Bharatiya Pragna - Dr. Th Chowdary

BHARATIYA 

PRAGNA 

Board of Advisors 

Dr.David Frawley 

Dr.Subhash C.Kashyap 

Prof.P.V.Indiresan 

T.Hari Hara Sharma 

Prof.Sandhya Jain 

Editor: 

Dr.T.H.Chowdary 

Associate Editor: 

N.Nagaraja Rao 

Associates: 

B.S.Sarma 

M.S.Ramakrishna 

Shyam Madanani 

V.Sai Krishna 

Printed & Published by 

Dr.T.H.Chowdary 

for Pragna Bharathi 

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1 

From the Editorial Desk 

Namaste! 

Volume : 13 

Number :11&12 

November & December, 2008 

November 30, 2008 is the 150th birth anniversary of the great Indian scientist 

and savant, Sir Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose. It was he in his modestly 

equipped laboratory in the Presidency College Sir Jagadish discovered the Radio 

Propagation. He did not want that the knowledge he has through his discovery 

should not be patented, but should be made freely available for the benefit of the 

entire mankind. Guglielmo Marconi of Italian birth was also experimenting with 

radio propagation and although his discovery was a little later than Acharya Jagadish 

Chandra Bose’s, he patented his later invention and therefore the world came to be 

accept Marconi as inventor of Radio. 

Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose believed in the unity of matter and life 

and God. He discovered what he believed, namely that plants also have sensations, 

they experience pain as well as pleasure. We are reproducing in this issue an 

article on Sir Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose’s life and the address that he gave 

while laying the foundation stone for the Banares Hindu University in the year 

1916. The ideas that he expressed in that address are as relevant today as they were 

when that University was conceived and founded. Nearly a century ago itself he said 

that if India cannot produce knowledge, not merely by inspired speculation but also 

by the evidence of experimentation, we would not be a great nation. It is a pity that 

successive governments in India have been neglecting the creation of intellectual 

property in our country, by our countrymen, for our use. 

The election of President of USA is important not only for that country but for 

the entire world for two significant reasons. First, it is the single surviving super 

power with awesome military might which it can project anywhere in the world. It 

could be used for good or bad. If the President is wise then America ’s might will be 

used for the benefit of mankind. Second, its economy at about 28% of the world’s 

gross product, is the largest in the world. If it does well it is good for the rest of the world. 

As we have been repeatedly mentioning, the continuance of the UPA conglomerate 

in power is becoming more and more dangerous and unstabilising to 

India , especially to the Hindus. Governments as in Andhra Pradesh, are becoming 

bolder to demonstrate that it is the minorities that will rule the people. The jihadi 

terrorists are placing bombs and exploding them in city after city of their choice. 

The governments of India and some states are not destroying the terrorist states 

unable to check not because they are incapable but because they seem to be 

dependent for their continuance in power upon the pleasure of the minorities. A few 

articles on this subject from noted analysts are presented in this issue. 

November & December 2008 Bharatiya Pragna

CONTENTS 

Editorial : 

Chandrayaan-1 03 

Barack Obama as President of the US 04 

Even the worm turns! 

Theme Story: 

Indigenous Research and Inventions 

05 

Our Universities’ Primary Role 

A beacon and visionary of Indian science 

06 

- U Atreya Sarma 

Torch bearer of Indian Renaissance 

13 

Jagadish Chandra Bose - Chandrasekhar 16 

Bose, inventor of Wireless Technology 

Articles: 

Organised Religious Conversion is Aggression 

20 

- Dr T H Chowdary 

Conversions with foreign-funded charity 

22 

- Sudheendra Kulkarni 

Don’t communalise the fight against terror 

26 

- L K Advani 29 

Give forces their due - Prafull Goradia 37 

It’s time for the ‘Silent Majority’ to speak up 

- T V R Shenoy 

Save The Sculptural Splendour From Sacrilege 

39 

- B.R.Haran. 42 

“A Nation’s Integrity” - Dr. Subramanian Swamy 45 

Indian War Of Independence 1857 - V.D.Savarkar 

The Nexus of Isms: The Nexus of Christism, 

48 

Islamism, and Maoism in India - Dr. Babu Suseelan 51 

Science and religion - Albert Einstein 55 

Nature of energy : Scriptural perspective 

- Kuppa Venkata Krishna Murthy 

Some ancient and medieval classics on 

59 

agriculture and their relevance today - Y L Nene 66 

The Clean Truth 

Book Review 

- Jahangir S.Pocha 73 

The Rigveda and the Avesta: the final evidence 

by Shrikant G. Talageri 74 

The views expressed in this magazine need not necessarily reflect those 

of the editorial board or the Pragna Bharati. 

2 

Bharatiya 

Pragna 

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for Thinking People 

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3 

Chandrayaan-1 

Editorial 

I ndia’s successful launch of a satellite to go round the moon and land a probe on the 

moon is a great feat of achievement by Indian scientists and engineers. The nation must salute them 

and wish them more successes like landing a Bharatiya on the moon and bringing him back to 

Bharat. We are the fifth country after the USA, Russia, European 

Union and Japan, to place a satellite in orbit around the moon for 

exploration purposes. We may recall that it was the former USSR’s 

feat of sending Sputnik as an artificial satellite of earth that jolted the 

mighty USA out of its smugness and spurred that country to numerous 

space exploration projects including the historic landing of Neil 

Armstrong in 1969 on the moon and bringing him back safely to 

Mother earth and later landing exploration laboratory equipments 

on Mars and so on. These projects create a tremendous wealth of 

know-how in the country; they involve the bringing forth into being 

of a number of new enterprises to design and develop various subsystems 

involving advanced technologies which have spin-off benefits 

in other sectors of economy. In fact, the scientific and industrial 

might of a nation can be built by such challenging projects like landing 

men on the moon and later on, on the Mars and explorations 

even farther into space. Some people are asking why did we not do 

this before and some others are asking how a poor country can 

afford to do such things. These are the proverbial unmitigated 

Shalya-like “friends” of Bharat. Some of these hailed and congratulated 

China when it first exploited the nuclear device but denounced 

India for doing the same thing. They congratulated China on its 

development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and sending a man 

into the lunar orbit and brining him back. But they denounce India 

for such a project. It is because of these resident non-Indians (RNIs) 

on whom some governments have been having to depend for getting and staying in power that 

there is delay in India undertaking this project and their under-funding. These very forces are 

opposed to India’s accelerated nuclear power generation programs. India should ignore these 

foreign ideology and foreign interest inspired criticisms and pour larger amounts of finances and 

human resources into the development of space science technologies which are essential for the 

defence of India too. 

 

 


4 

Editorial 

Barack Obama as President of the US 

“...Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she 

With silent lips. “Give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless tempest-tost to me 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door” 

A merica is viewed by the world’s people as a land of opportunity. Americans themselves 

are proud to say that they are a nation of immigrants. A famous statesman even said that if there was 

no America, it would have to be invented. The fierce yearning for freedom and liberty and great 

opportunities that that country provides for the meritorious, hard-working and enterprising are what 

have been making the US as a magnet for the distressed people, whom Emma Lazarus invites and 

welcomes with open arms in the above poem that stands inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Obama’s 

election gives truthful content to those words. 

Barack Obama is the son of a Kenyan Muslim, Barack Hussain Obama (Sr.) who emigrated 

to the US and married a white American Christian. Obama was baptized to Christianity. He grew in 

poverty but was determined to be a self-made, successful man against heavy odds like racial inequality! 

He persevered to attain talents that have enabled him to be the first non-WASP (White 

Anglo Saxon Protestant) and black i.e., Afro-American to become the President of the US. The 

seemingly endless expensive American war in Iraq, and the unbridled markets have landed the US in 

a stupendous economic crisis. The US power and its share of the world’s gross product are declining. 

Its military power is being threatened by resurgent China and Russia and not inconsiderably, by 

India also. It appears that in great disgust and a fond longing for a change, the American voters seem 

to have punished the traditional hegemons and voted for Obama. They might have taken a great 

gamble but it appears to be an expression of no confidence in the traditional leaders, for Obama was 

least known to Americans just five years ago in contrast to glorious public figures like Hillary Clinton 

and McCain. 

As far as India is concerned, it would matter little whether McCain or Obama is the US 

President. US as a nation has been seeking the friendship of India because we are becoming economically 

and intellectually strong. America’s friendship with Pakistan is under severe strain because 

Pakistan is degenerating into a failed state with terrorists running amock and its embrace of 

China, a potential rival to the US. 

Although Obama spoke about containing the outsourcing of work for US businesses and industries 

to India, it maybe taken just as election rhetoric. For an America getting caught in an economic 

crisis, there is a compulsion to cut costs and therefore to persist in outsourcing. The adverse effect of 

Obama’s pre-election pronouncement may be for a short time; it is unsustainable for long. The Indo- 

US Civil 123 Agreement was supported by the Democratic Party and by Obama in particular. Its 

operation will not be jeopardized. In fact, may be with better relations and understanding developing, 

some revisions could, as a major national party has in view, be in the offing. 


5 

Even the worm turns! 

Editorial 

J ust consider whether Hindus have not enough reasons to be provoked into violence 

and terror. In the last few years increasing number of jihadi terrorist outfits have been able to place 

and explore bombs and kill scores of people in city after city at will. The Indian state and its 

various arms have not been able to get any person to conviction. On the other hand, if the suspected 

terrorists and their accomplices are apprehended, there are violent denunciations and 

demonstrations as in the case of the death of an Islamist in an encounter with the police at the 

Jamia Millia University in Delhi. Md. Afzal master-minded the terrorist attack on Parliament of 

India. Sadly, He has been convicted and the conviction has been upheld by the Supreme Court, 

the Indian government is afraid to carry out the sentence, because the CMs of J.K and their 

secular allies have threatened a blood bath and hell fire if Afzal is hanged. 

In Andhra Pradesh the Christian Chief Minister has proudly and publicly declared that his 

is a government of minorities and despite the High Court’s adverse ruling has been providing 4% 

reservation to Muslims in government and educational institutions; paying the fees of all Muslim 

students in professional colleges, is spending government money to subsidize the pilgrimage of 

Christians to Jerusalem and for the performance of marriages of Muslims and Christians. Almost 

every one of the 26,000 villages in Andhra Pradesh has been planted with more than one church, 

the cremation grounds of Hindus are being occupied by aggressive militant, new-converts to Christianity; 

Christians are claiming that their population is 10% to 12% having reached this figure from 

1.44% according to the Census 2001; thousands of pastors and tens of thousands of full-time 

propagandists are going from house to house inveigling the poor and ill-informed to convert to 

Christianity. 

One third of India has been lost for ever and from that third, almost all Hindus and Sikhs 

and Buddhists had been expelled while within India the 10% Muslim population in 1951 had 

grown to 20% and is fast increasing with the addition of infiltrators from Bangladesh. While Christians 

and Muslims can freely encroach on government lands and blare out from loud speakers at 

all times, Hindus are put on the defensive. With out permission from the Muslims they cannot 

observe their festivel rituals like the Ganesh immersion procession. The Hinduism and Indiathreatening 

facts are too many to narrate. Finding the media secular-communist -Islamic-Christian 

nexus ranged against them, Hindus are being driven to defend themselves. No wonder, some 

Hindus are driven to desperation in reaction to the aggressiveness of the evangelizing, converting 

and intolerant faiths and ideologies of foreign origin. Unless the humiliations and assaults on Hindus 

in their only shrinking land are put an end to, this country will be heading to violence and disaster. 

Even the worm turns! 

 

 


150th Birth Year 

Tribute 

W e reproduce below Acharya Jagadish 

Chandra Bose’s speech at the founding of the Banaras 

Hindu University in 1916. Therein, he expressed the 

firm conviction that India should produce knowledge 

through researches and our universities must be centers 

of learning, inquiry, discovery and invention. Currently, 

we note with sadness that most of our Universities 

are just examination bodies giving out degrees. 

In contrast, China which has the modern science tradition 

much later than India is currently producing 

more post-graduates, engineers and Ph Ds in sciences 

and engineering than even the United States. Acharya 

Jagadish Chandra Bose’s foresight and message to 

the nation must now at least be taken seriously and 

the Knowledge Commission’s recommendation during 

that the 11th Five Year Plan our universities 

should go up to 1400 at least and that they should be 

of world class must be taken seriously. -EdI 

In tracing the characteristic phenomenon 

of life –from simple beginnings in that vast region 

which may be called Unvoiced, as exemplified 

in the world of plants, to its highest expression 

in the animal kingdom –one is repeatedly 

struck by the dominant fact that in order to 

maintain an organism at the height of its efficiency, 

something more than a mechanical perfection of 

its structure is necessary. Every living organism, 

in order to maintain its life and growth, must be 

in free communion with all the forces of the universe 

about it. 

Stimulus Within and Without 

Further it must not only constantly receive 

stimulus from without, but must also give 

6 

Indigenous Research and Inventions 

Our Universities’ Primary Role 

J.C.Bose Speaks 

out something from within. And the healthy life 

of the organism will depend on these twofold 

activities of inflow and outflow. When there is 

any interference with these activities then morbid 

symptoms appear,, which ultimately must end 

in disaster and death. This is equally true of the 

intellectual life of a nation. When through narrow 

conceit, a nati0on regards itself self-sufficient 

and cuts itself from the stimulus of the outside 

world, then intellectual decay must inevitably 

follow. So far as regards the receptive function. 

Then there is another function in the intel- 


lectual life of a nation –that of spontaneous outflow 

–that giving out of its life by which the world 

is enriched. When the nation has lost this power, 

when it merely receives but cannot give out, then 

its healthy life is over and it sinks to a degenerate 

existence which is purely parasitic. 

The Function of a National University 

How can our nation give out of the fulness 

of the life that is in it and how can a new Indian 

University help in the realisation of this subject? 

It is clear that its power of directing and inspiring 

will depend on its world-status. 

Can this be secured by the mere repetition 

in India of old and outgrown methods of the 

Western Universities, which in transit have lost 

their native vitality? Our educational methods 

must be modernised but these must not necessarily 

be the old stereotyped methods which 

cannot be plastic enough to adapt themselves 

to the new living conditions, but becoming 

crystallised often hinder the progress of knowledge 

; for they can merely give the stamp of 

their approval to feats of memorizing faculty and 

to tests of imported knowledge which have become 

out of date. They could not on account of 

this crystallized constitution, officially recognize 

any new advance of knowledge, however important 

it may be, that may owe its birth to India. 

For the renewal of her life, India must win 

the respect and recognition of the world. Could 

such respect for her be secured even if we succeeded 

in establishing here branch institutions of 

Heidelberg, Oxford or Columbia? To be organic 

and vital a National University must stand for 

self-expression and for winning for India a place 

she has lost. 

Securing of World-Status 

The world-status for a National Centre 

7 


of Learning can be se- Tribute 

cured by no artificial means; nor can any charter 

assure it. This status can only be won by the 

intrinsic value of the great contributions to be 

made by its own Indian scholars for the advancement 

of world’s knowledge. 

Knowledge is never the exclusion possession 

of any particular race nor does it recognize 

geographical limitations. The whole world 

is interdependent and a constant stream of 

thought had been carried out throughout the ages, 

enriching the common heritage, of mankind. Although 

science was neither of the East nor of the 

West, but international in its university, certain 

aspects of it gained richness by reason of their 

place of origin. Has India then any great contributions 

to offer for the advance of human knowledge? 

We have also to realize in this connection: 

What has been her strength in the past and what 

is the weakness that has been paralyzing her 

activities? 

Conditions for Discovery of Truth 

For the accomplishment of any great scientific 

work there must be two different elements 

and these must be evenly balanced; any excess 

of the one at the expense of the other would be 

highly detrimental to the discovery of truth. These 

elements are; first a great imaginative faculty and 

second a due regulation of that faculty in pursuance 

of rigid demonstration. An aimless experimentation 

can lead to no result, while an unrestrained 

imagination will lead to the wildest 

speculation, which is subversive to intellectual 

sanity. A true inquirer has, therefore, to guard 

against being self-deceived; he has at every step 

to compare his own thought with the external 

fact; he has remorselessly to abandon all in which 

these are not agreed. Thus what he slowly gath- 



Tribute 

ers is certain forming a 

sure foundation of what is to come. Even chorus 

of derision arose which was magnified by the 

Press, Langley died of a broken heart. 

This has often been the fate of great inventors 

and discoverers. But the lure that heroic 

souls is not the success which can easily be 

achieved but defeat and tribulation in the pursuit 

of the unattainable. I have seen at the 

Smithsonian Institution this machine which failed 

at the first experiment. But after Langley’s death 

the experiment was repeated, and the aeroplane 

rose into the air like a bird that has been set free 

after a long period of imprisonment. 

The mental Factor 

I spoke in some detail of the source of 

the weakness that has so long arrested our scientific 

advance. This was our neglect of the experimental 

factor. I shall show latter how this 

defect can be remedied, if we once realize and 

face it. I shall now take up the other factor, the 

mental, in which fortunately we do possess certain 

advantages. It is to be remembered that every 

experiment has to be carried out first in the 

inner region of the mind. To keep the mental vision 

clear great struggles have to be undergone, 

for the clearness of the inner vision is lost too 

easily. The greatest wealth of external appliances 

is of no avail where there is not a concentrated 

pursuit of a great object. Those whose minds 

rush hither and thither, those who hunger for 

public applause or personal gain instead of truth, 

by them the quest is never won. In pursuit of 

knowledge an Indian inquirer has the burning 

imagination which can export truth out of a mass 

of disconnected facts, a habit of meditation without 

allowing the mind to dissipate itself. If he 

caught “with his scientific imagination a glimpse 

8 

of a wonder-working ray as yet unknown to man, 

and believed that experiment would reveal its 

properties, he would go on his task to his disciples.” 

Power of Detachment 

And what about the fruit of knowledge 

that has been acquired, and its applications ? It 

is well-known that a moving machinery in increasing 

its unrestrained pace rushes towards 

destruction, unless it has a self-checking governor 

to restrain it before the danger limit is reached. 

In the West there has been no check or limit to 

the competition for personal gain and lust for 

power in exploiting the applications of knowledge, 

not so often for saving as for causing destruction. 

And on account of the absence of this 

restraining force, civilization is trembling today 

in an unstable poise on the brink of ruin. 

Let us now look at the innate restraining 

power that governs Indian life and culture. We 

may call it the force of detachment or, for want 

of a better phrase, the impulse of spirituality. Let 

us see how this common heritage reacts on the 

Indian mind. As an extreme case, let us see how 

one of the greatest of warrior kings became suddenly 

transformed under its dominating influence 

even at the moment of his greatest victory. In the 

ninth year of his reign his arms were successful 

and the extensive territories of Kalinga were incorporated 

with his empire. This is what the 

Emperor Ashoka writes on imperishable stone 

as the record of his triumph, twenty two centuries 

ago : 

“His Majesty feels remorse on account 

of the conquest of the Kalingas, because during 

the subjugation of a country, slaughter, death and 

taking away captive of people necessarily occur. 

And for this His Majesty feels profound sor- 


ow. Although a man should do him injury he 

holds that it must be patiently borne. His Majesty 

desires for all, security, peace of mind and 

joyousness. And the chiefest conquest is through 

righteousness.” 

So much about the man of the sword. 

As regards the other man who truly dedicates 

his life for quest of knowledge in our country, 

any longing for personal gain or misuse of his 

knowledge would be worse than sacrilege. 

Poised as he is between the infinity of the past 

and the infinity of the future, between universes 

of worlds and universes of atoms –can anything 

be worth his while for so sorry a prize? Can his 

mind be satisfied with anything less sublime than 

to be merged in the rhythmic sweep of the worldspirit 

itself ? 

Synthesis of sciences 

The excessive specialization in the West 

has led to the danger of our losing sight of the 

fundamental truth that there are not sciences but 

a single science that includes all. India is perhaps 

through her habit of mind, better fitted to 

realize a wider synthesis. One of the greatest 

contributions in the realm of science would undoubtedly 

be the establishment of a great generalization, 

not merely speculative, but based on 

actual demonstration of an underlying unity 

amidst bewildering diversity. Shall this great glory 

be for India to win ? in my investigations on the 

action of forces on matter, I was amazed to find 

boundary lines vanishing and to discover points 

of contact emerging between the Living and 

Non-Living. My first work in the region of invisible 

lights made me fully realize how in the midst 

of a luminous ocean we stood almost blind. But 

out of the very imperfection of his senses, man 

has dared in science to build for himself a raft of 

9 


thought by which to Tribute 

make daring adventures into the great seas of 

the unknown. 

Unity of Life 

Just as in following light from visible to 

the invisible our range of investigation transcends 

our physical sight, so also the problem of the 

great mystery of Life and Death is brought a little 

nearer solution. When in the realm of the living 

we pass from the Voiced to the Unvoiced. Is 

there any possible relation between our own life 

and that of the plant world ? The question is not 

one of dreamy speculation but of actual demonstration 

by some method that is unimpeachable. 

This means that we should abandon all our preconceptions, 

most of which are afterwards found 

to be absolutely groundless and contrary to facts. 

The final appeal must be made to the plant itself 

and no evidence should be accepted unless it 

bears the plant’s own signature. This meant, first 

the discovery of some compulsive force which 

would make the plant give some answering signal 

: then instrumental means had to be supplied 

for the automatic conversion of these signals into 

an intelligent script; and last of all we had ourselves 

to learn the nature of the hieroglyphic. 

The inner History of Plant Life 

It was to be the discovery of inner history 

of the plant hidden under a placid exxtrior, 

the detection of the subte impress left on it by 

storm and sunshine, by the warmth of summer 

and frost of winter, by a passing breeze or a drifting 

cloud. I can easily be imagined how extraordinarily 

delicate the instruments must be which 

detect all these and reveal the secrets of unvoiced 

and hidden life. It was to measure the twitchingthrob 

under a shock, the time it takes the plant 

to perceive it and to measure the rate of impulse 



Tribute 

with which the message 

is being sent along the conducting path of the 

plant. It has to record its living pulsation and the 

stupor that comes under the action of narcotics 

and signal the exact moment of death under the 

action of poisons. 

I said that the slur against Indian competence 

in science has chiefly lain in regard to lack 

of the experimental skill and the power of invention 

and construction of apparatus of extreme 

delicacy. To this the sufficient answer is that the 

instruments just described have all been devised 

in India and constructed by Indian mechanicians. 

Their great perfection and extreme delicacy may 

be gauged from the fact that, though these instruments 

have been widely exhibited in all the 

scientific centers of the West, and though 

America boasts the possession of the greatest 

mechanicians of the world, yet even in America 

they found it impossible to repeat these instruments. 

And requests have in consequence been 

made by the different Universities in Europe and 

America, for the supply of instruments from my 

Laboratory, these being regarded of essential 

importance for furthering the new investigations 

relating to life. 

It will thus be seen that when we put our 

whole strength into the accomplishment of any 

object, all difficulties vanish and the impossible 

becomes possible. But this cannot be the outcome 

of easy complacency. For twelve years a 

single man had to bear the brunt of opposition 

from the whole scientific world and after years 

of drudgery and many failures success came to 

me at last. 

Fact and Imagination 

When tired with the drudgery of experimental 

verification, nothing appears more tempt- 

10 

ing than giving free rein, once in a way, to imagination 

and create a world full of wonder. I indulged 

in this weakness twenty years ago and 

wrote curiously enough, an imaginary history of 

the hidden life of the plant. Of the many wonderful 

things said it is not at all surprising that 

some did come out true; but the rest of the speculation 

was quite wrong. It is not the likelihood 

of something coming out right that is of the least 

importance in science. For nothing is so subversive 

to the progress of science as the various 

contending speculations without basic facts to 

support them. What really counts is the absolute 

certainty of demonstrated fact which is true for 

all time; and on this sure foundation alone can 

great superstructure be raise. How necessary it 

is to observe extreme caution against being misled 

by speculation will be obvious when we realize 

that we may be led astray be appearances, 

which we accept as well-ascertained fact. All of 

us, for instance, have regarded Mimosa as delicately 

sensitive, shrinking from touch, while most 

of the ordinary plants are supposed to be devoid 

of all sensibility. My investigations show that 

the so-called sensitive plants are really paralysed, 

this motoparalysis being confined to one 

side; while some of the so-called insensitive plants 

are far more sensitive than the much-vaunted 

Mimosa. Again who has not been struck by the 

closing of the leaflets of certain plants at the onset 

of darkness, this being unhesitatingly regarded 

as the sleep of plants? In reality, closure of leaflets 

has nothing whatever to do with true sleep; 

my investigations show that plants, generally 

peaking, do not go to sleep in the evening, but 

keep wide awake nearly all night long and fall 

asleep only about six in the morning! This will 

show how necessary it is, for the discovery of 


truth to maintain a spirit of absolute detachment 

and perfect freedom of mind from all preconceived 

bias. The hardest struggle is to protect 

oneself from being self-deceived and one has to 

guard against it and keep vigilant all the time. 

The Wide Vista 

It was after repeating every one of the 

innumerable tests by which animal life is usually 

differentiated that I was able to prove that the 

phenomenon of life, with all its multiplex variations, 

is identical in plant and in animal. In other 

words all life is One. This identity has been 

proved to be so real that after discovering some 

new reactions in plants I have been able to predict 

its occurrence, hitherto unsuspected, in the 

animal; and my predictions have come out invariably 

true. The unexpected revelation in the 

life of plants have opened out vast fields of inquiry 

in Physics, in Physiology, in Agriculture, in 

Medicine, and even in Psychology. Many problems, 

long regarded as insoluble, have been 

brought within the region of experimental investigation. 

In Physiology the new inquiry is concerned 

in the determination of the characteristics 

of life and death, and in unraveling the mystery 

of automatism. In Medicine it deals with 

the fundamental reaction of drugs on protoplasm 

itself by which its practice is raised from empiricism 

to science. It tries to solve the anomaly of 

an identical drug inducing two opposite effects 

on different individuals. In Psychology a new 

chapter has been opened out by the discovery 

of nervous impulse in plants. Certain new phenomenon 

discovered in plant-nerve shows that 

the intensity of the nervous impulse which colors 

our sensation, as pleasure or pain, is not solely 

determined by the intensity of the external blow, 

but that the character of the sensation is capable 

11 


of being modified ac- Tribute 

cording to the predisposition which can be imparted 

to the vehicle that carries the sense-bearing 

message. 

India’s Temple of Science 

Are our universities to be content in 

merely turning out graduates whose knowledge 

of an alien language and efficiency in other imitative 

arts, have roused certain amount of goodnatured 

astonishment among foreign critics? 

Those days of tolerant appreciation are now 

happily passed away. You have to pass a far 

severer test, and by your own work you have to 

win the recognition of the world. The civilized 

nations have in modern times each made notable 

contributions for the world’s advancement. What 

new and original store have you contributed, and 

what steps have you taken that your contributions 

do not remain sporadic or uncertain? 

I have spoken of the new lines of investigations 

which have had their birth in India and 

which will contribute materially to the intellectual 

advancement and further the welfare of humanity. 

Will these advances made in various 

branchs of science — in Medicine, in Agriculture 

and in Biophysics — benefit only India or 

the whole world ? Shall these then remain the 

offering of an individual worker, to come to an 

end with him, or shall there rise a school of science 

to hold the meed of recognition which has 

so hardly been won, and maintain a continuous 

and glorious tradition of India’s gift to the world 

in the realm of science ? 

Very little serious arid intelligent thought 

has been given to this question which is one of 

the most important problems for shaping the future 

destiny of our country. It has been supposed 

that for the success of research all that is neces- 



12 

Tribute 

sary, is an expensively from her high estate, and ruthlessly put an end to 

equipped laboratory which appeals to the eye all that self-satisfied little-minded vanity which 

by its grandeur, and cut and dried schemes for has been the cause of our fatal weakness. What 

various ? endowed chairs and an undue haste to is it that stands in her way ? Is her mind paraly- 

fill them. The tragic fate of Tata’s princely benesed by weak superstitious fears ? Not so ; for 

faction for research is too recent, but its lessons, her great thinkers, the Rishis, always stood for 

it is to be feared, will not be easily learnt. If dis- freedom of intellect and while Galileo was implay 

and lavish expenditure had been the sole prisoned and Bruno burnt for their opinions, they 

requisite for discovery of laws of nature, then boldly declared that even the Vedas are to be 

American Universities with their endowments rejected if they do not conform .with truth. They 

exceeding millions, should have had the monopoly 

in scientific advance ; but this has, by no 

means, been the case. On the other hand a Davy, 

a Faraday and a Rayleigh have made epochmaking 

discoveries within the walls of the less 

pretentious Royal Institution, and have created 

worthy disciples and successors. It is the man 

who carries torchlight that can alone kindle other 

flames. It is by constant contact with the mind of 

his teacher that the disciple becomes inspired and 

shapes his future life. It is not the blare of publicity 

but a sequestered life that is necessary for 

great scientific achievements. Once the master 

is found, let him have his disciples who should 

be enabled to devote all their lives in the sacred 

cause of science. It is no pillars of granite, but 

aspiring and undaunted souls that are as milestones 

which mark the advance of human knowledge. 

urged in favour of persistant efforts for the discovery 

of physical •causes yet unknown, since 

to them nothing was extra-physical but merely 

mysterious owing to the hitherto unascertained 

cause. Were they afraid that the march of knowledge 

was a danger to true faith ? Not so ; for to 

them knowledge and religion were one. Do they 

now lack devotion to a life consecrated to 

knowledge ? Not so ; for they have still the 

sanyasin spirit which utterly controls the body 

and can meditate or inquire endlessly while life 

remains, never for a moment losing sight of the 

object, never for a moment let it be obscured by 

any terrestrial temptation. 

Undying Hope 

These are the hopes that animate us. For 

there is something in the Indian culture which is 

possessed of extraordinary latent strength, by 

which it has resisted the ravages of time and the 

destructive changes which have swept over the 

The Message from the Past 

earth. And indeed a capacity to endure through 

In any case if India has to make any con- infinite transformation, must be innate in that 

tribution to the world, it should be as great as mighty civilization which has seen the intellectual 

the hope we cherish for her. Let us not talk of culture of the Nile Valley, of Assyria, and of 

the glories of the past till we have secured for Babylon wax and wane and disappear, and 

her, her true place among the intellectual nations which today gazes on the future with the same 

of the world. Let us find out how she has fallen invincible faith with which it met the past. 

 

 


What Swami Vivekananda is in the 

realm of religion, Jagadish Chandra Bose is 

so in the sphere of science, and both believed 

in the mutuality of science and religion. Bose 

drew his inspiration from the ancient Indian 

sages. The innumerable hurdles couldn’t dent 

the burning zeal of the scientific giant. He 

was a rare scientist, a creative genius, a man 

of character & values, a litterateur, a seer 

and a patriot – all rolled into one! His life 

and work hold out invaluable lessons to every 

aspiring Indian, especially in the present 

times. 

Sir! Doctor! Professor! Jagadish 

Chandra Bose was a true Indian scientist. A 

physicist and a physiologist at the same time, 

Bose demonstrated that stress and strain were 

alike in their result on the animate and the inanimate. 

Be it metal, plant or animal, Bose has 

shown that their responses to the stimuli are alike. 

All of them are subject to fatigue, exaultation, 

memory, death, and recovery. 

Indian concept of unity: His motive force 

Jagadish Chandra Bose received his inspiration 

and strength from the essentials of ancient 

Indian wisdom which lay a stress on an 

underlying unity in apparent diversity. This ‘pervading 

unity’ made Bose recall “for the first 

time a little of that message proclaimed by 

my ancestors on the banks of the Ganges 

thirty centuries ago.” 

13 


Tribute 

A beacon and visionary of Indian science 

U Atreya Sarma 

Work, praise & recognition 

Bose’s stream of thought was appreciated 

by contemporary scientists like Prof J Arthur 

Thomson (in the New Statesman, England) who 

were “proud to welcome” the “questionings 

of a prince of experimenters,” who could 

“see in anticipation the lines of physics, of 

physiology and of psychology converging 

and meeting.” 

First Indian into the Royal Society 

In recognition of his contribution to physics 

as well as physiology and his path-breaking 

discoveries, Jagadish Chandra Bose was 

awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Society 



Tribute 

(May 1920). He was the 

first Indian recipient of this honour. 

Bose’s experiments on coherer enabled 

Sir Henry Jackson (when he read of them in 

1895) to effect communication by electromagnetic 

radiation from one end to the other of Defiance, 

the British naval Torpedo School Ship 

of which he was in command. Earlier, in 1891, 

Jackson was seeking some means to announce 

his torpedo to a friendly ship by employing the 

Hertzian waves, but the idea remained hazy and 

impracticable. 

Sixty years ahead of his times 

Bose’s exposition at the University of 

Geneva (1928) enthused Einstein to comment 

that a ‘monument of victory’ should be raised 

to Jagadish Chandra. Romain Rolland, the great 

thinker saluted Bose for succeeding in uniting the 

science of the West with the wisdom of the East. 

Sir Neville Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 

for his own contributions to solid-state 

electronics, remarked that “JC Bose was at 

least 60 years ahead of his time” and “In 

fact, he had anticipated the existence of Ptype 

and N-type semiconductors.” 

Bose was the first, followed by Marconi 

In 1895 Bose gave his first public 

demonstration of electromagnetic waves, using 

them to ring a bell remotely and to explode some 

gunpowder. In 1896 the Daily Chronicle of 

England reported: “The inventor (JC Bose) 

has transmitted signals to a distance of 

nearly a mile and herein lies the first and 

obvious and exceedingly valuable 

application of this new theoretical marvel.” 

Popov in Russia was doing similar experiments, 

but had written in December 1895 that he was 

still entertaining the hope of remote signalling with 

radio waves. The first successful wireless 

signalling experiment by Marconi on Salisbury 

14 

Plain in England was not until May 1897. The 

1895 public demonstration by Bose in Calcutta 

predates all these experiments. 

First research institute in India 

On 30 th November 1917, Jagadish 

Chandra founded the Bose Research Institute in 

Calcutta which was the first scientific research 

institute in India. The same year a knighthood 

was conferred on Bose. 

While JC Bose “is known for 

demonstrating the World’s first wireless 

communication link at a wavelength of 5 

mm,” The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1945) 

sums up that Bose’s work is “so much in 

advance of his time that its precise 

evaluation was not possible.” 

While dedicating the Bose Institute, he 

observed: 

“A common reaction seemed to bring 

together metal, plant and animal under a 

general law…I announced my results before 

the Royal Society – results demonstrated 

by experiments. But the physiologists 

present advised me, after my address, to 

confine myself to physical investigations in 

which my success had been assured rather 

than encroach on their preserve. I had thus 

unwittingly strayed into the domain of a new 

and unfamiliar caste system and so offended 

its etiquette. An unconscious theological 

bias was also present which confounds 

ignorance with faith…To the theological bias 

was added the misgivings about the inherent 

bent of the Indian mind towards mysticism 

and unchecked imagination…The excessive 

specialisation of modern science in the West 

has led to the danger of losing sight of the 

fundamental fact that there can be but one 

truth, one science which includes all 

branches of knowledge. How chaotic appear 


15 

the happenings of Nature! Is Nature a 

Cosmos, in which the human mind is some 

day to realise the uniform march of 

sequence, order and law? India through her 

habit of mind is peculiarly fitted to realise 

the idea of unity, and to see in the 

phenomenal world an orderly universe.” 

His anti-Patent stance 

Bose was not interested in patenting his 

invention. He declined an offer from a millionaire 

proprietor of a reputed telegraph company in 

England, who promised to arrange a patent and 

50% of the profits. It was not that Sir Jagadish 

was unaware of patents and their advantages. 

He did not want to be entangled in the murky 

eddies of lucre, for his love of science was pure 

and unalloyed. There were some European 

scientists like Bose who valued morals and 

bowed not to Mammon. 

Yet, the first Indian to own a US patent 

After a lot of persuasion by Sara 

Chapman Bull, one of his American friends, Bose 

agreed to apply for a patent, as a one time 

exception. The application for patenting 

“Detector for electrical disturbances” was filed 

on 30 

November & December 2008 Bharatiya Pragna 

th September 1901 and it was granted on 

29th at his patriotic facet. 

When he was offered a 

lucrative and prestigious Chair at the University 

of Cambridge, he declined it, for “My mind and 

life cannot snap the attraction from my poor 

motherland.” 

Bose was a self-made man, having 

March 1904, as US patent 755840. 

designed and made his laboratory equipment 

himself. This art of improvisation he owed to the 

workshops his father set up as a means to solve 

the unemployment of the local youth and where 

he got his first experiences as a young boy. 

Bose stands out as a man of self-respect 

also. He joined as the Professor of Physics at 

the Presidency College, Kolkata. The authorities 

admitted him rather grudgingly. After joining, 

Bose came to know that Indians were paid only 

2/3 

A seer that he was, Bose felt the global 

competition, and saw clearly what India had to do: 

“India is drawn into the vortex of 

international competition. She has to 

become efficient in every way…through the 

spread of education, through performance 

of civic duties and responsibilities, through 

activities both industrial and commercial.” 

A self-made man - self-respect & self 

confidence 

Bose had a profound personality which 

was rich in rectitude and fortitude. Let us look 

rd of what the Europeans were getting at the 

same college. However, Bose was offered even 

less, for his appointment was ‘temporary’. Thus 

he would get only half of the 2/3rd 150th Birth Year 

Tribute 

. Bose didn’t 

flinch a whit nor he made any protest. Stoically 

resolving to go ahead and give his best, he went 

on teaching and researching, but without 

accepting any salary. He became the most 

popular and successful professor. After Three 

years, the management realised its folly and paid 

him full salary on a par with the Europeans right 

from day one. Bose learnt that “the best method 

of facing Englishmen was to stand before 

them with courage and indomitable willpower.” 

First science fictionist in Bengali 

Bose was the first science fiction writer 

in Bengali, with his Niruddesher Kahini (1896). 

Bose so endeared himself in literary circles that 

he became the President of Bangiya Sahitya 

Sammilan and Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. Here 

the importance of learning one’s mother tongue 

at the right age can be appreciated.


Tribute 

O n November 30, 1858, at 

Mymensingh (now in Bangladesh), a son was 

born to Bhagawan Chandra Bose and Bama 

Sundari Devi. The child was named Jagadish or 

Lord of the World. True to his name J.C.Bose 

grew up to be known as a scientist of world 

repute. 

Young Jagadish 

spent the early years of his 

life in Faridpur where his 

father was posted as the 

Deputy Magistrate. It was 

the time spent in Faridpur 

that Bose would value 

greatly in his later years. 

He was brought up in a 

house steeped in Indian 

tradition and culture and 

was sent to the village 

pathshala to study with 

the common folk. As he spent time with sons of 

farmers and fisher folk, he learnt the lesson of 

what constitutes true manhood. From them he 

also drew his love for nature. 

Young Jagadish was a curious lad, always 

asking questions. When he saw a firefly he had 

to know what that ‘spark’ was. The fast-moving 

river with fallen leaves floating by, the sprouting 

of seeds and growth of plants, the attraction 

of the moth towards light, the shooting stars, all 

were curiosities he was impatient to understand. 

He wouldn’t rest till he found a satisfactory an- 

16 

Torch bearer of Indian Renaissance 

Jagadish Chandra Bose 

- Chandrasekhar 

swer. His father was always there to respond to 

his child’s curiosity and encouraged him, saying 

as you grow bigger and bigger, my boy, try to 

find out the truth yourself. However, it was 

not all work and no play for Jagadish, who loved 

sports too. Cricket was his favourite game. 

At the age of 

nine Jagadish was 

sent to Calcutta. 

There he enrolled 

first at Hare School 

and later, in 

St.Xavier’s where 

his lack of proficiency 

in English made him 

the butt of jokes. His 

European classmates 

refused to accept 

this rustic boy as one 

of them. One day 

unable to tolerate the bullying from a champion 

boxer, he took up the challenge. In the fight that 

followed Jagadish won and gained the respect 

of his classmates. Thereafter, no one dared to 

tease him. 

At St.Xavier’s, Jagadish studied physics 

under Father Lafont who was them a name to 

conjure with for his brilliant and unique methods 

of teaching physics with actual experiments. 

From him too, he picked up the flair for lecture 

demonstrations. However, botany continued to 

enthrall him. He would pull out germinating plants 


17 


to check their roots and grew flowering plants to observe, to question, to Tribute 

and closely observed their growth. Jagadish experiment and to innovate, without depending 

passed the School Final examination with a First solely on books or teachers. After three years, 

Class. 

the college Principal Twany and Director Croft, 

After graduating at the age of 19, Jagadish impressed by his brilliance, jointly recommended 

had a strong desire to go to England and sit for full salary for him from the date of his joining the 

the Indian Civil Service Examination, but his fa- college. Bose realized that the best way to face 

ther would not allow him to do so. He told his son in the English was to face them with courage and 

no uncertain terms that he was to rule nobody but will power. This he did all his life. 

himself, was to become a scholar, not an admin- In 1887, Bose married Abala Das, daughter 

istrator. Hence, in 1880, Jagadish did go to En- of a leading advocate of the Calcutta High Court 

gland but to study medicine at the University of and a political leader. Bose’s wife was his con- 

London. There, he suffered repeated attacks of stant companion and helpmate, accompanying him 

malaria, which he had contracted prior to his de- on his trips to religious and historical places in 

parture for London and had to move to Cambridge India and on many excursions to the Himalayan 

on a scholarship to study Natural Science at peaks and glaciers. Later in life, she joined her 

Christ’s College. At Cambridge, he came under the husband on all his lecture tours abroad. Bose dedi- 

influence of such illustrious teachers as Lord cated his book Plant Autographs and ‘their Rev- 

Rayleigh, Sir James Dewar, Sir Michael Foster and elation’(1927) to Abala Devi with the note, To 

Francis Darwin. 

my wife, who has stood by me in all my 

Jagadish passed the Tripos examination with struggles. 

distinction. In 1884, he was awarded a B.A. de- When Bose first joined the Presidency Colgree 

from Cambridge and next year a B.Sc. delege, there was no laboratory worth the name. 

gree from London University. Once he got his de- However, Bose went ahead with his research, in a 

grees, he did not linger abroad but returned to serve small enclosure adjoining a bathroom that he 

his motherland. In 1885, he was offered the post converted into a laboratory where he carried out 

of officiating Professor of Physics at Presidency experiments on refraction, diffraction, and po- 

College, Calcutta. He was paid a salary half of what larization. Bose would stay on in the laboratory 

the British teachers were paid, so Bose refused to after the classes were over and carry on experi- 

draw his salary at all as a protest. He worked in ments. He met the expenses for the experiments 

an honorary capacity for three years, not missing himself. He even fabricated the equipment he 

his classes even on a single day. 

needed by sheer ingenuity. 

In England, Bose had appreciated the ‘hands The experiments performed in the makeshift 

on’ approach to science. Back in India, he carried laboratory finally resulted in the invention of a 

on in the same spirit. Instead of boring verbal lec- device for producing electromagnetic waves. In 

tures, he enlivened his classes by holding exten- November 1894, Bose gave the first public demsive 

demonstrations. This was quite an innovaonstration of wireless transmission using election 

in those days and Bose became extraordinartromagnetic waves to ring a bell and to explode a 

ily popular with his students. He encouraged them small charge of gunpowder from a distance. He 



18 

Tribute 

used microwaves with time. ...In fact, he had anticipated the existence 

wavelengths in the millimeter range, not radio of P-type and N-type semi-conductors. 

waves, Considering the very primitive workshop Bose’s first paper published in the Proceed- 

facilities available in Calcutta at this time, the comings of the Asiatic Society of Bengalm May 1895, 

pact nature of his apparatus excited many and deals with the polarization of electric waves by 

drew a great deal of appreciation in England. It double refraction. In October 1895, his first com- 

was described in many textbooks of this period by munication to the Royal Society of London was 

J. J. Thomson and Poincare. The Daily Chronicle published in its Proceedings. The next year, he was 

(England) reported, the inventor has transmit- conferred D. Sc. by London University for his theted 

signals to a distance of nearly a mile and sis on Measurements of Electric Rays, Bose went 

herein lies the first and obvious and exceedingly to England in 1897, where he not only repeated his 

valuable application of this new theoretical demonstrations successfully but also speculated on 

marvel. 

the existence of electromagnetic radiation from 

In recent years, some Indian scientists have the sun. Two years later, Bose unveiled his in- 

spearheaded a movement to give Bose his due vention of the mercury coherer with the telephone 

recognition as the Father of Wireless Telegra- detector, The same year he unfortunately lost his 

phy. For, it was more than a year after the suc- diary containing the account of his invention and a 

cessful demonstration of his experiment that prototype of the detector. 

Guglielmo Marconi patented this invention. It is Bose devoted a great deal of attention to 

believed that it was Bose’s failure to seek a patent the peculiar behaviour of his coherer, which con- 

that denied him his due. However, by all accounts, sisted of a number of contacts between metal 

Bose was never interested in money. The British filings whose resistance altered under the im- 

navy was interested in his coherer (device that pact of electric radiation. Detailed investigation 

detects radio waves) to establish radio links be- led him to the view that this coherer effect was 

tween ships and torpedo boats. So it is not as if characteristic of a large class of compounds, like 

Bose was unaware of the monetary worth of 

his findings. He wrote to Rabindranath Tagore in 

1901, ....I wish you could see that terrible attachment 

for gain in this country.... that lust 

for money... Once caught in that trap there 

would have been no way out for me. 

Later, Bose developed the use of Galena 

crystals for making receivers, both for short 

wavelength radio waves and for white and ultraviolet 

light. His pioneering work in the field was 

recognized by his peers. Sir Neville Mott, who won 

selenium, iron oxides, etc. In fact, Bose can be 

considered a pioneer in the field of investigation 

of the properties of photoconductivity and contact 

rectification shown by this class of semi-conductors. 

His subsequent study of the fatigue phenomena 

exhibited by these substances led Bose 

to postulate his theory of the similarity of response 

in the living and the non-living. He found 

that the sensitivity of the coherer decreased when 

it was used for a long period -it became tired. 

the Nobel Prize in 1977 for his contributions to solid When he gave the device some rest, it regained its 

state electronics, went on record stating that, / sensitivity which, in his view, indicated that metals 

C. Bose was at least sixty years ahead of his had feelings and memory! 


During 1897-1900, Bose turned his interest to 

comparative physiology, plant physiology in particular. 

The main focus of his investigations was to 

establish that all the characteristics of response 

exhibited by animal tissues are equally exhibited by 

plant tissues. In 1901, Bose submitted to the Royal 

Society a preliminary note on the Electric Response 

of Inorganic Substances, in which he showed how 

he had obtained strong electric response from 

plants to mechanical stimuli. However, the paper 

was not published due to the opposition of Sir John 

Burdon Sanderson, the leading electro-physiologist 

of the time. In 1904, Bose submitted a series of 

papers, once again to the Royal Society, showing 

the similarities of both the electric and mechanical 

responses of plants and animals. But these papers 

too met the same fate. 

His interest in physiology gave an impetus to his 

inventive genius. For obtaining the records of 

mechanical response of plant tissues, he first introduced 

the optical lever in plant physiology to 

magnify and photographically record the minute 

movements of plants. He perfected the resonant 

recorder that enabled him to determine with remarkable 

accuracy, within a thousandth part of a 

second, the latent period of response of the touchme-not 

plant, Mimosapudica. He also devised 

the oscillating recorder for making minute lateral 

leaflets of the telegraphic plant (Desmodium 

gyrans) automatically record their pulsating movements. 

He even took up the problem of recording 

micrographic growth movements of plants by devising 

the crescograph. With this instrument, he 

obtained a magnification of 10,000 times, and was 

able to record automatically the elongation growth 

of plant tissues and their modifications through 

various external stimuli. Later, he perfected his 

19 


magnetic crescograph Tribute 

obtaining a magnification from one to ten million 

times. A demonstration of the crescograph at the 

University College of London on April 23, 1920 led 

several leading scientists to state in The Times: We 

are satisfied that the growth of plant tissues is 

correctly recorded by this instrument, and at a 

magnification from one million to ten million 

times. 

The 1900s marked a spell of renewed activity. 

He attended international conferences and wrote 

books and research papers. In 1903, he was conferred 

Companionship of the British Empire 

(C.B.E.) by the British government. In 1912, he 

received the Companionship of the Star of India 

(C.S.I.). The University of Calcutta conferred on 

him an honorary D.Sc. The Royal Society which 

had been publishing his papers on physical research 

since 1894, but had raised serious objections to 

his physiological research, honoured him in 1920 

by electing him a Fellow. In 1933 and 1935, 

Banaras Hindu University and Dhaka University, 

respectively, awarded him honorary D.Sc. He 

formally retired from Presidency College in 1915, 

but was appointed Professor Emeritus for the next 

five years. 

Bose was not interested in making money. He 

could have made millions by simply patenting his 

inventions but more important for him was to spread 

knowledge. Towards this end, he had nurtured a 

lifelong dream of establishing an institute of excellence. 

Conceived at least twenty years earlier, 

the Bose Institute was inaugurated in Calcutta on 

November 30,1917. This is not a laboratory, he 

had said, about his Institute, but a temple. 

Bose died on November 23, 1937, just a 

week short of his eightieth birthday. 

 

 



Tribute 

20 

Bose, inventor of Wireless Technology 

P lants respond to stimulus; they weep; But truth seems to be different. A bril- 

they laugh; they become angry. This was proved liant child of Mother India, Jagadish Chandra 

scientifically by one of the greatest scientists of Bose, the then professor of Physics, Presidency 

modern India Jagdish Chandra Bose. He is a College, Calcutta, was its inventor. India is de- 

modern Rushi. A scientist in Physics but did many prived of taking into its stride this greatest tech- 

inventions in the domain of Botany. He had for nological achievement of Modern world. To- 

the first time in the modern science, removed the day, we remember him for his achievements in 

barriers between Physical sciences and Natural Botany alone. 

sciences. 

As early as 1895, JCBose had demon- 

He invented an instrument called Resonate 

recorder. It records the subtlest responses 

in the plant. He had published a book called plant 

physiological investigations. He had submitted 

150 research papers throughout the world. 

strated to the public of Calcutta about this technology. 

He had blasted the gunpowder and made 

the bell ring, 

which was one 

mile away from 

the place of 

He had built his own equipments to un- demonstration. 

dertake research. The most popular equipment “Wireless” 

invented by him is “Crescograph”. It magnifies a communication 

thing 10 million times. His equipment called era was born in 

“wave guide”, determines the structure of matter Calcutta from 

with the help of microwaves. It is most popularly that moment. 

used in the investigation of particle Physics. 

P.C. Ray & J.C. Bose together worked 

in Presidency College and inspired many youngsters 

to become scientists. 

This demonstration 

had 

been reported 

in an international magazine called “Electrician” 

during that time. Important British dignitaries also 

Our school books portray Marconi as watched the JC Bose demonstrations at 

the hero and the inventor of “Wireless Technol- Calcutta. 

ogy” or Radio. We are told that in the year 1901, On September 21 

Marconi had transmitted the Morse code without 

using wires for the first time. He had transmitted 

them across the continents between England 

and Canada and became its Inventor. 

November & December 2008 Bharatiya Pragna 

st 1896, JC Bose delivered 

a lecture cum demonstration at Royal 

Institute, London on wireless transmission. Eminent 

scientists including Marconi were present 

in that session.

JC Bose, demonstrated before the scientific 

community at London, his instruments, 

mainly the instrument called Cohener by using 

Mercury as the conducting material and a telephone. 

Bose gave number of demonstrations in 

Europe and America regarding wireless technology. 

In the year 1901, Marconi had patented 

the technology, used and demonstrated by JC 

Bose and became its inventor and owner. Many 

scientists had raised objections to this and asked 

Marconi about its important part called “Coherer”. 

He told the world community that a friend 

21 

called L.Solar gave it. 


Tribute 

JC Bose had written a letter to 

Ravindranath Tagore, on May 17th 1901 from 

London. He wrote that a millionaire, who was 

the owner of a Telegraph company, approached 

him and begged him to sell the “wireless technology” 

for 50% profit rights, by patenting the 

technology. At that instant, JC Bose was about 

to give a lecture in London and denied the proposal. 

This shows that Sir J.C.Bose is a lover 

of science, not a man after money. 

 

 

“Accept only that which stands to your reason. Never accept anything merely 

because it is preached by some great leader. Test its truth on the touchstone of your 

intellectual discrimination.” 

- Dr.K.B.Hedgewar 

“Change of religion is change of nationality.” 

Diwali celebrations banned In Bhainsa ? 

- Veer Savarkar 

In the riot afflicted Bhainsa where Muslim goons attacked the Durga procession 

during the Dasara celebrations, Police imposed curfew for a long period and in the process 

banned the people from celebrating the most sacred festival Diwali, fearing more riots. It 

raises many questions? 

1) Are we living in our own country or in some Islamic country? 

2) Do we have to celebrate our festivals at the mercy of the minority community 

and the bloody politicians? 

3) Isn’t it a portender of the ominous future with the minority population growing 

at an alarming rate and the infiltrators from Banglsdesh touching 4 crores? 

Jagadish 

Hyderabad. 


W hen Pakistan was created by 

the division of India purely on the basis that Muslims 

as asserted by them, are not part of the Indian 

nation but are a separate nation and they 

were therefore entitled to their own state, Islamic 

Pakistan. Direct action by Muslims under the 

leadership of the Muslim League by way of 

organised violence against those who were against 

partition of India, was launched on the 16 th of 

August 1946, in Calcutta under the auspices of 

Muslim League government whose premier was 

H S Suhrawardy. 

22 

Organised Religious 

Conversion is Aggression Dr T H Chowdary 

Hindus in-spite of being the largest religious group with 80% of the total population, 

are fighting the aggression from Muslims on one side and Christians on the other. The energy’s 

strength is increasing and the Hindu strength is decreasing due to conversions. 

for the Muslim League in the 1946 elections to 

the central Legislative Assembly. 

Then followed communal riots on un- 

Almost all of them have however 

stayed on in India 

and Muslim problem 

continues. 

We have been 

having Hindu- 

Muslim riots in 

India even after 

the creation of 

Pakistan. Their 

ferocity has inprecedented 

scale in north and east India. The 

creased to such 

Congress leadership was frightened and it con- 

an extent that the 

ceded the partition of India on the basis of reli- homegrown jihadi terrorists are able to bomb and 

gion. The leadership thought that, that would be maime and kill people in the city of their choice 

the final solution for the Muslim problem in India. and at the time they want. Governments are help- 

Unfortunately, since the exchange of minority less as any action against the suspects is de- 

populations as advocated by Dr B R Ambedkar nounced as the discrimination against Muslims and 

as well as demanded by Muslim League for some violation of human rights and civil liberties. That 

time was not accepted by the Congress in its self- is why so far there have hardly been any convicrighteous 

belief that in its concept of a ‘secular’ tions and even when there is a conviction upheld 

state Muslims will not be treated either as a mi- even by the Supreme Court, the government is 

nority or as a separate nation, but as normal hu- afraid to carry out the sentence as it was warned 

man beings Muslims were a separate electorate. by some ‘secular’ nationalist Muslims that India 

98.5% of them voted against the Congress and would burn. 


Even as the Hindu Muslim riots are recurring, 

we now have the new problem of Hindu- 

Christian riots. Before the year 2000, these were 

rare and totally localized and could be put down 

with ease. But after the year 2000, we have in 

India the new problem of Hindu-Christian riots. 

Pope John Paul II visited India in 1999 and called 

upon believing and practising Christians and their 

organisations to work to reap a harvest of non- 

Christians in India for Christianity. No Christian 

missionary or church 

organisation will dare to 

propagate Christianity among 

Muslims and convert them as 

that would mean certain death 

for the converters. Therefore, 

the conversion enterprises are 

targeting Hindus, the illiterate, 

the indigent and not at all informed 

sections of Hindu population. 

As during the times of Crusades hordes 

of transnational Christian evangelizing and converting 

organisations all co-ordinating their activities 

and enterprising in concert under the Project 

Joshua II. As part of that multi-national Christian 

conversion crusade many enterprises in India have 

proliferated. Like any multi-national corporation, 

with various subsidiaries and franchises and franchisees 

selling different brands of the same products 

and services competitively, the scores of 

Christian missions of Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, 

7 th Day Adventists, Pent Coastals, Presbyterians, 

Anglicans, Lutherns and so on have a 

master plan which has worked out which districts 

in India, have what population of Hindus in different 

castes, what is their economic, social and 

educational profile and how much would have to 

23 

be spent to gain one convert. 

They are engaging tens of thousands 

of propagandists, full time. These are mostly 

drawn from unemployed young people who are 

converted to Christianity and indoctrinated to aggressively 

propagate “reach the unreached”, visit 

homes and mohallas in mixed groups, young men 

and women, carrying leaflets, Bibles and books 

with content often blasphemous to Hinduism [as 

in Riju Darsini in 

Christians are organizing very militant 

demonstrations and conventions demanding 

reservations for dalit Christians. 

Until they achieve this one they seem to 

have been advising Hindu dalits who are 

converted, to continue to enlist as scheduled 

caste Hindus to avail of reservations. 

Telugu and Satya 

Darshini in 

Kannada; the latter 

triggered the Christian- 

Hindu mayhem 

in Karnataka]. 

They are paid well. 

These 

MNC enterprises, missionaries are flushed with 

funds coming from abroad. The funds are estimated 

to be Rs.6,000 crores per year. They are 

planting churches in village after Village according 

to a plan. They are very numerous. For example, 

in Andhra Pradesh while the 2001 census 

puts the Christian population at 11 million [1.44% 

of the total], they have 1181917 Churches [1 

church 8 Christians], that is one church for 6.9 

persons. 

Comparable figures are one for 39 Muslims 

and one for 341 Hindus. What is more curious 

is that the successive census have shown declining 

proportion of Christians in Andhra Pradesh: 

4.19% in 1971; 2.68% in 1981; 1.83% in 

1991; and 1.44% in 2001. This is absolutely 

unbelievable. The Christian church organisations 

and their societies and leaders are asserting that 

their population is not less than 10% to 12% and 


that every political party must put up 10% to 12% 

Christians among its candidates for various elected 

posts. 

While at the time of framing the Constitution 

Christian members of the Constituent Assembly 

eloquently said that they would not want 

any reservations because there were no castes 

among them. But now Christian organisations and 

churches are asserting that there are dalit Christians 

and that all Hindus converted to Christianity 

are carrying their castes with them; that 

there are Reddy 

Christians [great example 

Dr Y 

Rajashekhar Reddy 

is a 7th Day 

Adventist] Kamma 

Christians, Brahmin 

Christians, BC 

Christians and dalit 

Christians. Christians 

are organizing very militant demonstrations and 

conventions demanding reservations for dalit 

Christians. Until they achieve this one they seem 

to have been advising Hindu dalits who are converted, 

to continue to enlist as scheduled caste 

Hindus to avail of reservations. There are quite a 

number of IAS and IPS officers who while being 

Christians, fraudulently availed of the benefit of 

reservations by falsely declaring that they are 

scheduled castes. 

Bands of Christian propagandists comprising 

of young women and men are knocking at 

doors, distributing Christian literature and inviting 

people to convert. They are active in all localities 

but more intensely in slum areas and in poor quarters 

of towns and cities. 

24 

The Christian missionaries activities 

are a multi-national funded business 

enterprises, use of radio and TV 

channel time for propaganda and more 

demonstratably, holding kutamis (assemblies) 

where thousands are mobilised 

from villages through retainers and resident 

propagandists in the villages. 

Giving gifts, interest-free loans, medicines 

and promises of sending children abroad and finding 

jobs for them are freely and openly brandied 

to entice the needy and the unemployed and the 

poor to convert to Christianity. In Villages churches 

are fitted with loudspeakers and in the evening and 

night Christian songs, all set to Hindu Bhajan tunes 

and using Hindu idiom but proclaiming Christ and 

Mary etc. are broadcast. 

In Kandhamal district of Orissa alone 

in the last few years there are 360 competing missionaries 

converting Kui 

language-speaking Pana 

scheduled caste Hindus to 

Christianity. The scheduled 

tribe Kandhas are 

hardly converted. They 

are fiercely sticking to 

their own faith and mode 

of prayer. The Pana 

scheduled castes are converted 

to the extent of 70%. Scheduled castes 

converted to Christianity are not entitled to reservations; 

so they are agitating to be declared as 

scheduled tribes. 

That is opposed by the Kandhas. The 

Christian population in Kandhamal in 1961 was 

2%, in 1991 it was 6% and in 2007 it reached 

27%! In 1995 the Kandha scheduled tribes versus 

converted Pana scheduled castes conflict 

lasted for more than two months and 50 people 

were killed and many more wounded. The recurrence 

in 2008 is continuation of the fight between 

fraudsters on one side and defenders on 

the other side. 

The Supreme Court had ruled that every 

citizen of India is free to profess, and propa- 


gate his religion but there is no right to convert. 

Whatever rights are there are for individuals. 

However, the Christian missionaries activities 

are a multi-national funded business enterprises, 

with all the attributes of business, – marketing 

methods, market share, cost of gaining a 

convert, annual targets, profiling the prospective 

converts, producing literature not only extolling 

Christianity but derogating Hinduism, use of radio 

and TV channel time for propaganda and more 

demonstratably, holding kutamis (assemblies) 

where thousands are mobilised from villages 

through retainers and resident propagandists in 

the villages. 

In these kutamis, miracle cures are 

staged get the gullible to convert by changing their 

faith from Hindus Gods to Jesus Christ and Mary. 

There are hundreds of European and American 

funded NGOs operating in India. All of them act 

as the fifth columns of Christian missionaries. 

They are acting as sappers and miners of missionaries 

to undermine Hindu faith and condition 

the beneficiaries for conversion. 

They are marketing ‘service’ in the 

name of projects of reaching the unreached, share 

an opportunity, empowerment of women, equity 

and justice and so on. Alarmed by the most 

open aggressive multi pronged propaganda and 

inveiglement and thereby gaining converts, Hindus 

are mobilising to assert their rights to preserve, 

practice and propagate and defend their 

religion from aggressions of the multi-national 

conversion enterprises. 

This is leading to conflict in every village; 

even in homes because not all members in a 

family are converted. A convert in a family is asking 

for division of the parents’ property and do- 

25 

nating a portion of his land for construction of a 

church. Such incidents are triggering the disruption 

of families and disharmony in the Village. The 

division and disharmony in the family appears to 

flowing from the Gospel according to Luke in the 

New Testament Chapter 12, 

51 “Do you suppose that I came to give 

peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather 

division. 

52 “For from now on five in one house 

will be divided: three against two, and two 

53: “Father will be divided against son 

and son against father, mother against daughter 

and daughter against mother. 

What is most offensive is that the Hindu 

scheduled caste people converted to Christianity 

are trained, equipped and incited to most militantly 

denounce Hinduism, forward cases and the propertied. 

They are turning out to be Hinduism-denouncing 

harvesters of other Hindus to Christianity. 

Since they don’t officially proclaim to be Christians 

but continue to be known as scheduled castes 

as per government records, these militant converts 

are tormenting the defenders of Hinduism 

by invoking the Prevention of Atrocities against 

Scheduled Castes Act. 

Therefore the disquiet among Hindus 

is increasing by leaps and bounds. What is happening 

in Kandhamal of Orissa and elsewhere in 

Karnataka will repeat with explosive force in 

Andhra Pradesh also! If it is legitimate for Christian 

Missionaries, Churches and such groups to 

preach, propagate, convert and add numbers to 

their religion, it cannot be illegitimate for Hindu 

organisations to preach, propagate, defend and 

protect Hindus from being converted and preserve 

Continued on page no 28 


H as the time come for the Government 

to set up a National Commission to investigate 

religious conversions in India? Certainly. Let 

the Nation know how many conversions have 

taken place from—and into—Hinduism, Islam, 

Christianity, Sikhism and other faiths since 1947. 

Let the commission throw light on the districts 

where, and how, significant changes in religious 

demography have taken place, and whether conversions 

have created resentment and social disharmony 

in their wake. 

An unbiased commission would reveal 

three irrefutable facts: (1) Christianity accounts 

for the largest number of converts; (2) Christian 

organisations conduct service activities—schools, 

hospitals, poverty-alleviation programmes, relief 

during calamities, etc.—with exemplary dedication 

and professionalism. However, some of them, 

though not all, make the conversion agenda a part 

of their seva agenda; (3) Foreign funds supporting 

these charitable activities have greatly aided 

conversions. 

Take, for example, the following information, 

pertaining to the Foreign Contribution 

(Regulation) Act (FCRA), available on the 

website of the Union Home Ministry. During 

2005-06, Rs 7,877 crore was received by way of 

foreign donations to various NGOs, up from Rs 

26 

Conversions with foreign-funded charity 

Sudheendra Kulkarni 

While giving the statistical data on the conversion activities in India, the writer 

calls for rejection of unethical conversions. 

5,105 crore in 2003-04. Tamil Nadu (Rs 1,610 

crore) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs 1,011 crore) were 

among the highest recipients. The highest foreign 

donors were Gospel Fellowship Trust USA (Rs 

229 crore), Gospel for Asia (Rs 137 crore), Foundation 

Vincent E Ferrer, Spain (Rs 104.23 crores) 

and Christian Aid, UK (Rs 80.16 crores). The 

largest recipients were World Vision (Rs 256 

crore), Caritas India (Rs 193 crore), Rural Development 

Trust Andhra Pradesh (Rs 127 crore), 

Churches Auxiliary for Social Action (Rs. 95.88 

crores) and Gospel For Asia (Rs. 58.29 crore). 

The funds received by some of these organisations 

have trebled or quadrupled in just three years since 

the formation of the UPA Government. 

If the official Christian population in 

India is barely 3 per cent, why do Christian NGOs 

receive the largest share of foreign funds? From 

Christian organisations that are known to support 

evangelism in many Asian countries? 

In my travels in Karnataka, my home 

state, I have seen significant conversions to Christianity 

having taken place in recent years wherever 

World Vision and other foreign-funded 

NGOs started their charitable activities. Kannada 

newspapers in the past few weeks have carried 

graphic accounts of how proselytisation is packaged 

with charity, especially targeting vulnerable 


sections of society. There is resentment in Assam 

against World Vision’s flood-relief operations in 

Majuli, a large island in the Brahmaputra and a 

sacred seat of the Vaishnava monastery of 

Sankara Deva, the great reformist saint. 

Tripura is one of the Indian states 

where, as the CPI(M) Chief Minister Manik 

Sarkar has himself acknowledged, the foreignfunded 

Baptist church supports subversive activities, 

including the conversion of tribals. The 

church-backed separatist outfit, National Liberation 

Front of Tripura 

(NLFT), gunned 

down 16 Hindus at a 

marketplace in West 

Tripura district on 

January 13, 2002, on 

the eve of Makar 

Sankranti, an incident 

that went largely 

uncommented by the national media. 

The Internet has many reports about 

Buddhist resentment against World Vision and 

other evangelical bodies operating in Mongolia, 

Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar and even 

Tibet, “using unethical methods, under the guise 

of being charitable organisations, to buy converts 

in Asia”. The Australian, a leading newspaper of 

Australia, reported on December 24, 2005: “Tensions 

between Muslims and Western aid workers 

have begun to erupt in Aceh as the tsunami-devastated 

Indonesian province (where 170,000 

people died) slowly recovers. Islamic activists 

have claimed that aid workers are secretly attempting 

to convert Muslims to Christianity, pointing 

particularly to World Vision, the International 

Catholic Mission and Church World Service.” 

27 

“Freedom of religion enjoins 

upon all of us the equally non-negotiable 

responsibility to respect faiths other than 

our own, and never to denigrate, vilify or 

misrepresent them for the purpose of affirming 

superiority of our faith.” 

Lt Col A.S. Amarasekera, a Sri Lankan 

Buddhist activist, has expressed the following fear: 

“While everyone is focusing their minds on the 

LTTE problem, we Sinhalese Buddhists are pitted 

against another force as dangerous: the dangers 

that the Sinhalese Buddhist way of life will 

have to face due to conversions in the near future. 

What happened in South Korea, where the 

80 per cent Buddhist population was reduced to 

18 per cent in five decades, will be repeated here¿ 

It (is) proved beyond reasonable doubt that World 

Vision, an American-funded 

Christian evangelical 

organisation, was surreptitiously 

trying to convert Sinhalese 

Buddhists into Christianity.” 

The recent attacks 

on churches in Orissa and 

elsewhere have been justifiably 

condemned by all patriotic individuals. However, 

as I stated in my column last week, a distinction 

must be made between a violent campaign 

against our Christian brethren and a nonviolent, 

democratic campaign against organised 

conversions using foreign funds. I happened to 

participate in a remarkable inter-religion conference 

on conversions organised by the Vatican in 

collaboration with the World Council of Churches, 

Geneva, a Protestant body, in Lariano (Italy) in 

May 2006. Let me mention here some of the recommendations 

in a report unanimously adopted 

by the conference. 

“While everyone has a right to invite 

others to an understanding of their faith, it should 

not be exercised by violating other’s rights and 

religious sensibilities. At the same time, all should 


heal themselves from the obsession of converting 

others.” 

“Freedom of religion enjoins upon all 

of us the equally non-negotiable responsibility to 

respect faiths other than our own, and never to 

denigrate, vilify or misrepresent them for the purpose 

of affirming superiority of our faith.” 

“Errors have been perpetrated and 

injustice committed by the adherents of every 

faith. Therefore, it is incumbent on every community 

to conduct honest self-critical examination 

of its historical conduct as well as its doctrinal/theological 

precepts. Such self-criticism and 

repentance should lead to necessary reforms inter 

alia on the issue of conversion.” 

“A particular reform that we would 

commend to practitioners and establishments of 

all faiths is to ensure that conversion by ‘unethical’ 

means are discouraged and rejected by one 

and all. There should be transparency in the prac- 

Organised Religious ............. 

Continued from page no 25 

their faith and numbers. Since these actions and 

reactions disturb peace, whip up strife and have 

the potential for rioting and violence, governments 

should prohibit organised proselytization and religious 

conversions. 

The fraud of conversions in Orissa and 

the total ineffectiveness of the law governing conversions 

there can be gauged from the fact that 

in the entire state of Orissa. There are only less 

than a dozen conversions according to the Act! 

And this while 27% of the more than 6 lakhs population 

in Kandhamal District is Christian according 

to the enumeration. In order to pre-empt 

Christian-Hindu riots. 

28 

tice of inviting others to one’s faith.” 

“While deeply appreciating humanitarian 

work by faith communities, we feel that it 

should be conducted without any ulterior motives. 

In the area of humanitarian service in times of 

need, what we can do together, we should not do 

separately.” 

“No faith organisation should take 

advantage of vulnerable sections of society, such 

as children and the disabled.” 

“We see the need for and usefulness 

of a continuing exercise to collectively evolve 

a ‘code of conduct’ on conversion, which all faiths 

should follow.” 

Why shouldn’t there be a sustained and 

sincere all-religion debate in India on an anti-conversion 

law in the spirit of the above recommendations? 

 

(Write to: sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com ) 

Organised conversion by all missionaries and 

other organisations must be banned. 

The sources of funds for so many missionaries, 

with so many full time employed propagandists 

and tens of thousands of churches 

should be investigated. Courts must be moved to 

clarify whether the right to convert should be for 

individuals or to organised groups, societies, missionaries, 

trusts and churches. 

In the states where there are laws governing 

religious conversions [eg. MP, Orissa], figures 

must be obtained how many Commissions 

were recorded in accordance with the law and 

the divergence between these figures and the 

Christian population must be inquired into. 


O ver-familiarity with a problem 

sometimes lulls one’s awareness about its seriousness. 

Therefore, it may surprise many to know 

that the problem of terrorism has persisted for 

nearly half the period of the life of independent 

India. 

Since the closing years of the 1970s, 

India has been in the vortex of foreign-sponsored 

terrorism, which has claimed nearly 80,000 lives, 

both civilian and of security forces — in Punjab, 

Jammu and Kashmir, north-eastern states, and in 

the rest of India. There is no country in the world 

which has been a victim of terrorist onslaught for 

so long, and which has suffered such enormous loss.? 

If a menace has continued for so long, it 

means that its perpetrators have a definite purpose, 

a definite goal. We in the Bharatiya Janata 

29 

Don’t communalise the fight against terror 

L K Advani 

Terrorism is a proxy and a low cost war. The BJP favours setting up a federal antiterror 

agency, says its leader. 

Party had correctly assessed right in the beginning 

that the goal of terrorists and their patrons abroad 

was not only to threaten the common man and the 

civil society, not just to create ordinary law and 

order disturbances , but to endanger the very unity 

and security of the nation. What is happening in 

India today has vindicated our assessment. 

History will not pardon us if we fail 

In the history of nations, it is important 

to know what challenges they face. But it is far 

more important to know how they respond to 

these challenges. Nations oblivious to the threats 

that eat into their vitals run an imminent danger 

of losing their ability to protect themselves. The 

warning bells are loud and clear that, even though 

the nation’s internal security today stands seriously 

threatened, our response lacks political will. 

India does not have a seamlessly integrated 

counter-terrorism strategy backed by resolute operational 

capabilities. 

There is one more thing to be said about 

internal security challenges. These do not manifest 

suddenly, nor do they mature overnight. The 

ominous signals they send over a prolonged period 

of time can be noticed unmistakably. However, 

if we choose not to notice them, or are incapable 

of taking self-protective action, history will 

not absolve us. It is our charge against the Congress 

party that it is keeping its eyes wide shut, 


choosing not to see, nor to strike, all for the fear 

of losing its vote-bank. 

As far as the BJP is concerned, let me 

make it absolutely clear that we shall never conduct 

ourselves in such a short-sighted way that 

history would hold us guilty of not doing our duty 

at the right time and in the right manner. We are 

prepared to make any sacrifices for defending 

the unity and ensuring the security of our Motherland. 

Our vision is not limited by the considerations 

of where will our party be after the next 

elections. Rather, it extends to caring about 

whether India will be united and strong after a 

hundred years, after a thousand years. 

In the last millennium, 

India suffered many a blow. In 

the last century, India suffered 

blood-soaked Partition on account 

of a pernicious ideology. 

Therefore, all political parties 

and all sections of our society 

should so conduct themselves 

that no evil power, external or 

internal, can set its eyes on destabilizing, debilitating 

and dividing India. 

Terrorism: Invisible enemy’s low-cost, asymmetrical 

war 

For such strong protective force to 

emerge, it is necessary to know that in today’s 

world, failure to protect internal security has 

emerged as the most potent threat to the unity 

and integrity of nations, to the stability of their 

polity and to the protection their constitutional 

values. In the post-World War period, failure to 

deal with internal security challenges, as opposed 

to foreign aggressions, has been responsible for 

30 

the degradation of a large number of nation-states. 

Most States when confronted with serious internal 

threats thought it to be a passing phase and 

allowed the drift to reach a point where retrieval 

was no longer possible. 

Quite often, the adversarial forces won 

not because of their own strength but because of 

the weaknesses and mistakes of the regimes that 

were hit. Thus, history has a big lesson for us and 

it would be tragic if we failed to learn from past 

mistakes, both of our own and of others. 

An important lesson that we in India 

should learn — this lesson is indeed globally relevant 

— is that conventional wars are becoming 

increasingly cost-ineffective. As instruments of 

achieving politi- 

Foreign aggressions today cal and strategic 

objectives, their 

outcome is unpredictableoften,counter-productive. 

Hence, 

foreign aggressions 

today come disguised as proxy wars in the 

form of terrorism and other forms of violence. 

The enemy targets internal fault-lines for furthering 

his strategic and political objectives. Even less 

powerful nations are able to exercise this lowcost 

sustainable option, giving rise to the new doctrine 

of asymmetric warfare. 

We can see this clearly from what both 

Pakistan and Bangladesh have been doing to us. 

Neither can match India’s military strength. Yet, 

both have been threatening India with cross-border 

terrorism. 

This warfare is waged by an invisible 

enemy, for whom the civil society is both a source 

come disguised as proxy wars in the 

form of terrorism and other forms of 

violence. The enemy targets internal 

fault-lines for furthering his strategic 

and political objectives. 


of sustenance and the target. The enemy exploits 

the liberties, freedom, technological facilities and 

infrastructure to his advantage, making even the 

more powerful, better equipped security agencies 

feel helpless. 

“India needs azadi from Kashmir 

as much as Kashmir needs azadi from 

India” is seditious. The intellectual and 

literary community should strongly condemn 

such anti-national pronouncements, 

which are being given legitimacy 

by pseudo-secularists. 

Maligning of security forces: A dangerous 

new trend 

Maligning the security forces is often a 

deliberate ploy employed by the civil society supporters 

of terrorist outfits. Unfortunately, it sometimes 

influences the thinking of even well-meaning 

human rights activists. However, it should not 

be forgotten that our security forces work under 

extremely difficult circumstances. The rest of society 

can sleep peacefully only because of the 

diligent service rendered by our police, paramilitary 

and armed forces. I fully agree that innocent 

persons should not be harassed and penalised. But 

let us spare a thought for this question: What will 

happen to our society, to our nation, if the morale 

of our security forces is allowed to be weakened? 

Sadly, this is precisely what has happened 

in recent times. What is sadder is that leaders 

of the Congress party and the UPA government 

have allowed this denigration of our security 

forces to take place in the mistaken belief 

that those who are targeting our uniformed forces 

31 

are defenders of “secularism”. Their thinking 

about secularism has become so warped that anybody 

who targets the BJP becomes their friend. 

For example, there is this book, Khaki 

and Ethnic Violence in India by Omar Khalidi, 

an Indian scholar based in America, which 

provided the inspiration for the Sachar Committee 

to seek a communal census in the 

armed forces. 

Another example is a book by 

Arundhati Roy, a well-known author, on the 

terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on 

December 13, 2001. The book argues, quite 

nonsensically, that the attack was not carried 

out by terrorists but orchestrated by the security 

forces themselves with prior knowledge of 

the leadership of the NDA government. Her recent 

statement that “India needs azadi from Kashmir 

as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India” 

is seditious. The intellectual and literary community 

should strongly condemn such anti-national 

pronouncements, which are being given legitimacy 

by pseudo-secularists. 

Minorityism has gripped the Congress 

mindset 

Here is yet another example of how the 

UPA government has chosen to be influenced by 

the sinister and sustained campaign launched by 

such people. In spite of a Supreme Court verdict, 

it has not carried out the death sentence on Afzal 

Guru, who has been convicted for his role in the 

terrorist attack on Parliament. His was no ordinary 

crime. It was an offence of hitting at the 

country’s legislature, the highest seat of India’s 

constitutional authority, which symbolises its sovereignty 

and democratic polity.? Not even the 


national outrage on this issue has dented the UPA 

government’s apathy. Not even the extraordinary 

decision of the families of the martyred security 

personnel to return the gallantry awards has made 

it act. Such indeed is the grip of minorityism on 

the Congress mindset today. 

The same mindset has dictated the Congress 

party’s anti-national response to the issue 

of unchecked infiltration of Bangladeshis into 

32 

Once again, the same mindset has dictated 

the UPA government’s decision not to give 

approval to the anti-terror laws passed by the 

assemblies of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and 

Rajasthan, on the lines of an identical Act that 

exists in Maharashtra. 

I can understand a government not succeeding 

despite making its best efforts. But I cannot 

but strongly indict that government which does 

not take even a single positive step 

at the legislative, political, administrative 

or operational levels to 

counter a threat which is so profusely 

bleeding the nation. 

Stigmatising any faith in the 

fight against terror is wrong 

Friends, no campaign of 

terrorism that has continued for so 

long can be without an ideological 

motive. Recognising the anti-India 

ideological driving force behind terrorism, 

and evolving a proper nationalist 

ideological response to it, 

is critical to achieving long-term 

success. Here I would like to state 

Assam and other parts of the country. I was in two things emphatically. Firstly, no religion and 

Guwahati last week where, among others, I met no religious community can and should be blamed 

Jaideep Saikia, an eminent Assamese scholar who for the criminal acts of some individuals belong- 

has written a widely acclaimed book Terror Sans ing to that community. Stigmatising any commu- 

Frontiers: Islamist Militancy in North East Innity in the fight against terrorism is wrong, counterdia. 

The book is indeed an eye-opener, a strong productive, and must be condemned. 

warning against a problem which the Supreme At the same time, it is equally impor- 

Court itself, while striking down the IMDT Act tant to recognise that religious extremism of a 

as unconstitutional, has described as “external certain kind provides the ideological fervour and 

aggression”. The UPA government’s response to outward justification for terrorism and separat- 

this external aggression is simply to turn a blind ism. After all, religion was indeed misinterpreted 

eye. 

and misused to construct the two-nation theory, 


which had disastrous consequences for India, for 

both Hindus and Muslims. The ideology behind 

the ongoing war of terrorism against India is a 

continuation of the separatist ideology that created 

Pakistan. Which is why, the anti-India forces 

in Pakistan have sponsored cross-border terrorism 

as a deliberate policy to achieve Kashmir’s 

secession from India, and also to weaken India in 

many different ways. 

In recent years, an important new experiment 

has been introduced into this policy of 

cross-border terrorism. A section of Indian youth, 

misguided and exploited by their mentors abroad 

and radicalised by an interpretation of Islam that 

is propagated by Al Qaeda, have been inveigled 

into the vortex of terrorism. SIMI and Indian 

Mujahideen have 

33 

defend SIMI, which is banned as a terrorist 

organisation, and the prime minister did not even 

upbraid them! 

This contrast is also evident in the manner 

in which the two alliances have dealt with the 

issue of a strong anti-terrorism law. In a country 

that has suffered so much due to terrorism with 

international operational and financial linkages, the 

need for an effective anti-terrorism law ought to 

be so self-evident as to preclude any divisive debate 

over it. After all, the BJP supported the 

TADA Bill when Rajiv Gandhi’s government introduced 

it in Parliament. Without TADA, some 

of the culprits in Rajiv Gandhi’s murder case could 

not have been chargesheeted. When the NDA 

government assumed office, TADA had already 

ceased to exist. There- 

emerged as the face 

of indigenised terror. 

Their literature 

speaks volumes about 

their aversion for the 

very idea of a secular, 

plural and democratic 

India, and also 

There is mushrooming of 

sleeper cells and subversive modules of 

terrorists, both indigenous and foreign, 

in different parts of the country. As a 

result, every citizen of the country from 

Kashmir to Kanyakumari today feels insecure 

about his safety. 

fore, we legislated 

POTA. 

One of the 

first acts of the UPA 

government in 2004 was 

to repeal POTA. As a 

matter of fact, the war 

against terror figured 

about their resolve to 

very low in UPA’s Com- 

destroy India as we know it. 

mon Minimum Programme. The CMP did not 

Contrast between NDA and UPA govern- 

mention a single step to check trans-border infilmentstration, 

choking terror’s sources of funding, and 

How did the NDA government deal 

smuggling of weapons and explosives, etc. The 

with SIMI? And how has the UPA government 

government’s weak-kneed approach, as was in- 

dealt with it? I shall not go into all the well-known evitable, proved fatal in course of time. It not only 

details, except to say that the contrast is stark. emboldened the extremists groups, but also 

The contrast is between one alliance that cares brought down the efficacy of country’s security 

for India and the other that cares only for its vote- apparatus. The momentum generated by the sebank. 

So much so that two Cabinet ministers in ries of initiatives taken by the NDA government 

the UPA government had the audacity to publicly to strengthen national security, particularly the 


internal security, was lost within a year. 

During the first year in office, the UPA 

government enjoyed the fruits of the efforts of 

the previous government and, as a result, not a 

single incident of terrorism occurred outside 

How can India be safe under a 

government that has no mind of its own, 

that speaks in so many voices, and that 

is led by a prime minister who has an 

office but no authority? It is difficult to 

find out who runs this government and 

who takes the decisions. 

J&K.? But in the last three years the country has 

been brought to a pass where the terrorists are 

bleeding it with the frequency, place and time of 

their choice. There is mushrooming of sleeper 

cells and subversive modules of terrorists, both 

indigenous and foreign, in different parts of the 

country. As a result, every citizen of the country 

from Kashmir to Kanyakumari today feels insecure 

about his safety. 

POTA remained in existence from September 

2001 till December 2004. During this period, 

only eight incidents of terrorist violence, including 

the attack on Parliament and on 

Akshardham temple in Gandhingar, took place in 

India’s hinterland, leading to 119 deaths. Contrast 

it with what happened after POTA was repealed: 

The footprint of terrorism has grown alarmingly 

larger in the past four years. Jammu, Ayodhya, 

Varanasi, Samjhauta Express in Haryana, 

Mumbai, Hyderabad, Malegaon, Jaipur, Bangalore, 

Ahmedabad, Delhi in the latest attack, serial 

blasts rocked Agartala in Tripura just two days 

34 

ago. During this period, 625 persons have been 

killed and 2,011 injured, depicting a five-fold increase 

in those killed and injured. It is the same 

country, same people, same police and same intelligence 

agencies; what then explains this unprecedented 

increase? The answer is very simple: 

Weak laws have emboldened the terrorists and 

appeasement has failed to change their intentions. 

Congress cacophony about anti-terror law 

Since the serial bomb blasts in New 

Delhi on September 13, 2008, people’s pressure 

on the government to enact a strong antiterror 

law has greatly intensified. But the manner 

in which senior leaders of the UPA government 

and the Congress party have responded 

to this demand is pathetic. 

On September 17, Prime Minister Dr. 

Manmohan Singh, while addressing the governor’s 

conference, said: “We are actively considering legislation 

to further strengthen the substantive antiterrorism 

law in line with the global consensus on 

the fight against terrorism.” 

Earlier, The Hindu reported on September 

13: “In what is seen as the UPA government 

speaking with different voices over the need for 

states enacting tough anti-terror laws, the Union 

home ministry has not taken kindly to the suggestion 

of the National Security Adviser M K 

Narayanan favouring the Gujarat government’s 

proposal to have its own law to deal with terrorist 

activities and organised crime. The NSA’s suggestion 

was contained in a letter which he recently 

wrote to the home ministry. He reportedly 

saw no reason to turn down the request of the 

Gujarat government to have an anti-terror law. 

He also reportedly cited demands by a number of 


35 

senior police officers both at the central and state 

levels for enacting a comprehensive, tough antiterror 

law. Mr Narayanan did not see anything 

wrong in supporting such a demand.” 

The Administrative Reforms Commission, 

appointed by the government under the chairmanship 

of senior Congress leader Veerappa 

Moily, strongly supported the need for stringent 

anti-terrorist law. Speaking to the media on September 

17, he said “a strong anti-terror law with 

equally strong safeguards to prevent its misuse is 

needed.” 

On September 

24, Congress general 

secretary Rahul Gandhi 

said, “There should be a 

strong law to deal with 

terror. A powerful law, 

not a failed law. POTA menace of terrorism. 

is a failed law.” 

In spite of these pronouncements, what 

is the net result? “No, no, we do not need a 

new law. Existing laws, if strengthened, are 

enough to fight terror.” 

How can India be safe under a government 

that has no mind of its own, that speaks in 

so many voices, and that is led by a prime minister 

who has an office but no authority? It is difficult 

to find out who runs this government and who 

takes the decisions. 

Our commitment: To make India terror-free 

Friends, there is no point any longer in 

demanding anything from this spineless and visionless 

government. As they say in Hindi, the 

ulti ginati of this government (reverse counting 

of its days in office) has begun. The people of 

India will dethrone the UPA rulers whenever the 

next parliamentary elections are held. 

However, let me present some of our 

concrete promises, commitments and ideas to 

make India safe from terror. 

If voted to power, the NDA will re-enact 

POTA. The critics of POTA have so far been 

unable to show a single shortcoming in it. Therefore, 

the least we expect from our friends in the 

Congress party is that, now that many of its senior 

functionaries have spoken in favour of a strong 

anti-terror law, they 

While enemies of the nation are 

uniting and coordinating their actions, it is 

sad that narrow electoral considerations are 

standing in the way of political parties and 

governments giving a concerted fight to the 

should support re-enactment 

of POTA in the 

15 th Lok Sabha. 

I am saying 

this because the time 

has come to treat the 

fight against terrorism as 

a national issue requiring 

broad national consensus. It is in this spirit 

that recently wrote to former President Dr APJ 

Abdul Kalam, wholeheartedly supporting his suggestion 

for a bipartisan approach to combat terrorism. 

The BJP favours setting up a federal 

anti-terror agency, which has become absolutely 

necessary for evolving effective coordination between 

the Centre and the states — and also 

among states themselves — in intelligence-gathering, 

intelligence exchange, action, investigation, 

prosecution and planning and execution of preventive 

operations. 

The Vajpayee government, for the first 

time since Independence, had formulated an integrated 

policy for national security. A group of 

ministers, supported by experts’ taskforces (I had 


the privilege of heading this GoM), had made 

nearly 300 comprehensive recommendations for 

completely overhauling India’s security apparatus 

and management in the areas of defence, intelligence, 

internal security and border management. 

The UPA government has shown callous 

neglect towards implementation of these recommendations. 

The next NDA government will take 

up this task with the highest priority. 

While enemies of the nation 

are uniting and coordinating their actions, 

it is sad that narrow electoral considerations 

are standing in the way of 

political parties and governments giving 

a concerted fight to the menace of 

terrorism. 

Implementation of the recommendations 

of the Malimath Committee on overhauling 

the criminal justice system will be done in a timebound 

manner. 

The chain of India’s anti-terrorism apparatus 

can be only as strong as its weakest link. 

Today one of its weakest links is the local police 

station and its intelligence gathering capabilities. 

Therefore, modernisation of the police force with 

adequate central assistance, which had been 

started by the NDA government, will be rapidly 

intensified. 

Finally, I wish to make a fervent appeal 

to all sections of our society and polity: Let us not 

communalise the fight against terrorism. Terrorists 

have no religion. They are enemies of the 

nation and of humanity as a whole. Let us not 

imperil the security of India — and, going further, 

36 

the very unity of India — by going soft in the war 

against these enemies. This is not a war that any 

single party or any single community can win. It 

is a battle for the survival of India, in which all 

communities and all political parties are equal 

stake-holders. 

We wanted to extend our wholehearted 

support to the incumbent government for 

any positive action that it is prepared to take to 

combat terrorism. Unfortunately, it has not taken 

even a single initiative in this direction to which 

we could extend our support. 

While enemies of the nation are uniting 

and coordinating their actions, it is sad that 

narrow electoral considerations are standing in 

the way of political parties and governments giving 

a concerted fight to the menace of terrorism. 

I do hope that the public opinion in this country 

will create required pressure for political parties 

and their leaders to think beyond electoral considerations 

and fight terrorism with single-minded 

determination. 

One last point. The Navratri festival has 

begun. It will conclude on Vijayadashami, which 

symbolises the victory of Good over Evil. I suggest 

that, in addition to Ravan Dahan (burning 

of the effigy of Ravan), let Navratri pandals all 

over the country also do Atankvaad Dahan 

(burning the effigy of the Demon of Terrorism). 

Let it symbolise our collective resolve to make 

India terror-free. 

(Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K 

Advani delivered this speech while inaugurating a national 

seminar on terrorism organised by the Rambhau 

Mhalgi Prabhodini in New Delhi on October 4) 


T he long-declared dissatisfaction in 

the armed forces with the recommendations of 

the Sixth Pay Commission was ignored when the 

pay slips were being prepared for September. This 

apathy towards defence, if not also callousness, 

on the part of the Government is legendary. 

An ancient proverb goes: Any king who 

cannot defend his country has no right to be on 

the throne. Little wonder that it is difficult to remember 

an Indian regime having defeated a foreign 

power since Chandragupta Maurya drove 

out Nicator Seleucus, the Greek, in 303 BC. Defeating 

Pakistan would be like winning a civil war. 

Uncannily, even Muslim 

conquerors could not win 

after they had settled down 

in India. For example, 

Ibrahim Lodi with one lakh 

soldiers could not in 1526 defeat 

Babar with his 13,000 

men army. Nor could the 

Mughal emperor defend 

Delhi against Nadir Shah in 

1739. Emperor Alamgir II 

could not stave off Ahmed 

Shah Abdali, the Afghan, 28 

years later. 

There must be 

some flaw in our ethos 

37 

Give forces their due 

Prafull Goradia 

Neglect of armed forces demoralises them, and the Government has to pay a 

heavy price for it, warns the writer. 

whereby we keep getting defeated at foreign 

hands for 23 centuries. Perhaps there is a clue in 

the manner in which the Sixth Pay Commission 

recommendations have made the soldiers, sailors 

and airmen unhappy whereas the civilians feel 

well-paid and happy. Evidently, the priorities of 

the Government are lopsided. It is well-known 

that a primary reason for India’s slow progress 

when compared with Japan and China is our enormous, 

inefficient, if not also counter productive, 

bureaucracy. Yet the civilians are pampered. 

We also know that the Indian Army has 

40 per cent fewer officers than what is actually 


needed. The numbers that join are inadequate and 

many of them retire prematurely. Evidently, the 

profession of arms is not attractive to the Indian 

middle class of today. Yet no attempt was made 

by the Pay Commission to upgrade the officer 

ranks to levels equivalent to their civilian counterparts. 

Nor was the Ministry of Defence sensitive 

enough to tell the rest of Government to rectify 

the lacunae left by the 

Commission. The Defence 

Minister appears to have behaved 

like a postmaster, passing 

on what he had received. 

Although, TV viewers have 

watched for weeks the dissatisfaction 

reflected by the 

chiefs of all the three wings - 

Army, Navy and Air Force. 

Do we not realise that the soldier’s 

training is longer, tougher and therefore his entry 

into service more difficult than a civilian’s? And 

then, his promotion is slower except in war time. 

It takes up to 35 years to rise to be a Major General 

whereas to become a Joint Secretary can be 

a matter of only 17 years. Thereafter, the soldier 

retires early, the Major General four years earlier 

than a Joint Secretary; a Colonel as early as 52. 

The soldier has to remain in continual training; 

the civilian can sit back, take life easy after securing 

his appointment. Not to speak of the risk 

and the roughness of the battlefield. 

The root of the discrimination could well 

be the vantage point captured by the ICS officers 

who were the representatives of the masters of 

India, namely the British. The IAS officers inherited 

the sceptre of authority; their importance grew 

in inverse proportion to the decline in the quality 

38 

of the politician. Today, how many Ministers have 

a true grip over the subject of their portfolios? 

The disproportionate power and influence that has 

thus fallen into the lap of the bureaucrat are reflected 

in what the successive Pay Commissions 

have been recommending. 

During the same British rule, the armed 

forces were under the Commander-in-Chief and 

not directly under the Governor-General 

or Viceroy. In the 

bargain, the soldier remained 

on the sidelines of Government 

and, incidentally, had to 

tolerate the status of a national 

chowkidar in the eyes of the 

bureaucrat. To illustrate the 

point, look at Pakistan. There, 

with the advent of Field Marshal 

Ayub Khan to civilian power, the soldier 

ceased to be a mulazim and became a malik. The 

civilian slipped to a subordinate position. This is 

not to suggest that such an equation is desirable; 

certainly not. Nor, however, is the situation in India. 

A balance of importance is the answer. 

We must not forget that so much of our 

territory is in Pakistani and Chinese hands and a 

great deal more is under claim by Beijing. The 

Kashmir Valley is a bleeding sore while the 

Maoists and the Islamists may well provoke military 

intervention at some stage. Assam, Mizoram 

and Nagaland did require army help in the course 

of time. Pakistan may not pose a live danger while 

the Al Qaeda and Taliban are at the tail of 

Islamabad but what if these extremists were to 

cross the Indus? How can the people of India 

tolerate their armed forces being discounted collectively 

and disgruntled individually? 


W hatever happened to the ‘silent 

majority’ in India? Is it not time for all of them to 

speak up? 

Let me begin with the Muslims. Today 

when you hear about a terrorist attack in some 

city the knee-jerk reaction is to blame it on a 

Muslim fundamentalist group. The secondary reaction, 

a corrosive by-product of the first, is to 

dub all Muslims as ‘supporters of terrorism’. 

That is just insane! The vast majority 

of Muslims are neither terrorists nor supporters 

of terrorism. I would go so far as to say the average 

Indian Muslims despises those buffoons who 

dream of recreating the India of Aurangzeb. 

So why does the ‘sane’ majority persist 

in remaining the ‘silent’ majority? From time to 

time the occasional Muslim cleric issues a denunciation 

of terrorism. But such rare chirping is 

simply not good enough any longer, Muslim terrorists 

must be flayed from every pulpit across 

India when the Friday sermon is delivered. And 

this must be done not once or twice but for years 

on end. 

Consider the alternative if the Muslim 

majority does not actively distinguish itself from 

the smaller tribe of Muslim terrorists. Other Indians 

shall then believe that the absence of condemnation 

means automatic support. 

39 

It’s time for the ‘Silent Majority’ to speak up 

T V R Shenoy 

It is not enough if majority of Muslims are not supporters of terrorism. They 

must also denounce terrorism openly, says the writer. 

The anger among non-Muslims was so 

strong that one could almost reach out and touch 

it in the aftermath of the recent Delhi blasts. It is 

not often that you see senior politicians — from 

the Union home minister to the Leader of the Opposition, 

from the lieutenant governor of Delhi to 

its chief minister — attending the funeral of a 

humble police inspector. But public bitterness was 

so great they felt compelled to salute Inspector 

Mohan Chand Sharma. 

How many of the leaders of the Muslim 

community did you see laying a wreath at Inspector 

Sharma’s feet? How many of them were 

heard praising a brave man who had died fighting 

for India? 

What I did hear were reports of ‘tension’ 

in Jamia Nagar, the Muslim-dominated 

colony in Delhi where Inspector Sharma died fighting 

terrorists. To a non-Muslim ear it sounded 

querulous, completely out of proportion to everything 

that had happened. Which sounds worse, to 

be under suspicion (as they claim to be) or to be 

under a shroud (as Mohan Chand Sharma was) I 

am sorry if that sounds crude but that really is the 

long and the short of it. 

I will accept for argument’s sake that 

Muslims acutely resent their lack of representation 

in government agencies, corporate entities, 


and so forth. (Although it might help if more Muslim 

children actively persued, say, English and 

geometry rather than Urdu and calligraphy). I may 

even swallow that this sense of alienation is 

shared by the sane Muslim majority and the far 

smaller number of Muslim terrorists. 

But it is frankly ludicrous to say that 

unemployment excuses terrorism! Once — just 

once! — I would like to hear the Muslim leadership 

condemn violence against Hindus without 

qualifying their statements with mealy-mouthed 

‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and 

‘you must understands’. 

In the light 

of recent events, I 

must also criticise the 

howling minority that 

has hijacked the cause of the silent Hindu majority. 

(Some of you will undoubtedly complain that I 

am doing just what I condemned above, qualifying 

my statement about Muslim terrorists by seeking 

to equate it with Hindu agitators. Save your 

breath, I am not saying that what happened in 

Mangalore is remotely equivalent to planting 

bombs in Delhi!) 

Swami Vivekananda was a better Hindu 

than any of those idiots who went around trying 

to burn chapels. True Hindus, he said, did not just 

‘tolerate’ the faiths of others, they actually ‘respected’ 

them. (While the Swami may have used 

the word ‘toleration’ in his famous address to the 

Parliament of Religions, he appears to have actively 

disliked it in later years because it smacks 

of condescension, rather like an adult ‘tolerating’ 

bad behaviour in a child.) I have a fair idea of 

40 

If Hindus are required to respect 

other religions then it must be a two-way 

street. And, frankly, there is nothing so utterly 

disrespectful as proselytisation. 

what Swami Vivekananda might have said about 

attacks on churches — and it wouldn’t have been 

pretty. 

The current leaders of Hinduism have been 

less than forthcoming. Hinduism does not have 

an exact equivalent of the Muslim ulema, but 

would it have hurt senior acharyas to condemn 

the attacks on Christians? Not because it is illegal 

but specifically because such attacks disrespect 

the philosophical foundations of Hinduism? 

I cannot leave the Christians out of this, 

can I? If Hindus are re- 

quired to respect other religions 

then it must be a twoway 

street. And, frankly, 

there is nothing so utterly 

disrespectful as 

proselytisation. 

One can understand — and respect — 

conversion. If an individual chooses to change his 

faith after struggling with his convictions, so be it. 

But going around asking others to convert, with 

none-too-subtle overtones of ‘My God is better 

than your god!’ is not respect but hostility. And 

that, let us be honest, is the tone adopted by some 

Christian missionaries in India. 

Once again, I believe that this is not true 

of most Indian Christians. This country has had a 

long history of Christians — Catholic, Protestant, 

Mar Thoma Syrian Christians — living perfectly 

amicably without feeling any need to convert their 

Hindu neighbours. (Although it must be noted that 

one major exception was during Portuguese rule 

when the Catholics made converts at the point of 

the sword). 

There was a major change more recently, 

one that became clear when Pope John 


Paul II unveiled the document ‘Ecclesia in Asia’ 

when he came here in 1999. The Holy Father 

said on that occasion, ‘The peoples of Asia need 

Jesus Christ and his gospel. Asia is thirsting for 

the living water that Jesus alone can give.’ Can 

you blame Hindus for worrying after that? 

Oddly, at the same time the Vatican was 

fuming about ‘sheep stealing’ in Latin America. 

That was because Catholics were turning to some 

Protestant sects like the Evangelicals and the Pentecostals. 

(By the way, Republican vice-presidential 

nominee Sarah Palin was born a Catholic, but 

now attends an independent congregation). Is it 

surprising that Hindus share similar worries? 

41 

Bharatiya Pragna 

(A Nationalist Magazine for thinking people) 

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Nobody wants to admit it, but there is 

now some sort of a competition to convert Hindus 

between some Christian sects. I am glad that 

the Catholics of Kerala have publicly proclaimed 

their dislike of such tactics, but it would be better 

yet if the Christians of India as a whole proclaimed 

their disdain for conversions through allurement. 

Most Hindus, most Muslims, and most 

Christians in India are essentially peaceable folks 

who would rub along perfectly well with each other 

given half a chance. But will they get that option 

if the headlines are hijacked by extremists with 

their own agenda? It is time for the silent majority 

of each faith to speak up — and reclaim their 

religions. 

 

 

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T he innumerable temples in our country 

symbolise our cultural heritage and religious 

tradition. They stand tall and big as a symbolic 

representation of the timeless civilization of this 

great land and they also signify the generosity & 

spirit of those great kings & emperors who have 

built them. Each and very temple, small or big, 

has been standing for ages as a true testimony 

for the great history of this nation. If we are still 

able to relish the timeless grandeur of our heritage 

and magnificence of our religion, despite the 

assault by foreign invaders for more than thousand 

years and despite their destruction of thousands 

of temples and in spite of their nefarious 

attempts to distort our glorious history, it is purely 

because of the blessings of the Gods & Goddesses 

residing in these temples, the noble qualities of 

those kings & emperors who built them and the 

benevolence of our ancestors who maintained 

these temples. 

A visit to a temple will give a complete 

picture of the history of that particular place and 

we can understand the beauty of art, architecture, 

music, economy, administration, rule, law & 

order, people and their living style and everything 

prevailing then, based on the innumerable inscriptions 

inscribed on the walls, pillars, ceilings, staircases 

& even floors of the temple. Our ancient 

rulers, who built these splendid temples, were so 

42 

Save The Sculptural Splendour From Sacrilege 

B.R.Haran. 

The great historical temple at Tanjavur is facing a threat. The writer calls for 

preservation of all ancient arts, sculptures by the ASI. 

thoughtful that they took so much of care to give 

even minute details in the form of inscriptions. 

Even while waging war with each other, they took 

care not to destroy temples and kill cattle & civilians 

and that is why even today, we are able to 

know our ‘true’ history, culture & civilization. 

Probably that could also be the reason for the 

foreign invaders to focus more on destroying our 

temples and distorting our history, so that, this 

nation could be de-Hinduised and their religions 

could be established. 

Our temples and other structures stand 

witness to the different architectural styles of the 

various dynasties namely, the Gupthas, Mauryas, 

Rajputs, Marathas, Nayaks, Cheras, Cholas, 

Pandyas, Pallavas and many more. The Cholas 

of Thanjavur were great conquerors, who have 

extended their rule up to the Ganges in the north 

and Srilanka, Burma, Malayan Peninsula and Java 

& Sumatra Islands in the southeast, between the 

ninth and twelfth centuries. They have been great 

builders and constructed massive temples and 

other structures, which now serve as finest specimens 

of South-Indian architecture. One such 

wonder is the Brihadiswarar Temple in Thanjavur 

District of Tamilnadu 

The Chola King Rajaraja (985-1012) 

built this Brihadiswarar Temple, also known as 

‘Big Temple’ due to its sheer size, and also named 


it as ‘Rajarajeswaram’ after himself. He, along 

with family and other close members, made numerous 

endowments to this temple. The inscriptions 

inside the temple give a vivid explanation on 

those endowments together with the details of 

their value, interest on them, method of giving & 

receiving, regular donations for the customs & 

rituals, giving an overall picture of the system prevailing 

then. The Chola Grantha & Tamil inscriptions 

also give an elaborate idea on how the dance, 

music & fine arts were cultivated and 

served in the temple. The details on the 

customs & rituals including the chanting 

of Vedas & Devaram Hymns, serve 

as a great testimony of the Tamil-Hindus’ 

acceptance, reverence & appreciation 

of both Sanskrit & Tamil, considering 

both as ‘Divine’ languages. We 

can also understand from the inscriptions 

that a large section of people comprising 

dancers, musicians, drummers, 

choir groups, singers, sculptors, painters, 

carpenters, cooks, gardeners, 

flower vendors, Sanskrit & Tamil Pundits, 

Archagas, watchmen, accountants 

and a host of other officials and servants 

were all benefited by the temple. 

Interesting Facts of Big Temple: 

Experts and researchers have 

given certain interesting facts about the 

Big Temple: - 

Rajaraja Chola constructed two long 

streets exclusively for the accommodation 

of more than 400 dancers, 

whose names and addresses have 

been recorded in the inscriptions. 

43 

All these dancers, accompanied by more than 

100 musicians, performed and worshipped 

Bhagwan Shiva during the six poojas (Aaru 

kaala poojas) every day. 

The temple is constructed of large blocks of 

granite and the stone constituting the ‘Sikhara’ 

(Peak) is said to weigh 80 tonnes, taken to the 

top by means of an inclined plane, which was 

believed to have had its base almost 6 kms 

away. 


The two separate ‘Gopurams’ (Towers) at the 

entrance of the vast inner courtyard are carved 

with illustrations of Shivite stories such as 

‘Shiva-Parvathi marriage’, ‘Shiva saving 

Markandeya’ and ‘Arjuna getting Pasupatha 

weapon from Shiva’ etc, apart from two Dvarapalas. 

The central shrine has a colossal Linga named 

after Rajaraja as ‘Rajarajesvaramudayar’ and 

the huge monolithic ‘Nandhi’ (Rishaba) was 

installed by Sevappa Nayak. 

The paintings on the walls and their colours are 

soft & subdued with firm lines and bright & 

true to life expressions, serving as the priceless 

document of Chola art, which has been 

interestingly a continuation of Pallava art, as 

evidenced by the commonalities in the paintings 

of Kancheepuram and Thanjavur temples. 

Rajaraja Chola has documented his achievements 

in the name of ‘Mei Keerthi’ meaning 

‘True Accomplishment’. 

Rajaraja Chola was so magnanimous that he 

honoured the chief architect of the temple with 

the title ‘Rajaraja Perum Thachchan’. 

The plinth, walls, roofs and every part of the 

temple has been carved with inscriptions, sculptures 

& paintings, which serve as great documentation 

and account of the glorious Chola 

period. 

During the Islamic invasion of India, in 

the later stage, Malik Kafur had desecrated this 

temple when he invaded South India. He destroyed 

two tiers of the ‘Gopuram’, took some amount of 

Gold found on the ‘Vimana’ and vandalised many 

parts inside the temple. The French and the British 

have also used the massive ramparts of the 

44 

temple as barracks of their armies. Later on the 

temple came under the control of the ‘Marathas’, 

as per the turn of history. Now, the temple, which 

comes under the administration of Hindu Religious 

& Charitable Endowments Board of Tamilnadu 

government, is protected and maintained by the 

Archaeological Survey of India. 

Archaeological Survey of India 

The Archaeological Survey of India 

(ASI), which falls under the Ministry of Culture, 

is responsible for the archaeological researches, 

protection and Maintenance of ancient monuments 

and archaeological sites and remains of 

national importance. Besides it regulates all archaeological 

activities in the country as per the 

provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological 

Sites and Remains Act, 1958. It also 

regulates Antiquities and Art Treasure Act, 1972. 

To achieve its objective, the ASI works in 24 

Circles throughout the country. The organisation 

has a large work force of trained archaeologists, 

conservators, epigraphist, architects and scientists 

for conducting archaeological research projects 

through its Circles, Museums, Excavation 

Branches, Prehistory Branch, Epigraphy 

Branches, Science Branch, Horticulture Branch, 

Building Survey Project, Temple Survey Projects 

and Underwater Archaeology Wing. 

It is almost one year since the ASI has 

started working in Thanjavur Big Temple in the 

name of ‘Renovation & Restoration’, which has 

become an issue of utmost concern for historians, 

research scholars, religious scholars and the 

local people. They feel that the great historical 

temple is at peril and that the timeless inscriptions, 

sculptures and paintings are under immi- 

nent threat. 

 

 


R ecently, some columnists have advocated 

that India should let go of Kashmir. While 

not wanting to wear patriotism on my sleeve, I 

would say that the silent suffering majority of India 

wants none of this. 

The Kashmir “issue” in fact can no 

more be solved even by dialogue either with the 

Pakistanis or the Hurriyat leave alone the constitutional 

impossibility of allowing it to secede because 

in a few years hence we do not know what 

kind of Pakistan there will be. 

The Pakistan army today, by all informed 

sources available to me, has a majority of 

captains and colonels who owe allegiance to the 

Taliban and Islamic fundamentalism. In another 

five years, these middle ranks will reach, by normal 

promotions, the corp commander level. We 

know that the government in Pakistan has always 

been controlled by the seven corp commanders 

of the army. Therefore, a Taliban government in 

Pakistan five years hence seems a highly probable 

outcome. Jihad i.e., war against India will 

then be the logical consequence of that outcome. 

Decisive war 

Since the Hurriyat in Kashmir is an organization 

that cannot go against Pakistan, India 

has about five years to prepare for a decisive and 

45 

“A Nation’s Integrity” 

Dr. Subramanian Swamy 

The writer affirms strongly that Kashmir is an integral part of India, despite the 

argument of some Muslims that plebiscite must be held as for U.N. resolution. 

defining war with Pakistan and we must prepare 

to win it to avoid the balkanization of India. We 

should, therefore, refute those Indian columnists, 

academics or politicians who crave or preen themselves 

on being popular in Pakistan, by sounding 

reasonable and secular on the issue of Kashmir. 

Kashmir is now our defining identity and a touchstone 

for our resolve to preserve our national integrity. 

The population of that state may be majority 

Muslim, but the land and its history is predominantly 

Hindu. For our commitment to the 

survival of the ancient civilization of India and the 

composite culture that secularists talk of, we have 

not only to win that coming inevitable war but 

also never to part with Kashmir. 

I will not blame the jihadis for the coming 

war. They are after all programmed that way 

by their understanding of Islamic theology. I will 

blame ourselves for not understanding their understanding 

of the fundamentals of Islam as propounded 

in the Sira and the Hadith. It is foolish, 

therefore, in the face of this reality to expound 

the banal sentiment that “all Muslims are not 

terrorists or fanatics”. Of course that is true. Or 

that the Quran is a message of peace. May be it is. 

However, the Islam of the cutting edge 

of Muslim fundamentalism that is propounded by 

leaders such as Osama bin Laden is in Sira and 


Hadith, and now increasingly followed in Pakistan, 

which calls on the faithful to wage war 

against the infidels who cannot strike back effectively, 

and crush them. This is why the 

Kashmiri Hindu Pandits were driven out in the 

first place. 

The struggle for Kashmir by the 

jihadis thus is not just for independence. By their 

own declaration, they instead want a Darul Islam 

there and for the state to become a part of the 

Caliphate. We cannot allow in our national security 

interest such a state in our frontier to emerge. 

Hence the question of parting with Kashmir cannot 

arise. We have to go all out instead to retain 

Kashmir as a part of India wherein Hindus and 

Muslims can live in peace and harmony, if possible, 

or without that if necessary. 

Pakistanis often 

quote the UN resolutions 

on Kashmir to argue 

for a plebiscite. This 

obfuscates the fact of 

accession of the state to 

India. The legality of the 

Instrument of Accession signed in favour of India 

by the then Maharaja of J&K, Hari Singh, on 

October 26, 1947, has to prevail anyway. To disregard 

it will create a plethora of legal issues including 

what will become the status of the Maharaja 

if we abrogate this Instrument and reopen 

the question of Partition itself. Will therefore, for 

example, Dr Karan Singh, the son of Maharaja 

Hari Singh, have then a claim to be regarded again 

as an independent and sovereign King of J&K ? 

In the Junagadh issue, Pakistan had held the Instrument 

once signed is “final, irrevocable, and 

46 

not requiring the wishes of the people to be ascertained”. 

That is the correct legal position. But 

the Junagadh Nawab after signing the Instrument 

in favour of Pakistan, invaded the neighbouring 

princely states, states which had acceded to India. 

This violated the terms of the Indian Independence 

Act (1947) enacted by the British Parliament. 

So when the Indian Army was moved by 

Patel to defend these areas, the Nawab fearful 

of the consequences ran away to Pakistan. His 

subjects mostly Hindu and abandoned, then welcomed 

the Indian army to Junagadh. 

Furthermore, on what legal basis can we de novo 

seek to ascertain the wishes of the people of 

J&K as Pakistan asks, when the Indian Independence 

Act makes no provision for the same? After 

all it was this same Act which created a legal 

entity called Pakistan, 

carved out from the 

united India. India under 

the Act was a settled 

and continuing entity out 

of which the British 

Parliament made a new 

entity called Pakistan. 

Never in previous history was there ever a country 

called Pakistan. The concept itself was conceptualized 

as recently as in 1940 and legalised only 

in 1947. 

Never in previous history was 

there ever a country called Pakistan. The 

concept itself was conceptualized as recently 

as in 1940 and legalised only in 1947. 

By what mechanism can then Pakistan 

today seek to amend or even disregard the Act 

without unwittingly undermining the legal status 

of Pakistan itself? That is, if the Instrument of 

Accession is called into question, will not Partition 

itself be subject to challenge as without legal 

basis on the same consideration? 


I raise this question also because of the 

constitutional futility of pursuing the issue of secession 

of Kashmir. In the case of Beruberi in 

eastern India, the transfer of that area to 

Bangladesh, although had been agreed to, has 

been enmeshed in prolonged litigation in the Supreme 

Court because Article 1 of the Constitution 

bars de-merger of any Indian territory after 1950. 

Another argument advanced by these 

columnists is 

that if 

Kashmiri 

Muslims do 

not want to 

live in India 

then it is 

against human 

rights to 

force them to 

do so. That 

argument is 

contradicted 

by the Bangladesh example. The area of that 

country was first created by Partition. The Indian 

army jawans in 1971 had created Bangladesh 

out of Pakistan in circumstances well known to 

all. But despite that, millions of Bengali Muslims 

have come into India as illegal immigrants and 

are quite happy working with Hindus in India. But 

Partition was agreed to by Hindus for those Muslims 

whom Jinnah said could not bear to live under 

alleged Hindu hegemony. And now, after getting 

their territory, the Bangladeshi Muslims, who 

were party to Partition, are now voting with their 

feet to proclaim that they are happy to live in India 

with Hindus. 

47 

Kashmiri Muslims 

Hence, similarly, after getting Kashmir 

as an independent country, the Kashmiri Muslims 

may, like the Bangladeshi Muslims, come to live 

in India anyway! What then is the point of severing 

Kashmir from India as these columnists suggest 

? 

India should henceforth refuse to engage 

in any dialogue 

on Kashmir 

except in that 

which the other 

side accepts the 

whole of Kashmir 

as an integral and 

inalienable part of 

India. The people 

of Kashmir should 

be left in no doubt 

in their minds 

where the overwhelming 

number 

of citizens of India stand on the future of the state. 

Therefore, those who at this crucial juncture of 

our history advocate any dilution of this stand are 

leading the people of Kashmir to more misery by 

encouraging the forces of jihad to step up their 

nefarious activities by raising hopes that with rising 

costs, India will capitulate. The fact is that 

any democratically elected Indian government 

knows that it can never capitulate on issues of 

national integrity and risk an upheaval. The 

Rama Setu and Amarnath issues have proved that 

beyond doubt. Advocating letting go of Kashmir, 

therefore, is a dangerous exercise in futility. 

 

 


Indian War Of 

Independence 1857 

1. Parasnis’s Life of the Queen of Jhansi. 

In the early life of Nana Sahib and 

Manu Bai, we have the key to their future greatness. 

Their flesh and blood, even in early childhood, 

had been permeated by the love of Swaraj 

and a noble sense of self-respect and pride of 

ancestry. In 1842, the Chabeli was given In 

marriage to Maharaja Gangadhar Rao Baba 

Sahib of Jhansi, and thus became Maharani 

Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. She was extremely popular 

at the Court of that place and gained the affection 

and devoted loyalty of all her subjects, 

as the later part of this history will show. 

In 1851, the Peshwa Bajirao II died. 

Let not a single tear be shed for his death ! For, 

after losing his own kingdom in 1818, this blot in 

the escutcheon of the Peshwas spent his time in 

helping to ruin the kingdoms of other kings ! He 

saved considerably on the pension of eight lakhs 

of Rupees allowed to him by the Company’s 

Government, and invested it in the notes of the 

Company. Later when the English went to war 

with Afghanistan, he helped them with a loan of 

fifty lakhs out of his savings. Soon after, the English 

went to war with the Sikh nation of the 

Panjab. And all were in hopes, and the English 

48 

The Volcano 

NANA SAHIB & LAXMI BAI 

V D Savarkar 

in fears, that the Mahratta 

at Brahmavarta would 

make common cause with 

the Sikh Misals against the 

English power. When almost 

the whole of India was fighting 

against Aurangzeb, Shri Guru Govind Singh, after 

a defeat in the Panjab, had come into the 

Maharashtra, it is said, to enter into an active 

alliance with the Mahrattas. Now it seemed that 

the Mahrattas would go into Northern India on 

a similar mission, and perform the unfulfilled 

promises of the alliance. But Baji spoiled the 

sport at the eleventh hour. This Baji - this Peshwa 

of Shivaji and his descendants – spent money 

out of his own pocket and sent one thousand 

infantry and one thousand cavalry to the assistance 

of the English ! This Bajirao had not troops 

enough to help the enemy to desecrate the house 

of Guru Govind Singh ! O unfortunate nation ! 

The Mahrattas should take the kingdom of the 

Sikhs and the Sikhs should take the kingdom of 

the Mahrattas – and all this for what ? In order 

that the English might dance in joy over the 

corpses of both. We have rather to thank the 

God of Death that such a traitor – this Baji – 

died before 1857. 


Before his death, Baji Rao made a will 

by which he bequeathed all the rights of succession 

and powers of the Peshwa to his adopted 

son Nana Sahib. But immediately on the news 

of Baji Rao’s death, the English Government announced 

that Nana Sahib had no right whatsoever 

to the pension of eight lakhs. What must 

have Nana Sahib thought on hearing this decision 

of the English ? 

The conflict of passions in his heart is 

portrayed to some extent in the despatch written 

under his direction. It says : “It is simply unjust 

that the high family of thePeshwa should be 

treated by the Company so lightly as this. When 

our throne and kingdom were handed over to 

the Company by Shrimant Bajirao, it was done 

so on the condition that the Company should 

pay eight lakhs of Rupees every year, as its price. 

If this pension is not to last for ever, how can the 

surrender of the kingdom, which was given as a 

consideration for this pension, last for ever in 

49 

your hands ? That one party alone should be 

bound by the contract, while the other itentionally 

fails to do its part is absurd, unjust, and inconsistent.” 

Then follows a clear and well reasoned 

passage refuting the theory that he, being an 

adopted son, cannot get his father’s rights, citing 

authorities from Hindu Shastras, from rules 

of politics and customary law. 

After that, the despatch of Nana Sahib 

continues :- “The Company puts forward another 

excuse to cease to pay the pension, namely 

that Bajirao II has saved a considerable sum 

which is quite sufficient to defray the expenses 

of his family. But the Company forgets that the 

pension was given as a condition of the treaty, 

and there is no single clause in the treaty directing 

the mode in which the pension should be 

spent. 

The pension is the price of the kingdom 

given, and Bajirao would have been justified 

had he saved even the whole of the pension 


! We ask the Company whether they have got 

the least right to question the manner in which 

the pension is expended ? Nay, can the Company 

ask even its own servants as to how they 

spend their pensions or what they 

save out of it ? But it is strange 

that a question, which the Company 

dare not ask even of its own 

servants, is raised in the case of 

the heir to a royal dynasty, and is 

made the pretence to break a 

treaty.” With this argumentative 

and spirited despatch, Nana’s 

faithful ambassador, Azimullah 

Khan, left for England. 

Of the important characters 

in the Revolutionary War of 

1857, the name of Azimullah 

Khan is one of the most memorable. Among the 

keen intellects and minds that first conceived the 

idea of the War of Independence, Azimullah must 

be given a prominent place. And among the many 

plans by which the various phases of the Revolution 

were developed, the plans of Azimullah 

deserve special notice. 

Azimullah was very poor by birth. He 

rose gradually on the strength of his own merits, 

and at last became the trusted adviser of Nana 

Sahib. His early poverty was such that he served 

as a waiter in the household of an Englishman. 

Even while in such a low state, the fire of ambition 

was always burning in his heart. He took 

advantage of his profession as a Baberchi in 

order to learn foreign languages, and in a short 

time he had learned to speak English and French 

with fluency. After acquiring a knowledge of both 

these languages, Azimullah left the service 

50 

2. Nana’s Claims against the East India 

Company of the Feringhis and began to study 

in a school at Cawnpore. By his extraordinary 

ability, he soon became a teacher at the self- 

same school. While still serving as a teacher in 

the Government school at Cawnpore, his reputation 

as an able scholar reached the ears of 

Nana Sahib, and he was introduced at the 

Brahmavarta Durbar. Once, at the Durbar, his 

wise counsels were appreciated and valued by 

Nana Sahib, who would take no important step 

without first consulting Azimullah. 

In 1854, he was made the chief representative 

of Nana Sahib and sent to England. 

His face was noble, his speech sweet and silvery. 

Knowing very well the customs and manners 

of contemporary English life, he soon became 

very popular among Londoners. Attracted 

by his pleasant and silvery voice, his spirited mien 

and Oriental magnificence, several young English 

women well in love with Azimullah. 

to be Continued...... 


51 

The Nexus of Isms: 

The Nexus of Christism, Islamism, and Maoism in India 

Dr. Babu Suseelan 

Christism, Islamism and Maoism compete and oppose one another in many parts 

of the world. But, in India they have made unholy alliance against Hindus. 

P roselytizing Christism, Marxism, and ties, or parties needing special representation in 

Jihadi Islamism are totalitarian and rigid empire a democracy to win the vote banks for the UPA 

building political systems for invasion, expansion- (Indian National Congress) and inadvertently or 

ism, plunder, oppression, exploitation, and de- many a times knowingly accord them special stastruction 

of “non-believers” and their traditional tus and opportunities for expansion. 

cultures and dogmas. These “closed” systems Hindus and the so-called “secularists” 

compete and oppose one another in many parts forget the Christists’, Islamists’, and Commu- 

of the world. However, in India they seemed to nists’ past history, their track record of decep- 

have become strange bedfellows and have made tion and violence, their current designs, and fu- 

an unholy alliance against Hindu systems of phiture plans for wiping out Hindu and eventually 

losophy and pluralistic spiritual traditions. the entire secularist pluralistic majority. The word 

Their use of a veneer of noble values, “Hindu” is abhorred and vilified in their own 

political philosophy, falsely presented secular- country and Hindus are hated by their own 

ism and beliefs about equality in human exist- brothers who pride themselves as “secularists” 

ence, and dualistic perspectives conceal their te- and not “Hindus” though going to the same Hindu 

nacious and inflexible dogmas that are often temples and offering same prayers as the other 

taken for granted as benign and even pious when Hindus, but feeling ashamed to say they are Hin- 

it comes to religions. There is a widespread blind dus in their own country. Such schizophrenic 

spot for their historical track record of unjust existence of the Hindus is now ubiquitous. 

and oppressive as well as violent tactics full of The “secular” media have created a ter- 

genocides and widespread deceits and destrucrible inferiority complex among the Hindus by 

tion of their host societies and their cultures, reli- focusing microscopically on and magnifying the 

gions, and even their languages over the centuries. shortcomings and evils of Hindu society as if 

We Indians generally are unaware of other societies do not have their own defects 

their hidden agendas and ulterior motives. Our and social evils although they are in fact of gi- 

Indian politicians lump them as benign “religions” gantic proportions, and historically, viciously and 

to be given all concessions in a secular country virulently destructive towards other groups of 

or respect them as political systems, communi- peace loving people. 


By promoting such anti-propaganda 

against Hindus the secular English media in India 

and the UPA Government have facilitated 

the creation of a criminal nexus against Hindus, 

Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains in India but this axis 

is also operating around the world. 

The goal of this organized axis or nexus 

is to eliminate Hindus and Buddhists from political 

power from Fiji, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Indonesia, 

Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, and 

eventually from India. Their unholy alliances hire 

psychological warfare experts 

to subvert, and sabotage 

Hindu and Buddhist nationalism 

and to create social crisis 

and political turmoil within their 

societies using their 

broadmindedness and liberal 

political philosophy itself as a 

weapon against them and 

weaken their strongholds in a 

systematic and sustained manner 

for decades. 

They conduct in depth sociological, cultural 

anthropological, demographic, geographic, 

and socio-economic study of various communities 

for decades in their targeted countries before 

planning their strategies for planting 

Churches, for example, or for building Mosques 

in strategic locations, for example, near Railway 

stations, near important crossroads or even police 

stations, or the holy places of the other 

groups, etc. from where they could exercise 

power or control when the time requires it or to 

sabotage the pilgrimages or gatherings of the 

other groups to be eventually dominated by them 

by design. 

52 

They develop nation wide or region wise 

organized intervention policies and programs, 

designed to create tensions and violence for the 

promotion and maintenance of so called Western 

Christian values, Islamists’ values, or Communism. 

The crisis we witness in India, Nepal, 

Sri Lanka, Fiji, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, 

and Burma is the creation of this criminal gang 

whether they work together or singly in any domain. 

Their goal is to create fear, helplessness, 

and hopelessness among the native people, make 

them powerless or at least feel powerless and to 

estrange them 

from their own 

indigenous 

spiritual tradition 

and to enslave 

them 

with the rigid, 

closed Christian 

dogma, 

Islamic 

dogma, Sharia Law, or make them adopt communism 

as a political philosophy. In effect the 

populations influenced by these elements become 

loyal to foreign masters, whether they are 

white Christians, Saudi Muslims, or Chinese or 

Russian Maoists or Marxists. 

The Christists have never shown the 

courage to subvert any Islamists’ strongholds, 

such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and 

even Iraq but they are using lame “democratic” 

arguments to expand their empire 

in India appealing the secular-minded to respect 

their “freedom of religion” rights and 

view it as the same as “freedom to engage 

in conversions of masses,” 

White Missionaries and their stooges finance, 

direct, and manage some of the Maoistsanarchists 

(as their hired Goondas or mafia) as 

their subversive agents to create crisis and to 

replace traditional ways with Christian values. 

The Christian-Marxist-Anarchist alliance has significant 

implications for Hindus and Buddhists. 

The strangest alliance is that of the Christists 

and the Islamists to come together as minorities 


with common enemy which they view as the 

Hindu majority in India. The Christists have 

never shown the courage to subvert any Islamists’ 

strongholds, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, 

and even Iraq but they are using lame 

“democratic” arguments to expand their empire 

in India appealing the secular-minded to respect 

their “freedom of religion” rights and view it as 

the same as “freedom to engage in conversions 

of masses,” telling some of the uninformed Hindus 

that they were not or 

never were part of the 

Hindu society. They will 

never get away with such 

tactics in any Muslim majority 

country and they 

know it quite well no matter 

how much noise they 

make against the Muslims 

in the Western world 

and empathize and side with Muslims against the 

Hindus in the Western world using the slogans 

of Human Rights movement which is exactly 180 

degrees opposite of the true facts if any injustice 

and violation of human rights is closely examined 

from historical perspective and dimensions. 

They abuse the caste, creed, and tribal 

politics to divide and rule. This state of affairs 

constantly promoting subversions needs to be 

seen as a reality and not just a paranoid view of 

these elements. The nexus has its own sociopathic 

and violent well funded ways that are 

mainly subtle but vast and only the tip of the iceberg 

is visible when violence emerges against the 

majority populations of these countries or when 

the political upheavals take place as in Nepal. 

It would be easy to dismiss and say the Maoists 

53 

will not be colluding with the Christists. It would 

be easy to say that the Christians will not choose 

to be communists who detest all religions. In 

reality this axis operates on the basis of transient 

alliances against the common “enemy,” that is 

the majority which is not yet raising up to their 

tactics and resisting their empire building efforts 

and grabbing of large real estates within India to 

be controlled by foreign elements using foreign 

infusion of funds. An obvious example is the state 

of Kerala which 

was originally the 

Hindu dominated 

state of Travancore 

in the 1940’s and 

now boasting majority 

Muslim and 

Christian domination 

as regards 

wealth and political 

power but electing a Communist Government 

ruled by Christian leaders. Even the most popular 

news agency of Manorama in Kerala is owned 

and controlled by the Christists with strong communist 

leanings. 

An obvious example is the state of 

Kerala which was originally the Hindu dominated 

state of Travancore in the 1940’s and 

now boasting majority Muslim and Christian 

domination as regards wealth and political 

power but electing a Communist Government 

ruled by Christian leaders. 

This is a new form of neo-colonialism 

that can be defined as spreading the influence or 

control over large sections of the world populations 

from the “Western White Christian alliance 

of denominations” under the guidance of the 

evangelists. Islamists control operating from 

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (ISI), and Maoists 

mostly from China. The sooner the Hindu majority 

recognizes this plot and has effective proactive 

strategy to prevent erosion of its majority 

by these elements, stronger will emerge the Indian 

nation. The erosion, if allowed to fragment 


and weaken India and its majority Hindu Society 

economically as well as militarily through such 

subversion, India stands to lose its opportunity 

to emerge as a future super-power. That is exactly 

what these elements do not want. They 

do not want India to emerge as a super-power. 

Instead of viewing the pluralistic and 

open systems of Hindu majority of India which 

by its very nature has always been “secular” for 

millennia they view the new secular majority as 

their own new invention and influence over the 

educated Hindus who have a secular attitude and 

way of life. They view the woken up Hindus as 

a major threat to their expansionist schemes. 

They approach the uneducated and uninformed 

poor sections of the Hindu society to pitch them 

against the educated to create unnecessary antagonism 

between the two groups which given 

time, education, and economic progress would 

54 

“How grateful we should be to 

Hindus, who found this great 

decimal system which does 

not occur to the minds of such 

mighty mathematicians as 

Archimedes and Appollonius” 

- Laplace 

naturally become equal eventually. The Christists 

and Islamists do not want China to be the waking 

giant but they cannot use the same tactics 

they use in India in China, as China is not as soft 

a target as India any more. China restricts the 

political subversive movements within its own 

territory by nipping them in the bud. China, Pakistan, 

Saudi Arabia, and the other elements 

would like to keep India fragmented and weak 

with its resources spent in dealing with the internal 

strife, skirmishes, and even wars than to see 

it emerge as a strong power. That is what perhaps 

explains the rationale for the emergence of 

this nexus. The recognition of this nexus and 

strategic proactive efforts to resist and defeat its 

eroding design for destruction of the Indian society 

is crucial for the survival and economic 

progress of India. 

 

 

“We owe a lot to Indian Scientists” 

“We owe a lot to Indians, 

who taught us how to count, 

without which no worth while 

scientific discovery could 

have been made.” 

- Albert Einstein 


I t would not be difficult to come to an 

agreement as to what we understand by science. 

Science is the century-old endeavour to bring 

together by means of systematic thought the perceptible 

phenomena of this world into as thorough-going 

an association as possible. To put it 

boldly, it is the attempt at the posterior reconstruction 

of existence by the process of 

conceptualization. But when asking myself what 

religion is I cannot think of the answer so easily. 

And even after finding an answer which may 

satisfy me at this particular moment, I still remain 

convinced that I can never under any circumstances 

bring together, even to a slight extent, 

the thoughts of all those who have given 

this question serious consideration. 

At first, then, instead of asking what religion 

is I should prefer to ask what characterizes 

the aspirations of a person who gives me 

the impression of being religious : a person who 

is religiously enlightened appears to me to be 

one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated 

himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and 

is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations 

to which he clings because of their super 

personal value. It seems to me that what is important 

is the force of his super personal content 

and the depth of the conviction concerning its 

overpowering meaningfulness, regardless of 

whether any attempt is made to unite this con- 

55 

Science and religion Albert Einstein 

Unlike religion, science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and 

outside of its domain value judgements of all kinds remain necessary. 

tent with a divine Being, for otherwise it would not 

be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious 

personalities. Accordingly, a religious person 

is devout in the sense that he has no doubt 

of the significance and loftiness of those super 

personal objects and goals which neither require 

nor are capable of rational foundation. They exist 

with the same necessity and matter-offactness 

as he himself. In this sense religion is 

the ageold endeavour of mankind to become 

clearly and completely conscious of these values 

and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend 

their effect. If one conceives of religion and 


science according to these definitions then a conflict 

between them appears impossible. 

For science can only ascertain what is, 

but not what should be, and outside of its domain 

value judgements of all kinds remain necessary. 

Religion, on the other hand deals only 

with evaluations of human thought and action : it 

cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships 

between facts. According to this interpretation 

the well-known conflicts between religion and 

science in the past must all be ascribed to a 

misapprehension of the situation which has been 

described. 

For example, a conflict arises when a 

religious community insists on the absolute truthfulness 

of all statements recorded in the Bible. 

This means an intervention on the part of religion 

into the sphere of science; this is where the 

struggle of the Church against the doctrines of 

Galileo and Darwin belongs. On the other hand, 

representatives of science have often made an 

attempt to arrive at fundamental judgements with 

respect to values and ends on the basis of scientific 

method, and in this way have set themselves 

in opposition to religion. These conflicts have all 

sprung from fatal errors. 

Now, even though the realms of religion 

and science in themselves are clearly marked off” 

from each other, nevertheless there exist between 

the two strong reciprocal relationships and 

dependencies. Though religion may be that which 

determines the goal, it has, nevertheless, learned 

from science, in the broadest sense, what means 

will contribute to the attainment of the goals it 

has set up. But science can only be created by 

those who are thourougly imbued with the aspiration 

toward truth and understanding. This 

56 

source of feeling, however, springs from the 

sphere of religion. To this there also belongs the 

faith in the possibility, that the regulations valid 

for the world of existence are rational, that is, 

comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of 

a genuine scientist without that profound faith. 

The situation may be expressed by an image : 

science without religion is lame, religion without 

science is blind. 

Though I have asserted above that in truth 

a legitimate conflict between religion and science 

cannot exist, I must nevertheless qualify this as- 

The idea of God in the religions 

taught at present is a sublimation of 

that old concept of the gods. Its anthropomorphic 

character is shown, for 

instance, by the fact that men appeal 

to the Divine Being in prayers and 

plead for the fulfillment of their wishes. 

sertion once again on an essential point, with 

reference to the actual content of historical religions. 

This qualification has to do with the concept 

of God. During the youthful period of 

mankind’s spiritual evolution human fantasy created 

gods in man’s own image, who, by the operations 

of their will, were supposed to determine, 

or at any rate to influence, the phenomenal 

world. Man sought to alter the disposition 

of these gods in his own favour by means of magic 

and prayer. The idea of God in the religions taught 

at present is a sublimation of that old concept of 

the gods. Its anthropomorphic character is 

shown, for instance, by the fact that men appeal 

to the Divine Being in prayers and plead for the 


fulfillment of their wishes. 

Nobody, certainly, will deny that the idea 

of the existence of an omnipotent, just and omni 

beneficent personal God is able to accord man 

solace, help and guidance; also, by virtue of its 

simplicity it is accessible to the most undeveloped 

mind. But, on the other hand, there are 

decisive weaknesses attached from the beginning 

of history. That is, if this being is omnipotent, 

then every occurence, including every human 

action, is His work; how is it possible to think of 

holding men responsible for their deeds and 

thoughts before such an almighty Being ? In giving 

out punishment and rewards He would to a 

certain extent be passing judgement on Himself. 

How can this be combined with the goodness 

and righteousness ascribed to Him ? ‘ 

The main source of the present-day conflicts 

between the spheres of religion and of science 

lies in this concept of a personal God. It is 

the aim of science to establish general rules which 

determine the reciprocal connection of objects 

and events in time and space. For these rules, or 

laws of nature, absolutely general validity is required 

— not proven. It is mainly a programme, 

is also founded on partial successes. But hardly 

anyone could be found who would deny these 

laws we are able to predict the temporal 

behaviour of phenomena in certain domain with 

great precision and is deeply embedded in the 

consciousness of the modern man, even though 

he may have grasped very little of the contents 

of those laws. He need only consider that planetary 

courses within the solar system may be calculated 

in advance with great exactitude on the 

basis of a limited number of a simple laws. In a 

similar way, though not with the same precision, 

57 

it is possible to calculate in advance the mode of 

operation of an electric motor, a transmission 

system, or of a wireless apparatus, even when 

dealing with a novel development . 

Nobody, certainly, will deny 

that the idea of the existence of an omnipotent, 

just and omni beneficent personal 

God is able to accord man solace, 

help and guidance; also, by virtue 

of its simplicity it is accessible to 

the most undeveloped mind. 

To be sure, when number of factors coming 

into play in a phe-nomenological complex is 

too large, scientific method in most cases fails 

us. One need only think of the weather, in which 

case predication even for a few days ahead is 

impossible. Nevertheless no one doubts that we 

are confronted with a causal connection whose 

causal components are in the main known to us. 

Occurences in this domain are beyond the reach 

of exact prediction because of the variety of factors 

in operation, not because of any lack of order 

in nature. 

We have penetrated far less deeply into the 

regularities obtaining within the realm of living things, 

but deeply enough nevertheless to sense at least 

the rule of fixed necessity. One need only think of 

the systematic order in heredity, and in the effect of 

poisons, as for instance alcohol, on the behaviour 

of organic beings. What is still lacking here is a grasp 

of connections of profound generality, but not a 

knowledge or order in itself. 

The more a man is imbued with the ordered 

regularity of all events the firmer becomes 


his conviction that there is no room left by the 

side of this ordered regularity for cause of a different 

nature. For him neither the rule of human 

nor the rule of divine will exists as an independent 

cause of natural events. To be sure, the 

doctorine of a personal God interfering with natural 

events could never be refuted, in the real 

After religious teachers accomplish 

the refining process indicated they 

will surely recognize with joy that true 

religion has been ennobled and made 

more profound by scientific knowledge. 

sense, by science, for this doctrine can always 

take refuge in those domains in which scientific 

knowledge has not yet been able to set foot. 

But I am persuaded that such behaviour 

on the part of the representatives of religion 

would not only be unworthy but also fatal. For a 

doctrine which is able to maintain itself not in 

clear light but only in the dark, will of necessity 

lose its effect on mankind, with incalculable harm 

to human progress. In their struggle for the ethical 

good, teachers of religion must have the stature 

to give up the doctrine of a personal God, 

that is, give up that source of fear and hope which 

in the past placed such vast power in the hands 

of priests. In their labourers they will have to 

avail themselves of those forces which are capable 

of cultivating the Good, the True, and the 

Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure, a 

more difficult but an incomparably more worthy 

58 

task. After religious teachers accomplish the refining 

process indicated they will surely recognize 

with joy that true religion has been ennobled 

and made more profound by scientific knowledge. 

If it is one of the goals of religion to liberate 

mankind as far as possible from the bondage 

of egocentric cravings, desires and fears, 

scientific reasoning can aid religion in yet another 

rule which permit the association and foretelling 

of facts, discovered to the smallest possible number 

of mutually independent conceptual elements. 

It is in this striving after the rational successes, 

event though it is precisely this attempt which 

causes it to run the greatest risk of falling a prey 

to illusions. But whoever has undergone the intense 

experience of successful advances made 

in this domain is moved by profound reverence 

and understanding he ahieves, a far-reaching 

emancipation from that humble attitude of mind 

toward the grandeur of reason incarnate in existence, 

and which, in its profoundest depths, is 

inaccessible to man. This attitude, however, appears 

to me to be religious, in the highest sense 

of the word. And so of the dross of its anthropomorphism 

but also contributes to a religious 

spiritualization of our understanding of life. 

The future the spiritual evolution of mankind 

advances, the more certain it seems to me 

that the path to genuine religion does not lie 

through the fear of life, and the fear of death, 

and blind faith, but through striving after rational 

knowledge. In this sense I believe that the priest 

must become a teacher if he wishes to do jus- 

tice to his lofty educational mission. 

 

 


L et us assume that a ray of light was 

sent into a dark room and the door was closed. 

What happens to that ray? The layman’s answer 

would be that the walls absorbed the ray. Likewise, 

let us assume that the ray was sent into the 

closed room for crores of years uninterruptedly. 

Will there be, then, any possibility, for any change 

in the atomic structure of the atoms in those walls, 

due to concentration of energy? If so, why not 

the mountains, which are exposed to the sunrays 

for thousands of crores of years, were affected 

by such rays? 

Not only the ray of light, for that matter, 

any form of energy conducted through a medium, 

would be absorbed to some extent, in 

course of time, and the intensity of that energy 

would be diminished. That means the energy is 

weakened as time passes by. What is the reason 

for this? 

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. 

This is a principle accepted by both the 

ancient as well as modern scientists. If it is so, 

where is the absorbed part of the energy going? 

in which form? and can it be measured? —are 

the questions that challenge us. To derive answers 

for such questions we have to ascertain, 

59 

Nature Of energy : Scriptural perspective 

Kuppa Venkata Krishna Murthy 

In the scriptures of ancient Indian sages, the nature of energy was contemplated 

so extensively. But at the time of interactions of energies of different dimensions, how 

the resultant dimensions differ and how the resultant energies behave and how their 

limitations form, are the things to be yet studied and determined. 

as to what the term “energy” means? What is its 

nature? Now, we try to study this from the perspective 

of references available in the ancient Indian 

scriptures, duly co-relating them with the 

modern terminology. 

Now, the pertinent question is: What is 

energy? There is no conceivable energy, which 

can be conceived without being influenced by 

the conceiver. So, it should be possible to arrive 

at the pure form of energy, by deducting or subtracting 

the points of the conceiver from the 

points of the conceived. 

The conceiving energies under the command 

of man are of six kinds viz. the five sense 

organs and “mind”. Of these, mind is a better 

conceiver and the other five are actually under 

its control. So, the master key is the mind itself. 

So, let us examine the inner parts of the 

mind . If consciousness contained in a subtle shell 

gets a movement, then it is called “mind”. So, 

Mind = Consciousness + A Subtle Shell + Space 

+ Movement. 

To understand this equation, we should 

know what a subtle shell and what is space. For 

this, we have to analyze the process of evolution 

of this universe from, the point of view of energy. 


There is one matter called pure consciousness 

(Parishudha Chaitanya). There are no 

sub-divisions in this. The existence of this pure 

consciousness is only theoretical. There is no 

scope to experience this. Though it is only theoretical, 

we cannot deny its existence, since we 

are experiencing its influence at every stage of 

the creation. In the present state of universe, we 

have some inert matter, some animate matter, 

energy, space and time. Then what existed earlier 

to the Creation of this Universe? There is no 

scope to assume the existence of energy, space 

and matter, as there was no Universe at that time. 

We have no alternative than to accept the existence 

of consciousness, as other wise we have 

to accept that the Universe had come from void. 

It is not acceptable to our ancient sages , that 

the Universe comes from void. Let us not go 

into the details of logic for this maxim now. Since 

the state about which we are discussing is said 

to be prior to the Creation , the said state had 

some connection with “time”. 

Now let us convert this theory into modern 

terminology of dimensions and analyse. 

Pure consciousness cannot have any dimensions 

but still since it is penetrating into creation, 

we can take its dimensions as one. A number 

bigger than this cannot match with the consciousness. 

But in the state before the creation, pure 

consciousness had a touch of time. From this 

state of two dimensions the present creation has 

come out. But what is creation? A simultaneous 

upsurge of space and energy is known as creation.3 

Of these, space does not have subtle and 

gross states. It cannot be experienced directly 

by sense organs. It is experienced by the de- 

60 

rivative faculty of mind. But it gives an illusion as 

though it is being experienced directly by the organs. 

It is for this reason that the existence of 

this object called space becomes doubtful and it 

is exactly for this reason that many of the Western 

Logicians denied to recognize it as an object. 

But it is not logical to deny the existence of 

anything which is experienced by the mind. 

Hence the sages of India have recognized this 

space as an object and included it in the list of 

five fundamental elements of creation.4 

But energy has subtle and gross forms. 

If an experiencer, experiences an energy either 

through his sense organs or through his mind, it 

is the gross state of that energy and in that state 

the energy is called gross energy. 

Now we have been speaking about the 

state which was just before the formation of this 

universe. In that state there were no creatures 

nor organs nor mind. As such the energy at that 

time could be only a subtle energy. 

It was already stated that space and 

subtle energy had emerged from this precreational 

stage simultaneously. If that is so, what 

is the relation between the space and subtle energy 

and what is the difference between them. 

As already stated.. 

Pure consciousness — 1 dimension 

Pre-creational state — 2 dimensions 

(consciousness + time) 

If a new dimension called inertness or 

stillness gets added to this pre-creational state, 

a new object called space is generated and this 

new object can be experienced by mind alone. 

Hence space has thee dimensions viz. 

Consciousness + time + stillness. Apart from 


61 

this, the space has another set of three dimen- In the case of energy, if a subtle energy 

sions viz. x, y, z.5 

has the support of subtle matter it can transform 

Due to the effect of stillness both con- itself into a gross energy state. The main reason 

sciousness and time become ineffective and for this is that the difference between the matter 

added to this it is easy for the mind to grasp xyz and energy is very narrow. If the consciousness 

dimensions, and as such they acquire more is associated with new dimension called move- 

prominence in the materialistic sciences. ment, energy is evolved. If the same conscious- 

If a new dimension called movement or ness is associated with another dimension called 

vibration gets added to this pre-creational state, static movement (Spandaspanda) the matter is 

then a new object called energy is created. This evolved. Stillness and movement are opposed 

has also three dimensions viz. . 

to each other and their existence together is nor- 

Energy — Consciousness + time + movement 

That means the difference between space 

and energy is only due to the dimensions of stillness 

and movement. Therefore pre-creational 

state can be represented as under. 

Pre-creational state Simultaneous Evolution 

 

Space Subtle energy 

mally not possible. But here it becomes possible 

because of spatial adjustment. 

We shall explain this. An atom of subtle 

matter which is known to be inert is always in a 

state of relative movement compared with other 

atoms. It is so because, it is an accepted fact 

that no particle in the Universe is static. Added 

to this, subtle matter is nearer to the energy and 

as such movement is inbuilt in it. Moreover, an 

(Conciousness + (Conciousness + atom when viewed from the angle of its own in- 

Time + Stillness) Time + Movement) ternal parts, it looks as though it is static. That 

This subtle energy needs the support of 

a matter to transform itself into a gross state.6 

This is so, because the mind organs of 

human beings can grasp matter more easily and 

can grasp energy associated with the matter easily. 

The matter also has subtle and gross states. 

Matter which can be directly conceived by the 

sense organs is gross. Here organs mean only 

means the atom is static in one perspective and 

mobile in the other. This is how, the diagonally 

opposite qualities of stillness and mobility are 

existing in an atom of subtle matter. The point to 

be noted is the stillness which has been explained 

just now from the perspective of internal parts 

of an atom is only apparent stillness but not a 

real one. This can be further explained as under: 

five sense organs and not mind. The conceiv- Energy means consciousness in the state 

ability of matter by sense organs depends on the of movement.7 If a conceiver gets a feeling of 

capacity of the sense organs. For example we stillness in such an energy, then, both stillness 

have matters which are not gross to the human and movement get wedded, as a result, a new 

beings are known to be gross ones to some object called subtle inert matter off-springs. 

animals. 

Therefore– 


62 

Subtle Matter = Consciousness + Time + Space That means gross energy behaves as if it is inert. 

(XYZ) + Static mobility 

In this state, its dimensions are : 

6 Dimensions 

Space(XYZ) + Time + Motion + Static 

Please note that we have taken space Mobility (6 Dimensions). Of these, the last two 

as X Y Z dimensions only for the reasons al- oppose each other but still they exist together. 

ready explained. 

Therefore we have till now defined the 

If the aspect of movement contained in following: 

the static mobile state of subtle inert atom matter 

gets more and more weak and if the static 

aspect becomes more and more apparent then 

the subtle matter transforms itself into gross mat- 

Consciousness - 1 Dimension 

Time - 1 Dimension 

Space - 2 sets of Dimensions viz. 

ter. The main reason for the disappearance of 

i) Consciousness + Time 

the aspect of mobility is only the incapability of 

+ Stillness - (one set of Dimension) 

the organs of the individual to recognize the spe- 

ii) X, Y, Z - (another set of 

cific type of motion existing in the matter. There- 

dimensions) 

fore, 

Subtle Energy - 3 Dimensions 

Gross Matter = 

Consciousness + Time 

Consciousness + Time + Space + Stillness 

+ Movement 

1 Dimension 1 D 3 D 1 D Subtle Matter - 6 Dimensions 

Of these, because stillness is ineffective 

Consciousness + Time + Space 

and because it makes the consciousness also 

(XYZ) + Static movement 

ineffective, these two dimensions become inef- Gross Energy - 6 Dimensions 

fective and only 4 dimensions remain. 

Time + Space (X Y Z) 

It was already stated that subtle energy 

transforms into gross energy in the association 

+ Movement + Static movement 

Gross Matter - 4 Dimensions 

of subtle matter. Therefore, 

Space (X Y Z) + Time 

Gross Energy = Subtle Energy + Subtle matter Note: Please note that even though the 

Gross Energy = Consciousness + Time number of dimensions of subtle matter and gross 

+ Movement + Consciousness energy is the same, the actual dimensions are 

+ Time + Space (XYZ) not the same. It is the mind which really con- 

+Static Mobility 

ceives all the above said factors. So we should 

At this stage subtle consciousness becomes 

ineffective because of its association of 

now discuss about mind which includes the sense 

organs. 

the static parts of the static mobility dimensions Mind also has subtle and gross states. If 

and hence becomes equal to nonexistent. the all pervasive consciousness gets locked and 


ounded into a gross body and further into a 

subtler part of the said body, then emanates what 

is called “mind”. In that state, mind had an existence 

but no thoughts had entered into it. Such a 

state of mind is experienced by every individual 

during the deep sleep state. That is the subtle 

state of mind. 

Therefore subtle mind = Consciousness + a Shell 

+ Space + Movement (Since shell is none other 

than subtle matter) 

= Consciousness + Subtle matter + 

Space + Movement 

= Consciousness + Consciousness + 

Time + Space + Static Movement + Space + 

Movement 

= Consciousness + Time + Space 

(XYZ) + Movement + Static Movement 

= 7 Dimensions 

Now compare subtle matter and subtle 

mind. The only difference is that the aspect of 

mobility is a bit more prominent in the subtle 

mind. 

Compare subtle energy and subtle mind: 

In the subtle mind a new factor called space has 

63 

We understand that mind is nearer not 

only to gross and subtle energy but also to the 

subtle matter. But it is slightly away, to the 

gross matter. But in the beginning of this article, 

we stated that mind also is a form of energy. 

We also said that energy can be divided 

into two categories viz. the conceiver energy 

and the conceived energy. 

entered and hence the factor of stillness also 

found a place in the mind. 

Compare gross energy and subtle mind : 

In the gross energy the fact of consciousness is 

totally gone and the subtle mind is slightly 

present. 

Due to these observations, we understand 

that mind is nearer not only to gross 

and subtle energy but also to the subtle 

matter. But it is slightly away, to the gross 

matter. But in the beginning of this article, 

we stated that mind also is a form of energy. 

We also said that energy can be divided 

into two categories viz. the conceiver 

energy and the conceived energy. 

We said that the mind and the organs are 

the conceiver energy and all the others 

are conceived energies. But now after a 

detailed analysis one can find that mind is 

not merely an energy but it is a combination of 

energy and matter. 

One more thing is that in the wakeful state 

we conceive matters and energies only through 

gross mind but not by the subtle mind. So, we 

should make some detailed study of gross mind. 

We have already defined the subtle mind. If another 

dimension called thought enters into the 

subtle mind it gets transformed into the gross 

state. But what is meant by a thought? 

Subtle mind is a combination of energy 

and matter but there is another dimension called 

space in it. So if a wave-like motion gets formed 

in the mind, that wave is called thought.8 If the 

wave is formed internally in the mind then 

thoughts such as desire and anger take shape. If 

the figments of energy in mind travel out through 


64 

the sense organs and a wave is generated out mutual interaction of these two is inevitable and 

side the body then thoughts like seeing, hearing mutual adjustments during the times of interac- 

etc take shape. Therefore 

tions are also inevitable. It is in this process of 

Gross mind = Subtle mind + Thought mutual adjustment of different waves, that dif- 

. = 7 Dim. + Thought 

ferent forms of energies are created. 

= 8 Dim. 

Does the wavelike movement relate to 

the energy or to the matter? Both have the scope 

of wavelike movement. Therefore, the wavelike 

movement of the gross mind is in 8 dimensions, 

whareas the wavelike movement of the 

gross energy is in 6 dimensions. Hence this wavelike 

movement is not exactly the same which we 

see in the 3 dimensional water wave. 

Since these forms of energy are evolved 

out of adjustments, these energies cannot be interrupted 

strips and it is only possible for them 

to be continuous streams of broken quanta of 

energies.9 

In the process of these combinations, at 

one stage, the sense organs get formed as a part 

of the mind. So the sense organs are also streams 

of quanta of energy with different shapes and 

different limitations.10 

Apart from this, dimensions of gross Now, we shall try to findout the fate of 

mind (8) are more, whereas the dimensions of 

gross energy (6) and subtle energy (3) are less. 

Here we have to note that the dimensions are 

the light ray, which entered a dark room 

different, not only from the aspect of numbers Mind + Energy = Grasping 

but from the aspect of variety. (For example, 

(of different elements) 

space has two sets of 3-dimensions) So, the 

 

waves of mind and the waves of energy do not Quanta of energy 

match. But their interaction is inevitable. Hence, with a sence of touch 

we cannot experience any waves of energy which 

are not distorted by the mind. Not only that, if 

the dimensions of the mind are subtracted, no 

 

Air 

(Not Physical Air) 

dimensions remain in the energy. That means if 

the mind is totally nullified, only that pure consciousness 

which has no connection with the di- 

 

If they are dense, they be 

come quanta of 

 

Heat Energy 

mensions remains but not the energy. So, the effort 

to conceive the nature of energy through this 

Skin Light Energy 

process cannot be fruitful. 

 

Even though the waves of gross mind 

with (8) dimensions and the waves of gross energies 

with (6) dimensions, do not match well, 

Sense of seeing Eye 


If the quanta of the light energy become 

dense, then, they get converted into the quanta 

of subtle water, which in due course get converted 

into quanta of subtle earth. 

This solidification is generated by the interaction 

of the streams of energy 

[Quanta of Light + Organ of Eye] 

 

[Visible 

Light + Invisible Light] 

This differentiation visibility & invisibilty 

comes into existence due to the ability of the concerned 

eye. 

While the general gross energy flows in 

six dimensions, the light energy which is conceivable 

by the eye 

also flows in the 

same dimensions 

but the point to be 

noted is that the existence 

of the conceivable 

light of energy 

is dependent 

on the limitations of 

the mind and the 

eye concerned. So, 

the six dimensions 

of the visible light 

energy get contracted and its travel is limited to 

the ordinary space of three dimensions. 

Note: In the same way in the case of 

other sense organs also, the dimensions so far 

discussed get limitations and get contracted. This 

does not mean that these contracted forms of 

energy have no interactions with the higher dimensioned 

energies. In the same way, it can’t 

65 

While the general gross energy 

flows in six dimensions, the light energy 

which is conceivable by the eye also 

flows in the same dimensions but the 

point to be noted is that the existence 

of the conceivable light of energy is dependent 

on the limitations of the mind 

and the eye concerned. 

be ascertained that there are no other forms of 

light energy in between the above mentioned six 

dimensioned light energy and three dimensioned 

light energy. 

Since the atoms of earth do attain some 

factors from other elements it is possible that by 

the combination of elements, sometimes, light 

energy eminates out from the atoms of earth also. 

For example, if a piece of cotton is drenched in 

oil and ignited, the light rays emanate. This is a 

flow of quanta of light energy and it is constantly 

interacted or interconnected by many other flows 

of energies both visible and invisible. As a result 

of this, there is a possibility of change in the dimensions 

of this 

light energy flow. If 

this happens, that 

light may disappear 

sometimes and 

may increase in intensity 

sometimes. 

T h e 

behaviour of other 

forms of energy is 

also the same. If, in 

the course of other 

behaviours, the dimensions come out to four or 

still less, then, such energies become conceivable 

by humans and they yield themselves to the 

measurements of the humans. When they exceed 

No.4, they become immeasurable and invisible 

also. 

 

 

The writer is the Chairman & Managing 

Trustee, I-SERVE, Hyderabad 


I ndia has had a rich agricultural heritage 

since the time of Rigveda (c. 8000 BC). 

While farmers still follow ancient practices in 

many regions, the ‘modern’ agricultural graduates, 

trained in the agriculture of the West, are 

mostly ignorant of our own ancient agricultural 

practices. Despite attempts to improve communication 

between scientists and farmers, the two 

groups continue to operate on different wavelengths, 

and communication gap continues. It is 

absolutely necessary for the farm scientists to 

possess knowledge of our agricultural heritage 

in order to effectively communicate with the majority 

of farmers. 

In the last 12 years, the Asian Agri-History 

Foundation (AAHF), Secunderabad, Andhra 

Pradesh has translated four ancient Sanskrit, one 

Persian, one Malayalam, and one old Kannada 

texts into English, along with commentaries on 

the scientific validity of the practices that had been 

followed. These texts confirm the richness of 

knowledge possessed by our ancestors. 

Krishi-Parashara (Agriculture by 

Parashara) (c. 400 BC) 

Krishi-Parashara (c. 400 BC) probably 

is the first-ever ‘textbook’ on agriculture in which 

the information is logically organized in chapters. 

Here are some highlights from Krishi-Parashara. 

It describes tools and implements, forecasting 

66 

Some ancient and medieval classics on agriculture 

and their relevance today 

Y L Nene 

Knowledge of time-tested agricultural practices in our past is a must for our farm 

scientists for a better connectivity with our farmers. The writer refers to invaluable texts 

of the past, in this regard. 

rain, importance of good management in agriculture, 

management of cattle, seed collection 

and storage. 

The level of knowledge base that we find 

in Krishi-Parashara about the plough, production 

of crops, and management of cattle indicates 

that the period of Parashara must have 

preceded Kautilya (4 th century BC) in whose 

Artha-sastra we see an undoubtedly superior 

agricultural knowledge base, including the 

knowledge of techniques to irrigate crops from 

rivers, tanks, and wells. Thus I believe that 

Parashara must have written the manuscript prior 

to Artha-sastra, i.e., prior to 4 th century BC. 


67 

The pattern of the rainfall distribution in a sea- in farm-related activities, cattle management, 

son points to the latitudes of 30” to 34°N in the describing soil properties, growing pulses on 

old Punjab. If we study the total precipitation of 

the agricultural areas around Taxila (375-500 

mm) and around Sialkot (650-900 mm), both in 

Pakistan, it would be tempting to conjecture that 

Parashara could be covering the latter area, especially 

keeping in mind the field crops that he 

mentions; e.g., rice, sugarcane, barley, wheat, 

sesame, black gram, and mustard. These crops 

could not have been grown without irrigation in 

the Taxila region, whereas these could be raised 

in the Sialkot region. 

uplands, growing vegetables, fruits, spice crops, 

Kashyapiyakrishisukti (A Treatise on Agriculture 

by Kashyapa) (c. 800 AD) and ornamental plants, growing trees, laying out 

A copy of the manuscript (No. 38J8) in 

Devanagari script exists in the Adyar Library, 

gardens, marketing, and even mining. It is indeed 

an excellent text on agriculture. 

Chennai, India. Kashyapiyakrishisukti (KKS) Kashyapa has stressed that people who 

was translated in English in 1985 by G. Wojtilla practice agriculture should possess good values 

and was published in Hungary. The AAHF un- of life. Farmers should be free from jealousies, 

dertook the present assignment because (i) be mutually helpful, truthful, compassionate, ani- 

Wojtilla’s translation is not easily available; and mal lovers, hospitable to guests, devoid of an- 

(ii) the translation was apparently not reviewed ger, laziness, and excessive desires, happy with 

by an agricultural scientist. 

children and relatives, loyal to the king, etc.; all 

The language of KKS is very simple and these values should be respected by farmers of 

easy, reminding one of the languages of Puranas. all castes. It seems Kashyapa was emphasizing 

It has a natural flow. Clarity, ease, fluency, and a code of conduct for achieving happiness while 

simplicity are the characteristics of Kashyapa’s pursuing farming. 

language. Being a work on an applied science According to MS Randhawa, Kashyapa 

such as agriculture, KKS has on the whole suc- possibly was a resident of Kosala (Oudh in cenceeded 

in systematically instructing the agricultral Uttar Pradesh). Wojtilla suggests that 

turist on various issues of farming in a simple lan- Kashyapa followed the ‘Vaishnava’ tradition of 

guage. 

South India and wrote the text sometime during 

The present text (c. 700–800 AD) is a 700 to 800 AD. I find myself in agreement with 

detailed one covering not only irrigated rice pro- Wojtilla’s view, although one must accept the 

duction in India but also other aspects such as wide knowledge that Kashyapa possessed with 

stressing strong support to agriculture from the regard to agriculture of several regions of the 

ruler, stressing participation of people of all castes Indian subcontinent. I would like to suggest that 


68 

the main focus of Kashyapa was the Krishna- ishment and fertilizers; diseases of plants and 

Godavari deltas and the adjacent northern re- plant protection; laying out of gardens and orgionschards; 

creation of agricultural/horticultural won- 

Vrikshayurveda (The Science of Plant Life) ders; use of plant species as indicators of crop 

by Surapala (c. 1000 AD) 

and animal production; and description of sa- 

Vrikshayurveda of Surapala (c. 1000 cred plants. 

AD), an ancient Sanskrit text on the science of The place of horticulture in ecology both 

plant life was a mere name until few years ago. at the home garden scale and at the field scale 

The names of both the text and the author were was well understood, as is evident from refer- 

preserved by tradition. The actual text, however, ences such as in verse 9: “A person is honored 

was unavailable. The AAHF procured a manu- in Heaven for as many thousand years as the 

script of Vrikshayurveda of Surapala from the days he resides in a house where tulasi is 

Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK. 

grown”; or in verse 10: “And if one properly 

The text is an independent, full-fledged grows bilva (bel), which pleases Lord Siva, in 

work on the subject of Vrikshayurveda. The fol- his family (courtyard), the goddess of riches relowing 

observations proved beyond doubt that sides permanently (in his house) and this (riches) 

such a branch of learning existed in ancient In- is passed on to his sons and grandsons.” Apdia. 

There are frequent references to this sciparently the place of trees in environmental mainence 

in ancient Indian literature such as tenance and food chain was well understood. 

Atharvaveda, Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira, and The saints and philosophers of the time extolled 

Sarngadharapaddhati of Sarangadhara. the people to ‘grow more trees’— a slogan that 

The tridhatu theory of Ayurveda is applied 

to trees, bushes and other perennials. 

we seem to have rediscovered during the past 

few decades. 

Vrikshayurveda, which means “The Science of From the types of soils, plant species, 

Plant Life”, mainly deals with various species of kinds of plant protection materials, I believe that 

trees and their healthy growth and productivity. 

The text mentions about 170 species of plants, 

including herbs, shrubs, and trees. There are 325 

systematically arranged verses, beginning with a 

salutation to Lord Ganesha, followed by glorification 

of trees, and composition on tree planting 

and production. Various chapters deal with the 

raising of orchards, agri-horticulture, and tree 

planting near houses. Special references are made 

on procuring, preserving, and treatment of seeds 

and planting materials; preparation of pits for 

planting; selection of land (soil); methods of irrigation 

and ways to locate groundwater; nour- 

Surapala was referring to the Bihar-Orissa region. 


Lokopakara (For the Benefit of People) 

by Chavundaraya, 1025 AD 

The Lokopakara, which meant “for 

the benefit of common people”, is a vade 

mecum of everyday life for commoners and 

describes topics such as astrology, portents, 

vastu (architecture), water-divining, 

vrikshayurveda (the science of plant life), 

perfumery, cookery, veterinary medicine, 

etc. In this bulletin, we have selected those 

topics that are of interest to farmers residing 

in rural areas. 

The Western Chalukya Kings, with their 

capital at Kalyani (near Bidar, Karnataka, India) 

had a tradition of supporting scholarship and 

Chavundaraya II was one such poet-scholar in 

the court of Jaisimha II (1015–1042 AD). 

The author of Lokopakara is also known 

as Chavundaraya II. This is because another 

Chavundaraya, referred as Chavundaraya I, preceded 

him by several decades and was a great 

minister, Commander-in-Chief, as well as a 

litterateur in the court of the Ganga rulers of 

southern Karnataka. Chavundaraya I set up the 

world famous Gommateshwara statue at 

Shravanbelagola in Karnataka around 980 AD. 

This bulletin is based on a printed 

Halagannada manuscript edited in 1950 by H 

Sesha Iyengar, a copy of which was obtained 

from the Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts 

Library (Adyar Library), Chennai. Since 

very few people today understand Halagannada, 

we requested C K Kumudini, Department of 

Kannada Studies, University of Agricultural Sciences, 

Bangalore to translate the manuscript into 

Hosagannada (modern Kannada). The 

Hosagannada manuscript was then translated into 

69 

English by Sri Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayangarya. 

Three commentaries have been written; one by 

Y L Nene, another by Nalini Sadhale and 

Shakuntala Dave, and yet another by Umashashi 

Bhalerao. These commentaries hopefully would 

stimulate scholars and researchers to provide 

notes on the scientific value of Lokopakara. 

The original text contains the following 

chapters: Astrological aspects, auspicious and 

inauspicious time (muhurtas) for various mundane 

and religious affairs, vastu (Architecture), 

portents, water divining, vrikshayurveda 

(Ayurveda for plants including trees), perfumes, 

recipes for food , medicine for humans 

and animals, treatment for snakebite, etc 

., characteristics of animals, and omens. 

Mriga.pakshi.shastra (The Science of Animals 

and Birds) (13 th century AD) 

This 13 th century classic was compiled 

by a Jain scholar, Hamsadeva on the advice of 

King Shaudadeva, who probably ruled the 

Junagarh area of Gujarat. It is a detailed description 

in Sanskrit of more than 170 animals and 

birds. Hamsdeva describes the habitat, breeding, 

and types of many animals and birds. For 

example, he describes 6 types of lion; viz. Simha, 


Mrigendra, Panchasya, Haryaksha, Kesarin, 

and Hari as different types and does not consider 

them as synonyms. Similarly, he describes 

3 types of Koel, vanapriya, parabhrita, and 

kokila. This classic is yet another proof of the 

advancements made by our ancestors in the field 

of biology. 

This Sanskrit text was obtained from the 

Oriental Institute, Vadodara, Gujarat. This was 

translated in English by Dr Nalini Sadhale and 

commentaries written by Drs Sadhale and Nene. 

Krishi Gita (Agricultural Verses) c. 15 th century 

This Malayalam printed text was procured 

from Adyar Library, Chennai. It is edited 

by Vidwan C. Govinda Warriar. AAHF published 

its Translation in English done by B Mohan 

Kumar. Commentaries were written by Mohan 

Kumar and PK Ramchandran Nair. This text 

refers to cultivation of coastal region crops prior 

to introductions by Arabs and Portuguese. Soil 

management involved tillage, manuring, and 

avoiding water stagnation and iron toxicity. 

Agronomy covered optimum seed rate, time of 

planting, depth of planting, spacing between 

plants and iron toxicity. Agronomy covered optimum 

seed rate, time of planting, depth of plant- 

70 

ing, spacing between plants and rows. 

A large number of rice varieties (135 

varieties) for different areas are recommended, 

indicating availability of genetic variation. Other 

crops discussed are arecanut, (8 varieties), 

Amaranthus (3 varieties), ash gourd (1 variety), 

banana/plantain (19 varieties), chickpea (2 

varieties), betel leaf (13 varieties), bitter gourd 

(3 varieties), brinjal (12 varieties), chili (7 varieties), 

coconut (5 varieties), cotton (2 varieties), 

cowpea (4 varieties), Elephant foot-yam 

(2 varieties), fenugreek (1 variety), yam- 

Diascoria spp (6 varieties), cocoyam (9 varieties), 

beans-Dolichos lablab (9 varieties), ivy 

gourd (3 varieties), lime-Citrus spp.(4 varieties), 

maize (8 varieties), oriental pickling melon 

(2 varieties), pigeonpea (2 varieties), sesame (9 

varieties), snake gourd (4 varieties), sugarcane 

(6 varieties), taro (3 varieties), tobacco (8 varieties), 

turmeric (3 varieties), and watermelon (2 

varieties). 

Vishvavallabha (Dear to the World: The 

Science of Plant Life) 1577 AD 

In the last few years, some of the rarest 

texts on agriculture were discovered, translated 

into English, and commented upon in the context 

of current knowledge of scientific agriculture. 

Since then another Sanskrit classic on agriculture, 

Vishvavallabha (Dear to the World: The 

Science of Plant Life), was discovered in the library 

of the Rajasthan Prachya Vidya 

Pratishthan, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The Asian Agri- 

History Foundation, Secunderabad, Andhra 

Pradesh recently published the English translation 

and also discussed utility of the contents for 

today’s agriculture. 


Vishvavallabha was compiled by a 

scholar, Sri Chakrapani Mishra, around 1577 

AD. Chakrapani worked under the patronage 

of the towering personality of Maharana Pratap 

(1540–1597) of Mewar in Rajasthan. As is wellknown 

Maharana Pratap refused to surrender 

or be a vassal of the Mughal ruler, Akbar and 

protected his own honor as well as that of his 

people all through his life. 

The text contains a wealth of information. 

It describes methods to detect underground 

water, construction of water reservoirs, planting 

methods, plant disorders and treatments, and 

plantation in forts. 

Nuskha Dar Fanni-Falahat (The Art of Agriculture) 

(c. 1650) 

This text in Persian was copied from a 

compendium, Ganj-e-Badawar, compiled 

around 1650 AD by the Mughal prince Dara 

Shikoh, son of Shah Jahan, who built the famous 

Taj Mahal. 

The text briefly describes the “art” of 

growing about 100 economic plant species. 

These include trees (fresh fruit, dry fruit, avenue, 

and timber), shrubs of ornamental significance, 

71 

vegetables, cereals, legumes, oilseeds, and aromatics. 

Species are grouped on the basis of similarities 

and the general sequence followed is: fresh 

fruit trees, dry fruit trees, berry-producing plants, 

avenue and timber trees, flowering shrubs, plantation 

crops, spices, aromatics, cereals, legumes, 

fiber crops, and vegetables. However, the sequence 

has not been followed strictly. 

Manures mentioned are dung, salt, and 

nitre for soil application in case of palm trees, 

nitre and vine sap as foliar application in vines, 

eggs in soil and olive leaf-sap sprinkling on 

leaves in fig, dung in soil in olive, pig’s dung and 

human urine in soil in pomegranate, night soil, 

animal dung, and sheep’s blood in soil in guava 

[pear (?)], dry dung of pig in almonds, and 

cowdung in carrots. 

Nitre as a fertilizer was new to the Indian 

agriculture as no document before the 

present one mentioned use of nitre as a manure. 

This must be therefore one of the first inorganic 

fertilizers used in India. The recommendation to 

sprinkle nitre on vines must have been based on 

observing beneficial effects on growth of vines. 

A statement under baqla (Vicia faba L.) 

is noteworthy. It is mentioned that roots, 

branches, and leaves of baqla “have the qualities 

of manure and it increases the strength of 

the manure” and that is why it is grown as an 

intercrop. This is a very significant statement 

pointing to the beneficial effects of legumes, 

which we know so well today. 

The contents of “Nuskha Dar Fanni- 

Falahat” are almost totally different from the earlier, 

indigenously written texts. It is not difficult 

to understand the reason. Historically speaking, 

the conquerors almost always despise the con- 


quered. The Portuguese and the British did it 

and so did the Mughals. British tried to implant 

their knowledge and culture in India as something 

superior compared to what was indigenous. 

Mughals did the same. Because Dara Shikoh 

was a scholar with an open mind, he tried to 

encourage exchange of information between the 

cultures of West Asia and the Indian subcontinent. 

The text “Nuskha Dar Fanni-Falahat” 

seems to be one such effort. During the Mughal 

rule in India from 1526 through 1857, a large 

number of persons from West Asia and West 

Central Asia (e.g., Uzbekistan) settled down in 

India, owned land, and practiced agriculture, 

especially horticulture. Thus in villages, at the 

level of farmers, exchange of knowledge was 

occurring during the 300-year period. From the 

sporadic references we find, the Muslims seem 

to have specialized in ornamental gardening and 

in developing excellent fruit orchards. 

Relevance today 

There is a great need to renew interest in 

astrologically made rainfall predictions, because 

the modern meteorology is still imperfect. The 

two systems could synergize and lead to better 

predictions. 

72 

In all these classics, management of soil, 

water, and other resources have been stressed. 

In India we do have excellent crop varieties, but 

the management is generally unsatisfactory. As a 

result the optimum yield potential of varieties is 

not exploited. Domestic cattle were cared for 

as “members of family” and their management 

was given a very high priority. 

Seed quality was given highest importance 

and selling spurious seed was a major offence. 

One of the duties of Rajas, kings, and 

other rulers was to ensure timely supply of resources 

to farmers in their kingdoms. 

The science of Vrikshayurveda evolved 

utilizing the knowledge of Ayurveda, between 600 

and 1000 AD. Many recommendations were 

made in texts such as Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda, 

Chavundaraya’s Lokopakara, and Chakrapani 

Mishra’s Vishvavallabha. These texts also contain 

several recommendations to increase yield, 

especially the perennial plantation crops such as 

tea 

It is up to present-day farm scientists to 

study recommendations of the past and practice 

them, if found valid. 

 

 

Asian Agri-History Foundation, 

Secunderabad 500 009, Andhra Pradesh, 

India (email: ynene@satyam.net.in 


India’s babus and politicos say they are 

resisting reducing carbon emissions to protect the 

economy. The truth is probably twofold: most of 

our officials are lazy, intellectually and physically, 

and realise they have lost the ability to effect real 

change. The work it will take to move to a green 

economy simply staggers their imagination. So 

they hide behind half-truths and package their 

shortcomings as prudent policy. 

In reality, cleaning up old 

industries and developing new green 

ones is a GDP-boosting, multi-billion 

dollar endeavour that will create 

lakhs of jobs and put India on 

technology’s cutting edge. But it will disrupt powerful 

vested interests, and they are lobbying to 

keep us stuck on fossil fuels. 

Meanwhile, other countries, including 

China, are taking leadership positions in green 

technologies such as wind and solar energy, electric 

vehicles (EVs), pollution control equipment 

and recycling systems. Even India’s top green 

companies, such as wind energy major Suzlon and 

EV maker Reva, are focusing on foreign markets, 

where they receive the support and subsidies 

they are denied at home. 

The root problem is New Delhi’s myopic 

view that CO2 emissions be assessed on a 

per capita basis. Implicitly, New Delhi wants In- 

73 

The Clean Truth 

Jahangir S.Pocha, 

The writer cautious us against dangerous emmissions that industries emit. 

dia to be able to increase its pollution to US levels, 

that is 15 times. This ignores the fact that 

India is already the world’s fourth-largest polluter 

and is ecologically unviable. 

Already, lung diseases and other environment-linked 

ailments are spreading, particularly 

among children. And rising temperatures are 

hurting forests, farmland and cities alike. A better 

approach for 

India would 

A better approach for India would be be to cut 

to cut emissions in exchange for the trans- emissions in 

exchange for 

fer of green technologies at subsidised rates 

the transfer 

of green 

technologies at subsidised rates and soft loans 

from international institutions to pay for their purchase. 

This would give Indian companies an effective 

and affordable path to a greener future. 

Some enlightened companies are already 

pushing the envelope on green technology. 

Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are developing 

EVs, Reliance Industries’ natural gas 

finds could break our dependence on diesel and 

kerosene and numerous efforts by steel, cement 

and power companies could reduce their emissions 

dramatically by 2020. We can only cheer 

them on and hope that entrepreneurship drives 

India to a cleaner future. 

 

 

(Jehangir S.Pocha, Editor, Business World ) 


74 

The Rigveda and the Avesta: the final evidence 

The single most significant unresolved 

problem in the study of World History today is 

the problem of the geographical location of the 

Original Homeland of the Indo-European family 

of languages. This is because this is the most important 

family of languages in the 

world in terms of the number of 

xxxviii, 379p., 

primary as well as secondary 

bibl., ind., 23cm. 

speakers, as also in terms of 

geographical spread, ethnic diversity, 

and political and economic 

clout. This family of languages 

has twelve branches (two of them, 

Anatolian and Tocharian, now long extinct): the 

extant branches, from west to east, are Germanic, 

Celtic, Italic, Baltic, Slavic, Albanian, 

Greek, Armenian, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan. The 

question of where exactly the original homeland 

of this diverse family was located has been a 

hotly debated issue among linguists, historians 

and archaeologists, and, especially in India , 

where the issue has acquired deep political overtones, 

also among politically inclined writers of 

every brand. 

In his two earlier books, The Aryan 

Invasion Theory: A Reappraisal (1993) and 

The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis (2000), 

the author of this book put forward the hypothesis, 

backed by detailed arguments, data and 

evidence, that this Original Homeland lay in the 

northern parts of India, and that the other 

ISBN 9788177420852 

Rs.750 (hb), Rs. 350(pb) 

Book-Review 

by Shrikant G. Talageri 

branches of Indo-European languages spread 

out from India to their respective historical habitats. 

In this book, he presents the final case with 

conclusive new evidence based on an unassailable 

interpretation of old but hitherto universally 

misinterpreted data. The result is 

a hypothesis which critics will find 

it extremely difficult, if not impossible, 

to counter and disprove. 

The two highlights of this 

book are as follows. One, the 

establishment of the Relative 

Chronology of the Rigveda vis-à-vis the Avesta 

and the Mitanni inscriptions, and of the Geography 

of the Rigveda ; followed by a detailed analysis 

of the Internal Chronology of the (different 

parts of) the Rigveda ; and, finally, the first steps 

in the establishment of the Absolute Chronology 

of the Rigveda in terms of the actual point of 

time BCE when the hymns of the text were composed. 

And, two, the presentation of a linguistic 

hypothesis which shows finally and conclusively 

that the Indian Homeland hypothesis is the only 

hypothesis which explains all the linguistic problems 

which arise in the course of the quest for 

the Original Homeland. 

All this has important and far-reaching 

implications, not only in resolving the academic 

question of the location of the Indo-European 

Homeland, and not only in resolving the question 

of the linguistic identity of the Harappan or 


Book-Review 

Indus or Sindhu-Sarasvati 

Civilization, but also in taking the beginnings of 

the history of Indian Civilization as we know it 

(as distinct from its prehistory, which is what the 

Harappan civilization amounts to in current historical 

discourse) back by several thousands of 

years: 

To order: 

Add postage Rs. 25.00 

Payment should be 

made through D.D.s or 

cheques payable at Delhi in 

favor of Aditya Prakashan, 

New Delhi . 

Or you could deposit 

at any Bank of India branch 

for “Aditya Prakashan”, 

BOI, Ansari Road Branch, 

New Delhi, 

a/c C603220100012624 

Aditya Prakashan 

2/18 Ansari Road , 

New Delhi-110002 

www.adityaprakashan.com 

While the beginnings of the history of 

the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian Civilizations 

are known to lie at least as far back as the fourth 

millennium BCE on the basis of detailed decipherable 

and deciphered records (inscriptions, 

scrolls, etc.), the beginnings of Indian Civilization 

as we know it could not really be traced far 

earlier than the mid-second millennium BCE, and 

even this only on the basis of back-tracking the 

75 

stages of Vedic history (whether logically or illogically 

done) from the oldest known decipherable 

and deciphered records found in India: the 

Ashokan inscriptions of the latter half of the first 

millennium BCE. The earlier records, of the 

Harappan Civilization, are not yet convincingly 

deciphered ; and the interpretation of the signs 

on the Harappan seals (from the question of the 

identity of the language represented in those seals 

down to the question of whether or not, indeed, 

any language is represented at all in them) has 

been a matter of motivated debate: the academic 

scholars presume the language of the Harappan 

Civilization to be non-Indo-European, since the 

current academically accepted theory requires 

that the Indo-European “Indo-Aryans” could not 

have “entered” India far earlier than the latter 

half of the second millennium BCE. 

However, ironically, decipherable and 

deciphered records are found in West Asia (Iraq, 

Syria, and even Palestine and Egypt), dating to 

the mid-second millennium BCE, which record 

the presence of “Indo-Aryan” speakers in West 

Asia at around the same time as they are supposed 

to have been entering into India. The presence 

of these “Indo-Aryans”, the Mittani “Indo- 

Aryans”, in West Asia has hitherto been interpreted 

as evidence of an “Indo-Aryan” group 

which broke away from the main body of “Indo- 

Aryans” somewhere in Central Asia, and moved 

westwards to appear in West Asia at around the 

same time as the main body of “Indo-Aryans” 

appeared in northwestern India. 

But the analysis of the Rigvedic, Avestan 

and Mittani data in this book completely over- 


76 

Book-Review 

turns this theory: it presents an unassailable case Early Rigvedic Period. 

showing that the culture common to the Rigveda, All this places the “Indo-Aryans” and the 

the Avesta and the Mitanni records is a culture proto-Iranians deep within northern India at least 

which developed in northern India in the Late as early as the early third or late fourth millennia 

Rigvedic Period, and that this Late Rigvedic BCE, with no connections further west. This 

Period followed earlier periods (the Middle lends legitimacy to an interpretation of Indian 

Rigvedic Period, and, before that, the Early history with indigenous origins going back deep 

Rigvedic Period) which have different cultures into the fourth millennium BCE, and brings In- 

and which preceded this common culture ; and dian traditional Indian historical traditions (ex- 

that not only the “Indo-Aryans”, but also the cluding, of course, all the mythical elements, ex- 

proto-Iranians, in those earlier pre-Avestan and aggerations and interpolations which have seeped 

pre-Mittani periods, were inhabitants of areas into them) as well as the Harappan civilization 

deeper within northern India and had only started within the ambits of the academic study of the 

expanding westwards towards the end of the history of Indian Civilization as we know it. 

 

 

“Mark me, then and then alone you are a Hindu, when the very name sends 

through you a galvanic shock of strength. Then and then alone you are a Hindu, when 

every man who bears the name, from any country, speaking our language or any other 

language, becomes at once the nearest and the dearest to you. Then and then alone 

you are a Hindu, when the distress of anyone bearing that name comes to your heart 

and makes you feel as if your own son were in distress.” 

- Swami Vivekananda 

“In the service no distinction should be made between man and man. We 

have to serve all, be he a Christian or a Muslim, or a human being of any other persuasion; 

for calamities, distress and misfortunes make no such distinction but afflict all 

alike. And in serving to relieve the sufferings of man, let it not be in a spirit of condescension 

or mere compassion, but in the true spirit of our dharma of Lord who abides 

in the hearts of all beings.” 

- Guruji M.S.Golwalkar 

“Mother and Motherland are dearer than heaven itself. Gods and cows, Brahmins 

and the faith, these are to be protected. When faith is dead, death is better than 

life.” 

- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Bharatiya Pragna - Dr. Th Chowdary

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