Yet another genetic study that demolishes Aryan Invasion Theory!

Given at the end of the post is the abstract of and links to a recent genetic study that establishes (once again) that India had served as an incubator for very long for the growth of populations and that they have moved to Northern parts through north India.  From the literary accounts of our Ithihasas, we can trace such movement out of India at 4 times in the past upto 5000 years ago. They are listed here.

(1) At the end of the Ice age when the first floods inundated habitations in the Arabian sea about 13,500 years ago, the people living on the extended land in the west coast of India split into two, with one of them entering the Saraswathy river through its mouth in Dwaraka (first Dwaraka which is now under water. The current Dwaraka is the 7th one, Bet Dwaraka, the 6th and Dwarka of Krishna was the 5th) and another group entering the Persian Gulf and reaching Persia.

I am relying on Hancock and Milne's maps for this. Please read this link:
http://www.grahamhancock.com/archive/underworld/AshCF1.php?p=1

Manu was called as Dravideshwara (Lord of Dravida land) in Srimad Bhagavatham.
Dravida land is identified in the South west part of India between Goa and Gujarat, by Varahamihira in his book Brihad Samhitha. The land shown in the picture below fits into the description.

When Manu's Dravida was submerged in the first deluge that occurred at the end of the Ice age, he escaped in a boat and was carried by the waters through River Saraswathy and finally landed at Naubhandan at the Himalayas.

The picture below shows the way Manu was taken by the floods through  the mouth of the River Saraswathy at Dwaraka - the first Dwaraka which is now well under the sea.

In the same period Persian Gulf was a land!

There is every chance that a group of people from the Arabian sea habitat, entered through Persian Gulf during the first floods after the end of Ice age and started new life in Persia, Medittaranean  etc. 

In the picture below, the pale white area around the present day lands were once above water. The arrow mark shows Persian Gulf which was a  land before 13,000 years ago according to researches on Inundation and sea level maps.

The original name of Persia was Parswa, a Sanskrit word which means left side. We in India don't take the left course and consider it as inauspicious. Those who entered the region to the left of Saraswathy river were considered as un-Vedic and therefore Mlechas. The first birth of Mleccha- hood of the current era after the end of the Ice age started then. Those who landed in Persia had the same cultural roots with those who entered Saraswathy but due to lack of Vedic connection, those practices degenerated.

(2) In the times of Sagara, the ancestor of Bhageeratha of Ikshvaku dynasty, (before the birth of river Ganga), a great war was fought between the kings of North India and Sagara. The kings were defeated by Sagara who banished them to Mlechahood. They went to the NW and W of Indus and perhaps became yavanas, shakas and Paradas, with stipulations imposed on them to be half tonsured, fully tonsured and growing beard. These are un-vedic looks. They were made to be so. Thus we find a period before 10,000 years ago, where another group from Vedic sect left for the Middle east with memories of Vedic culture. There is no wonder the Vedic and Sanskrit resemblances stayed in those places which however got corrupted over time.

(3)Another banishment of people from Vedic India happened when the so-called Arya -dasyu war took place 8000 years ago. This was actually a war for succession among the 5 sons of Yayathi which Max Muller thought was Aryan- Dravidian war. The losers Anu and Druhu were banished to the Middle East and NW of Afghanistan. Ahura Mazda came in this period. I have analysed this in my Tamil blog which I will translate into English some day. These people were truly obsessed for having to leave the Vedic fold. They maintained contact with main land. It was a few hundred years after this, Rama of Dasaratha was born. Rama's name had spread among the freshly banished people of the Middle East that everywhere Rama shabda was heard. Ramases, Ramadan, Ramallah, Ramath, Ramah Romulus, Rhemus etc came to be heard.

(4) The last time a notable migration happened was when the women and other folks of Arjuna's convoy were abducted by Mlechas (from NW of Indus) when they were being escorted to safer areas after the deluge at Dwaraka that followed Krishna's exit. The Mahabharata gives the account of this in Musala parva from which we come to know that Royal women of Krishna and others, some of them pregnant were abducted by the Mlechas.

Darius, the Aryan of the Aryan must have come in the lineage of one such Royal lady abducted from Arjuna's convoy. The presently talked about Susa in Iran also confirm such abductions. Susa is a Sanskrit word which means 'parturient woman'- a woman in labour, about to give birth to a child. Why should they call a place by that name unless some important woman had labour pain on the way of crossing that place? Anyway, traces of Vedic culture stayed with her / them (the abducted women) and their descendants took pride in calling themselves as Aryans!


The copper plate found in that place (Susa)  shows a man pouring water to another's hand - which happens only in daanam (gifting something by pouring water) - a Vedic practice. So Susa and its culture were formed when an abducted lady of the Arjuna's clan developed labour pain and delivered a baby there. The group must have settled at that place itself and started a new life.

                                        This plate was found in Susa! 

The story of the Iranian Goddess Inanna of Susa has all the trappings of an abused female who took sweet revenge on the society of the abductors by introducing a strange cult such as Sacred prostitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna

The recent findings attributing the same period for Susa and Mittani (that has several Vedic marks) correspond to the settlements of displaced Dwarakans .  Closer home, the findings of images of Krishna at Bactria corresponds to the settlements of dislocated Dwarakans after the deluge that followed Krishna’s exit. 

While a group of women were abducted on the way near Indus, others were moved along with the course of river Saraswathy . On the way Rukmini, Krishna’s wife died by entering a pyre. But Sathyabhama, another well known wife of Krishna chose to cross across the Himalayas to lead a life of seclusion. In all probability she crossed Afghanistan and settled in Bactria. The descendants of the people who accompanied her carried the memory of Krishna and Balarama which however degenerated with time. 

                                  Bactrian coins showing Krishna and Balarama. 

-Jayasree

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From

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/12/indian-diversity-last-genetic-nail.html

Indian diversity. Last genetic nail driven into the AMT-Aryan-Dravidian divide coffin: (Metspalu, Gyaneshwer Chaubey et al, AJHG, Dec. 2011)

Genetic study finds no evidence for Aryan Migration Theory--On the contrary, South Indians migrated to north and South Asians migrated into Eurasia

What geneticists consider a landmark paper has just been published in a highly reputed scientific journal, American Journal of Human Genetics, authored by an international group of geneticists including Metspalu, Gyaneshwer Chaubey, Chandana Basu Mallick (Evolutionary Biology Group in Tartu, Estonia), Ramasamy Pitchappan (Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Chennai), Lalji Singh, and Kumarasamy Thangaraj (CCMB, Hyderabad). The study is titled: Shared and Unique Components of Human Population Structure and Genome-Wide Signals of Positive Selection in South Asia, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2011), doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.11.010

The study is comprehensive, unlike previous studies of human genome and is unique, because it focuses on large number of populations in South Asia, and India, a region which harbours one of the highest levels of genetic diversity in Eurasia and currently accounts for one sixth of human population in the world.

The study analysed human genetic variation on a sample of 1310 individuals that belong to 112 populations, using new genome-wide data contains more than 600,000 single nucleotide polymorphic sites among 142 samples from 30 ethnic groups of India. The most important scientific findings of the study are: 

• South Asian genetic diversity is 2nd in the world, next only to Africa, mainly due to long periods of indigenous development of lineages and with complex population structure where one can see the different caste and tribal populations.

• Two genetic components among Indians are observed: one is restricted to India and explains 50% genetic ancestry of Indian populations , while, the second which spread to West Asia and Caucasus region. Technically called “haplotype diversity”, it is a measure of the origin of the genetic component. The component which spread beyond India has significantly higher haplotype diversity in India than in any other part of world. This is clear proof that this genetic component originated in India and then spread to West Asia and Caucasus. The distribution of two genetic components among Indians clearly indicates that the Aryan-Dravidian division is a myth, Indian population landscape is clearly governed by geography.

• A remarkable finding is that the origin of these components in India is much older than 3500 years which clearly refutes Aryan Invasion theory of the type enunciated by Max Mueller ! The study also found that haplotypic diversity of this ancestry component is much greater than in Europe and the Near East (Iraq, Iran, Middle East) thus pointing to an older age of the component and/or long-term higher effective population size (that is, indigenous evolution of people).

• Haplotype diversity associated with dark green ancestry is greatest in the south of the Indian subcontinent, indicating that the alleles underlying it most likely arose there and spread northwards.

• The study refutes Aryan migrations into India suggested by the German orientalist Max Muller that ca. 3,500 years ago a dramatic migration of Indo-European speakers from Central Asia shaping contemporary South Asian populations, introduction of the Indo-European language family and the caste system in India. A few past studies on mtDNA and Y-chromosome variation have interpreted their results in favor of the hypothesis, whereas others have found no genetic evidence to support it. The present study notes that any migration from Central Asia to South Asia should have introduced readily apparent signals of East Asian ancestry into India. The study finds that this ancestry component is absent from the region. The study, therefore, concludes that if such at all such a dispersal ever took place, it should have occurred 12,500 years ago. On the contrary, there is evidence for East Asian ancestry component reaching Central Asia at a later period.

• India has one of the world’s fastest growing incidence of type 2 diabetes as well as a sizeable number of cases of the metabolic syndrome, both of which have been linked to recent rapid urbanization. The study points to a possible genetic reasons and recommends further researches on four genes – DOKS, MSTN, CLOCK, PPARA – implicated in lipid metabolism and etiology of type 2 diabetes.

Kalyanaraman
Dec. 9, 2011

Shared and Unique Components of Human Population Structure and Genome-Wide Signals of Positive Selection in South Asia

Mait Metspalu1, 2, 13, , , Irene Gallego Romero3, 13, 14, Bayazit Yunusbayev1, 4, 13, Gyaneshwer Chaubey1, Chandana Basu Mallick1, 2, Georgi Hudjashov1, 2, Mari Nelis5, 6, Reedik Mägi7, 8, Ene Metspalu2, Maido Remm7, Ramasamy Pitchappan9, Lalji Singh10, 11, Kumarasamy Thangaraj10, Richard Villems1, 2, 12 and Toomas Kivisild1, 2, 3

1 Evolutionary Biology Group, Estonian Biocentre, 51010 Tartu, Estonia
2 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, 51010 Tartu, Estonia
3 Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK
4 Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics, Ufa Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Department of Genetics and Fundamental Medicine, Bashkir State University, 450054 Ufa, Russia
5 Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu and Estonian Biocentre, 51010 Tartu, Estonia
6 Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
7 Department of Bioinformatics, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, 51010 Tartu, Estonia
8 Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology Unit, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
9 Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Chettinad Health City, Chennai 603 103, India
10 Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500 007, India
11 Banaras Hindu University,Varanasi 221 005, India
12 Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia

Corresponding author

13 These authors contributed equally to this work

14 Present address: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, 920 E 58th Street, CLSC 317, Chicago, IL 60637, USA


Abstract

South Asia harbors one of the highest levels genetic diversity in Eurasia, which could be interpreted as a result of its long-term large effective population size and of admixture during its complex demographic history. In contrast to Pakistani populations, populations of Indian origin have been underrepresented in previous genomic scans of positive selection and population structure. Here we report data for more than 600,000 SNP markers genotyped in 142 samples from 30 ethnic groups in India. Combining our results with other available genome-wide data, we show that Indian populations are characterized by two major ancestry components, one of which is spread at comparable frequency and haplotype diversity in populations of South and West Asia and the Caucasus. The second component is more restricted to South Asia and accounts for more than 50% of the ancestry in Indian populations. Haplotype diversity associated with these South Asian ancestry components is significantly higher than that of the components dominating the West Eurasian ancestry palette. Modeling of the observed haplotype diversities suggests that both Indian ancestry components are older than the purported Indo-Aryan invasion 3,500 YBP. Consistent with the results of pairwise genetic distances among world regions, Indians share more ancestry signals with West than with East Eurasians. However, compared to Pakistani populations, a higher proportion of their genes show regionally specific signals of high haplotype homozygosity. Among such candidates of positive selection in India are MSTN and DOK5, both of which have potential implications in lipid metabolism and the etiology of type 2 diabetes.

http://www.cell.com/AJHG/abstract/S0002-9297(11)00488-5

Free pdf download full text: http://download.cell.com/AJHG/pdf/PIIS0002929711004885.pdf

Full text with large figures: http://www.cell.com/AJHG/fulltext/S0002-9297(11)00488-5?large_figure=true

Indian Diversity, genetic study (Metspalu, Gyaneshwer Chaubey et al, AJHG Dec. 9, 2011)

Did Dr Swamy say something that Dr Ambedkar had not said?

What Dr Swami wrote in his article on how to wipe out Islamic terror from India is nothing contradictory to common sense if we recall what Dr Ambedkar, one of the founding fathers of our Constitution had said so many times on the sincerity and patriotism of Indian Muslims.  Dr Ambedkar had been very vocal that Indian Muslims will not have their loyalty to India. If Dr Swamy is wrong, then Dr Ambedkar is very much wrong. Would anyone in India stand up and say that Dr Ambedkar was wrong?

Here are Dr Ambedkar's views as given in the Wikipedia article on him:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar

Between 1941 and 1945, he published a number of books and pamphlets, including Thoughts on Pakistan, in which he criticized the Muslim League's demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan but considered its concession if Muslims demanded so as expedient.^[13]

In the above book Ambedkar wrote a sub-chapter titled If Muslims truly and deeply desire Pakistan, their choice ought to be accepted. He wrote that if the Muslims are bent on Pakistan, then it must be conceded to them. He asked whether Muslims in the army could be trusted to defend India. In the event of Muslims invading India or in the case of a Muslim rebellion, with whom would the Indian Muslims in the army side? He concluded that, in the interests of the safety of India, Pakistan should be acceded to, should the Muslims demand it. According to Ambedkar, the Hindu assumption that though Hindus and Muslims were two nations, they could live together under one state, was but an empty sermon, a mad project, to which no sane man would agree.^[13]

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From

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/12/facultys-religious-political-free.html

Faculty's Religious & Political Free Speech gaged at Harvard; Civil liberties violated. Restore Swamy as Prof. at Harvard.

From: निरवधि सीमा


To,
Faculty & Staff,
Harvard University

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am absolutely appalled and would like to register my protest against your injudicious and ill advised decision to remove Economics Professor Dr. Subramanian Swamy from teaching roster. (http://www.thecrimson.com/ article/2011/12/7/faculty- final-meeting/) Dr. Swamy is not some unknown new figure at Harvard rather a respected faculty member, whose so far proud association with the University goes back at least 4 decades.

 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=IteO05kaY-8)

 

 I do not find any merit in your argument to classify his article "How to wipe out Islamic terror" as hate speech. Bold and alternative political speech may be, but far from hate speech. (http://janamejayan.wordpress. com/2011/07/29/how-to-wipe- out-islamic-terror-dr- subramaniam-swamy/) He was merely exercising his basic human right of Right to Free Speech guaranteed under our First Amendment, which even protects, as it should, worst of the worse hate speeches. With all due respect, your unwise decision smacks of clear ideological and selection biases, and decision process influenced by emotions and various cognitive traps such as anchoring and confirming evidence.

Expression of Free Speech especially alternative Political & Religious viewpoints are basic human needs and these should not be denied to anyone. Political and Hate Speech are both protected under First Amendment as they are subjective. Because who is to decide what is hate speech and what is not? You, me or other Harvard faculty? Just because I don't agree with what some other person said in his personal capacity, I have no Right to discriminate against him because of his political or religious views. It is very unfortunate that some of the Harvard faculty members have allegedly let their personal ideology and religious biases affect their professional decision making process. It a matter of shame and grave concern that Harvard has reprimanded Dr. Swamy for his protected political speech, which he gave in a different country on a topic which is completely unrelated to what he teaches at Harvard in the US.

Dr. Swamy is an Economics professor and Harvard administration has a right to judge his subject knowledge merits and teaching history only. Certainly not on the basis of what religious or political ideology he ascribes to or on grounds of his protected political speech. It is an alleged case of discrimination based on political ideology and civil liberties violated. This is a very bad precedence unwittingly set by Harvard which may have a chilling effect on the campus as student and faculty will now be scared to freely share and speak alternative viewpoints. Best way to deal with hate speech is either debate it or ignore it. Harvard allegedly did neither in case of Dr. Swamy. If the faculty found his views distasteful, why didn't they challenge him for an open debate to publicly present and defend his views rather than unilaterally punishing him for speaking his mind in personal capacity? This may set an unhealthy precedence as per which every Harvard faculty member may now be held accountable and may face excoriation, at the whims of Harvard's few biased faculty members, for anything he or she may say anywhere in world, without being given any fair chance to defend himself or herself. Should all those anti-Swamy faculty members who spearheaded this allegedly prejudicial campaign against Dr. Swamy's free speech be now held accountable in India for what these people say, write or print in the US? Reprehensible. Correct, Dean Pfister?

What is even more ridiculous is that those who decided and coerced other faculty members to drop Dr. Swamy's courses are not even related to his subject of expertise. Could Harvard please explain to us how and why is a History Professor Sugata Bose, known for his far-Left political ideology, deciding if Dr. Swamy should continue to teach Economics? That too when Dr. Swamy wasn't even present there to defend himself. What Economics subject credentials does Prof Bose have to decide Dr. Swamy's courses fate? How Dr. Swamy's personal viewpoints on how to deal with terrorism in India can be used as a yardstick to censor him in the US and throw out his economics courses? How can Dr. Swamy's protected political speech on dealing with terrorism in India influence his capabilities to teach Economics in US? There is no bridge between these two acts then how can he be reprimanded for it? This is essentially Heckler's Veto to curb Dr. Swamy's civil liberties. Will Harvard now reprimand anyone whose political and religious views doesn't align with few of its faculty's political leaning?

It is sad to see that Philosophy Department Chair Sean Kelly got "persuaded" to be part of those who like to censor others protected political speech.

Let us consider the faculty's justification to censor Dr. Swamy. Is the faculty claiming that there is no Islamic terror in the world? As per terrorism research experts, there have been over 18000 Islamic terrorist attacks (small to big events classified by number of people murdered) in the world since 9/11. Just because main stream media doesn't cover all them doesn't mean these attacks aren't happening. I am sure all you learned people have heard of Schrödinger's cat experiment. India has been suffering at the hands of Muslim extremists for over 25 years. Third anniversary of brutal 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai just passed a few days ago. Do you expect Dr. Swamy and other Indians to simply ignore these facts because Harvard faculty is just too uncomfortable and sensitive to face the truth? Political correctness cannot be an excuse for poltroonery and censorship.

Until a few decades ago, it was mostly Pakistan sponsored terrorists attacking India. Since past decade, various domestic terrorist groups like Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Popular Front of India (PFI), Indian Mujahideen, etc. have also started committing terrorist attacks in India. Now it is clear that US citizens are involved in worldwide terrorist activities also. As exposed by PBS Frontline-ProPublica (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ pages/frontline/david-headley/ ), American-born Dawood Gilani aka David Coleman Headley was one of the main co-conspirators of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks. He was trained and indoctrinated in Islamic theology by Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Then there is Faisal Shazad (Times Square bomber), Major Nidal Hassan (Fort Hood), Anwar Al-Awaki, Underwear bomber, et.al. Unfortunately they are all self-proclaimed Islamic terrorists. You cannot just brush these facts under the carpet.

It is not Dr. Swamy who is calling Muslim terrorists as Islamic terrorists, rather it is these terrorists themselves who are proudly proclaiming themselves to be Mujahideen i.e. Islamic warriors fighting for Allah. Then why is Harvard allegedly punishing Dr. Swamy for speaking against these self-proclaimed Islamic warriors? Why is Harvard allegedly shooting the messenger? There is no line, let me say it again, there is no line in that article where Dr. Swamy has "demonized an entire religious community" as terrorists. I am sorry to say but Professor Diana Eck is wrong and her inference is grossly exaggerated. There is no way all of the decision making faculty members could have construed Dr. Swamy's argument as a call for destruction of religious places. This shows a clear case of selection bias and anchoring. Dr. Swamy said the following (an excerpt from the article),

In a brilliant research paper published by Robert Trager and Dessislava Zagorcheva this year ('Deterring Terrorism' International Security, vol 30, No 3, Winter 2005/06, pp 87-123) has provided the general principles to structure such a strategy.

Goal-strategy
Applying these principles, I advocate the following strategy to negate the political goals of Islamic terrorism in India, provided the Muslim community fail to condemn these goals and call them un-Islamic:

Goal 2: Blast our temples and kill Hindu devotees.
Strategy: Remove the masjid in Kashi Vishwanath temple complex, and 300 others in other sites as a tit-for-tat.

Dr. Swamy has not proposed that Hindus or Government of India should proactively remove Mosques (aka masjid) rather as a consequence of an unfortunate event (tit-for-tat). As per his proposal, if Islamic terrorists continue to blast Hindu temples and devotees then instead of cowing down, remove their controversial Mosques from encroached land. For those who may not know, Kashi aka Varanasi is the holiest site in the world for Hindus just like Kabba is for Muslims and Wailing wall is for Jews. About 600 years ago a Muslim bandit ruler ordered destruction of Holy Hindu temple of Kashi Vishwanathji and built a Mosque on top of it, compare it to Dome of Rock controversy. Not only at Kashi but Muslim Mughal bandit rulers did the same to prime Hindu temples at other holy sites such as Ayodhya, Mathura, Somnath, etc. Can you see a pattern? Prof Diana Eck is a professor of comparative religious studies, she ought to know better. Rather than thinking rationally, some faculty decision makers seem to have taken an extreme position influenced by an emotional reaction to a rational viewpoint (based on well thought out research).

For the sake of argument let us agree for a moment with the standards that Harvard faculty has applied to misconstrue Dr. Swamy's free speech as hate speech. Then the same standards should be applied to the following,

Quran (2:190-193) - "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you. And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]... but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."

Bukhari (2:28) - Women comprise the majority of Hell's occupants.

Quran (9:73) - O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination

Quran (4:56) - Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise

Quran (56:92-94) - But if he is of the rejecters, the erring, then the welcome will be boiling water and roasting at hell-fire

Quran (5:60) - Say: "Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from Allah? those who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath, those of whom some He transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!"

Bukhari (59:727) - Allah's Apostle [said]... "Allah's curse be on the Jews and the Christians"

Verse 59:727 was spoken on Mohamed's death bed, and was one of the last things that he ever said. Isn't Mohamed preaching annihilation of non-Muslims? Hasn't Mohamed crossed the line by demonizing an entire non-Muslim religious community and calling for violence against their sacred places? So would the esteemed faculty at Harvard now call for censorship of Quran, Hadith, Sira and other Islamic texts and publicly reprimand Mohamed for hate speech? Would Harvard now stop giving courses in Islamic theology? Would Harvard now cancel classes by Professors who euoligize Mohamed and teach such hate speech? Would Harvard now throw out students who emulate Mohamed? If no then isn't it hypocrisy on part of the same decision making faculty and Harvard administration? Standards set and enforced by the faculty in Dr. Swamy's case should be unambiguously applied in this case also.

Since Harvard is willing to overlook Dr. Swamy's professional accumen and rather use his personal views as a yardstick to decide if he should continue, let us analyze this fallacy also. Dr. Swamy has already publicly clarrified in this interview http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=K3lv71xEBs0 that he doesn't have any problem with Muslims. He is one of the most pluralist public figure I have ever known of. He is a Hindu who is married to a Parsi (Zorashtrian) and one of his daughter is married to a Muslim. Cannot get more Secular than that.

Now lest I am accused of being some fringe Right winger, let me prove my Centrist credentials by giving another rational argument that will sound tune to the Leftist gallery. For those who may not know, Dr. Swamy, as a lawyer, has been spearheading a massive anti-graft lawsuit against some of the most corrupt and powerful politicians and corporates in the world who have allegedly committed at least $50 Billion scam during the distribution 2G spectrum in India. Think of it as the Occupy Wall Street but this one actually works, and has a clear direction and goals. The anti-corruption movement has a leader in Dr. Swamy, who has already fell many politicians, bureaucrats and corporate heads, and there are some big fishes yet to be brought to book. One of the alleged corrupt big fish is ironically a Harvard alumni. Now since Harvard disassociated itself from Dr. Swamy's political viewpoints on terrorism, hence, by applying its faculty's logic as a corollary we can inference that Harvard would not agree with Dr. Swamy's political position on bringing corrupt individuals including the alleged person who is also a Harvard alumni to justice. Therefore, it may be concluded that Harvard supports corruption in Politics and Business. Sounds weird right? Doesn't make sense as this sounds like a far-fetched conclusion. Harvard would never support corruption. So now you can see how some of your biased faculty's emotional argument, that there is a connection between a political speech on the menace of theologically sanctioned terror and teaching economics, sounds-like to a rational mind.

In the end I would like to thank you for reading my protest letter and I hope some sanity will prevail in Harvard administration. I hope that you will promptly apologize to Dr. Subramanian Swamy, reinstate his popular courses without prejudice, and invite him back with all due courtesy. Please null and void this reprehensible precedence set by Harvard, before it is too late. My respects where due as I mean no malice to anyone. Just speaking against the injustice done.

Best Regards,
Seema

Dallas, TX

 

There is rule of law in TN, My Lord!

As a law abiding and an informed citizen of this country, I think I am well within my rights to say the following on the observations made by the Supreme Court judges on two different cases.  One was told in the context of granting bail to the corporate honchos in the 2G case and the other was in the context of refusing to an early hearing on the issue of sacking of contract labourers in Tamilnadu.

 

The first one pertains to a remark by the judges that the accused could not be denied bail on the reason that  the community's sentiment was against them. Cho Ramaswamy made a fine analysis of this observation in his editorial in the recent issue of Thuglak and said that this amounts to finding fault with the wisdom of the Trial court and the High court in assessing the situation before denying bail. It is not right to say that the Trail court judge, Justice Saini played to the sentiments of the people and therefore refused to grant bail to the accused. 

 

In this context, the judgement delivered yesterday in the Madras High court rejecting the petition of the DMK men on staying the probe on the New Secretariat building made a significant point that when the Supreme court sets aside the order of a lower court, that can not be considered as a judgement against a particular judge. But the SC observation on 2G bail case creates an impression that it did find fault with the Trial court judge of playing to the people's sentiments. At a time when the people's faith in the CBI is fast eroding, this kind of an observation by the SC makes us worried whether the Judiciary, the last hope of the people would at least make an impression that Justice is seen to be  delivered.

 

Whether the SC bench that delivered this observation agrees or not, the common man on the streets of Tamilnadu did not like the release of Kanimozhi on bail. It is not that she would tamper with the evidence; her father who would have already done that. But what we are worried is how he would capitalise on her release and brain wash the people. The ordinary folks do think that one by one, all the accused persons would come out and start their old ways. The events until now have not given the people the confidence that the law works in our country when it comes to powerful politicians and money bags.

 

If this issue is about the observation on the court playing to people's sentiments, the next issue is about the court playing to the sentiment of the petitioner. This case pertains to the sacking of 12,600 contract labourers called as "makkal nala-p- paniyaalargal" (people's welfare workers) by the TN government. If a survey is taken at ground zero where these workers are involved, they would get a response that this is a good step towards weeding out corruption.  These workers were not recruited through due process of recruitment but were appointed to work for the DMK bosses. This is happening every time DMK comes to power. There have been recommendations to abolish their posts. But the DMK would rather like to cultivate them as their men to be useful during elections. The locals say that most of them got the jobs through bribes and take back the money by misuse of funds allotted for the NREGA and other schemes in which they are employed. It is significant to note that Jairam Ramesh, the minister for Rural development has called for an audit of these schemes in the States including Tamilnadu. That would reveal the extent of corruption in the previous DMK regime involving these workers.

 

But what I want to say in this context is that the SC Bench has made some harsh remarks taking exception to the removal of these workers. It has asked whether there is any rule of law in Tamilnadu. This is the contention of the petitioners. For every act of the Government under Jayalalithaa, the DMK makes a huge fuss saying that there is no rule of law. Hearing the same comment from the Bench, it makes me think whether the Bench is playing to the sentiments of the petitioners. Did the bench even think how strong these words were while the reality picture in the State is that people are convinced that rule of law is finally in place after 5 long years of DMK rule.

 

We were able to cast our votes without any fear and disruption in the local body elections held recently. The same rule of law was not in place in the last time these elections were held. Why no court raised the same question the last time when not even 20% of the people were allowed to cast their votes? It was a very well known secret that votes were bought with money by the DMK in the last few elections in the State. Why no court took cognisance of that and asked whether any rule of law was in place in TN then?

 

DMK has done so much harm to the State such that every act of Jayalaithaa is going to look like a reversal of what DMK did. We want that to happen and we have given the mandate for Jayalalithaa to do that. Today Stalin's name is implicated in some land- grab case. DMK supporters will call it vendetta politics, but common man will not say so. He will ask why the delay in booking him, or is it only this much Stalin was found to have swindled.

 

The media and journalists of Tamilnadu are perceived as DMK sympathisers by the people at large. So let them say whatever they want – like what they said on Uniform syllabus, land grab cases, lack of improvement on power situation, new secretariat, on assets case of jayalaithaa etc – still people gave her a resounding victory in the local body elections. Because they think that Jayalalithaa had the State's welfare utmost in her mind and more importantly she is genuine.

 

This faith of the people is best summarized in the opinion given by a group of traders who did not pull down the shutters yesterday in Chennai  in protest against  FDI.  They contended that there was no reason to do so when Jayalalithaa has taken up the issue with the UPA government. When Jayalalithaa takes up an issue, the people can feel calm and go about their works.  She will go to its logical ends and get it done. She is not a Karunanidhi to do double speak.

 

Weeding out corruption means many pin pricks for the DMK.

Let her do that even if it looks like 'no-rule of law'.

What is 'no-rule of law' for the court is 'rule of law' for the people.

Whose mistake is it?

 

Dr Abdul Kalam praises Narendra Modi's rural scheme.

From

http://www.sify.com/news/kalam-cites-modi-scheme-as-model-to-reach-out-to-rural-masses-news-national-lmbtaiccejj.html#.Tte6XQvfj0w.gmail

Kalam cites Modi scheme as model to reach out to rural masses

New Delhi: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Thursday said factors like lack of transparency are coming in the way of development reaching villages and cited as a model a programme being implemented by Gujarat government to ensure that the rural sector reaps the benefits of growth.

Under the programme implemented by the Narendra Modi administration, approximately 1 lakh government officials, from the Chief Minister to taluka-level staff, agricultural scientists and other stakeholders spend a month during April and May in rural areas demonstrating the best of technologies to farmers.

"Such initiatives indicate a strong administrative will to ensure development reaches the rural sector. Krushi Mahotsav tours all 18,600 villages of the state, providing information and counselling on soil health, organic farming, technology and inputs, irrigation, etc., besides infusing a new spirit of change and mass mobilisation," he said, delivering the UPSC lecture on 'Governance and Public Service'.

In addition, the Gujarat government has also instituted an e-governance system linking the panchayat level, district HQs, and the state govt leading to transparency and speed in the decision making process, he said.

Kalam mentioned the names of C Subramanian, M S Swaminathan and B Sivaraman, architects of the Green Revolution, space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan and several other visionaries to drive home his point that creative leadership can do a world of good to the country's development.

Lauding former Prime Ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee for their "excellent leadership", he said both these leaders had the courage to take difficult decisions boldly even though their consequences had great national and international significance.

‘Black money is not just a tax issue’ – Prof R Vaidyanathan

Shame them! Black money held abroad is not just a tax issue

by

Prof R,Vaidyanathan, IIM, Bangalore

A recent report in The Economic Times suggests that the income tax department has secured at least 17 "voluntary disclosures" from around 700 Indians who are alleged to have had secret accounts with the HSBC Bank in Switzerland.

 

Says the report: "The amount disclosed ranges from Rs 50 crore to Rs 300 crore. Many in the list have opted to file 'revised return'  — a procedure allowed under the Income Tax Act for taxpayers who think they made a mistake while filing the original return. Revised returns are usually filed within a year of filing the original. The IT department has chosen to summon the alleged evaders and ask them to declare their undisclosed offshore deposits rather than initiate prosecution proceedings."

 

According to the newspaper, this has been done for two reasons. One, the tax department does not have enough manpower to go after all the 700. Moreover, since the HSBC names are from a stolen list, the department is "not in a position" to verify it. "Such a list has to be certified by the Swiss authorities before it can be used as evidence in any court of law. Both the tax office and taxpayers are in a tricky situation."

 

If this report is right, it reveals two things regarding this government — its duplicity and lies pertaining to the data and also its audaciousness in treating illegal money abroad as simply a revised income tax return issue.

 

First, the duplicity. The government has always maintained that since this data has been obtained under double taxation treaties, the names cannot be revealed. Now it says since it is stolen data it is not possible to verify with the banks. Stolen data does not come under any double tax treaty. More important is the fact that the government is trying to treat the whole issue as a minor issue and ask the criminals to file revised returns. It is like administering a slap on the wrist for murder.

 

The government is also claiming that the names will be released once the prosecution starts. But the newspaper report suggests that the government is trying its best to settle all issues by collecting some tax since prosecution can be painful and expensive. It also suggests that the government does not have manpower.

 

When the floodgates open and hundreds of thousands of names get revealed will the government just keep quiet due to lack of manpower? One hopes the police and other departments do not follow this logic to wink at crimes due to lack of manpower.

 

What are the real issues in these illegal funds abroad?

Read the full story  at

http://www.firstpost.com/economy/shame-them-black-money-held-abroad-is-not-just-a-tax-issue-145692.html

Thank Karunanidhi for the success of ‘Kolaveri di’

It is said that success has many fathers whereas failure has none.  But the instant success of Kolaveri di song has only one father –it is its lyrics! 

There are a few reasons articulated for the success of this song –say,  its tune, the theme and the mood. But all these 3 are not new. Songs with these 3 elements have succeeded in their respective regions / languages but not like Kolaveri song. The simple reason is that Kolaveri lyrics are understandable for all. 

The tune and the voice remind me of  Ilayaraja music. Some one said that it sounds like “Nilaavathu vaanaththu mEle “ song. Yes, the music seems to be a mix of some already heard songs.  Even Dhanush’s voice reminded me of Ilayaraja.  But what stands out is the lyrics. 

English- mixed songs have generally appealed to larger masses. When people understand the meaning of the words, they can easily relate with the song and repeat the song. When this happens for a song having a good musical appeal, then it becomes a runaway hit. 

In the past songs like ‘Take it easy Urvashi’ and ‘Chkku bukku rayilu’ also received wider attention all over India. But they were adapted in other languages and succeeded.  In contrast, Kolaveri di is fully understandable. The broken English that many an average Tamilian is known to speak sounds funny, new and also easy to understand.

This is a kind of English that no one else can make, I think. This is an English that can crop up among people who face constraints in learning this language. The Tamil Chauvinist Karunanidhi had successfully stalled the growth of English and Hindi in Tamilnadu. While 2 generations of people have come up with no knowledge of a single word in Hindi, the love for English could not be curtailed. Our boys have to somehow know some English to attract girls and to fare well in campus interviews. The result of this is the birth of ‘Kolaveri di English’ which many like to call as Tanglish. No It is not Tanglish, it is English words spoken with native slang. It has appealed to the people and also made the song understandable. I think that is the main cause for the success of this song.

The irony is that such a suppressed love for English and success of such English cannot have come through but for Karunanidhi’s   policies on Tamil. He went to ridiculous extremes by saying that films having a Tamil name would be given tax rebates – this is irrespective of the contents of the film. 
Hardly six months after he was removed from power, here is a Tamil movie titled “3” churning out a song “kolaveri di’ full of English words, I wonder whether Karunanidhi heard this song and if so, what his feelings were like!!

The timing of Mullaperiyar agitation during Sabarimala season.

Times are such that if there is an agitation against a project that would benefit crores of people, then such an agitation would have the backing of the Church having some sinister design. The common man on the street is now more or less convinced that the Kudangulam agitation is promoted by people having some hidden agenda of the Church. The same seems to be the case with the Mullaperiyar dam controversy also. 

The following article written by Mr Bharat many months ago has a compelling reason to be read now. He has pointed the strange coincidence between the timing of the Mullaperiyar agitations and the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage time. The article is very convincing that I want to add only one information on that worship of Sastha. Sastha or Ayyappa worship had been there from time immemorial. The Mohini avatara, the progenitor deity of Lord Ayyappa was a very old concept. In geological symbolism too, it goes far back in thousands of years. 

The worship of Ayyappa also has an astrological reason. He is known as Dharma sasatha. Among the planets Saturn is the Dharma devatha who gives what people deserve by their actions. Therefore worship of Ayyappa is recommended as a remedy from  hardships indicated by Saturn.  


The astrological treatise called “Prasna Maraga” recommends worship of Sastha (Ayappa) as the remedy for the defects caused by Saturn in one’s horoscope. (Prasna Marga part 1, chapter 15, verse 7). This book was written in Kollam 825 (1649 AD) by a Kerala Nambhoodri whose name is not known. His place was Edakkad near Talasseri. From the book it is known that this writer –astrologer belonged to a traditional school of astrology and had written what was handed over to him. Those having knowledge of older astrological texts would accept that this author had compiled the wisdom of sages of yore. 


Why I am saying all this is that the recommendation of worship of Sastha to appease Saturn and as a remedy for purva karma indicated by Saturn’s position in one’s horoscope must have been an olden practice that he is reiterating in his book. As the book was written in 1649, it can be definitely said that worship of Ayyappa was there by that time. Such a worship coming down for ages seem to be the target for the evangelists. With a Government that is keen on bringing out communal bill, people must know the real threat for our nation and our culture. 


India has always been a Hindu nation. With so much of wide ranging Hindu-ness spread across our country, it is not inappropriate to call our nation as a Heritage Nation. Heritage does not lie in old buildings. It lies in us, the people who are the continuing and living example of this Heritage. This Nation must be allowed to exist with its Heritage and culture. Any force that seeks to destroy any part of it should be nipped. 


-Jayasree

Watch this video for the real story behind Mullaiperiyar dam. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXti8xblCLM

***************************

http://indianrealist.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/mullaperiyar-dam-controversy-and-sabarimala/


Mullaperiyar Dam and Sabarimala: The religious roots of the Controversy

By Bharat


Mullaperiyar Dam is located in the state of Kerala in India. It derives its name from the portmanteau of two rivers, namely, Mullai Ar (Mullaiyar) and Periya Ar (Periyar). The dam was the result of a treaty (lease indenture) signed in 1886 for 999 years between the ruler of Travancore and the Secretary of State, Government of India, (then under British colonialist rule) representing Madras Presidency.

This masonry dam, built with lime and Surkhi by the British Army Engineering Corps, was commissioned in 1895. After Independence, Indian states were reorganised and their boundaries rationalised. The areas surrounding the Mullaperiyar Dam ( originally part of the State of Travancore) were merged with Kerala, while the state of Tamil Nadu received full rights to own and operate the dam as per the lease treaty. Tamil Nadu continued to use water from the dam. In 1970, both the governments decided to renew the treaty.
According to the website of Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, the controversy about the dam began in 1979 when several news reports began appearing in Kerala press regarding its safety.  From then onwards, the Government of Kerala began to see this primarily as a safety issue while the Tamil Nadu government saw it as an attempt to violate the water-sharing treaty.


It is not the intent of this article to argue for or against a party in this dispute. In fact this is not about either the historical aspects of water sharing treaty between the states or the safety aspects of the dam.
It is a painful historic fact that in India, many a times, local issues and disputes have worsened due to its being hijacked by various disruptive forces, national or international. Whether this holds true in the case of Mullaperiyar dam needs to be checked thoroughly.

This article is an attempt to investigate the forces that lie behind this controversy.
Mullaperiyar Dam Controversy in the Media

It is interesting to note that in the news media, Mullaperiyar issues get highlighted only during certain months of the year. This trend looks more or less the same for the last one decade (2000-2009).

[Figures 1 & 2 give the ‘Google news search’ for the individual years from 2000-2009].




A quick look at these figures suggests that the number of news items appearing in the media on this controversy starts in October, peaks around December and then continues on until April.
The significance of this trend will look surprisingly familiar to a Malayali or a person from South India.  It is obvious that news items about the dam controversy appear only in the months that are significant for the Sabarimala pilgrimage of the Hindus. Is this a mere conincidence? Let’s see.


Sabarimala Pilgrimage:

The Sabarimala pilgrimage is one of the most ancient pilgrimages of India. The presiding deity of Sabarimala, Lord Ayyappan, is one of the most popular deities in South India. The temple is open for worship only during the days of Mandalapooja (around November 15 to December 26), Makaravilakku (January 15), Vishu (April 14), and the first five days of each Malayalam month.

Sabarimala pilgrimage finds mention in many historical records of foreign travellers as well as colonial administrators (though this fact is studiously avoided by both Western and Indian scholars).
‘Memoirs of Travancore’  written by William Henry Horsley in 1839 describes Sabarimala as “Chowrymully”:

“Among the other pagodas of celebrity that of Ayapen at Chowrymully attracts particular attention, vast numbers (and many even from the eastern coast) flocking to it at the period of festival in January, to present their vows and offerings, notwithstanding that it is situated in the wildest country possible.”


Fig.1. Google News Search for the years 2000 – 2004

Fig.2. Google News Search for the years 2005 – 2009

It is possible that some readers of this article will feel that this article is going to be just another conspiracy story with out any real substance. It may also be argued that this similarity in “news-trend” is most probably a result of either a natural or an accidental cause with no connection to Sabarimala issue.

But when one observes the recent over-earnestness of certain anti-Indian publications regarding the reporting of Mullaperiyar issues and  also the same yearly ritual of ‘hit pieces’ regarding Sabarimala coming around the same time of year, it would become clear to a sensible observer  that this cannot be a result of accidental or natural causes.  There is a hidden sense of purpose and deliberateness in these ‘hit pieces’ that most of the time these ‘news-stories’ come with highly misleading titles  and repetitive news  .

The first step in unravelling this mystery would be to develop some idea about the published ‘literature’ regarding Sabarimala by the modern scholars, esp. the Western Scholars. A few of the important such papers/ books will be discussed here in this context.

Only a few books have been published regarding Sabarimala so far in English by Indian / Western authors. Of the Indian authors, books written by K.R. Vaidyanathan “Pilgrimage to Sabari” Published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1978 and Radhika Sekar’s “The Sabarimalai pilgrimage and Ayyappan cultus” Published by Motilal Banarsidass, 1992 are the prominent ones. (Note: Radhika Sekar’s work was originally written for her Master’s thesis to University of Carleton and later published by MBD).

In the recent years quite a few foreign scholars have published research papers on Sabarimala. Amongst these, Remy Delage’s (a French geographer who have published a few papers in connection with “spatial dimensions” of Sabarimala Pilgrimage) and Filippo Ossello and Caroline Ossello‘s paper (‘Ayyappan Saranam’: Masculinity and Sabarimala Pilgrimage in Kerala) which deals with “gender aspects” of the pilgrimage are significant.

These works deserve greater attentions in this context as they are a pointer towards the western psyche regarding Sabarimala pilgrimage. As normal practice with Western scholarship, all these papers have irreverent comments/ descriptions of Lord Ayyappan such as “ambivalent diety” , “hyper-male diety”  and in a few places half-truths or plain lies . There are various remarkable things about these papers that can raise a few questions or doubts in the mind of a discerning reader.

“Mapping Out Social Change in South India” – A Geographic Information System and Its Applications (Chrtisophe Z Guilmoto, Remy Delage et al.)  is the result of a bigger project  “South Indian Fertility Project” (SIFP) funded by Institut Français de Pondichéry ( research centre of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Wellcome trust ( leading NGO of U.K)   etc. The objective  of this SIFP project is to “is to analyse the social and economic dimensions of demographic change through the study of spatial heterogeneity of fertility in South India”.

This paper  deserves to be read in full as its introduction to the subject, findings and the conclusion are relevant here. One also has to know why “mapping a religious pilgrimage” is a serious topic to be ‘researched’. Firstly Remy Delage in “Mapping Out Social Change in South India” asserts that “While in 1950s – 1960s, Sabarimala only attracted groups originating from Malabar Coast and the Tamil Districts neighbouring Kerala(Madurai, Virudhanagar etc), the pilgrimage today draws several million devotees coming mostly from the four corners of South India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh).”

Author/Authors do not cite any source for this nor is it clear as to how he reached his conclusion regarding the numbers and the geographical distribution of pilgrims of 50 – 60 period. However Remy Delage in a published paper titled “From Fieldwork to Research Theory on an Indian Pilgrimage”  (another paper on Sabarimala Pilgrimage) gives a number of “ten to fifty thousand persons”. Again, it is not clear as to how he has arrived at this figure. This particular paper can be considered as an important one for our purpose in another respect also as he gives out the “complete list” of primary and secondary references perused for his research. (Please note that the omission of one important primary source is very significant of which more, will be explained later).

“Mapping out Social Change in South India” primarily is an attempt at mapping the pilgrimage of Sabarimala. In this study, a definite interest is taken with respect to movement of pilgrims from the State of Tamil Nadu. A district wise break-up of Tamil Nadu pilgrims was done using a questionnaire survey during the pilgrimage. Using this limited data, GIS maps were created for visualising geographic origin of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, for representing routes and major destination (holy places) liable to be visited by the Pilgrims en-route to Sabarimala.

Though throughout the paper, an attempt has been made to study the routes or visiting places of the pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, the conclusion that the author arrives at is totally ambiguous and unrelated. It would appear as if such a conclusion is given just to hide the real intentions. This is because, the maps, (even though data is taken from a non-representative sample) clearly indicate that, the neighbouring districts of Madurai, Coimbatore, Theni etc ‘produces’ the major portion of the Tamil Nadu Pilgrims to Sabarimala. This fact is a matter of common knowledge and does not require any Geographic Information System (GIS) to prove this. But the use of GIS, to map out the routes and the other holy places/temples frequented by pilgrims of Sabarimala is a novelty, the use of which would be highly beneficial for its intended readership.
Here, the second connection between Mullaperiyar & Sabarimala emerges.

As per Wikipedia, “The dam’s purpose was to divert the waters of the west-flowing Periyar River eastwards, …………….taking the water from the reservoir through a tunnel cut across the watershed and Western Ghats to the arid rain shadow regions of Theni, Madurai District, Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu”

This would mean that the areas served by Mullaperiyar dam are exactly the same areas from where, originates the ‘major portion’ of Tamil Sabarimala pilgrims.

Now it’s the time to ask ourselves some what if scenario questions and its effect on Sabarimala Pilgrimage:

a) What would happen if State of Kerala tries to forcefully ‘take over’ Mullaperiyar dam citing ‘safety’ reasons or tries unilaterally to build another dam in the place of Mullaperiyar?

b) What would happen if Mullaperiyar dam ‘breaks’ or is ‘made to break’?

The answer to the first question would be extreme resentment from State of Tamil Nadu which will lead to immediate economic blockade of the two passes which will lead to a state of mutual hostility. The result would be highly disastrous for Sabarimala Pilgrimage as well as for the unity of the nation. The answer to the second question would also be extreme hostile reaction from the State of Kerala towards the Tamils which would certainly affect Sabarimala Pilgrimage as well as the cultural unity amongst them. Thus it can be seen that in both cases, it’s a win-win scenario for those who want to disrupt the Pilgrimage.


The scarier part in this Issue is that, the same effects can happen even if there is a feeling that two mentioned scenarios are going to happen. i.e. Even a misunderstanding that the State of Kerala is attempting to change the treaty unilaterally or the feeling that the dam is extremely unsafe can produce the same result of disrupting the Sabarimala Pilgrimage. This has been happening for the last ten years. It can be seen that to till this day, this issue has been ‘kept alive’ (thanks to our ‘liberal political & Judicial system) by various means. The latest one in this regard is a ‘Hollywood movie” named “DAM 999”  which is going to get released soon.

The producer as well as the director of this movie, Sohan Roy is a Malayali Entrepreneur who owns a marine company based in UAE. The very name of the movie suggests that it is related to the Mullaperiyar Issue. It is still unknown how this subject is going to get treated in the movie or even how the movie is going to fare in the box office. But surely it looks like another attempt to take this issue to a ‘higher level’. The news that it is going to be released in 4 languages with the possible involvement of Celebrities like Aishwarya Rai, Celine Dione and other top level artists from Malayalam film Industry gives some hints about this.

But now a genuine question can be raised as to how and why Sabarimala is so important that such great efforts are being made to destroy it. Who are its enemies? What are their intentions? Have they attempted to destroy it previously? If so, why there are no historical records for it?


Sabarimala Temple Arson

In order to answer this, we need to historically revisit the 1950’s. It would be seen that in all currently available books/ websites/ periodicals there would be a single line mention of temple fire in Sabarimala, which forced the then administration to rebuild the temple.  Some very few websites mentions this as a handiwork of some ‘miscreants’. The entire matter has been so described in those books that even perceptive ‘hindutvavaadins’  began to assume this incident as ‘a forest fire’ intentionally / unintentionally initiated by members of a ‘rival’ community primarily for financial / land grab attempts.

It should also be noted that even our foreign scholars of this subject maintain their silence on this. Remy Delage in his paper titled “From Fieldwork to Research Theory on an Indian Pilgrimage” gives a full mention of the efforts of two devotees who tried to ‘promote’ Ayyapa in India, particularly after the ‘Temple fire’.  Yet he also ‘forgets’ or ‘choose not’ to mention this very important source. This is when he includes all government publications as well as record from 1906 to 2000’s.

What could be ‘so interesting’ in this report that all “our scholars” are conveniently forgetting it?? Why is it so difficult for researchers to locate this report??

It should not be so. As a matter of fact, there was an enquiry report titled “Sabarimala Temple Arson Case” which was later published by Government of Kerala in 1957.  This report (35 pages) is now available from a government owned website (Information & Public relations Department)
(http://www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/).
Sabarimala Temple Arson Case: Enquiry Report was the report of the investigation of the same case conducted by Shri. K. Kesava Menon, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Special Branch, C.I.D. (On Special Duty). This report is significant for multiple reasons. Firstly, this report completely unravels the players who are actually involved in this issue.

Secondly this report extensively covers the “sentiments” of a certain community and proves that the most important reason for this temple arson was religious fanaticism. Thirdly had this report been studied and lessons learnt, Hindus could have avoided the ignominy of the “Nilakkal Agitation episode”  This is because this enquiry report categorically narrates this strange episode in detail –

“There is another back ground, which if viewed with the facts and the incidents mentioned above, will lend support to the possibility of an organised plan to destroy the Sabarimala shrine. In the month of Makaram, according to Ouseph, he followed a party of muthalalies consisting of Karimbanal Kochukunhu muthalali, Jnellamitthath  Kuttiachan, Podimittom Verghese, Karipparambil Devassya, Vadakkepparambil thomman and Pottamkulam Thomas, who left Erumeli in a Jeep and went to Kalaketti from where they went to Kollamuzhi by walk and halted. They directed the coolies to go into the forests and hunt. Then the muthalalies and himself went to Nilakkal in search of a church which they believed to be existing at Nilakkal. Though a search was made, they did not find any remnants of a church, but they saw only remnants of two or three temples.


It is surprising that at this period of the history of Travancore these muthalalies are searching for a church on the route to Sabarimala. It may be that either they want to establish by some evidence the existence of a church there or to renovate it or they are in search of a suitable place for building a church. Anyway the desire for a church near the Sabarimala orthodox route seems to have been deeply rooted in their mind as otherwise there was no necessity for all these muthalalies to join on this business. This it can be seen that since some time, the Christians have begun to deel the increasing number of low caste Hindus visiting the Sabarimala temple in ecstasy and devotion, which in all probability they would have thought if not checked would inevitably result in a check to the growing process of conversion of low caste Hindus to Christianity.
Further, the existence of a church at Nilakkal and Pampakadavu would in the long run attract Christians to colonise the area and thereby they could exploit these fertile regions and improve their financial conditions.”
That these exact things happened after a period of 30 years during Nilakkal agitation which led to their success in building their church at Nilakkal proves the extreme short sightedness of the Hindus.
Some other Excerpts from the Enquiry report:

1) ……………… the marks of violence on the brass-plate door of the Sreekovil together with the marks on the idol, raise the irresistible conclusion that the forcible entry into the Sreekovil was for the purpose of breaking the idol and that the weapon that was used to cut the Sreekovil door was the same used to break the idol. At the scene of occurrence, there was an axe and it is definite that that axe was used to cut the Sreekovil door, as traces of brass were found on the sharp edge of the axe and hence it has to be said that the fire was not accidental. ( Page 2 of the report)


2) The temple and its surrounding buildings were built up of wood, copper, brass, which were not easily inflammable, but they have been completely burnt. This is evidence enough to show that great effort has been made to set fire to the temple and speaks a deliberate action. ( Page 2 of the report)


3) The possibility of fire around the forest area enveloping the temple and thus bringing about the destruction of the temple is also out of the question, as there were no signs of any such forest fire around the area, and there were ample indications of a deliberate setting fire of the temple at the scene. ( Page 2 of the report)


4) The temple and surrounding building as already mentioned having been built of mostly non-inflammable materials, could not be easily set fire to and on a modest calculation, the perpetrators could have worked at this at least for four to five hours continuously, as evidenced from the emptying of the ghee tins and utilising cloth and other materials to set fire to the temple. Further, there were signs of occupation of the temple premises by a party. They have made use of the provisions that were stored in the temple including coriander. These clearly show that great labour has been undertaken in committing this act. ( Page 3 of the report)


5) After having explained that theft was not the motive of the offenders, the next point for consideration is to find out what else is the motive and who could possible have that motive. From the examination of the scene of occurrence and attendant circumstances, it was possible to come to a conclusion that the offence was a deliberate one well conceived and executed. There was a touch of open vandalism and desecration was the only purpose. The breaking of the idol after forcibly entering into the Sreekovil by cutting open the door with an axe indicates ferocity. With this background, the whole point has to be viewed ( Page 3 of the report)


6) Offenders have to reach the temple through such routes and familiarity and knowledge of the surrounding forest area and routes are essential requisites for such an expedition. Though it will not be correct to state that there are no Hindus who are not acquainted with the place and route, it is reasonable to consider that Christians have got more familiarity and knowledge than the Hindus in this direction, as they and they alone occupy the places at the base of these hills and they are the only persons who hunt and poach in the vicinity of the temple day in and day out. In short, they have more facilities to commit this crime than any other community; and it is in evidence that they have hunted and poached in the vicinity during the relevant period.
The forest lands and the areas either at the beginning of these routes or lying along these routes are all cultivated not by the Hindus but by the Christians. The Hindus have not and cannot have so much of opportunities as the Christians. A Christian has absolutely no regard for a Hindu temple or idol. To him a Hindu idol is either a piece of stone or a block of metal. In short, he attached no sacredness for any Hindu idol or temple except that he may admire as a work of art. It is otherwise for a Hindu. ( Page 4 of the report)


7) This offence is not at all the work of a mad man as evidenced from the method or manner in which the temple was set fire to and idol broken. The Hindus have no influence over the area and any party of Hindus cannot get into forests without being noticed by Christians. ( Page 4 of the report)


8) A party of Hindu coolies who had gone to collect minor produce had satisfactorily explained their movements and a thorough verification was made. They had no hand in this. The Hindus have no purpose whatsoever by destroying this ancient sacred temple. It is from this temple that Hindus get a large income. It is this temple that brings unity among all classes of Hindus.  ( Page 4 of the report)


9) Further, if the Hindu Mandal wanted to dot it, they would have as well done this before the Kaviyur  reconversion or even before the Hindu Mandal Convention at Quilon. Finally, if the Hindus have done this, certainly information would have come out by this time regarding the perpetrators, because, psychologically at least one of the Hindus would have become terror-stricken and blurted out the details to somebody. It was because the offence has been committed other than by the Hindus, no information has so far come forth. This is borne by the fact that a Christian or a Muslim has absolutely no feeling for the destruction of Hindu idol or temple. This again is a point of Psychology.(  Page 5 of the report)


10) History has repeatedly shown that such sacrilegious acts in spite of the devotion of the Hindus towards such ancient temples and idols have been committed with a view to challenge the basic existence of the Hindu temples. This is not only due to the fanaticism in the wake of hatred but also due to a desire to put a stop to the influx of a large section of humanity into the folds of this ancient religion. This is one of the sacred temples which draw due to its sanctity thousands and thousands of devotees of all castes and creeds to offer their prayers to GOD AYYAPPA.


Long before the Father of the Nation preached temple entry for all untouchables, this ancient temple stood as a beacon light and guidance to the whole of India. For example, the low caste Pulaya and the high caste Brahmin rubbed shoulder to shoulder and offered prayers in this ancient temple. In the present day, in the wake of partition and communal tension among different communities, exhibiting the ugly signs of enmity against one another, this Makaravilakku stood in all its solidarity voicing forth the union of all Hindus into one fold and the fact stood as the foundation stone on which caste, creed and colour had to be shed away in the worship of the all-pervading God. (  Page 6 of the report)


11) Investigation having pointed out the hand of Christians on circumstantial evidence, the details of which I have given below, it is natural to believe that the above facts related to the motive are not inconsistent with the evidence gathered. I am emphasising this point to show that the case was investigated as an ordinary Arson case on other important circumstantial findings with a view to trace the offenders, in which the motive point was not taken into consideration to begin with, and after investigating this on the lines mentioned above, and having arrived at conclusions, the motive point came in naturally in the wake of investigation. (  Page 8 of the report)

Conclusions

1) Presently, Sabarimala temple reportedly gets better security coverage. Serious studies need to be made about Government’s view of threat perceptions to Sabarimala.

2) There were reports in the press regarding certain explosions on 27-12-2009 near Sabarimala which caused panic.  On 5th Jan 2010 PTI reported arrest of a LTTE  man at cumbum. This is a serious development to be considered. It is a widely known fact that a certain “Universal” religion was one of the sponsors for this terrorist organisation. The fact that most of these types are out of jobs now and sitting idle in T.N camps should be taken into consideration. Any attempts of LTTE to infiltrate to the either forests or the shelter camps for refugees near Kerala / T.N border needs to be monitored.

3) The protection of Mullaperiyar Dam needs to be strengthened. The fact that the adversaries can go to any length for their nefarious deeds is to be acknowledged.

4) Let us remember what H.G Wells says in his book ‘Crux Ansata’   “I think that it stands for everything most hostile to the mental emancipation and stimulation of mankind. It is the completest, most highly organized system of prejudices and antagonisms in existence. Everywhere in the world there are ignorance and prejudice, but the greatest complex of these, with the most extensive prestige and the most intimate entanglement with traditional institutions, is the[ XXX]. It presents many faces towards the world, but everywhere it is systematic in its fight against freedom.”


REFERENCES:


1. Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India
http://wrmin.nic.in/index3.asp?subsublinkid=739&langid=1&sslid=733
2. Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India
http://wrmin.nic.in/index3.asp?subsublinkid=739&langid=1&sslid=733
3. JOURNAL OF KERALA STUDIES, PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY OF KERALA, Vol. XXXI, March-Dec 2004, pp. 1-66 (William Henry Horsley’s Memoir of Travancore (1839): Earliest English Treatise on the History of Travancore
Achuthsankar S. Nair,  University of Kerala)
4. “Stop Pilgrimage promotion in Sabarimala: Study” (P.Venugopal) : The Hindu, Dec 26, 2001
5. From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 24, Dated June 21, 2008 publishing repetitive news regarding Sabarimala on 2nd January 2010
6. Remy Delage-  Pilgrimage and Environment in South India — A Research of Compatibility Between Conflicting Ideologies ; Mapping Out Social Change in South India — A Geographic Information System and Its Applications
7. Filippo Ossello and Caroline Ossello — ‘Ayyappan Saranam’: Masculinity and the Sabrimala Pilgrimage in Kerala,2003
8. Filippo Ossello and Caroline Ossello — Ayyappan Saranam’ – [“The resultant child,Ayyappan, product of two males, was born from Vishnu’s thigh. Shiva and Vishnu were ashamed” – This story of ‘shame’ is un heard of and most probably  a wilful lie]
9. http://www.ifpindia.org/South-India-Fertility-Project-SIFP.html
10. http://www.demographie.net/sifp/objectives.htm
11. See  http://www.saranamayyappa.org/ResearchArticles.htm
12. See- ceias.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=952
13. Mullaperiyar Dam. (2010, January 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:27, January 10, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mullaperiyar_Dam&oldid=336405035
14. Film Review,Oct 2009 –The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/10/24/stories/2009102451611700.htm
15. Malayala Manorama Website (20-Dec-2009) http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?tabId=4&programId=1073752864&BV_ID=@@@&contentId=6320608&contentType=EDITORIAL&articleType=Malayalam%20News
16. Rajeev Srinivasan, Rediff http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/28rajeev.htm -“The settlers are almost entirely Christian. In their enthusiasm, some Christians actually set fire to the Sabarimala temple in the 1950s: it was a nuisance to them in their attempts to grab the surrounding forest”

17.  Menon, K Kesava Sabarimala Temple Arson Case: Enquiry Report. Kerala — Trivandrum: The Govt.Press, 1957

18. Report can be downloaded from www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/pdf/bills/Reports/tmple_arsn.pdf

19. For more details see http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=279
20. Malayala Manorama http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentId=6442196&tabId=1&programId=1080132915&channelId=-1073865030&BV_ID=@@@

21. PTI http://www.ptinews.com/news/453575_Suspected-LTTE-militant-arrested