests upon Her, rises out of Her and melts into Her. From Her crystallized the original elements and qualities which construct the apparent world. She is both mother and grave… The gods themselves are merely constructs out of Her maternal substance, which is both consciousness and potential joy."
As a Mother, Kali was called Treasure-House of Compassion (karuna), Giver of Life to the World, the Life of all lives. Despite the popular western belief that she is just a Goddess of destruction, she is the fount of every kind of love, which flows into the world through women, her agents on earth. Thus, it is said of a male worshipper of Kali, "bows down at the feet of women," regarding them as his rightful teachers.
Some say the name Eve perhaps originated from Kali's leva or Jiva, the primordial female principle of manifestation; she gave birth to her "first manifested form" and called him Idam (Adam). She also bore the same title given to Eve in the Old Testament: Mother of All Living (Jaganmata).
Although referred to as "the One," Kali was always a trinity Goddess: Virgin, Mother, and Crone. This triad formed perhaps nine or ten millennia ago has been manifested in many cultures: the Celts with their triple Morrigan, the Greeks with their triple Moerae, the Norsemen with their Norms, the Romans with their Fates and triadic Uni (Juno), the Egyptians with their triple Mut, and the Arabian Moon-goddess. Kali can be identified everywhere. Her trinity is recognized in the Christian triple Godhead; some conclude this Godhead is all male, not nothing that in the Hebrew Old Testament the word for Spirit, ruwach, was of feminine gender.
Blood sacrifice was important in the worship of Kali as they were in the worship of the early Biblical God, the commanded that the blood must be poured on his alters (Exodus 29:16) for the remission of sins (Numbers 18:9), but there were differences. Jewish priests ate the sacrificial meat themselves whereas the devotees of Kali were permitted to eat their own offerings as in Calcutta. Kali demanded only male animals be sacrificed; a custom dating back to the primitive belief that the male had no part in the cycle of generation. The god Shiva, Kali's sacrificial spouse, commanded that female animals must not be slain on the altar.
Kali was the Ocean of Blood at the beginning of the world; she might be said to be the primordial mass from which all life arouse; and her ultimate destruction of the universe is prefigured by the destruction of each individual, though her karmic wheel always brought reincarnation. After death came nothing-at-all, which Tantric sages called the third of three states of being; to experience it was like the experience of Dreamless Sleep. This state was also called "the Generative Womb of All, the Beginning and End of Beings." Kali devoured Time, she resumed her "dark formlessness," which appeared in all myths of before-creation and after-doomsday as elemental Chaos.
The Tantric worshippers of Kali readily acknowledged and accepted her Curse; they willing accepted her terror of death as well as they accepted her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. They knew the coin of life has two sides, life and death; one cannot exist without the other. Kali's sages communed with her in the grisly atmosphere of the cremation ground, to become familiar with the images of death. Her devotee would say, "His Goddess, his loving Mother, in time who gives him birth and loves him in the flesh, she also destroys him in the flesh. His image of Her is incomplete if he does not know her as his tearer and devourer."
The name Kali Ma comes from Kalma, a hunter of tombs and eater of the dead, as she was called in Finland, also called the Black Goddess. European "witches" worshipped her in funeral places, for the same reasons, that the Tantric yogis and dakinis worshipped her in cremation grounds, as Smashana-Kali, Lady of the Dead. Former pagans adored her in cemeteries as the Black Mother Earth, where the Roman tombstones invoked her with the phrase Mater genuit, Mother receipt-the Mother bore me, the Mother took me back.
Sometimes Kali, the Destroyer, wore red symbolizing the blood of the life that that she gave and took back: "as She devours all existence, as She chews all things existing with Her fierce teeth, therefore a mass of blood is imagined to be the apparel of the Queen of the Gods at the final dissolution." The gypsies in their worship of Kali, the Goddess of disease, clothed her in red, the proper color of gypsy funerals.
KALI - SHAKTI
She is the goddess in her form as Dakshina Kalika - one of the most popular Bengali images of the goddess. Her guises are many, and include Bhadra (auspicious) Kali, Shmashana (cremation ground) Kali, Guhya (secret) Kali and a host of others. It is only in the great tantrik traditions that we find a clue to the real meaning of the gruesome images associated with Kalika. Although Hinduism was much reviled by early Western colonisers for its idolatry and pantheistic practices, this was a very narrow view. Tantrik texts repeatedly speak of the Devis or goddesses as being aspects of the one goddess. The same holds true for the male aspects. As individual humans all reflect the macrocosm, it's fair to describe the gods and goddesses of tantra as specialised aspects of ourselves - and, therefore, of life itself.
Yet life has its dark and its light sides. Death and love, in the tantrik tradition, are two sides of the same coin. As we look to the sky, we can see the Sun and Moon as symbols of male and female, of Shiva and Shakti. In the tantras, the Moon is often taken as a symbol of the Devi, whether in its dark or its bright fortnight. When She wanes, her images and her iconography become progressively more dark and fearsome. But when She waxes, so her images brighten. When she is full, She is Devi Tripura. Tripura is a name of the goddess meaning three cities. These allude to her own triple nature as a maiden (Bala) as a fecund woman (Tripura) and as a post-menstruating woman (Tripura Bhairavi).
Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), writing in the Garland of Letters, says Kali is the deity in her aspect as withdrawing time into itself. "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness." (Garland of Letters, page 235). Woodroffe says some have speculated that Kali was originally the Goddess of the Vindhya Hills, conquered by the Aryans. The necklace of skulls which makes up her image, he adds, are those of white people. Relying on the texts themselves, gives insight into the tantrik idea of Kali. In the Kulachudamani Tantra (KT), Lord Shiva asks questions answered by Devi, the goddess. It is, probably, one of the oldest tantras, according to Woodroffe, who published the Sanskrit text with an English introduction in his Tantrik Texts series.
In eight short chapters, Devi expounds the essence of her worship, sometimes in most beautiful imagery. But the uncanny side of Kaula and Kali worship is dwelt on in great detail, with references to siddhis - magical powers - including a mysterious process where the tantrik adept leaves his body at night, apparently so he can engage in sexual intercourse with Shaktis. Animal sacrifice also has a place in this tantra.
The siddhis play a large part in the worship of the uncanny goddess Kali. The main tantrik rites are called the six acts (shatkarma) of pacifying, subjugating, paralysing, obstructing, driving away, and death-dealing. But the KT includes others such as Parapurapraveshana, which is the power of reviving a corpse, although according to some it means the ability to enter another's living body; Anjana, an ointment which lets a sadhaka see through solid walls; Khadga which gives invulnerability to swords; Khecari, which gives the power of flying and Paduka Siddhi, magical sandals which take you great distances, rather like seven league boots.
Certainly, the importance of having a suitable Shakti is important, according to the instructions Devi gives to Shiva. Devi here takes the form of Mahishamardini, more popularly known as Durga, who destroyed the two arch-demons Shumbha and Nishumbha in an epic battle between the goddess and the throng of demons. It was at this time, according to legend, that Durga created Kali, emanating her out of her third eye.
We learn more of Durga's legends and myths from the Kalika Purana. The Devi, Mahamaya, appeared as Bhadra Kali - identical with Mahishamardini - in order to slay the demon Mahisha. He had fallen into a deep sleep on a mountain and had a terrible dream in which BhadraKali cut asunder his head with her sword and drank his blood.
The demon started to worship Bhadra Kali and when Mahamaya appeared to him again in a later age to slaughter him again, he asked a boon of her. Devi replied that he could have his boon, and he asked her for the favour that he would never leave the service of her feet again. Devi replied that his boon was granted. "When you have been killed by me in the fight, O demon Mahisha, you shall never leave my feet, there is no doubt about it. In every place where worship of me takes place, there (will be worship) of you; as regards your body, O Danava, it is to be worshipped and meditated upon at the same time." (Kalakikapurana, ch.62, 107-108.)
For this reason, the image of Mahishamardini always has her trampling the buffalo Mahisha.
When She, the goddess, is dark, She is Devi Kalika, an equally high symbol of death and destruction. Throughout Her different manifestations and phases, She remains the one true goddess, Shakti, energy itself. She is symbolised by the yoni and the female cycle, which also shows waxing and waning throughout the month. Her spouse, Shiva, is symbolised by the Sun, by the phallus, by sperm, and as an emblem of consciousness without attributes. According to the tantrik phraseology "Only when Shiva is united with Shakti has Shiva power to act. Otherwise he is a corpse (shava)."
Another black deity of the Indian sub-continent has a close connection with Kali - Krishna. According to the Kalivilasa Tantra, he was born from the golden goddess Gauri, who turned black after she was hit by an arrow from the Hindu cupid, Kama.
Kali is Shakti, the great goddess, creating the three gunas: sattvas, rajas and tamas. The three gunas in their various permutation create all the fabric of the universe, including the five elements, skin, blood, etc..
These principles are the substance of she whose play (lila) is their modification. Kali is the first and foremost of the ten aspects of the goddess. She is pure sattvas, pure spirit.
A sadhaka (male) or a sadhvika (female) can worship the goddess -- the Devi -- in any of ten forms for the fruition of desires. Her ten major forms are Kali, Tara, Shodasi, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagala, Matangi and Kamala. These aspects are known as the ten mahavidyas.
To a sadhaka, to know these is to know the universe, as she is both space and time and beyond these categories. Each form has its own dhyana (meditation), yantra (diagram), mantra (sound form) and sadhana (actions).
Mahavidya Kali is the primordial Devi who is the root of all the Great Knowledges (mahavidya). Worshipped by sadhakas and sadhvikas, her outer forms are fearful. She destroys time, is time, and is the night of eternity.
Kali, certainly in the left hand tantrik tradition (vamachara), which is the path into Vama (woman and left) enters, is subject to much misunderstanding. The right hand path (dakshinachara) does not include the sexual component, while Vamachara allows sexual intercourse as part of her worship.
According to Sir John Woodroffe, in his introduction to the Karpuradistotra, which is a 22 verse hymn on Dakshina Kalika, pashus - those of a base disposition, are forbidden to engage in sexual sadhana at night. "The Pashu is still bound by the pasha (bonds) of desire, etc., and he is, therefore, not adhikari for that which, if undertaken by the unfit, will only make these bonds stronger." Verse 10 of the Karpuradistotra spells out the practice. "If by night, Thy devotee unclothed, with dishevelled hair, recites whilst meditating on Thee, thy mantra, when with his Shakti youthful, full-breasted, and heavy-hipped such an one makes all powers subject to him and dwells on the earth ever a seer." Worship of Kali is for the hero (vira) or a person of a highly spiritual nature (divya)
Kali's imagery is full of ambiguity, and this is deliberate on the part of the tantrik adepts who worshipped her.
As an example, according to some texts, the Kali sadhana takes place on a Tuesday, at midnight, in the cremation ground. Here, surrounded by jackals, owls and other uncanny creatures of the night, the sadhaka and his Shakti select a newly dead male corpse, which should be, according to the texts, of a young man preferably a king, a hero or a warrior. If he has recently died in battle, so much the better. Placing the corpse face downwards, the two draw the Kaliyantra on his back, offer each other food, wine and other good things, and then commence the act of ritual sex. At the close of intercourse, the man offers his Shakti one of her public hairs smeared with his semen and, if she is menstruating, blood.
Woodroffe says that the worship of Kali in the pashu mode is totally forbidden by Shiva, quoting the influential Niruttara Tantra as his source. "By the worship of Kali without Divyabhava and virabhava the worshipper suffers pain at every step and goes to hell. If a man who is of the Pashubhava worships Kali then he goes to the Raurava Hell until the time of final dissolution."
As to the matter of a suitable Shakti for the sexual rites of Kali, the NT suggests that when a sadhaka has already achieved success with his own Shakti, he may then worship another woman. But Woodroffe says this other woman is the supreme Shakti in the sadhaka's own body.
The cremation ground is often interpreted as the place where all desires are burnt away. Before realising kaivalya (liberation), the sadhaka must burn away all the taboos and conditionings which prevent this liberation.
The cremation ground (shmashana) is also the supreme nadi or channel within the human organism - the sushumna -- The central channel of bioenergy within the spine of a human being, the royal road of Kundalini.
There the Devi or goddess is coiled up three and a half times at the base of the spine. When she unfolds and enters the sushumna, the bliss of this cosmic orgasm causes the universe to disappear. On the sadhaka within the shmashana yantra is Shakti, both entwined in close sexual embrace. She is the human form of Kali, as he is the human form of Shiva. Both are forever united. The Niruttara Tantra says (2, 27) "The cremation ground is of two kinds, O Devi, the pyre and the renowned yoni. Shiva is the phallus, Kuleshani! So Mahakala said." Questioned later by Shri Devi in the same tantra, Shiva says that the vagina is Dakshina herself, in the form of the three gunas, the essence of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. These three forms represent the powers of creation, maintenance and destruction. They have their Shakti counterparts.
"When she has the semen of Shiva, she is Shiva-Shakti." (NT)
The Karpuradistotra comments on animal sacrifice. Male creatures may only be sacrificed to Kali, else she becomes furious. Verse 19 says that worshippers of Kali who sacrifice the flesh of cats, camels, sheep, buffaloes, goats and men to her become accomplished. A commentary by a Kaula, Vimalananda Svami, which Woodroffe only partially translates, claims these animals represent the six enemies with the goat representing lust, the buffalo anger, the cat greed, the sheep delusion, the camel envy. Man represents pride. However, according to other sources, only a king may perform the sacrifice of a man.
At the great temple of the Devi at Kamakhya in Assam, there is evidence that male human sacrifice was performed in the past. This site is renowned for Shakti worship because of a legend that Vishnu once cut the body of Shakti into 50 pieces with his discus. These parts represent the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet and are pithas (pedestals = sacred sites) of Devi. The yoni of Shakti fell at this spot, making it the most sacred of all.
Who, then, is Kali? Devi gives her own description in the Kulachudamani: "I am Great Nature, consciousness, bliss, the quintessence, devotedly praised. Where I am, there are no Brahma, Hara, Shambhu or other devas, nor is there creation, maintenance or dissolution. Where I am, there is no attachment, happiness, sadness, liberation, goodness, faith, atheism, guru or disciple.
"When I, desiring creation, cover myself with my Maya (The great power of Shakti to delude all created things through Her play, ed.) and become triple and ecstatic in my wanton love play, I am Vikarini, giving rise to the various things.
"The five elements and the 108 lingams arise, while Brahma and the other devas, the three worlds, Bhur-Bhuvah-Svah (the three worlds) spontaneously come into manifestation.
"By mutual differences of Shiva and Shakti, the (three) gunas originate. All things, such as Brahma and so forth, are my parts, born from my being. Dividing and blending, the various tantras, mantras and kulas manifest. After withdrawing the five fold universe, I, Lalita, become of the nature of nirvana. Once more, men, great nature, egoism, the five elements, sattvas, rajas and tamas become manifested. This universe of parts appears and is then dissolved.
"O All-Knowing One, if I am known, what need is there for revealed scriptures and sadhana? If I am unknown, what use for puja and revealed text? I am the essence of creation, manifested as woman, intoxicated with sexual desire, in order to know you as guru, you with whom I am one. Even given this, Mahadeva, my true nature still remains secret."
The Yogini Tantra describes the goddess as the cosmic mother (Vishvamata), dark as a thunderstorm, wearing a garland and waistband of skulls, with dishevelled hair, completely naked (digambaram).
She has a rolling tongue, makes a terrifying roar, three reddened eyes, and has a wide open mouth. She wears a moon digit on her forehead, has the corpses of two boys as her earrings, and is adorned with various gems, which are of the brightness of the Sun and the Moon.
Laughing loudly, she has two streams of blood pouring from her mouth, while her throat is red with blood. In her four arms she holds cleaver, head, and makes mudras dispelling fears and granting boons. She, the supreme Nitya, is seated in reverse (viparita) intercourse with Mahakala upon the corpse of Shiva. The whole scene is set in the cremation ground.
Yet, as with most other tantrik symbolism, the meaning of this cremation pyre operates on multiple levels. The pyre is also the yoni. Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), says Kali is the deity in her aspect as withdrawing time into itself. "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness." Garland of Letters , page 235.
There is a wealth of other material about Kali and her different manifestions on this site. For example, the Kulachudamani Tantra, refers to her aspect as Mahishamardini. See the Brihadnila Tantra, which has chapters devoted to both Kali and to the goddess Tara. We also publish here abstracts of the Kaulavalinirnaya tantra, the Niruttara Tantra and the Rudrayamala Tantra, all of which have extensive references to Kalika.
View Her yantra, her secret sadhana, or see Hindu tantrik translations online
WHY KALI HAS HER FOOT ON SHIVA?
In Bengal, Diwali is celebrated as Kali Puja, the day that the goddess Kali is worshipped. Kali is hideously ugly and terrifying to look at - but only because she is so angry at the wickedness in this world. Kali is the destroyer of all evil, and is worshipped as such on Kali puja.
The story of Kali that is told to children in Bengal on the occasion of Kali Puja is as follows:
Long long ago, the world was overrun with evil - men had turned to wicked ways, and demons, rakshasas and ogres thrived and prospered. The gods were helpless. They could do nothing to control or contain the evil in the world.
In desperation they turned to the supreme goddess Devi for help. Devi agreed to end the evil, and took on the black and frightening form of the goddess of destruction to do so. This form of Devi is known as Kali, which means 'black'. Devi in the form of Kali then went on a rampage of destruction, killing and destroying all the evil men and demons in the world.
Kali became so angry that she could not stop, even when all the evil had been destroyed. She began destroying the entire world in her fury. The gods asked her to stop, but she didn't hear them. They turned to Shiv her husband for help as the only one who could stop her. But Kali didn't hear him either. So Shiv lay down in her path - and only when she put her foot on him did she come to her senses, and stop her madness of destruction.
Kali is worshipped in her destructive mode. She is terrifying to look at, black and furious, with four hands, dripping blood and dressed in skulls. She is shown with one foot on Shiv who lies prone in her path, and with her tongue sticking out in shock and horror as she realises the destruction she is causing.
Comments? Email me at shivabhakta@hotmail.com
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Kali
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Kali
The Goddess Kali, (1770) by Richard B. Godfrey (1728 - N/A); from LACMA
Goddess of Time, Change
Devanagari ????
Affiliation Devi , Mahavidya , Matrika
Abode Cremation grounds
Mantra Om Krim Kalyai nama? ,
Om Kapalinaye Namah,
Om Hrim Shrim Krim
Parameshvari Kalike Svaha
Weapon Sword
Consort Shiva
Mount Jackal
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Kali redirects here. See Kali (disambiguation) for other uses.
Not to be confused with Kali (demon), the personification of Kali Yuga
Kali, also known as Kalika (Bengali: ????, Kali / ?????? Kalika ; Sanskrit: ????), is a Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, she is today considered the goddess of time and change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence. More complex Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the "ultimate reality" or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatarini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kali as a benevolent mother goddess.
Kali is represented as the consort of god Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. She is associated with many other Hindu goddesses like Durga, Bhadrakali, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati and Chamunda. She is the foremost among the Dasa-Mahavidyas, ten fierce Tantric goddesses.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Origins
3 In Tantra
4 In Bengali tradition
5 Mythology
5.1 Slayer of Raktabija
5.2 Daksinakali
5.3 Maternal Kali
5.4 Mahakali
6 Iconography
6.1 Popular form
6.2 Mahakali form
6.3 Shiva in Kali iconography
7 Development
8 In New Age and Neopaganism
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
Etymology
Kali is the feminine of kala "black, dark coloured" (per Panini 4.1.42). It appears as the name of a form of Durga in Mahabharata 4.195, and as the name of an evil female spirit in Harivamsa 11552.
The homonymous kala "appointed time", which depending on context can mean "death", is distinct from kala "black", but became associated through folk etymology. The association is seen in a passage from the Mahabharata, depicting a female figure who carries away the spirits of slain warriors and animals. She is called kalaratri (which Thomas Coburn, a historian of Sanskrit Goddess literature, translates as "night of death") and also kali (which, as Coburn notes, can be read here either as a proper name or as a description "the black one").[2]
Kali's association with blackness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: smasana) in which he meditates, and with which Kali is also associated, as smasana-kali.
Origins
According to David Kinsley, Kali is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess, related to war, around 600 CE. Scriptures like Agni Purana and Garuda Purana describe her terrible appearance and associate her with corpses and war. Bhagavata Purana calls her the patron deity of thieves. She was worshipped initially by tribals and low-caste Hindus, in "wild places". An architectural work dating between the sixth to eighth century prescribes her temples be built near cremation grounds or houses of low-caste people (Chndalas). Kali or goddesses with similar iconography like Chamunda, appear in different Sanskrit works, dating from seventh to twelfth century, as lovers of blood sacrifice, adorned with human skulls and corpses and residing near cremation grounds. Kali appears as the wrath of goddess Durga or Parvati, notably in the Devi Mahatmya and Linga Purana.[3]
In Tantra
Mahakali YantraGoddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as the male deities are. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals.[4] In many sources Kali is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kali's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kali vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.[5]
In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kali is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:
At the dissolution of things, it is Kala [Time] Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahakala [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahakala Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kalika. Because Thou devourest Kala, Thou art Kali, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [primordial Kali. Resuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art.[6]
The figure of Kali conveys death, destruction, fear, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation.[7] This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise to Kali describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)
He, O Mahakali who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. 0 Kali, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Sakti [his female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.[8]
The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kali is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, who is said to be her spouse, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation.[9] In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.[10]
In Bengali tradition
Kali is also central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kali is rarely pictured in Hindu mythology and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotion beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengali tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.[11]
The Tantric approach to Kali is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kali's teachings, adopting the attitude of a child. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way things are. These themes are well addressed in Ramprasad's work.[12]
Ramprasad comments in many of his other songs that Kali is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:
Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]
Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?
Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you. Mother.
You have cut off the headset the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.
It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.[13]
To be a child of Kali, Ramprasad asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kali is said to not give what is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.[14][15]
A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kali as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet. Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyama Sangeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.
Mythology
Slayer of Raktabija
"Kali Triumphant on The Battle Field," Punjab, circa 1800–20CE)In Kali's most famous myth, Durga and her assistants, Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons, in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation, as for every drop of blood that is spilt from Raktabija the demon reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates.[16] Durga, in dire need of help, summons Kali to combat the demons. It is also said that Goddess Durga takes the form of Goddess Kali at this time.
The Devi Mahatmyam describes:
Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.[17]
Kali destroys Raktabija by sucking the blood from his body and putting the many Raktabija duplicates in her gaping mouth. Pleased with her victory, Kali then dances on the field of battle, stepping on the corpses of the slain. Her consort Shiva lies among the dead beneath her feet, a representation of Kali commonly seen in her iconography as Daksinakali'.[18]
In Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as an Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Ca?u??a (Chamunda) i.e the slayer of demons Chanda and Munda.[19] Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.[20]
Daksinakali
Bhadrakali (A gentle form of Kali), circa 1675.
Painting; made in India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli,
now placed in LACMA.In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, it is said that Kali, becoming drunk on the blood of her victims on the battlefield, dances with destructive frenzy. In her fury she fails to see the body of her husband Shiva who lies among the corpses on the battlefield.[21] Ultimately the cries of Shiva attract Kali's attention, calming her fury. As a sign of her shame at having disrespected her husband in such a fashion, Kali sticks out her tongue. However, some sources state that this interpretation is a later version of the symbolism of the tongue: in tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva, spiritual and godly qualities.[22]
One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes residence in a forest. With fierce companions she terrorizes the surrounding area. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while doing austerities and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, claiming the territory as her own. Shiva challenges her to a dance contest, and defeats her when she is unable to perform the energetic Tandava dance. Although here Kali is defeated, and is forced to control her disruptive habits, we find very few images or other myths depicting her in such manner.[23]
Maternal Kali
Another myth depicts the infant Shiva calming Kali, instead. In this similar story, Kali again defeated her enemies on the battlefield and began to dance out of control, drunk on the blood of the slain. To calm her down and to protect the stability of the world, Shiva is sent to the battlefield, as an infant, crying aloud. Seeing the child's distress, Kali ceases dancing to take care of the helpless infant. She picks him up, kisses his head, and proceeds to breast feed the infant Shiva.[24] This myth depicts Kali in her benevolent, maternal aspect; something that is revered in Hinduism, but not often recognized in the West.
Ekamukhi or "One-Faced" Murti of Mahakali displaying ten hands holding the signifiers of various Devas
Mahakali
Main article: Mahakali
Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahakali, Devanagari: ???????), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality Brahman. It can also simply be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali,[25] signifying her greatness by the prefix "Maha-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.
Iconography
Statue from Dakshineswar Kali Temple, West Bengal, India; along with her Yantra.Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.[26]
In the ten armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces and ten feet and three eyes. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Siva.[27]
The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.[28]
In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And, because of her terrible form she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"[29]
According to Ramakrishna darkness is Ultimate Mother or Kali:
My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda; indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.
-Sri Ramakrishna
Throughout her history artists the world over have portrayed Kali in myriad poses and settings, some of which stray far from the popular description, and are sometimes even graphically sexual in nature. Given the popularity of this Goddess, artists everywhere will continue to explore the magnificence of Kali's iconography. This is clear in the work of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.
Popular form
Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:
Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya and varada mudras or blessings, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshiping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.[30]
She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.[31]
She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities — she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her — she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.[32]
Mahakali form
The Dasamukhi MahakaliKali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.
Shiva in Kali iconography
In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a mythological story for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:
Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon her husband she realized her mistake and bit her tongue in shame.[33]
The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:
The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva, or Mahadeva represents Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman.[34]
Kali in Traditional Form, standing on Shiva's chest.While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.
To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda — existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.[35]
Kali and Bhairava (the terrible form of Shiva) in Union, 18th century, NepalFrom a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality — the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.[36]
Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakasa- vimarsa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.[37]
Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process ( psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.[38]
Development
In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.
Bharatanatyam dancer portraying Kali with a tridentThe ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.
Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos — which could be confronted — to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvana-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Visnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).
The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.
1947 TIME Magazine cover by Boris Artzybasheff depicting a self-hurting Kali as a symbol of the partition of IndiaLike Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same — totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.[39]
Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric that which suits one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.
A TIME Magazine article of October 27, 1947 used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year.[40]
In New Age and Neopaganism
A Western Shacan representation of KaliAn academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment."[41] The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural misappropriation:
"A variety of writers and thinkers [...] have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. [...] The most important issue arising from this discussion – even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation – concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. [...] It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available."[42]
The man who popularised the religion of Wicca, Gerald Gardner, was reportedly particularly interested in Kali whilst he was in the far east, before returning to England to write his seminal works on Wicca[citation needed].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali
Bangladesh may lose big Bay area
Bangladesh stands to lose a large sea area to two neighbours if it does not register its claims with the UN by 2011, warns a grouping of eminent citizens. Myanmar has already filed its claims to the UN, while the India is processing the issue, according to National Committee to Protect Maritime Area and Resources.
The loss could be to the tune of 15-40 thousand square kilometres of sea area, a possibility if the two neighbours filed their claims and Bangladesh did not. "In accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Bangladesh will have to lodge primary claims about its maritime boundary by 2011 after necessary surveys," retired commodore Khurshed Alam said, speaking Friday at a press conference for the committee. "But Bangladesh is yet to reach any decision in this regard," he said. "The loss will have huge economic consequences," the former commodore said in a written statement.
Failure to meet the 2011 deadline would mean Bangladesh would have to be satisfied with the leftover from India and Myanmar, the committee warned. The Territorial Waters and Maritime Zones Act 1974 of Bangladesh has never been updated in line with the UNCLOS Charter of 1982, the former navy officer said.
The maritime boundary dispute has already hit headlines in recent months, with both India and Myanmar trying to explore for natural resources into territory that Bangladesh claims its. Bangladesh banks not only on its many rivers, said professor Serajul Islam Chowdhury, but also the Bay of Bengal.
Chowdhury and other eminent citizens have formed the committee to create awareness among all, including policymakers, about the importance of protecting Bangladesh's sea resources. Prof Chowdhury said the maritime issue should be discussed in the parliament.
Prof Anu Muhammad said failure to secure sea rights bordered on compromise with the sovereignty of the country.
Prof Akmal Hossain cited the recent "intrusion of India and Myanmar into the Bangladesh waters" and said these incidents proved the resourcefulness of the Bay. "Diplomacy should be the means to resolve such issues, but, first, we need to demarcate our maritime borders," said Hossain, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University. If diplomacy fails, he said, Bangladesh could go to the International Tribunal.
The committee recommended that a maritime ministry be formed to deal solely with the issue. It said Bangladesh will have to establish its rights on Dakhin (south) Talpatti Island resolving the dispute with India.
According to that UN charter, Bangladesh can claim up to 350 nautical miles (650 kilometres) of the Bay of Bengal from the continental shelf.
bdnews24.com/sit/jk/khk/bd/2310h.
We are Palestinians; The wretched of the Earth - The Oppressed
I am Israel
by Hashem Said
I am Israel
I came to a land without a people for a people without a land.
Those people who happened to be here, had no right to be here,
and my people showed them they had to leave or die,
razing 480 Palestinian villages to the ground, erasing their history.
I am Israel
Some of my people committed massacres and later became
Prime Ministers to represent me. In 1948, Menachem Begin was
in charge of the unit that slaughtered the inhabitants of Deir
Yassin, including 100 men, women, and children. In 1953, Ariel
Sharon led the slaughter of the inhabitants of Qibya, and in 1982
arranged for our allies to butcher around 2,000 in the refugee camps
of Sabra and Shatilla.
I am Israel
In 1948 carved out 78% of the land of Palestine, dispossessing its
inhabitants and replacing them with Jews from Europe and other
parts of the world. While the natives whose families lived on this land
for thousands of years are not allowed to return, Jews from all over
the world are welcome to instant citizenship.
I am Israel
In 1967, I swallowed the remaining lands of Palestine - the West Bank
and Gaza - and placed their inhabitants under an oppressive military rule,
controlling and humiliating every aspect of their daily lives. Eventually,
they should get the message that they are not welcome to stay, and join
the millions of Palestinian refugees in the shanty camps of Lebanon and
Jordan.
I am Israel
I have the power to control American policy. My American Israel Public
Affairs Committee can make or break any politician of its choosing, and
as you see, they all compete to please me. All the forces of the world are
powerless against me, including the UN as I have the American veto to
block any condemnation of my war crimes. As Sharon so eloquently
phrased it, "We control America ".
I am Israel
I influence American mainstream media too, and you will always find the news
tailored to my favor. I have invested millions of dollars into PR representation,
and CNN, New York Times, and others have been doing an excellent job of
promoting my propaganda. Look at other international news sources and you
will see the difference.
I am Israel
You Palestinians want to negotiate "peace!?" But you are not as smart as me;
I will negotiate, but will only let you have your municipalities while I control your
borders, your water, your airspace, and anything else of importance. While we
"negotiate," I will swallow your hilltops and fill them with settlements, populated
by the most extremist of my extremists, armed to the teeth. These settlements
will be connected with roads you cannot use, and you will be imprisoned in your
little Bantustans between them, surrounded by checkpoints in every direction.
I am Israel
The fourth strongest army in the world, possessing nuclear weapons. How dare
your children confront my oppression with stones, don't you know my soldiers
won't hesitate to blow their heads off? In 17 months, I have killed 900 of you and
injured 17,000, mostly civilians, and have the mandate to continue since the
international community remains silent. Ignore, as I do, the hundreds of Israeli
soldiers who are now refusing to carry out my control over your lands and people; their voices of conscience will not protect you.
India on Saturday virtually ruled out any Israel type action against Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks, saying the situation is not comparable. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, maintained that 'future course' will decide how India will deal with Pakistan if the latter does not comply with its demands about ending terrorism. Maintaining that all options are still 'open', he said India expects Pakistan to act on the evidence linking elements in the neighbouring country to Mumbai attacks.On the other hand, the US has contended that the dossier given by India to Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks was "credible" but suggested that New Delhi should allow time to Islamabad to act on it. US Ambassador to India David C Mulford said the dossier contains extensive inputs from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"I do not agree to that. Because this is totally wrong. The situation is not at all comparable," he said when asked whether Israeli type offensive against Hamas in Gaza Strip could be an option for the Government against Pakistan.
"I have not gone and occupied any of Pakistan's land which Israel has done in Palestine. So, how the situation can be comparable," Mukherjee asked during an interview to a TV channel.
"When I say all options are open, all options are open. There is no need of picking up option a, option b, option c, option d. No need of that. I am not responding to that. What I am responding to is options are open," he said.
"We have not reached the end of the road. Pakistan, what they have asked for, we have given them. We expect them to act on it," Mukherjee said.
"If they do not act on it, then what follow up steps we will take and in what space of time it will take place, future course will decide," he said.
Pranab replicates Mulford!
"From what I have seen it is a very credible material. The FBI is cooperating in Mumbai...It is information which tells and gives a very accurate account of what has happened," Mulford told Karan Thapar's programme 'Devil's Advocate'.
Commenting on the Indo-US cooperation in this area, he said the dossier prepared by India extensively used material provided by the FBI. "As far as I see, it (FBI material) was used extensively because the material was same."
Underlining the credible aspect of the dossier, he said, "As far as the FBI is concerned, they do not deal with non-credible material. It is a truly professional organisation supported by absolutely high-tech techniques."
On the Mumbai attacks, Mulford said "there were handlers who were in touch with these people on the ground. It is a serious problem. This act of terrorism came from Pakistan".
When referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's view that "official agencies" of Pakistan could have been involved in the terror strikes, the Ambassador said "I think one needs to be very very careful about making those kinds of allegations unless you have very concrete evidence to that degree of specificity."
The US Ambassador said his country cannot get into "that kind of specificity unless there is some justification for it."
Mulford said that there are a lot of things that tell that "this is a very serious situation. You don't need to know that degree of specificity that you need to compel to pursue the matter."
Emphasising that Pakistan has a "serious problem on its hand", he said "you don't need some kind of a definitive state to know that you have a definite problem on hand."
When referred to Pakistan's virtual rejection of the credibility of evidence within 24 hours after getting it, he said, "Well, I don't think you can cut some quick reaction on the statement of one particular individual. I think it takes some time. You have, after all, a situation where there is a civilian government, a very strong military, a very strong intelligence agency and a media and other players.
"And I think you have to take a view that it is going to take little time to percolate to see what really is the outcome."
He went on to add that "Somebody in denial (mode) doesn't necessarily remain in denial and isn't always on specific point in denial even if they are projecting a sense of denial."
Mulford said "It is complex and you would be mistaken to seize on a statement that is particularly irritating to you or proves a point of some kind to you that are standing back waiting and seeing the effort it is achieving."
Mulford said "It is complex and you would be mistaken to seize on a statement that is particularly irritating to you or proves a point of some kind to you that are standing back waiting and seeing the effort it is achieving."
He said the US view was that the Pakistani government has "responded cooperatively with us".
Insisting that Pakistan is "very concerned" about the situation, the Ambassador said "they (Pakistan) have made some efforts early on to offer a delegation to come to India to cooperate and exchange information which is not being accepted and they have recently agreed to hand over information and cooperate with the government here.
"The question is what is the level of cooperation going to be. How forthcoming is it? Is it enough to satisfy people here of their credibility of the party to cooperate with."
He said one should not "get lost with some of the detail ... because I think we all understand there has to be a level of cooperation to move from here."
Asked how long India should wait for Pakistan to respond, he said "it is not a question of time, although time is important, because to get into a situation where so much time passes, it makes them look uncooperative.
"But you do have to sort of gauge what is happening, what their own situation is and what sort of problems they are facing. And don't forget, the US is in regular touch with them because of its own losses."
The US Ambassador said "if you have to make progress, you have to make some element of cooperation and that means looking at ways to accomplish some minimal levels.
On Pakistan's offer of sending a high-level delegation, he noted that it was made with no detail as to who would be on the delegation and it was never filled out with additional information. "So, I don't think India made a mistake to not take that up because it wasn't going anywhere."
Asked how much time should be given by New Delhi to Islamabad to evaluate evidence, Mulford said it was for the Indian government to decide.
Rahul is perfectly suited for PM's job: Congress
Ludhiana The Congress on Saturday did not rule out the possibility of Rahul Gandhi becoming the next Prime Minister if it is voted back to power but said the party would fight the forthcoming elections under the 'leadership' of Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"If Omar Abdullah can become the Chief Minister of an all important state like Jammu and Kashmir at the age of 38, if Rajiv Gandhi could become the Prime Minister at the age of 40, why can't Rahul Gandhi (38) become the Prime Minister at this age," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.
Asked whether Congress general secretary Rahul could be the next Prime Minister if Congress comes back to power, said, "he is perfectly suited for the job".
He, however, added that the Congress would 'fight the forthcoming elections under the leadership of the party president, Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.'
The party had on Friday said that it was up to Rahul to decide the timing of assuming the leadership of the country but at the same time asserted that Manmohan Singh has done 'done well on every front'.
Urging the media to desist from creating a conflict by harping on the issue of projecting anyone as PM in the next elections, Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed had on Friday recalled that Sonia had, at the last Independence Day function at the party headquarters, said Manmohan Singh will unfurl the national flag at the Red Fort if the party was voted back to power.
While visiting the city as part of preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Tewari said the party's state unit was united and geared-up to fight elections and claimed the SAD-BJP combine will be routed in the parliamentary poll.
To a question, Tewari said he would love to contest against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal or his son Sukhbir Singh Badal.
"It can never be more interesting than Sardar Parkash Singh Badal or his son Sukhbir Badal contesting against me. It will add charm to the contest," he said.
Dismissing speculation that he would contest from Karnal in Haryanal, Tewari said "it is the prerogative of the Congress president, but I would always like to contest from Ludhiana where I have been working hard for so many years".
NRIs can give strong rebuff to terrorists: Prez
January 09, 2009
Urging NRIs to invest in India and benefit from its resilient economy, President Pratibha Patil on Friday said this will be a 'strong rebuff' to the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.
The economic meltdown has provided an opportunity to review and take corrective measures in existing global financial systems, structures and coordination mechanism, she said in her valedictory address at the seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference in Chennai.
"Your decision to invest in India will also be a strong rebuff to the terrorists who attacked Mumbai. These attacks were perpetrated by groups inimical to a progressive, prosperous and secular India," the President said.
She said that the meltdown has opened the debate of financial management of credit and banking systems.
"It is now raising the spectre of recession in several countries. This has had its echo in our region as well. We need to learn lessons from the ongoing crisis and take measures to secure the future growth prospects of the global economy," Patil said.
She said, ?Our economy has both the capacity and the resilience to remain on course for economic growth. It offers an opportunity to invest in a stable, growing market. I would like to see overseas Indian's benefit from the various economic opportunities that India offers."
She said there was a need for better regulatory systems and best practices in the management of capital markets as well as in fiscal policy.
Further, in order to have a fair and orderly market, "We must enforce transparent rules, as absence of regulation can and does create hazards," Patil said.
Stressing that "our focus for the future was to expand economic opportunity and propel our economy towards higher growth rates," Patil said, "Our task will be undertaken in a climate of a global slowdown but I believe that we have the capacity to grow even in these difficult times."
For this purpose, the monetary and fiscal stimulus packages of the government should generate the confidence, she said.
Saying that the global economy was "integrated," Patil called for restructuring of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on a "broad basis". "The global economy today is so integrated that what happens in one part of the world can affect different parts of the world, she said.
The President said that India can contribute to this process in a significant way.
While commending the role of five million overseas workers who remit to India equivalent to between $10 to 12 billion every year, Patil said the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MIOA) should consider whether it was possible to institute a separate set of awards to recognise the contribution of Indian workers abroad.
The President gave away the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammaan Awards to NRIs including Ramdien Sardjoe, Vice-President of Suriname, Mauritius Vice-President Angidi Veeriah Chettiar and management guru C K Prahalad.
Saying that common citizens, policemen, firemen and special forces laid down their lives both as ?innocent victims? and ?valiant warriors? to defend the city, Patil also paid tributes to them.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala said that Tamil Nadu with its world-class infrastructure, "mature eco-system" and good educational and health facilities, was rated as one of the top three investment destinations in India. "It is one of the fastest growing state economies," the Governor said.
PTI
I am Israel
And you want freedom? I have bullets, tanks, missiles, Apaches, and F-16's, to
obliterate you. I have placed your towns under siege, confiscated your lands,
uprooted your trees, demolished your homes, and you still demand freedom? Don't
you get the message?
You will never have peace or freedom, because I am "Zionist "Israel.
I am Death
AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)The U.S. weapons systems used by
the Israelis -- including F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters,
tactical missiles and a wide array of munitions -- have been provided
by Washington mostly as outright military grants.The
administration of President George W. Bush alone has provided over 21
billion dollars in U.S. security assistance over the last eight years,
including 19 billion dollars in direct military aid as freebies."Israel's
intervention in the Gaza Strip has been fueled largely by U.S. supplied
weapons paid for with U.S. tax dollars," says a background briefing
released Thursday by the Arms and Security Initiative of the New
York-based New America Foundation."The Bush administration has
been unwilling to use its considerable influence -- as Israel's major
military and political backer -- to dissuade the government in Tel Aviv
from its pattern of claiming self-defence while perpetrating collective
punishment, human rights violations and undertaking massively
disproportionate attacks that harm and kill civilians," Frida Berrigan,
senior programme associate at the New America Foundation, told IPS.Besides
military aid, the United States has contracted more than 22 billion
dollars in arms sales to Israel in 2008 alone, including a proposed
deal for 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, nine C-130J-30 military
transport aircraft and four combat ships."So, when Israeli
forces engage in combat in Gaza or the West Bank, they are more often
than not using U.S.-designed systems that were either made in the
United States or produced under licence in Israel," says the New
America Foundation.The two-week military onslaught has resulted
in the deaths of over 700 Palestinians, including more than 300
civilians, mostly victims of U.S. weaponry.In comparison, the
Israeli death toll is about seven soldiers and four civilians,
primarily due to "friendly fire", or victims of rocket attacks by
Hamas.Mouin
Rabbani, contributing editor at the Washington-based Middle East
Report, says the intimacy of the U.S.-Israeli military relationship,
and the frequency with which Israel launches wars, means that the
Israeli military also performs the function of testing newly-developed
weapons systems in actual warfare, which is of value to both Israel and
the United States."Twice over, in fact, because less effective
versions of these same weapons systems are subsequently sold at hugely
inflated prices to Arab states, which effectively subsidises the U.S.
weapons industry and U.S. military grants to Israel," he told IPS.Tracing
historical links, Rabbani said Israel replaced South Vietnam as the
primary recipient of U.S. foreign military aid in the 1970s and has
maintained that status ever since.With consistently fewer
exceptions over the years, he pointed out, Israel has the run of the
U.S. arsenal, particularly with regard to obtaining new and advanced
weapons that are not sold (or, as in the present case, given) to
non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) allies.He said
that Israel is also permitted to participate in various U.S. weapons
development programmes, meaning that in addition to weapons deliveries
it benefits enormously from the transfer of military technologies."Israel
also has access to various U.S. intelligence programmes and data, and
the list goes on for quite some length," Rabbani added.Last
week, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Democrat of Ohio) wrote a
letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pointing out that
Israel's use of U.S. weapons in Gaza may constitute a violation of the
requirements of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) of 1976.The
AECA outlines the conditions under which countries may use U.S. weapons
systems, primarily for "internal security" or "legitimate self
defence".The
letter says that Israeli forces have used U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter
planes and Apache helicopters "to precede and to support ongoing ground
actions such as the one in which 40 Palestinians were killed while
taking shelter in a U.N. facility.""Israel is not exempt from
international law and must be held accountable," he added.Berrigan
said that with the onslaught about to enter its third week, hundreds of
Gazans killed and wounded, 10 Israelis killed and more wounded, Hamas
continuing to launch rocket attacks and a grave danger that the
conflict will widen to include Lebanon, President-elect Barack Obama
"will step into a bed of molten hot quicksand on Jan. 20.""It
will be difficult for the new administration to turn the tide of
U.S.-Israeli relations and challenge Israeli exceptionalism, but it is
urgently necessary," she added.Rabbani pointed out that given
the level of U.S. military assistance to Israel, the deployment of
these weapons in the current onslaught against the Gaza Strip, and U.S.
political support for Israel during this crisis, Palestinians could be
forgiven for insisting the U.S. shares direct responsibility."While
I would by no means dismiss the issue of U.S. military transfers to
Israel in their various forms and dimensions, the key issue is
nevertheless the impunity with which these are used," he added.It
is this impunity, rather than the weapons transfers in and of
themselves, that accounts for Israel's ability to sow widespread death
and destruction throughout the Gaza Strip at will.Asked if there
would a change in policy under an Obama administration, Rabbani said:
"I don't see any indication that things are set to change once Obama
takes office".He has attempted to wrap his silence in a cloak of
decorum and statesmanship, "claiming he was left with no choice because
he is not yet president, then -- in view of his constant pronouncements
since Nov. 4 regarding the financial meltdown -- rather too cleverly in
my view elaborated that this only applies to foreign policy.""So
we are supposed to believe that if instead 600 Israelis had been killed
by Palestinian suicide bombers in the space of 10 days, or Russia had
decided to suddenly advance on Tbilisi, you could still hear a pin drop
in Washington? Unlikely."Â
Copyright © 2009 IPS-Inter Press Service
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/01/09-4
(Israeli troops told an extended Palestinian family to shelter in a
warehouse. The Israelis then fired missiles into the warehouse resulting in
the death of some 30 family huddled in the warehouse. Then, Israeli soldiers
detained two of the family members to use as "human shields" against Hamas.
Nonetheless, we will assuredly be lectured that no matter what, it was all
the fault of Hamas. SR)
Massacre of a family seeking sanctuary
The Samounis claim they were guided to a safe haven by Israeli troops - only
to be cut down by shells
By Donald Macintyre and Said Ghazali in Jerusalem and Fares Akram in Gaza
The Independent - UK
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Bitterly cold, famished, and thirsty they may have been. But the dozens of
men, women, children and elderly of the extended Samouni family, sheltering
in the unfinished warehouse-like building owned by one of their relatives,
at least felt relatively secure.
Some explain that Israeli troops had explicitly told them to remain in the
building - in several cases after actually escorting them there. They were
relieved to wake to find the neighbourhood quiet for the first time since
the ground offensive had began 36 hours earlier. So much so, according to
one of them, that some time after 6am, four of the men decided to set out
and bring an uncle and his family to their refuge.
It was then, survivors say, that the greatest of all the horrors visited on
the Zeitoun district of eastern Gaza City occurred. A shell hit the little
group, killing 27-year-old Muhammad instantly, and injuring the other three
still lingering at the door.
According to 19-year-old Maysaa, a second shell or missile fell on the
building's roof with such force that she would in hindsight assume it came
from an Israeli F-16. At the time she lay down with her nine-month-old
daughter Jumana under her, listening to the screams of those around her, as
the structure filled with smoke and dust. When the smoke began to clear, she
looked around and saw what she says were between 20 and 30 bodies, and 20
wounded. The dead included her own husband Tawfiq, her father-in-law Rashed,
who "was hit in the head and whose brain was on the floor", and a
five-month-old baby "whose whole brain was outside his body".
With foreign journalists barred by Israel from entering Gaza, it is not easy
to reconstruct every detail of what happened with any certainty. But
Maysaa's account to the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem is
broadly and quite separately corroborated by other family members, including
a religious studies teacher, Ahmad al-Samouni.
The 23-year-old told The Independent: "One shell hit the door, killing my
cousin Muhammad immediately. One shell, I believe it was from an Apache, hit
the ceiling. Then another shell and another." Ahmad could only recognise his
dead mother Rahmeh, 45, from her clothes and earrings because "part of her
head was gone".
Ahmad says they counted 25 bodies - 10 adults and the rest children. One of
the infants was the five-year-old daughter of his cousin Salah. "Her last
words were 'Baba, Baba' and she died," he said. "She was hit in the head."
The teacher rallied survivors, urging them to leave but not everyone could
make it. "We were about 50, some of us wounded," he said. "My grandmother
Shifa was too sick, we left her." As Ahmad walked to the main road, where
they hoped to find cars to take them to the hospital, he tore a piece off
his white T-shirt and attached it to a stick as a white flag. Some female
members of the Samouni family describe being shot at as they escaped while
holding white flags.
Maysaa says she escaped with her daughter and brother-in-law, Musa, to the
house of an uncle. There she found at least 40 Israeli soldiers and about 30
Palestinians, including a handful that were blindfolded. The soldiers
administered first aid to Maysaa and her daughter before releasing them,
but, she testifies, said they would keep Musa and his uncle "in case Hamas
came". She adds: "I understood that they intended to use them as human
shields."
The Israeli military denies targeting any buildings in the Zeitoun area on
Monday and says it never forcibly gathers civilians in a specific building.
It is continuing to investigate the incident.
Interviewed at Al Quds hospital yesterday, Ibteffam Al-Samouni said soldiers
had "fired missiles" in the neighbourhood on Sunday and broke into five
houses inhabited by Samouni family members and told the residents to leave.
They had then walked to the warehouse belonging to their relatives. She
added: "The soldiers told us: 'Stay there and shut the door, habbibi [my
love]."
"We are civilians, we are farmers, we don't take part in any kind of
resistance," said the 30-year-old woman.
After the shelling on Monday, she tried to escape. But, she says, there was
shooting from Israeli forces as they walked from the building despite the
fact that members of the group were waving white flags and shouting in
Hebrew: "Kattan, Kattan [We have kids]." One of the men, Iyad, was shot in
the leg by soldiers. "They ordered us to keep moving and not take the
wounded man," she recalls. It was not until three days later that his body
was recovered and brought to the hospital.
Ahmad is strongly critical of Hamas for keeping its leaders in hiding while
civilians suffer from Israel's "brutal arsenal of weapons". Wael al-Samouni,
the owner of the warehouse that was to become a tomb for his family members,
insisted that Palestinians would remain steadfast but added: "I appeal to
the world for help. This is a tragedy."
Zeitoun: Site of a slaughter
*Survivors of an Israeli attack in Zeitoun say that up to 30 people were
killed in a building where dozens of men, women and children sheltered from
the Gaza offensive on 5 January. The Israeli army denies that the families
were told by the Israelis to head for the building on the day before the
strikes, and that shells targeted the area the next day.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/massacre-of-a-family-see
king-sanctuary-1297577.html
Why the world is silent on Jammu and Kashmir, asks Pakistan
January 10, 2009 18:52 IST
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani [Images] today accused the world of "double standards" in dealing with the Mumbai attacks and terrorist incidents in Pakistan, saying there was no need for the international community to make "so much noise" about the strike in India's financial hub.
Gilani sought to compare the terrorist attacks in Mumbai [Images] to the Israeli strikes in Gaza and what he termed "atrocities" being committed on innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir [Images] and questioned why the world community was silent on such issues.
"We have to see that the world does not have double standards," he told reporters on the sidelines of an official function in Karachi.
Noting that hundreds of people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's [Images] homecoming motorcade in Karachi in October 2007 and that several foreigners, including an envoy, were killed in the suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad [Images] in September last year, Gilani asked "how much noise" the world community had made about these incidents.
"How much noise did the world make then? Why didn't they say anything?" he said.
"Where was the world then? The world should think in a neutral manner. There is no need for them to make so much noise on one incident," he added.
Gilani said: "As far as the Mumbai incident is concerned - see how many innocent children and women have been killed in Palestine. That is no less than the Mumbai attacks. So why is no one speaking about that? Why is the world silent on that?"
"Whatever is happening in Kashmir, atrocities are being committed against innocent people there. When they speak of indigenous self-determination, that cannot be classified as terrorism. Why is the world silent on that," Gilani asked.
He attributed the Mumbai attacks to "an intelligence failure in India", saying this was the neighbouring country's "internal matter". He added: "As far as the world is concerned, it is presenting this one incident in an exaggerated manner."
Pakistan is prepared for "complete cooperation" with India to probe the Mumbai incident, including intelligence cooperation. "But we do not want that they should demoralise or ridicule Pakistan through the media or diplomacy," he said.
"You should not think Pakistan is weak. Pakistan is strong and its defence is strong. The country's army is strong and highly professional. There is no need to (feel) threatened," he added.
With a hint of sarcasm, he said: "They say 10 people held the whole of India hostage. We pray for their security every day because if any other incident happens (in India), it will be blamed on us. We are now defending two countries, not one. We are defending them and ourselves."
At the same time, he said Pakistan wants good relations with all neighbours, including India and Afghanistan.
Gilani also repeated an assertion he had made some time ago that more people had died in the suicide bombing on Benazir Bhutto's motorcade in Karachi than in the Mumbai attacks. He said over 180 people were killed in the bombing of the motorcade in October 2007. According to most accounts, about 140 people were killed in the bombing of Bhutto's motorcade while over 180 people were killed in the Mumbai attacks.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/jan/10mumterror-gilani-blasts-the-world-over-mumbai-attacks.htm
No reply received from Pak on terror dossier: India
New Delhi India said on Saturday that it has received no reply from Pakistan to the dossier of evidence on Mumbai terror attacks as claimed by Islamabad.
"We will react to the reply when we receive it. We have not yet received it. When it reaches us we will comment," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told reporters in New Delhi.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday that ISI has given its "feedback" to India on "some information" about the Mumbai attacks that New Delhi had shared with the US intelligence agency CIA.
"Our position is clear that Pakistan should fulfil the promises it has made to India and the international community....It has to walk the talk....It should dismantle the organisation and infrastructure that exists there," Sharma said.
When asked if India had received any request from Pakistan for consular access to Mumbai terror accused Ajmal Amir Iman 'Kasab', Sharma replied in the negative.
"We have not received any request for consular access so far. Since Kasab is a Pakistani citizen, if Pakistan requests for consular access we will happily give it," he said.
He expressed dismay at Pakistan going into denial mode on the terror attack. "The organisations involved have been named and those individuals involved have also been identified. They should be punished as per Indian laws as the attack was made on India," Sharma said.
Asked if India expects Pakistan to take action against those involved in the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, Sharma said, "This is in this region's interest, Pakistan's interest as well as the rest of the world".
He further said it was clear from day one "where they (perpetrators) came from and whose nationals they were". Lamenting the lack of cooperation from Pakistan, Sharma said, "It would have been in the interest of the region and for creating a conducive environment, if Pakistan had not gone into a denial mode but accepted in the beginning, co-operated and honoured its commitments."
As a nation state Pakistan is obliged to take action, to cooperate and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice and the infrastructure there is effectively dismantled and neutralised, Sharma said.
Gen-X pins hopes on CM-designate Omar
Jammu With Omar Abdullah set to take over as the new chief minister, youths of Jammu and Kashmir are pinning their hopes on the young leader to address issues like under-development and unemployment, which they feel are the "root causes of militancy".
"We have high hopes from Omar as he is one of us and thinks like youths. His priorities should be to check unemployment, develop infrastructure and rid J and K of militancy and uncertainty," Vimal Choudary, an MBA student at Jammu University, said.
Noting that unemployed youths were being misused by militant outfits in the state, Choudary said, "Omar should focus on channelising youths towards jobs by focusing on building information parks, industries, bio-tech and pharma units and bring investments to J-K."
Echoing similar sentiments, a few other students said they expect Omar to develop the state's twin capitals – Jammu and Srinagar - on the lines of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune.
Omar, who has the experience as Union minister, will have to formulate his programme and policies to give a fillip to tourism, handicrafts, horticulture besides industry and showcase them on the international arena, they said.
"First thing, he should do is to end the regional and rural-urban divide in the state," a teacher Sanjay Pandit said.
A Wani, a dental surgeon, felt that Omar should be allowed to run the government without any interference from the political veterans. "We feel he would do the best and change the face of J and K as a developed state," he said.
The educated youths felt that the leader has the energy to resolve the problems related to water supply, power and roads.
"For the first time in the history we will have a CM of our age and our thinking. Before Omar, all the CMs were above 45 years," said 37-year-old Puneet Kumar, an officer who aspires to work with the new CM. Apart from youngsters, elders too have high hopes from the incoming chief minister. I hope that the state would now move on the path of development. He is raw and pure. Corruption and nepotism that has eaten old generation will not affect him and he will focus on deliverance," said a former army office, Bhawani Singh.
Other veterans feel that as the CM, Omar should address the basic needs of the people, provide employment avenues, industrialisation, weed out corruption and eradicate terrorism to bring permanent peace in the state.
Mumbai attacks an 'internal matter' of India: Gilani
Karachi Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday accused the world of 'double standards' in dealing with the Mumbai attacks and terrorist incidents in Pakistan, saying there was no need for the international community to make 'so much noise' about the strike in India's financial hub.
Gilani sought to compare the terrorist attacks in Mumbai to the Israeli strikes in Gaza and what he termed 'atrocities' being committed on innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir and questioned why the world community was silent on such issues.
"We have to see that the world does not have double standards," he said on the sidelines of an official function in this southern port city.
Noting that hundreds of people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto's homecoming motorcade in Karachi in October 2007 and that several foreigners, including an envoy, were killed in the suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September, 2008, Gilani asked, "how much noise' the world community had made about these incidents.
"How much noise did the world make then? Why didn't they say anything?" he said.
"Where was the world then? The world should think in a neutral manner. There is no need for them to make so much noise on one incident," he added.
Gilani said: "As far as the Mumbai incident is concerned - see how many innocent children and women have been killed in Palestine. That is no less than the Mumbai attacks. So why is no one speaking about that? Why is the world silent on that?"
"Whatever is happening in Kashmir, atrocities are being committed against innocent people there. When they speak of indigenous self-determination, that cannot be classified as terrorism. Why is the world silent on that," Gilani asked.
He attributed the Mumbai attacks to 'an intelligence failure in India', saying this was the neighbouring country's 'internal matter'. He added: "As far as the world is concerned, it is presenting this one incident in an exaggerated manner."
Pakistan is prepared for 'complete cooperation' with India to probe the Mumbai incident, including intelligence cooperation. "But we do not want that they should demoralise or ridicule Pakistan through the media or diplomacy," he said.
"You should not think Pakistan is weak. Pakistan is strong and its defence is strong. The country's army is strong and highly professional. There is no need to feel threatened," he added.
With a hint of sarcasm, he said: "They say 10 people held the whole of India hostage. We pray for their security everyday because if any other incident happens in India, it will be blamed on us. We are now defending two countries, not one. We are defending them and ourselves."
At the same time, he said Pakistan wants good relations with all neighbours, including India and Afghanistan.
Gilani also repeated an assertion he had made some time ago that more people had died in the suicide bombing on Benazir Bhutto's motorcade in Karachi than in the Mumbai attacks. He said over 180 people were killed in the bombing of the motorcade in October 2007.
According to most accounts, about 140 people were killed in the bombing of Bhutto's motorcade while over 180 people were killed in the Mumbai attacks.
Banks submit details of Satyam exposure to RBI
Mumbai As part of its probe on scam-tainted Satyam, RBI collected particulars of transactions that various banks including SBI and ICICI Bank had with the IT company.
"We have submitted the details of our business deals with Satyam to the Reserve bank. In the wake of these developments (in Satyam), banks are bound to be extra cautious while lending to such corporates," SBI's Chief Financial Officer Ashok Mukand said.
When asked, Citibank declined to comment if the company was its client and whether the bank had given details to RBI.
"We are unable to comment due to client confidentiality," a spokesperson of the bank said.
SBI is undertood to have extended loans to the Hyderabad-based company, but the officials declined to divulge the details of its exposure to Satyam.
Leading public-sector lender, Bank of Baroda, has also submitted the details of its "insignificant" exposure to Satyam to the apex bank, its CMD, M D Mallya said.
"We do not have any fund-based exposure to this company (Satyam)," Mallya said. However, the lender has some current account deposits of Satyam.
Leading private-sector lender, ICICI Bank, is also believed to have provided the details to the RBI about its dealings with Satyam.
The bank, in a statement, had said that it did not have any fund-based exposure to Satyam Computer Services other than a marginal exposure of about Rs 3-crore on account of a forward contract.
Satyam is also maintaining a deposit with ICICI Bank in a current account. The balance in this account is not material, ICICI bank said.
India's fourth largest outsourcing firm plunged into a crisis after its Chairman, B Ramalinga Raju resigned admitting gross manipulations in the company's balance sheet.
Other leading banks, which have exposure to Satyam include foreign lenders, Citibank, BNP Paribas, HSBC and private-sector lender HDFC Bank.
HDFC Bank said it did not have any 'significant' exposure to the struggling client.
However, the bank has a small exposure in the form of vehicle loans given to Satyam's employees, an HDFC Bank spokesperson said.
Satyam scam: Jail for Raju, sent to judicial custody
Hyderabad/New Delhi Satyam Computer's disgraced founder Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju were remanded to judicial custody till January 23 and would be lodged in the Chanchalguda central jail.
The 'Rajus', who were arrested on Friday night and subjected to several hours of interrogation, were produced before the 6th Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at the judges' quarters at Marredpally in Secunderabad this evening.
Raju's lawyer Bharat Kumar said his clients were remanded to judicial custody till January 23. He said the court has directed medical treatment to be given by a government doctor to Raju, whose BP was fluctuating abnormally.
Raju's counsel said he will move a bail application on Monday.
After the magistrate's order, the Rajus were whisked away in a van with tinted glasses while police kept the media away by barricading the area.
The police had subjected the Raju brothers to a lengthy interrogation process after their arrest on Friday night, but Ramalinga Raju, 54, the elder of the two, had in the morning complained of chest pain and uneasiness -- following which doctors from private Care Hospital and a government hospital conducted a medical check-up.
A case has been filed against Raju under sections 120-b (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 477-a (fraudulent cancellation of securities) of IPC.
Raju had on Wednesday disclosed a financial fraud in the company to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore by inflating profits and showing fictitious assets where none existed. The company's scrip has fallen nearly 80 per cent since the revelation was made.
Bharat Kumar said Raju did not ask for hospital treatment.
The magistrate on his own directed the jail authorities to monitor his health constantly and provide treatment.
Over 5 lakh have stake in Satyam's survival: CII
New Delhi The big question on survival of Satyam Computer is giving anxious moments not only to its over 50,000 employees but also to over half-a-million people, who would get impacted indirectly if the IT firm does not come out of the trouble, CII President K V Kamath said on Saturday.
Kamath said each of over 50,000 Satyam employees supports a family of four. "Every white collar job creates four another jobs. (So) you are talking about anything between half-a- million to a million people, who could directly or indirectly have been impacted by this single event," Kamath said.
He said the crisis had such a social magnitude that made the government act swiftly and save the company. Besides CII, Assocham and Ficci have also welcomed disbanding of the Satyam board of directors by the government.
They expressed hope that the move would help restore investor confidence not only in Satyam but in corporate India in general.
Govt mulls cut in petrol, diesel prices
Mumbai Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said the Government is considering a further up to Rs 5 per litre reduction in petrol, Rs 3 a litre in diesel and Rs 25 per LPG cylinder prices in the next few days.
"We have talked to Prime Minister, in coming days we are trying to reduce the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG...give us 10 -15 days," Deora told reporters.
"According to me the advisable reduction would be Rs 5 per litre for petrol, Rs 3 per litre for diesel and Rs 25 on LPG cylinder," he said when asked about the extent of reduction in prices.
Oil companies have minimised the losses on petrol and diesel, as crude oil prices have lowered to USD 40 per barrel from its peak of USD 147 a barrel in July last year.
"From this quarter onwards, we expect the oil marketing companies to start making profits. But, if the crude oil price rises beyond 40 dollar per barrel, then it (profit) will not happen," Deora added.
When asked about a reduction in kerosene prices, he said it is already available at the cheapest rate in India of Rs 9 per litre.
On December 6, the Government had reduced prices of petrol and diesel by Rs five and Rs two per litre, respectively, as global crude prices hovered around four year low.
Blogger Advani defends Jinnah comment, again
New Delhi There is a new star in the blogosphere from the galaxy of politicians. It is none other than BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani who has used the cyber tool to justify his controversial comments on Pakistan founder M A Jinnah that had sparked a furore.
The 81-year-old BJP leader has started blogging on his website and in his latest writing on Friday he explained how his meeting with the then Ramkrishna Mission chief Swami Ranganathananda had led him to make the Jinnah comment in a "subconscious way" over three years back.
"Swamiji(Ranganathananda), in particular, lauded Jinnah's historic speech in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947 and said, "The true exposition of the meaning of secularism can be found in this speech. In a subconscious way, this last conversation with Swamiji was to play a decisive contributory role in my own remarks about Jinnah when I went to Pakistan in May-June 2005," he writes in his blog.
Advani had to resign from the party president post after his comments earned the ire of RSS. In his latest blog entry he also talks in detail about his association with late Swamiji and the memories of association with him since his days in Karachi before partition.
"Our conversation at this last meeting (in 2003 in Kolkata) centred on our days in Karachi, the tragic developments triggered by Partition and the role of Mohammed Ali Jinnah," he writes.
Advani describes the Swami as one of the brightest spiritual lights that shone upon Indian society in our times quoting from his autobiography 'My Country My life'.
"My last meeting with him was in 2003, when I had gone to Kolkata for a function, and Swamiji, after having become the all-India President of the Ramakrishna Mission, was living at Belur Math, the missions headquarters in the city. During the last three years of my life in Karachi, every Sunday evening, I started going to the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram to listen to the discourses on the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Ranganathananda. I was as much fascinated by Swamiji's personality," he adds.
"Once when Swamiji was delivering a lecture on Islam and Prophet Mohammed in Karachi, one person entered the hall and sat in the last row. It was Mohammed Ali Jinnah. After the lecture, Jinnah reportedly rushed to the dais and said, Swamiji, so far I had believed that I am a real Muslim. After listening to your speech, I understand that I am not. But with your blessings, I will try to become a real Muslim," writes Advani.
The blogspace of Advani promises to have two more writings from the BJP leader in a week and also invites comments from readers.
Advani, who has a dedicated website on his name, writes, "I was told that a website without a blog is a like having a letter without signature."
Advani has joined the league of leaders who blog including Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The former deputy prime minister has also promised to increase the quantum of writing as the Lok Sabha election campaign picks up pace.
Hyderabad hurting after Satyam scandal
Reuters
Posted: Jan 10, 2009 at 1005 hrs IST
Mumbai In India's biggest corporate scandal in memory, the city of Hyderabad has achieved what it has long yearned for: clamorous media attention and recognition.
Once touted as a rival to Bangalore, for long the first choice of local and foreign software firms, Hyderabad never quite achieved the fame of a Bangalore or Mumbai despite its efforts.
For the 400-year old city, where crumbling mosques and minarets sit amicably by the side of gleaming malls and gated communities, Satyam Computer Services was a showpiece company with which the state lured other local and foreign firms.
Its former chairman Ramalinga Raju, who on Wednesday admitted to inflating profits for several years, was regarded as a true son of Andhra Pradesh, and called the "Narayana Murthy of Hyderabad", in a reference to the well-regarded founder of larger rival Infosys Technologies.
Now, the "pride of Andhra Pradesh has been hurt", local newspapers rued, its reputation damaged by "India's Enron".
"Hyderabadis are taking it very personally," said R. Prasad, a software engineer at a multinational firm in the city. "Everyone was very proud of Satyam and of Raju."
Raju was regarded as a close ally of former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is credited with the vision of attracting investors and transforming Hyderabad into "Cyberabad" to rival Bangalore, considered the Silicon Valley of India.
Fiscal sops and a focus on improving infrastructure drew several global giants including Microsoft, Dell, Oracle, Amazon and Google to Hyderabad even as Bangalore, with its gridlocked roads and power outages, began to look increasingly unattractive.
Microsoft's sprawling facility, with its tennis courts and football tables, is its largest outside its Redmond headquarters.
Far From Over
First-time visitors to Hyderabad, famed for its lustrous pearls and flavourful biryani, are often pleasantly surprised by its charming gardens and modern airport, one of the first examples of a successful public-private partnership.
"Naidu marketed Andhra and Hyderabad very aggressively, and there was a huge investor interest," said V.K. Jairath, a consultant and former bureaucrat in Maharashtra state.
"It had the advantage of a talent pool for IT, and it was a smaller city whose growth could be properly planned," he said.
A significant number of professionals at India's top software firms Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro, as well as at Microsoft and other global firms come from Andhra Pradesh.
In addition to its mission to create a software hub, Hyderabad had other grand plans: a film city to rival the one in Mumbai, home to Bollywood, and a business school to outclass the elite Indian Institutes of Management.
But the glitzy Ramoji Film City remains a distant second, and on Thursday, the dean of the Indian School of Business resigned days after he stepped down as an independent director on Satyam's board amid growing criticism from students and residents.
Rao had been dean since 2004 at ISB, whose governing board includes such names as LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein and Dell chairman Michael Dell.
"We are far from seeing the end of the controversy surrounding Satyam," Rao wrote in his resignation letter.
It may also be a while before the wounded pride of Hyderabadis is repaired, dented already by the negative press from a bridge collapse last year and bomb blasts the year before.
But they are hopeful: "Good times will be back again," an employee at Satyam, which means truth in Sanskrit, wrote on a banner outside the Satyam campus.
Satyam investors lose over 13,000 cr
Mumbai Investors have lost a whopping Rs 13,600 crore (USD 2.82 billion) in Satyam shares in less than a month, since the skeletons started tumbling out of the company's cupboards.
The market capitalisation of Satyam fell to Rs 1,607.04 crore from Rs 15,262 crore at the end of trade on December 16, 2008, the day when Satyam announced an USD 1.6 billion acquisition deal of two firms promoted by the kin of
IT firm's former chairman Ramalinga Raju. However, the company aborted the deal hours later after the investors dissent.
The meltdown in the scrip wiped off as much as Rs 13,655 crore in just 19 trading sessions.
The share price of Satyam plunged to Rs 23 today from over Rs 200 levels on December 16, when the fiasco began.
Investors received a rude shock on January 7, when Ramalinga Raju tendered his resignation and confessed to close to Rs 7,800 crore accounting fraud in the company. The stock had nosedived close to 80 per cent to Rs 39.95 after the starking revelations on that day.
The major erosion in the market cap was suffered in the past two trading sessions which wiped off Rs 10,460 crore with the scrip plunging as much as 86 per cent since January 7.
Analysts believe the scrip is likely to stagnate at Rs 20 levels even as the Satyam counter was among the most traded on the bourses.
"The scrip is stagnating at Rs 20 levels. But we cannot fix the valuation of the company based on the current price movement. The scrip is more of news report driven and struggling to find some ground," SMC Global Vice President Rajesh Jain said.
Boeing cuts 4,500 jobs
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Reuters
Posted: Jan 10, 2009 at 0947 hrs IST
New York Boeing Co became the latest US industrial giant to cut jobs on Friday, shedding 4,500 workers from its commercial plane operations, or about 7% of the unit total, as it looks to trim costs in the face of a global recession.
The world's No. 2 plane maker joins Alcoa Inc, Caterpillar Inc, Chrysler LLC, 3M Co and others in shedding jobs to counter a drop in demand.
The US economy lost more than 500,000 non-farm jobs in December alone, according to the government's latest figures, and unemployment is now at a nearly 16-year high.
Boeing, which lost the race for orders against EADS unit Airbus last year, said normal attrition and a reduction in contract labour would account for some of the job losses, but layoffs would also be necessary.
Most of the jobs are overhead functions and not directly associated with plane manufacturing, Boeing said. The jobs will chiefly be cut from Boeing's massive Seattle-area plants, between April and June.
"This is another painful reminder that the recession is hitting home for Washington state families," said Washington Democrat Sen. Patty Murray, in a statement. "Boeing is part of the lifeblood of our region and when Boeing hurts, Washington state hurts."
The commercial plane unit will employ about 63,500 workers after the reductions, it said, about the same level as at the beginning of 2008. It employed 67,659 people at the end of last year.
Boeing, which also is the US No. 2 defense contractor, had just over 162,000 employees overall at the end of last year.
Its shares, which are down 46 percent over the past 12 months, dipped 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $44.74 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Orders Dipping
Boeing is looking to slim down as it begins to tackle a downturn in plane orders after an unprecedented three-year boom.
It booked 662 jetliner orders last year, a 53 percent drop from its industry record of 1,413 orders the year before, with airlines holding off on buying new planes as they witnessed a sharp drop-off in demand for flights.
Boeing has a record 3,714 planes in its backlog to deliver to customers -- more than six years of work at full production levels -- but industry analysts agree that many orders will be deferred and the company faces a drastic decline in new orders.
"We are taking prudent actions to make sure Boeing remains well positioned in today's difficult economic environment," said Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing's commercial plane unit, in a statement.
The job cuts come shortly after Boeing suffered a bitter strike by its 27,000 production workers, which closed its plants for almost two months. Part of the disagreement between management and its machinists' union revolved around job security and the company's right to outsource work.
Open Letter to Barack Hussein Obama, President-elect of the United States of America
by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Former Prime Minister of Malaysia
January 10, 2009
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11584
Dear Mr. President,
I did not vote for you in the Presidential Election because I am Malaysian.
But I consider myself one of your constituents because what you do or say will affect me and my country as well.
I welcome your promise for change. Certainly your country, the United States of America needs a lot of changes.
That is because America and Americans have become the most hated people in the world. Even Europeans dislike your arrogance. Yet you were once admired and liked because you freed a lot of countries from conquest and subjugation.
It is the custom on New Year's day for people to make resolutions. You must have listed your good resolutions already. But may I politely suggest that you also resolve to do the following in pursuit of Change.
1) Stop killing people. The United States is too fond of killing people in order to achieve its objectives. You call it war, but today's wars are not about professional soldiers fighting and killing each other. It is about killing people, ordinary innocent people by the hundreds of thousands. Whole countries will be devastated.
War is primitive, the cavemen's way of dealing with a problem. Stop your arms build up and your planning for future wars.
2) Stop indiscriminate support of Israeli killers with your money and your weapons. The planes and the bombs killing the people of Gaza are from you.
3) Stop applying sanctions against countries which cannot do the same against you.
In Iraq your sanctions killed 500,000 children through depriving them of medicine and food. Others were born deformed.
What have you achieved with this cruelty? Nothing except the hatred of the victims and right-thinking people.
4) Stop your scientists and researchers from inventing new and more diabolical weapons to kill more people more efficiently.
5) Stop your arms manufacturers from producing them. Stop your sales of arms to the world. It is blood money that you earn. It is un-Christian.
6) Stop trying to democratize all the countries of the world. Democracy may work for the United States but it does not always work for other countries.
Don't kill people because they are not democratic. Your crusade to democratize countries has killed more people than the authoritarian Governments which you overthrew. And you have not succeeded anyway.
7) Stop the casinos which you call financial institutions. Stop hedge funds, derivatives and currency trading. Stop banks from lending non-existent money by the billions.
Regulate and supervise your banks. Jail the miscreants who made profits from abusing the system.
8) Sign the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements.
9) Show respect for the United Nations.
I have many other resolutions for change which I think you should consider and undertake.
But I think you have enough on your plate for this 2009th year of the Christian Era.
If you can do only a few of what I suggest, you will be remembered by the world as a great leader. Then the United States will again be the most admired nation. Your embassies will be able to take down the high fences and razor-wire coils that surround them.
May I wish you a Happy New Year and a great Presidency.
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad
(Former Prime Minister of Malaysia)
Mahathir Mohamad is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Mahathir Mohamad
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
*****
PM's speech at the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the Indian National Science Academy
New Delhi : January 10, 2009
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Indian National Science Academy in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister's remarks on the occasion:
"It gives me great pleasure to be here at the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the Indian National Science Academy. This is indeed a major milestone, that few institutions of science have achieved in India thus far. It gives us an opportunity, both, to celebrate its role in furthering the cause of Indian science over more than seven decades and, perhaps more important, to look forward to the future, towards the looming centenary of your organisation.
When INSA was established, during the colonial period, Indian scientists had already begun to excel. Sir C. V. Raman had won the Nobel Prize for his work in Physics four years earlier. Professor Jagdish Chandra Bose had already demonstrated the power and utility of microwaves. Many others, like Srinivasa Ramanujam, P. C. Ray, S. N. Bose, and Meghnad Saha, had made their seminal contributions before India became independent. Globally, science was then primarily pursued for creation of knowledge and scholarship formed the main driving force for scientific research; India was no exception.
With Independence came rapid change and a new and different commitment to science. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, brought to governance his abiding belief in the need to propagate a scientific temper and the spirit of rational, scientific inquiry among the people of our country. He saw a close interconnect between scientific, progressive and secular values. He was convinced of the necessity of the application of science and technology in tackling the enormous economic and social challenges facing the newly independent India.
Indeed, Indian scientists did solve many pressing national problems. Prof Vijayan mentioned the Green revolution, I add that the White and Blue revolutions, are -- along with the nuclear and space revolutions, to name just a few – significant achievements of Indian science and technology .
INSA has played a major role in this process. We value its role as an apex body advising the government and the country on issues relating to the development of science and technology.
Today, the world is moving rapidly towards knowledge-based societies and economies. The pace of scientific and technological transformation all over the world has accelerated beyond our expectations. Yet, as the frontiers of knowledge are pushed forward, new and seemingly intractable problems arise which test our creativity as well as intellect.
It is against this background that we should look at the role that the Indian scientific community in general and INSA in particular could seek to play in our national life. Our priorities must reflect the many challenges and opportunities that we face as a nation. I would like to highlight a few where Indian scientists can make a tangible contribution.
The first area that comes to mind is education. Over the years we have built many institutions of excellence and I can say with some satisfaction that since the early years of Independence, no government has done more to increase the number of institutions of excellence in the country than the present government, be they institutes of science, institutes of technology, centres for research or universities in general.
Maintaining standards in sciences and education while expanding the base at such a pace is indeed a difficult task. I would expect institutions like INSA to reflect on ways to combine expansion with excellence. At the same time it is important that we raise the standards of science teaching and research uniformly so that we are not left with islands of excellence in a vast sea of mediocrity. The centre of gravity of scientific research appears to have moved away from universities, a trend that I do have worries about. The government can help with financial support but it is the scientific community that must give scholastic substance to the infrastructure that exists or is coming into being.
It is in this context some what disturbing that, committed as we are to making science education attractive to our youth, the enrollment of students in science in universities is not going up as fast as we expect it to .We cannot expect to create a large talent pool of scientists to service a knowledge economy if this share does not pick up significantly in the years to come. We need to look into the reasons for this unsatisfactory situation and I hope that you will deliberate on this as well.
I believe that we need to examine our curriculums and our approach to teaching and to research. We must ensure that our universities and our leading institutions keep up with the very best in the world and impart education on par with them.
In this effort we should make full use of the enormous pool of Indian scientific talent resident abroad. The many distinguished scientists and engineers I meet during my visits abroad are without exception eager to contribute to the development of scientific capabilities in India.
I sincerely believe that our universities must make use of the vast talent bank that exists in our country. Today, we know where the priorities lie: the scientific community must come forward to tell us how to achieve our goals. We should strengthen the emphasis that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid on using science and technology to overcome developmental challlneges. This legacy was carried forward by his successors. Mrs Indira Gandhi's personal interest in the green revolution ensured its success. Shri Rajiv Gandhi instituted the New Education Policy and the many technology missions that helped millions especially in our rural areas. Four years ago, apart from expanding many of these programmes, our government established the Knowledge Commission.
The two sectors that call for immediate attention are energy and the environment. Our priorities are very clear. We need greater energy efficiency. We need new and sustainable sources of commercially viable energy. We need equity in the consumption of energy. We need to reduce the human imprint on the environment. We need to establish and proliferate "best practices". And we need to meet human needs and our development goals without threatening our planet and its limited resources.
The India of the 21st Century is going to be a force to reckon with. It derives its strength from our composite culture, from our youthful population, from our democratic way of life and from the freedom of thought and deed that are guaranteed to all our citizens by our magnificent constitution. It also derives its strength from its huge pool of talent, from its scientists and technologists, its knowledge workers and its millions aspiring to a better life through better education and better opportunity.
India's challenge is in rendering the benefits of development equitably to all its citizens. We need an educational system that provides opportunity for all. We need research and development that delivers innovations and practical and pragmatic solutions to the social problems we face. We need our scientists to take the lead and help us create a world in which we are able to combine the advance of the knowledge society and the challenge of providing adequate food, good health care and nutrition, housing, energy and environment security to all our people.
I hope that when the time comes and INSA celebrates its centenary, it will have the satisfaction of knowing that it was able to chart new pathways and to play its part in transforming India into one of the world's leading powers, a truly equitable, knowledge society able to fulfill the potential of its youthful, aspiring population."
********
RCJ/SH/CS/:/spandey/.........(RelSet1_10Jan09)
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
*****
Vice President to inaugurate National Youth Festival on Monday
New Delhi : January 10, 2009
The Fourteenth National Youth Festival will be inaugurated by the Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari on Monday at Amritisar. It is the first time that National Youth Festival would be held in Punjab from 12th – 16th January. Shri Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab will be presiding over the function. Dr. M.S. Gill, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports and Shri Gulzar Singh Ranike, Sports Minister, Punjab , will be the 'Guests of Honour' at the function.
About 4000 young persons from all States and UTs are expected to participate in the Youth Festival. National Youth Festival is organized every year from January 12th to 16th. January 12th being the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is observed as National Youth Day.
On the occasion, the Vice President of India will also give away National Youth Awards and Awards to the National Youth Outstanding Clubs. Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports presents National Youth awards every year to motivate young persons to achieve excellence in the field of national service and to encourage them to develop a sense of responsibility to their community and to improve their own potential as good citizens and young leaders. The Award consists of a silver medal, a certificate and a cash prize. The Government has also doubled award money for individual awardees from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 40,000 and for voluntary organizations from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakhs.
During the five day festival, there will be competitive events in 16 individual items and two group items. In addition to this a young Artists Camp, Yuva Kriti and an Adventure Festival will be organized by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan that functions under the aegis of the Department of Youth Affairs, Govt. of India. The National Service Scheme will also organize a National Youth Convention and a lecture series 'Suvichar'.
In the year 1995, the First National Youth Festival was successfully held at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The venues where these Festivals were subsequently successfully held are Kolkata (West Bengal) in 1996, Ahmedabad(Gujrat) in 1997 ,Chennai(Tamil Nadu) in 1998 ,Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) in 1999, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) in 2000, Hissar (Haryana) in 2002 ,Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) in 2003 ,Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) in 2004 ,Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) in 2005 ,Patna(Bihar) in 2006 , Pune (Maharashtra) in 2007 and Chennai (Tamil Nadu)in 2008.
RM/AS /:/spandey/.........(RelSet1_10Jan09)
PIB Kolkata
Cancer Charity Scam - Articles
Cancer Charity Scam
http://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?q=drug%20scam&k=drug%20scam
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/10/15/cancer-charity.aspx
Ultrafast CT Scans - Godsend or Scam? - Articles
Ultrafast CT Scans - Godsend or Scam?
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/09/24/ct-scans-part-one.aspx
The Next Statin Scam: Preventing Strokes - Articles
The Next Statin Scam: … The study was funded by Pfizer, the drug company that makes Lipitor. … that makes the drug -- as opposed to 50 percent of studies not funded by industry and 30 percent of …
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/08/24/the-next-statin-scam-preventing-strokes.aspx
Insider Reveals Multimillion-Dollar Medicare Scam - Articles
Insider Reveals Multimillion-Dollar Medicare Scam … she created this scam by opening phony health-care equipment stores, fabricating medical re …
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/05/12/medicare-scam.aspx
Another Bird Flu Scam - Articles
They plan to start mass producing the drug in 2007, assuming the drug is approved by regulators. … a similar drug produced by Sanofi Aventis, which uses conventional adjuvants, requires 30 microgram … money-grubbing scam that has led to the panic over this near-nonexistent problem.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/08/12/another-bird-flu-scam.aspx
'Detoxifying' Foot Pads are a Scam - Articles
Detoxifying' Foot Pads are a Scam
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/14/detoxifying-foot-pads-are-a-scam.aspx
Merck's Latest Drug Scam a Worthless Diabetes Drug - Articles
Merck's Latest Drug Scam a Worthless Diabetes Drug … maybe dangerous drug called Januvia, coincidently marketed in … surrendered to the drug model and doing your patients a great disservice by not offering them an ex …
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/11/04/mercks-latest-drug-scam-a-worthless-diabetes-drug.aspx
Trillion Dollar Health Scam
Trillion Dollar Health Scam … Drug companies are billing the … This Medicare drug plan fiasco enriches pharmaceutical companies, fleeces taxpayers, and forces mill …
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/trillion-dollar-health-scam-19438.aspx
Health Officials All Over the World Mysteriously Supporting the Vaccine Safety Scam - Articles
Health Officials All Over the World Mysteriously Supporting the Vaccine Safety Scam
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/11/14/health-officials-all-over-the-world-mysteriously-supporting-the-vaccine-safety-scam.aspx
The New Potato Chip Scam: Don't Let Them Deceive You - Articles
The New Potato Chip Scam:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/05/23/the-new-potato-chip-scam-dont-let-them-deceive-you.aspx
Trillion-Dollar Health Scam - Articles
Trillion-Dollar Health Scam … Trillion-Dollar Health Scam … These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/06/21/trillion-dollar-health-scam.aspx
Another Bird Flu Scam
Another Bird Flu Scam … a health-harming drug, I urge you to review my quick tips for … This is all about creating fear and panic to benefit the drug companies.
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/another-bird-flu-scam-57337.aspx
Seattle Rejects Bottled Water Scam
Seattle Rejects Bottled Water Scam
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/seattle-rejects-bottled-water-scam-58229.aspx
'Detoxifying' Foot Pads are a Scam
Detoxifying' Foot Pads are a Scam
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/-detoxifying--foot-pads-are-a-scam-70564.aspx
Merck's Latest Drug Scam: Treating Diabetes
Merck's Latest Drug Scam: … about new diabetes drug in the pipeline contributed to Merck and Novartis stocks climbing by about … happen with any drug costing patients close to $5 per pill, per day as Januvia does.
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/merck-s-latest-drug-scam--treating-diabetes-1190.aspx
Read This or Risk Losing Your Money or Identity Online - Articles
Because I was aware of the new Internet scam called … Internet scam, so I called Amazon first and sure enough this was an evil e-mail that …
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/09/22/identity-online.aspx
Health Officials All Over the World Mysteriously Supporting the Vaccine Safety Scam
Health Officials All Over the World Mysteriously Supporting the Vaccine Safety Scam … none of which includes taking a drug.
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/health-officials-all-over-the-world-mysteriously-supporting-the-vaccine-safety-scam-1349.aspx
How to Protect Yourself From Self-Help Scams - Articles
Self-Help Scam Protection 101 (Part 1)
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/05/16/self-help-scam-protection-101-part-1.aspx
Beware of the Newest Online Scamming Threat - Articles
A new scam has hit the Internet mainstream and could be the most frightening of all.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/05/14/online-scam.aspx
The Beginning of the End for Big Drugmakers? - Articles
Shrinking drug pipelines, increased competition from generics and a slew of patent expirations are p … Drug companies have acknowledged that radical changes in research and development are needed in orde … The fact that the drug cartel is facing negative growth in 2011 for the first time in history is big …
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/31/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-big-drugmakers.aspx
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Livni's Big Lie
By RANNIE AMIRI
"There is no humanitarian crisis in the [Gaza] Strip."
- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, 1 January 2009.
In 1925, Adolf Hitler, writing in Mein Kampf, defined 'The Big Lie'. He called it a lie so enormous that people "…would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."
By now it should be obvious that Livni and other Israeli officials have decided to do just that; utilizing the same technique in service of their public relations campaign to justify the atrocities taking place in Gaza, they simultaneously claim they do not exist.
Indeed, it is yet another astonishing example of how practices from such an ignominious period of history have become incorporated into the military and propaganda armamentarium of the Israeli government and the behavior of the settler community, without even the batting of an eye to reflect its historical irony.
Take, for example, the recent riots by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian city of Al-Khalil, also known as Hebron. It is home to 200,000 Palestinians and 500 extremist settlers, protected day and night by Israeli soldiers. In early December and under the order of Israel's High Court, they were evicted from a disputed building (quite gently of course) by those soldiers. During the confrontation between the two, a group of settlers went marauding through Hebron, shooting indiscriminately at Palestinian civilians while attempting to lynch others, setting cars on fire and burning down houses. A few weeks earlier, mosques in Hebron had been spray painted and desecrated with virulent anti-Islamic, anti-Arab slogans and houses had Stars of David painted on them. The reports and images of their December rampage were so disturbing that even Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could find no words to describe it other than calling it a "pogrom".
In the case of the current Gaza onslaught, Livni's remark in Paris that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and everything is "completely as it should be" is an excellent example of The Big Lie. Its propagation has no doubt been aided by the Israeli government prohibiting journalists from entering Gaza (despite a High Court ruling ordering them to lift the ban).
But facts always run contrary to The Big Lie. According to the agencies of the United Nations and multiple international relief organizations:
Eighty percent of Gazans were dependent on humanitarian assistance during the crippling 18-month siege of Gaza but before the outbreak of hostilities.
Nearly all food shops have closed and there is currently a severe shortage of flour, rice, milk and canned goods.
One quarter to one half of Gaza's 1.5 million people are without water. Seventy-five percent have been without electricity for over a week. Fuel is in short supply and with winter at hand, this has caused terrible hardship to the majority who live in unlit, unheated homes (and who are also forced to keep their windows open to prevent shattering glass from nearby explosions).
Cooking gas is extremely scarce since the tunnels into Egypt—the lifeline that kept Gaza barely afloat during the siege—were bombed.
Supplies of regular diesel—the only means hospitals have for running backup generators and which they now exclusively run on—are very low. According to the United Nations, these generators are "close to collapse." Diesel is also needed to run water and sewage pumps; absolute necessities in providing adequate sanitation and preventing the outbreak of disease.
Even before the military campaign commenced, 75 percent of Gaza's children were malnourished, 46 percent anemic and 30 percent suffered from stunted growth.
The United Nations Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur for the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Dr. Richard Falk, said that Israel was "… allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease."
A hallmark of The Big Lie is its repetition.
"Hamas is trying to create the appearance of a humanitarian crisis, but together with the international organizations, we are preventing this from happening."
- Colonel Moshe Levi, Commander of the Israeli army's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, 1 January 2009.
The reality:
John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Words Agency (UNRWA), the organization responsible for feeding half of Gaza's 1.5 million residents:
"We have a catastrophe unfolding in Gaza for the civilian population. The people of Gaza City and the north now have no water. That comes on top of having no electricity. They're trapped, they're traumatized, they're terrorized by this situation … The inhumanity of this situation, the lack of action to bring this to an end, is bewildering to them" (Daily Telegraph, 5 Jan 2009).
"Gaza was already bad enough but what I saw today was utter devastation. It's just horrible to see this, horrible to see civilians caught up in this. Gaza went through 'crisis' a long time ago and what I saw today was a catastrophe in the making" (The Guardian, 5 Jan 2009).
Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UNRWA:
"When you look at the Israeli assertions about the humanitarian situation it is very hard to square this with the extraordinarily dire situation on the ground in Gaza. Any claims about human need at this stage need to be grounded in reality" (Daily Telegraph, 1 Jan 2009).
Maxwell Gaylard, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories:
"By any definition this is a humanitarian crisis and more" (AFP, 3 Jan 2009).
"The WFP [World Food Programme] stopped sending food in there because their warehouses are full to the top."
- Major Avital Leibovitz, military spokesman, 4 January 2009.
Christine Van Nieuwenhuyse, WFP representative in Gaza (reported to be "furious" at the above comment):
"The current situation in Gaza is appalling, and many basic food items are no longer available on the market" (Press TV, 2 Jan 2009).
Maxwell Gaylard, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories:
"Conditions for parents and children in Gaza are dangerous and frightening. It is absolutely crucial that there is an end to the fighting. Without it, more civilians will continue to be killed. Without the violence stopping, it is extremely difficult to get food to people who need it" (The Scotsman, 3 Jan 2009).
"Electricity and communications are down over much of the strip both on account of lack of fuel and damage to critical infrastructure. Over a million people are currently without power, and over a quarter million without running water, some for up to six days" (Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2009).
The Associated Press, 4 Jan 2009:
And in the central Gaza refugee camp of Nusseirat, Munir Najar said he only had another day's worth of flour to feed his family of seven, but ventured out to find streets deserted and shops closed.
"There's not a loaf of bread to be found," said Najar, 43.
"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
- Israeli Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel, 4 January 2009.
The New York Times, 5 Jan 2009:
Many here would dispute that [Yehezkel's statement]. With power lines down, much of Gaza has no electricity. There is a dire shortage of cooking gas.
Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian who was allowed into Gaza last week to give emergency medical aid, and who has worked in many conflict zones, said the situation was the worst he had seen.
The hospital lacked everything, he said: monitors, anesthesia, surgical equipment, heaters and spare parts. Israeli bombing nearby blew out windows, and like the rest of Gaza, here the severely limited fuel supplies were running low.
Dominic Nutt, spokesman for Save the Children:
"We need to deliver more food and blankets to ensure that children do not die of hunger and cold" (Daily Telegraph, 5 Jan 2009).
Sadi Ali, project manager for the Palestinian Water Authority:
"There is a risk of the spread of all sorts of water borne diseases such as dysentery and cholera" (Daily Telegraph, 4 Jan 2009).
Pierre Krähenbühl, Director of Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
"There is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic as a result of ten days of uninterrupted fighting. In that sense, their situation has clearly become intolerable" (ICRC.org, 6 Jan 2009).
The truth, as always, runs in stark contrast to the utterances of those peddling the latest of Israel's Big Lies. Just as in 1948 when the 'people without a land for a land without a people' myth was used as cover to expel 700,000 indigenous inhabitants from historical Palestine, The Big Lie is once again being employed to obfuscate the reality of the crimes being committed in Gaza.
Let us hope this time, they do not get away with it.
Rannie Amiri is an independent commentator on the Arab and Islamic worlds. He may be reached at: rbamiri at yahoo.com.
http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri01092009.html
Apparently a good resolution for the family of a clerk killed in a racial
hate crime. Thanks to Jordan Hayes for pointing this out. SR)
Dollar Tree settles with family over benefits for slain worker
Bob Egelko, Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle Friday
January 9, 2009
The amount of the settlement wasn't disclosed, but it's "a number that we're
very satisfied with," attorney Moira Stagliano said today. She represents
Carol Frazier of Vallejo, the mother of slaying victim Taneka Talley and
guardian of Talley's 11-year-old son, Larry Olden.
State law entitles a dependent child to at least $250,000 in workers'
compensation benefits for a parent's job-related death. Stagliano had said
earlier that Larry should receive at least an additional $75,000 before he
turns 18. She said today that Frazier had agreed to a compromise on that
issue.
Talley, 26, was stabbed to death in March 2006 while stocking shelves at the
Dollar Tree on North Texas Street, where she worked full-time as a clerk to
support herself and her son.
Tommy Joe Thompson, 45, of West Sacramento was arrested later in the day and
has been charged with murder in Solano County Superior Court. His trial is
scheduled to start March 18.
At a March 2007 hearing on Thompson's mental competency to stand trial, a
defense psychiatrist, Herb McGrew, testified that Thompson had told him he
stabbed Talley because she was black.
Thompson, who is white, has not been charged with a hate crime or a racially
motivated murder, which can be a death-penalty offense.
A lawyer for Dollar Tree's insurers later cited McGrew's testimony in a
letter to Stagliano defending the denial of benefits for Talley's son.
"The doctors testify that Mr. Thompson's motivation in stabbing Taneka
Talley was purely race motivated," the attorney wrote. "As such, it is our
belief that our denial in this matter was proper."
California law requires employers to pay benefits to employees or their
survivors for all work-related injuries and deaths, regardless of whether
the company was at fault. On-the-job injuries are not covered, however, if
they arise from purely personal motives.
Protesters picketed Dollar Tree's Fairfield store in November. Stagliano,
meanwhile, had appealed the denial to a state workers' compensation court in
Oakland, arguing that there was nothing personal about an attack from a
total stranger.
The appeal was pending when Dollar Tree announced last month that it was
willing to pay the full benefits allowed by the law.
In a statement today, Dollar Tree said Talley had been "the victim of a
despicable crime." The firm said it had relied on advice from others - an
apparent reference to its insurers - that it was not required to pay
benefits.
"While Dollar Tree was advised that the claim was not covered under the
state worker's compensation law, we felt that payment of these benefits was
the right thing to do for Taneka's son," the company said. "This matter has
now been resolved to the satisfaction of the family."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/09/BAS8156JPC.DTL
--- In communist_news@yahoogroups.com, mark
Published on Friday, January 9, 2009 by the Times Online/UK
Gaza Victims' Burns Increase Concern Over Phosphorus
by Michael Evans and Sheera Frenkel
JERUSALEM - Photographic evidence has emerged that proves that
Israel has been using controversial white phosphorus shells during its
offensive in Gaza, despite official denials by the Israel Defence
Forces.The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly marked with the
designation M825A1, an American-made white phosphorus munitionThere
is also evidence that the rounds have injured Palestinian civilians,
causing severe burns. The use of white phosphorus against civilians is
prohibited under international law.The Times has identified
stockpiles of white phosphorus (WP) shells from high-resolution images
taken of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) artillery units on the
Israeli-Gaza border this week. The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly
marked with the designation M825A1, an American-made WP munition. The
shell is an improved version with a more limited dispersion of the
phosphorus, which ignites on contact with oxygen, and is being used by
the Israeli gunners to create a smoke screen on the ground.The
rounds, which explode into a shower of burning white streaks, were
first identified by The Times at the weekend when they were fired over
Gaza at the start of Israel's ground offensive. Artillery experts said
that the Israeli troops would be in trouble if they were banned from
using WP because it is the simplest way of creating smoke to protect
them from enemy fire.There were indications last night that
Palestinian civilians have been injured by the bombs, which burn
intensely. Hassan Khalass, a doctor at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City,
told The Times that he had been dealing with patients who he suspected
had been burnt by white phosphorus. Muhammad Azayzeh, 28, an emergency
medical technician in the city, said: "The burns are very unusual. They
don't look like burns we have normally seen. They are third-level burns
that we can't seem to control."Victims with embedded WP
particles in their flesh have to have the affected areas flushed with
water. Particles that cannot be removed with tweezers are covered with
a saline-soaked dressing.Nafez Abu Shaban, the head of the burns
unit at al-Shifa hospital, said: "I am not familiar with phosphorus but
many of the patients wounded in the past weeks have strange burns. They
are very deep and not like burns we used to see."When The Times
reported on Monday that the Israeli troops appeared to be firing WP
shells to create a thick smoke camouflage for units advancing into
Gaza, an IDF spokesman denied the use of phosphorus and said that
Israel was using only the weapons that were allowed under international
law.Rows of the pale blue M825A1 WP shells were photographed on
January 4 on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border. Another
picture showed the same munitions stacked up behind an Israeli
self-propelled howitzer.Confronted with the latest evidence, an
IDF spokeswoman insisted that the M825A1 shell was not a WP type. "This
is what we call a quiet shell - it is empty, it has no explosives and
no white phosphorus. There is nothing inside it," she said."We
shoot it to mark the target before we launch a real shell. We launch
two or three of the quiet shells which are empty so that the real
shells will be accurate. It's not for killing people," she said.Asked
what shell was being used to create the smokescreen effect seen so
clearly on television images, she said: "We're using what other armies
use and we're not using any weapons that are banned under international
law."Neil Gibson, technical adviser to Jane's Missiles and
Rockets, insisted that the M825A1 was a WP round. "The M825A1 is an
improved model. The WP does not fill the shell but is impregnated into
116 felt wedges which, once dispersed [by a high-explosive charge],
start to burn within four to five seconds. They then burn for five to
ten minutes. The smoke screen produced is extremely effective," he
said.The
shell is not defined as an incendiary weapon by the Third Protocol to
the Convention on Conventional Weapons because its principal use is to
produce smoke to protect troops. However, Marc Galasco, of Human Rights
Watch, said: "Recognising the significant incidental incendiary effect
that white phosphorus creates, there is great concern that Israel is
failing to take all feasible steps to avoid civilian loss of life and
property by using WP in densely populated urban areas. This concern is
amplified given the technique evidenced in media photographs of
air-bursting WP projectiles at relatively low levels, seemingly to
maximise its incendiary effect."He added, however, that Human Rights
Watch had no evidence that Israel was using incendiaries as
weapons.British
and American artillery units have stocks of white phosphorus munitions
but they are banned as anti-personnel weapons. "These munitions are not
unlawful as their purpose is to provide obscuration and not cause
injury by burning," a Ministry of Defence source said.Mads
Gilbert, a Norwegian war surgery specialist working in Gaza, told The
Times that he had seen injuries believed to have resulted from Israel's
use of a new "dense inert metal explosive" that caused "extreme
explosions". He said: "Those inside the perimeter of this weapon's
power zone will be torn completely apart. We have seen numerous
amputations that we suspect have been caused by this." Â
Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/01/09
United Nation: One-third of Gaza dead, injured are children
By JOHN HEILPRIN
The Associated Press
Friday, January 9, 2009; 3:03 AM
Palestinian relatives of a father and four of his sons from the Khalout family who were killed in an Israeli army operation, react in the family house during their funeral in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. The U.N. halted deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Thursday after gunfire from an Israeli tank killed an aid truck driver, and the international Red Cross said it would restrict activities after one of its drivers was injured in a similar incident. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (Khalil Hamra - AP)
Palestinian children stand near the remains of an Israeli missile that landed in a building in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba) (Eyad Baba - AP)
By JOHN HEILPRIN
The Associated Press
Friday, January 9, 2009; 3:03 AM
UNITED NATIONS -- Palestinian children are dying at a heavy rate in the Israeli-Hamas fighting _ about one of every three persons killed, according to Gaza statistics.
As of Thursday, 257 children were among the approximately 760 reported dead in Gaza. There were another 1,080 children among the 3,100 injured in the conflict, according to statistics from Gaza's health ministry.
The U.N.'s top humanitarian official, John Holmes, described the numbers as "credible" and deeply disturbing. U.N officials say about half of the casualties were civilians.
Holmes and John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, both expressed anger and regret at their decision Thursday to temporarily suspend aid shipments in the Gaza Strip because it was too risky for their aid workers.
"It's particularly distressing and horrifying that the current casualties seem to be increasingly civilian casualties, with an increasing incidence of whole families being buried in houses which have been hit," Holmes said.
Ann Veneman, executive director of the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, warned the suspension of aid would put children even more in harm's way.
"This can only deepen an already critical humanitarian situation and put children at even greater risk of death or permanent damage. The distribution of food, water, fuel and medicine should not be impeded," she said.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it cooperates closely with foreign aid groups to help civilians, and said Hamas uses civilians as human shields.
The decision to suspend aid deliveries in Gaza came after Israeli strikes killed two drivers for UNRWA and injured a third in marked vehicles, U.N. officials say.
In all, four of UNRWA's Gaza staff have been killed since Israel launched a major attack on Hamas 13 days ago, according to the U.N. UNRWA said its deliveries of food have served as a "lifeline" for 750,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza.
Holmes cited another incident in which a U.N. convoy of two armored vehicles and an ambulance were "targeted by small-arms fire during its passage" Thursday, even though its movement was "agreed in advance" by the Israeli authorities.
The World Health Organization said Gaza's health services were "on the point of collapse" _ the hospitals overwhelmed, health care workers exhausted. It said the dead included 21 medical personnel, 30 more were injured and 11 ambulances have been struck by attacks.
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, accused Israel Thursday of "unacceptable" delays in letting rescue workers reach three Gaza City homes hit by shelling where they found 15 dead and 18 wounded.
The wounded included young children too weak to stand, but the ICRC said the Israeli army refused to give permission for rescuers to reach the site in the Zeitoun neighborhood for four days and ambulances could not reach the neighborhood because the Israeli army erected large earthen barriers that blocked access.
Israel blamed the delay on fighting in the area.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010900369.html?referrer=emailarticle
Theology in America: Christian Thought from Age of the Puritans to Civil War
By Austin Cline
Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War
It can be argued that understanding American history and politics requires understanding Christianity as well, but the connection between America and Christianity goes farther than that. For a long time theological language, imagery, and ideas were pervasive in American political and cultural discourse — Christian theology was the common language of Americans in all walks of life.
Summary
Title: Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War
Author: E. Brooks Holifield
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300095740
Pro:
• Exhaustive resource on American theology
• Would work well for academic courses of various sorts
Con:
• Far too much for casual readers
Description:
• History of Christian theology in America from early colonial days through the Civil War
• Explains how theological discourse grounded political & cultural discourse
• Describes how debates over slavery caused Americans to look beyond theology
Book Review
To say that theological discourse was fundamental to other forms of discourse does not mean that people talked about nothing but religion. It does, however, mean that religious ideas and images played significant roles in how people thought about the world around them. Understanding their language means getting a better grasp of theological language as well.
Unfortunately, the theology of early America is largely lost to Americans today. In early America there weren't very many learned professions aside from theologian, giving ministers an unprecedented amount of influence. Although Christianity remains the predominant religion, theology is no longer a very popular topic. Even pastors, ministers, and priests rarely deliver sermons on theology specifically, and while politicians may make a lot of religious references, real theology hardly ever comes into the picture.
What people need is a good history of American theology, and they would be hard pressed to find any more detailed, exhaustive, and thorough work as E. Brooks Holifield's Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War. This certainly isn't the only history of American theology, but it provides such detail and description that it would be appropriate not only for religious studies courses but also professional training in seminaries. Indeed, it is so exhaustive that it probably wouldn't be suitable for the casual reader. Only those with a very serious interest in theology and American history will want to make the effort to go through this.
There are probably two key themes which underlie a significant amount of Holifield's text. First is that "Christian theology" should be understood primarily as "Calvinist theology." Not all American Christians were Calvinists, but especially in the early days American religion was dominated almost entirely by debates within the Reformed tradition and its particular themes: nothing occurs outside of God's will, only an elect few have been chosen for salvation, and sin is a dominant force in human society. Language about the extent of human freedom, the power of sin, and role of the church continue to influence political and religious discourse, although in ways less obvious to people today than it would have been in colonial America.
The focus on Christianity being reasonable and practical was one of the causes of the downfall of theological language in public discourse. How could theology be rational and Christianity reasonable if powerful, intelligent theologians could come down on both sides of the ethics of slavery? If the authority of the Bible were obvious and supported by nature, then wouldn't it be obvious whether slavery were just or not?
Whereas before the truth and reasonableness of Christianity were simply taken for granted, questions about slavery forced American Christians to take seriously the possibility that they were wrong in how they understood theology, revelation, scripture, and Christianity.
"More than most other theological debates of the period...the slavery controversy displayed the extent to which cultural assumptions governed biblical interpretation. Especially visible was the intrusion into theology of assumptions about race. ...[T]he proslavery reading of scripture reflected the southern commitment to a hierarchical, organic social ideology that considered relations of dependence a necessary part of the natural ordering of things. This was one reason that the defenders of slavery so often linked their defense of slavery with their belief that children should be subordinate to adults and women should be subordinate to men."
Because Christian theology was incapable of offering any sort of real resolution to the problem, Americans began to realize that they needed to seek out alternative ways of understanding society:
"To a segment of American intellectuals, the theological impasse meant that theology could no longer articulate the moral vision that held the culture together. ...[T]he slavery controversy among the theologians revealed...the inability of theology to unite Americans or to help them transcend the pull of economic and political interests. The cultural language that supposedly united Americans proved itself able to contribute even more forcefully to their division"
The debate over slavery didn't eliminate religion and theology from public discourse, but it did dethrone them from being the only available options. Many Americans of good will realized that Christianity could no longer provide them all they needed in order to create a better society. It's ironic — and sad — that even today we can still find those who haven't learned that lesson. We still find Christians in American who insist that Christianity is needed to unite America and that, properly understood, it would never divide the community.
The Civil War proved exactly how dangerously wrong this belief is. Perhaps one can argue that those who insist on using theology as a model for structuring American society are precisely those who know the least about the use of theology in American history. If so, I hope that they read this book and learn not to make the same mistakes as their predecessors.
http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/TheologyAmerica.htm?nl=1
Sw
Hamas declare Khilafah in Palestine
http://www.geocities.com/islamichelp/
"We are telling our people that is over, it's finished and will not
return - the era of justice and Islamic law has arrived" - Hamas
military wing spokesman Islam Shahawan.
The Palestinian prime minister from Hamas has defied the US and
Israeli supported Mahmoud Abbas, the president from rival faction
Fatah, calling his sacking and declaration of an emergency "hasty"
and pledging that his government will continue to function.
"The existing government will carry out its tasks," Ismail Haniya
said in a news conference in the early hours of Friday.
"We will continue … with a national unity government."
Haniya said Abbas and his advisers did not consider "the
consequences and its effects on the situation on the ground" in
sacking Haniya's government and declaring a state of emergency.
Imagined realities
"President Mahmoud Abbas took premature decisions that betray all
agreements reached," he said.
Hamas forces routed Fatah fighters in Gaza on Thursday, prompting
Abbas, who is in Ramallah in the West Bank, to declare a state of
emergency and dismiss Haniya's unity government made up of Fatah and
Hamas representatives.
The declaration of an emergency in Gaza is unlikely have any effect
as Abbas's security forces have been defeated and the institutions
of the Palestinian Authority overrun by Hamas.
No separate state
Despite his forces overrunning their Fatah rivals and taking over
all security force buildings in Gaza, including the presidential
compound, Haniya said Hamas had no intention of declaring a separate
Palestinian state in Gaza without the West Bank.
"The Gaza Strip is an indivisible part…..and its residents are an
integral part of the Palestinian people. No to a state in the Gaza
Strip only because the state is a whole that cannot be divided,"
Haniya said.
"We will impose security firmly, decisively and legally," he said.
===
Gazing at Gaza's Destruction: Israelis Sip Pepsi,
US Progressives See 'Silver Lining'
Chris Floyd
Jan 6, 2009
Here we see Israelis in Sderot – the chief target of the homemade
bombs which we are told are the cause of the current ravaging of
Gaza. These Hamas "terror bombs" are so frighteningly powerful and
destructive that no response against them can be "disproportionate,"
we are told by Israeli and American leaders; everything is justified
in "retaliation," including the complete destruction of the social,
civic and physical infrastructure of an entire human community, and
the killing and terrorizing of innocent people. It's those homemade
bombs falling on Sderot, you see; they are such an overwhelming, ever-
present, inescapable threat.
So threatening, in fact, that some of the Israelis in this picture
drove down to Sderot from Jerusalem to sit out in the open air – on a
hilltop in plain sight of the Gaza village from which many of the
rockets have been launched, and calmly sip Pepsi as they watch the
military action taking place not two miles away. Shouldn't "terror"
be made of sterner stuff? Especially terror which merits the
widespread slaughter and suffering of innocent people? Could there
possibly be some – how to put it? – disconnection between the stated
cause of the military action and its true purpose?
McClatchy Newspapers relates a tale of two cities in an excellent
piece on the suprisingly calm, unthreatened, unfrightened folk of
Sderot – and the hell of innocent families two miles away in Beit
Hanoun. Some excerpts below:
A tower of white smoke rose from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun
after another Israeli bombardment Monday morning, and a half-dozen
Israelis, perched on a dusty hilltop, gazed at the scene like armchair
military strategists.
Avi Pilchick took a long swig of Pepsi and propped a foot on the
plastic patio chair he'd carried up the hillside to watch the
fighting. "They are doing good," Pilchick, 20, said of Israeli forces
battling Palestinian militants in Gaza, "but they can do more."
Somewhere in Beit Hanoun, Ashraf El-Masri's family cowered in their
concrete tenement home, their neighborhood surrounded by Israeli
soldiers. El-Masri said that five residents had been killed by
Israeli shelling that morning, and the blasts had traumatized the
youngest of his nine children into a terrified silence...
On the hilltop overlooking Beit Hanoun, Pilchick squinted into the
sharp sunlight. He'd taken time off from his job at a foreign
exchange bureau in Jerusalem and driven down to Sderot with a friend
on Saturday, the day the ground operation opened...Sderot residents —
some of them carrying binoculars — have gathered on the hilltop since
the offensive began for a glimpse of the fighting...
In their darkened home in Beit Hanoun, Ashraf El-Masri's children
were in utter distress. No one has stepped outside since Israeli
ground forces entered the town Saturday night, and more Israeli
shelling awakened them Monday morning, including a strike on a nearby
mosque.
El-Masri's 12-year-old son, Abdelatif, has suddenly begun to wet the
bed. His 10-year-old, Ahmad, a talented soccer player and popular kid
in the neighborhood, spends the days hiding in a corner of the room
where the whole family now sleeps. Four-year-old Mahmoud, usually a
nonstop talker, is barely saying a word...
This harrowing of innocent children and their families is not
confined to Beit Hanoun, of course, as the Guardian reports
in "Besieged families flee homes for shelter under UN flag":
Mahmoud Khalil looked around the classroom and decided the safest
place for his children was under the desks. UN officials had
reassured the father of five he and his family would be protected by
the large blue and white flag flying above the UN-run school turned
refugee shelter. But with the sound of large explosions on the edge
of Jabaliya refugee camp, just north of Gaza City, and his children
still terrified from the trauma of their escape, Khalil was taking no
chances.
"They will kill us anywhere. If they can bomb the mosque, if they can
kill small children, if they can blow up our parliament, why should
they care if they bomb this school? They don't care what the United
Nations thinks. They don't care what the whole world thinks," he
said, when reached by telephone....
"God willing, [the desks] will protect them," he said. "They are
terrified after what they have seen. Explosions near our house.
Everybody running away. The Israelis dropped leaflets and said on the
radio we must all get out or they will kill us because they are going
to bomb our houses."
But where to flee? In other conflicts refugees move across borders or
to quieter regions. But Gaza's 1.5 million residents are trapped
behind the long Israeli fence, dotted with machine gun posts and
watchtowers, that makes their home a prison. There is no way out.
But of course, all of this suffering is worth it, if it makes the
audience sitting on the open hill in terrorized Sderot feel a little
bit better.
[Not that the Israeli assault has stopped the homemade rocket fire --
but then, it was never intended to do that. The Israeli power
structure doesn't want to do that, any more than the Washington power
structure wants to end, or even "win," the "War on Terror." After all,
if the "terror" ends, what will happen to all those groovy
"anti-terror" powers -- and the even groovier gravy of unlimited war
pork?]
But yes, we all certainly want Israeli yuppies to feel
comfortable as they sip soft drinks and watch children being
traumatized and terrorized a couple of miles away. So this kind of
thing is also worth it (from Reuters, via Antiwar.com):
The three little children lying on the floor of the overcrowded
morgue looked like sleeping dolls.
"Get up, boy, get up" cried the weeping father, who lost a total of
13 close relatives when an Israeli shell hit his house east of Gaza
City.
"Please get up. I am your dad and I need you," he implored helplessly.
The oldest was 4 years old. Their mother was killed too.
Mourning is also dangerous in Gaza.
Jaber Abdel-Dayem was watching over the body of a nephew, a paramedic
killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza Strip. "We were
sitting in the mourning tent when suddenly they bombed us, we ran to
rush the casualties to hospital but they bombed again," he said. He
did not really know if it was bombing or tank fire. Medics said three
people were killed and 17 wounded.
Abdel-Dayem stood beside their bodies. "Those include my son, my
nephew, my cousin. Oh God," he cried as tears started from his eyes.
"Please get up. I am your dad and I need you."
Oh yes, that child's death -- and many, many, many, many more -- are
worth it to keep the open-air, comfy-chaired Pepsi drinkers from
feeling so threatened that they can, er, sit out in the open air in
comfy chairs and drink Pepsi in the face of the, uh, overwhelming
threat that terrorizes them beyond all reckoning. Yes, yes, yes, worth
every drop of blood.
And yes, of course, it is wonderfully wise of Barack Obama to remain
steadfastly silent in the face of this suffering. Our progressives
tell us that he is being so marvelously cagey and politic, that he is
hoarding his political capital now in order to bring real hope and
change to the Mid-East as soon as he dons the imperial purple.
Over at Huffington Post, that hotbed of steely-eyed progressive
realism, human rights lawyer Lisa Gans assures us that Obama's
silence at the mass murder of children in Gaza is actually maybe
probably an implicit criticism of Bush's support for the invasion.
And in fact, the whole invasion itself could well be due to
Israel's "sophisticated" understanding of U.S. politics: they knew
that Obama would never ever let them get away with a stunt like this,
so they pulled the trigger while Bush was still in office.
Why, in fact, this whole kerfuffle, this whole little spot of bother,
the death of those little children who won't get up for their grieving
father, could well be a blessing in disguise for "those hoping that
the U.S. might once again provide moral leadership in resolving the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict," says Lisa Gans, who is not only a
human rights lawyer but a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
too, so she is a very serious person who knows what she's talking
about for sure. Gans tells us that:
There may be a silver lining to the tragic events unfolding in Gaza,
as Israel's actions may suggest that it expects, as Hamas should too,
greater pressure from the U.S. for serious concessions from both
sides.
Well, every cloud has a silver lining, they say. In fact, I read that
in one of my children's Care Bear books the other day, so it must be
true. In the Bear's case, a search for a tragically lost hat led to
the discovery of a perfect place for a picnic -- and the hat too, of
course! In the case of Gaza, the corpses of three dead children laid
at the feet of their father will probably maybe conjecturally lead to
"greater pressure" from Washington for "serious concessions" from both
Hamas and Israel. And they'll probably all find their hats as well!
Except for all the dead children, of course. And the surviving
children traumatized into silence and torment. Oh, and also for the
Israelis, who will now face the inevitable -- and doubtless clearly
forseen -- radicalization of the survivors, as Reuters also noted:
Hundreds of Palestinians queued from early morning outside bakeries
in Gaza City, their patience running out.
"I've been here for three hours and I will have to wait longer. Maybe
a missile will bomb us so we can be rid of such a miserable life,"
said Abu Othman, a father of seven.
He said his sympathy was growing for the Hamas Islamists whose rocket
fire into Israel triggered the offensive.
"I used to criticise the rockets. Maybe I still do but not like
before. Now I want to see buses blown up in Israel," said Othman.
Mission accomplished! For this attitude actually represents a clear-
cut victory for the makers of Terror War. The more radical the
targeted people become, the easier it is to maintain the vast
military-security complexes in their wonted (and profitable)
ascendancy. It also simplifies diplomacy too. No more messing around
with long, protracted negotiations with the legitimate
representatives of your targets (such as the democratically elected
administration of Hamas); no, all you have left are "extremists" full
of "pure evil" who can be attacked and killed as your own political
and financial agendas require.
This dynamic of state terror and deliberate radicalization is now the
operating system for much of the world: we see it at work in the US,
Israel, Britain, Russia, China, Turkey and elsewhere. And as long as
our elites -- even our "progressive" elites, even our earnest "human
rights lawyers" -- can see "silver linings" in state terror and sheer
butchery, can see "silver linings" in a four-year-old child killed and
laid out on the floor, then absolutely nothing will change.
===
Demos great but must also commit to grassroots political power
Ron Francis
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Somerville Divestment Project
Great to read that demonstrations are happening in several cities in
the US to oppose the symptoms of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians
and apartheid.
At the same time however I hope everyone who is able to, will make a
commitment for 2009, to convert that energy and use it to show our
movement's dominant, demonstrable, yet dormant, political power, by
having his or her community on record as opposing apartheid and the
denial of human rights that is the reason behind the attacks in
Gaza.
I hope these attacks help re-energize our commitment to support
equality and human rights; let's have each of us make a 2009 New
Year's commitment to organize our local community to oppose apartheid.
We know that a ballot campaign that has US residents support the
rights of "all people, including Palestinian people" to have equal
rights can be won (it has already been done decisively in two large
cities in Massachusetts in 2008) and can also teach people about the
root cause of the fighting.
These kinds of ballot campaigns are starting to gain traction around
the US in a few places and we need to amplify that in Massachusetts.
Until we have demonstrable political strength it is extremely
unlikely that any actions that we take will reverse the ethnic
cleansing or stem the actions that result from it; our highest
priority must be grassroots local organizing.
We are behind the anti-apartheid struggles on the 80's regarding
South Africa in the sense that we have not established clearly the
fundamental wrongness of the ethnic cleansing project, except in a
couple of towns.
After the bombing stops, and the demos are over, who will make that
long-term commitment for social justice and join the groups around
the country, including local groups, who are making that commitment
that says "other communities might, but MY community won't and
doesn't support apartheid" ?
We need dozens of communities in the U.S. educated about apartheid
and expressing their opinion about it. Join us in this political
battle. We need to do more than show that Palestinians have some
passionate allies in various cities around the world. We need to
build a grassroots root-cause movement, one city at a time, that has
decisive and demonstrable political power.
If you are up to this challenge, then please respond to this email or
call me directly and we can offer suggestions, practical ideas, and
resources regarding about how to mobilize your community, in
Massachusetts or elsewhere, to oppose apartheid and the ethnic
cleansing of Palestinians.
ron francis 617 230-2835
===
Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells
Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem and Michael Evans, Defence Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590
.ece?Submitted=true
(Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)
Israeli artillery shells explode with a chemical agent designed to
create smokescreen for ground forces
Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells
to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday.
The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific
burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.
As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the
Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen
spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops'
advance. "These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great
deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,"
said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would
cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-
be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take
cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war
with Lebanon.
The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world's mostly
densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy
over Israel's offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have
been wounded.
The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not
be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket
ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for
illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former
major in the British Army, said: "If white phosphorus was
deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The
Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs
of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin."
The Israeli military last night denied using phosphorus, but refused
to say what had been deployed. "Israel uses munitions that are
allowed for under international law," said Captain Ishai David,
spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces. "We are pressing ahead with
the second stage of operations, entering troops in the Gaza Strip to
seize areas from which rockets are being launched into Israel."
The civilian toll in the first 24 hours of the ground offensive —
launched after a week of bombardment from air, land and sea— was at
least 64 dead. Among those killed were five members of a family who
died when an Israeli tank shell hit their car and a paramedic who
died when a tank blasted his ambulance. Doctors at Gaza City's main
hospital said many women and children were among the dead and
wounded.
The Israeli army also suffered its first fatality of the offensive
when one of its soldiers was killed by mortar fire. More than 30
soldiers were wounded by mortars, mines and sniper fire.
Israel has brushed aside calls for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian
aid into the besieged territory, where medical supplies are running
short.
With increasingly angry anti-Israeli protests spreading around the
world, Gordon Brown described the violence in Gaza as "a dangerous
moment".
White phosphorus: the smoke-screen chemical that can burn to the bone
— White phosphorus bursts into a deep-yellow flame when it is exposed
to oxygen, producing a thick white smoke
— It is used as a smokescreen or for incendiary devices, but can also
be deployed as an anti-personnel flame compound capable of causing
potentially fatal burns
— Phosphorus burns are almost always second or third-degree because
the particles do not stop burning on contact with skin until they
have entirely disappeared — it is not unknown for them to reach the
bone
— Geneva conventions ban the use of phosphorus as an offensive weapon
against civilians, but its use as a smokescreen is not prohibited by
international law
— Israel previously used white phosphorus during its war with Lebanon
in 2006
— It has been used frequently by British and US forces in recent
wars, notably during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Its use was
criticised widely
— White phosphorus has the slang name "Willy Pete", which dates from
the First World War. It was commonly used in the Vietnam era
*********************************************************************
Were Troops Poisoned? Vets Demand KBR Come Clean on Toxins in Iraq
Paul Rieckhoff
Posted January 9, 2009
James Gentry served his country honorably as a battalion commander in Iraq. Now, he is dying of a rare form of lung cancer. And he's not the only one. A troubling number of troops in Gentry's Indiana National Guard unit have bloody noses, tumors and rashes. And tragically, one soldier has already died.
New reports suggest these injuries may be the result of exposure to toxins at a KBR-run power plant in Southern Iraq. In 2003, James and his men were responsible for guarding that plant, and protecting KBR's employees. The soldiers were stationed there for months before being informed that the site was contaminated with a chemical known as hexavalent chromium.
Hexavalent chromium is a deadly carcinogen. It's the same toxin that Erin Brockovich became famous for campaigning against. James believes that it was the inhalation of this chemical that caused his cancer, and the other rare illnesses among the Guardsmen who served at the plant.
But this is not just some sad story about accidental chemical exposure. This is a question of responsibility. CBS News has uncovered evidence that KBR may have known about the contamination at the power plant months before it took any action to inform the troops stationed there.
If the CBS story is proven true, checks need to be written, contracts should be cancelled, and heads must roll. James signed up to serve his country, and he was told to protect KBR contractors. He did his job. But it doesn't seem like KBR did theirs. If the company neglected to take quick and decisive action, it must be held responsible for the months of avoidable toxic exposure that may be taking the lives of American servicemembers.
From burn pits to power plants, we are hearing more and more about troops who have been exposed to toxins while serving our country overseas. Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana has announced that he will reintroduce legislation to create a medical registry for military personnel exposed to toxins. That's a vital first step towards discovering the full extent of toxic exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is critical to preventing a replay of the Agent Orange situation after Vietnam.
We need real answers from KBR. And so far, the company has denied any wrongdoing whatsoever. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will stand behind our brothers and sisters in demanding accountability. The veterans' community will fight back, and we need everyone's help. Add your name to IAVA's petition, and tell KBR to come clean now. KBR must tell Congress and the American people what they knew, and when they knew it. James Gentry and his fellow soldiers deserve the truth
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-rieckhoff/were-troops-poisoned-vets_b_156570.html
Sw
How Relevant is Holocaust Revisionism?
Thu 1/08/09
Mark Weber
http://www.ihr.org/weber_revisionism_jan09.html
For more than 30 years, writers and publicists who call themselves
revisionists have presented evidence and arguments questioning
generally accepted accounts of the Holocaust. Some of these
researchers have shown impressive fortitude -- defying smears, abuse,
physical violence, and worse.1
In countries where "Holocaust denial" is a crime, skeptics have been
fined, imprisoned or forced into exile for expressing dissident views
on this issue.2 These victims of what amounts to a blatant
suppression of free speech include Robert Faurisson and Roger Garaudy
in France, Siegfried Verbeke in Belgium, Jürgen Graf and Gaston-
Armand Amaudruz in Switzerland, and Ernst Zundel and Germar Rudolf in
Germany.
Revisionists have published impressive evidence, including long
neglected documents and testimony, that has contributed to a more
complete and accurate understanding of an emotion-laden and highly
polemicized chapter of history.
I have played a role in this effort. In published writings, in
lectures, and in courtroom testimony, I have devoted much time and
work to critically reviewing the "official" Holocaust narrative, to
countering Holocaust propaganda, and to debunking specific Holocaust
claims.
But in spite of years of effort by revisionists, including some
serious work that on occasion has forced "mainstream" historians to
make startling concessions,3 there has been little success in
convincing people that the familiar Holocaust story is defective.
This lack of success is not difficult to understand. Revisionists are
up against a well-organized, decades-long campaign that is promoted
in the mass media, reinforced in classrooms, and supported by
politicians.4
Tim Cole, a history professor and prominent specialist of Holocaust
studies, has written in his book Selling the Holocaust: "From a
relatively slow start, we have now come to the point where Jewish
culture in particular, and Western culture more generally, are
saturated with the 'Holocaust'. Indeed, the `Holocaust' has saturated
Western culture to such an extent that it appears not only centre
stage, but also lurks in the background. This can be seen in the
remarkable number of contemporary movies which include
the 'Holocaust' as plot or sub-plot."
Between 1989 and 2003 alone, more than 170 films with Holocaust
themes were made. In many American and European schools, a focus on
the wartime suffering of Europe's Jews is obligatory. Every major
American city has at least one Holocaust museum or memorial. The
largest is the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which
is run by a taxpayer-funded federal government agency, and draws some
two million visitors yearly.
A number of countries, including Britain, Germany and Italy,
officially observe an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. The United
Nations General Assembly in 2005 approved a resolution introduced by
Israel to designate January 27 as an international Holocaust
remembrance day.
In the United States and western Europe, the Holocaust has become is
a venerated, semi-religious mythos. Prof. Michael Goldberg, an
eminent rabbi, has written of what he calls a "Holocaust cult with
its own tenets of faith, rites and shrines." In this age of
secular "political correctness," Holocaust "denial" is the modern
equivalent of sacrilege.
A major reason for the lack of success in persuading people that
conventional Holocaust accounts are fraudulent or exaggerated is
that -- as revisionists acknowledge – Jews in Europe were, in fact,
singled out during the war years for especially severe treatment.
This was confirmed, for example, by German propaganda minister Joseph
Goebbels in these confidential entries in his wartime diary:5
Feb. 14, 1942: "The Führer [Hitler] once again expresses his resolve
ruthlessly to clear the Jews out of Europe. There must be no
squeamish sentimentalism about it. The Jews have deserved the
catastrophe that they are now experiencing. Their destruction will go
hand in hand with the destruction of our enemies. We must hasten this
process with cold ruthlessness."
March 27, 1942: "The Jews are now being deported to the East from the
Generalgouvernement [Poland], starting around Lublin. The procedure
is a pretty barbaric one and not to be described here more
definitely, and there's not much left of the Jews. By and large, one
can say that 60 percent of them will have to be liquidated, while
only 40 percent can be put to work. The former Gauleiter of Vienna,
who is carrying out the operation, is proceeding quite judiciously,
using a method that is not all too conspicuous. The Jews are facing a
judgment which, while barbaric, they fully deserve. The prophecy the
Führer made about them for having brought on a new world war is
beginning to come true in the most terrible manner. One must not be
sentimental in these matters."
April 29, 1942: "Short shrift is being made of the Jews in all
eastern occupied territories. Tens of thousands of them are being
wiped out."
No informed person disputes that Europe's Jews did, in fact, suffer a
great catastrophe during the Second World War. Millions were forced
from their homes and deported to brutal internment in crowded ghettos
and camps. Jewish communities across Central and Eastern Europe,
large and small, were wiped out. Millions lost their lives. When the
war ended in 1945, most of the Jews of Germany, Poland, the
Netherlands and others countries were gone.
Given all this, it should not be surprising that even well-founded
revisionist arguments are often dismissed as heartless quibbling.
But despite a discouraging record of achievement, some revisionists
insist that their work is vitally important because success in
exposing the Holocaust as a hoax will deliver a shattering blow to
Israel and Jewish-Zionist power. This view, however, is based on a
mistaken understanding of the relationship between "Holocaust
remembrance" and Jewish-Zionist power.
Even before World War II, the organized Jewish community was playing
a major role in the political and cultural life of Europe and the
United States, and the Zionist movement was already very influential.
Although propaganda about the wartime catastrophe of Europe's Jews
was a factor in American society during the 1950s and 1960s, it was
not until the late 1970s that "the Holocaust" began to play a really
significant social-political role. It was not until the late 1970s
and early 1980s that the term began to appear as a specific entry in
standard encyclopedias and reference books, and became an obligatory
subject in American textbooks and classrooms.
In short, the Holocaust assumed an important role in the social-
cultural life of America and western Europe in keeping with, and as
an expression of, a phenomenal increase in Jewish influence and
power. The Holocaust "remembrance" campaign is not so much a source
of Jewish-Zionist power as it is an expression of it. For that
reason, debunking the Holocaust will not shatter that power.
Suppose The New York Times were to report tomorrow that Israel's Yad
Vashem Holocaust center and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum had
announced that no more than one million Jews died during World War
II, and that no Jews were killed in gas chambers at Auschwitz. The
impact on Jewish-Zionist power would surely be minimal.
Although "Holocaust remembrance" remains well entrenched in our
society, its impact seems to have diminished in recent years. In part
this is because the men and women of the World War II generation are
nearly all gone. But another factor has been a major shift in the
world-political situation. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the
Soviet empire, the end of US-Soviet "Cold War" rivalry, the Nine-
Eleven terror attack in 2001, the US invasion and occupation of Iraq,
and current world economic crisis, have ushered in a new era – one in
which the Holocaust imagery of the 1940s is less potent because it's
less relevant.
Criticism of Israel and its policies has become much more common in
recent years, even in the United States. Among thoughtful men and
women, and especially in the youth, sympathy for Israel has fallen
perceptibly, while skepticism about the role of the Holocaust in
society has grown. Tony Judt, a prominent Jewish scholar who lives
and works in New York, wrote recently:6
"Students today do not need to be reminded of the genocide of the
Jews, the historical consequences of anti-Semitism, or the problem of
evil. They know all about these – in ways our parents never did. And
that is as it should be. But I have been struck lately by the
frequency with which new questions are surfacing: `Why do we focus so
much on the Holocaust?' `Why is it illegal [in certain countries] to
deny the Holocaust but not other genocides?' `Is the threat of anti-
Semitism not exaggerated?' And, increasingly, `Doesn't Israel use the
Holocaust as an excuse?' I do not recall hearing those questions in
the past."
This shift has also been noticed at the Institute for Historical
Review. Over the past ten years, sales of IHR books, discs, flyers
and other items about Holocaust history have steadily declined, along
with inquiries about Holocaust history and requests for interviews on
this subject. At the same time, and obviously reflecting broader
social-cultural trends, there has been a marked rise in sales of IHR
books, discs, flyers and other items about Jewish-Zionist power, the
role of Jews in society, and so forth. This has been matched by an
increase in the number of inquiries and requests for interviews on
those issues.
Jewish-Zionist power is a palpable reality with harmful consequences
for America, the Middle East, and the entire global community. In my
view, and as I have repeatedly emphasized, the task of exposing and
countering this power is a crucially important one.7 In that effort,
Holocaust revisionism cannot play a central role.
One influential statesman who seems to understand this is the former
prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammed. In a much-discussed
address delivered at an international conference in October 2003, he
spoke forthrightly against Jewish-Zionist power, while making clear
that he accepts the familiar "Six Million" Holocaust narrative. In
the global struggle against this power, he said, "we are up against a
people who think ... We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We
must use our brains also … The Europeans killed six million Jews out
of twelve million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They
get others to fight and die for them."8
Setting straight the historical record about the wartime fate of
Europe's Jews is a worthy endeavor. But there should be no illusions
about its social-political relevance. In the real world struggle
against Jewish-Zionist power, Holocaust revisionism has proved to be
as much a hindrance as a help.
NOTES available at above website.
Mark Weber has been the director of the Institute for Historical
Review since 1995. He studied history at the University of Illinois
(Chicago), the University of Munich, Portland State University and
Indiana University (M.A., 1977). In March 1988 he testified for five
days in Toronto District Court as a recognized expert witness on
Germany's wartime Jewish policy and the Holocaust issue.
===
Why Holocaust Revisionism is Relevant
Wendy Campbell - wendy@sanfranciscoandbeyond.com
Thu, 08 Jan 2009
MarWen Media
www.marwenmedia.com
I was very surprised to see and read the article by "How Relevant is Holocaust Revisionism?" which was written by Mark Weber, head of the Institute for Historical Review, January, 2009. Mark Green and I know Mark Weber from going to some of his events and we have become social friends with him as well, joining him and his wife for the occasional lunch or dinner with lively discussions and debates.
First of all, I immediately thought the title was a curious one, coming from Mark Weber, the head of the IHR, and I was thinking it was probably just a rhetorical question. But as I read the article, I found out that he does have doubts about the merit of Holocaust Revisionism.
In critiquing his article, the first point I had to disagree with him is that "there has been little success in convincing people that the familiar Holocaust story is defective."
I disagree with him because I am one of those converts, from generally just accepting the Jewish "official" version, to becoming quite skeptical of many of their claims about the persecution of Jews during WWII. Obviously we all know Jews were rounded up and put in concentration camps for slave labor during WWII, and that many died, and many were forced to flee their homes to find homes elsewhere.
But some of their claims which are still etched in stone and bronze at memorials have been thoroughly debunked, such as the stories about soap and lampshades made out of Jewish victims.
As for the numbers, there is only one big database of names of Jewish victims, which is in the Holocaust Museum in Israel, and that has 3 million names, and even on their website, they make the statement that it may not be possible to ever have all 6 million names because some "vanished without a trace".
That 6 million figure which some Jews hold steadfastly to, is perhaps because that the 6 million figure was allegedly taken from an old Talmudic text prophesying that 6 million Jews would be "holocausted". In fact, after WWI (one), some Jews made the claim that 6 million Jews died during that war, but that did not stick, so now they are going gung-ho to make it stick this time. That 6 million figure is repeated over and over and over, even though the number of victims on the plaque outside Auschwitz has been reduced from 4 million to 1.5 million. You can see the plaques at this website: http://www.thebirdm an.org/ Index/Jews/Jews- HoloRev.html
By the way, if you do go to that Holocaust Revisionist website afore-mentioned, it's interesting to note, that the photo of the nearly nude, emaciated man on that website which I take it was meant to be a Jewish man in a Nazi concentration camp is actually a photo of a prisoner of war at the end of the Civil War. I know because I was reading an old issue of "Life Magazine", I think it was, just this past week at a client's of mine who had it on their coffee table. That EXACT picture was featured in an article about the Civil War and was a Yankee in a prisoner camp of the Confederates. I'm thinking of asking them if I can buy that magazine from them because it is amazing how similar photos of inmates from the Civil War are to some of the photos of inmates of the concentration camps, and, hey, let's keep it straight!
I've also learned that there are no original gas chambers from the Nazi era, and the only one in existence in the Holocaust memorials, is the one at Auschwitz, and it is a FAKE. It is "re-created", as per the head of that museum, and he said so in the documentary on Auschwitz produced by Jewish Holocaust Revisionist David Cole which you can probably find on YouTube or somewhere on the Internet, or some people sell the DVD, like Bradley Smith.
Heck, it even says so on the page about Auschwitz in Judaized, Zionized wikipedia which also has a page on the Holocaust which no one can alter at all or else you will be banned from wikipedia. I tried! So much for a "democratic" wikipedia, who has the gall to list me as a "Holocaust Denier", which is a smear word to begin with and meant to incite hatred and derision against anyone who is labeled as such. I don't even call myself a "Holocaust Revisionist" even though I thoroughly support the right of anyone to question anything. Question authority, including Jewish authority! It's our right in a democratic country! By the way, wikipedia does not allow a page on "Holocaust Revisionism". It redirects one immediately to the page with the smear word: "Holocaust Denier".
I do not call myself a "Holocaust Revisionist" because I do not care to be labeled one way or another simply because a few of my beliefs may differ from those who believe only one version of what happened to Jews under Nazi occupation during WWII. It's ridiculous for anyone to say someone else must believe exactly one way about something or they will be labeled with a certain label. I am not a professional scholar of history. I simply read from a variety of sources and then come to my own conclusions and form my own opinions, based on reading from a variety of sources on issues. And sometimes my conclusions and opinions change. A lot of these labels, such as Right, Left, Democrat, Republican, Holocaust Believer, Holocaust Revisionist, Christian, Jewish, Zionist, Muslim - they are in some ways very muddled, misleading and may really actually mean very little about the real person being labeled as such and such. But the words "Holocaust Denier" is akin to being called something murderer or something repulsive like that. This is how the Zionists have worked their wonders with mind-control! They've made it into some kind of enforced "religion", which Mark Green has aptly dubbed "Holocaust Fundamentalism". Very bizarre!
This is why I think Holocaust Revisionism is a good thing. The more truths that scholarly Holocaust Revisionists discover and share with others, the more it undermines the moral validity and the credibility of Zionist Jews. This is a good thing, because right now, organized Jewry is so powerful with regards to issues of life and death, such as the endless wars they keep pushing for their racist, apartheid, ethnic-cleansing, genocidal, terrorist, anti-democratic state of "Israel", aka "The Zionist entity".
I never thought to question the Jewish version of "The Holocaust" until I got involved with the Palestinian cause, beginning in September, 2000, shortly after the second intifada (the whole story is on my website www.marwenmedia. com, under "Articles" and entitled, "Why I Am A Pro-Palestinian Activist"). I really stepped up into basically full-time activism for quite some time on behalf of the Palestinians after 9-11, which Zionists may have been directly involved with planting the bombs that actually brought down the Twin Towers and Building 7. WTC owner Silverstein is best friends with Netanyahu, head of Mossad. It's so obvious. Silverstein got what he wanted, and Israel got what Israel wanted - the US to fight Israel's enemies on its behalf.
Anyway, after I made my documentary "Truth: Exposing Israeli Apartheid", a lot of people sent me a lot of materials, including books and DVDs on Holocaust Revisionism, which at first, as per my being trained by the Zionized US media like your average American, I was not eager to take a look at. But I did eventually. And Mark Green helped me to see why I should really look how important "The Holocaust" is to organized Jewish Zionists as a tool to manipulate others, and how it's considered taboo to question it, and how lots of their claims simply cannot be backed up with original evidence.
In fact, the ITS (International Tracing Service) in Germany where lots of Nazi records about the concentration camps was finally supposed to be opened up to scrutiny by the public, but OOPS! ...the Zionist Jews swooped in and took control to make sure that only kosher Jewish scholars with the approved point of view may take a look at those records, or Jews who claim to be or related to Holocaust survivors/victims. Another sign that maybe it doesn't all add up to the "official" version that Zionist Jews insist upon.
As for the "severe treatment" that Jews were "singled out" for, I would say that many people were on the receiving side of severe treatment during WWII and that's true for just about any war. Why must we go along with allowing Jews to elevate the status of their suffering above all others? I think that is unfair to others' suffering and gives Jews too much unwarranted manipulative power.
Everything that Goebbels said about Jews is what Jews having been saying about Palestinians since the Zionists began their quest for a Jewish state in Palestine in the late 1890s. In fact, obviously the Jews of Israel have been lately proving that they feel they must "hasten" the "process" of genociding and ethically cleansing the Palestinians "with cold ruthlessness" in Gaza at this moment in time.
As for the international Jewish leaders' involvement in WWII, perhaps if Lord Rothschild, representing Zionist Jews, did not entreat Lord Balfour (The Balfour Declaration of 1917), to declare that Britain would help create a Jewish state in Palestine in exchange for Rothschild's promise to get American Jews to get America to step in and help Britain overcome Germany instead of agreeing to a just the truce that was already in place, perhaps there might never have been a WWII and "The Holocaust".
Another thought to ponder, is that many Jewish communities were "wiped out" and "gone", and maybe it's also because a lot of them fled to other countries before the Nazis could round them up. I've heard it said before. There certainly seems to be a lot of survivors! And of course, every so often you read a story in the newspaper where one Jewish survivor finally find his or her long lost relative assumed to have died, but is obviously a survivor as well.
As for Mark Weber's statement "The Holocaust "remembrance" campaign is not so much a source of Jewish-Zionist power as it is an expression of it." I disagree, because of my previous statements about how the Zionists use it to try to claim a higher moral ground than others, and to try to justify stealing Palestinian land for a Jewish supremacist state (created in 1948), and to forge ahead on endless wars for the Jewish state, and to manipulate others to go along with whatever they want. So I think it is both a source of their power and an expression of their power.
I also think that if it came out that one million Jews died instead of six, and that the gas chamber stories were completely proven to be a total myth without a shadow of a doubt, that it would help to weaken Jewish power. Maybe not shatter it, but weaken it. People might also be rather angry that they have been so manipulated by Zionist Jews with their "Holocaust". They might doubt everything the Zionist Jews say. They might insist that Jews not be allowed to act above the law. They might insist that there be no double standards for Jews and non-Jews. Therefore it could possibly have a strong negative impact on Jewish power, and especially people would finally at least partly shake free from Jewish Zionist mind control. I like to think that anyway, because then finally, people would see the light and demand an end to their tax dollars being funnelled to a Jewish supremacist terrorist state and funding wars for it.
I wish that it was the case that "Holocaust imagery of the 1940s is less potent because it's less relevant - but I don't think most people see it that way. Many people, especially Jews, but also your average brainwashed American, thinks that because of the Holocaust, the Jews are entitled to have a Jewish state at the expense of the blood of the Palestinians, and the tax dollars of American citizens.
As for the shift in IHR customers buying more of IHR's materials on Jewish-Zionist power these days, maybe it's because many of IHR's clients already have enough Holocaust Revisionist materials in their libraries and DVD collections, and now they are more interested in this new territory of Jewish Zionist power, which has only become clearer since 9-11.
I disagree with Mark Weber's assertion that "Holocaust revisionism cannot play a central role" in exposing and countering the Jewish Zionist power, because I do think that much of Jewish Zionist power does come from playing the victim card, which is represented by "The Holocaust". As per the Zionized US media, for instance, Israel only "retaliates" and is rarely portrayed as the one who broke the ceasefire, such as lately with Hamas, when in fact Israel most definitely was the one who broke the cease-fire over and over, yet it never made it into the US newspapers, which is largely propaganda direct from Israel when it comes to news about the Middle East.
As for as Mahathir Mohammed's quote referring to "Europeans killed six million Jews out of twelve million", perhaps he has not read many books or watched any DVDs by some of the Holocaust Revisionists.
Wrapping it up, I'd say that Holocaust Revisionism is a healthy, necessary movement in a truly democratic society. To diffuse the taboo on questioning certain aspects of "The Holocaust" will prevent the continuing of double standards with regards to Israel, and therefore help to prevent wars and persecution. Question authority, even Jewish authority.
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