*Of Bal Thackeray, His admirers and His victims*?

Tapan Bose


Bal Thackeray the self confessed admirer of Hitler and Nathuram Godese and
a lover of Hollywood Westerns is dead. Over the past four decades he ruled
over Shiv Sena, a party that targeted non-Marathi workers, petty traders,
shopkeepers, Muslims and Dalits and migrants  ? harassed them, tortured
them, killed them, looted their property and burnt down their homes and
shops in the city of Mumbai in the name of protecting the interest of
Marathi *Manoos. *As the news of his death spread, Mumbai closed down
fearing a repeat of the post Babri Masjid demolition pogrom which held
Mumbai to ransom from December 5, 1992 to January 19, 1993. A young Muslim
girl from Palghar who questioned the shutdown of Maharashtra on Thackeray?s
death was arrested by Maharashtra police on charges of hurting religious
sentiment and violation of the Cyber Act. Considering the role of
Maharashtra police in the Mumbai pogrom of 1992/93 and its ?successful?
identification of Laskar-e-Toiba and SIMI as the main perpetrators of
Malegaon bomb blast of September 2006, and the arrest of nine Muslim youth,
one can understand why ?Thackerayism? is religion for  Maharashtra police
and the Shiv Sainiks  are their ?brothers in faith?. In 2006, the Anti
Terrorist Squad of Maharashtra police had categorically denied the role of
any Hindu ultra nationalist groups in the Malegaon blast. In November 2006,
Director General of Maharashtra police had announced evidence of
involvement of two Pakistani terrorists in the same blast.


After the arrest of a Hindu God woman Shadvi Pragya Singh, Lt. Colonel
Shrikant Purohit of Military Intelligence, Naba Kumar Sarkar and Swami
Aseemanand and recording of their confessions in 2011, the involvement of a
Hindu terrorist organisation in the terrorist attacks in Malegaon in 2006
and 2008, terrorist bombing of Samjhouta Express and Ajmer Sharif in 2007
and the bomb attack on Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad in 2007 was established.
 While the Muslim youth spent seven years in jail under false charges, the
Congress-NCP coalition government of Maharashtra is yet to punish a single
police man who conspired to implicate the innocent. Earlier the Shiv
Sena-BJP government had suppressed the findings of Justice Shrikrishna
Commission of Inquiry into the Mumbai pogrom of 1992-93 and promoted all
those police men who were indicted for their involvement in the killing of
innocent Muslims.  It is not just Shiv Sena, the Congress Party and or the
National Congress Party also does not want to hurt the sentiments of
?Marathi Manoos?.


Since Thackeray?s death, the media has gone into overdrive to tell all and
sundry what a great man he was. Pranab Mukherjee, the President said in his
death the nation lost a veteran leader who worked relentlessly for the
ordinary man. Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister, praised him for
inculcating a sense of pride in his people. Not to be outdone, Sharad
Pawar, the NCP supremo and union Agriculture Minister praised Thackeray for
his fierce pride in Maharashtra ? a magnanimous leader who was ready to pay
any price for his belief. Indeed Pawar was a recipient of Thackeray?s
magnanimity. In 1982, at a public meeting in Parel?s Kamgar Maidan,
Thackeray had anointed Sharad Pawar as the future chief minister of
Maharashtra. President Pranab Mukherjee was another recipient of
Thackeray?s ?magnanimity?. Mukherjee had gone to Thackeray?s residence to
seek his ?blessings? during the presidential election. During the 2007
presidential election, when the Congress party did not have the numbers,
Thackeray had extended similar blessings to Pratibha Patil. In 1975,
Thackeray supported the Emergency. In 1977 general election, he campaigned
for the Congress party. Thackeray also supported A. R. Antulay, the Chief
Minister of Maharashtra, who had to quit office after being indicted by
Bombay High Court for extortion of money. Antulay was made the Minister of
Minority Affairs by Manmohan Sing in 2006

.

It seems that from Thursday the 15th of November, nearly four days before
his death, Mumbai?s film studios remained shut as the stars, producers,
technicians and the workers were praying for his recovery. Amitabh Bachchan
tweeted, ?each day he continued his struggle with a grit that was baffling
even for the doctors on hand...I sat by his bedside for hours these past
few days, a prayer in my heart?. And, after Thackeray?s death, Lata
Mangheskar said, ?When Bala sahib was there, Maharashtra was there. When
he's not there, there's nothing. No one can equal what he has done for
Maharashtra. We needed him to be with us for many more years.?


Thackeray began his political career in the late sixties by intimidating
and attacking South India residents of Mumbai who worked as clerks, in
small restaurants and as daily wage labourers for taking away the jobs of
Marathi people. In his writings and cartoons he lampooned the Tamil and
Telugu speaking people as ?yangduguwalas? and ?lungiwalas?. Thackeray?s
began attacking the homes of these people and began a campaign to drive out
the ?Madrassis?. He directed his followers to picket cinema halls which
were showing Hindi films produced in Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh.
Thackeray then turned against the Muslims whom he derisively referred to as
the ?Katuas? the circumcised people.  Justice Sri Krishna, in his report on
the Mumbai pogrom of 1992, said that the communal passions of the Hindus
were aroused to fever pitch by the provocative writings in print media,
particularly *Saamna *and *Navaakal*, the mouth pieces of Shiv Sena edited
by Thackeray. Justice Srikrishna asserted that magazines published
exaggerated accounts of the MathCAD murders and the Radhabai Chawl incident
and floated rumours of imminent attacks by Muslims using sophisticated
arms.


The truth is that the difference between pro-Khalistan, Jarnail Singh
Bhinderanwalle and pro-Marathi Manoos, Thackeray is that of degree and not
of kind. The only difference is that Bhinderwanwalle was killed in a battle
he waged in defence of his cause, where as Thackeray died in his bed and
has been hailed as ?veteran leader?. Obviously his victims do not matter.

Precision Nutrition Coaching | All About Kettlebells

What are kettlebells?

Kettlebells are iron or steel balls with flattened butts on one end and a curved handle on the other.
Kettlebells are used both for general athletic training and competitive sport. They facilitate whole body dynamic movement for strength, endurance, and power training. They are used by sports teams, those who train at home, world class athletes, and folks who want to burn fat and build muscle.

Kettlebells: a brief history

Humans probably devised a kettlebell-type object — a weight with a handle — not long after they figured out how to use their opposable thumbs.
Kettlebells, or things that seem to look like them, have been found in excavations of ancient Greece. It’s thought that implements like them were used in Russia initially as grain measures, with the approximately 16 kg, or one “pood“, being the standard measure.
Modern kettlebell manufacturers generally respect these weight conventions; thus kettlebell sizes range in 4 kg increments around the 16 kg “1 pood” standard (e.g., 12 kg, 16 kg, 24 kg and 32 kg). However, manufacturers are increasingly producing sizes in between the standards – like 14 kg and 28 kg, and masses as great as 60 kg kettlebells.

From obscurity to mainstream

Kettlebells have a long history in Europe and Russia from the 1700s onward, and were a feature of European gyms and strongman performances in the late 19th and early 20th century. Now, they are perhaps best known for their association with late 1940s Russian physical culture.
Their popular introduction to North America in the 21^st century is largely credited to Pavel Tsatsouline, a Russian émigré, Special Forces trainer and coach. Along with his book The Russian Kettlebell Challenge (see references below), Tsatsouline concurrently began offering classes and a kettlebell trainer certification known as the RKC, now the oldest and most established kettlebell certification in North America.
Since their introduction in the West, kettlebells have slowly begun to emerge as a mainstream training tool with numerous trainer certifications being offered. Likewise, what is known as Girevoy Sport (GS) kettlebell competitions as formalized in Russia around the mid 1980s have started being held in North America. Valery Fedorenko is credited with the sport’s presentation in North America and is now mainly promoted through what has become the World Kettlebell Club.

Why are kettlebells important?

Because of their design, kettlebells enable many familiar movements from pushes like the shoulder press to pulls like Renegade Rows. Yet, they also support whole-body, dynamic weighted movements, once the specialized preserve of Olympic barbell lifters.

The kettlebell swing

For instance, the foundational kettlebell movement — the swing — starts with a posture and hip drive similar to the deadlift or Olympic clean, but the cannonball-with-handle kettlebell design means that this weight can be swung up from between the legs, driven by the hip thrust forward to about chest height, and then accelerated down again by the shoulders pulling the weight down, back through the legs, then driven back up again with the hips, back and forth for reps.
Depending on the mass of the kettlebell used, sets of swings are either very low-rep (3-5) with adequate recovery breaks, or high-rep (anywhere from 10-100 or more for time), depending on the energy system/strength type being trained. This demonstrates the versatility of the kettlebell — the same movement can be used for everything from maximal strength, to strength-endurance, to “cardio” or metabolic conditioning.
Hanging onto the kettlebell during swings also works the grip and forearms. Kettlebell swings can also be performed with two hands on one bell, one hand/one bell, or one bell in each hand for two bells at a time (doubles).

The Beautiful Swing
More Beautiful Swings

Other dynamic kettlebell movements like the snatch and the clean and jerk also develop full body strength, power and endurance, and besides being used for general conditioning, are the core kettlebell competition moves.

Kettlebell advantages

The primary advantage of kettlebell training is its efficiency. While it’s helpful to have a few kettlebells of different weights, one bell alone can give you a darn good workout.

• They are a room efficient gym: if there is room to swing a cat, there’s room to swing a kettlebell.
• By varying weights used, you can use the same movement for cardio, strength-endurance, speed, or power.
• You can do presses, pulls, squatting-type movements, and dynamic work.
• Because dynamic kettlebell movements involve the whole body, you work upper and lower body strength concurrently and time effectively.
• Because these are compound moves, you must engage antagonist, agonist and support muscles.
• The hip drive focus is also particularly useful for working the core and “posterior chain” — the muscles of the spine, butt, and back of the legs.
• The focus on form for shoulder work helps strengthen and stabilize the shoulder joint.

Cautions

Some people immediately fear for a lifter’s back when they see any dynamic movement of a weight at high speeds. Kettlebells can evoke a similar response in those unfamiliar with proper form.
Yet Stuart McGill, a leading back expert, is a strong supporter of kettlebells (and deadlifts). Lifters maintain spinal stability and neutral spine throughout the movements (notice in the photos above that the lifter never rounds the back, but keeps a natural curve).
That said, as with any skill, doing it right can be safe; doing it wrong can lead to injury.
“Safety first” is such a mantra in the kettlebell community that the staple training manual since 2006, Enter the Kettlebell (review), includes a chapter on safety and back health, and concludes with the warning: “If you get hurt, it’s your fault.”

Applications for kettlebells

For fat burning

When combined with proper nutrition, training with kettlebells seems to offer the benefits of intense interval training on bikes but with the strength development of weights. There are increasing numbers of weight loss stories where kettlebells, along with good nutrition, contribute to success.

For field athletes

Strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches like Jeremy Layport and Chris Holder are using the kettlebell to improve overall endurance capacity of their athletes. Even Lance Armstrong has been seen swinging kettlebells (below).

A basic S&C template that many coaches use with infinite variety is to alternate between kettlebell swings and Turkish get ups. For example, one partner does a Turkish get up to the left and to the right, while the other swings non-stop.

Getting more from one kettlebell

The kettlebell design also means it can be used in a variety of ways to extend the life of a given kettlebell weight.
While the standard hold is with the handle across the palm with the bell resting against the forearm, a challenging alternative is to use the bottoms-up grip where the handle is squeezed, and the weight is held straight up, rather than resting against the wrist, as in the “bottoms up carry” as described by Stuart McGill (pdf).

Warning: Despite the great versatility of a single bell, kettlebells are also well-known to multiply. Partners of new kettlebell enthusiasts should be aware that claims of “I only need one, or maybe two — look, they take up no space” may still find kettlebells behaving like Tribbles.

Getting started: find a coach

The best start for any kettlebell user is to begin with a coach [see more at PN’s How to Find a Trainer].
A trained eye can evaluate key parts of foundational moves, such as:

• proper grip/wrist alignment with the bell
• foot to knee position
• shoulder action
• appropriate back alignment

Likewise, learning good technique will help preserve hands when doing high repetition kettlebell work.

Avoid this ouchy when doing high-rep kettlebell work by learning good form first

A few sessions with a coach is the best way to help learn and refine these elegant moves.
There are listings of RKC “Hard Style” coaches. The IKFF lists coaches who blend GS style with mainly bodyweight fitness training, or, one can go right to the Russian source with the IKSFA for a technique workshop.
A well-qualified coach will also be able to help anyone work up to a kettlebell swing and beyond, as some folks aren’t quite able to achieve that butt back swing position right away. So coaching is key: trying to swing kettlebells without proper form is about as safe as trying to deadlift with a rounded back.

Summary and recommendations

Kettlebells are a fabulous and often overlooked tool for strength and conditioning. The mileage one can get from a single kettlebell is hard to match with any other training tool.

• As the kettlebell’s signature movements are dynamic, they blend the benefits of compound strength lifts with power and endurance work.
• Kettlebell work also helps develop forearm, hand and finger strength because of numerous options for grip, and various loads dynamically challenging the grip repeatedly and at high speeds.
• A single kettlebell workout can include a great variety of pushes, pulls and ballistic movements. Because of the options of varying load and sets, kettlebells offer fat burning alternatives to bikes or treadmills.
• Kettlebells engage the whole body with a single tool that is small, portable, and affordable for home use.
• Kettlebells can help strengthen the spinal musculature, keeping your back happy; there is no significant lumbar flexion in kettlebell work.

Whether looking for conditioning, fat burning, raw strength or power, it’s worth any practitioner’s while to investigate kettlebell training.

For extra credit

Early research in support of kettlebells

Most of the formal research on kettlebell training for performance is in Russian. We know it mainly from Pavel Tsatsouline’s translations and summaries like these from Enter the Kettlebell.

In the 20th century, Soviet science validated what Russian hard men had known for centuries: kettlebell lifting is one of the best tools for all around physical development. Voropayev (1983) observed two groups of college students over a period of a few years. To gauge their performance, he used a standard battery of the armed forces physical training (PT) tests: pull-ups, a standing broad jump, a 100- meter sprint, and a 1K run. The control group followed the typical university PT program, which was military oriented and emphasized the above exercises. The experimental group just lifted kettlebells. In spite of the lack of practice on the tested drills, the kettlebell group showed better scores in every one of them! Vinogradov and Lukyanov (1986) found a very high correlation between the results posted in a kettlebell lifting competition and in a great range of dissimilar tests: strength, measured with the three powerlifts and grip strength; strength endurance, measured with pull-ups and parallel bar dips; general endurance, determined by a 1K run; and work capacity and balance, measured with special tests. Lopatin (2000) found a positive correlation between soldiers’ kettlebell sport ranking and their obstacle course performance. Kettlebells improve coordination and agility (Luchkin, 1947; Laputin, 1973). Kettlebells develop professional applied qualities and general physical preparedness (Zikov, 1986; Griban, 1990).

Current research

The English-speaking world still lags behind with kettlebell research.

• An MSc project study on VO2max training has been turned into a book called Viking Warrior Conditioning by Kenneth Jay (overview).
• The American Council of Exercise commissioned a non-controlled study (pdf) that repeated Jay’s work, sadly, without attribution or again without peer review.
• Finally, however, there has been one peer reviewed study, 2009, in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning showing that one rather tame version of a kettlebell protocol (men performing as many two handed swing for ten minutes with as many user-determined stops as desired) is tougher than circuit training.

It’s been hypothesized that the swing also provides the forces necessary to generate increased bone density.

Kettlebell juggling

Kettlebell work is most often in the sagittal (back and forth) plane, but some experienced kettlebell enthusiasts break out of this box with kettlebell juggling, either as a solo or partner activity.
Russian Navy members practicing kettlebell juggling:

Competition

For folks who fall in love with these weights, there are the Girevoy Sport competitions.
In a competition, athletes have a fixed time to achieve a minimum number of reps in particular lifts at specific weight-class loads to attain one of several possible rankings in the sport. Competitions include the Long Cycle which is non-stop clean and jerk, the jerk, and the snatch.
Women’s 24 kg snatch competition featuring Kseniya Dedyukhina

Tactical Strength Challenge

Another form of competition is known as the Tactical Strength Challenge. This includes the kettlebell snatch, a deadlift and a pull up competition. It’s also fun.

Size

As for what size to start with, generally women start with an 8 kg and 12 kg; men with a 16 kg and 24 kg.
Having a lighter and a heavier bell gives beginners the option to work on technique first, and heavier sets later.
Folks who have been sedentary for a long time may happily start lighter; more experienced strength athletes may prefer to go heavier. HardStyle magazine (pdf) has a section each month on how to pick a size appropriate for any level.

Quality

Almost more critical than the right starting weight is quality of the bell.
The shape, size and finish of the handle can make the difference between a good or horrible experience. Poor finishes can be filed down, but poor size or shape cannot be changed. A poorly designed/made bell may be cheap(er) but will be used once and abandoned. A good quality 16 kg kettlebell will cost about as much as a higher end pair of sneakers but will last for a lifetime.

Resources and references

Baszanowski, W., ed. 8 European Weightlifter Federations: a Brief History of Their Centenaries. Special Issue. European Weightlifter, EWF Secretariat. 2005 (pdf).
Farrar RE, Mayhew JL, & Koch AJ. Oxygen cost of kettlebell swings. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24 (4), 1034-6, 2010. PMID: 20300022
Jay, Kenneth. Viking Warrior Conditioning. Dragon Door Publications, MN, 2009.
Sanchez, Thierry. Kettlebell Sport and Athletic Preparation, Aalborg Sportshøjskole & Trænerakademiet, 2009 (pdf)
Tsatsouline, Pavel. Enter the Kettlebell. Dragon Door Publications, MN, 2006.
Tsatsouline, Pavel, The Russian Kettlebell Challenge. Dragon Door Publications, MN, 2001.
Tsatsouline, Pavel McGill on Kettlebells Power By Pavel Newsletter, 155, (April 30, 2008).

On Modi...

separate statehood

How does separate statehood generate such strong emotions that many youth kill themselves? Does human nature allow this?
The two young men who killed themselves recently in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, and the subsequent and preceding incidents of youth immolating themselves or jumping in front of trains add up the tally of the so-called suicide deaths for the cause of achieving a separate Telangana.While an unbelievable number of people, about 750, have died like this for Telangana, no sociopsychological study has been conducted to understand the real cause and circumstances of these deaths. Most of those who died came from poor and lowercaste families, many of them the first educated member of their family.
Some of them were children.
The leaders of the agitation for separate statehood (not a separate nationhood, mind it), which is nothing but a federal restructuring, say this is martyrdom for a great cause, and they use the rising tally of suicide to pressure the Centre.
People are driven to suicide all over the world. But most people who decide to kill themselves do so because they see just darkness at the end of the tunnel in their individual life. Most have very personal or emotional problems that push them to such an end.
Studies on human nature tell us that in a situation where the choice is between killing someone or sacrificing oneself, human beings chose to kill. So then, how does an issue like separate statehood generate such strong emotions among so many youth that they are driven to kill themselves? Does human nature allow this? Several nations have
fought pitched battles for centuries for liberation from foreign rule.
For thousands of years human beings have lived as slaves under horrendous conditions, enduring torture. Yet they preferred life to death.There are several world famous individuals who committed suicide, but not for reasons of nationalism. The only famous suicide for a public cause was that of Socrates. But he, too, was forced to take hemlock by the rulers of his time. Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves for personal attachment.
The famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud committed suicide to escape the pain and torture of cancer that he was suffering from.
Nowhere in the world do hundreds of human beings commit suicide as a form of protest for the purpose of political liberation. The most exploited and oppressed Chinese fought against feudal war lords for centuries. They did not indulge in selfimmolation nor did they commit suicide by any other means. Similarly, Africans, who suffered brutal exploitation and torture under colonial rule for centuries, fought against the white colonial rulers. They, too, did not commit suicide. We have our own experience of suffering brutal foreign rule and fighting against it for centuries.
Telangana has its own history of anti-feudal struggles. The people of this region suffered vetti (bonded labour) for centuries. Feudal lords exploited the parents and grandparents of those who are dying now. But people did not kill themselves, rather they were killed. For centuries these people fought against feudalism while suffering poverty and hunger.
They did not choose death over struggle.
What is happening now in Telangana is unparalleled. Nationalism or regionalism cannot be a cause for so many people to die on their own. Which forces are causing such deaths remains a mystery.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s K.
Chandrasekhar Rao, who is leading the current phase of the Telangana movement, did not have any significant electoral success before the selfimmolations and suicide began. For years, his party could not contest any major election on its own. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he fought nine seats and won two.
Then, in desperation, he started a hungerstrike.
It was during the hungerstrike that his nephew Harish Rao proposed self-immolation as an innovative method of achieving statehood. He pretended to immolate himself. Within a day or two, one young man, Srikantha Chary, was said to have immolated himself. Since then a series of so-called incidents of suicide — by hanging or consuming poison, immolations — are being reported. No investigating agency has looked into the circumstances and reasons for these deaths. Somehow the whole nation takes them for granted.
Reason, it is accepted, has taken flight from the nation.
In a democratic country like India it is possible that all kinds of demands, like nationhood for Kashmir or a
separate state of Telangana, will come up. The movement for independent Ireland has been there for more than a century. But people never committed suicide to achieve that goal.
Human sentiment of nationalism or regionalism does not move in that direction at all.
Therefore, we need to be suspicious and look for the invisible hand in these deaths. Over 750 deaths definitely call for very sophisticated investigation. The blind belief that they all are self-driven does not show any historical perspective. The Kashmiris have been fighting for decades for their nationalist cause and are ready to die for it.
But they have not been killing themselves.As a Telanganite, who has been associated with many movements that cropped up here, I know that suicide was never in its blood. The poorest of the poor in this region always fought and died.
This happened in the anti-Razakar struggle, in the Telangana armed struggle, and in the Naxalite struggles. That was also the case in 1969 Telangana statehood struggles. The current Telangana movement, that began in 2009, goes against the ethics of all movements in the world and also against Telangana's own history.
It betrays general human nature, the spirit of this very nation and of this region. Let us not forget that this is a Delhi-sponsored movement. In this unnatural movement the leaders at the helm are making huge amounts of money and the youth at the other end of the society are dying. Let New Delhi explain or investigate how and why this is happening. Let the nation know which ghost is driving these innocent youth to suicide.
The writer is director, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad

Manindra ki Mahindra

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, the country's leading SUV manufacturer, on Tuesday signed a preferred financier agreement with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) to help customers avail vehicle finance services from any KVB branch. The tie-up will enable both M&M and Karur Vysya Bank leverage on their inherent strengths.

Meet the first voice-enabled Bible: A Siri for John 3:16? - GeekWire

Meet the first voice-enabled Bible: A Siri for John 3:16? - GeekWire

   

Bhagat Singh page ‘vandalised' on Wikipedia

The Hindu : News / National : Bhagat Singh page ‘vandalised' on Wikipedia

I wonder if it is a conspiracy to divert attention from Valentine's Day: administrator

The Wikipedia page on Bhagat Singh underwent many editing changes on February 13 and 14, Valentine's Day, and a Wikipedia administrator called it online “vandalism.” At present, the page is in a “semi-protected” mode for one week. It means that someone who is not registered with Wikipedia cannot edit the page.

Over the two days, there was a flurry of activity on the page, with the first change beginning on February 13 at 2313 hours. The reason was a perceived lack of clarity among some people on the date of Bhagat Singh's hanging. According to Wikipedia administrator Philp Tinu Cherian, since February 13, the page was changed more than 30 times.

“People kept on changing and reverting the date between February 14, 1931 and March 23 as the day Bhagat Singh's hanging. They started editing the wrong information on the page and it could be termed “vandalism,” according to Mr. Cherian who, as “administrator,” added the date he got from sources in the Government of India.

He said the identity of those editing the page is unknown as only IP addresses, and not necessarily names, are used in Wikipedia. However, regular Wikipedians, including one whom Mr. Cherian knew, were reverting the correct date. “I had to lock the article and add references to reliable sources to prove the actual death date,” he said.

Other than Wikipedia, the subject dominated Twitter and a fan group of Bhagat Singh was also active on Facebook. One SMS that was being circulated on Tuesday said February 14 ought not to be celebrated as Valentine's Day as it was the day Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged.

“The activity on the page is rare. I wonder if it is a conspiracy to divert attention from Valentine's Day,” said Mr. Cherian, who noted similar heightened activity on Wikipedia when Jyoti Basu was taken ill.

Akshaya, a young HR professional working in Bangalore, said, “I believe the date Bhagat Singh was hanged on February 14, as given in books. Net links can be wrong. Books are always right.”

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Sri Lanka: SHOT IN COLD BLOOD

Sri Lanka: SHOT IN COLD BLOOD

RSS for proportional Representation..?

EDTORIAL

Source: Organiser - Weekly      Date: 3/18/2012 11:25:16 AM

US on Sri Lanka

West is on decline, high time it learnt to mind its business

Two years after the civil war in Sri Lanka ended with the decimation of the terrorist outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the United States of America is poking around the scab to reopen healing wounds. What else could be the intention of the resolution being moved by it at the United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva later this month?

The LTTE waged a no-holds-barred war with the state of Sri Lanka for over two decades, killing millions of people. The organisation that was founded for the cause of attaining legitimate political power sharing with the Sri Lankans went awry and indulged in ruthless killings, bomb blasts and targeted assassinations. It is public knowledge that several western nations had been arming the group. There have been muffled whispers of evangelical interest in the Buddhist majority country, combined with the geo-military position of the island nation on the Indian Ocean. It is for this reason that India, under the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi offered to help Sri Lanka in the war against LTTE, by sending the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force). India lost a huge number of soldiers but mid-way through the operations Sri Lanka asked India to withdraw its forces. Rajiv Gandhi and several senior Tamil leaders of Eelam, who dared to walk away from the LTTE Supremo V Pirabhakaran or speak against him, were finished off by the loyal assassination squad.

It is a fact to be borne in mind that it was Pirabhakaran and his unyielding temperament that stood in the way of an amicable, bloodless settlement of the Tamil problem. A political issue that could have been resolved with proportional representation was converted into ethnic war and genocide by the LTTE, the extremist JVP (Janata Vimukti Peramuna) and the then successive Sri Lankan government. It was the unflinching stand of the present Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that saw the end of one of the longest and bloodiest wars in modern world.

While accusing the Sri Lankan government of human rights violations, one must remember that the enemy was not a hapless, unarmed group of peaceful activists. The cadres of LTTE were armed to the teeth, with the latest machine guns, rocket launchers and tanks. The last few weeks of war that are under scrutiny now witnessed a pitched battle in which both sides killed and got killed unrestrained. The number of child soldiers Pirabhakaran recruited and trained has not been documented. Boys and girls were picked up at an unsuspecting age, fed on a liberal dose of LTTE literature enumerating the torture and humiliation of the Tamils by the Lankans and were prepared to ‘fight’ on the command of the well-structured LTTE ‘army’. Several thousands of Tamils were killed by the LTTE cadres for defying the leadership. But the US or any other nation did not raise the issue of war crimes then.

The tragic-comedy of the current situation is that the US, the biggest violator of human rights globally is moving a resolution against Sri Lanka. Its own track record on the issue is pathetic. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, the list is long and cruel. But not once has anyone ever charged the American government with human rights abuse.

India faces multi-pronged problem internally. Kashmir, North-East, Naxalites and Islamic extremists – these four major groups are active in anti-government campaign which takes the virulent form of attacking the state property, the killing of defence and police personnel and periodic carnage of innocent civilians. Whenever any major state offensive is launched against any of these groups, the so-called human rights activists become vocal, aggressive and shrill. The United States is playing that role globally.

It is the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government to rehabilitate the victims of the civil war. The Tamils of Sri Lanka are citizens of that country. At best, India has an interest and moral responsibility to speak for them, which India has been doing all these decades. But it makes no case for anybody else to intervene.

The heart-wrenching stories of the abuse of the rights of the Gypsies world over have not ever been heard by those sitting at the podium in the world body. Even India, which the Gypsies look at as their homeland has turned a blind eye. The accounts of the Malaysian Hindus, mostly Tamils, who are being targeted by the Islamic groups with indulgent support from the government, did not even make it to the headlines in major national dailies in India. Their representatives who came to India knocking political doors for help – to just speak on their behalf to the Malaysian government – did not get an appointment and audience with those in power here. And these are all people who have been living in their respective nations for centuries, like the Tamils in Lanka.

India should take an unequivocal stand against the resolution being backed by the US to condemn Sri Lanka. If India baulks today and adopts a ‘neutral’ position, it would find itself in the dock one day. India by its geo-political position must take a robust stand against the West interfering in issues not concerning them directly. There is no case for the US or any of the European nations to dictate to a democratically elected government or try to humiliate it in a world forum that belongs as much to us as it does to them.

Sufi Music: Mirza Ghalib & Hz Shah Niaz come together

Sufi Music: Mirza Ghalib & Hz Shah Niaz come together

Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959) - Arts & Culture History Islam Published in The Friday Times South Asian Literature SouthAsia Urdu - Amarsingh College Bhagavad Gita Hakim India Iqbal Islam Kashmir Khalifa Abdul Hakim Lahore Rabindranath Tagore Rafia Hasan ShantiNiketan Srinagar www.khalifaabdulhakim.com - Jahane Rumi

27 February 2012

For years I had been planning to write about Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959), the great philosopher and intellectual of the twentieth century. Last year, I had ventured to review his famous Urdu translation of the ancient Hindu text Bhagavad Gita. Given the range of Hakim’s thought and accomplishments, I must admit it took me years to get acquainted with his intellectual legacy. He was never taught in our schools and the education system rarely found space for his eclectic and progressive corpus of intellectual investigation. Pakistan as a country is simply ‘anti-intellectual’.

Much has been said about the low priority we accord to humanities and liberal arts and especially with respect to discourses on contemporary Islam. No point in reiterating all those tedious arguments and tragic examples. Imagine if Hakim had translated Bhagavad Gita in the twenty first century Pakistan, where militant outfits preach hatred against India and Mumtaz Qadris are celebrated, he would have been branded as an infidel for promoting the sacred texts of ‘kaafirs’. Such is the rot of our present. Given the parochial education system and the monopoly of televangalists on national television, Hakim’s message and ideas can constitute footnotes of history. This is why I was pleasantly surprised to hear about the new website that his distinguished daughter Prof Rafia Hasan has created. Internet is already changing the way we function, think and see the world. Henceforth, the portal www.khalifaabdulhakim.com will provide free access to the published works of Hakim saheb. Hopefully, this will allow young Pakistanis to read and refer to his works, especially the ones in Urdu which have been uploaded in a user-friendly format and enable effortless reading.

His book Iqbal aur Mullah

Hakim received his doctorate in Philosophy from Heidelberg University, Germany. A Kashmiri by origin and a native of Lahore, he spent most of his working life in Hyderabad Deccan where he was a professor and later Chairman of Department of Philosophy, Osmania University. His long career in academia started in 1918 when he was selected by Osmania University as a professor. During 1943-46, he also served on deputation as Principal Amarsingh College, Srinagar (Kashmir). In 1950, he was appointed as Director, Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore and held that position till his death. Hakim was also elected as the General President for the fist session of Pakistan Philosophical Congress in 1954; and was internationally renowned for his scholarship.It is said that Hakim had advised the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore in setting up a centre for Islamic research in ShantiNiketan. His extraordinary life was devoted to scholarship and he authored more than a dozen books and translated four from English and German on subjects which represented his key passions: progressive Islam, the spiritual-poetic universe of Rumi, Hafiz, Ghalib, Iqbal and the history of philosophy.

Hakim elucidates why Iqbal was opposed to the literalism and intellectual stagnation of clerics. In fact he makes a definitive comment that had Iqbal not died he would have been at odds with Mullahism

Hakim’s major works include ‘The Metaphysics of Rumi’, ‘Islamic Ideology’, and ‘Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his Mission’. A key work in his rich legacy was “Islam and Communism” published in 1951. Hakim was an ardent proponent of “Islamic socialism” which was later politicised and used as a slogan in the 1970s. In post-war India (during the 1940s) and post-1947 Pakistan, this was an important voice. In Hakim’s worldview, inherent to Islam’s message was social justice. While the religion allowed for limited competition and private property, it also laid down a framework for setting limits on the accumulation of wealth and assets. In this context, the laws of inheritance, progressive taxation and regulated commerce were the instruments to achieve social justice. It’s a pity that our religious parties and neo-Islamists have not developed a discourse of this kind and therefore were never able to win the sympathies of people.

His works on Iqbal are also noteworthy. Among others, the short publication, “Iqbal aur Mullah” needs to be introduced as a mandatory reading. In this treatise, Hakim elucidates why Iqbal was opposed to the literalism and intellectual stagnation of clerics. In fact he makes a definitive comment that had Iqbal not died he would have been at odds with Mullahism. Hakim’s comments, that the sectarian ideologies propagated by clerics were dangerous and inimical for Pakistan’s welfare and future, were prophetic. The hints he gave in that book have now proved to be true.

translation of Bhagavad Gita

Hakim’s accessible and poetic translation of Bhagavad Gita has been recently republished by Sang-i-Meel publications. Former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also launched an Urdu version in New Delhi during July 2000, a few days before the Indo-Pak summit.

Hakim could not have translated Bhagavad Gita in the twenty first century Pakistan, where militant outfits preach hatred against India and Mumtaz Qadris are celebrated

To thinkers of this age, universal values of humanism and inter-faith dialogue were paramount. Hakim’s inclinations therefore make him the ideal scholar to have written on Ghalib, the great Urdu poet disowned by Pakistan as “Indian” and perhaps too secular. Hakim’s work Tafheem-e-Ghalib is a must-read for all Ghalib lovers and I read it from time to time to gain insights into Ghalib’s poetry. Not that I can ever claim that I understand Ghalib as it might just be a life-long journey.

The website www.khalifaabdulhakim.com is a gateway to the world of progressive ideas that we can still reclaim. It is still a work in progress but most of the links are active and the best part is that you can read the original works of Hakim as well as the commentaries on them. There is also a section on doctoral theses completed on his scholarship. My favourite essay from Dr Aftab Ahmed’s collection of personal sketches – Ba yaad e sohbat e nazuk khayalan (literally, the memories of companions with refined thoughts) is the best which gives a readable insight into Hakim’s personality and humanizes the scholar.

With Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Fatima Jinnah and Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah in Srinagar in 1944

Islam, as Iqbal has repeatedly mentioned in his lectures, is not a static belief system. Its inherent dynamism is for the Muslims to identify, interpret and apply to their individual and collective lives. But Iqbal has been terribly pigeonholed and his universal thought has been reduced to a simplistic dream of a mighty Islamic state and revival of Islamic Empire. Browsing through this website and re-reading some of the works by Hakim, I was somewhat comforted that there may be ways to reshape the discourse on Islam in Pakistan. No reformation of Islam can escape the ideas of Iqbal and Hakim; and therefore this is a website with immense possibilities. Dr Rafia Hasan and her capable daughters Naveed and Nudah are carrying forward the mission of this great man. All power to them!

JSTOR: The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 3/4 (Oct., 1960), pp. 115-123

ED slaps PMLA case against Marans - Indian Express

ED slaps PMLA case against Marans

Rahul Tripathi Posted online: Wed Feb 08 2012, 00:45 hrs

New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday registered two cases under stringent sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into the multi-crore 2G scam.

The first FIR was registered against former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi Maran. It is alleged that the Maran brothers received Rs 550 crore as illegal gratification, punishable under sections of the PMLA and FEMA. Under the provisions of the PMLA, the ED can even attach the properties of Sun TV and the Marans.

The second case pertained to the NDA regime when BJP’s Pramod Mahajan was the telecom minister. The ED has named former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh, then deputy director general J R Gupta, Airtel and Vodafone for alleged irregularities in the grant of additional 2G spectrum during 2001-03.

Dayanidhi Maran, who resigned as the Union textile minister after his name cropped up in the 2G scam, is being investigated by the CBI-ED for favouring Malaysian firm Maxis Communication. The ED will now start recording statements under the PMLA before questioning Dayanidhi.

The allegations against Maran brothers were that they allegedly delayed and halted the process of granting a licence to Aircel in 2004-05.

The process of granting licence to Sivashankaran-owned Aircel was reportedly kept pending till an agreement was signed between T Ananda Krishnan-owned Maxis Communication and promoters of Aircel for ownership change in respect to these companies.

An illegal gratification of Rs 550 crore was reportedly accepted through Dayanidhi’s brother Kalanidhi in the garb of share premium invested in M/S Sun Direct TV by South Asia Entertainment holdings Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Astro All Asia Networks Plc.

Video - Wsj.com

சோழ நாட்டில் பௌத்தம்: July 2011

BUDDHA STATUES IN THE VICINITY OF OTHER TEMPLES IN THE CHOLA COUNTRY*

Dr.B.Jambulingam,

Superintendent,

Tamil University,

Thanjavur 613 010

Buddhism came to Tamil Nadu during the 3rd century BC and it prevailed in the Chola country up to the 16th century AD, which is vouchsafed by an inscription found in Kumbakonam. Buddha viharas were found in many places including Poompuhar and Nagapattinam. The remnant of a vihara is still intact in Poompuhar. Sixty-four Buddha statues were identified in the Chola country comprising of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Pudukottai, Trichy, Karur, Perambalur and Ariyalur districts during field study undertaken by the author since 1993. Among these 60 statues were in seated posture, and the rest from Cholanmaaligai, Poompuhar, Thiruvalanchuzhi and Sundarapandianpattinam were in standing posture. According to earlier researchers Buddha statues were found at Alangudipatti, Ayyampet, Chettipatti, Kottappadi, Kurumbur, Manganallur, Valikandapuram and Vellanur of Pudukottai. However when the author surveyed these places they could not be located. Probably these statues were lost forever. This highlights the need that these statues have to be protected and preserved by the Government. Several Buddha images are displayed in museums. In the study area Buddha statues are found in Siva temples, village deity temples and Jain temple. Some of them are found in the centre of the town, paddy fields, outskirts of the town or even in the neglected areas. This paper deals with the Buddha statues distributed in and around non-Buddhist temples in the Chola country.

I. Buddha Images from Siva Temples

Buddha statues are found in five Siva temples. They are Ekambaresvarar Kamatchiamman temple (Sundarapandianpattinam), Mathyarjunesvara temple (Pettaivaitthalai), Parsvanathaswami temple (Muzhiaiyur, near Pattisvaram), Sempakaranyesvarar temple (Thirunagesvaram near Kumbakonam) and Siva temple (Thiruvalanchuzhi). There is an inscription in Kumbeswarar temple at Kumbakonam, which speaks about the presence of a Buddha temple in Tiruvilanthurai.

Ekambaresvarar-Kamatchiamman Temple (Sundarapandianpattinam, Pudukottai Dt)

During field study a Buddha statue was found in the Ekambadresvarar Kamatchiamman temple in Sundarapandianpattinam during September 1999. Dr J. Raja Mohamad who identified this Buddha says, “A rare Buddha statue in standing posture has been discovered at Ekambaresvarar Kamatchiamman temple at Sundarapandianpattinam, a coastal hamlet on the border of Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram districts. It is believed that the statue was brought from a ruined, nearly mandapa a structure which bears a resemblance to a Buddhist monastery. The stone idol is similar to the ones found at Nalanda in Bihar, the great Buddhist centre. The Buddha wears a close fitting robe extending from the neck to the legs, in addition to a sangati, covering the back, whose end has elegant folds. The face is oval with the nose, lips, chin and eyes exquisitely chiseled. The earlobe is long, the forehead has a tilak and on the right palm is a diamond-shaped mark-features considered Mahapurushalakshana in Buddhist mythology. The hair on the head is studded knot surmounted with a tapering flame called usnisha indicating the supreme knowledge” (The Hindu: 23.11.2002). This statue is not worshipped now. But it is placed near the sanctum sanctorum of the main deity of the temple. This statue resembles the style of Nagapattinam Buddha bronze.

Mathyarjunesvara Temple (Pettaivaithalai, Trichy Dt)

A Buddha statue, which was found during fieldwork in September 1998 near the rajagopura of the Mathyarjunesvara temple at Pettaivaithalai is now exhibited in the Government Museum, Trichy. This Siva Temple, constructed by Kulothunga III is on the Trichy-Karur road, about 20 km from Trichy. The statue is in padmasana dhyana posture. Local people call this Buddha as ‘Samanar’ which actually refers to a Jain Tirthangara. According to them originally there were three Buddha statues and two of them are lost. The only statue, which was found near Mathyarjunesvara temple, has been shifted and exhibited in the Government Museum at Trichy in May 2002 (Dinamalar: 17.5.2002).

Parsvanathaswami Temple
(Muzhaiyur, Thanjavur Dt)

At the Parsvanathaswami temple in Muzhaiyur, near Pattisvaram, in Kumbakonam taluk a head of Buddha statue was found during field study in June 1999. One of the ears of this Buddha , whose face has a gracious smile, is found broken. Curled hair and usnisha are perfectly carved. This is not under worship.

Sempakaranyesvarar Temple
(Thirunagesvaram, Thanjavur Dt)

Two Buddha images were found in the prakara of the Amman shrine of the Sempakaranyesvarar temple at Thirunagesvaram near Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district during field work. These images are in sitting posture and they are not under worship. Even though the workmanship of these statues is not so good, the presence of these statues confirms the existence of Buddhism in this area. Very near to this place is an area called ‘Channapuram’ (Jainapuram). Based on this place name and the similarities of the Buddha statues with the Jain images it can be suggested that this place might have been a Jain centre.

Thiruvalanchuzhi Siva Temple
(Thiruvalanchuzhi, Thanjavur Dt)

There was a Buddha statue in the Siva Temple of Thiruvalanchuzhi in Thanjavur District (1957: 103). “The prominent but delicately carved features the exceedingly proportionate modelling and the tastefully worked drapery made this figure as one of the masterpieces of sculpture belonging to the end of the early Chola period. A noteworthy detail of this figure is its urna, which is shown not as the usual prominent circular dot on the forehead but simply outlined as an inverted question mark in the fashion of a number of bronze images from Nagapattinam. The urna and other details show the close correspondence between a metal image and a stone figure of the same period and locality. It also does not have a halo. In general, the features of the figure show that the sculptor who produced this was still imbued with the artistic tradition of earlier periods” (1960: 94). This statue is now exhibited in the Government Museum, Chennai.

Kumbesvarar Temple (Kumbakonam, Thanjavur Dt)

While other temples discussed above have Buddha statues, the Kumbesvarar temple at Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district has an inscription referring to the existence of Buddha temple . It is found on the doorjamb of the entrance of the inner prakara of the temple. This temple has the credit of possessing the inscription on survival of Buddhism as late as the 16th century A.D. (1999: 93). It mentions about one Titta Mamarunta Nayakar of the Buddha temple at Tiruvilanthurai, a small village near Tirunagesvaram-Tiruneelakkudi on the Kumbakonam-Karaikkal highway, during 1580 A.D. (EI, Vol XIX: 215-217). The text of the inscription is reproduced below:

(On) the 22^nd day of the month of Adi in the year Vikrama, all the people of Tirumalairajapuram assigned 2¾ (veli of) land in the Brahman village (agaram) of Tirumalairajapuram for repairs as a charity of Sevappa Nayakkar-ayyan as the channel was dug and passed through the land belonging to ‘Titta Mamarunda-Nayar of the Buddha Temple’ at Tiruvilandurai.

From the above inscription it is understood that for digging the canal at the land belonging to the Buddha temple of Titta Mamarunda Nayar, compensation was made. From it one can infer about the presence of Buddha temple around 16th century A.D. Even though there are no remains of the Buddha temple at Tiruvilanthurai now, this inscription confirms the existence of Buddhism till that period. It is the only inscription from a Siva temple in the Chola country that speaks about a Buddha temple.

II. Buddha Images from Village Deity Temples

Buddha statues are found in the village deity temples such as Aravandi Amman temple (Mangalam, near Musiri), Muthumariamman temple (Pattisvaram, Thanjavur district) and Nilavalamudaya Ayyanar temple (Karur near Ponpatri).

Aravandi Amman Temple (Mangalam, Trichy Dt)

In Mangalam of Tiruchy district, 15 km from Musiri, there is an Aravandi Amman temple. The author with the help of K.Sridharan identified a Buddha statue in the temple in May 1998. According to K.Sridharan, “The locals have been worshipping the statue of Buddha along with the deity Aravandi Amman. The bottom portion of the peetam of the statue has three lions in sitting posture. The statue is in padmasana dhyana posture and the face, the broad shoulders, the long arms and the palms one resting on the other is an example of the high degree of workmanship achieved during the Chola period. The face exemplifies the blessed state of the mind during dhyana, and the long earlobes, the typical head gear, and the hair arranged in a bunch at the top portion, give a special grandeur thanks to the backdrop of granite tiruvasi like constructions at the rear. This statue belongs to 10^th century” (The Hindu: 8.5.1998). The special feature of this statue is the presence of moustache (Dina Malar: 17.6.1999). Nowhere in the Chola country Buddha statue with moustache is found. It is to be noted that no other Buddha statue of this area has lions on the seat. According to the villagers since Buddha was against sacrifice, they constructed a separate shrine there away from the folk deity. They call the Buddha image as 'Chettiar’.

Muthumariamman Temple
(Pattisvaram, Thanjavur Dt)

Near Pattisvaram on the Pattisvaram-Govindakkudi road is a temple dedicated to Muthumariamman is found. A Buddha statue was found during field study in October 1998 in this temple. The Buddha image in seated posture is installed along with other folk deities (1957: 45).Even though the local people do not know that the image represents the Buddha, they offer worship. This is one of the smallest Buddha statues found in the Chola country.

Nilavalamudaya Ayyanar Temple
(Karur, Pudukottai Dt)

A Buddha image is found during the fieldwork undertaken in September 1999 at Nilavalamudaya Ayyanar temple in Karur, which is five miles to west of Ponpatri in Arantangi Taluk in Pudukottai district. From the iconographical aspects it appears to belong to the Chola period (1992: 249). This is a small but beautiful figure seated in the usual dhyana posture. “It has around it, the prabha on pillars. The other features of it are unmistakably in the late Chola period. It must be noted that Karur is very near to Ponpatri, the birthplace of the famous Buddhamitra who lived in the 11^th century A.D. He wrote Veerasoliyam during the rule of the Chola king Veera Rajendra. The existence of this image in a nearby village, the reported existence of images of this kind in several villages in the neighbourhood, and the late Chola style of this image, all go to show that Buddhism was undoubtedly in a flourishing condition in this area during the Chola times” (1960: 99). The local people offer sacrifice to the village deity Karuppasamy which is in the vicinity of the temple. To avoid the Buddha seeing this offering, the villagers have installed the Buddha statue separately. Alongwith other deities, Buddha is worshipped here.

III. Buddha Image from Mallinatha Jain Temple
(Mannargudi, Tiruvarur)

A Buddha statue was found in the Jain temple at Mannargudi during field study in August 1998. In the Chola country Jain temples are found in Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Deepanakudi and Mannargudi. The Jain temple at Mannargudi has a Buddha statue, in its northern prakara under the shade of a tree. This is in sitting dhyana pose with beautiful workmanship. Like some of the Nagapattinam Buddha bronze images, this statue has one attendant each on either side (1979: 115). Local people worship this Buddha.

IV. Discussion

Even after the impact of the bhakti movement, Buddhism continued to survive in certain areas of Tamil Nadu during Chola period. The statues found in the Chola country attest to this fact. Many Buddha statues found in this area belong to the 9th century A.D. to the 11th century A.D. Without the presence of Buddhist temples or viharas there would not have been so many Buddha images in this area in the vicinity of the temples. In order to protect the Buddha statues the local people have placed them in the nearby non-Buddhist temples. Buddha is worshipped, as any other deity, in many places. This shows the people treat Buddha equal to the deities that they worship.

*Published in Tamil Civilization, Vol.19, September 2008, Tamil University, Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu, India.

Reference

Dinamalar (Tamil Daily), dated 17^th May 2002

Dinamani (Tamil Daily), dated 18^th July 1999

Dinathanthi (Tamil Daily), dated 3^rd February 2004

Dinamani (Tamil Daily), dated 11^th August 2006

Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XIX, pp.215-217

The Hindu dated 8^th May 1998

The Hindu dated 23^rd November 2002

The Hindu dated 27^th June 2006

Jambulingam, B., Buddhism in Tamilnadu with special reference to Thanjavur District, M.Phil., Dissertation, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 1995
…………………, Chola Nattil Boutam, (Tamil) Ph.D, Thesis, Tamil University, Thanjavur, 1999

…………………, Buddhism in the Cola Country, Project Report, Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, New Delhi, 2002

Kudavayil Balasubramanian, Thanjavur Nayakkar Varalaru (Tamil), Thanjavur Maharaja Serfojiyin Saraswathi Mahal Noolagam, Thanjavur, 1999

Minakshi, C., “Buddhism in South India”, South Indian Studies-II, (Editor R.Nagaswamy), Society for Archaeological, Historical and Epigraphical Research, Chennai, 1979

The New Indian Express dated 10^th July 1999

Raja Mohamad, J., Pudukottai Mavatta Varalaru (Tamil), Collector, Pudukottai, 1992

Srinivasan, P.R., “Buddhist images of South India”, Story of Buddhism with special reference to South India, Department of Information and Publicity, Madras, 1960

Vasudeva Rao, T.N., Buddhism in the Tamil country, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, 1979

Venkatasamy, Mayilai Seeni., Bouthamum Tamilum, (Tamil) Thirunelveli Then India Saiva Siddhantha Noorppathippukkalagam, Chennai, 1957

(updated on 24.12.2011)

The dangers of demonology

Schumpeter

The dangers of demonology

Hatred of bankers is one of the world’s oldest and most dangerous prejudices

Jan 7th 2012

HURLING brickbats at bankers is a popular pastime. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement and its various offshoots complain that a malign 1%, many of them bankers, are ripping off the virtuous 99%. Hollywood has vilified financiers in “Wall Street”, “Wall Street 2”, “Too Big to Fail” and “Margin Call”. Mountains of books make the same point without using Michael Douglas.

Anger is understandable. The financial crisis of 2007-08 has produced the deepest recession since the 1930s. Most of the financiers at the heart of it have got off scot-free. The biggest banks are bigger than ever. Bonuses are flowing once again. The old saw about bankers—that they believe in capitalism when it comes to pocketing the profits and socialism when it comes to paying for the losses—is too true for comfort.

But is the backlash in danger of going too far? Could fair criticism warp into ugly prejudice? And could ugly prejudice produce prosperity-destroying policies? A glance at history suggests that we should be nervous.

Scorn for moneymen has a long pedigree. Jesus expelled the moneychangers from the Temple. Timothy tells us that “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Muhammad banned usury. The Jews referred to interest as neshek—a bite. The Catholic church banned it in 1311. Dante consigned moneylenders to the seventh circle of hell—the one also populated by the inhabitants of Sodom and “other practisers of unnatural vice”.

For centuries the hatred of moneylending—of money begetting more money—went hand in hand with a hatred of rootlessness. Cosmopolitan moneylenders were harder to tax than immobile landowners, governments grumbled. In a diatribe against the Rothschilds, Heinrich Heine, a German poet, fumed that money “is more fluid than water and less steady than air.”

This prejudice has proven dangerous. Without money to grease them, the wheels of commerce turn slowly or not at all. Civilisations that have eased the ban on moneylending have grown rich. Those that have retained it have stagnated. Northern Italy boomed in the 15th century when the Medicis and other banking families found ways to bend the rules. Economic leadership passed to Protestant Europe when Luther and Calvin made moneylending acceptable. As Europe pulled ahead, the usury-banning Islamic world remained mired in poverty. In 1000 western Europe’s share of global GDP was 11.1% compared with the Middle East’s 8.6%. By 1700 western Europe had a 13.5% share compared with the Middle East’s 3.4%.

The rise of banking has often been accompanied by a flowering of civilisation. Artists and academics railing against the “agents of the Apocalypse” might also learn from history. Great financial centres have often been great artistic centres—from Florence in the Renaissance to Amsterdam in the 17th century to London and New York today. Countries that have chased away the moneylenders have been artistic deserts. Where would New York’s SoHo be without Wall Street? Or the great American universities without the flow of gold into their coffers?

Prejudice against financiers can cause non-economic damage, too. Throughout history, moneylenders have been persecuted. Ethnic minorities—most obviously the Jews in Europe and America but also the Chinese in Asia—have clustered in the financial sector first because they were barred from more “respectable” pursuits and later because success begets success. At times, anti-banking prejudice has acquired a strong tinge of ethnic hatred.

In medieval Europe Jews were persecuted not only because they were not Christians but also because killing them was a quick way to expunge debts. Karl Marx, who came from a Jewish family, regarded Jews as the embodiments of capitalism who could only be rescued from their ancestral curse through revolution. The forgers of the “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” wanted people to believe that Jewish financiers were engaged in a fiendish global conspiracy. Louis McFadden, the chairman of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency in the 1930s, claimed that “the Gentiles have the slips of paper while the Jews have the lawful money.” The same canards have been used against Chinese minorities across Asia.

This is not to say that the Occupy protesters are guilty of ethnic prejudice: they belong to a class and a generation that is largely free from such vices. But demonisation can easily mutate into new forms. In the August issue of the Journal of Business Ethics one Clive Boddy argues that the financial sector has been taken over by psychopaths: “people who, perhaps due to physical factors to do with abnormal brain connectivity and chemistry”, lack a “conscience, have few emotions and display an inability to have any feelings of sympathy or empathy for other people”.

Caged emotions

Railing against the 1%—particularly when so many of them work for companies with names like Goldman Sachs and N.M. Rothschild—can unleash emotions that are difficult to cage. A survey in the Boston Review in 2009 found that 25% of non-Jewish Americans blamed Jews for the financial crisis, with a higher percentage among Democrats than Republicans. Ethnic hatreds are even rawer in parts of Asia. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 sparked murderous riots against rich Chinese in places such as Indonesia. Today, the combination of hard times and harsh rhetoric could also produce something nasty.

The crisis of 2008 showed that global finance requires tough medicine. Banks must be forced to hold bigger reserves. “Weapons of mass destruction” must be defused. The culture of short-term incentives needs to be revised. But demonising bankers will not solve these problems—and may well, if unchecked, bring a lot of ancient ugliness back to life.

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Mullai PeriyaaRu

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