LIVE: PM Shri Narendra Modi address Abhinandan Rally in Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is kickstarting the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls at an "Abhinandan" rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. Stay with TOI for latest updates.
7 New Updates
01:55 PM
Modi is not someone who will stab others in the back. Do not trust the lies they keep spreading. Elect a government with a complete majority. Hasn't a year been wasted in Delhi. Punish those who wasted this year for you
Narendra Modi
01:54 PM
Should people in our Capital have to stay in Jhuggi Jhopdis and footpaths? No. It seems there is a factory of spreading lies in Delhi by some. And those who spread lies will be rejected by people. A lie was spread on retirement age becoming 58. I wonder who is thinking this when Government has not thought about it or said a thing. Daily a lie will be spread. It is their politics
Narendra Modi
01:52 PM
I have a dream, every slum dweller in Delhi should have a house of his own by 2022, when India will complete 75 years of Independence
Hasn't corruption ruined the Nation? Corruption should go. The cleaning must start from the top. I have been staying here with you in Delhi for 7 months. Do you have any complaints about corruption?
PM Modi at BJP rally in Delhi
01:48 PM
No decision in Delhi since 2002: PM Modi
01:47 PM
Like you choose your service provider for phone, we will introduce a system where you can choose who you want to buy your electricity from: PM
We will allow you to choose your electricity provider, if voted to power
Modi at BJP rally in Delhi
01:46 PM
I assure you that I will facilitate 24 hours supply of electricity
Narendra Modi
01:45 PM
We want to make Delhi free from generators. When that happens Delhi will also be free from the polluted air
Narendra Modi
01:41 PM
On 15th Aug I announced that we will bring the poor to banks, there was a lot of fuss and banks were apprehensive. But we were fixated. Look at huge heart of poor of nation, they opened up bank a/c with Rs 5 or 10 even when they could have opened accounts with zero balance
I feel proud in saying that around 11 crore people have opened bank accounts till 10th January under Jan Dhan Yojana
Narendra Modi
01:36 PM
We took up the Jan Dhan Yojana. Years ago banks were nationalized but their doors did not open for the poor. Earlier could you see the poor in a bank? After Jan Dhan Yojana it is clear that who is working for the poor and who weren't
Narendra Modi
01:36 PM
UPA failed to control inflation: Amit Shah
01:35 PM
Enough of politics. What did the common people get. Poverty increased despite slogans to end poverty. We have ushered a new politics, that is above casteism, regionalism etc. It is only thinking about development
Haryana and Delhi had Congress governments but their leaders gave conflicting statements & Delhi people did not get water. I congratulate Venkaiah Naidu immediately took up Delhi's water requirements with new Haryana govt. It is an example of how work can be done if you really have intentions of working
The amount Venkaiah ji knows about Hyderabad, Vishakhapatinam, Vijaywada, he knows about Delhi. I was told several issues were left pending. Issues of the poor were unsolved
Narendra Modi
01:29 PM
Why is this Vijay Yatra running? How has the BJP made a place in the hearts of so many people. The mood of the nation is the mood of Delhi
Narendra Modi
01:27 PM
BJP has achieved a historical success in J&K, I'm grateful to people of the state
Narendra Modi, PM
01:27 PM
I would like to extend my greetings to people of J&K for reposing their faith in democracy and voting in large numbers
It is time for Delhi to decide between false promises and the BJP
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:18 PM
AAP has broken one record for sure and that is a record to tell lies. No one can beat them in that
Amit Shah
01:17 PM
I want to ask questions to AAP. Do you still travel in Metro? Was that a 'natak' only for one day.
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:16 PM
Every party promised to regularize unauthorized colonies, but the actual work is done by Modi govt by making a law
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:13 PM
If you (opposition) think by stalling Parliament you can stop development, forget it, this is Narendra Modi government
Amit Shah at Delhi BJP rally
01:12 PM
Opposition wants to stop things that the nation needs to develop, but we won't stop. We brought ordinances.
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:12 PM
Even Manmohan Singh used to go abroad, did he ever get such a huge welcome like Modi? Did he?: Amit Shah at a BJP rally in Delhi
01:11 PM
UPA regime ke dauraan Pak ko koi jawaab nahi jaata hai, lekin ab agar wahan se goli aati hai, toh yahan se gola jaata hai
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:09 PM
Black money is a very complex issue, many international govts and laws are involved. We said we will bring back black money. We cleared proposal of setting up SIT for same on first Cabinet meeting after coming to power
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:07 PM
BJP said we will emphasize on skill development, and we have set up a separate Ministry for the same, after coming to power. Make in India is giving impetus to manufacturing and employment sectors.
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:06 PM
The first thing we did after govt formation was forming SIT for Black money probe
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:05 PM
We raised many issues and made promises during election campaign, now that we have formed govt in Centre, we are working on all of them. The fuel prices have come down for more than ten times in 7 months, ever since BJP came to power
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:02 PM
Atmosphere of despair was replaced with an atmosphere of hope. We are a Party that fulfils our promises
Amit Shah, BJP president
01:00 PM
2014 was a victory year for the BJP: Amit Shah, BJP president
12:58 PM
BJP President Amit Shah addressing the rally at Ramlila Maidan
12:53 PM
Our PM appealed to Jharkhand to give a stable government with a clear majority & people of Jharkhand did that
Raghubar Das, Jharkhand CM
12:51 PM
The development of Delhi is not possible without Haryana and Haryana's progress is not possible without Delhi
Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana CM
12:50 PM
In Haryana, we formed a government on our own. I feel the same atmosphere is moving to Delhi
Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana CM
12:46 PM
Chief ministers of Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, where the party captured power in recent elections, have also arrived in the rally.
12:45 PM
They are not ready to debate and are running away from discussion. We need a government in Delhi that will strengthen the hands of Narendra Modi
Venkaiah Naidu, parliamentary affairs minister
12:41 PM
PM Modi’s mega rally in Delhi; politicos react
12:40 PM
The good work of the Lok Sabha is being stopped by Congress & other parties in the Rajya Sabha
Venkaiah Naidu, parliamentary affairs minister
12:39 PM
There is a slogan all over India. Whole India is saying Modi, Modi, Modi...
PM ki lokpriyata se koi inkaar nhi hai,desh ke PM ko kisi bhi samay mein log sun ne aa sakte hain:Manish Sisodia, AAP pic.twitter.com/4IEyk1ZvTO — ANI (@ANI_news) January 10, 2015
11:44 AM
AAP's allegations do not carry weight: BJP
People come to listen to Narendra Modi, AAP's allegations do not carry weight: BJP on AAP's fake crowds allegation #BattlegroundDelhi — TIMES NOW (@timesnow) January 10, 2015
A day after former chief minister Sheila Dikshit said Congress might support AAP again in case of a hung assembly, BJP has accused its arch rival of "promoting" AAP and "throwing in the towel" even before the polls have been announced.
11:35 AM
This rally will be a failure: Shobha Oza, Congress
BJP failed to deliver on promises made to people which is why they are forced to gather crowd, this rally will be a failure: Shobha Oza,Cong — ANI (@ANI_news) January 10, 2015
Satire wounds, but it does not kill.RICARDO ROJAS/REUTERS
In the aftermath of an atrocity as horrifying as the Paris murders on Wednesday, it is more important than ever to be crystal clear about the freedoms that we hold most dearly.
Freedom of expression, which must always include the freedom to offend and to ridicule. Satire is an essential part of a democracy. Incitement to hatred and to violence are crimes; incitement to mockery is not.
Freedom of religion, including religions deemed offensive by others, so long as they do not impinge on the rights of non-adherents or coerce non-believers into acceptance of their teachings.
Freedom from fear, including the fear of being different, or of speaking out, or of questioning majority beliefs. Above all, the freedom from the fear of being murdered.
Democracies are not "under attack" by jihadis. (And let's hear no more about the threats to "Western" democracies, given that India, Pakistan and Indonesia have all suffered in exactly the same way as Paris, Madrid, London and New York. How quickly we have forgotten the massacre of 132 schoolchildren in Peshawar just last month.)
The language of war is grotesquely inappropriate, as surely we should have learned post-9/11. To use it is to fall into the trap set by mass murderers. Those who kill, no matter for what reason or clothed in what rhetoric, are killers, and should be prosecuted as such, in exactly the same way as any other lawbreakers. They are criminals, not holy warriors, however they might choose to describe themselves.
Let's take a leaf from Norway's book, and recall how it dealt with Anders Behring Breivik, the man who slaughtered more than 70 people, most of them teenagers, in 2011. He, too, described himself as an ideologue, but he was prosecuted as a common criminal.
Tolerance is a value to be cherished, but there is no virtue in tolerating those who murder. The only effective way to counter the threat posed by killers like the Paris gunmen is by good police work based on good intelligence work, carried out with full regard for the basic human rights to privacy and freedom of belief.
A mature democracy must be able to tolerate those who preach against democracy. But it can never tolerate those who kill, or seek to kill, those with whom they disagree. It is not a difficult line to draw.
In a free society, you are free to believe whatever you like: that the earth is flat, that the moon is made of green cheese, or that God is alive and well and running a corner shop in Neasden. Likewise, I am free to mock you, laugh at you and offend you—but I am not free to kill you, or to incite others to do so.
It is futile to talk of "defeating" those who think differently. But it is far from futile—indeed it is an absolute necessity—to prevent them from using violence in the furtherance of their beliefs.
Charlie Hebdo is often offensive, deliberately provocative and frequently vulgar. That is its point—and that is the point of a free society. The kind of freedom I value includes the freedom to be all those things, as well as the freedom to protest against it, peacefully and within the law.
There is a vast gulf separating the mind-sets of those who used their guns to kill in Paris and those who use their pens to mock. It is a gulf that cannot be bridged. But it was succinctly and accurately defined by The Guardian's media commentator Roy Greenslade, professor of journalism at London's City University.
"Satire challenges sacred cows, but it does not slaughter them. Satire hurts, but it does not cause physical injury. Satire wounds, but it does not kill."
And that is why the pen will always be mightier than the sword.
From 1989 to 2012, Robin Lustig presented Newshour on BBC World Service and The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4. His award-winning blog can be read here.
Do you really and truly believe your words. How would I ever run my classroom of 25 students if everyone had the right to mock one another and ridicule one another. WHAT A FINE GROUP WE WOULD MAKE, and what a great teacher I would be. As they say in French- franchement...
It’s a Sunday morning in 2009, and I’m standing under the shower in a hotel room in Lyon. Rain drums against the window; at the end of a narrow street, I can just see one of the two rivers that flow through the city.
In an hour, I’m due at city hall to participate in a panel discussion organized by the French newspaper Libération on challenges to free speech in Europe. I’ve been doing a lot of that kind of thing in the past several years. Yesterday, I was in Paris. Earlier in the week, I was involved in a heated exchange at a conference in Berlin about Muslims and Islam in the European media.
As I began speaking, a member of the audience stood up, approached the panel, and in a voice trembling with fury demanded to know who had given me the right to tell Muslims like her about democracy. She then turned toward the organizers, angrily asked how they could even consider inviting someone like me, and then stormed out of the room.
Everywhere I go, I seem to provoke controversy. At American universities, I’ve been met by placards and students protesting against my speaking. When I was scheduled to lecture at a university in Jerusalem, a demonstration called for my removal.
When I talked about freedom of speech at a UNESCO conference in Doha in the spring of 2009, local media branded me the “the Danish Satan,”1 the authorities were inundated with angry emails and the Ministry of Internal Affairs set up a hotline for citizens who complained about my having even been allowed into the country.
In the spring of 2006, I was invited by the Oxford Union to take part in a discussion on freedom of speech, democracy, and respect for religious sentiment. That body is accustomed to controversy. Nevertheless, my visit turned into what local media alleged was the biggest security operation the city had seen since Michael Jackson’s visit in 2001.
When I was invited to the World Association of Newspapers’ forum in Moscow a few years ago, Russian authorities politely yet firmly implied that they would like me to stay away. I didn’t fully comprehend their hints, so I went to Moscow oblivious. Since then, I have been unable to secure a visa, although I am married to a Russian and lived in Moscow under Soviet rule as a foreign correspondent for 12 years. During that time, though I was clearly anti-communist and openly socialized with dissidents, visas were never a problem.
I could go on citing similar incidents, but what would be the point? On this autumn morning, the picture seems clear. I have become a figure many love to hate. Some would like to see me dead. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out why. I am not by nature a provocative person. I do not seek conflict for its own sake, and it gives me no pleasure when people take offense at things I have said or done. Nevertheless, I have been branded by many as a careless troublemaker who pays no heed to the consequences of his actions.
How did that happen? To the world, I am known as an editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In September 2005, I commissioned and published a number of cartoons about Islam, prompted by my perception of self-censorship by the European media. One of those cartoons, drawn by the artist Kurt Westergaard, depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad with a bomb wrapped in his turban. Among the other cartoons we published was another that mocked the newspaper and even myself for commissioning them, but it was Westergaard’s image that would change my life.
The debate touches on freedom of speech and of religion, tolerance and intolerance, immigration and integration, Islam and Europe, majorities and minorities and globalization, to name but a few.
The Cartoon Crisis, as it became known, spiraled into a violent international uproar, as Muslims around the world erupted in protest. Danish embassies were attacked, and more than 200 deaths were attributed to the protests. I came to symbolize one of the defining issues of our era: the tension between respect for cultural diversity and the protection of democratic freedoms. My book is an attempt to reconcile that public symbolism with my personal story.
How did the publication of a few cartoons prompt an upheaval so extreme that, five years on, I was still grappling with it? As with most monumental events, there seems to be no simple explanation. Some believe that my newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, carries the main responsibility for the uproar, while others point to Danish imams who traveled around the Middle East inflaming Muslim opinion.
Some believe Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is the main villain because he did not criticize the cartoons and refused to discuss them with ambassadors from Muslim countries. Still others feel the Organization of the Islamic Conference played a decisive part in orchestrating a conflict to promote that body’s rather specific take on human rights, involving an effort to criminalize criticism of Islam under the somewhat ambiguous label “Islamophobia.”
Many say countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan took advantage of the cartoons to divert attention from domestic problems. Yet others view the clash as part of a broader struggle between Islam and the West, exploited by radical Islamists to spur followers toward a holy war. Finally, there are those who blame the secular unbelief of most Danes for their failure to understand the religious sensitivities of Muslims.
Even though the drawings were conceived in a Danish and European context, the debate is global. It touches on issues fundamental to any kind of society: freedom of speech and of religion, tolerance and intolerance, immigration and integration, Islam and Europe, majorities and minorities and globalization, to name but a few.
What do you do when suddenly the entire world is on your back? When one misunderstanding leads to another? When what you have said and done has the world seething with anger and indignation? What do you say to people who ask how you can sleep at night when hundreds of people have died because of what you have done?
What do you say when you are accused of being a racist or a fascist, and of wanting to start the next world war?
In the past five years, I have spent most of my energy trying to address and to understand the criticism that has been leveled at my newspaper and at me. Physically and mentally, it has been an arduous journey: educational, but on occasion overwhelming.
I have engaged with people on all sides of the political spectrum, with friends and enemies, believers and nonbelievers of every stripe. Oddly enough, the dividing lines between us don’t coincide with the kinds of political, religious, cultural, or geographic categories one might expect. I don’t claim that most Muslims have been on my side, but some have supported publication of the cartoons, while some Christians and atheists have strongly condemned them.
I have compiled an enormous archive of comments and analyses on the Cartoon Crisis from all over the world. At first, I wanted to document that I was right and that others were wrong. But along the way, I found that I needed to look inward, to reflect on my own history and background. Why was this debate so important for me? Why was I from the outset, almost instinctively, able to identify the core issue?
Why did the abstract principle of freedom of speech speak to me more than it apparently did to other people?
I do have strong opinions when it comes to certain things. But I am not a person who takes an instant stand on just anything. I am a natural skeptic. I ponder at length and lose myself in layers of meaning and the many sides of an issue.
I don’t see that trait as a flaw: it is the condition of modern man and indeed the core strength of secular democracies, which are founded on the idea that there is no monopoly on truth.
What differentiates open and closed societies is the right to tell and retell our own and other people’s stories.
Doubt is the germ of curiosity and critical questioning, and its prerequisite is a strong sense of self, a courage that leaves room for debate. Of course, doubt is by no means unequivocally a good thing. Questioning everything may lead to the point where there seem to be no truths and everything appears equally right or wrong.
In a world of such relativity, there is no fundamental difference between the prisoner in a concentration camp and the regime that incarcerates him, between perpetrator and victim, between those who defend and those who suppress freedom.
That existential dimension of politics first became apparent to me when I traveled to the Soviet Union as a student in 1980. I had no strong preconceptions about the country; politics was peripheral to my youth. What occupied me most were the more esoteric challenges of philosophy, and I was eager to learn more about Russian culture. A long time passed before I began to draw conclusions.
I met my wife that first year and later spent a decade as a correspondent based in Moscow. Over the years, the gravity of life gradually dawned on me.
Growing up in Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s during a time of youthful rebellion, I was naturally imbued with the era’s atmosphere of freedom and community. Now, it struck me that freedom could not be taken for granted. People paid a high price for expressing their views. Words meant a great deal—they involved consequences. People were so fearful that official censorship was almost an afterthought. There reigned a tyranny of silence.
All stories begin and end with individuals, their choices and decisions. When I interviewed the author Salman Rushdie in 2009, he articulated a problem with which I had struggled in the wake of the Cartoon Crisis.
I had difficulty coming to terms with the fact that others were telling my story and interpreting my motives without, I felt, knowing who I was.
When we spoke, Rushdie observed that from childhood, we use storytelling as a way of defining and understanding ourselves. It is a phenomenon that derives from a language instinct that is universal and innate in human nature. Any attempt to restrict that impulse isn’t just censorship or a political violation of freedom of speech; it is an act of violence against human nature, an existential assault that turns people into something they are not.
What differentiates open and closed societies is the right to tell and retell our own and other people’s stories.
In the open society, history moves forward through the exchange of new narratives. Think of slavery in the United States, National Socialism in Germany and communism in the Eastern Bloc, each overcome by challenges to the conventional way of telling the story.
In closed societies, the narrative is dictated by the state and the individual is reduced to a silent, passive object. Dissident voices are punished and censored.
In a democracy, no one can claim the exclusive right to tell certain stories. That means, to me, that Muslims have the right to tell jokes and critical stories about Jews, while nonbelievers may skewer Islam in any way they wish. Whites can laugh at blacks, and blacks at whites.
To assert that only minorities may tell jokes about themselves, or criticize other minorities, is both grossly discriminating and foolish. By such logic, only Nazis may criticize Nazis, since in present-day Europe they are a persecuted and marginalized minority.
Today, a majority of the world opposes female circumcision, forced marriages and ritual violence against women. Should we be unable to criticize cultures that still adhere to those practices because they are minorities?
My experiences have confirmed my basic belief that people have a lot more in common than whatever divides them.
According to some of Europe’s militant multiculturalists, the answer is yes. But people in democracies should not be forced to live inside echo chambers in which the like-minded tend only to reinforce their own opinions. It is vital to transgress borders between societal groups through dialogue, and it is important to be exposed to the opinions and beliefs of others. People who talk to one another, exchange views, and tell conflicting stories will affect one another’s way of thinking.
Rushdie told me that the conflict over the right to tell a certain story was at the center of his own freedom-of-speech controversy. He said:
The only answer you can give from my side of the table is that everyone has a right to tell their story in any way they wish. This goes back to the question of what sort of society we want. If you wish to live in an open society, it follows that people will talk about things in different ways, and some of them will cause offense and anger. The answer to that is matter-of-fact: OK, you don’t like it, but there are lots of things I don’t like either. That’s the price for living in an open society. From the moment you begin to talk about limiting and controlling certain expressions, you step into a world where freedom no longer reigns, and from that moment on, you are only discussing what level of un-freedom you want to accept. You have already accepted the principle of not being free.
Rushdie’s words came just at the right time for me. They opened my eyes and helped me define my own project.
We all are entitled to tell whatever story we wish about the Muhammad cartoons. Thus, the book I have written doesn’t attempt to cover every aspect of what happened. I am fully aware that other versions exist that are no less true than my own; in some cases, they may be even more complete.
I am simply recounting the events as I experienced them and other stories that I deem to be relevant to that experience. My personal quest is to create coherence and meaning out of events that have taken up a lot of room in my own life and in the lives of many others since September 2005.
So the book is also about my own values, about things that are significant to me—books I have read, countries I have visited. It tries to position individual experience within the wider perspective, to explore the relation between my own story and the Cartoon Crisis as a series of events played out on a global scene.
In the space between the big picture and the small lies the answer to my own conflict—the image I have of myself as a person who is not fond of conflict—against the wider, global view of me as a dangerous and irresponsible troublemaker.
So I also look back to the historical forces that have shaped my attitudes, to European history and its sweeping debates on issues such as faith and doubt, knowledge and ignorance, which have shaped the very notion of tolerance.
My experiences have confirmed my basic belief that people have a lot more in common than whatever divides them. Apparent differences of culture, religion and history are significant factors, but they are by no means constant; they change, however slowly.
Think of countries such as Spain, Greece, Portugal, South Korea, Chile and South Africa: until only a few decades ago, brutal authoritarian and oppressive regimes; now open, constitutional societies. Such examples show that we should be hesitant about writing off any culture as innately incompatible with liberty and democracy.
“What is more damaging to Islam? These cartoons or images of a hostage-taker cutting the throat of his victim in front of a camera?”
Current discussion concerning Islam and Muslims reminds me of the debate about communism and the Soviet Russians during the Cold War. At the time, it was often said that whereas we in the West emphasized freedom and the rights of the citizen, in Eastern Europe, more weight was attached to social rights—the right to work, to housing and to free health care and education.
That distinction was put forth as intrinsically cultural; thus, criticism of the Soviet Bloc for civil rights violations was an expression of Western imperialism. I watched a parallel sentiment emerge in the wake of the Cartoon Crisis: a willingness to compromise what we in the West consider fundamental rights because of supposedly intractable “cultural differences.”
My impression was that my friends and acquaintances in Soviet Russia wanted the kind of constitutional freedom and equality encompassed in the notion of universal human rights. But many scholars in the West accepted the premise that Russians were fundamentally different from people in the West; therefore, on the issue of the way it treated its citizens, the Soviet regime could not be judged by Western standards.
That notion explains why they were completely unable to foresee the collapse of the regime after popular revolt: to justify their dubious premise, those scholars were compelled to marginalize the Soviet human rights movement and other dissident groups. They claimed that such groups were just manipulated by the West as part of a global political maneuver.
Exactly the same is claimed now about human rights activists and critics of Islam in the Muslim world. It’s true that real incompatibilities and disparities of culture between the Islamic world and Europe played out during the conflict.
The truth, however, is that the jury is out as long as the population is prevented from speaking freely and without fear of reprisal. Freethinking forces exist in the Islamic world, insisting on free religious exercise and freedom of speech. That was confirmed during the uprisings throughout the Arab world in 2011.
While the Cartoon Crisis raged, a number of newspaper and magazine editors were arrested, and their offices were closed down because they had printed the cartoons—because, although they may have found them distasteful, they believed their readers should have the chance to make up their own minds about the now-notorious drawings.
One of those people, Jihad Momani, editor-in-chief of the Jordanian weeklyShihan, wrote the following with reference to a terrorist attack on three hotels in Amman in November 2005: “Muslims of the world, be sensible. . . What is more damaging to Islam? These cartoons, images of a hostage-taker cutting the throat of his victim in front of a camera, or a suicide bomber blowing himself up at a wedding in Amman?”
I note, too, that large parts of the Iranian population rejected an Islamic take on “constitutional rights” put forward in elections in 2009, and many Iranians in the West were actively supportive of Jyllands-Posten during the Cartoon Crisis. They knew from experience what was at stake if censorship of religious satire and criticism should be accepted.
The Cartoon Crisis provides insight into the kind of world that lies ahead in the 21st century. It was a crisis about how to coexist in a world in which old boundaries have crumbled. Today, societies everywhere are becoming more multiethnic, multicultural, and multireligious. And for the first time in history, a majority of the world’s population now inhabits urban areas.
Increasingly, we live side by side with people who are different from ourselves. The risk of stepping on someone’s toes, of saying or doing something that exceeds someone’s bounds, is steadily increasing. Moreover, advances in communications technologies have meant that events even in the remotest regions of the world are no longer perceived as being distant. All notion of context disappears. Everything that appears on the Internet appears everywhere. For humor and satire in particular, the loss of context opens the door to myriad possible misunderstandings and sources of offense.
Thus, in 2006, the Iranian authorities demanded an apology for a satirical drawing in the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel showing four Iranian soccer players strapped up with bombs and being watched by German soldiers. The accompanying text read, “The German army should definitely be deployed during the World Cup.”
The joke was aimed at German politicians who wanted armed forces to patrol the tournament that was taking place in Germany. But the Iranian religious leadership saw things differently. Molotov cocktails were thrown at the German embassy in Tehran, while the artist responsible for the work was forced into hiding because of death threats.
Another German paper once printed a cartoon poking fun at the private parts of the heir to the Japanese throne—unthinkable in Japan, where the royal family is almost religiously revered.
In a democracy, there is no “right not to be offended.”
Comedians are often keenly aware of the fine line between dangerous and harmless provocation. During a live television show in 2006, Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen set fire to the Old Testament in the town of Ålesund, a strong bastion of Christian sentiment. Later, when asked to repeat the stunt with a copy of the Koran, Jespersen declined, joking that he would prefer to live longer than another week.
It seemed that Christianity was being treated preferentially. Or was it Islam? In any case, the Norwegian prime minister leveled no criticism of the public burning of Christianity’s holy book—which is fine by me, but why then did he find it so necessary to condemn a small Norwegian newspaper when it reprinted the Muhammad cartoons?
I believe I know the answer to that. But back in September 2005, I certainly did not, which is one of the reasons why Jyllands-Posten and I decided to draw attention to the issue of self-censorship in the public debate on Islam in the first place.
If we believe in equality, it seems there are two available responses to threats against freedom of speech. One option is, basically, “If you accept my taboos, I’ll accept yours.” If one group wants protection against insult, then all groups should be so protected.
If denying the Holocaust or the crimes of communism is against the law, then publishing cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet should also be forbidden. But that option can quickly spiral out of control: before we know it, hardly anything may be said.
The second option is to say that in a democracy, there is no “right not to be offended.” Since we are all different, the challenge is then to formulate minimum constraints on freedom of speech that will allow us to coexist in peace. A society comprising many different cultures should have greater freedom of expression than a society that is significantly more homogenous.
That premise seems obvious to me, yet the opposite conviction is widely held, and that is where the tyranny of silence lurks. At present, the tendency in Europe is to deal with increasing diversity by constraining freedom of speech, whereas the United States maintains a long tradition of leading off in the other direction.
Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, many European countries have outlawed Holocaust denial, for example, and it appears that the United States will increasingly stand alone with its tradition of upholding near-absolute freedom of expression on that issue.
My personal view is that the Americans are right. Freedom and tolerance are, to me, two sides of the same coin, and both are under pressure. As noted earlier, the world is undergoing rapid change. Taking offense has never been easier, or indeed more popular: many have developed sensitivity so exquisite that it has become excessive.
It almost tempts one to ask Europe’s welfare states to spend some money, not on “sensitivity training”—learning what not to say—but on insensitivity training: learning how to tolerate. For if freedom and tolerance are to have a chance of surviving in the new world, we all need to develop thicker skin.
Certain regimes, including Russia, China, some former Soviet republics and numerous Islamic governments, agitate in the United Nations and other international forums for laws banning offensive speech. Perversely, although such laws are often put forward in the name of minorities, in practice, they are used to silence critics and persecute minorities.
Unfortunately, such petitions have traction in the international community. Their proponents are prepared to sacrifice diversity of expression in the name of respecting diversity of culture, a contradiction they clearly fail to perceive.
They feel they will further social harmony by maintaining a delicate balance between tolerance and freedom of speech—as though the two were opposites.
But tolerance and freedom of speech reinforce each other. Free speech makes sense only in a society that exercises great tolerance of those with whom it disagrees. Historically, tolerance and freedom of speech are each other’s prerequisites rather than opposites. In a liberal democracy, the two must be tightly intertwined.
The Salman Rushdie affair was the first collision in a global conflict that seems likely to shape international relations in the 21st century.
My book comprises nine additional chapters. Three of them consist largely of interviews with individuals who in one way or another have been close to the Cartoon Crisis, and who here shed light on some of its most significant aspects. The first is a Spanish woman whose husband was killed in the Madrid terrorist attack in March 2004, and who later appeared at the trial of the perpetrators wearing a T-shirt showing Kurt Westergaard’s cartoon of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
Next, I speak with Westergaard himself about his upbringing, his background, and his work, in the light of Denmark’s history of free speech and censorship. I include an interview that took place in a detention center south of Copenhagen with Karim Sørensen, a young Tunisian who in February 2008 was apprehended by Danish police on suspicion of planning to assassinate Kurt Westergaard. As Muslims, Karim Sørensen and two of his associates felt offended by Westergaard’s depiction of the Prophet.
I interweave my own version of the Cartoon Crisis and events before and after publication of the drawings in September 2005 with the story of some of the constraints that have been imposed on freedom of speech. I take a look at efforts today to reestablish so-called violation codes: blasphemy legislation, laws against the incitement of hatred and discrimination and laws criminalizing the denial or trivialization of genocide or specific historic events.
I look at my encounters with Russian dissidents in the Soviet Union. In my view, the history of Russian dissidence is highly relevant to the Cartoon Crisis—even though the Soviet Union no longer exists, and the Cold War long ago ended—because I feel it mirrors the emergence of new dissident communities within Islam. Included are interviews I have conducted with Ayaan Hirsi Ali in New York, with Afshin Ellian in Leiden and with Maryam Namazie in Cologne and London.
What those critics say is by no means new: in many ways, there is nothing to add to the discourse on liberty and human rights. Nevertheless, their stories are of immense importance for Europe and the West in general, demonstrating that the desire for freedom is by no means exclusive to the West, and that individuals in other cultures run enormous risks to stand up for “Western” values of freedom and tolerance.
In the book’s final chapter, I examine the global struggle for universal human rights. I tell the story of the heretic Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in Geneva in 1553, triggering the first great debate in Europe on the issue of religious tolerance. It is a debate that I had thought was won, after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the communist empire. I failed to see that Ayatollah Khomeini’s call to all the world’s Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie because of something he wrote in a novel was another major historical turning point.
Today, it seems clear that the Rushdie affair was the first collision in a global conflict that seems likely to shape international relations in the 21st century. Nowhere are freedom and tolerance as deeply ingrained as in the West. That I endeavor to illustrate in the final chapter of the book with stories from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Russia and India, which outline how individuals and groups of individuals suffer violations of their right to free speech and free thought.
Well-meaning people in the West claim that democracies can and should sacrifice a little free speech in the name of social harmony: those stories may lead them to reconsider. Measures ostensibly designed to protect religious symbols, doctrines, and rituals in order to prevent discrimination can lead to horrible persecution of the right to speak freely.
That is one of the main reasons I continue to defend our right to publish the Muhammad cartoons. If I relinquish that right, I also indirectly accept the right of authoritarian regimes and totalitarian movements to limit free speech on grounds of violation of religion and religious senti-ments.
This man is just really sick, why he cant see lot of people dead globally just because he feel happy to publish some useless cartoons in order to speak freely. There are lot of more issues from poverty, child abuse to capatalistic approach etc which need really need freedom of speech, and he stuck up with cartoons as he think only these cartons can save the world rights.
The Charlie Hebdo gunmen in the street. Photograph: Anne Gelbard/AFP/Getty Images
We have a blasphemy law. No electorate has approved it. No parliament has passed it. No judge supervises its application and no jury determines guilt beyond reasonable doubt. There’s no right of appeal. And the penalty is death. It is enforced not by a police bound by codes of conduct, but by a fear that dare not speak its name; a cowardice so total it lacks the courage to admit it is afraid.
The British are the world’s worst cowards. It is one thing to say you don’t approve of Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons. But the BBC, Channel 4 and many newspapers won’t run any images of Mohammad whatsoever. They would at least have acknowledged censorship if they had announced that they were frightened of attacks on their staff. They would have clung to a remnant of their honour if they had said: “We are not censoring out of respect. We loathe the murderers who enforce their taboos with Kalashnikovs. But we do not want to spend years living in hiding, as Salman Rushdie did. Or be stabbed in the street, as Theo van Goghwas. Or hear an Islamist smash at our door with an axe and cry: “We will get our revenge,” – as Kurt Westergaard did. So we are backing away.”
Admittedly, an honest admission that terror works would shred the pretence that journalists are fearless speakers of truth to power. But it would be a small gesture of solidarity. It would say to everyone, from Pakistani secularists murdered for opposing theocratic savagery, to British parents worried sick that their boys will join Islamic State, that radical Islam is a real fascistic force.
Instead, most journalists have lived a lie for years, as have many in the arts, academia and comedy. We take on the powerful – and ask you to admire our bravery – if, and only if, the powerful are not a paramilitary force that may kill us.
The mass murder of cartoonists and police officers at Charlie Hebdo, and the attacks on Jews, which revive so many foul memories of European fascism, will change our world – almost certainly for the worst. Unless we find the courage to overcome fear, the self-censorship will spread, and not only in the media.
Colleagues who wanted historians at a London museum to talk about the long history of depictions of Muhammad in Islamic art last week were met with panicking press officers trying to shut them up. Historian Tom Holland, who received death threats after he challenged the creation myths of Islam, said: “I cannot think of any other area of history where debate is so nervous.” He hopes that historians will continue to say that the Koran was a manmade creation, but doubts that journalists will be keen to take their work to the public.
This is not a small capitulation. In the 19th century, the textual criticism of German scholars revealed that the supposed word of God in the Bible was a mess of competing stories. It did as much damage to Christianity and Judaism as Darwinism. Anyone hoping to repeat the exercise by taking apart the Koran and the hadiths today will be restrained by the fear that they will end up as dead as satirists who try to do the same with anti-clerical humour.
My friend and comrade Maajid Nawaz was a jihadi before he converted to liberalism and understands the totalitarian mind. He says that people still do not realise that radical Islamists do not just want to impose their taboos at gunpoint. They want to “create a civil war” so that European Muslims accept that they can only live in the caliphate; to encourage the rise of the white far-right so that ordinary coexistence becomes impossible. If they win one demand, as they are winning in Britain, then they will up the tension and move to another.
As soon as you look at demands rather than labels, the wall dividing extremists from the rest begins to crumble. Saudi Arabia is Britain’s trusted partner and ally. It receives vast quantities of armaments and in turn pumps propaganda into British mosques and universities. As Paris looked like a war zone, it flogged the Saudi liberal Raif Badawi forinsulting Islam. At least they did not kill him, you might say. But if the religious courts had found him guilty of apostasy – that is, of taking the adult decision to abandon the religion of his childhood – the sentence would have been death.
European liberals ought to have stopped, as the lash fell on Badawi’s shoulders, and wondered about their queasiness at criticising the religions of the “powerless”and “marginalised”. The Saudi Arabian monarchy is all too powerful, as are the other dictatorships of the Middle East. Power depends on where you stand and who stands below you. The unemployed man with the gun is more powerful than the Parisian journalist. The marginal cleric may have a hard life, but if he sits in a sharia court imposing misogynist rules on British Muslim women he is to be feared.
European liberals might try to be true to their principles and ally with dissidents, liberals, leftists and free thinkers within Muslim communities. They might help ex-Muslims who fear that one day they will be murdered for apostasy. They might reflect that a Muslim man will encounter xenophobia from the right, but they will hear no rigorous criticism at university or other leftist institutions of the sexism, anti-semitism, homophobia and bloodlust of militant religion.
Self-interest ought to be a motivator. Fear of radical Islam is not only driving support for the National Front in France and Ukip here, but providing an excuse for more attacks on civil liberties, including, despite David Cameron’s pious words after Charlie Hebdo, attacks on freedom of speech.
I hope I am wrong, but I cannot see a culture shift on this necessary scale happening. I fear we must look forward to a lying and frightened future.
Tulsi Gabbard and Nirmala Sitharaman at the Conclave in Goa.
At the conclave, Tulsi Gabbard said her public leadership role was inspired by
bhakti yoga and karma yoga in the textbook, Bhagavad Gita.
I asked her to spread this message to the children of the world in all schools.
The remarkable commitment of Tulsi Gabbard to the teachings of Gitacharyas should all people the world over desirous of rendering public service.
Dhanyosmi, Tulsi. Jeevema s'aradah s'atam जीवेम शरदः शतम् May you live a hundred autumns. This prayer is from तैत्तिरीय-आरण्यकम् 4.42.5 an ancient Bharatiya text revered by the Hindus. The full text of the verse:
Tulsi, अजी॑ताः स्याम श॒रदः॑ श॒तं means May your hundred autumns be victorious as you embark on the journey to promote US-Bharat friendship for peace and global prosperity.
Thanks to Cleo Paskal for a precise note on the deliberations of the Conclave.
Kalyanaraman
World leaders look for new ideas at conclave
The India Foundation, a think tank with close ties to the new government, hosted the first India Ideas Conclave in cooperation with the government of Goa.
CLEO PASKAL Goa | 10th Jan 2015
Participants at the India Ideas Conclave: former Prime Minister of Jordan Abdelsalam al-Majali, former Belgian Head of State Anne-Marie Lizin, former Prime Minister of Slovenia Alojz Peterle, India’s Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, for
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's declared vision is "new thinking, new hope". In late December, as part of the search for new ideas, the India Foundation, a think tank with close ties to the new government, hosted the first India Ideas Conclave in cooperation with the government of Goa.
The range of invitees consisted of a wide cross-section of informed input. The speakers included Former Prime Ministers of Bhutan, Jordan, Netherlands, and Slovenia; former heads of state of Belgium and Lithuania; the Sikyong (equivalent of Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government in Exile; the former secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard; and Indian Ministers of External Affairs, Defence, Railways, Finance, and Power.
The approach and the range of ideas discussed give insight into the challenges and promise of this era of change. For example, an oft-repeated message was that many countries in the region want India to play a larger role. This is a now common theme. There is desire regionally, and in some places globally, for engagement with a major power that is not pro-economic policies that are considered damaging to local economies, and are not China.
High-level representatives from both Bhutan and Sri Lanka pointed out that India's economic health was of great importance to the region, and when India's economy grows by 3%, theirs grow by 2%.
Former Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Thinley said that with Modi's arrival a "wind of optimism" was sweeping across the region. He spoke of the inevitability of the leadership role of India in the region, adding, "Large countries only become great countries when they have good relations with smaller neighbours... if even the smallest countries find more security within the EU, why can't South Asia be the same?"
The former Prime Minister then asked the room to imagine a South Asian Commonwealth, with full economic integration, adding, "I will even go so far as to suggest shared regional security arrangements, including for natural calamities". He suggested that the first step be to create and promote cooperation within region, then work on relations with others, including China.
Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to India (currently Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Washington) Prasad Kariyawasam echoed the analysis, saying India and Sri Lanka's "destinies are intertwined". Noting that Pakistan would block any proposed South Asia economic union, he proposed following Modi's "let's move at a pace everyone is comfortable with" policy, and begin with an eastern economic union including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Kariyawasam also called for more cooperative solutions in maritime and cyber security, and a need for people-centric collective security. He added that "the region remains hostage to colonial interpretation of what divides us, rather than what unites us" and said it was important "to step back to our roots to find traditional strengths of harmony, inclusivity is an ancient part of the South Asian value system". He evoked Sri Lanka's deep Buddhist ties to India, and called for a closer spiritual union.
The cultural and spiritual importance of India in the region was also highlighted by Ambassador O. Nyamdavaa, the former Mongolian Ambassador to Delhi. He chronicled the extensive and ancient ties between Mongolia and India, adding, "India is very important for Mongolia. Indians are our brothers and sisters in dharma." He called for a new role for India in the development of "Buddhism for peace in the world", and proposed India to take a greater role in cultural development in the region.
Delegates from further afield made their own cases for more Indian attention, with European delegates saying that India and Europe should focus on technology transfer and cooperation, US delegates saying now is the time to engage with Washington, and Professor H.K. Chang saying that if China and India can work together, the Asian Century will arise. If they can't, it won't.
Many made an effort to show an understanding of some of India's priorities. Former Slovenian Prime Minister Alojz Peterle said there was no need to innovate dharma, and economic growth could be sustainable if it was dharma based. He also called for a fundamental rethinking of global governance, saying "we can't play the same game with different cards", and calling for a shift from alliances to true partnerships.
Echoing that, German European Member of Parliament Jo Leinen said the World Bank and IMF do not reflect today's world, and certainly not tomorrow's world, and called for UN reform. Former Lithuanian head of state Vytautas Landsbergis quoted Rabindranath Tagore.
On the India delegates' side, there was a wide range of proposals. Former Union Cabinet Minister and Harvard Professor Dr Subramanian Swamy noted that India's high interest rates were primarily benefitting foreigners who were borrowing in the West and lending in India. He proposed interest rates to be maxed at 10%, and the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India be sacked. He also called for a national water grid.
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The vice chancellor of Delhi University, Professor Dinesh Singh, noted that Indian mathematics was highly advanced 5,000 years ago.
In reference to the need for innovation, Vallabh Bhansali of Enam Securities made a plea to Indian parents: "please let your children join start-ups".
The vice chancellor of Delhi University, Professor Dinesh Singh, noted that Indian mathematics was highly advanced 5,000 years ago. Part of the reason for this, he said, was that (part of what is now) India was a maritime power that needed and encouraged constant technological innovation. India's scientific decline, he said, was tied to "Indian technology unlinking from knowledge ecosystems". He called for a reintegration of Indian technological innovation with societal, political and economic need.
The Indian government ministers listened to all ideas, took notes, took questions, and — speaking as individuals not as government representatives — openly explained their own priorities and constraints. Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha, said, "We need to come up with the next generation of capitalism. The only way is by entrepreneurship and innovation. We can't follow the China model — it is very destructive to the environment, and forced. We need a unique Indian model."
But he was clear that this wasn't going to be a revisiting of the Central planning model. "We've had the state as a player on the field, when in fact it should be the umpire. My job is to get you to do it, I can't do it". And then came an idea: "Maybe what we need is a Grand Challenge on solving key problems for India."
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal, was aware of India's need for power. He said, given current low oil prices, he was willing to sign five-year contracts immediately, but no one was willing to offer at a reasonable price. "Getting energy to the people, etc., is nothing extraordinary. It is something government is supposed to do. One would have imagined India would have planned for energy security many years ago. But when I took office, I found we were literally living on a day-to-day basis."
He said he thought he could cease thermal coal imports in 2-3 years, but coking coal would be more of a challenge. He added that he was certainly not closed to nuclear power, but needed to look at lifecycle costs and public sentiment. In the interim, renewables could help rural areas with off-grid and micro-grid solutions so at least people would have lights, phone charge, etc. now.
Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, one of the main drivers behind the Conclave, summed up the impetus for the search for new ideas with: "If something has been de-formed, it should be re-formed".
There is no question that decades of dubious policies and corruption have affected the health of the Indian body politic. The Government of India is looking for ideas, from the deep past, from the neighbours, from new sources, from the soul.
The Conclave was one small part of the ongoing process — many key people weren't there. But the search for ideas continues. It will be difficult, there will be mistakes, and there will be detractors. Many benefited from the way things were. And many are concerned about who will benefit from any change.
Many are watching closely. As the former Prime Minister of Bhutan said at the Conclave, "When India sneezes, her neighbours catch cold". The question is, with the right ideas, will it be possible for India to smile, so her neighbours can laugh?
Cleo Paskal is Adjunct Faculty, Department of Geopolitics, Manipal University.
Honored to take the Oath of Office yesterday, and to continue working for & serving people of Hawai'i and the USA. Tulsi Gabbard took the oath of office on the Bhagavad-Gita. She spoke at the conclave. (Link to video required)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkiV6o5ySoCongresswoman Tulsi Gabbard speaks about being the first Hindu AmericanMember of Congress Published on Sep 24, 2013
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii spoke at the Annual Hindu American Foundation Awareness Gala. She spoke about being the first-ever Hindu Member of Congress and about the work that is cut out for the Foundation and its volunteers.
Published: January 11, 2015 00:38 IST | Updated: January 11, 2015 01:02 IST
Pranab flags short life of ordinances
Amit Baruah
Govt. must ensure extension of tenure after Parliament reconvenes
President Pranab Mukherjee reminded senior Ministers of the Narendra Modi government that the validity of an ordinance was for just six weeks after Parliament re-assembled. Mr Mukherjee’s comments came when they called on him to explain the urgency for promulgating three ordinances.
This implies that the government will have to turn the ordinances into Bills and get contentious legislation passed either through the Rajya Sabha, where it doesn’t have the majority, or call a joint sitting of the two Houses.
The President told Ministers Arun Jaitley, Sadanand Gowda and Nitin Gadkari at a recent meeting that it was up to the government to ensure that the life of the ordinances extended beyond the mandated six weeks after Parliament resumed, The Hindu has learnt.eminded senior Ministers of the Narendra Modi government that the validity of an ordinance was for just six weeks after Parliament re-assembled. Mr Mukherjee’s comments came when they called on him to explain the urgency for promulgating three ordinances.
This implies that the government will have to turn the ordinances into Bills and get contentious legislation passed either through the Rajya Sabha, where it doesn’t have the majority, or call a joint sitting of the two Houses.
The President told Ministers Arun Jaitley, Sadanand Gowda and Nitin Gadkari at a recent meeting that it was up to the government to ensure that the life of the ordinances extended beyond the mandated six weeks after Parliament resumed, eminded senior Ministers of the Narendra Modi government that the validity of an ordinance was for just six weeks after Parliament re-assembled. Mr Mukherjee’s comments came when they called on him to explain the urgency for promulgating three ordinances.
This implies that the government will have to turn the ordinances into Bills and get contentious legislation passed either through the Rajya Sabha, where it doesn’t have the majority, or call a joint sitting of the two Houses.
Calcutta/Ranchi, Jan. 10: A Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh operative whose phone number the police had found scribbled on the palm of one of the survivors of the Burdwan blast was arrested from Jharkhand today. Rezaul Karim, who National Investigation Agency officers said ferried Bengal-made bombs to Bangladesh, was arrested in Sahebgunj district at a place 450km from Ranchi. He had been working as a labourer at a railway track-laying site there for over a month. "Based on source information, we had sent a team to watch him a few days ago. This morning, Karim was arrested," inspector-general S.K. Singh of the federal agency said. Karim, sources said, walked into a trap this morning. "For the past week, he had stopped reporting for work," an officer of the central agency said. "So we got a munshi of the private company handling the project to call him and ask him to come and collect his dues. He failed to smell the trap." After his capture, Karim allegedly tried to throw the sleuths off the scent by providing incorrect personal details. He was arrested after an hour of rigorous grilling. "According to data we had verified earlier, Karim is the son of Abdul Latib, resident of Raghunathganj in Murshidabad district. But after his capture, he gave his father's name as Mantu Sheikh," an investigator said. Sleuths claimed to have seized a cellphone from Karim, apart from Rs 14,000 in cash. The contacts list and call records are expected to lead to people who gave him shelter in Bengal and later helped him flee the state after the October 2 blast in a bomb-making flat. Investigators had found a phone number scribbled on the palm of blast survivor Abdul Hakim and traced the SIM to Karim. It had been the last number dialled after the blast from the phone of Hakim's wife Alima Bibi. A National Security Guard search of Karim's Badshahi Road residence in Burdwan netted 39 explosive devices hidden above a false ceiling over the washroom, days after Bengal police failed to find anything in a search. A reward of Rs 5 lakh was offered for information leading to his arrest. Karim was produced before a Jharkhand court today and will be brought to Calcutta on transit remand. Agency sources said Karim had been in close touch with Kausar Ali and Jahirul Sheikh, fellow bomb couriers to Bangladesh who have been dodging the police. An intelligence official in Jharkhand acknowledged that the Jamaat module in Bengal had spread its tentacles into the neighbouring state. "We know that several of the accused took shelter in the Pakur and Sahebganj districts of Jharkhand after the Burdwan blast," he said.
M.D Nalapat is the Editorial Director of The Sunday Guardian.
I normally agree with the views and analyses of Madhav Nalapat. On this particular article, I have to disagree with the action proposed of creating a Pak-mukt South Asia, for the reasons summarised below:
There can be no 'South Asia' without Pakistan, assuming that 'South Asia' is a geographical division of the globe, keeping in view the reality of history related to colonial regimes which made and unmade 'states' as governing entities bounded by lines drawn on a world map.
The problems faced by any Economic and Security Cooperation Union without Pakistan will not make any headway because such a Union will be seen as a negation of Pakistan as a state.
Indonesia is a muslim country. Can it be excluded from United Indian Ocean States (UIOS)? This UIOS is NOT a mirage but takes a leaf from the work of a French savant, epigraphist, George Coedes who wrote his magnum opus titled: Histoire ancienne des États hindouisés d'Extrême-Orient, 1944? (Translation: Ancient History of Hinduised States of the Great Orient). The UIOS Coedes saw may be seen from the following colouring on the map. I suggest the region marked in saffron be termed Economic and Security Cooperation United Indian Ocean States or simply, Indian Ocean Union, as a counterpoise to the European Union.
The reasons are: 1. the imperative of guarding the maritime sealanes, in particular the chokepoints of Straits of Hormuz and Straits of Malacca to ensure a free flow of fossil fuels from the Middle East to the regions beyond the meeting point of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean; and 2. the imperative of providing new multiplier effects for growth of UIOS by launching Trans-Asian Highway and Railway Projects linking Bangkok and Vladivostok and joining even the island networks in Srilanka with the transport networks in Europe and managing the waterflows from Himalayan glaciers flowing through Brahmaputra, Sindhu, Ganga, Irawaddy, Salween, Mekong; 3. Indian advances in science and technology in the fields of thorium-based nuclear power, thorium reserves, space satellites should be made available as economic cooperation tools for the benefit of over 2 billion people of UIOS; and 4. the UIOS has the potential to take the region, together with Bharat, to the fair share of world GDP which the region had in 1CE (pace Angus Maddison) -- see chart appended. (The reasons for the steep decline in the share of world GDP in the last 2 millennia, are principally due to the impoverishment of the Indian Ocean Community by the colonial regimes and the absence of state apparatus for economic cooperation).
Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Centre
It’s time for a Pak-mukt South Asia
A new Economic and Security Cooperation Union should include Myanmar, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and India.
SAARC leaders during the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal on 27 November 2014. PTI
he Congress party made two decisions, which this columnist regards as momentous from the viewpoint of seeking to ensure that the British left a united India behind them, rather than the vivisected entity which finally emerged by 15 August 1947. The first was the 22 October 1939 decision by the Congress party to make its legislators resign from the provincial ministries controlled by it, a move which facilitated full control by the colonial authorities over several key provinces and which strengthened the bargaining position of the Muslim League, which was of course delighted at the decision apparently taken after consultations with the "Inner Voice" of Mahatma Gandhi. Predictably, M.A. Jinnah called 22 December 1939 (the day when the Congress provincial ministries formally quit office) as "Deliverance Day from Congress Rule". The Mahatma's unwavering adherence to the dictates of his "Inner Voice" are exemplified in such decisions as the 1922 decision to abort a swelling programme of noncooperation with the British authorities as a consequence of the torching of a police station at Chauri Chaura, or his decision to fast in 1955 until the newly-formed government of independent India gave Rs 55 crore of that period's money to Pakistan, a view which had the wholehearted concurrence of Governor-General Louis Mountbatten of India. In contrast to Gandhi's "Inner Voice", M.A. Jinnah allowed not conscience but crafty opportunism to guide his decisions, which included complete support to the British war effort, in contrast to the "neutral" stand of the Congress Party, which in essence was about as "non-aligned" between the Axis and the Allies as Delhi's policies towards Washington and Moscow during the 1960s until the 1990s, when the doctrine was quietly buried by P.V. Narasimha Rao.
And, now, to the second decision with huge consequences for the future. In 1942, the complete contrast between the Congress Party and the Muslim League on the issue of support to the Allied war effort, got highlighted by the start of the "Quit India" movement, which turned out to have minimal consequences on the ability of the British authorities to ensure that manpower and resources from India flowed to theatres of war in an uninterrupted fashion. From that period onwards, Pakistan became an inevitability, given the reaction even of friends of the Congress Party to its "neutral" stand at a moment of crisis for Great Britain, as the UK was known in those times. Within the British establishment, pro-Congress and therefore pro-unitary voices got muffled in contrast to the vigorous promotion of Jinnah and his divisive agenda by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who spoke often and with fervour of "those beastly Hindoos" in his conversations on the future of India. Creating a state wholly on the specious logic that Hindus and Muslims formed "two nations", the British authorities and the Congress Party (which acquiesced in the partition) ensured that a state got created, which defined itself in opposition to India, and which promptly erased its history, replacing that narrative with an imaginary construct where the people of Pakistan were held to have been descended from the Turks or the Turkomans, rather than from the same gene pool as the rest of the subcontinent. Since then, Pakistan has consistently looked westwards, seeking simultaneously to pretend that its eastern border is wholly unrelated to it.
The time has come to give the Pakistan establishment what it wants, which is dissociation with India. In such a context, retaining Pakistan in any subcontinental formulation would be an absurdity. Hence, the need to set up a new Economic and Security Cooperation Union (ESCU), which would include Myanmar, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives, besides India. SAARC can continue, and for each meeting, chefs should be flown in so that dishes of each of the participating countries can be cooked and savoured. The discussion should focus on cuisine and other like matters of great import to humankind, rather than inconsequential items such as trade and security, which can be tackled by the ESCU.
To delude ourselves any longer that Pakistan is linked to "South Asia" rather than to Turkey and the Turkomans is to fly in the face of the history and geography taught in that country.
Looking at the trajectory of that country, it is an illusion to believe that a course correction is possible at this stage of its evolution. What is needed is a Pakistan-mukt South Asia, so that the rest of us can speed up progress in harnessing the synergies between our countries, rather than plod along at the limping pace set by Islamabad for SAARC.
After the horrific massacre Wednesday at the French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, perhaps the West will finally put away its legion of useless tropes trying to deny the relationship between violence and radical Islam.
This was not an attack by a mentally deranged, lone-wolf gunman. This was not an "un-Islamic" attack by a bunch of thugs--the perpetrators could be heard shouting that they were avenging the Prophet Muhammad. Nor was it spontaneous. It was planned to inflict maximum damage, during a staff meeting, with automatic weapons and a getaway plan. It was designed to sow terror, and in that it has worked.
The West is duly terrified. But it should not be surprised.
If there is a lesson to be drawn from such a grisly episode, it is that what we believe about Islam truly doesn't matter. This type of violence, jihad, is what they, the Islamists, believe.
There are numerous calls to violent jihad in the Quran. But the Quran is hardly alone. In too much of Islam, jihad is a thoroughly modern concept. The 20th-century jihad "bible," and an animating work for many Islamist groups today, is "The Quranic Concept of War," a book written in the mid-1970s by Pakistani Gen. S.K. Malik. He argues that because God, Allah, himself authored every word of the Quran, the rules of war contained in the Quran are of a higher caliber than the rules developed by mere mortals.
In Malik's analysis of Quranic strategy, the human soul--and not any physical battlefield--is the center of conflict. The key to victory, taught by Allah through the military campaigns of the Prophet Muhammad, is to strike at the soul of your enemy. And the best way to strike at your enemy's soul is through terror. Terror, Malik writes, is "the point where the means and the end meet." Terror, he adds, "is not a means of imposing decision upon the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose."
Those responsible for the slaughter in Paris, just like the man who killed the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004, are seeking to impose terror. And every time we give in to their vision of justified religious violence, we are giving them exactly what they want.
In Islam, it is a grave sin to visually depict or in any way slander the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims are free to believe this, but why should such a prohibition be forced on nonbelievers? In the U.S., Mormons didn't seek to impose the death penalty on those who wrote and produced "The Book of Mormon," a satirical Broadway sendup of their faith. Islam, with 1,400 years of history and some 1.6 billion adherents, should be able to withstand a few cartoons by a French satirical magazine. But of course deadly responses to cartoons depicting Muhammad are nothing new in the age of jihad.
Moreover, despite what the Quran may teach, not all sins can be considered equal. The West must insist that Muslims, particularly members of the Muslim diaspora, answer this question: What is more offensive to a believer--the murder, torture, enslavement and acts of war and terrorism being committed today in the name of Muhammad, or the production of drawings and films and books designed to mock the extremists and their vision of what Muhammad represents?
To answer the late Gen. Malik, our soul in the West lies in our belief in freedom of conscience and freedom of expression. The freedom to express our concerns, the freedom to worship who we want, or not to worship at all--such freedoms are the soul of our civilization. And that is precisely where the Islamists have attacked us. Again.
How we respond to this attack is of great consequence. If we take the position that we are dealing with a handful of murderous thugs with no connection to what they so vocally claim, then we are not answering them. We have to acknowledge that today's Islamists are driven by a political ideology, an ideology embedded in the foundational texts of Islam. We can no longer pretend that it is possible to divorce actions from the ideals that inspire them.
This would be a departure for the West, which too often has responded to jihadist violence with appeasement. We appease the Muslim heads of government who lobby us to censor our press, our universities, our history books, our school curricula. They appeal and we oblige. We appease leaders of Muslim organizations in our societies. They ask us not to link acts of violence to the religion of Islam because they tell us that theirs is a religion of peace, and we oblige.
What do we get in return? Kalashnikovs in the heart of Paris. The more we oblige, the more we self-censor, the more we appease, the bolder the enemy gets.
There can only be one answer to this hideous act of jihad against the staff of Charlie Hebdo. It is the obligation of the Western media and Western leaders, religious and lay, to protect the most basic rights of freedom of expression, whether in satire on any other form. The West must not appease, it must not be silenced. We must send a united message to the terrorists: Your violence cannot destroy our soul.
Tharoor Meets Ahmad Patel; Brief Discussion on Sunanda Case
By PTI
Published: 12th January 2015 07:01 AM
Last Updated: 12th January 2015 07:01 AM
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Sashi Tharoor today met Ahmad Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, during which the issue of Delhi Police filing a murder case in his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death was briefly discussed.
Highly placed sources in the party said that Tharoor had sought an appointment with Patel two days ago.
While the issue of registration of a murder case in Sunanda's death came up for discussion briefly, the two leaders also discussed prevailing political scenario and recent developments in Kerala, from where Tharoor is elected to Lok Sabha.
There is little likelihood of any meeting of Tharoor with Sonia or Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in days to come, the sources said, adding nothing has been decided on further course of action against Tharoor vis-a-vis party affairs so far. The Congress had earlier said that there must be an impartial inquiry into the matter.
Party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi had two days ago said that there should be no discrimination either in someone's favour or against in the investigation.
Earlier in the day, Tharoor said he would cooperate in the investigation, even as Delhi Police said it will not question him as of now.
"It is my duty to cooperate with the police investigation and not to undermine the probe in any way," Tharoor said. 51-year-old Sunanda was found dead in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17 last. Delhi Police had on Tuesday registered a case of murder in connection with Sunanda's death under Section 302 of IPC on the basis of an AIIMS medical report that concluded that her death was unnatural and due to poisoning. http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Tharoor-Meets-Ahmad-Patel-Brief-Discussion-on-Sunanda-Case/2015/01/12/article2616111.ece
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday called Trinamool Congress heavyweight and former railway minister Mukul Roy for questioning in connection with the Saradha scam. A CBI officer rang up Roy, the Trinamool’s general secretary and generally seen as the number two in the party after chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in the morning and asked him to appear during the day itself.
Roy, however, said he was not in town and preoccupied. According to a source in the CBI, Roy sought a few days’ time.
Roy is known as the man who runs the party organisation, and is widely credited as the brain for securing 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in last year’s polls.
Among the Trinamool leaders who have publicly alleged Roy’s links with Saradha are Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh and former Trinamool leader Asif Khan, who was a confidant of Roy.
The Saradha scam was caused by the collapse of the investment operation of the Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies, which ran many unlicensed financial schemes in eastern India.
Under the scam hundreds of thousands of small investors lost Rs. 2,459 crore, according to an official estimate. There are unofficial estimates that peg the figure higher.
Over the last few weeks, sensing he might be summoned by the CBI, Mamata has gradually distanced herself from Roy.
Late last year, Mamata clipped his wings by announcing that she would look after party matters herself, though Roy retained his exalted position.
“We had earlier said bigwigs of Bengal's ruling party were not only linked with this scam, but also connected with the conspiracy. The way CBI is progressing, we hope the top leader of Trinamool Congress will also be summoned in due course,” Congress leader Abdul Mannan, whose PIL culminated in the Supreme Court handing over the Saradha probe to CBI, said.
BJP national secretary in charge of Bengal, Siddharth Nath Singh said the CBI questioning Roy “will be a jolt for Mamata Banerjee”.
“This will be a year for Bhaag Mukul Bhaag,” he added, playing on the movie title Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run).
State BJP president Rahul Sinha said, “None other than the chief minister had publicly uttered the names of five persons. Three have already been arrested.”
On May 4, 2013 just a few days after the Saradha scam exploded, shocking hundreds of thousands of depositors in Bengal, the CM famously said, “Kunal chor (Ghosh)? Madan (Mitra) chor? Tumpai (Srinjoy Bose) chor? Mukul Roy chor? Ami chor? Sobai chor? Bakira shob sadhu? (Is Kunal a thief? Is Madan a thief? Is Tumpai a thief? Is Mukul a thief? Am I a thief? Are all of us thieves? And the rest are all saints?)
Though Mamata had uttered the sentences sarcastically, three of the names she said, are already behind bars.
The most prominent of them is transport and sports minister Madan Mitra, who is in Alipore Jail.
Others are Rajya Sabha MPs Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh. Party vice-president and former DG (armed police), Rajat Majumdar, is also is jail.
“The CBI is duty bound to find out who engineered the conspiracy and where did the money go. Roy too has to be arrested and information should be extracted from him. All Trinamool leaders had started sharing information after they were arrested,” said former Kolkata mayor Bikash Bhattacharyya who argued in favour of a CBI probe in the PIL in the Supreme Court last summer.
The Saradha chit fund scam trail is hounding Mamata’s government unlike any other challenge she has encountered during her stint in power so far.
Opposition parties have repeatedly accused the CM of trying to shield some of the beneficiaries of the company’s slush funds.
Saradha scam: CBI issues 'summons' to TMC MP Mukul Roy
TNN | Jan 12, 2015, 12.21 PM IST
Saradha scam: CBI issues 'summons' to Mukul Roy
NEW DELHI: The CBI has reportedly issued summons to TMC MP Mukul Roy in connection with the Saradha scam probe, Times Now reported on Monday.
Trinamool Congress had on Sunday indicated it might move the Supreme Court against the "misuse" of the CBI by the central government in the Saradha scam probe to "settle political scores" with the party.
With an eye on the 2015 municipal polls and the assembly elections a year later, the Trinamool has decided to take the Bharatiya Janata Party head-on to preserve its base, especially in the villages and among the Muslim community.
The party is facing its gravest political crisis since coming to power in 2011 as the Central Bureau of investigation carries forward its probe into the Saradha chit fund scam.
Already, state minister Madan Mitra, two party MPs - Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose - and a Trinamool vice president Rajat Majumdar are under arrest, while many other leaders have faced grilling by the CBI and other central agencies looking into the multi-million-rupee scandal.
Party chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced she would take reins of the organisation, in addition to performing her chief ministerial duties.
Till now, party general secretary Mukul Roy was in charge of the organisation.
Banerjee also backed Mitra and Bose, saying she did not believe they were involved in the scam.
Published: January 12, 2015 13:58 IST | Updated: January 12, 2015 13:58 IST
Saradha Scam: CBI summons TMC M.P. Mukul Roy
Kolkata Bureau
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam.
Mr. Roy has been asked to appear before the CBI officers, who are investigating the scam, by the end of the week.
CBI has sent a letter summoning TMC MP’s official residence in Delhi.
Earlier, an e-mail was sent to MP’s office for “clarifying the address” of Mr. Roy’s residence where the formal notice could be sent. “Upon receiving the clarification, the letter was sent MP’s residence in Delhi,” sources told The Hindu.
Till recently, TMC’s general secretary Mukul Roy was considered to be the second most important person in the party. He was often described as the “eyes and ears” of the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and almost single-handedly managing the organisation.
However, after the recent spate of arrests of top TMC leaders, Ms. Banerjee was publicly distancing herself from her MP Mr. Roy who made very few public appearances along with the Chief Minister. He was absent from the biggest business summit hosted by TMC-led government last week in the city. Additionally, Ms. Banerjee was promoting her nephew Abhisek Banerjee in recent months, fuelling speculation that TMC leadership is expecting CBI to summon Mukul Roy.
In December 2014, another powerful TMC organiser and Transport Minister, Madan Mitra was summoned and arrested by the central agency. The party is now hoping that the second-in-command will only be grilled and not arrested by the CBI.
Husain Haqqani|Jan 11, 2015, 06.07AM IST Soon after the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, Islamist sympathizers on social media unleashed familiar rhetoric. AlQaida and ISIS supporters used Arabic language hashtags like "our revenge for the messenger (Muhammad)", "Paris is the messenger (Muhammad)", "Paris is Burning", "Paris under Fire" and "Lions of Tawheed (monotheism)". One self-styled jihadi tweeted, "This is the first reaction. You'll not live in safety again." Another said: "This proves that the Islamic State can strike deep in Europe whenever it wishes." Someone styling himself as Abu Sari alIraqi put up a graphic of the Islamic State's black flag on the Eiffel Tower, with the slogan in French: "We are everywhere."
Such bombast reflects the emptiness of the Islamist dream. The killing of unarmed cartoonists and journalists is hardly an act of courage. Paris did not, in fact, burn and this latest act of terrorism mobilized the French against the jihadis just as terrorist attacks in New York, London and Mumbai had united people against them in the past.
More important, terrorism is unlikely to dissuade anyone so inclined to refrain from insulting Islam, its prophet or Muslims. Like followers of any other religion, Muslims do not like insults to their faith or to their prophet. But threats and actual attacks of the type witnessed in Paris last week have been limited to Islamists.
Contrary to the assertion of some, such violence has nothing to do with recent wars or the policies of great powers in Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria. A man named Alam Din from Lahore was proclaimed a 'ghazi' for killing a Hindu publisher of a book insulting Prophet Muhammad in 1929.Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses' prompted fatwas and violent protests 50 years later. These incidents cannot be attributed as reaction to US military intervention.
Of course, not all of the world's over one billion Muslims react to real or perceived insults to their religion in the same manner. Believers in different deities and prophets have often slandered each other's faiths. Islam has endured its share of criticism and abuse over the centuries, especially from Christians, against whom they fought the Crusades and the Ottoman wars.
But in earlier times, Muslims responded to religious affronts by pointing out flaws in other religions and outlining their own perfect faith. Their armies were violent but so were the armies of others. When Muslim emperors ruled over large non-Muslim populations, preachers and Sufi mystics worked to win converts to Islam. There is no record in those days of targeted attacks in retaliation for blasphemy against the prophet or Islam in distant lands.
The phenomenon of violent outrage over insults to Islam seems to have started during western colonial rule, with Muslim politicians seeking issues to mobilize their constituents. Contemporary jihadism seems to have grown out of the slogan 'Islam in Danger', which has been periodically invoked as a rallying cry for Islamist politics.
Ironically, it is the Islamists who draw attention to otherwise obscure attacks on Islam and then use those to muster popular support. The reaction makes more people aware of a book like Rushdie's or a film like 'The Innocence of Muhammad'. Charlie Hebdo regularly published only 45,000 copies but will likely be read by hundreds of thousands now.
The violence over 'Islam's honour' is a function of the collective Muslim narrative of grievance. Decline, weakness, impotence, and helplessness are phrases most frequently repeated in the speeches and writings of today's Muslim leaders. The view is shared by Islamists, who consider Islam a political ideology , and other Muslims who don't. The terrorists are just the most extreme element among the Islamists. As a community , Muslims are obsessed with their past pre-eminence, which stands in stark contrast with their current weakness. The bravado of beheading blasphemers and thinking a terrorist attack can change the global order are ways of reclaiming a glory that is vividly recalled but not seen by Muslims in recent centuries.
Like all national and community narratives, this one has elements of truth. But it is equally true that Muslims have made no serious effort to understand the causes and remedies of their decline over the past 300 years. Outrage, resentment and violence -and the conspiracy theories that inform them -serve as palliatives for an Ummah that reads little, writes even less, hasn't invented much in recent centuries, and wields little political or military power in the contemporary world. Dealing with the causes of Muslim decline, not random or orchestrated acts of terrorism, would be the real way forward in saving Muslims from dishonour. The writer is former Pakistan envoy to the US. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/all-that-matters/Terror-attacks-cannot-save-Islams-honour/articleshow/45839372.cms
A team of Indonesian navy divers has located both black boxes from an AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago, which is believed to have exploded as it hit the sea.
Indonesian officials announced on Monday that the first black box, the flight data recorder, had been retrieved from the Java Sea for analysis. Hours later they said the cockpit voice recorder had been located but not yet brought to the surface.
Flight QZ8501 crashed on 28 December on its way from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.
The plane lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather less than halfway into its scheduled two-hour flight.
“At 7:11, we succeeded in lifting the part of the black box known as the flight data recorder,” Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters at a news conference. The data recorder was found under the wrecked wing of the plane.
Later his colleague Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, the agency’s operation co-ordinator said the cockpit recorder had been located, but was stuck under heavy wreckage, which divers were working to lift.
Officials hope the black boxes will reveal the cause of the crash. The national weather bureau has said seasonal storms were likely a factor.
S B Supriyadi, a director with the national search and rescue agency, said that initial analysis of the wreckage so far recovered indicated that the plane exploded on impact with the water.
“It exploded because of the pressure,” he told reporters in Pangkalan Bun town on Borneo island, the search headquarters.
“The cabin was pressurised and before the pressure of the cabin could be adjusted, it went down – boom. That explosion was heard in the area.”
Investigators said the flight data recorder would most likely be taken to the capital, Jakarta, for analysis and that it could take up to two weeks to download the data.
However, the information could be accessed in as little as two days if the devices are not badly damaged.
Soelistyo did not provide any details of the condition of the flight data recorder.
Over the weekend, three vessels detected “pings” that were believed to be from the black boxes’ emergency locator transmitter. But strong winds, powerful currents and high waves hampered search efforts.
Indonesian navy divers took advantage of calmer weather in the Java Sea on Monday to retrieve the flight recorder and search for the fuselage of the Airbus A320-200.
Forty-eight bodies have been retrieved from the Java Sea and searchers believe more will be found in the plane’s fuselage.
Relatives of the victims have urged authorities to make finding the remains of their loved ones the priority.
“All the ships, including the ships from our friends, will be deployed with the main task of searching for bodies that are still or suspected to still be trapped underwater,” Soelistyo said, referring to the multinational force helping with the search and recovery effort.
Indonesia AirAsia, 49% owned by the Malaysia-based AirAsia budget group, has come under pressure from authorities in Jakarta since the crash.
The transport ministry has suspended the carrier’s Surabaya-Singapore licence for flying on a Sunday, for which it did not have permission. However, the ministry has said this had no bearing on the crash of flight QZ8501.
President Joko Widodo said the crash exposed widespread problems in the management of air travel in Indonesia.
Separately on Sunday, a DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Indonesia’s Trigana Air crashed on landing at Enarotali Airport in Paniai, Papua.
Strong winds caused the aircraft to roll over, domestic news website Detik.com reported, with no injuries to the three crew members on board. The plane was not carrying any passengers.
AirAsia QZ8501: Indonesian safety investigator disputes explosion theory
An Indonesian worker cuts the tail of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 in Kumai on Jan 12, 2015, after debris from the crash was retrieved from the Java sea. There was no evidence to support the theory that an AirAsia airliner exploded before hitting water two weeks ago, an Indonesian transport safety investigator told Reuters on Monday. -- PHOTO: AFP
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/airasia-qz8501-indonesian-safety-investigator-disputes-explosion-the#sthash.3w2vqIMt.dpuf
JAKARTA (REUTERS) - There was no evidence to support the theory that an AirAsia airliner exploded before hitting water two weeks ago, an Indonesian transport safety investigator told Reuters on Monday.
"There is no data to support that kind of theory," said Santoso Sayogo, an investigator at the National Transportation Safety Committee.
Supriyadi, operations coordinator at the National Search and Rescue Agency, earlier told reporters that the wreckage indicated the jet "experienced an explosion" before impact due to a significant change in air pressure.
George Coedes, the French epigraphist's magnum opus was titled: Histoire ancienne des États hindouisés d'Extrême-Orient, 1944? (Translation: Ancient History of Hinduised States of the Far East). Published by Imprimere d'extreme-orient, Hanoi (1944).
Professor George Coedes, 1866-1969, was the undisputed doyen of early Southeast Asian scholarship. His studies of the early history of the region embrace his rediscovery of the maritime empire of Srivijaya and numerous studies of the history of Cambodia, and in particular, the life of the great ruler Jayavarman VII. Coedes' major work of synthesis is his study Les etats hindouises d'indochine et d'indonesie that covers the period from approximately A. D. 1 to A. D. 1500. This work has been universally acclaimed and--the surest proof of its impact--heavily relied on by all later scholars. It is the basic text for all those who seek to understand Southeast Asia--not only its ancient past but also its immediate present--for the Southeast Asia of today cannotbe understood without a knowledge of the traditional values and institutions, which remain vital and which present leaders seem increasingly to esteem as a guide to the future. There have been arguments in academic circles about the characterization of 'hinduization' by George Coedes as contrasted with indigenous evolution of cultures. I find a succinct and precise account of these arguments in a blog post (2012) by Do Truong Giang of Vietnam which I reproduce below; the post also contains bibliographical links to the views of RC Majumdar, Paul Mus, Van Leur, OW Walters and I. Mabbet. To this list may be added the work of Robert L. Brown. A perspective review of Hinduized States of Far East covers more regions beyond Indonesia and Cambodia and may be seen in a map which identifies present-day states along the rim of the Indian Ocean, extending from South Africa to Tasmania, meeting the Pacific Ocean. This inhabited universe has to be viewed in the context of sealanes for maritime trade highlighted by two major chokepoints: Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Malacca as the Indian Ocean meets the Pacific Ocean.. The inhabited universe of United Indian Ocean States extends beyond what is perceived as pre-modern Southeast Asia or Srivijaya empire, with particular reference to the lands watered by two Himalayan rivers: Irrawaddy, Mekong:
Another perspective in the narrative of the inhabited universe (ecumene) is the impoverishment of many states of the Indian Ocean Rim which were pauperized by colonial loot and colonial regimes which brought down their fair share of contributions to world GDP to abysmally low levels as documented by Angus Maddison in the following bar chart spanning 2 millennia, from 0 CE:
Historiography of the “Indianization” in Ancient Southeast Asian History
For those who studying the ancient history of Southeast Asia, Indianization of Southeast Asia is one of the outstanding issues and there is much controversy surrounding this subject. From the early twentieth century, researchers had deep concern about this subject and there were initial opinions. The presence of traces of Hindu temples, the distribution density of the Sanskrit inscriptions, mythological stories of Indian origin … has led researchers to the hypothesis of an Indianization era in Southeast Asia. In the general context of early Twentieth century, almost of Far East countries were colonies, the West as a civilized people, implementation of the colony, the researchers have been associated with a period in ancient history, Southeast Asia had been a colony of India, subject to invasion and rule of India dynasties. This perception has gradually changed with the appearance of new historical evidences and new insights, especially after World War II, when the Southeast Asian nations gained the independence and standing in a new position, the study of these countries also began to be re-examined.
For over a century of research, there are still many debatable issues relate to the term “Indianization” among scholars. Researchers have attempted to elucidate the nature of the so-called Indianization in Southeast Asia, whether or not there was an Indianized era in Southeast Asia? How did the relationship between India and Southeast Asia take place like? The main theme of the debates related to issues of Indianization, including: The reasons which prompted Indianization process take place in Southeast Asia?; who was the main agency and played an important role in spreading Indian culture to Southeast Asia? Are Indians (Warriors, Brahman, Merchant) had invaded and civilized the region, or the South East Asian people had played an active role in the process of spreading this culture?; the timing of Indianization in Southeast Asia; the depth of Indianization, of what level did Southeast Asian nations receive Indian culture? Did the whole Southeast Asian region become another version of the Indian world, or those influences just like a ‘thin and flaking glaze”?
In this paper, we apply the classification of V. Lieberman for Southeast Asian historiography, in which he divides into four main tendencies: 1. The externalist historiography; 2. The indigenous historiography; 3. An ‘Age of Commerce’ theses; and 4. An ‘strangle parallels’ approaching. Accordingly, the debates over the issue of the “Indianization” in ancient Southeast Asian history are usually seen in two first tendencies, which will be re-examined in the next parts of this paper
“Externalist historiography” and the issue of Indianization
The term “externalist historiography” is borrowed from V.Lieberman, to indicate the Eurocentric view of Southeast Asian history from the beginning of 20thcentury to roughly 1950s.[1] During this period, Majumdar’s series of Hindu colonies in the Far East[2], Coedes’s work named Histoire ancienne des etats hindouises d’Extreme-Orient[3], and D.G.Hall’s book A history of Southeast Asia were most influential books in the field of Southeast Asian history. In his book, G.Coedes did not pay much attention to the cultural and social aspect of the region. He, however, emphasized on the political history, the rise and falls of kingdom dynasties, and established a chronological framework of Southeast Asian history. D.G.Hall re-arranged and synthesized G.Coedes’ and previous scholars’ works in his famous book of A history of Southeast Asia.[4] These books of Majumdar, G.Coedes and D.G.Hall were representatives for Western assumption, or colonial tendency, in writing the history of Southeast Asia. A characteristic of these scholarships, as Legge figures out, was “the tendency of scholars to see that history as shaped by influences external to the region rather than as the product of an internal dynamic”.[5] In this case, Indian culture was considered as the most prominent external factor affected Southeast Asian region, as a result, Southeast Asia was examined through the Len of “Further India” or “Greater India”. This trend could be attributed to the fact that almost of colonial scholars were trained in either Indology or Sinology, “which tended to lead them to see Southeast Asia from one or other of those perspectives”, and another reason was the consequence of the availability of sources – the distribution of a large amount of Sanskrit inscriptions as well as the presence of various cultural vestiges of Indian in Southeast Asia.[6]
Majumdar, an Indian scholar was the first author considering the issues of Indianization of Southeast Asia seriously. In this series, the author position the Southeast Asian region under the influence of Indian culture, including Indochina and the Malay archipelago, known under the name Suvarnabhumi or ‘Land of Gold’, and Suvarnadvipa or ‘Island of Gold’.[7] Based on the evidence of language, Majumdar said that the most ancient people in Southeast Asia shortly before or after the beginning of Christian era, including residents of the tribal groups, or groups were at a certain level of civilization, originated from India and they represent an earlier wave of Indian colonization in the Far East in prehistoric times.[8]
Regarding the cause of Indian colonization in Southeast Asia, Majumdar stressed two main reasons: trade and emigration. Accordingly, the Indian traders were attracted by the search for wealth outside of their frontiers. The Far East, therefore, has become an attractive area for them, by the wealth of gold and precious minerals, spices. The name Suvarnabhumi or Suvarnadvipa, ‘land of gold’ was referred to the attractiveness of this region. The second factor led to the Indian Colonization, which is ‘Emigration’. The increase in population, along with the growth of trade has led to ‘a steady flow of Indian emigrants to various parts of the Far East.[9] These people arriving in new land and settled here, married local women and began to spread their ‘superior culture’ and ‘gradually Hinduised society’.[10] The co-existing between the groups of Indian migrants with the local Hinduised people led to the formation of the ‘Indian colonial Kingdoms’ in Southeast Asia.
Thus, in Majumdar’s view, before or after the beginning of Christian era, Indian expanded and colonized the Southeast Asian region. Following Majumdar, a numbers of Indian scholars consider the Indianization as the result of Indian emigration and Indian colonization in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia, in their view, was a part of ‘Further India’ or ‘Greater India”. C.C.Berg, for instance, considered the Indianization was the result of conquest and settlement by Indian warriors. N.J.Krom saw the Indianzation process in Java was the result of the expansion of Indian trade and consequent settlement and intermarriage.[11]
Coedes George is one of the first scholars study the history of the Southeast Asian countries in a broad context in which regional countries share common characteristics, which he defined as “Indianized States”.[12] According to him, “Indianization” and “expansion of Indian Culture” is a historical fact that took place in a specific historical moment of Southeast Asia. “Indianized States”, in Coedes’ view, consist of “Indonesia, or island Southeast Asia except for the Philippines; and the Indochinese Peninsula, or India beyond the Ganges, including the Malay Peninsula”. Assam region and the Northern of Vietnam are not included.[13] In these areas nowadays still remains deep traces of Indian culture that occurred long ago, including the presence of Sanskrit elements in local languages, the influence of Indian law and administrative organizations; the presence of various ancient Hindu-Buddhist temples and monuments Southeast Asia region.[14]
Regarding to the causes of Indianization process in Southeast Asia, he proposes three hypotheses, namely: “pressure was exerted on the mass of Indian population by the invasions of the Kushans in the first century AD “; “high-caste Indian Adventurers were allowed to seek their fortunes overseas”; and commercial origin. “The Indianization”, Coedes stated, “must be understood essentially as the expansion of an organized culture that was founded upon the Indian conception of royalty, was characterized by Hinduist or Buddhist cults, the mythology of the Puranas, and the observance of the Dharmasastras, and expressed itself in the Sanskrit language. It is for this reason that we sometimes speak of ‘Sanskritization’ instead of ‘Indianization’”.[15]
The studies by Majumdar and G. Coedes have shaped a perception of a “Further India” Region as a colony of India. These authors emphasized the role of Indian, they, however, minimized the role of Southeast Asian people and initiative elements. Indianization was seen as total, and influenced comprehensively to all aspects of Southeast Asian history. The presence of Indian and the beginning of Indianization in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia was the beginning of the history of Southeast Asia, before the coming of Indian, there was no history in the region. Indian people (whether they were Warriors, Brahman or Merchant) was seen as the main factors in the process of cultural transferring, from a “superior culture” to an uncivilized society. In contrast, the role of local people was minimized and considered as “passive recipients”. To generalize the “external historiography” of Indianization, a quote from V.Lieberman’s assessment would be appropriate : “Indianization – the process whereby early Indian religious, architectural, and scriptural traditions were transferred to Southeast Asia during the first millennium C.E. – was portrayed by Hendrik Kern, N.J.Krom, G.Coedes, and other leading scholars as primarily the fruit of Indian, rather than Southeast Asian, initiatives. Either Indian traders had provided an indispensable spur, or Indian warriors had established colonies”.[16]
Indianization in “Autonomous historiography”
After World War II, the historiography of Southeast Asia shifted dramatically, in which new generation of Southeast Asian scholars questioning the works of previous scholars, as well as the demand for re-assessing the history of Southeast Asian polities. The term “autonomous history” was first used by John Smail in search for “a truly autonomous history” of Southeast Asia.[17]
If Majumdar and G. Coedes in his work has over-emphasized the role of Indian culture – an external factor, and lowered the initiative of the Southeast Asian people, the scholars such as P. Mus and Van Leur, in contrast, offered a different perspective and interpretation. Accordingly, P.Mus and Van Leur P. emphasizing the local factors and the autonomy of South East Asia, as well as certain (not total) influence of Indian culture in Southeast Asia.
Mus in his work named “Cultes indiens et indigenes au Champa” challenged the previous view of Majumdar. This book examines and studies the role of Indian culture in the early periods of Southeast Asian civilization, particularly in the case of Champa kingdom. The author firstly examines the pre-Aryan state of India, as well as discusses about the Aryan contribution and their mutual reaction. He also looks at Hinduism as the combination of the indigenous propensities with the Indo-European component. Paul Mus then examines several contemporary forms of the Cham cults, including The Kuts, cult of the lingas to understand the influence of Indian culture in Champa kingdom. By examining the earth cults in Champa, he proved the existence of a common substratum of belief and culture in both India and Southeast Asian societies before the arrival of Indian in Southeast Asia. In that sense, when Indian culture came in Southeast Asia, it was easily accepted and absorbed by local people and developed in a new land far from its origin.[18]
The view proposed by P.Mus was then shared and developed by Van Leur in his influential book namely Indonesian Trade and Society. In this work, Van leur criticized the Eurocentric view of Southeast Asia, and he drew attention away from the conventional thought of profound influence of Indian civilization in Southeast Asia. He, however, argued that Southeast Asia was actually an active agent and borrowed selectively Indian culture rather than a passive recipient of external influences.[19] In his view, Indian influence in Southeast Asia was a “thin and flaking glaze”, and the indigenous elements have continued to exist alongside the external forces.[20] He also rejected the hypothesis considering the colonization of India in Southeast Asia. According to him, the Indian influence in Southeast Asia was in fact a court matter but not a general cultural diffusion.
Both P.Mus and Van Leur contributed to the field by emphasizing on the role of local people in the process, as well as examined the depth of Indian Influence in Southeast Asia – not a total influence as seen in Majumdar or G.Coedes’ view. V.Lieberman makes a properly comment about this trend, that “[these scholars] began to explore internal life of pre-colonial societies. They commonly sought not to exclude foreign influences, but to show how local peoples had been able to absorb, translate, and re-contextualize external forces, in short, to maintain control of their environments”.[21]
Following and supporting for P.Mus and Van Leur’s pioneer thesis, a number of scholars in the field of Southeast Asian studies in the period from 1960s to 1980s dealt with the question “how local peoples had been able to absorb, translate, and re-contextualize external forces, in short, to maintain control of their environments”?[22] O.W.Wolters was among people considering the issues of Indianization in Southeast Asia most systematically, in which he supported the idea of localization or the transform by local culture, and the Indian culture was actually similar things to Southeast Asia.
O.W.Wolters in Early Indonesian Commerce, searched for nature of trade in archipelagic region before the age of Srivijaya. He argued that the expansion of trade in archipelagic region during the period of Srivijaya was an indigenous achievement rather than a result of Indian influences.[23] In another work, named History, culture, and region in Southeast Asian perspectives[24], O.W.Wolters continued to emphasize on the ‘localization’ and the role of Southeast Asian agencies in relationship with outside cultures, and, as he states, the Indian influence did not “move into a vacuum” area.[25] He rejected Coedes’ theses of “The Hinduised states of Southeast Asia” because it “diverted us from the study of the region for its own sake”, and he preferred to approach the regional history from the “region’s cultural diversity”.[26] Accordingly, the Hindu culture in different sub-regions of Southeast Asia, they were localized in different ways, in which Wolters defined as “local cultural statements”.[27] He also refused the idea that Indian influence in Southeast Asia was total, but in several specific aspects. He states “rather than assuming that Indian influences introduced an entirely new chapter in the region’s history, I prefer to see the operation of specific ‘Hindu’ and therefore religious rather than political conceptions that brought ancient and persisting indigenous beliefs into sharper focus”.[28]
Ian Mabbet also contributes to the field by discussing the agencies and the term “Indianization”. Examining previous theories on Indian Agencies, i.e. Ksatriya (Warrior) theory, Vaisya (merchant) theory and Brahman theory, he concludes that elements of all these theories did involve in the process of Indianization of Southeast Asia. According to him “because none of them can be disproved; because the analogy of the mixture of coercion, autonomous borrowing, considered policy, accident, absentmindedness, chicanery, humanitarianism, trade, politics and religion at work in the extension of later western influence in Asia makes the case for an eclectic explanation a priori strong; and because it is difficult to distinguish clearly between the various agencies of Indian influence that have been postulated”.[29] He also suggests clarifying the term “Indianization”, of which “Indian culture” is not a “monad”, but “a plurality of tradition” share historical ancestry. Consequently, Mabbett states, “It is better to divide it into many local cultures, each of which is linked historically to Indian culture in the first sense”.[30]
Above, I’ve mentioned to two main trends in research on the issue of Indianization in Southeast Asia. The research and views of Majumdar and G. Coedes has an important role in shaping perceptions of scholars on the history of Southeast Asia. However, the fact that these scholars over-emphasized the role of India, meanwhile, saw Southeast Asia as only a “passive recipient” has led to distortions and not objective. The latter researchers have questioned the hypothesis of Majumdar and G. Coedes based on new historical evidences and a new point of view, regional history from regional view, or “Indigenous history.” Influence of Indian culture in Southeast Asian history is a historical fact incontestably. However, we need an objective perspective of how did this culture influence on the region and who played a decisive role in this process. The latest research achievements have demonstrated the initiative of the Southeast Asian in contact with Indian civilization, in which Southeast Asian adapted selectively and localized Indian cultural elements. Scientists have proven that, India and Southeast Asia have a shared cultural background that helped Indian culture easily be received in Southeast Asia, and it was not a process of “superior culture” colonized and civilized the “un-civilized” region, in fact, it was a process of “Interaction”. And because “Indian” is not a unique entity but a set of diverse entities shared common ancestry, there was a parallel of transferring and adopting Hinduism in South India and Southeast Asia.
Bibliography
Coedes, George (1944). Histoire ancienne des etats hindouises d’Extreme-Orient. Translated into English as The Indianized states of Southeast Asia Ed. Walter F.Vella, translated by Susan Brown Cowing. Hawaii: East-West Center Press, 1968
Hall, D.G.E. A history of South-east Asia. London: Macmillan Limited, 1955
Legge, J.D. “The writing of Southeast Asian History”, in Nicholas Tarling et al,The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume one, From early times to c.1800, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Mabbet I.W., “The ‘Indianization’ of Southeast Asia: Reflections on the historical sources”, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol.8, No.2, Sep., 1977.
Majumdar, R.C. Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, Vol.1 – Champa (1927); and Vol.2 -Suvarnadvipa (1937)
Mus, Paul, “Cultes indiens et indigenes au Champa”, BEFEO, 33 (1933), translated into English as Indian seen from the east – Indian and indigenous cults in Champa. Monash papers on Southeast Asia, number three, 1975.
Nicholas Tarling (Edited), The Cambridge history of Southeast Asia, Vol.1, From Early times to c.1800. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Pollock Sheldon. “The Sanskrit Cosmopolis, 300-13000: Transculturation, Vernacularization, and the question of Ideology”, in Houben, Jan E.M. (edited) Ideology and status of Sanskrit – Contributions to the History of the Sanskrit Language. E.J.Brill, Leiden – Newyork – Koln, 1996.
Smail, John R.W. “On the possibility of an autonomous history of modern Southeast Asia”, Journal of Southeast Asian History, Vol.2, No.2, Jul., 1961.
Van Leur. Indonesian Trade and Society. The Hague: W. van Hoeve., 1955.
Wolters O.W. Early Indonesian Commerce: A study of the origins of Srivijaya. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967.
Wolters, O.W. History, Culture and Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1999.
Wheatley, Paul. “Indian Beyond the Ganges – Desultory Reflections on the origins of Civilization in Southeast Asia”. The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.42, No.1, Nov., 1982.
[1] Victor Lieberman. Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global context, c.800-1830. Vol.1: Integration on the Mainland. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
[2] Majumdar, R.C. Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East, Vol.1 – Champa (1927); and Vol.2 -Suvarnadvipa (1937)
[3] Coedes, George (1944). Histoire ancienne des etats hindouises d’Extreme-Orient. Translated into English as The Indianized states of Southeast Asia Ed. Walter F.Vella, translated by Susan Brown Cowing. Hawaii: East-West Center Press, 1968.
[4] Hall, D.G.E. A history of South-east Asia. London: Macmillan Limited, 1955
[5] Legge, J.D. “The writing of Southeast Asian History”, in Nicholas Tarling et al, The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume one, From early times to c.1800, Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.6.
[6] Legge, J.D. “The writing of Southeast Asian History”, p.6.
[7] Majumdar, Hindu colonies in the Far East. Calcutta, 1944, p.4.
[11] Legge, J.D. “The writing of Southeast Asian History”, p.7.
[12] G.Coedes, Histoire ancienne des Etats Hindouises d’Extreme-Orient, Hanoi, Imprimerie d’Extreme-Orient, 1944. G.Coedes, The Indianized states of Southeast Asia, Edited by Walter F.Vella, translated by Susan Brown Cowing. East-west center Press, Honolulu, 1968.
[17] John R.W. Smail. “On the possibility of an autonomous history of modern Southeast Asia”, Journal of Southeast Asian History, Vol.2, No.2, Jul., 1961.
[18] Paul Mus, “Cultes indiens et indigenes au Champa”, BEFEO, 33 (1933), translated into English as Indian seen from the east – Indian and indigenous cults in Champa. Monash papers on Southeast Asia, number three, 1975.
[19] Van Leur. Indonesian Trade and Society. The Hague: W. van Hoeve. 1955, p.17.
[29] I.Mabbet. “The ‘Indianization’ of Southeast Asia: Reflections on the historical sources”, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol.8, No.2 (Sep., 1977), pp.157-158.
[30] I.Mabbet. “The ‘Indianization’ of Southeast Asia: Reflections on the historical sources”, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol.8, No.2 (Sep., 1977), p.160.
I like this essay. It covers the history of the discussion of “Indianization” in Southeast Asia well.
Actually though, over the course of the past couple of decades more has been written about this issue. People haven’t necessarily been writing papers which directly address the issue of “Indianization,” but they have made studies which transform this debate. Sheldon Pollock’s writings on the “Sanskrit Cosmopolis” are one important contribution. Someone needs to go and create a new argument based on what people have been saying.
I’ll try to find it, but Ian Mabbet wrote something a few years ago which was published in a book in Thailand in which he revisted this issue. He makes some good points in that piece.
I think the gist of the idea of many people now is that we should not be looking at “India” and “Southeast Asia” because there was nothing like that in the past. “India” was “Indianized” at the same time that “Southeast Asia” was “Indianized,” and “Indians” had just as much agency in “Indianization” in “India” as “Southeast Asians” did in “Southeast Asia.”
The earlier debate over whether Southeast Asia had been “Indianized” or whether Southeast Asians had their own agency and adopted things from India really misses the point because it is based on the idea that there was an “Indian civilization” first, and that this civilization then came into contact with “Southeast Asia.”
The spread and use of Sanskrit, the writing of inscriptions in Sanskrit or inscriptions which were part in Sanskrit and part in indigenous languages, the building of temples – all of this happened in “India” at the same time that it happened in “Southeast Asia.” Southern India became “Indianized” in the same ways at the same time as Southeast Asia. Places in Southeast Asia were simply part of a larger world of interactions and exchanges.
People need to find a new way to talk about this. Like I said, there are a lot of small studies which have been done which point in this direction (a lot done by people who work on South Asian history, rather than Southeast Asian history, like Sheldon Pollock), but no one has come out with a clear general explanation for this process.
Thanks for commenting on my entry and sharing your thoughts on the topic. This paper actually was a response paper I submitted to professor. You are right as mention that this is not a new topic and has been discussed several decades ago. I, as a student from Vietnam, found it is an interesting topic and also relates to my field, I, therefore, eager to understand more about this, as well as the academic discussions on the issue of “Indianization” Although Sheldon Pollock’s ‘Sanskrit Cosmopolis’ was a compulsory reading and we did discuss about this paper as well, I’m asking myself why I did not cover and discuss his/her ideas in my paper? And I tend to agree with you that this is an important work and it contributes significantly to the field. You’ve raised an interesting point that “we should not be looking at “India” and “Southeast Asia” because there was nothing like that in the past. “India” was “Indianized” at the same time that “Southeast Asia” was “Indianized,” and “Indians” had just as much agency in “Indianization” in “India” as “Southeast Asians” did in “Southeast Asia.” Your point here, I suppose, seems similar to the vision proposed by P.Mus and Sheldon Pollock? I’m looking forward to reading the new work of I.Mabbett and learning from his idea. One of my Prof also suggests me to read the work by Robert L.Brown, namely The Dvaravati wheels of the law and the Indianization of Southeast Asia. These mentioned works undoubtedly are important contributions to the field. It, however, is necessary to “find a new way to talk about this” in a larger context, and I wonder who would take this responsibility to fill the gap?
I found the Mabbett article. It’s from 1997 and is called “The ‘Indianization’ of Southeat Asia: A Reappraisal” and was published in a book called Living the Life of the Dhamma: Papers in Honor of Professor Jean Boisselier on his Eightieth Birthday. I think you know how to contact me. Send me an email and I will send you a file of that article.
The Dvaravati Wheels of the Law and the Indianization of South East Asia (Studies in Asian Art and ArchaeologyFebruary, 1996 byRobert L. Brown, Brill Academic Pub. This text deals with the general theme of the relationship between Indian and South East Asian art and culture from the 7th to the 10th century AD. It analyzes how Indian art, religion and culture influenced South East Asian art, religion and culture and the way South East Asians adopted and changed the Indian influence, through a discussion of a group of stone Wheels of the Law found in Thailand. This book is intended for scholars who work on ancient South East Asia, its art, culture, history and religion.
Editorial Review
'This book is a model of how art history should be written, and of a forthright and honest approach to intellectual inquiry.' John N. Miksic, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 1997. 'Brown's work should be required reading (in its entirety) for graduate students in the art history of Southeast Asia and (select parts) for those studying early Southeast Asia.' Michael Aung-Thwin, The Journal of Asian Studies, 1997. 'The volume fills a vital role as a teaching text for early South East Asian art and archaeology...[the book] brings together art historical, historical, epigraphic, and theoretical issues in a volume which will be a standard reference for many years to come.' Elizabeth H. Moore, Royal Asiatic Society, 1997.
About the Author
Robert L. Brown, Ph.D. (1981) in Indian Art History, University of California, is Associate Professor of Indian and Southeast Asian Art History at the University of California in Los Angeles. He has published many articles on various aspects of Indian and Southeast Asian Art.
Pollock refers to the 'efforts of small groups of traders, adventurers, religious professionals. There is no evidence that large-scale state initiatives were ever at issue, or that anything remotely resembling 'colonization' took place.' (Pollock, 1996: 241). This directly contradicts his imagined categorization of the inhabited universe (ecumene) as a Sanskrit cosmopolis, just because many inscriptions and texts found in the inhabited universe of Far East had Samskritam words and thoughts from many ancient Samskritam texts. This is a classic case of a professor projecting his own imagined theories onto the reality which is far removed from the idea of 'cosmopolis'. The inhabited universe, ecumene was dotted by many cultures evident from many architectural forms and many forms of social organization consistent with their traditions. To lump these diverse facets into an imagined Sanskrit cosmopolis category is the height of hypocrisy by a western professor out only to debunk the role played by Samskritam in the cultural milieu of the people in the ecumene.
Pollock genre of pseudo-analysts take their cue from Aristotle who said, 'Asians are more servile by nature...hence they endure despotic rule without protest'. (Aristotle. Politics III.ix,3 loc.cit Anderson, Perry, 1974: Lineages of the Absolutist State. London: New Left Books, p 463.) Takint this cue, some analysts assume that 'Sanskrit cosmopolis' was one form of despotism imposed by referring to texts in the Samskritam language. There were no evidences of despotic rule in the Far East, quite unlike the evidences world over in the colonial states governed by the Eurocentric states entering new domains as traders and usurping state power (Witness the role and subsequent pauperization of India manipulated by East India Trading Company). Such pseudo-analysts end up caricaturing Samskritism as some form of elitist domination, a caricature far removed from the reality of the ecumene (inhabited universe) which cherished the traditions exemplified by the monuments of Prambanan, Borobudur or Angkor Wat.
Prambanan temple complex, 17 kilometres northeast of Yogyakarta.
Borobudur. The largest Bauddham structure in the world.
The bas relief of 8th century Borobudur depict a King sitting in Maharajalilasana (king's posture or royal ease) pose, with his Queen and their subjects, the scene is based on Śailēndran royal court. Over 93% of the Indonesian Bali Island’s 3.1 million people are Hindus. • A belief in one Supreme Being called ‘Ida Sanghyang Widi Wasa’, ‘Sang Hyang Tunggal’, or ‘Sang Hyang Cintya’. • A belief that all of the gods are manifestations of this Supreme Being. This belief holds that the different Deities are different aspects of the same Supreme Being. Lord Shiva is also worshipped in other forms such as “Batara Guru” and “Maharaja Dewa” (Mahadeva). • A belief in the Trimurti, consisting of: – Brahma, the creator – Wisnu (Vishnu), the preserver – Ciwa (Shiva), the destroyer • A belief in all of the other Hindu gods and goddesses There are many Hindu temples in Indonesia. Candi, the Javanese ancient Hindu temples Pura, the Balinese temples
Kuil or Mandir, the Indian Hindu temples The Meluhha gloss in Kota language: kole.l means 'smithy' and also 'temple'.
A thousand-year old Hindu temple was discovered in 2009 on the grounds of Yogyakarta Islamic University, Java, Indonesia. Archaeologists found a statue of Ganesha, a Hindu deity, during their excavations on the campus of the Islamic University.
CANDI PUSTAKASALA
MONDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2011
CANDI PUSTAKASALA A contemporary example of the fusion of historic Hinduism and contemporary Islam
"Candi Pustakasala", "Candi Kimpulan", "Candi UII"… there might be various names for this particular Indonesian discovery, but one thing remains certain: this archaeological find will be remembered as one of the most peculiar and unexpected in recent times.
The initial discovery of Pustakasala (sanskrit for "library") temple happened during the start of construction to build a new four-storey library at Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII). The original foundation columns were to be dug at a depth of three metres, but this was later changed to 3.5 metres, consequently leading to the discovery of the temple underneath. In the beginning, the labourers thought that the findings were just ordinary boulders, but as work continued, stones with elaborate carvings were gradually unearthed.
Upon the discovery of the temple, construction was temporarily halted, and UII allowed a team of classical archaeology experts to conduct further research to explore its restoration potential. This team from the Yogyakarta Institute for Archaeology, included T.M. Rita Istari, Lisa Ekawati, and Heri Priswanto. The UII Rector made a public statement in connection with their preliminary findings:
As a higher education institution that cares for the interests of the nation, UII fully supports efforts to protect cultural artefacts, including a building believed to be a temple in the central library building site of UII. The process of library construction has been temporarily halted to allow a team of archaeologists to conduct further research.
To accommodate the researchers in this task, UII tightened the security around the site to deter the potential looting of statues and artefacts. Such objects included a statue of Ganesha and Linga Yoni; two tell-tale signs that the site is of Hindu heritage. Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of Shiva while the Linga is the personification of the god Shiva in Hindu religious teaching.
Numerous metal fragments and pieces of gold of various sizes were found within the sediment of the main temple, giving the site an approximate date of 9th-10th century AD along with other relic Hindu shrines. Total findings that were recovered are pieces of Padma, two gold coins, 20 silver coins, 12 bowl-shaped items, and various types of metal (gold, silver and bronze) and glass fragments.
After signing with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of RI, Candi Pustakasala will be transformed into a tourist attraction and historical education site. In a meeting to coordinate the redevelopment, senior architect Ir. Ahmad Saifudin, MT presented a new floor-plan to integrate the temple's existence, complemented by a museum on the Basement Level.
The UII also received compensation amounting to IDR0.9 billion million of the total IDR4 billion for the delay in construction, which finally recommenced at 13.00 on October 18, 2010. This reparation went towards the integration and development of the library and temple site, but above all, it primarily the coordination of a private institution and the Indonesian Government to achieve one of the utmost important goals of archaeology and anthropology: cultural heritage preservation and management.
Joshua Griffin Archeologist, University of Queensland
Aerial view of Angkor Wat. Built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer).
Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
The bas-relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk, samudramanthanam, shows Vishnu in the centre, his turtle Avatar Kurma below, asuras and devas to left and right, and apsaras and Indra above, Angkor Wat. The imagined versions of cosmopolis by Sheldon Pollock should be contrasted with the following summary provided by Lawrence Palmer Briggs on George Coedes' work: http://tinyurl.com/k34kuyo Abstract. "When George Coedes writes a book on Southeast Asia, it is an event in the history of that region; for, in a lifetime spent in Indochina, he has come to be considered as one of the all-time authorities on that part of the world. His connection with l'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient has covered more than 40 years, and in his capacity as epigraphist it has been his task to decipher and translate the inscriptions of Champa and Cambodia — Sanskrit, Cham, Khmer, and Pali — and to fix the place of each in history; which inscriptions he has published, generally in the Bulletin of that institution under the title of “Etudes Cambodgiennes,” but also in other journals and in collections. During the twelve years (1918–30) when he was loaned to Siam as Secretary of the National Institute, in charge of the National Library and Museum, he collected, translated, and published the inscriptions of Siam— in Siamese, Tai, Mon, Khmer, Sanskrit, and Pali — and translated and edited important chronicles and other historical documents. He organized and classified the National Museum and founded there the Dvāravatī and Srivijaya Schools of Art. Nor has all his attention been given to French Indochina and Siam. One of his earliest tasks was to collect and publish the references to the Far East in the texts of Greek and Latin authors. While at Bangkok, he translated the inscriptions in Old Malay found within the former kingdom of Srivijaya and wrote several articles on that kingdom."
(Briggs, Lawrence Palmer, 1948, The Hinduized States of Southeast Asia: A review in: The Journal of Asian Studies / Volume 7 / Issue 04 / August 1948, pp 376-393). http://tinyurl.com/o8lnt4p(Google book)See: Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra, 1977, Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publ. "This is a comprehensive, intelligible and interesting portrait of Ancient Indian History and Civilization from a national historical point of view. The work is divided into three broad divisions of the natural course of cultural development in Ancient India: (1) From the prehistoric age to 600 B.C., (2) From 600 B.C. to 300 A.D., (3) From 300 A.D. to 1200 A.D. The work describes the political, economic, religious and cultural conditions of the country, the expansionist activities, the colonisation schemes of her rulers in the Far East. Political theories and administrative organizations are also discussed but more stress has been laid on the religious, literary and cultural aspects of Ancient India. The book is of a more advanced type. It would meet the needs not only of general readers but also of earnest students who require a thorough grasp of the essential facts and features before taking up specialized study in any branch of the subject." "In 7th to 15th century Maritime Southeast Asia, the thalassocracies of Srivijaya and Majapahit controlled the sea lanes in Southeast Asia and exploited the spice trade of the Spice Islands, as well as maritime trade routes between India and China." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassocracy S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Center January 13, 2015
Sukuh temple has a distinctive thematic reliefs from other candi where life before birth and sexual education are its main theme. Its main monument is a simple pyramid structure with reliefs and statues in front of it, including three tortoises with flattened shells and a male figure grasping his penis. A giant 1.82 m (6 ft) high of lingga(phallus) with four balls, representing penile incisions,[1] was one of the statues that has been relocated to the National Museum of Indonesia.
Sukuh is one of several temples built on the northwest slopes of Mount Lawu in the 15th century. By this time, Javanese religion and art had diverged from Indian precepts that had been so influential on temples styles during the 8th–10th centuries. This was the last significant area of temple building in Java before the island's courts were converted to Islam in the 16th century. It is difficult for historians to interpret the significance of these antiquities due to the temple's distinctiveness and the lack of records of Javanese ceremonies and beliefs of the era.[2]
The founder of Candi Sukuh thought that the slope of Mount Lawu was a sacred place for worshiping the ancestors and nature spirits and for observance of the fertility cults.[3] The monument was built around 1437, as written as a chronogram date on the western gate, meaning that the area was under the rule of the Majapahit Kingdom during its end (1293–1500). Some archaeologists believe the founder had cast the fall of Majapahit, based on the reliefs that displaying the feud between two aristocratic houses, symbolizing two internal conflicts in the kingdom.[4]
In 1815, Sir Thomas Raffles, the ruler of Java during 1811–1816, visited the temple and found it in bad condition.[5] In his account, many statues had been thrown down on the ground and most of the figures had been decapitated. Raffles also found the giant lingga statue broken into two pieces, which was then glued together. This vandalism of traditional culture (especially where sexuality is not suppressed, as in the statues) is likely to be an effect of the Islamic invasion of Java during the 16th century, based upon the identical patterns found in all other Islamic and monotheistic invasions generally.
Architecture
A relief of yoni–lingga on the floor of the Candi Sukuh's entrance
The central pyramid of the complex sits at the rear of the highest of three terraces. Originally, worshippers would have accessed the complex through a gateway at the western or lowest terrace. To the left of the gate is a carving of a monster eating a man, birds in a tree, and a dog, which is thought to be achronogram representing 1437 CE, the likely date of the temple's consecration. There is an obvious depiction of sexual intercourse in a relief on the floor at the entrance where it shows a paired lingam which is represented physiologically by the (phallus) and yoni, which is represented bodily by the (vagina). Genitalia are portrayed on several statues from the site, which is unique among Javanese classical monuments.
The main structure of Sukuh temple is like no other ancient edifice; it is a truncated pyramid reminiscent of a Maya monument and surrounded by monoliths and meticulously carved life-sized figures. The Sukuh temple does not follow the Hindu architecture Wastu Vidya because it was built after the Hindu religion had weakened. Temples usually have a rectangular or square shape, but Sukuh temple is a trapezium with three terraces, with one terrace higher than the others.[6] A stone stairway rises through the front side of the pyramid to its summit. It is not known what the monument's unique shape was intended to symbolize. One suggestion is that it represents a mountain. There is no evidence that the main building supported a wooden structure. The only object recovered from its summit was a 1.82-metre lingga statue bearing an inscription and it is now in the National Museum of Indonesia). The statue may once have stood on the platform over the stairway. The lingga statue has a dedicated inscription carved from top to bottom representing a veinfollowed by a chronogram date equivalent to 1440. The inscription translates "Consecration of the Holy Ganges sudhi in ... the sign of masculinity is the essence of the world."[3] Reliefs of a kris blade, an eight-pointed sun and a crescent moon decorate the statue.
The wall of the main monument has a relief portraying two men forging a weapon in a smithy with a dancing figure of Ganesha, the most important Tantric deity, having a human body and the head of an elephant. In Hindu-Java mythology, the smith is thought to possess not only the skill to alter metals, but also the key to spiritual transcendence.[5] Smiths drew their powers to forge a kris from the god of fire; and a smithy is considered as a shrine. Hindu-Javanese kingship was sometimes legitimated and empowered by the possession of a kris.
A headless life-sized male figure grasping penis
The elephant head figure with a crown in the smithy relief depicts Ganesha, the god who removes obstacles in Hinduism. The Ganesha figure, however, differs in some small respects with other usual depictions. Instead of sitting, the Ganesha figure in Candi Sukuh's relief is shown dancing and it has distinctive features including the exposed genitalia, the demonic physiognomy, the strangely awkward dancing posture, the rosary bones on its neck and holding a small animal, probably a dog. The Ganesha relief in Candi Sukuh has a similarity with the Tantric ritual found in the history of Buddhism in Tibet written by Taranatha.[5] The Tantric ritual is associated with several figures, one of whom is described as the "King of Dogs" (Sanskrit: Kukuraja), who taught his disciples by day, and by night performed Ganacakra in a burial ground or charnel ground.
The scene in bas relief The scene depictedBhimaas the blacksmith in the left forging the metal,Ganeshain the center, andArjunain the right operating the tube blower to pump air into the furnace.
Note: For the association of Ganesha with metalwork, see:
Other statues in Candi Sukuh include a life-sized male figure with his hand grasping his own penis and three flattened shells oftortoises. Two large tortoise statues guard the pyramid entrance and the third one lies at some distance in front of the monument. All of their heads point to the west and their flattened shells may provide altars for purification rituals and ancestor worship.[3] In Hindu mythology, the tortoise symbolizes the base or support of the World and is an avatar of Vishnu,i.e. Kurma refer: Ocean of Milk.
1. Miksic, John (1997). Oey, Eric, ed. Java Indonesia. Singapore: Periplus. p. 223. ISBN 962-593-244-5.
2. Ann Rasmussen Kinney, Marijke J. Klokke and Lydia Kieven (2003). Worshiping Siva and Buddha: The Temple Art of East Java. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2779-1.
3. Victor M Fic (2003). From Majapahit and Sukuh to Magawati Sukarnoputri: Continuity and change in pluralism of religion, culture and politics of Indonesia from the XV to the XXI century. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. ISBN 81-7017-404-X.
4. Stanley J. O'Connor (1985). "Metallurgy and Immortality at Caṇḍi Sukuh, Central Java". Indonesia 39: 53–70.
5."Candi Sukuh, Candi Unik Berbentuk Trapesium". March 12, 2012.
Hindu states in Bharatam, Hinduized states in Far East
Why were the kingdoms in Far East referred to as Hinduized state? As far back as 500 BCE, city states and Mahajanapadas existed in Bharat and the incipient state formations were replicated in the Far East. Soma janapadas of Bharatam were: Kashi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Matsya (or Machcha), Shurasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja—stretched across the Indo-Gangetic Plain from Afghanistan to Bengal and Maharastra.
The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, there were a number of smaller kingdoms stretching the length and breadth of Ancient India.
Bharatam and Far East are controlled by Asian Winter Monsoon shown on this map. In January a strong high pressure develops over Asia and cool, dry continental air generates the dry winter monsoon. As monsoon rains wet the region, the heights above 8000 ft. in the Himalayan ranges accumulate snow and ice which make the Himalayan ranges the largest water tower in the world, yielding 5 major river systems from just one glacier source of Manasarovar: Sindhu, Brahmaputra, Yangtse, Huanghe, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong and Ganga emanating from Gangotri glaciers making the arable lands of Bharatam and Far East the fertile regions yielding flora and fauna of breathtaking diversity. Underlying this diversity is the unity framed by the Indian Ocean and Monsoon systems which make the region a naturally-endowed region, with over one-third of the population of the globe, a geopolitical imperative for United Indian Ocean States.
http://tinyurl.com/o8lnt4p(Google book)See: Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra, 1977, Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publ. "This is a comprehensive, intelligible and interesting portrait of Ancient Indian History and Civilization from a national historical point of view. The work is divided into three broad divisions of the natural course of cultural development in Ancient India: (1) From the prehistoric age to 600 B.C., (2) From 600 B.C. to 300 A.D., (3) From 300 A.D. to 1200 A.D. The work describes the political, economic, religious and cultural conditions of the country, the expansionist activities, the colonisation schemes of her rulers in the Far East. Political theories and administrative organizations are also discussed but more stress has been laid on the religious, literary and cultural aspects of Ancient India. The book is of a more advanced type. It would meet the needs not only of general readers but also of earnest students who require a thorough grasp of the essential facts and features before taking up specialized study in any branch of the subject."
"In 7th to 15th century Maritime Southeast Asia, the thalassocracies of Srivijaya and Majapahit controlled the sea lanes in Southeast Asia and exploited the spice trade of the Spice Islands, as well as maritime trade routes between India and China."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassocracy
Thorium-based nuke doctrine. DAE notification of 18 January 2006 amending Atomic Minerals is NULL AND VOID with the coming into force of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015. NaMo, ensure immediate protection of placer sands containing thorium and rare earths. These minerals are vital for the nation's thorium-based nuclear doctrine Entrust the mining of these atomic minerals and rare earths to Indian Rare Earths Limited (under Dept. of Atomic Energy), cancelling all private licenses and leases. Based on the classification by the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015, THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE LIST OF ATOMIC MINERALS (INCLUDING RARE EARTHS) specified in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. This means that the DAE Notification S.O. 61(E) of 18 January 2006 is NULL AND VOID. The DAE notification S.O. 61(E) of 18 January 2006, gazetted on 20 Jan. 2006 which revised the list of Prescribed substances, Prescribed equipment and Technology could have taken effect only if the Parliament amended the Act (1957). Now that the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 leaves the List of Prescribed Substances (Atomic Minerals) unamended, the ATOMIC MINERALS continue to be as those identified in the Act, 1957. All licences, leases, Memoranda of Understanding between the State Governments and private mining companies, for such atomic minerals issued pursuant to the 18 January 2006 of Dept. of Atomic Energy SHOULD THUS BE declared NULL AND VOID. The mining of ATOMIC MINERALS (including Rare Earths) in placer sands should thus revert to the Public Sector Undertaking, Indian Rare Earths Limited, functioning under Deparment of Atomic Energy. S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Centre January 14, 2015
MINES AND MINERALS (DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION) AMENDMENT ORDINANCE, 2015 No. 3 of 2015 issued on 12 January 2015 amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 as follows: ... Thus, as of 12 January 2015 when the Ordinance comes into force, there are the following categories of minerls: 1. Hydro carbons energy minerals: Coal and Lignite 2. Atomic Minerals (First Schedule Part B) 3.Notified Minerals: 1 Bauxite 2. Iron ore 3. Limestone 4. Manganese ore. (Fourth Schedule, clause ea of Section 3) 4. Second Schedule Minerals: with specific sub-categories (for purposes of rates of dead rent): "precious stone minerals": gold, silver, diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, alexandrite and opal; "high value minerals" means semi-precious stones (agate, gem garnet), corundum, copper, lead, zinc, asbestos (chrysotile variety) and mica; ”medium value minerals" means chromite, manganese ore, kyanite, sillimanite, vermiculite, magnesite, wollastonite, perlite, diaspore, apatite, rock phosphate, fluorite (fluorspar) and barytes ; " low value minerals" means minerals other than precious metals and stones, high value minerals and medium value minerals.
Minerals of the "rare earths" group containing Uranium and Thorium.
Niobium-bearing minerals.
Phosphorites and other phosphatic ores containing Uranium.
Pitchblende and other Uranium ores.
[Titanium bearing minerals and ores (ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene)].
Tantallium-bearing minerals.
Uraniferous allanite, monazite and other thorium minerals.
Uranium bearing tailings left over from ores after extraction of copper and gold, ilmenite and other titanium ores.
[Zirconium bearing minerals and ores including Zircon].
PART C. Metallic and Non-Metallic Minerals
Asbestos.
Bauxite.
Chrome ore.
Copper ore.
Gold.
Iron ore.
Lead.
[ ]
Manganese ore.
Precious stones.
Zinc.]
“THE THIRD SCHEDULE
(See section 9A)
RATES OF DEAD RENT
(APPLICABLE FOR ALL STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES EXCEPT THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL)
1. Rate of dead rent applicable to the leases granted for low value minerals are as under:
Rates of Dead Rent in Rupees per Hectare Per annum
First two years of lease
3rd year onwards
100/-
400/-
2. Two times the rate specified under (1) above in case of lease granted for medium value mineral(s).
3. Three times the rates specified under (1) above in case of lease granted for high value mineral(s).
4. Four times the rates specified under (1) above in case of lease granted for precious metals and stones.
Note: 1. For the purpose of this notification,-
(a) "precious metals and stones" means gold, silver, diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, alexandrite and opal;+
(b). "high value minerals" means semi-precious stones (agate, gem garnet), corundum, copper, lead, zinc, asbestos (chrysotile variety) and mica;
(c). ”medium value minerals" means chromite, manganese ore, kyanite, sillimanite, vermiculite, magnesite, wollastonite, perlite, diaspore, apatite, rock phosphate, fluorite (fluorspar) and barytes ;
(d) " low value minerals" means minerals other than precious metals and stones, high value minerals and medium value minerals;
2. The rates of dead rent for the State of West Bengal shall remain the same as specified in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Steel and Mines (Department of Mines) No. G.S.R. 458(E), dated the 5th May, 1987.”.
The relationship between Munda and Khmer languages in the family of Austro-Asiatic languages is as yet an unsettled research concern. In the context of Meluhha, it is clear that in Indian sprachbund from ca. 5th millennium BCE, Munda words were an integral component of the language union. FBJ Kuiper has demonstrated the presence of Munda words in Samskritam. Kuiper FBJ, 1948, Proto-Munda words in Sanskrit, ord-Hollandsche Uitg. Mij. in Amsterdam.See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substratum_in_Vedic_Sanskrit
It is possible that many of the Meluhha hieroglyphs and related metalwork glosses may also have been in vogue in the region characterised by the Khmer languages exemplified by Tantri Kamandaka in Javanese and in the Ganapati image of Candi Sukuh in Java, discussed in this note.
There are clear indicators that the Candi Sukuh hieroglyphs were comparable with metalwork hieroglyphs of Indus script corpora and with the art forms of Ganapati found over an extended area of Bharatam and neighbouring contact areas.
S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Center
January 14, 2015
Map of Bronze Age sites of eastern India and neighbouring areas: 1. Koldihwa; 2.Khairdih; 3. Chirand; 4. Mahisadal; 5. Pandu Rajar Dhibi; 6.Mehrgarh; 7. Harappa;8. Mohenjo-daro; 9.Ahar; 10. Kayatha; 11.Navdatoli; 12.Inamgaon; 13. Non PaWai; 14. Nong Nor;15. Ban Na Di andBan Chiang; 16. NonNok Tha; 17. Thanh Den; 18. Shizhaishan; 19. Ban Don Ta Phet [After Fig. 8.1 in: Charles Higham, 1996, The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia,Cambridge University Press].
Pinnow’s map of Austro-AsiaticLanguage speakers correlates with bronze age sites. See: https://sites.google.com/site/kalyan97/indian-hieroglyphs-meluhha-and-archaeo-metallurgyhttp://www.ling.hawaii.edu/faculty/stampe/aa.html Map 1 (Bronze-age sites) correlates with Austro-Asiatic languages map 2. A focus on this area for areal linguistics will yield significant results to delineate the ancient structure and form of mleccha language. Santali and Munda lexicons and literature will be of considerable relevance with particular reference to cultural traditions and village festivals associated with the work on minerals and metals.
Cham Art. "History has not been kind to Cham monuments and works of art: centuries of warfare and casual neglect have taken a significant toll on sites like My Sonand Po Nagar Nha Trang, while decorative pieces have been lost over time. Today, most Cham artifacts exist as sandstone or bronze sculptures, with a few decorative objects cast in other metals.Do we know anything about the other arts of the ancient Cham: painting, jewelry, basketry, textiles, pottery, or even calligraphy? Can sources from abroad or surviving steles allow us to reconstruct what other arts were practiced during Champa’s zenith (c. 600-900 CE)? "http://etc.ancient.eu/2013/04/03/deciphering-ancient-cham-art/
Richly decorated Balinese kris hilt coated with gold, adorned with rubies
"The handle or hilt (hulu) is an object of art, often carved in meticulous details and made from various materials: precious rare types of wood to gold or ivory. They were often carved to resemble various Hindu gods and deities, although this became less common with the introduction of Islam. In Bali, kris handles are made to resemble demons coated in gold and adorned with semi precious and precious stones, such as rubies. In Java, kris handles are made in various types, the most common design being the abstract stylized representation of the human form." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris
The main monument of Sukuh temple.
The walls of the monument which is Sukuh candi (15th cent. temple) in Indonesia (Java) have many bas-reliefs.
Rhinoceros/boar: baḍhia = a castrated
boar, a hog (Santali) baḍhi ‘a caste who work both in iron and wood’
Ko. geṇḍ kaṭ- (kac-) dog's penis becomes stuck in copulation. Ka. geṇḍe penis.
Go. (Tr. Ph.) geṭānā, (Mu.) gēṭ- to have sexual intercourse; (Mu.) gēṭ sexual intercourse (Voc. 1181).(DEDR 1949).
gaṇḍá4 m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ lex., °aka -- m. lex. 2. *ga- yaṇḍa -- . [Prob. of same non -- Aryan origin as khaḍgá --1: cf. gaṇōtsāha -- m. lex. as a Sanskritized form ← Mu. PMWS 138]1. Pa. gaṇḍaka -- m., Pk. gaṁḍaya -- m., A. gãr, Or. gaṇḍā. 2. K. gö̃ḍ m., S. geṇḍo m. (lw. with g -- ), P. gaĩḍā m., °ḍī f., N. gaĩṛo, H. gaĩṛā m., G. gẽḍɔ m., °ḍī f., M. gẽḍā m.Addenda: gaṇḍa -- 4. 2. *gayaṇḍa -- : WPah.kṭg. geṇḍɔ mirg m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ, Md. genḍā ← H. (CDIAL 4000). காண்டாமிருகம் kāṇṭā-mirukam , n. [M. kāṇṭāmṛgam.] Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’ (Gujarati) Rebus: khāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’ (Marathi)
1. Sh. kačí f. ʻ scissors ʼ, K. köċü f. ʻ betelnut scissors ʼ; N. kaciyā ʻ sickle ʼ, A. kāsi, B. kāci; Or. kaciā ʻ big scythe ʼ; Bi. kaciyā ʻ toothed sickle ʼ; H. kaciyā ʻ reapinghook ʼ. 2. Pk. kiccā -- f. ʻ cutting ʼ.[Cf. Ir. *kartyā -- in Shgh. čā̤d ʻ knife ʼ](CDIAL 2866) Kol. (SR.) kaccī sword. Go. kacci (A.) sword, (SR.) iron sword; (Ch. Ma.) kacci, (Tr. W. Ph.) kaccī, (M.) kacci, kac, (Ko.) kas iron; (Mu.) kacc iron, iron blade (of spade) (Voc. 460).(DEDR 1096)
Ta. katti knife, cutting instrument, razor, sword, sickle. Ma. katti knife. Ko. katy billhook knife; kati·r- (katrc-; < katy-tayr, katy-tarc-) to cut; kaṇkeyt, kaṇki·t sickle (for kaṇ, see 1166). To. kaṇ koty dagger-shaped knife burned with corpse (cf. 1166). Ka. katti knife, razor, sword. Koḍ. katti knife. Tu. katti, katte id. Te. katti knife, razor, sword. Go. (Ch.) katti cock's spur; (Elwin) kāti the knife attached to the cock's foot (Voc. 490). ? (DEDR 1204).
karta2 m. ʻ *cutting ʼ (ʻ separation ʼ BhP.). [i.e. *kárta -- : √kr̥t1]S. katu m. ʻ a cut, cutting a nib ʼ; L. kaṭṭ m. ʻ deduction ʼ; N. kāṭ -- kuṭ ʻ cutting down ʼ, kāṭā -- kāṭ, kāṭ -- mārʻ slaughter ʼ; B. kāṭā -- kāṭi ʻ mutual slaughter ʼ; Or. kāṭa ʻ act of cutting, shape ʼ; H. kāṭā -- kāṭī f. ʻ cutting to pieces ʼ; M. kã̄t m. ʻ shavings of wood &c. ʼ; -- ext. with --r -- , -- l -- , -- ll -- : G. kātrī f. ʻ thin slice ʼ, kātḷũ n. ʻ round piece of sugar cane cut off ʼ, kātlī f. ʻ slice ʼ.(CDIAL 2852)
Stone carvings and hieroglyphic writing at bas-relief walls in Candi Sukuh. The carvings indicate that the smithy was an armourer's workshop. kole.l (Kota) is both a smithy and a temple.For association of Ganesha with metalwork, see: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/01/multiplex-as-metaphor-ligatures-on.html Multiplex as metaphor: ligatures on Indus Meluhha writing and Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization art forms of Bharatam Janam See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/01/itihasa-of-bharatam-janam-hinduized.html
Two stylized peacocks constituting an arch around some hieroglyphs in Candi Sukuh. mora peacock; morā ‘peafowl’ (Hindi); rebus: morakkhaka loha, a kind of copper, grouped with pisācaloha (Pali). [Perhaps an intimation of the color of the metal produced which shines like a peacock blue feather.] moraka "a kind of steel" (Sanskrit) smāraka 'memorial' (Sanskrit)
<lo->(B) {V} ``(pot, etc.) to ^overflow''. See <lo-> `to be left over'. @B24310. #20851. Re<lo->(B) {V} ``(pot, etc.) to ^overflow''. See <lo-> `to be left over'. (Munda ) Rebus: loh ‘copper’ (Hindi) The hieroglyph clearly refers to the metal tools, pots and pans of copper.
దళము [daḷamu] daḷamu. [Skt.] n. A leaf. ఆకు. A petal. A part, భాగము.dalan. ʻ leaf, petal ʼ MBh. Pa. Pk. dala -- n. ʻ leaf, petal ʼ, G. M. daḷ n.(CDIAL 6214). <DaLO>(MP) {N} ``^branch, ^twig''. *Kh.<DaoRa>(D) `dry leaves when fallen', ~<daura>, ~<dauRa> `twig', Sa.<DAr>, Mu.<Dar>, ~<Dara> `big branch of a tree', ~<DauRa> `a twig or small branch with fresh leaves on it', So.<kOn-da:ra:-n> `branch', H.<DalA>, B.<DalO>, O.<DaLO>, Pk.<DAlA>. %7811. #7741.(Munda etyma) Rebus: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (G.) ḍhālakī= a metal heated and poured into a mould; a solid piece of metal; an ingot (Gujarati)
(After Fig. 17. Cult relief found in a well located in the Ashur temple at Ashur. Old Assyrian period, early 2nd millennium BCE, limestone, h. 52 ½ in. (1.36in) Vorderasiatisches Museum.)
Witnessing an event, than interpreting a text. (O'Connor, Stanley J., 1985, Metallurgy and Immortality at Caṇḍi Sukuh, Central Java, Indonesia, Volume 39 (April 1985), 53--70.p. 65); '...iron working was was a metaphor for spiritual transmutation in ancient Java. ' (p.54);'...iron working is both a craft and a spiritual exercise.' (p. 55); "Metallurgy, especially the complex and, to the pre-scientific mind, mysterious process by which ores are drawn from the living earth are reduced to a molten state, transformed into a rough iron mass of residual slag and iron chips by the smelter, and then purified, hardened in the presence of carbon, and forged into beautiful and useful objects by the smith, makes a fruitful analogue for the metamorphosis of the soul after death." (P.56).
The scene in bas relief The scene depicted Bhima as the blacksmith in the left forging the metal, Ganesha in the center, and Arjuna in the right operating the tube blower to pump air into the furnace.
Pl. 1 Relief of smithy at Candi Sukuh, central Java. On the left, a smith forging a weapon. Person on left (Bhima) is surrounded by tools and weapons and is forging a sword.In the center, a dancing elephant-headed figure. Far right, an assistant operating the traditional double-piston bellows of Southeast Asia.
Pl. 2 Detail of Pl. 1 showing smith grasping tang of weapon with bare hand. Note the blade rests on the smith's knee. There is no hammer in the upraised hand.
Pl. 3 The elephant-headed figure, almost crtainly Ganesha, wears a crown and carries a small animal, probably a dog (jackal looking backwards?)
Pl. 4 Detail showing bone rosary or rattle carried by Ganesha.
A relief of yoni–lingga on the floor of the Candi Sukuh's entrance
Pl. 5 Phallus and vulva repreented, on the floor of the monumental gateway at Sukuh. (Portable furnace, bottom register of the standard device hieroglyph on over 1000 inscriptions of Indus script corpora?)
Pl. 6 Linga discovered at Candi Sukuh and now in Museum Pusst, Jakarta (from CJ van der VLie, Report of 1843).Linga is six feet long, five feet in circumference. Old Javanese inscription: 'Consecration of the Holy Gangga sudhi...the sign of masculinity is the essence of the world.' Sword is carved in relief on the shaft of the linga.
Metallurgy and Immortality at Caṇḍi Sukuh, Central Java by Stanley J. O'Connor, Indonesia, Volume 39 (April 1985), 53--70.
Ganapati, Maha Rakta "After the rise of Tantric Buddhism, Ganesha became a Tantric wealth deity and is known as the "Lord of Provisions in Tibetan Tantrism". According to legend, Red Jambhala was in charge of the heavenly treasury that belonged to Lord Mahesvara’s son. Due to his extreme compassion, Red Jambhala had unfailingly answered the prayers of many worshippers. Enraged by Red Jambhala’s indiscriminate charity to both the good and evil, Dharma guardianMahakala decapitated him. It was only after the wealth deity repents that Mahakala plants an elephant’s head on his neck and receives him as a retainer." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambhala
"Uchchhishta Ganapati (Sanskrit: उच्छिष्ट-गणपति, Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati) is an Tantric aspect of the Hindu god Ganesha (Ganapati). He is the primary deity of the Uchchhishta Ganapatya sect, one of six major schools of the Ganapatyas. He is worshipped primarily by heterodox vamachara rituals. He is depicted with a nude goddess, in an erotic iconography. He is one of the thirty-two forms of Ganesha, frequently mentioned in devotional literature.Herambasuta was one of the exponent of Uchichhishta Ganapati cult." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchchhishta_Ganapati
The Kriyakramadyoti mentions that the god carries in his six hands: a lotus (in some descriptions, a blue lotus),a pomegranate, theveena, an akshamala (rosary) and a rice sprig. (Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Loving Ganesha. Himalayan Academy Publications. p. 66). References Robert Hertz: A contribution to the study of collective representation of death R. Goris: The position of the blacksmiths, in: Bali: Studies in Life, Thought and Ritual, ed. JC Swellegebel (The Hague: van Hoeve, 1960), pp. 291-97. ED Baumann, De Mythe van der Manken God, quoted in RJ Forbes, Metallurgy in Antiquity (Leiden: Brill, 1950), p. 89 TheToraja of Sulawesi have a smith god who reforges souls. Glosses ulkāˊ f. ʻ meteor, fire falling from heaven ʼ RV., ʻ fire- brand ʼ ŚBr.Pa. ukkā -- f. ʻ torch ʼ, Pk. ukkā -- f ʻ meteor, fire -- ball ʼ; B. ūk, ukā ʻ torch ʼ; Or. uka ʻ torch, flash of fire, meteor ʼ, ukiā ʻ sun's rays ʼ; Mth. ūk ʻ torch ʼ; H. ūk m. ʻ torch, blaze, meteor ʼ.(CDIAL 2362). Rebus: ukku 'steel' (Telugu) Ta. uruku (uruki-) to dissolve (intr.) with heat, melt, liquefy, be fused, become tender, melt (as the heart), be kind, glow with love, be emaciated; urukku (urukki-) to melt (tr.) with heat (as metals or congealed substances), dissolve, liquefy, fuse, soften (as feelings), reduce, emaciate (as the body), destroy; n. steel, anything melted, product of liquefaction; urukkam melting of heart, tenderness, compassion, love (as to a deity, friend, or child); urukkiṉam that which facilitates the fusion of metals (as borax). Ma. urukuka to melt, dissolve, be softened; urukkuka to melt (tr.); urukkam melting, anguish; urukku what is melted, fused metal, steel. Ko. uk steel. Ka.urku, ukku id. Koḍ. ur- (uri-) to melt (intr.); urïk- (urïki-) id. (tr.); ukkï steel. Te. ukku id. Go. (Mu.) urī-, (Ko.) uṛi- to be melted, dissolved; tr. (Mu.) urih-/urh-(Voc. 262). Konḍa (BB) rūg- to melt, dissolve. Kui ūra (ūri-) to be dissolved; pl. action ūrka (ūrki-); rūga (rūgi-) to be dissolved. Kuwi (Ṭ.) rūy- to be dissolved; (S.)rūkhnai to smelt; (Isr.) uku, (S.) ukku steel. (DEDR 661) mēṇḍhra -- m. ʻ penis ʼ(Samskritam)(CDIAL 9606).Rebus: meḍ 'iron' (Ho.) ibha m. ʻ elephant ʼ Mn. Pa. ibha-- m., Pk. ibha--, iha--, Si. iba Geiger EGS 22: rather ← Pa.(CDIAL 1587).Rebus: ib 'iron' (Santali) WPah.kṭg. (kc.) mōr ʻ peacock ʼ.A. mairā ʻ peacock ʼ(CDIAL 9865). Rebus: mará m. ʻ *death ʼ (ʻ world of death ʼ AitUp.), maraka- m. ʻ epidemic ʼ. [√mr̥] Pk. mara -- m. ʻ death ʼ, Ash. mə́rə, Wg. mara (as ʻ god of death ʼ(CDIAL 9867). Pk. kolhuya -- , kulha -- m. ʻ jackal ʼ < *kōḍhu -- ; H. kolhā, °lā m. ʻ jackal ʼ, adj. ʻ crafty ʼ; G. kohlũ, °lũ n. ʻ jackal ʼ, M. kolhā, °lā m.(CDIAL 3615). Rebus: kol 'working in iron' (Tamil) Ta. kol working in iron, blacksmith; kollaṉ blacksmith. Ma. kollan blacksmith, artificer. Ko. kole·l smithy, temple in Kota village. To. kwala·l Kota smithy. Ka.kolime, kolume, kulame, kulime, kulume, kulme fire-pit, furnace; (Bell.; U.P.U.) konimi blacksmith; (Gowda) kolla id. Koḍ. kollë blacksmith. Te. kolimi furnace.Go. (SR.) kollusānā to mend implements; (Ph.) kolstānā, kulsānā to forge; (Tr.) kōlstānā to repair (of ploughshares); (SR.) kolmi smithy (Voc. 948). Kuwi (F.) kolhalito forge. (DEDR 2133) K. khāra -- basta f. ʻ blacksmith's skin bellows ʼ; -- S. bathī f. ʻ quiver ʼ (< *bhathī); A. Or. bhāti ʻ bellows ʼ, Bi. bhāthī, (S of Ganges) bhã̄thī; OAw. bhāthā̆ ʻ quiver ʼ; H. bhāthā m. ʻ quiver ʼ, bhāthī f. ʻ bellows ʼ; G. bhāthɔ, bhātɔ, bhāthṛɔ m. ʻ quiver ʼ (whence bhāthī m. ʻ warrior ʼ); M. bhātā m. ʻ leathern bag, bellows, quiver ʼ, bhātaḍ n. ʻ bellows, quiver ʼ; <-> (X bhráṣṭra -- ?) N. bhã̄ṭi ʻ bellows ʼ, H. bhāṭhī f. OA. bhāthi ʻ bellows ʼ (CDIAL 9424). Rebus: Pk. bhayaga -- m. ʻ servant ʼ, bhaḍa -- m. ʻ soldier ʼ, bhaḍaa -- m. ʻ member of a non -- Aryan tribe ʼ; Paš. buṛīˊ ʻ servant maid ʼ IIFL iii 3, 38; S.bhaṛu ʻ clever, proficient ʼ, m. ʻ an adept ʼ; Ku. bhaṛ m. ʻ hero, brave man ʼ, gng. adj. ʻ mighty ʼ; B. bhaṛ ʻ soldier, servant, nom. prop. ʼ,.kcch. bhaṛ ʻ brave ʼ; Garh. (Śrīnagrī dial.) bhɔṛ, (Salānī dial.) bheṛ ʻ warrior ʼ.G. bhaṛ m. ʻ warrior, hero, opulent person ʼ, adj. ʻ strong, opulent ʼ (CDIAL 9588).
Tantri Reliefs on Javanese Candi by Robert L. Brown Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, Issue 1, 1998
Abstract:
The Tantri reliefs of the title are scenes, carved in stone, depicting stories from (or relating to) those found in the Indian Pancatantra corpus of stories, animal fables usually teaching a moral lesson. These reliefs are on candis, or temples, in Java that date, beginning with two in central Java, from about 800 C.E. and end with a group of thirteen monuments in eastern Java that date from about 1340 to 1450. Thus, the reliefs' appearance is restricted to these two groups, among the many monuments in central Java, and to a short time frame. In addition, there is an odd five-hundred-year break between the two groups. These are the only instances in which such Pancatantra stories are depicted on monuments in South or Southeast Asia, making their appearance on the Javanese temples that much more intriguing.Marijke Klokke's book is very helpful in sorting out the questions regarding these Javanese Tantri reliefs, and she supplies - in a careful, thorough, and scholarly way - answers or hypotheses for many of them. The book is divided into two parts. The first, in seven chapters and 152 pages of text, is her discussion of the reliefs. The second part, of about one hundred pages, is a very handy catalog of the reliefs themselves, each discussed separately and with a small illustration. These reliefs are numbered consecutively and arranged by monument, which in turn are arranged chronologically. The major monuments are shown at the end in ground plans with the placement of each relief indicated by its number. The discussion for each relief is extremely thorough, giving a list of references where it has been published before, a description, a suggested identification, and often a detailed analysis and comparison of textual sources and other reliefs.The first part of the book is an introduction that lays out some of the major issues, most of which will continue to be a focus throughout the book, including most importantly the relationship of the reliefs to the textual sources. Klokke reviews the past scholarly literature that has dealt with the reliefs, and notes that her approach will be to consider the meaning of the reliefs in the context of the candis and, broadly, of Javanese culture, rather than to view each relief separately, as was very commonly done in the past. The second chapter is then devoted to a review of the literary sources. The stories are referred to as Tantri stories because the Old Javanese version of these stories, in a text named today Tantri Kamandaka, has a woman named Tantri telling the stories to her husband, a king. The royal nature of the stories will be a key in her interpretation of the candi reliefs.In Klokke's thorough search for relationships and sources for the Javanese Tantri Kamandaka, she comes to the surprising conclusion that this text, which dates to the Majapahit period (fourteenth to sixteenth centuries) - or just about the same time as the reappearance of the Tantri reliefs on eastern Javanese monuments - is most closely related in India to an obscure south Indian Sanskrit Pancatantra text, the Tantropakhyana, and its Tamil adaptation. Is this to be connected to Hertel's Tantrakhyayika? (cf. Renou, L'Inde classique, [Section]1812). Furthermore, the Javanese Tantri Kamandaka and the Indian texts share close relationships with Thai and Laotian Pancatantra versions. She points out that a similar pattern is found with the Old Javanese Ramayana Kakawin, the Javanese version of the Ramayana being related to a less well known Indian version but that appears also to have influenced other Southeast versions of the Ramayana.Before turning to her goal of discussing the reliefs in their architectural and cultural contexts in the final two chapters, Klokke provides three more chapters, in part in preparation for these final discussions, that are filled with interesting insights. Chapter III deals with art historical concerns of Javanese sculptural reliefs, their styles, iconography, figural types, and narrative conventions. This is, to my mind, the weakest chapter in the book (although this may be because, as an art historian, I expected something more sophisticated - for scholars from other fields it may be more helpful). I find particularly inadequate her discussion of the artistic narrative conventions, that is, the ways in which stories are depicted in sculptural relief. She identifies two methods, culmination and the episodic, the latter of which is divided into cyclic and continuous forms. By "culmination" she means that one narrative moment is used to represent the entire story. The episodic simply means that a series of moments are depicted, either in separate panels (cyclic form, as in a modern comic strip) or several moments in a single panel (continuous form). She then relates these conventions historically, suggesting that while the culmination method existed throughout Javanese art, the episodic was first in the cyclic form (as at Borobudur, ca. A.D. 800), then developed into a combined cyclic and continuous form in the late central Javanese period (as at Loro Jonggrang, ca. 850), and became "full-fledged continuous form" in the late east Javanese period (fourteenth-fifteenth c.). The Tantri reliefs always tended toward the culmination method, and were so exclusively in the central Javanese examples, while some became rather minimally episodic on the eastern Javanese candis.I find, first of all, that this classification is too simplistic and schematic, considering the very rich discussions of artistic narrative available, and that continue as a focus of innovative contemporary scholarship. And second, I do not understand why Klokke calls several of the central Javanese Tantri reliefs that depict several different moments in one panel (such as the Mendut "Geese and Tortoise") the culmination method (see her discussion pp. 71-72).Chapter IV is devoted to dating the monuments on which the Tantri reliefs are found. Chapter V then talks about the relationships between the artistic and literary traditions. This is a crucial chapter, as Klokke comes to conclusions about the relationships, influences, and sources of literary texts and the Tantri reliefs. Briefly, she feels that a variety of Pancatantra stories, in both literary and oral forms, were first brought to central Java in the eighth and ninth centuries, primarily from Gujarat. The reason the Central Javanese Tantri reliefs are all culmination method (that is, depicted in a single moment in a single panel) is, she suggests, because they were based on only the condensed form of the brief poetic sloka, stripped of narrative content - an idea I find highly unlikely, but it helps to explain why she is determined to force all the central Javanese examples, even those like the "Geese and Tortoise" mentioned above, into the culmination method. When the Pancatantra-like stories were first written in Old Javanese (the Tantri Kamandaka) in eastern Java in about the fourteenth century, the obscure south Indian Tantropakhyana was chosen as a guide because it, like the central Javanese reliefs, related ultimately to the same earlier Gujarati-linked stories. Thus, assuming a continuing story tradition between central and eastern Java over that five hundred-year gap, which she actually details using the reliefs, the eastern Javanese recognized, and thus chose as the model, the Tantropakhyana as already "part" of the tradition. While this is speculative, it is certainly well argued.Finally, the last two chapters (VI and VII) need to be read for their many details, but Klokke's overall argument as to the use and meaning of the reliefs on the candis can be rather simply stated. She finds that the stories were related to kingship, specifically to the teachings of what made a good or bad king. These stories were placed on monuments that had to do with the secular or this-worldly success of the king in making the kingdom fertile and plentiful. They were, she feels, organized on the monuments in a general left-right scheme, so that the left includes stories having to do with teaching about wickedness, the right with the good. There was also a vertical organization, so that the lower portion of the monument was more focused on the king's worldly duties, and thus were usually where the Tantri reliefs were placed. This interpretation of the stories applying to the mundane and materialistic has interesting implications for the central Javanese Tantri reliefs, which were placed on two Buddhist monuments. In conclusion, this is an informative and significant book that bears a close reading by scholars from various disciplines and fields.ROBERT L. BROWN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELESCOPYRIGHT 1998 American Oriental Society
"No, this is not a traffic sign warning drivers of a dangerous winding road, but a rather inadequate description of keris, the traditional Indonesian dagger. Whether created by human hands or of supernatural origin, keris are believed to be physical manifestations of invisible forces. Forged in fire but symbolic of water, a keris represents a powerful union of cosmic complementary forces.
A distinctive feature of many keris is their odd-numbers of curves, but they also have straight blades. Keris are like naga, which are associated with irrigation canals, rivers, springs, wells, spouts, waterfalls and rainbows. Some keris have a naga or serpent head carved near its base with the body and tail following the curves of the blade to the tip. A wavy keris is a naga in motion, aggressive and alive; a straight blade is one at rest, its power dormant but ready to come into action.
Different types of whetstones, acidic juice of citrus fruits and poisonous arsenic bring out the contrast between the dark black iron and the light colored silvery nickel layers which together form pamor, damascene patterns on the blade. These motifs have specific names which indicate their special powers: udan mas (golden rain) is good for prosperity, wos wetah (unbroken rice grains) brings well-being.
Three fingers remaining helps in making decisions; two fingers left are good for spiritual purposes. One and a half fingers left repel disaster and black magic; one finger remaining is suitable for agricultural prosperity. Half a finger left is useful for thieves; no finger remaining is good for making proposals. What’s going on here? Cutting off fingers for punishment? No, by measuring a keris from base to tip with four fingers of each hand alternating, the remaining length indicates how the keris is beneficial.
The keris is an important family possession and considered to be an ancestral deity, as weapons often play critical roles in the rise and fall of families and fortunes in history. Heirloom keris have proper names which describe their power: Ki Sudamala is Venerable Exorcist and repels negative forces, Ki Baju Rante is Venerable Coat of Armor and spiritually protects one wearing it.
In Bali, an heirloom keris and other such metal objects are presented offerings every 210 days on the day called Tumpek Landep, which means ‘sharp’. They are cleaned, displayed in temple shrines, and presented with incense, holy water, and red-colored food and flowers to honor Hindu god of fire Brahma. This is followed by prayers for a sharp mind to Sanghyang Pasupati, the deity who empowers sacred objects and defeats ignorance..."
Suteja Neka ritually hammers a newkeris being made for the Pura Pandeblacksmith clan temple in Peliatan in June 2006
Antique royal Balinese keris from Bangliwith 17 curves, demon-shaped handle inlaid with gold and encrusted with semi-precious stones
Antique Balinese keris with chiseled figures of lion king Candapinggala fighting bull Nandaka from the TantriKamandaka fables
Antique Balinese keris with 13 curves, new gold inlay of naga(water-serpent), demon-shaped gold handle encrusted with semi-precious stones
"There are also 14 stories from the Tantri Kamandaka, these are Java animal fables used to represent characters that teach life lessons in wisdom & statecraft, the art of running a kingdom. The Tantri Kamandaka is interesting as it is very similar to the Arabian ‘A Thousand & One Nights’ story. It starts off with a king who orders his minister to find him a bride each night so his subjects can get drunk & have a wedding feast every day. On the last day the kingdom runs out of girls & so the minister’s own daughter, a girl named Tantri gives herself up. On their wedding night in order to avoid drunken horizontal-mumble, she tries to distract the king with these tales which later has a profound effect on the king who vows to change his ways, the moral here… if you have sex with a different woman every night you will probably get AIDS & die."
Javanese Tantri Kamandaka (known also as Tantricarita, Tantravakya and Candapingala) is based on Pancatantra. Prof. C. Hooykaas brought out a Tantri edition in 1931. He opines that this book was written at about the same time as Durgasimha's Kannada version of the Pancatantra, that is, in the first half of the eleventh century CE.
English translation:
'"This work will, in all likelihood, be of interest to rulers; for the course of (princely) policy is made plain by stories of animals."
Surya Majapahit[i] of Majapahit Empire from 1293 to around 1500 in Java, Indonesia.
Expansion and decline of Majapahit Empire, started in Trowulan Majapahit in 13th century, expanded to much of Indonesian archipelago, until receded and fell in early 16th century.
The graceful Bidadari Majapahit, golden celestialapsara in Majapahit style perfectly describes Majapahit as "the golden age" of the archipelago.
Bas relief from Candi Penatarandescribes the Javanese-style pendopopavilion, commonly found across Java and Bali.
Majapahit recognize the hierarchy classifications of lands within its realm:
Austroasiatic Languages: Munda (Eastern India) and Mon-Khmer (NE India, mainland SE Asia, Malaysia, Nicobars) [Site maintained by Patricia Donegan and David Stampe]
Austroasiatic languages map (in German) from H.-J. Pinnow's Versuch einer historischen Lautlehre der Kharia-Sprache, 1958: map (jpg-file); legend (jpg-file). Vietnamese is omitted.
Mainland SE Asian language maps compiled by David Bradley (part of Wurm & Hattori's Language Atlas of the Pacific Area (1981, 1983):
Southern SE Asia sheet: map, legend, text (continues on following sheet).
Northern SE Asia sheet: map, legend, text (continued from preceding sheet).
Patricia J. Donegan & David Stampe, Rhythm and the holistic organization of language structure (.pdf file), a corrected version of a paper originally published in Papers from the Parasession on the Interplay of Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax, ed. John F. Richardson, Mitchell Marks, and Amy Chukerman (Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 1983), pp. 337-353.
Patricia J. Donegan & David Stampe, South-East Asian features in the Munda languages: Evidence for the analytic-to-synthetic drift of Munda (.pdf file), in Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Special Session on Tibeto-Burman and Southeast Asian Linguistics, in honor of Prof. James A. Matisoff, ed. Patrick Chew (Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society, 2002), pp. 111-129.
Patricia J. Donegan & David Stampe, Rhythm and the synthetic drift of Munda (.pdf file), in Rajendra Singh (ed.), The Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Linguistics 2004, pp. 3-36.
Doug Cooper's SEA Linguistics Bibliography site includes his Thai and computational linguistics bibliography, as well as the two bibliographies by Stampe and Huffman, above, as targets of Doug's versatile search and reformatting engine. NO LONGER ONLINE
LTBA (Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area):home page.
Lexicography:
Munda Lexical Archive, an ongoing copylefted archive of most of the lexical materials available from the non-Kherwarian Munda languages, assembled, analyzed, and arranged by Patricia J. Donegan & David Stampe. A detailed description with credits is forthcoming. For now see 00README. (A current snapshot of the whole is available for download as a zip archive: munda-archive.zip)
Sora (Saora, Savara), data of G. V. Ramamurti, Verrier Elwin, H. S. Biligiri, David Stampe, Stanley Starosta, Bijoy P. Mahapatra, Ranganayaki Mahapatra, Arlene R. K. Zide, Khageswar Mahapatra, Piers Vitebsky, Patricia J. Donegan, et al.
Gutob (Gadaba), data of Norman H. Zide, Bimal Prasad Das, Patricia J. Donegan, et al.
Remo (Bonda), data of Verrier Elwin, Frank Fernandez, S. Bhattacharya, Patricia J. Donegan, et al.
Gta' (Didayi), data of Suhas Chatterji, P. N. Chakravarti, Norman H. Zide, Khageswar Mahapatra, Patricia J. Donegan, et al.
Kharia, data of H. Floor, H. Geysens, H. S. Biligiri, Heinz-Jürgen Pinnow, et al.
Juang, data of Verrier Elwin, Dan M. Matson, Bijoy P. Mahapatra, Heinz-Jürgen Pinnow, et al.
Korku, data of Norman H. Zide, Beryl A. Girard, Patricia J. Donegan, et al.
Santali, a growing selection of Paul Otto Bodding's 5-volume A Santal Dictionary (Oslo, Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, 1929-1936), input by Makoto Minegishi and associates, ILCAA, Tokyo, but so far of limited value since it is accessible only by searching for an exactly spelled Santali headword! .
Etymology:
Munda:
Comparative Munda (mostly North), rough draft ed. Stampe, based on Heinz-Jürgen Pinnow's Versuch einer historischen Lautlehre der Kharia-Sprache (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1959) and Ram Dayal Munda's Proto-Kherwarian Phonology, unpublished MA thesis, University of Chicago, 1968.
Working files of South Munda lexical data by gloss assembled from collections of David Stampe, Patricia Donegan, H.-J. Pinnow, Sudhibhushan Bhattacharya, and Norman and Arlene Zide for a seminar by Stampe on Austroasiatic languages.
Indian Substratum:South Asia Residual Vocabulary Assemblage (SARVA), a compilation of ancient Indian words lacking apparent Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, or Austroasiatic origins, in progress by Franklin Southworth and Michael Witzel, with David Stampe.
Dravidian: Thomas Burrow and Murray B. Emeneau's A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1984. Accessible by search on headwords or strings, through the Digital Dictionaries of South Asia project, U. Chicago.
Indo-Aryan: Sir Ralph Turner's A Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, 1962-66, with 3 supplements 1969-85. Accessible by search on headwords or strings, through the Digital Dictionaries of South Asia project, U. Chicago.
Sino-Tibetan: James A. Matisoff's STEDT (Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus) Project, at Berkeley. The first fruit of the project, Matisoff's Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction (University of California Publications in Linguistics 135), 2003, can be downloaded from California's eScholarship Repository as a searchable pdf file. On the STEDT site is an index of reconstructions and a first set of addenda and corrigenda for HPTB. Electronic publication of STEDT is planned in 8 semantically arranged fascicles.
The eighteenth annual meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (Kuala Lumpur, May 2008)
Paul Sidwell
Centre for Research in Computational Linguistics
<paulsidwell@yahoo.com>
Abstract
Is Mon-Khmer dead? Long live Austroasiatic!
In reviewing the classification of Austroasiatic languages in the twentieth century, it is evident that cleanly identifying the constituency of a “Mon-Khmer” family within the phylum has never been satisfactorily resolved. Initially narrowly defined, the putative membership of Mon-Khmer steadily expanded over time; perhaps the only consistent characteristic of alternative formulations was the lack of any claim to the Munda languages of India. And, since the 1980s, this has been the generally received consensus view: that Austroasiatic consists of the two principal clades Munda and Mon-Khmer.
Looking back, it is apparent that this view emerged absent a comprehensive Austroasiatic reconstruction, by researchers who relied on typological, lexical, and lexicostatistical considerations in making their classifications. But this methodology, however reasonable, has created divisions that go far beyond simple language classification. Over the last half century there has been an ongoing social separation between Mon-Khmer and Munda (mostly India-based) scholars; unfortunate if the existing classification paradigm is correct, but needless and harmful if it turns out that our attitudes and work practices have been framed around a model that is ultimately disproved.
While the Austroasiatic conferences held in India in 1977 and 2007 provided excellent opportunities for bridge-building, the three-decades gap between meetings is itself evidence of the conceptual fragmentation that has paralleled the geographic – as opposed to linguistic – distance between Munda and Mon-Khmer. In fact, from the comparative-historical viewpoint there are no data that decisively indicate that all of the Mon-Khmer languages are closer to each other than any are to Munda. Indeed, new and conflicting classification models have been advanced (e.g. Peiros 2004, Diffloth 2005), and it has been argued that the Munda languages are structurally innovative rather than archaic (e.g. Donegan & Stampe 2004). It may well be that Munda is best viewed as a typologically variant Northern Mon-Khmer branch (for want of a better term).
These considerations highlight just how precarious are our traditions of treating Munda as a distant cousin, while taking for granted the pairing of Mon and Khmer in a single sub-branch. On the contrary, we should recognize Munda’s integral role in the comparative study of the Austroasiatic languages of Southeast Asia, and go on to ask if there is any true cladistic motivation that requires the term “Mon-Khmer” at all. More importantly, even as we use modern resources and improved methods to help resolve technical issues of clades and branchings, it is equally imperative that we work to bring South Asian and Southeast Asian linguists together in an inclusive research community of Austroasiatic scholars.
References
Diffloth, Gérard. 2005. The contribution of linguistic palaeontology to the homeland of Austro-asiatic. In: Sagart, Laurent , Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas (eds.). The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. Routledge/Curzon.pp79-82.
Peiros, Iľja J. 2004. Genetičeskaja klassifikacija avstroaziatskix jazykov. Moskva: Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj gumanitarnyj universitet (doctoral dissertation).
Donegan, Patricia and David Stampe. 2004. Rhythm and the Synthetic Drift of Munda, The Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Linguistics. Berlin and New York, De Gruyter. pp 3-36.
Agastya: This statue of Agastya, who is credited with propagating Hinduism in Java, originated from Nagasari Temple from the Prambanan complex in Yogyakarta. - See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/11/15/javanese-antiquities-paris.html#sthash.pf1sXQyl.dpuf See https://books.google.co.in/books?id=oF-Hqih3pBAC&pgSee: Brown, Robert L., 1991, Ganesh: Studies of an Asian God, SUNY Press, Book News, Inc., Portland, OR. Essentially a collection of full plot summaries organized under country of origin and preceeded by brief historical introduction. Covers Britain, France, US, Austria-Germany-Hungary, and Spain. Indexed by author/composer/lyricist, and by song title. Includes a discography. Ganesk, the Indian, elephant-headed god worshipped by some Hindus as the principle god, and by many as a subsidiary god, gets a full measure of devotion from western scholars in 11 essays concerned primarily with his origins, rise to divinity, and spreading popularity. The topics include his protohistory, myth, metaphor; his wives; and his place in Sanscrit literature, Jainism, southeast Asia, Tibet, China, and Japan. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Mukul Roy at Nabanna on Wednesday. Telegraph picture
Jan. 14: Mukul Roy has sought more time to appear before the CBI on the eve of his scheduled appointment with the agency probing the Saradha case, quickening Bengal's political pulse but thickening the fog in the absence of clarity. Roy, who met Mamata Banerjee today and was apparently ticked off for sharing too much information with the media yesterday, sought the postponement of his questioning by 15 days. Two CBI officers in Delhi and Calcutta said Roy's lawyer, who made the request in a letter, had been told that it would be better if the politician turned up within seven days. The official reason cited in the letter was the byelections to a Lok Sabha seat and an Assembly seat in February. "I had confirmed to the CBI while I was in Delhi that I would appear before it. But at the time, the bypolls had not been announced. Since I am a key functionary of the party and would be preoccupied with the byelection, I have sought 15 days' time from the CBI. I will 100 per cent cooperate with the CBI in its investigation," PTI quoted Roy as saying tonight. The February 13 bypolls to the North 24-Parganas' Bongaon Lok Sabha seat and Nadia's Krishnaganj Assembly seat were announced yesterday afternoon. It is not clear why Roy and the Trinamul leadership concluded that he would not be able to devote attention to the elections if he was questioned by the CBI on Thursday. The last date for filing nominations is January 27 - as many as 12 days from the date on which Roy, who is a Trinamul all-India general secretary and an MP, was originally slated to appear before the CBI. Some other Trinamul leaders who had gone into the CBI office for questioning have not been able to return home till now because they were arrested. Trinamul leaders would not say whether the same fear prompted the leadership to suddenly realise that two bypolls cannot be fought without Roy's counsel. Roy had a decisive role of plotting poll tactics and running the organisation machinery but he has not been active politically in recent months, prompting many to conclude that his wings were clipped by Mamata. The eleventh-hour request for more time to appear before the CBI has set tongues wagging. Some politicians read it in conjunction with a speech by Mamata a few hours earlier in the day where she virtually launched the campaign for polls to nearly 100 civic bodies. "There seems to be some method.... Maybe there is a bigger gameplan behind Mukulda's decision of not going to the CBI office tomorrow," said a Trinamul leader who referred to "some surprises" but declined to speculate further. Roy, who has been in New Delhi for the past few days, had indicated yesterday that he would appear before the CBI on Thursday. The change of mind appears to have set in after he landed in Calcutta this afternoon and went to Nabanna for a closed-door meeting with Mamata. "Didi told him to seek an extension," said a Trinamul source. Party insiders said Mamata today gave Roy a dressing-down during the 35-minute meeting. "Didi is extremely annoyed with Mukulda for talking about a meeting with Sudipta Sen in Dello (in north Bengal's Kalimpong).... His admission gave legitimacy to the claim being made by people like Kunal Ghosh that she had met Sen in Dello," said a source. Roy's virtual confirmation is particularly damaging for Mamata because the chief minister had claimed that she became aware of Saradha only when the default crisis spilled out in April 2013. The problem is the alleged Dello meeting took place on March 1, 2012 - more than a year before Mamata's claim. It is also the year in which Saradha rubbed shoulders with Trinamul leaders and scooped up money from depositors who were taken in by the company's projected association with the leadership of the party governing the state. Among the questions that the central probe agency is likely to ask Roy is the alleged meeting with Sen in Kalimpong. Roy told reporters in New Delhi yesterday: "I met him twice. Once was for a meeting on the publications from the Saradha stable and the second time in north Bengal." Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Ghosh, now in custody, had gone public on the Dello meeting and handed over documents that sought to support his claim that instructions were given to the tourism department to ensure that Saradha bagged contracts for some joint venture projects to promote tourism in north Bengal. One strategy of Saradha to convince investors was to create an impression that its deposit schemes were backed by assets such as tourism projects. But days after Saradha went bust in April 2013, Mamata had said at Writers' Buildings: "I came to know about the Saradha company only after watching the employees of their channel cry during a programme on Poila Baisakh. I asked Mukul why they are crying. Tar agey kichhu jantam i na (Didn't know anything before that)." Although Roy's "loyalty" towards Mamata has never been questioned, this is not the first time his comment before the media has caused embarrassment to the party boss. Last September, Roy had distanced himself from a deal between Saradha Tours and Travels and a railway subsidiary when Mamata was railway minister. " Amaar kichhu jana nei, karan chukti gulo jokhon hoy, ami tokhon dayitye nei, tar agei hoyechhe (I don't know anything about it because the deals were struck before I took charge)," Roy had said after details of the deal came to the CBI's notice. Soon after Roy left Nabanna this afternoon, word spread that he had offered to step down from party posts to avoid any collateral damage for Trinamul when he appeared before the CBI. But Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said: "He will remain the all-India general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP. We are not going to remove someone because he has been summoned."
On the second floor of Rail Bhawan, the sandstone headquarters of Indian Railways located on New Delhi's Raisina Road, adjacent to a conference room stands the office of the Adviser (Minister of Railways), as announced by the signboard outside room number 269/1.
When HuffPost India called the office and asked for the person whose name was listed against this office on the Railways website—Dr Arvind Gupta—we were told he is busy in meetings and hadn't been attending office for a few days but we could leave a message. Those who attended phones in adjacent offices, including in the minister's office, all knew the adviser, "Dr Gupta". They said his office was in room number 269/1 and his staff could be contacted at the designated number. When this correspondent visited the office, the staff, who sit in a room a few doors apart, said he wasn't in today but has been coming "on and off". We could request an appointment to meet him, they said.
That is just as it should be, and is unexceptional, except that Dr Gupta says he has never worked a day as adviser to the Railways ministry.
Who is Dr Arvind Gupta?
Gupta is the head of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party's information technology cell. He rose to prominence during the electric social media campaign BJP unleashed ahead of the general elections as the whizkid architect of the campaign. A number of media profiles about Narendra Modi's back-room men featured him, the man with a data analytics "PhD from Illinois", according to at least four media profiles (India Today, DNA India, Pitch On Net, Hindustan Times) from the time.
Exactly three months after Modi became Prime Minister, the Railways Ministry appointed Gupta as an Adviser to the Railways Minister. He would work without a fee, but would be entitled to "travelling facilities and allowances as admissible to Joint Secretary or equivalent". That included a first class railways pass when he travelled on work. In addition, he could avail of an official vehicle, a mobile phone, rest house facility, secretarial staff and reimbursement of his broadband bill or a broadband connection at railways expense at his residence.
But Gupta says he never accepted the "railways offer".
"The Minister sought my advise with respect to Information Technology usage within Railways. I offered my advise and suggestions on a pro bono basis to the minister, as I offer to various organisations across the world. I did not accept the railways offer that you referred to in your email and any perks related with it and thus anything in the offer is not applicable to me," he wrote in an email responding to questions.
It is unusual that Railways should issue a detailed order, which says it has been cleared by the President, by way of an offer and without consulting Gupta beforehand.
The minister in question is Sadananda Gowda, who was moved from the railways portfolio in November. Gupta's appointment was "co-terminus" with Gowda's tenure, meaning it would end with the minister's. Gowda, now the minister for law and justice, did not respond to emailed queries and said he doesn't answer questions on the phone.
The current railways minister, Suresh Prabhu, also did not respond to emails. Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena did not comment, saying he was unaware of the details of the matter.
An 'honorary title'
According to Gupta's LinkedIn profile, he has an undergraduate engineering degree in electronics from Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University. He also has masters degrees in computer science and business (both during 1992-94) from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. But while media profiles and the railways ministry (both in the appointment order and on its website) refer to him as Dr Arvind Gupta, his own LinkedIn profile does not mention his highest credential, which might have been relevant in his appointment as an adviser to the railways minister.
That is apparently because it is an honorary doctorate.
"I was presented an honorary doctorate based upon prior studies...and professional work. This is not a Research degree but a Honorary title."
"I was presented an honorary doctorate based upon prior studies in Engineering (now IITBHU), Computer Science (Illinois) and Business Management (Illinois) and professional work that I had done in analytics in 2004 in UK from Canterbury University for Professional Studies. This is not a Research degree but a Honorary title," Gupta wrote.
It is unclear whether Gupta claimed to the Railways ministry he was a PhD or if the ministry had been misled by the media reports. Either way, HuffPost could not find the Canterbury University for Professional Studies in UK (or anywhere else for that matter) on the internet.
The railway ministry's online directory as of Tuesday afternoon listed Gupta as "Advisor/MR (IT)", complete with a telephone extension and official email address. (The railway ministry has removed his name after HuffPost India sent queries. Here is a screenshot of how this pagelooked Tuesday afternoon.)
While he says he had not accepted the ministry's offer, Gupta has regardless done some work for them. "Presentations and ideas on solutions around technology interventions in passenger feedback systems, Wifi, office on wheels, entertainment on board, amongst others have been offered," he wrote in response to a question about what he had done as Adviser.
Social media advice
Gupta said that he had offered ideas and advice "in the interest of the Nation building, without accepting any formal position". "It was based upon my passion to give back to our motherland, and my domain knowledge in digital and IT areas, from time to time."
And that is not all. The BJP's IT cell head has also been advising the railways ministry on its social media presence. "I had advised them on their social media outreach," he said, adding that this was also done on a pro bono basis.
Gupta's involvement in affairs that are outside the scope of his role in the BJP was highlighted recently when he responded on Twitter after the government controversially blocked a number of websites.
Many users on Twitter had questioned how Gupta was privy to what seemed like confidential information and how he was responding before any official agency had. Gupta says it was rather straightforward. "I contacted the concerned department and tweeted the information that was available in public domain. At no point in time, I had any access to any confidential information," he wrote.
Gupta was also in the news recently when reports emerged that he was involved with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's social media campaign in Sri Lanka.
Gupta said he had spoken in "Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka" as part of his efforts in "evangelising the use of social media and its importance in electoral politics in democracies". But he denied that he was "running the campaign for any party or candidate in the recent presidential elections".
When asked if he could deny his involvement in any capacity whatsoever, he said he was not going to make any more statements on the matter.
200 militants trying to infiltrate, terrorists may attack schools during Obama visit: Army official
TNN | Jan 15, 2015, 11.47 AM IST 200 militants trying to infiltrate, terrorists may attack schools during Obama visit: Army official NEW DELHI: There are inputs that terrorists might try to attack schools, army camps, national highways and civilian areas on the Republic Day and during US President Barack Obama's India visit, Lt Gen KH Singh, GOC, 16 Corps, said on Thursday. "About 200 militants in 36 launch pads across Pir Panchal range are trying to infiltrate into Indian side," Lt Gen KH Singh said. "Like Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh had already said, terrorist infrastructure in PoK is intact," Lt Gen KH Singh added. Singh assured that country's counter-infiltration posture is firmly in place and if any infiltration bid is made, it will be eliminated. READ ALSO: Pak support to proxy war in J&K continues, Army chief says
Pakistan asks for US help, says won't start talks with India without Kashmir "The terrorist infrastructure across the border is intact. Pakistan Army's support to the proxy war in J&K continues unabated despite suffering casualties its own country," Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag had said on Tuesday, addressing his first press conference ahead of the Army Day on January 15. Pakistan still has 44 terror-training camps directed against India on its soil, the majority of them being in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. "At least 17-18 of them are active 24x7," another senior officer said. Faced with continuing infiltration attempts by well-armed, equipped and motivated militants actively aided and abetted by Pakistan Army, the Indian Army remains unconvinced that its rival force has stopped distinguishing between the "good" anti-India terrorists and the "bad" ones posing an existential threat to the Pakistani state itself. "We have to wait and watch," said Gen Suhag. "Our threats and challenges continue to grow in intensity and commitment with our borders increasingly becoming more active. We also have to be prepared for the possible (terror) spillover effect from Afghanistan after the drawdown (of the US-led forces)," he said. Holding that 110 terrorists were "eliminated" in J&K in 2014, the highest number in recent years, Gen Suhag said militants were now trying to sneak across the international boundary in the Jammu sector because of the "very strong" counter-infiltration grid set in place by his force along the Line of Control. India has often accused Pakistan of playing "a dual game", assuring the world of its active participation in the global war against terrorism while brazenly encouraging anti-India jihadi networks to thrive on its soil. READ ALSO: US, India ramp up bilateral meetings ahead of Obama visit http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/200-militants-trying-to-infiltrate-terrorists-may-attack-schools-during-Obama-visit-Army-official/articleshow/45895526.cms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRmaUPf8E38Published on Sep 20, 2014
The Army has said that as many as 200 militants, armed with weapons, are looking to infiltrate into the Indian territory across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
National BJP President Amit Shah presents a bouquet to former IPS officer Kiran Bedi to welcome her into the party during a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI
NEW DELHI: Former Team Anna member Kiran Bedi today joined BJP and will contest the February 7 Delhi Assembly polls, a move seen as the party's effort to contain Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital.
The 65-year old former IPS officer was inducted into the party fold in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah and Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan, triggering speculation that she may be in the race for Chief Ministership if BJP wins the polls.
When asked whether she will be the party's Chief Ministerial candidate, Shah said party's Parliamentary Board will take a call on the issue after election results are out but added that her induction will "hugely strengthen" the Delhi unit.
He also announced that she will contest the polls but declined to answer whether she will be pitted against her former Team Anna colleague Arvind Kejriwal in the prestigious New Delhi constituency.
"A decision about her constituency will be taken later."
"Bedi's constructive contribution will play an important role in ensuring that BJP lives up to the expectation of the people in the election and in any future government" Shah told a press conference at the party's headquarters.
Describing her as an able administrator who has been a crusader while in government and outside it, Jaitley said the party had been in touch with her for sometime and her joining it will make the party stronger.
"She has experience in governance and enjoys a credible image. She is associated with certain values. She has been a crusader in government as well as outside it for a long time," he said welcoming her to BJP.
Bedi, in her speech, pitched her leadership credentials and said she knows "how to work and how to make others work".
New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI): Former Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and will contest the February 7 Delhi Assembly polls, a move seen as the party's effort to contain the Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital.
Bedi, 65, a former Indian Police Service officer was inducted into the party fold in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah and Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan, triggering speculation that she may be in the race for chief ministerial post if BJP wins the polls.
When asked whether she will be the party's chief ministerial candidate, Shah said party's Parliamentary Board will take a call on the issue after election results are out but added that her induction will “hugely strengthen” the Delhi unit.
He also announced that she will contest the polls but declined to answer whether she will be pitted against her former Team Anna colleague Arvind Kejriwal in the prestigious New Delhi constituency. “A decision about her constituency will be taken later.”
”Bedi's constructive contribution will play an important role in ensuring that BJP lives up to the expectation of the people in the election and in any future government” Shah told a press conference at the party's headquarters.
Describing her as an able administrator who has been a crusader while in government and outside it, Jaitley said the party had been in touch with her for sometime and her joining it will make the party stronger.
”She has experience in governance and enjoys a credible image. She is associated with certain values. She has been a crusader in government as well as outside it for a long time,” he said welcoming her to the BJP.
Bedi, in her speech, pitched her leadership credentials and said she knows “how to work and how to make others work”.
”I joined BJP due to the inspirational leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Delhi needs a strong, clear headed and stable government. We have to make it capital number one in the world,” she said.
As the earth keeps going around the sun, there are certain points in the orbit, when due to the angle of the earth’s tilt, the days and nights either become equal (equinoxes) or day is longest in the Northern hemisphere (summer solstice) or night is longest in Northern hemisphere (winter solstice).
This occurs due to the tilt of the earth’s axis by 23.5 degree.
Seen from the earth, it gives us a perception that the sun is moving northwards and southwards every 6 months between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn which are latitudes at 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator, respectively.
Uttarayanam
The perceived, northern movement of the sun from Tropic of Capricorn to Tropic of Cancer is called Uttarayanamin India.
Uttar meaning North and Ayana, the journey. It is the day when Sun starts its Northward journey. We celebrate this day as Makara Sankranthi.
Makara – Crocodile
Why is this day called Makara Sankranthi?
Makara is the Capricorn zodiac. Sankranthi means change over, transit into. This day marks the Sun moving into Makara Constellation.
The Tropic of Capricorn is also called “Makara Rekha” as this is the lattitude when the Sun transits into the Makara zodiac. Makara is also the name in Samskrt, for a wild sea creature that resembles a Crocodile.
If we look at the shape of our galaxy, the Milky Way, Akasha Ganga along with theDark Rift, it does seem like a crocodile with its mouth open.
Representation of Dark Rift Resembles a crocodile
As cycles of time go by, life forms and meaning of life also happen to evolve. These goings-on are known as parinama, change, evolution and they continue to happen. New forms and meanings happen to life, be it from the ocean to land or from sky to land, creating a spectrum of life.
Makara Sankranthi marks such a day of change, a change of season to come with a change of lifestyle, a change in mindset and a change in spirit.
Solstice
“Sol” means sun and “Stice” means stationary. Sun seems stationary over the tropic of Capricorn for a couple of days.
Now
The Winter Solstice, the starting day of Uttarayanam todayoccurs on 21st December. December 22nd is start of Uttarayana Punya Kala Tithi.
Why do we then now celebrate Sankranthi on January 14/15 every year?
Then
In ancient days, the starting day of Uttarayanam, i.e. Winter Solstice fell on January 13 every year.
There is a text called Kaushitaki Brahmana, an accompanying text to the Veda, which has been authored by Rishi Kahola Kaushitaki. This text also mentions thatSankranthi was celebrated around this time.
Precession of Equinox and Solstice
How do we account for this gap?
As the earth keeps revolving around the sun, its own axis of rotation, about which it spins, also undergoes a slow spin like that of a rotating top. This movement is called Precession.
Precession of the Earth about its Axis
Due to this Precession movement, the dates on which the equinoxes and solstices occur, keep shifting by one day every 72 years.
This cycle is called “Precession of Equinox and Solstice”.
Precession of Equinoxes and Solstices – A Depiction
This accounts for the difference of 22 days. Thus, the Uttarayanam Punya Kala Tithi fell on January 14/15 every year then.
Makara Sankranthi is still celebrated on January 14/15 every year.
While the Uttaranyanam has preceded from January 14/15 to December 21 over the last 1500 years, Makara Sankranthi of the Sun moving into constellation, Makara occurs on January 14/15.
The celebration of Makara Sankranti every year brings to our focus, our understanding of the annual turning of the Sun, of the changes taking place in Nature and new hope of life.
D K Hari is the founder of Bharath Gyan. Bharath Gyan is a research organization which endeavors to bring forth the knowledge from ancient times through the ages, with a special focus on Indian heritage.
Multicolored sugar halwa surrounded by til-gul (sesame and jaggery) ladoos. These exchanged and eaten on Makara Sankranti in Maharashtra.Wikimedia Commons/Saloni Desai
Makar Sankranti – also known by the name of Pongal in South India and Maghi in Punjab – is among the most auspicious occasions celebrated by Hindus in all parts of India as well as Hindu communities such as Nepal and others.
Thousands of people take a dip in the Ganga or pray to the Sun God in what is otherwise regarded as a harvest festival celebrated by zealous Hindus with much cheer, devotion and fanfare.
In 2015, Makar Sankranti falls on 15 January although precise astrological calculation indicates that the official time of the celebration also encompasses a few hours of the previous day, 14 January.
Said to have a very profound spiritual significance, Sankranti refers to the transitional phase when the Sun passes through the house of Sagittarius to the house of Capricorn. It is a holiday of new commitments and new resolutions.
We have rounded up 15 best quotes, sayings, messages and wishes to share on this special Hindu festival as greetings to friends and family members, courtesy websites such as IloveIndia, India.com,Desi Comments and Sahara Samay [ Also visit 365Greetings for Pongal greetings in Tamil language, and the aforementioned sites for other wishes in Hindi language] :
Salutations and adorations to the Supreme Lord, the primordial power that divided the year into the four seasons. Salutations to Surya, the Sun God, who on this great day of Makar Sankranti embarks on his northward journey (Uttarayana). - Author Unknown
Seekers of Truth, aspirants on the path of Yoga, devotees of God, lovers of mankind, all these have to pay tribute to the supreme father of energy, vital, which is Surya. 'Suryah pratyaksha devata' (The Sun is the visible God). If you have any visible God, it is the Sun before you. You cannot see God in His pristine excellence, but you can see God through the operation of his powers in nature. So, this particular day, we call Makara Sankranti, is holy. - Swami Krishnananda
The sun signifies knowledge, spiritual light and wisdom. Makar Sankranti signifies that we should turn away from the darkness of delusion in which we live, and begin to joyously let the light within us shine brighter and brighter. We should gradually begin to grow in purity, wisdom, and knowledge, even as the sun does from this day. - Swami Sivananda
The sun, symbolizing wisdom, divine knowledge and spiritual light, which receded from you when you reveled in the darkness of ignorance, delusion and sensuality, now joyously turns on its northward course and moves towards you to shed its light and warmth in greater abundance, and to infuse into you more life and energy. - Author Unknown
May this festival bring in the Promise of a good harvest,sweetness of Pongal, Brightness of the sun; joy, hope and happiness. Happy Makar Sankranti
The sun rises with hope, kites fly with bigour, crops are ready to be harvested – all denoting hope, joy and abundance
The eternal mystery of life is a new start. Wishing you a happy Makar Sankranti.
Makar Sankranti denotes great planning and happy beginnings; daring and new destinations; success and sweetness. Wish you a great Pongal! And Joyous Makar Sankranti!
Sending you warm greetings on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti and wishing you life's best now and in all the days to come. Happy Makar Sankranti
Our thoughts hold the power to build, bend or break our circumstances. Best wishes.
A beautiful, bright and delighted day, sun entered Makar to intense the ray. Crop harvested to cheer the smiles, come together and enjoy the life.
To sweet friend, I send Happy Makar Sankranti Wishes for you with love. I hope this harvest is the Best in the whole year and you Have lots of grains to earn profits.
May the Makar Sankranti fire burn all the moments of sadness and bring you warmth of joy and happiness and love...
A new beginning, a new destination, with happiness or sorrow, with pain or pleasure. Happy Makar Sankranti!
May your life be blessed with love. May your life be blessed with lakshmi May your life be blessed with happiness. Happy Makar Sankranti!
Attired in traditional dress, school girls pose with kites as kite-flying is popular on Lohri in Patiala on Tuesday. (Source: PTI) College girls perform 'gidha' (popular folk dance of women in Punjab) around a bonfire as they celebrate Lohri Festival in Patiala on Tuesday. (Source: PTI) - College students celebrate Pongal festival during a function in Coimbatore on Saturday. (Source: PTI) - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/photos/picture-gallery-others/sankranti-celebrations-in-full-swing-across-india/5/#sthash.1J5vnVFW.dpuf
Although Sheldon Pollock’s ‘Sanskrit Cosmopolis’ was a compulsory reading and we did discuss about this paper as well, I’m asking myself why I did not cover and discuss his/her ideas in my paper? And I tend to agree with you that this is an important work and it contributes significantly to the field.
You’ve raised an interesting point that “we should not be looking at “India” and “Southeast Asia” because there was nothing like that in the past. “India” was “Indianized” at the same time that “Southeast Asia” was “Indianized,” and “Indians” had just as much agency in “Indianization” in “India” as “Southeast Asians” did in “Southeast Asia.” Your point here, I suppose, seems similar to the vision proposed by P.Mus and Sheldon Pollock?
I’m looking forward to reading the new work of I.Mabbett and learning from his idea. One of my Prof also suggests me to read the work by Robert L.Brown, namely The Dvaravati wheels of the law and the Indianization of Southeast Asia. These mentioned works undoubtedly are important contributions to the field. It, however, is necessary to “find a new way to talk about this” in a larger context, and I wonder who would take this responsibility to fill the gap?