Captain H Balakrishnan
Setu channel makes NO nautical sense -- Capt.H.Balakrishnan. Govt affidavit on setu channel in SC should be withdrawn.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sethusamudram_Shipping_Canal_Project#cite_note-10Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project


The Rediff Interview/Captain (retired) H Balakrishnan

'The Sethu Samudram does not make nautical sense'

October 01, 2007

Continuing our series on the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project, Shobha Warrier speaks to Captain (retired) H Balakrishnan of the Indian Navy to know a mariner's view of the project. Captain Balakrishnan has been associated with the navy for 32 years.

He was one of the first batch of three Indian naval officers to do specialisation in anti-submarine warfare in the erstwhile USSR Naval War College.

Out of interest, he did a study on the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project from a mariner's point of view. Ever since the series appeared in the Indian Express, the captain has been much sought after for his interesting calculations.

Why did you get interested in the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project?

I don't belong to any political party. It was purely a mariner's interest that made me research the project. There were many reports and statements in the media but I found that the mariner's point of view was not talked about at all. It is sad that even today the entire discourse on the project has got completely side tracked from the main issue; that is, the project is for ships and the shipping industry.

As a mariner, how do you describe the Sethu Samudram project?

The Sethu Samudram project, if I can put it simply from a mariner's stand point, does not make any nautical sense.

Why do you say so?

I have worked on the project from three different perspectives, all concerning the nautical world. I analysed the project in the backdrop of the environmental factors that would impinge the safety of the ship and also the safety of lives at sea. Number two was the security aspects which is maritime terrorism as it stands today. And the third was certain aspects of general navigation.

What does your research on the environmental factors say?

We mariners call the coast between Rameswaram and Cuddalore the cyclone coast. The India Meteorological Department has assigned this coastline as a high risk probability. To site one example, in 1964, the Pamban Bridge was washed away by a severe cyclonic storm.

A ship is safe when she is moving at the onset of a cyclone. Imagine a ship waiting to pick up its pilot as it approaches the Palk Straits to enter Sethu Samudram. No captain will wait for the pilot; his safety lies in heading south, towards Sri Lanka [Images].

The wind and waves bring in a large amount of silt and wash it ashore. The same thing is going to happen to the Sethu Samudram Canal. This brings me to another point. Marine scientists have identified five areas on the Indian coastline they call high-sinkage pits, and one of them happens to be the Palk Straits.

What is left unsaid by the Sethu Samudram authorities is that maintaining the 12 metre depth (of the channel) will entail round the year dredging. Once you establish the channel, you have to maintain it.

You mean other than the capital expenditure, there will be maintenance expenditure too. Will that be expensive?

Naturally. But this cost is not mentioned anywhere. This is the hidden cost which the authorities will have to pay to the dredging company. It is a high siltation and sedimentation area. So, what you pick up today is going to get filled up the next day.

What is the security threat you spoke about?

The Sea Tigers of the LTTE have control of that area off the Jaffna coast. What the Sea Tigers may do is difficult to say. Piracy exists even today.

Those who are against the project say the 12 metre depth of the Canal is not enough for big ships to pass through the canal. As a mariner, what is your opinion on this?

It is quite true. If you take global shipping trends today, to reduce operating cost, they go in for larger ships of the order of 60,000 deadweight tonnes and above. A 60,000 deadweight tonne carrier will need anything in excess of 17 metres of draft.

And as far as tankers go, the days of the super tanker are gone and you see only very large crude carriers of the type of 150,000 and 185,000 tonnes. It makes more sense to have such big tankers as in one voyage, you are bringing in more cargo and reduce your operating cost.

None of these big ships will ever be able to use the Sethu Samudram. So, the question is, for whom are you building the canal? 30,000 tonnes was alright when Sethu Samudram was conceived in the early fifties and the sixties.

That leaves you with only the coastal bulk carriers that carry coal from Kolkata, Paradeep and Visakhapatanam to Chennai or Tuticorin.

How much time and money are saved if the ships go through the Sethu Samudram Canal instead of going round Sri Lanka?

I plotted physically on a chart what we call 'passage planning' for a bulk carrier on passage as it happens today from Kolkata to Tuticorin; one of them circumnavigating Sri Lanka as is happening today and the other one going through the canal.

The voyage distance from Kolkata to Tuticorin around Sri Lanka works out to 1227 nautical miles. If you went through the canal, it is 1098 nm. So, you are saving just 120 odd nm.

The story doesn't end there. The majority of our bulk carriers go at a speed between 12 and 13 knots. That is the average speed at sea. I have checked with my friends who currently sail. They all said they do 12 knots. However, I worked in a bracket of 12-15 knots. So, if you are going around Sri Lanka at 12 knots at constant speed at sea, the time taken to reach outer anchorage at Tuticorin is 102 hours and 15 minutes.

When you go through Sethu Samudram, the point to be remembered is, you cannot proceed at the speed at which you are sailing at sea. The reason is the shallow water effect or what we call the 'Squat Effect'. So, the moment you enter Sethu Samudram, you have to reduce the sped by 50 per cent or more depending on the conditions prevailing at that particular time. So, I worked on a speed bracket of 6-8 knots. But many of my friends tell me 8 knots is too high for a 30,000 tonne bulk carrier. In all my calculations, I gave the benefit of doubt to the Sethu Samudram project.

The second aspect is, it is not an open seaway; it is like entering a port. A pilot boards the ship, who is a local mariner with greater knowledge of the marine environment. The same thing has to be done at Sethu Samudram also. I have given one hour delay for the ship to reduce speed for the pilot to climb aboard. You repeat the process at the other end too for him to disembark.

With this 6 knots speed and 2 hours pilotage delay, my time to Tuticorin via Sethu Samudram works out to 100 hours 30 minutes. If you went around Sri Lanka, it is 102 hours 15 minutes! So, your net savings in time by going through Sethu Samudram is 1 hour 45 minutes! Is it worth spending Rs 2,400 crore to save 1 hour 45 minutes?

You spoke of travel time. What about the cost?

The Sethu Samudram project from the media reports and the statement given by the finance minister will cost at Rs 2,400 crore, of which Rs 971 crore is through a special purpose vehicle. The debt portion has been pegged at Rs 1,465 crore. Assuming an interest burden of 10 per cent, the interest payment on Rs 1,465 crore is Rs 146 crore per annum. Twenty to 25 years is the time given for repayment.

Assuming 25 years for Rs 1,465 crore, capital repayment works out about 56 crore per annum. So, Rs 146 crore for interest burden and Rs 56 crore as repayment works out to roughly Rs 204 crore per annum which is what the authorities will have to repay to any financial institution. This is only to break-even. But the web site says it is a profitable industry and it is going to make 'mammoth profit'.

As the earning is going to come only from ships, I asked, how many ships are going to transit in a year through the canal? Ships that can use the canal will be coal carrying bulk carriers as long as the Tuticorin thermal power plant exists.

Having made the calculation, I feel they are rather optimistic in their figures. They have given a mean value of about 3,055 ships meant to use the canal in the year 2008 and by the year 2025, they expect it to go to in excess of 7,000 ships. Mind you, for 12 metres of depth! But I can't see more than 1,000 ships using the Sethu Samudram canal in a year.

If you take Rs 204 crore as annual repayment, and 1,000 ships use it, your per ship cost works out to Rs 22 lakhs pilotage charge to break even. There is an interesting comparison done by K S Ramakrishnan, former deputy chairman, Chennai Port Trust. He pegs around Rs 50 lakh as pilotage rate per ship if you have to make a profit.

Then I calculated the fuel consumed. These ships consume 1 metric tonne of fuel per hour, which costs Rs 24,000. For the Sethu Samudram canal, you have to add the pilotage cost too. In effect, if a ship goes through the canal, a shipping company loses Rs 19 lakh per voyage. It is more cost effective to circumnavigate Sri Lanka from the point of view of the shipping industry.

Therefore, neither are you saving time nor is it viable economically. These are the two aspects that need to be highlighted. So, there is absolutely no advantage to the ships and the shipping industry. So, what are we gaining by spending Rs 2,400 crore of tax payers' money? It is a white elephant in the making.

So, you must be against realignment which some political parties are talking about.

Any course, any realignment, is going to prove uneconomical to the shipping industry. If it is of no use to the shipping industry, why build it? You can bring about better economic progress to the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by building expressways. That is why I say the Sethu Samudram shipping canal project makes no nautical sense. That is the tragedy of the project.

Those who support the Sethu Samudram Canal compare it to the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal and say the Sethu Samudram is the Suez of the East.

In the case of the Suez and the Panama canals, ships save thousands of nautical miles in sailing distance and hundreds of hours in sailing time vis-a-vis the Sethu Samudram where a ship will probably save a few hundred miles and at the most twohours in sailing time. This is the difference.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/01inter.htm

Comment in Times of India by H.Balakrishnan (Chennai)

9 hrs ago
Sir, I regret to state that the media has been concentrating on 'irrelevant aspects' regarding the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP).'FAITH' has taken pride of place. Followed by ecology, fishing etal. In the process, the USP of the SSCP has been given the go-by !! To rejig the memory of the media, UPA-1 approved the SSCP on the basis of the following nautical factors : (a) - The SSCP reduces the voyage distances for ships on passage from the East to West Coasts of India and vice versa; (b) - This reduction in voyage distances leads to a shortening of voyage time; (c) - This reduction in voyage time leads to fuel savings for ships; (d) - This savings in fuel leads to profits for the concerned shipping company; (e) - For good measure, the USP also stated that the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Corporation, the Special Purpose Vehicle, created for this project would also be profitable. As a former mariner, I had produced a 10 Part research on the SSCP, IN 2007/2008. My research was purely from a nautical standpoint. I had plotted various voyages on a navigational chart, through the SSCP and circumnavigating Sri Lanka, as at present. By calculating the voyage times and thus the fuel costs and adding 'possible tariffs' that could be levied for transitting through the SSCP, I concluded - "THE SSCP MADE NO NAUTICAL SENSE".I also found that the SSCP was economically unviable. My study is now with the Supreme Court. It was also given to the Pachauri Committee. Also, the dredged depth of the SSCP is limited to 12 meters. In such a scenario, only 30,000 DWT vessels can use the SSCP. World shipping, however, is trending to large vessels - like 70,000 DWT Bulk carriers, and 2 lakh DWT and above crude oil carriers. None of them can use the SSCP !! So, my plea to the media - stop publishing the 'sensational and Controversial aspects' of the SSCP. Lets forget for the moment whether "Rama was an Engineer" or " Which Engineering College did Rama study in ?" or "Rama was a drunkard". Please concentrate on the nautical aspects. Remember the SSCP is a "SHIPPING CHANNEL" !! Despite all these facts,IF the UPA-2 goes ahead with the Project, get set for 'ONE MORE SCAM' !! Regards


Umakanth (Hyderabad) replies to H.Balakrishnan
2 hrs ago
Dear Bala, I completely agree with you. This SSCP is nothing but another scam and loot the tax payers money. Even if the government demolishes Rama Sethu and builds a sea channel there, it isn't going to fetch anything to the TN or Indian Goverments. Being from a shipping background, I know that most of the container lines or huge DWTs don't want to use SSCP as they are comfortable with the present mode of sea transport.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/usrmailcomment2.cms?msid=18683355&mailon_commented=1&usercommentid=14188471#toreply14188471


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sethu-project-Govt-scraps-panel-report/articleshow/18683355.cms Sethu project: Govt scraps panel report
ByDhananjay Mahapatra, TNN | Feb 26, 2013, 01.49 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it intends to go ahead with the Rs 25,000 crore Sethusamudram shipping channel project, which had raised a political storm after it was revealed that the mythical Ram Sethu would face dredging.

After the controversy over the Centre's affidavit in 2007 doubting the existence of Ramayana and Ram, a statement which was quickly withdrawn following waves of protest, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed an expert group headed by environmentalist R K Pachauri to study the economic and ecological viability of the planned shipping route and the alternative alignment.

The expert committee, after a detailed study, said that "neither alignment 4A (the alternative one) nor alignment 6 meet the benchmark Internal Rate Return (IRR) of 12% for the range of scenarios examined".

The committee said it would be difficult to rule out the possibility of oil spills completely, even with the most stringent measures and precautions. "In conclusion, the Pachauri committee has found the project unviable both from the economic as well as the ecological angles," the Centre said in its affidavit.

It said the government had approved and commenced implementation of the project based on well researched technical studies and after getting the necessary clearances including environmental clearances.

Citing favourable reports of the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), project consultant as well as the Committee of Eminent Persons, the Centre said, "The project has economic, navigational and strategic advantages and, therefore, the government of India has been pursuing the project. An expenditure of Rs 829.32 crore has already been incurred on the project as on June 30, 2012. Given the advantages of the project, the government of India intends to pursue implementation of the project.

The centre also requested the Supreme Court "to resolve the contentious issues raised by the petitioners".

Petitioners, including Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha, had sought realignment of the shipping channel to save Ram Sethu from any damage. Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy had requested the court to declare Ram Sethu a national monument.

The SC had on August 31, 2007 restrained the government from damaging Ram Sethu while dredging for the Rs 25,000 crore project, which was inaugurated in July 2005 by PM Manmohan Singh. The court later suggested that the government examine an alternative route through Dhanuskodi to avoid dredging Ram Sethu.

Then solicitor general R F Nariman on July 2 last year had informed a bench headed by Justice H L Dattu that the ministry of shipping had accepted the report rejecting alignment 4A as an alternative route and it would now be placed before the Union Cabinet.

The Centre had in February 2008 filed an application seeking resumption of work on Sethusamudram project which, when commissioned, would allow ships to sail through the Palk Strait from either coast, saving the vessels from circling Sri Lanka.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sethu-project-Govt-scraps-panel-report/articleshow/18683355.cms

Brief note on arguments advanced before earlier Bench of SC:

Mr. Parasaran said, "The excess stanza does not fit into the context." Referring to the argument that "Ramar Sethu has been cut into three parts by Lord Ram with his bow," he said "Ramar Sethu is still considered holy. It does not cease to be holy merely because it has been broken. Feelings of believers of Ramar Sethu will be hurt and injured if it is touched. A large section of people feels that it is holy and merely by looking at it people's sins are washed off. It should be protected."

In his reply, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, one of the petitioners, reiterated that the project should be scrapped altogether if the government could not proceed further without destroying Ramar Sethu. It was not economically viable as was pointed out by the Planning Commission. He said the Centre not complying with the court directions to find out whether Ramar Sethu was an ancient monument or not would result in an adverse inference.

Dr. Swamy pointed out that the Centre wrote to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, urging that the Majuli Island in Assam be declared an ancient monument. Similarly the Brahmasarovar in Punjab was declared a national monument as people believed that Lord Brahma had a bath here. "What is held to be sacred by a large number of people of this country must remain sacred and no sacrilege must be allowed by destroying Ramar Sethu."

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal and M.N. Krishnamani, appearing for petitioners, maintained that the faith of millions of people that Ramar Sethu was built by Lord Ram could not be questioned and the court could not sit in judgment on the belief.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/31/stories/2008073161581100.htm

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 5:30 PM, S. Kalyanaraman wrote:
Further arguments:


Rameshwaram Island and Rama Setu meet the criteria set out, for declaration as Protected Monuments and Monument of National Importance, in Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958:


Section 2. 2.Definitions.-
In this Act unless the context otherwise requires-,
(a) "ancient monuments" means any structure, erection or monument, or any tumulus or place of interment, or any cave, rock-sculpture, inscription or monolith, which is of historical, archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years, and includes-
(i) the remains of an ancient monument.

(ii) the site of an ancient monument,

(iii) such portion of land adjoining the site of an ancient monument as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving such monument, and

(iv) the means of access to, and convenient inspection of, an ancient monument;
...
(i) "protected area" means any archaeological site and remains which is declared to be of national importance by or under this Act;

(j) "protected monument" means an ancient monument which is declared to be of national importance by or under this Act.
(b) "antiquity" includes-
(i) any coin, sculpture , manuscript, epigraph, or other work of art or craftsmanship.

(ii) any article, object or thing detached from a building or cave,

(iii) any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customs, morals or politics in bygone ages,

(iv) any article, object or thing of historical interest, and

(v) any article, object or thing declared by the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be an antiquity for the purposes of this Act.

which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years;
Section 3.Certain ancient monuments, etc., deemed to be of national importance.-
All ancient and historical monuments and all archaeological sites and remains which have been declared by the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Declaration of National Importance) Act, 1951 (71 of 1951), or by section 126 of the States Reorganization Act, 1956 (37 of 1956), to be of national importance shall be deemed to be ancient and historical monuments or archaeological sites and remains declared to be of national importance for the purposes of this Act.
Criteria for declaring 'Monument of National Importance'

A monument or a site is declared to be of National Importance by the Archaeological Survey of India provided it meets the following requirements

The monument or archaeological site is not less than 100 years old.
It has special historical, archaeological or artistic interest, making it worthy of declaration as of national importance.
It qualifies under specified provisions of definition of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
The interested public do not have major objections to such declaration.
The authenticity and integrity of the ancient monument or archaeological site and remains have not been damaged
It is free from major encumbrances.

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 10:12 AM, S. Kalyanaraman wrote:
I have also sent a formal request on behalf of Rameshwaram Ramasetu Protection Movement, to ASI (1. Director General and 2. R. S. Fonia, Director, National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, Archaeological Survey of India GE Building, Red Fort Complex, Delhi - 110 006) for Rameshwaram Island and Ramasetu, Gulf of Mannar to be entered in National Register as National Monument and Antiquity.

I have cc-ed the request to you.

kalyanaraman

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 9:10 AM, S. Kalyanaraman wrote:
Two more points.

1.Kurukshetra is declared a pilgrimage site where no MEAT can be served. Similarly, Ramasetu and Rameshwaram islands should be declared pilgrimage sites.
2. No canal project can come without STATE Govt. clearance by TN Pollution Control Board. Without consulting the TN Govt. Centre cannot suo moto initiate any alternative route. Present CM, Jayalalithaa and AIADMK had asked for the SetHuchannel project to be CANCELLLED and WITHDRAWN by the Centre since it offers no benefits to the coastal people of Tamil Nadu.

Kalyanaraman

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 9:04 AM, S. Kalyanaraman wrote:
The arguments to declare Rameshwaram, Ramasetu as National Heritage Monuments:

(Two documents: 1. UNESCO Underwater Convention and 2. Ramesetu book --based on Intl. conf. in Chennai -- are attached)
( Constitution of India enjoins the State to protect monuments and places and objects of national importance (Article 33). Article 51A enjoins a fundamental duty to value and preserve the rich cultural heritage of our composite culture.

2. The National Commission for Heritage Sites Bill, 2009 is slated to be enacted in Budget Session 2012. Ramasetu should be declared a national and world heritage monument by the proposed National Commission. ASI should be asked to respond to this appeal for declaration.

3. India is a signatory to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage adopted in 2001. Ramasetu is an underwater cultural heritage.

RRRamasetu is Underwater Cultural Heritage.

4. Gulf of Mannar is declared in 1989 as a National Biosphere corresponding to IUCN Category V Protected areas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_reserves_of_India It is the state responsibility to protect this Marine Bioreserve in the Gulf of Mannar

5. Union of India should declare and protect a) the Rameshwaram island as a National Biosphere and National Monument and b) the Ramasetu as World Underground Cultural Heritage.

6. There are village revenue records showing villages ON the Ramasetu beyond Dhanushkodi (India) and Talaimannar (Sri Lanka). These should be declared National Monuments by the proposed National Commission for Heritage.

7. Beyond Dhanushkodi is the temple for Vibhishana and a shivalinga set up by Sri Rama and is a sacred monument. Entire Rameshwaram island should be declared a Pilgrimage Island. Dhanushkodi tip is used for performing puja for the Ramasetu temple by drawing a dhanush (bow) on the sands, by building shivalingas in sand and after sankalpa/puja immersing these sand pratimaa into the Setusamudram ocean in memory of Sri Rama who saved Dharma by saving Devi Sita from the clutches of the Asura Ravana. Ramasetu or Setubandha is an abiding monument remembering Sri Rama as vigrahavaan dharmah as stated by Valmiki. Senior Advocate Parasaran argued before the earlier SC Bench how he visits Dhanushkodi 3 or 4 times a year to perform this puja in Dhanushkodi sands.

8. No canal structures by ANY ALTERNATIVE route, should be permitted which will destroy or anyway affect these monuments. If need be, the already existing Pamban canal (between Ramanathapuram and Rameshwaram, which also has a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait which connects Rameswaram Pamban island to mainland India) which is being used and can continue to be used for transport of small sized vehicles between Tuticorin and Nagapattinam to transport goods from the westcoast to eastcoast.

9. Fishermen and those engaged in aquaculture in the region – of all communities -- if they pull out any stone together with the algae they collect for use as medicines, do prayascittam (penance) in Ramapadam temple for the mistakes committed by them in destroying/desecrating part of the Ramasetu structure. This is a milennial tradition and culture and should be respected by the State. The coastal people should continue to perform the acquisition tasks of procuring sacred conch (turbinella pyrum) which is used for making sacred bangles as marriage badges in Orissa and Bengal. Kizhakkarai in Rameswaram island accounts for this industry which is worth Rs. 25 crores per annum income for the coastal people. Any canal structure which impinges on this life-activity should be declared illegal.

Constitution of India: Directive Principles of State Policy Includes Right to Culture:

3.33.1 Article 49 of the Directive Principles requires the State to protect monuments and places and objects of national importance. For the purpose of protecting culture in all its facets and in developing it, the State has to set apart necessary resources.

3.33.2 More than five decades of experience with the working of our Constitution and the laws has borne out that democracy in a meaningful sense, depends on a pluralistic ethos permeating the polity. Our national life must be accommodative of the myriad variegations that make up the unique mosaic of India's society. The framework of our many and elaborate structures of government must exemplify the architecture of an inclusive society and one of the means is to promote civil society initiatives for inter-religions and social harmony.

3.33.3 All considered, as advised by experience and by present and emerging needs, it is felt that a mechanism may be brought into being which can advance the cause of inter-faith harmony and solidarity. This can be done under the auspices of the National Human Rights Commission.
3.37.1 Ten Fundamental Duties of the citizen are incorporated in article 51A, Part IVA of the Constitution. Inserted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976…
Article 51A in The Constitution Of India 1949
…
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;

The Budget Session, 2012 of Parliament (10th Session of the Fifteenth Lok Sabha and the 225 th Session of the Rajya Sabha) commenced today, the 12th of March, 2012 and subject to exigencies of Government Business, the Session will conclude on Tuesday, the 22nd of May, 2012. The following Bill is scheduled for passing:
Bills for Consideration and Passing…11. The National Commission for Heritage Sites Bill, 2009. http://mpa.nic.in/preb12.pdf
The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on February 26, 2009 and was referred to the Department-related Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture (Chairperson: Shri Sitaram Yechury).
Highlights of the Bill
The National Commission for Heritage Sites Bill, 2009 seeks to constitute a National Commission for Heritage Sites to give effect to UNESCO Convention, 1972. India ratified the Convention in 1977.
The central government may notify heritage sites and enter the description of these sites in a heritage sites roster. The Commission shall maintain the roster.
The functions of the Commission include (i) recommending policies with respect to conservation, protection, and management of heritage sites; (ii) laying down standards for the development of scientific and technical institutions and courses; and (iii) creating guidelines for conservation and management of heritage sites.
The Commission may issue directions to any person who is the owner or controls a heritage site to provide access to such site for its maintenance. The person may be directed to not endanger or damage the site. Any person who fails to comply will be subject to a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Key Issues and Analysis
While the Bill has new definitions in line with the UNESCO Convention, the definitions in the existing laws which protect monuments have not been amended. The Bill combined with existing Acts do not fully conform to the provisions related to conservation under the UNESCO Convention.
With one exception – of the power to direct owners of sites to permit access and related penalties – the functions of the Commission do not need legislative backing. An alternate formulation to the Bill is to set up the Commission through notification, and to amend existing laws to provide for penalties and directions.
The Bill creates a national roster for heritage sites of national importance, to be maintained by the Commission. The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities was set up in 2007 with a fiveyear term to prepare a national register of built heritage, sites and antiquities. The Commission’s work partly duplicates this initiative.
Both the Preamble of the Bill as well as the Statement of Objects and Reasons mention that the Bill seeks to fulfil India’s obligations under the 1972 UNESCO Convention. However, many of the obligations are not addressed by the Bill.

India is a signatory to UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage adopted in 2001
Underwater Cultural Heritage encompasses all traces of human existence that lie or were lying under water and have a cultural or historical character. Recognizing the urgent need to preserve and protect such heritage, UNESCO elaborated in 2001 the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/underwater-cultural-heritage/
“Underwater cultural heritage” means all traces of human existence having a cultural, historical or archaeological character which have been partially or totally under water, periodically or continuously, for at least 100 years…
2001 Convention, Art. 1 para. 1(a)
Full text of the convention is at http://www.unesco.org/culture/underwater/infokit_en/ (To read online)
http://www.unesco.org/culture/underwater/infokit_en/files/gb-2001convention-infokit%2007-2009.pdf (Copy attached)
Excerpts:
The richness of the world’s underwater cultural heritage is often underestimated. While over the last century, archaeological sites on land have yielded an abundance of information on the development of civilizations, the oceans, which cover the larger part of our planet, still retain many of their secrets. However, they contain a unique testament to the spirit of our ancestors for exploration; and many shipwrecks and ruins of cities lost to the waves are much better preserved than similar sites found on land. Nonetheless, looting of underwater cultural heritage and the destruction of its context are increasing rapidly and threaten to deprive humanity of this heritage. The waves have protected shipwrecks and ruins for centuries, but improvements in diving technology have made them more accessible and therefore increasingly vulnerable. The pillaging and dispersion of archaeological heritage is no longer restricted to land-based sites with treasure hunting now taking place under water. Nevertheless, while many States have heightened the preservation of their heritage on land, most of their underwater cultural heritage remains unprotected.

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 2001, intends to enable States to better protect their underwater heritage.

Dr. S.R. Rao, eminent archaeologist, Emeritus President, Society for Marine Archaeology in India, who discovered the underwater submerged Dwaraka City had this to say about Ramasetu s Underwater Cultural heritage:

Protect Ram Sethu--and Protect Under Water Cultural Heritage.
Hari OM!
Dear Ones,
Our present Indian Governmet want to destroy Ram sethu. This is a supporting article by Sri S.R.Rao.. and appeared in Haindava Keralam Website.

S.R.Rao,Former Scientist emeritus President- Society for Marine Archaeology in India

Submerged sites and towns as well as ship-wrecks constitute a very important cultural heritage of mankind; which the UNESCO wants the states to explore, list and protect them under a UN convention approved by the U.N. the ICOMOS international committee on underwater cultural heritage (ICUCH) consisting of "Underwater Cultural Heritage".

The ILA's Definition on underwater Cultural Heritage includes all underwater traces of human existence, which are of historical or cultural importance including sites, buildings, shipwrecks, together with their archaeological and natural context. The Ram Sethu comes under this category. It is refereed to in the Epic Ramayana and in the Puranas. At the site known as Ram Sethu, the natural rock and the 'piles of stone' laid on it have been submerged with the rise in sea level over 5000 years or more.

This rise of sea level was not confined to Dvaraka of Mahabharata period in Saurashtra. The underwater exploration by Marine Archeology centre (MAC) in NIO Goa along west coast has revealed that the prehistoric ports of Somnath and Prabhas were also submerged as is evident from the submerged channel waylaid for bringing ships and the presence of anchors and mooring stones in it. In the ElephantaIsland , the early historic brick structures of 1st century B.C to 3rd century A.D. have been submerged. The Buddhist period port of sopora is also submerged. On the east coast of India, traces of poompuhar port town have been found in the sea as well as intertidal zone.

The rock of Ram Sethu must have been in the intertidal zone and stones must have been piled up to enable the army to cross the sea easily. Over thousands of years small size stone blocks of bridges must have been transported by waves and currents. The frequent textual references to Ram Sethu are not to be dismissed as myths. (Mr.R.Subbarayalu has compiled two millennium old references found in Tamil literature in a 200 page book 'Sethu Bandhanam').

Even the submergence of Dvaraka was considered a myth until the buildings were discovered. The national institute of Oceanography in cooperation with ASI should be asked to undertake the survey listing and protection of important underwater sites and shipwrecks. This works must be undertaken by the Government of India and State Governments as laid down in UN Convention on Protection of Underwater cultural heritage.

Ram Sethu must not be damaged but saved and protected. The MAC had initiated certain steps for survey and listing of underwater cultural Heritage of India and even published a tentative map showing shipwrecks sites and submerged parts. Before further damage is done by nature and men to this vast underwater heritage of India, immediate survey listing of Sites with a brief note on each wreck or site should be done , giving highest priority to Ram Sethu
link: http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HkPag...=5879 & SKIN=B

The historical documentation related to Ramasetu as heritage site are contained in the book edited by Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, President, Rameshwaram Ramasetu Protection Movement (based on an international seminar held in Chennai) and presented to Hon’ble Supreme Court. The book as pdf document is attached.

An appeal was also made by Retired Justice of SC, Shri VR Krishna Iyer to protect Ramasetu by not causing any damage by a canal across Setusamudram.

Rameswaram Ram Setu Protection Movement is privileged to publish this letter of 30 March 2007 from Dr. S.R. Rao addressed to Hon'ble Minister for Shipping and Transport, Govt. of India.

Dr. S.R. Rao is Former Advisor, Marine Archaeology Centre, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, Member of UNESCO-sponsored International Committee for Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) and President of Society for Marine Archaeology ( Goa).

In this remarkable letter, Dr. SR Rao earnestly request the Hon'ble Union Minister to save the traditionally-known Rama Setu mentioned in various Puranas as a bridge built by the legendary Hero of Ramayana. He notes that it is of great emotional value as a sacred tirtha. He argues that both from marine archaeological and traditional points of view Rama Setu deserves to be declared as an UNDERWATER WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

Dr. Rao sites the archaeological and technological criteria for recommending Rama Setu to be a World Heritage site consistent with the criteria listed on page 77 of the Journal of Marine Archaeology 1997-98 for structures of archaeological as well as memorial significance (copy of the excerpt attached).

Dr. Rao requests the Hon'ble Union Minister to see that the cutting of the rock or any kind of damage to the rock is avoided and adds, "It is no less important than Swami Vivekananda Rock where a memorial is built. Alternate routes suggested by experts (vide Route 4 in Fig. 1 enclose) may kindly be considered in the interest of saving the Underwater Cultural Heritage of India namely Rama Setu or Adam's Bridge. My study of the submergence of Poompuhar shows that most of the ancient sites on east coast are being swallowed by the sea. The latest victim is the shore temple at Tarangambadi. During my two visits to Sri Lanka, as a member of the ICUCH I visited the Rama Setu site and had discussions with Commander Devendra Somasiri, another member of ICUCH from Sri Lanka about its importance as a Heritage site."

The copy of Dr. S.R. Rao's letter with attachments is downloadable from http://rapidshare.com/files/29786224/srrao.ZIP.html

Underwater Archaeology Wing
India has 7,516 km long coastline, 1197 islands and 155,889 sq. km of territorial waters and 2,013,410 sq. km exclusive economic zone. The vast water area of the country is rich in underwater cultural heritage. The importance of underwater archaeology was realized as early as in the VI five-year plan.
Beginning of underwater archaeology in India can be traced back to 1981. Off shore explorations in the country have generated a lot of popularity to this discipline. Establishment of the Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2001 marked a major step towards the development of the subject.
Since its inception the UAW is actively engaged in conducting underwater archaeological studies in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
The UAW is engaged in –
Documentation of underwater sites and ancient shipwrecks
Training of professional archaeologists, young researchers and students
Conduct of seminars to discuss various aspects and to bring awareness
Protection of underwater cultural heritage
UAW collaborates with other government organizations for the study and protection of underwater cultural heritage. Collaboration with India Navy (IN) has been a success.
Protection of underwater cultural heritage and regulation of underwater activities aimed towards the cultural heritage is one of the main concerns of the UAW. Adoption of “Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO in 2001 displays the global concern about the protection and management of underwater cultural heritage. UAW has initiated steps for the protection and preservation of the underwater cultural heritage.



Contact:
Vasant Swarnkar
Superintending Archaeologist ( I/c)
Underwater Archaeology Wing
Archaeological Survey of India
Red Fort, Delhi – 110006
+91-11- 23262006
+91 - 9868794808
uaw.asi@gmail.com

SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2008

Analysing the economic viability of the SSCP from a shipping perspective on the basis of official reports
Analysing the economic viability of the SSCP from a shipping perspective on the basis of official reports – Part 7 by Capt. (Retd.) H. Balakrishnan, I.N.

Introduction

1. Over the past year (2007), much has been written and stated, in the media, about the viability or otherwise, of the SSCP. The statements have also highlighted the economic benefits that would accrue to the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu on account of the SSCP.
2. This paper analyses the economic viability of the SSCP, from a shipping perspective, on the basis of information contained in various ‘official documents’ and reports such as:
(a) The website of the Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd. (SCL)
(b) The ‘Report’ submitted by the ‘Committee of Eminent Persons’ to the Govt. of India. This ‘Report had formed the basis of the revised affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, by the Govt. of India.
(c) The ‘Information Memorandum of Sept. 2005’ prepared by the then UTI Bank (now Axis Bank), the lead Bank for arranging the financial loan for the execution of the Project.

Economic viability of the SSCP

SCL Website

3. The website, in addition to highlighting various USPs of the project, states: “Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, which envisages digging a ship channel across the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka, is finally taking shape. The project will allow ships sailing between the East and West Coasts of India to have a straight passage through India’s territorial waters, instead of having to circumvent Sri Lanka. This will lead to a saving of upto 424 nautical miles (780 kms) and upto 30 hours in sailing time.” It further states: “The project will become self-sustaining over a period of time. According to conservative estimates, about 3055 vessels will be using the canal annually. This will inevitably go up further.”
4. The foregoing statement in the website implies that the SSCP is envisaged as a profitable undertaking which would lead to its self-sustenance in the years ahead.

Information Memorandum of the UTI Bank (now Axis Bank)

5. From this document, the annual expenditure for the SCL can be calculated. The main items forming this expenditure are summarized below.
6. Operation and Maintenance Costs (O&M Costs). From item 10.2 of the ‘Information Memorandum’, the budgeted figures for the O&M costs are as follows:


(a)Maintenance Costs
(Rs. in millions)
-- Maintenance of Vessel traffic Management Scheme (VTMS) 50
-- Maintenance dredging 200
(Note: For the 3rd and 4th year Maintenance Dredging has been
pegged at Rs. 170 million and from the 5th year onwards it
stabilizes at Rs. 140 million)
-- Civil Maintenance 10
-- Tugs and launches 100
-- Plant and Machinery 10

(b) Operation costs
-- Administration and staff costs 50
--VTMS 8.5
--Tugs and Launches 68
-- Plant and Machinery 20

(d) Contingency and Project Management costs
-- Contingencies 25.8
(Note: For the 3rd and 4th year, this has been pegged at
Rs. 24.3 million. From the 5th year onwards, it stabilizes at
Rs. 22.8 million).

7. Details of the financial loan. From Item 14 of the Information Memorandum, entitled ‘Indicative Term Sheet,’ the following are the details of the financial loan:--
(a) Rupee loan
-- Amount Rs. 4369 million
-- Interest rate 8%
-- Loan period 13 years
-- Moratorium period 5 years
-- Principal repayment 16 ‘equal installments’ from the end of 5 years

(b) US Dollar loan
-- Amount USD 100 milion
-- Interest rate Libor + 125 to 175 basis points = 5%
-- Loan period 20 years
-- Moratorium period 8 years
-- Principal repayment 24 ‘equal installments’ from the end of 8 years
(c) Zero coupon bonds
-- Amount Rs. 5826 million
-- Interest rate NIL
-- Loan period 30 years
-- Moratorium period 18 years
- Principal repayment 12 ‘annual instalments’ beginning from the end of 18 years

8. Profitability. A profit margin of 9% has been assumed for the project to build reserves.
9. Thus, the ‘Income to be generated’ by the SCL to become a self-sustaining undertaking, on an annual basis, is tabulated at Appendix A. The Zero Coupon Bonds have not been taken into account for the purposes of this analysis.
10. Ship tariff. As the SCL website anticipates an annual shipping traffic of 3055 ships to pass through the SSCP, the possible tariff to be levied on individual ships has been calculated and tabulated at Appendix A.

Time and fuel cost savings

11. The Report submitted by the ‘Committee of Eminent Persons’ (Chapter 8, para 8.2.5), gives the voyage distances between the ports of ‘Origin’ and ‘Destination’. The voyage speeds in the ‘open sea’ as also through the ‘SSCP’ have been given in this Report (Chapter 8, para 8.2.13).
12. On the basis of the foregoing, the following have been tabulated: (a) Fuel cost savings—Appendix B; (b) Time savings –-Appendix C

Analysis of the Appendices

13. The Report by the ‘Committee of Eminent Persons’, in Chapter 8, Para 8.2.7 states: “The approach followed by the consultants to propose tariff @ 75% of savings in one of the alternatives, may result in a scenario where the channel charges may be higher than the savings. As the tariff rate @50% of savings has been proposed, in the base case I.R.R., such a situation has been avoided. However, the savings to some ships will be more than 50%, while for some, it will be lower.”
14. In the light of the foregoing, comparison of the possible tariff to be levied on individual ships as calculated at Appendix A, and 50% the Fuel Cost Savings at Appendix B (column ‘q’), will clearly reveal that the SCL will NOT be able to recover its expenditure burden in the FIRST YEAR OF OPERATION ITSELF.
15. On the other hand, if the SCL decides on a higher tariff regime, as in the case of the major ports of India (e.g. Chennai Port Rs. 1.11 lakh/km for 7 kms of ‘pilotage’), then the fuel cost savings achieved by navigating through the SSCP, will be nullified for the shipping companies.
16. The ‘Time Savings’ tabulation at Appendix C debunks the claim of the SCL website of ‘Savings upto 30 hours in sailing time’. The same is the case in ‘Savings in Voyage distances’ also.
17. Cost escalation. A report in the economics daily ‘MINT’ of 25 Sept. 2007, entitled ‘Money runs dry for Sethusamudram’, stated the cost of the project has ‘Skyrocketed to at least 4000 crores, interest rates have crawled higher and old loan terms have lapsed.’ In a word, higher tariff regime for ships other than indicated at Appendix A.

Conclusion

18. In my earlier 6 Part analysis of the SSCP, I had concluded that the ‘SSCP just does not make any nautical sense.’
19. The present analysis, on the basis of official reports, has only served to reinforce the earlier conclusion.
20. The SSCP is a nautical folly.


Appendices:
(A) Income Generatin and Possible ship Tariff
(B) Fuel Cost Savings
(C) Time Savings

References:
(1) Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd. Website URL: www.sethusamudram.gov.in
(2) Report by the ‘Committee of Eminent Persons’
(3) Informatin Memorandum of the UTI Bank (Axis Bank) URL: http://sethusamudram.gov.in/Images/InfoMemo.doc

Appendix A,B,C at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2867143/appendixabcssc

http://setubandha.blogspot.com/2008/05/analysing-economic-viability-of-sscp.html

The travails of being a soldier in India!

Maj Navdeep Singh
February 26, 2013

If the soldier must thank an entity, in the first order the gratitude must move towards not our society but our Constitutional Courts, especially the Delhi and the Punjab & Haryana High Courts, for historically upholding what is due to the soldier and for fiercely standing behind the rights of the ones who guard our borders.

What does one gain by becoming a soldier in this country today? Endless rounds of litigation? Red-tape? Continually fighting against the system, including against the ones tasked with protecting his or her rights?

Hear the story of Maj Arvind Suhag, an officer who had to fight the odds to get what should have logically and effortlessly flown towards him.

And none came to his rescue, except our Constitutional Courts.

Maj Suhag is a 100% disabled officer who while undertaking a proper operational move in an operational area (general area Kargil) in a notified operation suffered a disability when his vehicle fell down a gorge. The disability not only resulted in loss of memory and brain damage but also resulted in the officer being rendered bedridden for a very long period. The disability was correctly notified as ‘Battle Casualty’ as per existing rules by the Army.

Litigation with Haryana Government: The Haryana Government provides an ex-gratia amount from the State for disabilities suffered in operational areas which have been declared ‘battle casualties’. The said ex-gratia was refused to him on the pretext that his disability was a result of a ‘vehicle accident’ only. A simplistic and sadistic view to say the least. The officer had to approach the Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court, which in 2010, ruled in favour of the officer and with the following remarks:-

“…Ex-gratia payment is not always, paradoxically, an act of charity….The act of heroism which the statement claims that the petitioner's act did not evoke, is in some sense a wrongly exaggerated expression. I do not see from the terms of the policy that the person must have been there actually placing his fingers on the trigger of a gun or hurling a bomb in military action to be entitled to the promised payment. A person, who is in the place of action at the Army and who suffers an injury in the manner contemplated in the policy, which includes an accident in an operational area that is not due to negligence of the person, could well make a successful claim. If we must give the expression battle casualty any meaning, I would understand it to mean to a situation where a person while actively involved in the military service in an area, which is a battle zone suffers an injury, then it shall be a battle casualty. If there is, therefore, a certificate that the petitioner has suffered a battle casualty (see para 1 above), to take a different view and stonewall the claim of the petitioner from obtaining a benefit of the policy will make meaningless the beneficient and lofty objective which the policy proffers. A State cannot drive a person, who claims a benefit under the policy for a full-fledged adjudication in a Civil Court to ascertain the nature of injury, so long as the policy statement itself does not require any specific mode of proof…”

The amount was paid to the officer by the Haryana Government but the interest awarded by the High Court was not. Thereafter the interest was partially paid when the officer was forced to file a contempt petition in a second round of litigation. The officer still awaits full implementation of the interest part of the judgement rendered by the High Court.

Litigation with Union of India: As would be known to most, operational disabilities in notified operations are eligible for grant of ‘war-injury’ pension rather than regular ‘disability pension’. Though the officer’s case squarely fell within policy and even the Army had declared the disability as ‘battle casualty’, the admissible war injury pension was not released to him forcing him to knock the doors of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). The Principal Bench of the AFT however dismissed his petition agreeing with the government. Challenging the orders of the AFT, the officer approached the Delhi High Court which has not only granted him the applicable war injury pension but has awarded him 12% interest on the same alongwith costs of Rs 50,000. The following observations of the High Court merit reproduction:-

“…such a narrow interpretation of what is otherwise a widely phrased condition, is unwarranted. This would necessarily imply that those who are on the way – like the petitioner, in an operation-notified area and are intrinsically connected with the success of such operations cannot ever receive war-injury pension even though their aid and assistance is essential and perhaps crucial for its success. The classification of the residual head, i.e. “operations specially notified by the government from time to time” has to be read along with the broad objective of the policy, i.e. - those who imperil themselves – either directly or indirectly – and are in the line of fire during the operations, would be covered if the injuries occur in that area or in the notified area of operation. This is also apparent from the situations covered in Clause (g) and (h) which nowhere deal with battle or war. In fact, clause (h) even covers injuries and death which occurs while personnel are “employed” in the aid of civil power in quelling agitation, riots or revolt by demonstrators” This means that if someone is travelling in the thick of such unrest and the accident results in death or injury, his next of kin would be entitled to war-pension whereas those who actually suffer similar injuries in an area where operations are notified, would not be entitled to such war injury pension…It seems that the military bureaucracy in this case or someone within it felt that since injuries were described more specifically as “accidents” while travelling on duty in government vehicles” – in category (C) of the letter/policy dated 31.01.2011, the petitioner was disentitled to war injury pension. The Tribunal’s bland acceptance of these decisions has regrettably resulted in denial of justice to the petitioner. This Court is, therefore, of the opinion that the impugned order of the Tribunal cannot be sustained. The petitioner’s claim for grant of war injury pension in terms of Clause 4.1(E)(i) has to succeed…In parting, this Court cannot resist observing that when individuals place their lives on peril in the line of duty, the sacrifices that they are called upon to make cannot ever be lost sight of through a process of abstract rationalisation as appears to have prevailed with the respondents and with the Tribunal…He, like any other personnel, operated under extremely trying circumstances unimaginable to those not acquainted with such situations. The cavalier manner in which his claim for war injury pension was rejected by the respondents, who failed to give any explanation except adopt a textual interpretation of Clauses (C) and (E), is deplorable. In these circumstances, the petitioner deserves to succeed…”

Four rounds of litigation and the officer succeeded, would a jawan or his family afford such litigation? Isn't it ironical that the State or the organizations which are to care and comfort our men and women in uniform assume an adversarial role by embracing literal interpretation and sticking to the letter and not to the spirit of beneficial provisions? It is yet another matter that the Supreme Court in UOI Vs Harjinder Singh’s case has already upheld that even natural illnesses in operational areas would entitle a person to ‘war injury pension’, but then the textual interpretations of the officialdom seem to have more sanctity than judicial pronouncements in our country.

Who shall cry for the Indian soldier?

http://www.indianmilitary.info/2013/02/the-travails-of-being-soldier-in-india.html

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013
All Tamils must unite to save Ram-Setu -- Jayasree Saranathan

Ram-Setu is back in news with the Congress led Government rejecting the Pachauri committee report that did not favour the dredging of the Ram Setu and the evil Karunanidhi lashing out at "communal forces" for stalling the Setu project.

Many articles had been written in this blogspot on why Ram Setu must not be destroyed. There are more dangerous reasons of a future tsunami wiping off parts of Srilanka, south Tamilnadu and Kerala if this raised patch of Ram Setu is destroyed. There is also the possibility of rare deposits of Thorium getting washed into the Indian Ocean in the event of Ram Setu getting destroyed. If these are not enough reasons for not touching Ram Setu, there is certainly the religious reason for not destroying it. Though I have written many articles in this angle in the past, I wish to address this issue especially to the people of Tamilnadu this time.

The Tamil speaking people are proud about their heritage and a long literary past of Tamil culture and language. They must know that their olden Tamil texts contain the keys to many secrets of the history of India and even mankind at large. They must also know that their Tamil ancestors had remained as custodians of the past culture of India which was nothing but Vedic or Hindu in substance. Let them know that Ramayana, Rama and Ram setu were recorded in their olden texts as facts of history and not as mythology or some imaginative stuff. A true Tamilian must rise above his religious identity or political identity to stand by the historical places of importance in his land and put a stop to the destruction of these sites by the likes of Karunanidhi. As inheritors of Tamil language and olden Tamil texts, it is the duty of every Tamilian to know what his texts say and bring them out to the outside world to set the records straight. In this article I am giving whatever I have gathered from Tamil sources to show why this issue of Ram Setu must not be just left as a 'religious issue' but as a national heritage issue which every citizen must raise his voice for and every Tamil should rise up to denounce the attempts to destroy Ram Setu.

First of all every Tamilian should understand that it is his bounden duty to protect Ram Setu, as it is located in his land. He must not accept the specious arguments of Karunanidhi and his mouthpiece The Hindu which calls Ramayana as a myth. If Ramayana is a myth, how could have the Pandyan rulers written about an incident of an early Pandyan with Ravana of Ramayana?

Contrary to what people think, Ramayana did not happen lakhs of years ago. It happened in a traceable past – that too at a time when the old Tamil kingdom of Pandyans was flourishing in the South. There is a mention of the location of Kavatapuram, the capital city of the Pandyas in Valmiki Ramayana, and a corroboratory reference to Ravana is also found in the Sinnamanur copper plates of the Pandyans.

When Sita was abducted by Ravana, Pandyan kingdom was thriving in the south. While giving instructions to Hanuman and other vanaras on how to proceed to the southern direction, Shugreeva narrated the places that they would encounter en route. In that context he said that after crossing the river Kaveri, Agasthya's abode and then river Tamraparani, they would reach the Kavatam of Pandyas! ( कवाटम् पाण्ड्यानाम् – Valmiki Ramayana, chapter 41 -19). Thereafter they would reach the southern oceans, said Shugreeva. From there they could reach Ravana's Lanka from Mahendra hills!

This Kavatam was the capital of Pandyans during the 2nd sangam period, It was submerged in the 3rd deluge that happened 3500 years ago. Today we could see only the Mahendra hills whose extension into the Indian ocean had gone under water. This extension was the Kumari hills of the Sangam period.

From the narration of Valmiki Ramayana, we come to know that Pandyans were ruling from Kavatam while Ravana was ruling Lanka.

As a cross reference we do have information available in the Sinnamanur copper plates of the Pandyan kings. While tracing the genealogy of Pandyans, these inscriptions make a specific reference to an earlier Pandyan (name not mentioned ) to have made Ravana buy peace (refer verse 5 in this link: - http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_3/copper_plates_at_tirukkalar.html )

This is written both in the Sanskrit portion and the Tamil portion of the inscriptions. In Sanskrit it is written "Dasaanan sandheepa rakshakaara". In Tamil the same is written as "dasavathanan saarbaaka sandhu seithum". There was geographic proximity between the Pandyans and Ravana. The Pandyans had some skirmishes with him and at some time, they had the ten-headed Ravana buy truce with them or had negotiated with Ravana for some reason. The reason is not known and the exact event is not known, but the very mention of some interaction with Ravana goes to show that Ravana was not a mythological character, nor a Ramayana a fiction. It also shows that Ramayana happened in a decipherable past and not lakhs of years ago.

The Tamil texts also give the duration of time periods of the 3 Sangam periods. According to "Irayanaar Aga-p-porul urai" written 1000 years ago, the first sangam went on for 4,440 years with Southern Madurai (Then-Madurai) as its epicentre. After a deluge the capital was shifted to Kavaatam where the 2nd sangam went on for 3,700 years. It was in this period Ramayana had happened, as per the above references of Valmiki Ramayana and Sinnamaur inscriptions. This location was also lost in the deluge after which the 3nd sangam was shifted the present day Madurai. It lasted for 1,850 years with Ugra Peruvazhuthi as its last patron king. Adding all the years we get 9,990 years as the total duration of Tamil sangam period.

This figure was not a mythical figure. It was not written as a matter of fiction. The writer of this figure, Nakkeeranar was not a liar but belonged to the category of poets who had no reason to twist the facts or write a history out of imagination. These figures concur well with deluges of the past that started after the end of Ice Age some 13,000 years ago.

This figure also concurs with a cross reference from a sangam text and an inscription of the Cholas. The last patron of the 3nd sangam has been mentioned as Pandyan King Ugra Peruvazhuthi. There is a verse on this king and his contemporary king of the Cholas namely Peru Narkilli, written by the famous poetess Auvaiyaar in Pura Nanuru, a famous Sangam text (verse no 367). This Peru Narkilli is mentioned in the Cholan copper plates of Thiruvalangadu (verse 41 http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_3/no_205b_aditya_ii_karikala.html )

The famous Cholan king Karikal Cholan came after this king as per the records of the Thiruvalangadu plates. Karikalan's time was before the period of Silappadhikaram of 2nd century CE. By this it is inferred that Peru Narkilli and his contemporary Ugra Peru vazuthi must have lived in the 1st century CE or at the beginning of the Common Era. This puts the end of 3rd sangam at approximately 2000 years BP.

Now adding up the years of the 3 sangam periods to this last year of the last sangam at 2000 years BP, we arrive at the following years.

3rd sangam started around 1850 BC.
2nd sangam started around 5550 BC
1st sangam started around 9990 BC.

For our purpose of locating the period of Ramayana, it must have happened after 5550 BC when Kavatam was the capital of Pandyan kings.
This coincides with a research article by Prof Pushkar Bhatnagar based on the astronomy-inputs of Ramayana that puts the date of birth of Ramayana at 5114 BC!
(http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.in/2010/10/ramas-birth-date.html ) Therefore I request the readers, particularly the Tamils to understand that Ramayana was very much an historical event that happened around 7000 years ago when Tamil sangam was thriving under the patronage of Pandyan kings.

There is also a cross reference available from Kalidasa's Raghu vamsa wherein he says that a Pandyan king attended the Swyamvar (self—choice) of Rama's grand mother Indumathi! She chose Rama's Aja, Rama's grand father as her groom. By all this it must be understood that we must not allow any more talk of Ramayana being a myth. Ramayana happened in reality. It happened 7000 years ago. The core theme is the abduction of Sita who was rescued by Rama by crossing the ocean, after building a bund over the Isthumus. Setu means bund. The identity as a bridge came much recently after the British messed up with our history and called it as Adams bridge. From the records of Thomas Williamson , (1810 ), East India Vade-Mecum, VOL I. , London , Black, Parry, and Kingsbury , p. 125, it is known that there were many hill tops or projections from the sea which were connected and made as a bund. This record says,

"This reef, called' Adam's Bridge,' is supposed to be formed by the summits of mountains, that, by some dreadful convulsion, were sunk below those waters, between which they originally formed a stupendous isthmus, like that of Darien, connecting Ceylon with the continent."

Seen at a height of 93 Km, Ram Setu looks as follows which is a clear indication of a man- made structure.

At the height of 1 Km, the structure of Ram Setu shows striations which are impossible to happen in nature. Take a look at the picture below which shows the finer parts of Setu under water as seen from the height of 1 Km.

Ram Setu was a marvel even at its time of construction. Mandodhari, wife of Ravana was convinced about the defeat of Ravana the moment she came to know that Rama had built a bridge across the ocean to come over to Lanka. It was an incomparable human feat that a person who could do it cannot be vanquished. Lamenting on the death of Ravana she said, "The day when the terrific monkeys built a bridge on the great ocean, that day itself I believed that Rama was not an ordinary mortal."
यदिअव वानरैर्घोरैर्बद्दः सेतुर्महार्णवे |
तदैव हृदयेनाहं शङ्के रामममानुषम् || (Valmiki Ramayana 6-111 -11)

Let me draw the attention of readers to some references from Silappadhikaram, the text that Karunanidhi used to show his love for Tamil. If Karunanidhi accepts Kannagi, the central character of Silappadhikaram, then he cannot ignore the other references in Silappadhikaram.

When Kovalan had gone out with Kannagi and Gavunthi Adigal, Kovalan's father grew anxious and wanted to get him back in town. His emissaries met Kovalan on the way and conveyed the anxiety of his father. In that context they compared Kovalan with Rama! Just as how Ayodhya was reeling under sorrow at the exit of Rama to the forest, Pukar (the home town of Kovalan) was sad at the exit of Kovalan.

//பெருமகன் ஏவ லல்ல தியாங்கணும்
அரசே தஞ்சமென் றருங்கான் அடைந்த
அருந்திறல் பிரிந்த அயோத்தி போலப்
(மதுரைக் காண்டம் - புறஞ்சேரி இறுத்த காதை
line 63-65)//

Once again there is another reference in Silappadhikaram on Rama having gone to the forest. When Kovalan was sad over the developments of himself moving out with Kannagi, Gavunthi Adikal consoled him by comparing his position to Rama's sojourn with Sita in the forest.

//தாதை ஏவலின் மாதுடன் போகிக்
காதலி நீங்கக் கடுந்துய ருழந்தோன்
வேத முதல்வற் பயந்தோ னென்பது
நீயறிந் திலையோ நெடுமொழி யன்றோ
(மதுரைக் காண்டம்: ஊர் காண் காதை line 45-49)//

Consider that these words were written 1800 years ago. Unless Rama's story was a legend by then, these references could not have entered into the Tamil Epic. The fact that Rama's exit to forest is recorded shows that what followed after that – namely abduction of Sita and building of Setu were also realities.

There is a reference in Sangam texts on the abduction of Sita. In verse 378 of Pura Nanuru, there is a description of the jewels received as gifts. The Paanans received different types of jewels from the Cholan king. Not knowing how to wear them, they were messing up with them. They did not even to how to wear and in which part of the body they must wear them. They wore the hand jewels on the ears and the ear jewels on the neck. The poet says that it looked like how the vanaras wore the jewels after they were thrown down by Sita while she was being carried away by Ravana!

//"...இலம்பா(டு) இழந்தஎன் இரும்பேர் ஒக்கல்
விரல்செறி மரபின செவித்தொடக் குநரும்
செவித்தொடர் மரபின விரற்செறிக் குநரும்
அரைக்(கு)அமை மரபின மிடற்றுயாக் குநரும்
மிடற்(று)அமை மரபின அரைக்குயாக் குநரும்
கடுந்தெறல் இராமன் உடன்புணர் சீதையை
வலித்தகை அரக்கன் வௌவிய ஞான்றை
நிலஞ்சேர் மதரணி கண்ட குரங்கின்
செம்முகப் பெருங்கிளை இழைப்பொலிந் தாஅங்(கு)
அறாஅ அருநகை இனிதுபெற்(று) இகுமே"
[புறநானூறு: 378:13-21]//

What a description by the Tamils some 2000 years ago, connecting a scene from Ramayana! The sudden and unexpected access to jewels of sorts with which they were not familiar got the poet (Oon podhi pasungudaiyaar - ஊன்பொதி பசுங்குடையார்) recall how the vanaras had behaved on seeing the jewels falling in their midst! If this is not a proof of Ramayana, why would anyone believe that even Kannagi was a real character?

There is another sangam verse that speaks about Rama before he crossed the ocean. In Agananuru 70, we come across a scene in which a man is speaking to his wife recalling their love affair. Before marriage, their love affair was the subject matter of talks everywhere around. But after their marriage all those talks had fallen silent. It was like how the birds of the Banyan tree were keeping silence when Rama was sitting under the tree in the shores of the Ocean of the Pandyan land in deep thought over war strategies to be followed.

//"நம்மொடு புணர்ந்த கேண்மை முன்னே
அலர்வாய்ப் பெண்டிர் அம்பல் தூற்றப்
பலரும் ஆங்(கு)அறிந்தனர் மன்னே; இனியே
வதுவை கூடிய பின்றை....
...
வென்வேற் கவுரியர் தொல்முது கோடி
முழங்குஇரும் பௌவம் இரங்கும் முன்துறை
வெல்போர் இராமன் அருமறைக்(கு) அவித்த
பல்வீழ் ஆலம் போல
ஒலிஅவிந் தன்(று)இவ் அழுங்கல் ஊரே". (அகநானூறு:70:5-17)//

The location is mentioned as belonging to the Pandyan land. Obviously it refers to the shores of Setu, where Rama was in Darbha sayana for 3 days and waited for the next few days to have the bridge built. The above scenario is about the time the Setu was under construction while Rama was spending time thinking about the war -perhaps sitting under a banyan tree. This description further reiterates the historicity of this incidence of crossing the ocean from the Pandyan kingdom. There must have been more local legends and recollections of Rama's stay in this part of the Pandyan kingdom among the Tamils of those days. A shred of it is available in this sangam verse.

The historicity of Setu continued for all times after that in such a way that a lineage of protectors of Setu had come into being. The rulers by name Setu-pathi were there in that part of Tamilnadu. Scurrying through the inscriptions, I came across one issued in the year 1714 by Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi. It was grant given to a dancer. At the end of the inscription, as was customary, it was mentioned that those who obstruct the continuation of that grant would incur the sin of having killed the cow in Setu or in the Ganges! ('Kalvettu', quarterly magazine of Tamilnadu archaeological dept, Jan2010 issue) This shows that Ram Setu was kept in equal importance as that of Ganges!

The reason behind this is another big story which I have written in Tamil. (http://thamizhan-thiravidana.blogspot.in/2011/03/47.html )
The nutshell of that story is that Setu was the place where the river Ganga first touched the ashes of the Sagaras and enabled them to get released to heavens! The Ganges was not in existence until the time of Bhageeratha. It was confined to the glacier at Gangothri during the Ice Age. At the end of Ice age, she started flowing down. She flowed on the path cut by the sons of Sagara, the ancestor of Rama. The path was cut along the eastern coast of Bay of Bengal when actually the Bay was farther away from the present day shore. The Sagaras who were in search of the horse dug through the shore line, encircled Srilanka and then ended up where Ram setu is situated. That region was a hot bed that they were reduced to ashes. Even today the ocean at the region of Rameswaram is called as Agni theertha. The Bathometry analysis of the Bay of Bengal shows 4 stands of canal like formations along the coastal line at depths 130, 80, 60 and 30 metres. It must be remembered that at the time of Ice age (13,500 years ago), the ocean level was 120 metres lower than now and that Bay of Bengal was much drier than the Indian Ocean which was lower than the bottom of the Bay of Bengal.


http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/2264/449/1/J_Indian_Geophys_Union_4_185.pdf

The Ganges in her early days had flown along these channels – cut by the sagaras and ended up at Ram Setu. The Ganga sagar was actually Bengal Sagar – now known as Bay of Bengal which was the ultimate region of river Ganga in her path. But as time progressed and the Ice age ended, the Ganges started flowing in full might. The Bay of Bengal swelled to its current level at the time of Ramayana – 7000 yrs BP. That was the time the ocean levels attained the current levels. So by then the original Channels of Sagara were inundated completely, Setu was almost under waters. The Ganges was more reachable at other places like Kasi and Gaya. That is how the glory of ganga went from "Aa Setu Himachala".

The blue coloured arrow marks in the above picture shows the initial movement of river Ganga upto Setu. The green coloured route shows the return of the glory from Setu to the region of birth of Ganga.

The isthumus between Srilanka and India was not touched by the Sagaras and not even by Rama who initially attempted to shoot his Brahmasthra at that site. But that was stopped by Samudra rajan who requested Rama to shoot the astra at some other site in the ocean. The reason could be traced to the type of ocean floor at Ram Setu. It was dotted with volcanic formations that are plugging the fractures in the mantle surface. The mount of Mynaka that rose up when Hanuman crossed the ocean was a volcano that had a lava opening at its bottom. The rich Thorium deposit in this region concurs well with the Ramayana description of volcanism underneath Ran Setu. It was as though a stitch had been made at Setu and by Setu to suppress any fissure in the sea bottom from erupting menacingly.

At the time of Ramayana (7000 yrs BP), the until then naturally made isthumus of Setu was under water. It was raised by Rama's vanara sena. He found an additional advantage as it served as a bund to stop the river waters flowing through the under water channel. This channel not only carried the waters of Ganges but also the other peninsular rivers. By arresting them at this point, it was possible for people to take a dip in the waters of all the sacred rivers starting from Ganges south-wards. Rama facilitated that by constructing Setu bund.

The religious significance of this place is thus formed 1000s of years ago. Even Rama had bathed here before he left for Lanka. It is written by sage Parasara in his Brihad Parasa Hora sastra that those who take bath here would get back their wealth, wife and family. Rama got them all within a fortnight of having taken bath here! Ram setu is recommended as a place of propitiation for those suffering from Chandra-dosha or the curse of mothers.

Tamilians must know that the information of the digging up of the Bay of Bengal is written in Tamil texts! The Bay of Bengal is mentioned as "Thodu kadal" in Tamil texts. It means 'Thondappatta kadal" – dug-up sea. This expression is found with specific reference to Sagaras in the Pura nanuru verse no 6. This is again mentioned in Silappadhikaram at 2 places. Lanka is mentioned as "Agazh ilangai" – dug –out Lanka. The shape of Srilanka was not natural but man-made – dug out by the sagaras who encircled Lanka and ended up at Setu, being unable to cut through it. In Silappadhikaram this nature of Lanka is mentioned in a couple of places. If Karunanidhi is true to his Tamil leanings, he must have recognised these facts of Silapapdhikaram too and reorganised his views. He is after all a selfish seller – who wants to use Tamil to serve him and not keen on serving Tamil.

Whatever we find in Tamil texts of Sagaras' digging up the Bay of Bengal, is also available in Valmiki Ramayana. The mynaka rose up to offer a resting place for Hanuman because it wanted to pay back to the Iskhwaku dynasty for having dug up the sea! Its location is in the region of Ram Setu is something we must remember. This location was not somewhere in North India but very much on the shores of Tamilnadu. Again after reaching the shores, it was Vibheeshana who suggested Rama to seek the help of Samudra Rajan to help him cross the seas on the pretext that his ancestors had facilitated the flow of waters in the ocean when they brought the Ganges through the channels dug by sagaras. The location is Ram Setu. Thus we have evidence to say that the Ganges came upto Ram Setu.

Today the average Tamil is indifferent to the issue of Setu samudram project. The Dravidian brain-wash had made him think that it is some Hindu issue or Jayalalithaa politics. No, it is the heritage of Tamils, its an issue of concern to Tamils. If only this kind of a situation had arisen in ancient times, no Tamil would have kept quiet. This is a place of pride, of historic importance for everyone from Pandyans to Setupathys. If we remain inert spectators, we are harming a tradition and heritage of our Tamil lands. If we allow the un-Tamil Karunanidhis and congreeswallahs to have their say, only we and our future generations are going to suffer – either through devastations in the event of tsunamis or by having permanently lost a rare region having propitiatory significance.

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2013/02/all-tamils-must-unite-to-save-ram-setu.html

The Ram Setu Sutra

By Kanchan Gupta on February 26, 2013

The Congress-led UPA Government has once again revived the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project which, if implemented, will cause the destruction of Ram Setu. In 2007 UPA 1 had kicked up a row by contesting the existence of Sri Ram in its affidavit on the issue to the Supreme Court. The uproar of protest forced the Government to withdraw the affidavit and set up a committee of experts headed by environmentalist RK Pachauri. In its report, the Pachauri Committee advised the Government against proceeding with the project.

Curiously, with the next general election looming on the horizon, the Government has once again decided to pursue the project whose cost runs into thousands of crores of rupees. Pushing through big ticket projects on the eve of elections is standard Congress tactics for more than one reason. The Supreme Court should stay the Government’s hand and force it to retreat from its hideous decision which can only be termed as anti-Hindu, apart from being disastrous for the ecology of the region. There are several reasons why Ram Setu should be left alone. Here are some of them.

Legend has it, as any Indian child not born of deracinated parents would tell you, that the bridge was built by Hanuman’s vanar sena to enable Ram and his army to cross the Palk Strait, march into Lanka, slay Ravan and rescue Sita. For those who believe that the Ramayan is not about Hindu myth-making but an elaborate rendition by Valmiki of what was till then oral history, the building of the bridge was an awesome feat. Images of the vanar sena carrying huge chunks of rock and paving a path across the sea, carved in stone, printed on yellowing oleographs or in Amar Chitra Katha comic strips, inspire both reverence and pride in a past that we tend to belittle. We are, after all, a nation that has no sense of history.

If the stalled Sethusamudram project is revived, dredgers equipped with cutters will resume badgering that past, literally and metaphorically, to create a channel for ships. Before work on the project came to a halt after the Supreme Court’s intervention, unwilling to yield without a fight, as if summoning the Herculean strength of Hanuman, the remains of Ram Setu were found to be putting up a stiff resistance and proving to be difficult to be removed. Two state-of-the-art dredgers had to retire injured from the scene of battle.

The assault on Ram Setu is part of the ambitious, Rs 2,427-crore Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project to create a channel for large ships between the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The channel, if it is ever created, will reduce sailing time for ships moving from India’s western seacoast to the east. They have to now circumnavigate around Sri Lanka, which means waste of time and resources. The project has been talked about since the 19th century, but it invariably foundered on the issue of the channel’s alignment so as not to get stuck on the hard rock of Ram Setu, or, if you prefer, what British cartographers named Adam’s Bridge. It was during the BJP-led NDA regime that the project took form and shape. But before a final view could be taken, the Government fell in the summer of 2004.

The UPA 1 Government’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared the project on May 19, 2005. As for the alignment of the channel, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute’s (NEERI’s) proposal was accepted. After rejecting alignments proposed by several experts since the 19th century on “technical grounds”, NEERI has selected an alignment that runs through Ram Setu, which divides Dhanushkodi/Rameswaram island, travels through Palk Bay, and cuts through Palk Strait, linking the Gulf of Mannar to Bay of Bengal with a deep channel. The alignment runs close to India’s maritime boundary with Sri Lanka. The dredged material will be dumped in Indian territorial waters.

Those opposed to the alignment and demanding that Ram Setu be saved from destruction have marshalled ecological arguments, apart from historical facts. For instance, they quote from the Sir AR Mudaliar Committee Report of 1956. The report said a channel aligned in a manner to cut through the Adam’s Bridge site is unsuitable for the following reasons:

» Shifting sandbanks in this area present a far more formidable problem – both at the stage of construction and during maintenance – than the sand dunes on the island site.

» Approaches to a channel would be far too open with no possibility of construction of protective works. A channel at this site – even if it can be made and maintained (which is unlikely) – would entail definite navigational hazard.

» The channel would be bordering on the Sethusamudram Medial Line.

“In these circumstances, we have no doubt whatever that the junction between the two seas should be effected by a Canal; and the idea of cutting a passage in the sea through Adam’s Bridge should be abandoned,” the report concluded.

Retired marine scientists and experts claim that if the Government persists with the project in its present form, India could be inviting an ecological disaster. They cite the 2004 experience of the coastline protected by Ram Setu escaping the fury of the Boxing Day tsunami.

Destroying the setu, they point out, citing tsunami expert Tad S Murthy, “Opens up serious potential damage to the entire Kerala and Tamil Nadu coast when the next tsunami occurs.” The project does not factor in measures to protect the coastline from tsunamis after the existing barrier is destroyed.

Experts have pointed out that as a consequence of dredging and opening of Ram Setu, fragile coral islands will be “destroyed by sediments and turbulent tides of Bay of Bengal entering the tranquil Gulf of Mannar.” They have suggested that the channel should be realigned towards Pamban and, like the Panama Canal, locks could be provided at the Palk Bay end and the Gulf of Mannar end to prevent disasters like tsunamis.

Murthy has written to the Prime Minister, suggesting that the alignment be changed northwest-ward to avoid the destruction of Kerala if a tsunami were to hit the southern coastline. “The Sethu Samudram canal has many characteristics similar to the Alberni canal, and this is the reason I am concerned. In the March 28, 1964, Alaska earthquake tsunami, outside of Alaska the largest tsunami amplitude was at the head of the Alberni canal well inland and not at the open coast as everyone expected. Later, I explained this was due to (a phenomenon known as) quarter wave resonance amplification,” Murthy explained in his letter.

Experts also aver that thorium deposits in Kerala (Aluva, Chavara) and Tamil Nadu (Manavalakurichi), which have been critical in supporting India’s indigenous nuclear programme, “will be desiccated”. This could cripple the fast-breeder programme, already threatened by the India-US civil nuclear deal.

But what has led to an emotional upsurge among those who believe that what is under threat is Ram Setu is the manner in which the Congress-led UPA Government has ignored textual and scientific evidence about the structure’s historical value. “Damage to Ram Setu is a violation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958 since this is a monument which has remained in existence for over 100 years,” one anguished critic points out.

On its part, the Congress appears eager to flaunt its “secular” (read callous towards Hindu sentiments) credentials and insists there are no archaeological studies that reveal the existence of Ram Setu between India and Sri Lanka. Not to be silenced so easily, scholars have dug out a NASA satellite picture that shows the existence of a stretch of rocks in the Palk Strait between the countries. This is claimed as evidence of a bridge having been built once upon a time.

The relevant information, taken from NASA’s website, reads: “Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) of NASA aboard space shuttle Endeavour launched in February 2000. Sri Lanka is shaped like a giant teardrop falling from the southern tip of the vast Indian sub-continent. It is separated from India by the 50 km wide Palk Strait, although there is a series of stepping-stone coral islets known as Adam’s Bridge that almost form a land bridge between the two countries.”

Another NASA website entry reads: “Adam’s Bridge between India and Ceylon, at the right, is clearly visible. A cloudless region surrounds the entire sub-continent. Differences in colour, green near the west coast, and brown inland, delineate regions of heavy vegetation and semiarid areas.” The entries have satellite images attached to them.

As for textual references, there are plenty of them to bolster the case for protecting Ram Setu. Valmiki has described the construction of the setu in vivid terms: Vaanarhaving huge bodies, with mighty strength uprooted elephant-sized rocks and mountains and transported them. Ved Vyas refers to Nal Setu or Nal’s bridge, “mountain-like, sustained out of respect for Ram’s command”.

Kalidas has written about how Ram, while returning from Sri Lanka, told Sita, “Behold, Sita, my setu of mountains dividing this frothy ocean is like the milky way dividing the sky into two parts.” The Skanda Purana describes the installation of three Shivlings at the end, middle and beginning of the Ram Setu.

It’s a heady mix, if you care to listen to those protesting against the project, of faith, science and history. This is not about politics or development, but ancient wisdom being sacrificed at the altar of commercial advantage. Even if you choose to disregard faith based on ancient texts, then look at it this way: Nature’s protective cover is being destroyed because the project is a gravy train on which politicians, bureaucrats and contractors want a ride.

Should we allow that to happen?

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/02/26/the-ram-setu-sutra-50182.html

SSCP would probably be the only offshore project in the world in which the GOI would go forward with the execution of the project, despite the several warnings of the high risk factors and dangers associated with the project. What is immediately required is a thorough investigation by a group of independent international oceanographers with the assistance of local professionals from India and Sri Lanka, who would carry out their responsibilities and duties without fear or favor. Thereafter both India and Sri Lanka can decide how best to proceed with this canal project which has severe impact on several fronts for both nations. Since the project mooted 144 years ago has still not begun one more year to take into consideration proper safeguards would not hurt anyone including the voters of Tamil Nadu State elections next year. If GOI decides to bulldoze their way with this project there is no doubt that the Sethusamuderam canal is designed to become a monumental disaster. Jayantha Gnanakone24 May 2005


Palk Bay and Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. Is ignorance bliss? -- R. Ramesh

In a strange and ironic twist, the Indian government has cleared the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project at the worst possible time, when scientific reports done by Indian establishments and others clearly indicate that the Palk Bay has been left reeling under the excessive stress caused by the December 26 Tsunami. These reports also suggest that the Tsunami has left most of the Bay’s biotic and physical resources partially or fully challenged. Regardless of this fact, the Indian ministry has decided to go ahead with the canal dredging work in three weeks time from now.
More ironically, this work would commence at the Palk Strait - a place least studied by the would-be dredgers or by the organization that had prepared the SSCP technical feasibility report. The estimated quantity to be dredged would be 12 to 13 million cubic meters initially. This amounts to 22 to 26% of the dredging work estimated for the Palk Strait area, or 13.6 to 16 % of the dredging work estimated for the entire project. That means that the first one seventh of the dredging work would be initiated within the next 20 days.

The Drama

The Indian Department of Ocean Development’s (DOD) report on Tsunami damage, published in late March, has documented that the sedimentation rate at the coral reefs around the Pamban Island had increased two-fold during the tsunami. A team of scientists from led by Dr.V.J.Loveson of the Council for Industrial and Scientific Research (CISR) New Delhi, studying placer deposits in the area, says an estimated 40 million tonnes of Titanium alone has been deposited in the entire stretch of 500 kilometre coastline hit by the Tsunami. The Zoological Survey of India’s report talks about the consequences of excessive dumping of silt by the Tsunami on the Palk Bay Bay ecosystem. Independent surveys conducted at Kodiakkarai, in Tamil Nadu, in January have revealed that the sea is now half its depth than what it was prior to the Tsunami.
The Indian government has not thought it important to consider the project’s viability in the light of the above studies. Also, it did not occur to Indian government that these study conclusions indicated that the total amount of material that has to be dredged now would actually be many times higher than the original estimate put forward by the project proponents.

Between 1891 and 1995, the Palk Bay and adjoining regions have witnessed as many as 23 cyclones – which means one cyclone every 4 to 5 years. Studies by Dr Sanil Kumar of India’s National Institute of Oceanography, Goa have indicated that during these cyclones, sediments get dumped in Palk Bay. In addition, the region has witnessed three Tsunamis (1881, 1883, 1941) prior to the current one. All these facts indicate that the amount of dredging that would be necessary would actually be many times higher than the amount estimated by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur.

This irony came to the forefront in a news report published by The New Indian Express in its March 28, 2005 edition. The report said: “In an official note issued early this month, the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) is said to have questioned risks from aspects such as sedimentation due to cyclonic disturbances and threats due to future natural calamities like the tsunami. These issues had not been covered in the environmental impact assessment by Nagpur-based agency NEERI. Its Director S Devotta told this website's newspaper that his agency had not received the PMO note. However, he agreed that NEERI had not covered the sedimentation issue because ‘we had asked the Tuticorin Port Trust to address this aspect with the help of another agency’’ Devotta also stressed that there was no thought on the possibility of tsunamis in this region when the assessment report had been submitted in August 2004. ‘That is why NEERI did not address a tsunami scenario in its study. After the tsunami, any ocean development project - not just the Sethusamudram project - would have to look into this new aspect,’ he conceded.”(emphasis mine).


So, here is a project, where the very agency which first calculated the amount of sediment to be dredged has now openly accepted that it had not studied the issue of sedimentation. The NEERI has also admitted that it had not considered the post-Tsunami scenario. What its director failed to tell the newspaper was that his agency had also not considered the issue of cyclones that frequent the region every 4 or 5 years. However, the Indian Prime Minister’s Office had raised all these questions in its official press note dated March 8, 2005. With respect to this, The New Indian Express report dated 20 May, 2005 reported: ““However, post-tsunami, the plan landed in fresh difficulties, with the Prime Minister’s office reportedly questioning the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). The PMO wanted fresh evaluation, as information about the effects of tsunamis and cyclones on the project had not been factored in and noted there were huge gaps in the current knowledge about sedimentation. Subsequently, a team of experts studied the project and made it clear that Gulf of Mannar would not face any threat from the tsunami in the future and the apprehensions expressed by the PMO were cleared.” (emphasis mine). That makes this drama more interesting! The above-mentioned study by experts that had the power to clear earlier doubts raised by the Indian Prime Minister’s office on the project’s feasibility has been completed in a record time of 13 days (April 1-13). What NEERI was unable to achieve in its two years of study (13.05.2002 to 9.06.2004), this anonymous group of experts had accomplished in a matter of just two weeks! The meaning of the Drama

Post-December 2004, three simulation models by Prof. Steven N. Ward, of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA and Prof. Aditya Riyadi, of Pusat Penelitian Kelautan Institut Teknologi, Bandung, Indonesia, have given a clear picture about the pattern of tsunami wave interaction with Palk Bay. These models have been confirmed correct by the data on tsunami waves received from JASON 1 satellite and also by the various post tsunami field surveys. These simulation models indicate that the northeastern, central, eastern portions of Palk Bay received waves of higher energy and thus these areas remained more turbulent during the Tsunami. This means, the extent of sedimentation and thus the extent of damage to the marine ecosystem in this part of the Bay should have been much higher than the other areas of the Bay. Incidentally, all these areas fall well within Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

The above said simulation models have also indicated that the waves traveling into the Palk Bay both from north and south have a tendency to travel toward the eastern and central half of the Bay during tsunami. Dr. Usha Natesan of Anna University, Chennai has made a similar observation in 2002 from her study on the role of satellites in monitoring sediment dynamics. As stated earlier, all these areas fall within Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

The NEERI’s bogus estimate on the amount of dredged material is not the only issue that should concern us. The Technical Feasibility Report (TFR) it had prepared along with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) raises a still more serious issue. It states: ““The costs may face upward revision as it has been observed that in more than 50% of the dredging contract there has been very large cost overruns mainly due to poor soil investigation. Investigations carried out in this study are based on sub-bottom profile except for three borings in Adam’s Bridge and there is apprehension that hard strata will be encountered in Palk Bay/Palk Strait area. If bottom strata turn out to be rock, the dredging costs will change drastically, as blasting might be required.”(Executive Summary, SSCP TFR, NEERI, page XVIII, emphases mine).

Even for its bogus estimate of the amount of dredged material, the NEERI report had not identified specific dumpsites. With respect to this, consider the following assessment: “The total quantity of spoils that would come from capital dredging is supposed to be 81.5 to 88.5 X 106 m3. The quantum of dredged spoil that would come from maintenance dredging is supposed to be 0.1 X 106 m3 / year. Specific dumpsite has been identified only for 8.5 to 9.5 % of the total dredged spoil. Idea about the nature of the dredged spoil is available presently, only for about 38.5 to 40.5 % of the total dredged spoil. No idea exists at the present time on the nature of the dredged spoil that would be generated for 59.5 to 61.5 % of the total dredged material. We do not know the exact dumpsites for about 90.5 to 91.5 % of the dredged material.”

So where would they dump the material they would be dredging 20 days from now? With no consistent answer to this question, the project is getting ready for its launch.

Where would the dredged materials travel during normal times and during the times of cyclones and tsunami? As indicated by the studies of Dr. Usha Natesan, Steven N. Ward and Aditya Riyadi, they would be getting dumped in the Sri Lankan portion of Palk Bay. Blasting, if resorted to in Palk Strait, would sound the final death knell for the Palk Bay ecosystem.

The Tad S Murty puzzle

Dr. Murty is an expatriate Indian who had served as the chief editor of the reputed International Tsunami Journal “Science of Tsunami Hazards” for over two decades. He is considered as one of the leading scientists on tsunami in general and on the tsunamis of the Indian Ocean in particular. The Indian Prime Minister’s office invited him late this January for knowing his views on the establishment of the tsunami warning system for India. As he finished his briefing on the tsunami warning system for India he had something else also to share with the Indian authorities - that was on the proposed alignment of the SSCP with respect to tsunamis that the Indian east coast might be subjected to in the future. “I like this (Sethusamudram) project’, he said, ‘but there is a flaw. The entrance to the channel should be reoriented towards the eastern side. Otherwise, there is a chance that it may create a deepwater route for another devastating tsunami. This may cause huge destruction in Kerala.”
The average speed of the tsunami wave in the deep sea had been calculated to be around 800 to 850 km per hour. However, the speed with which it had moved into Palk Strait was astonishingly slow. It worked out to be just 30 km per hour. For Nagapattinam continental shelf, it was around 200 km per hour. The simulation models of Steven and Aditya point to us that the areas through which the most turbulent waves have entered Palk Bay both from North and South are the areas where the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal is to be located. It is this point that has been of concern for Dr. Murty. When he said Kerala would face destruction, what he actually meant was that drastic consequences were in store for the entire shoreline extending from Dhanushkodi to Ernakulam, and from the Delft Island to Colombo. The steeply placed Palk Bay, it may be inferred from his statement, has actually shielded the above said shoreline from the harsh impact of the Tsunami waves approaching it from Bay of Bengal located in the northeast. The deepwater route of the SSCP has two acute bends in its course. These bends would obstruct the waves gushing through the canal, and thus there would be excessive sedimentation in the upper and lower courses of the canal. The impact of the high-energy waves on the bends would destroy these bends, thus paving way for the waves to enter the central portion of Palk Bay. Sediments carried by these waves would make the central portion of the Bay much shallower. Prior to the Tsunami, it was said that this 78 km stretch in the project would have had an adequate depth of 12 meters. Post-Tsunami, there has been no study on this. And, with a canal that has the potential to transport high-energy waves from north and south during cyclones and tsunamis in place, this area will certainly become a candidate for dredging. This would also increase the amount of turbidity in Palk Bay considerably. With all this, the amount of material that has to be dredged would dramatically increase.

Thus, continued dredging in the total stretch of 152.2 km would become the order of the day. Increased, nonstop, unplanned dredging would destroy a sea having one of the highest levels of primary production in the world.

Conclusion

The SSCP would probably be the only offshore project in the world in which the project planners have committed publicly that they have not considered the high risk factors and would go forward regardless of this fact. Even the worst tsunami that humankind has witnessed was unable to break the pertinent vow of the project proponents to remain ignorant of every environmental parameter capable of destroying the project’s viability.
Instead of concentrating on an analysis of the factors which indicate that the project is unviable, the project proponents have been busy constructing fictional discourses on its potential utility. Of course, the best fiction churned out has been the canal’s apparent ability to contain the threat posed by Sea Tigers led by Col. Soosai. The target of this born-to-win discourse was Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and true to expectations, this has achieved its instantaneous results. This discourse’s fictional force simply blew the realism of the Indian Prime Minister’s office and the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project is now well under way!

For the project proponents, ignorance is bliss. And the Indian external affairs minister Natwar Singh can be expected to make a case for this Orwellian sentence during his visit to Sri Lanka on June 9. It is for Sri Lanka to decide whether it is willing to be part of this fiction?


I thank Mr.Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, London, for his help rendered in editing this article.

http://palkbay.wikia.com/wiki/Is_Ignorance_Bliss%3F

Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project

சேது சமுத்திரம் கப்பல் கால்வாய் திட்டம்

Introduction

Richard B.Cathcart [rbcathcart@msn.com]
Just what reasoning its proponents have for naming this macroproject a "canal" is not obvious. Is it possibly because canals are typically distinguished from natural watercourses by containing slack, or stagnant, [fresh] water with little discernable current? The SSCP ought to be named the SS Channel Project! It is planned to be a navigational channel dredged from the seabed!


There are existing sea level canals (Suez, Corinth, Kiel) that were dug through LAND. The SSCP is an ocean shipping channel excavated from the ocean's bed. Another term for ocean's bed is seafloor, and "floor" has an architectural connotation and derivation as so many geological and geomorphological descriptivist terms do.

History

SSCP idea was allegedly first proposed by "Commander A.D. Taylor" of the Indian Marines sometime circa 1860. Here's a bit more biography of him.

Alfred Dundas Taylor was born 30 August 1825 in England, son of George Ledwell Taylor (1788-1873), a civil architect to the Admiralty in the UK not known to have ever visited India. ADT's last published book was THE INDIA DIRECTORY FOR THE GUIDANCE OF STEAMERS AND SAILING VESSELS (London: Smith Elder, 1891). For sure, ADT retired as Commander of the Indian Navy and died in England in 1898.

So, Alfred Dundas Taylor (1825-1898) is documented history. Most remarkably so far, however, I've found no historical evidence to substantiate the widely made claim that ADT, in 1860, first suggested the SSCP!

Map of the proposed Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project

Links:

Tsunamis and Tropical Cyclones of South India
Palk Bay
Ecological Issues related to SSCP


Our own Panama Canal Palk Bay project has huge positive externalities

Jayantha Gnanakone

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tamilinfodaily/message/542

http://sethusamudram.tamilar.org/

The article with all due respect to India’s politician’s exposes the ignorance in the technical aspects of the SSCP, as the astute politicians of Tamil Nadu and Congress Party display. This Canal project and a billion dollars in investment is based on a pack of lies spread by the highest authorities in India. This is rather disgraceful and a shame. There is no time saving in transiting the canal when one considers the slow speed (7-8 knots) the ships would be required to navigate in the canal, delays for embarking and disembarking of Pilots, other administrative procedures and miscalculated distance. The GOI is very deceptive about actual distances saved. When one does the calculation of distance and time for a trip from Bombay to Madras or Calcutta (which is the coastal shipping) then the time saved is very minimal and might be less than 3 to 4 hours compared to the claim of 24 - 36 hours. The present days ships travel at 14-15 knots and not 8 knots in the high seas. Future ships will travel at 20-25 knots and the modern day container ships will travel much faster. The Navy ships achieve speeds between 30-40 knots.

Any time saved is negated by the costs of transit, which will be approximately $10,000 dollars per ship and more. There would be an Insu! rance Premium when transiting the canal, which is additional, and the canal will be subject to weather and labor delays occasionally.

Further more most of the ships cannot use the canal, which has a draft restriction of 11-12 Metres, which would only permit ships less than 30,000 Tons. All the oil tankers, bulk carriers, and container vessels are precluded from using the canal due to the draft restriction, even if they wished to. Even the coal ships to Tuticorin from the East Coast of India need to navigate around Sri Lanka, which again might not be still any time lost or at best be around 3 hours. Suez and Panama Canal saved 22-29 days and not a few hours. They also accommodated 90 per cent of the ships commercially used. Both canals were surrounded by land and the environmental impact was negligible or non-existent and brought some positive economic activity in Panama, and Egypt.

The losses to the fishing industry would be in hundreds of millions of dollars annu! ally both to Sri Lanka and India. The daily production would be substantially reduced which would also slightly affect the GDP but effectively in hundreds of millions of dollars. The annual catch of fish in Sri Lanka in 2003 was 254,000 tons and in South India it could be even ten times higher. The loss of livelihood among the very poor and weak community like the fisherman of India and Srilanka would be over 500,000-750,000. There are others engaged indirectly in the industry, affected by the drastically reduced catch, and loss in livelihood. The breeding grounds and hatching areas would definitely be severely impacted. Additionally the fauna and flora also would be destroyed together with the bio diversity of the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, which is priceless.

Pollution would occur on a daily basis and god forbids if there is an accident or deliberate act of war or terrorism. If an oil tanker is grounded the oil pollution not only would it block the canal for days but will! impact the marine life and beaches and the price tag can be over hundreds of millions of dollars. Destruction and damage to the coral reefs again will have impact on several fronts. Local tourism would be negatively impacted if the beaches become polluted slowly but surely.

Removing 86 Million Cubic meters of deepocean sand including coral reefs will have countless marine life destroyed and their habitats permanently ruined and disturbed. In certain areas there could be serious drilling of hard surface, which NEERI report does not address. Rare marine life might disappear forever from these waters. No proper area has been demarcated for dumping this amount of dredged material.

NEERI report does not address the sedimentation issues, silting possibilities, and under water ocean currents when the canal is constructed. There would be increased turbidity, which was never studied by NEERI. The affect of another TSUNAMI might create change in the water flow, which could sub! merge certain parts of South India and Northern Sri Lanka and during the cyclone season, submerge small islands either temporarily or permanently. Danuskodi is a good example. The possibility that the canal may create a deepwater route for another devastating tsunami is real. This would cause destruction never seen before not only in and around the Palk Bay, but the Gulf of Mannar and beyond. Some say that the impact might go all the way to Kerala. During cyclones and tidal waves “high energy waves” would likely to develop within the canal, causing unforeseen damage to the canal area as well as the regional coast. The amount of dredging estimated has been really understated, considering the heavy inflow of sediments after the Tsunami.

Thus additional dredging in the total stretch of 165 km would become the order of the day. Increased, nonstop, unplanned, unscheduled dredging would destroy a sea having one of the highest levels of primary marine life very unique! in the world. There would be heavy cost overruns, which has not been disclosed at this time.

The salinity of the Jaffna peninsula would be affected and the farmers soon will become bankrupt. There are no studies done at all by NEERI on how all these would be affected and impacted especially in Sri Lanka. GOI needs to safeguard the rights of all the people who might be possibly affected and provide sufficient guarantees and insurance with financial protection immediately and in the future. Otherwise, they could also be subject to class action suits at a later stage and liable for heavy compensation. India should be seriously concerned about the alien tort act actions, brought by Burmese environmentalist against the Burmese government and other multinationals in the USA. This rarely used law forced multinationals and the Burmese government to agree to pay millions of dollars in compensation to the villagers due to the environmental damages caused by the oil pipelines. Shipping Corporation of India being a major shareholder in this project is not only subject to International laws but the more liberal “admiralty laws” where assets of ship owners are easily frozen, ships arrested, in far away foreign ports, by even frivolous claimants. Tuticorin Port Trust the nodal agency for this project and the dredging corporation of India, and all other Port trust corporations are subject to the admiralty laws, and alien tort laws in addition to laws of the Indian constitution. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since multi nationals like Union Carbide literally got away with murder in Bhopal. That will never happen to the people of SOSA and both GOI and GOSL and all the shareholders (Shipping Companies and 6 Port corporations) would be held accountable now or in the future for all the damages to environment and the people. The Tamil foreign minister of Sri Lanka is one of the most experienced and eminent jurist in the world. He is fully awa! re of the ramifications and consequences of violating the Law of the Sea Conventions of the United Nations, and other International Law.

The Law of the Sea regulations of the United Nations mandates that neighboring states need to be consulted and sufficient safeguards and guarantees are provided against losses to commercial and civilian livelihoods. The UN mandated convention rules of 1982 was ratified and signed by both Sri Lanka and India.

There is a school of thought that India is hurriedly pushing this project through the cabinet without proper investigations and consultations with Sri Lanka as a “vote getting exercise” for the Tamil Nadu state elections which is due early next year. If this is the way democracy is practiced by India it is nothing but a shameful act. If India forces Sri Lanka to compromise it’s legal position due to the GOSL’s political and economic weakness, both governments would be equally culpable.

Further more ! GOI is using this canal project to enhance the military and provide Nuclear Submarine base in the canal, with the nuclear fuel supplied by the Koodankulam Nuclear Project. This nuclear facility would produce 40 percent of India's nuclear fuel, and it is no secret that India is developing nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Where would India store such nuclear weapons once it is manufactured near the canal, using the nuclear fuel supplied by nuclear project in nearby Koodankulam. The dangers of war will be greatly impacted for the region if the (SOSA) South of South Asia region is nuclearized and militarized. Would the GOI guarantee the people of SOSA and Sri Lanka that such fears are without foundation and baseless? A statement by DMK or Congress politicians is insufficient and worthless.

The only commercial port in Sri Lanka could also be severely impacted when it is openly declared by the GOI, and SSCP Corporation that after the canal is completed they intend to stop In! dian container cargo being transshipped through Colombo. This would have a big impact on a small country. Mighty powerful nations should display more understanding and compassion to their fragile and weak neighbors already devastated by a 22-year civil war contributed partially by India, and the recent Tsunami. India should not use their economic powers to hurt their neighbors commercially.

There are rules that protect small nations like Sri Lanka in the Law of the Sea Convention regulations. India needs to respect such laws. Finally, if there is no time saved in avoiding the circumnavigation of Sri Lanka due to politicians themselves being mislead or ignorant of the facts, what is the earthly use in the GOI going ahead with the project risking so many sectors, and hurting so many? GOI might as well spend this billion dollars is upgrading the entire minor and major ports, railways and highways infrastructure which would be beneficial to all and will not hurt anyone. That is only 200 million dollars per year, for 5 years, of federal funds in at least 2 states of Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. There is also no gurantee that the SSCP would generate profits for 20 years and the GOI might be forced to keep pumping money in a “white elephant project”. NEERI is not competent to conduct a financial report and commercial viability of the SSCP. Central government manipulating the voting pattern must be certainly against the constitution of India if not in “letter” and or “spirit”. GOI can also assist the poor Sri Lankan fisherman and farmers as well as help them to protect their environment and marine life with some of these funds. It would be criminal to utilize federal funds of India to hurt the poor in Sri Lanka.

SSCP would probably be the only offshore project in the world in which the GOI would go forward with the execution of the project, despite the several warnings of the high risk factors and dangers asso! ciated with the project. What is immediately required is a thorough investigation by a group of independent international oceanographers with the assistance of local professionals from India and Sri Lanka, who would carry out their responsibilities and duties without fear or favor. Thereafter both India and Sri Lanka can decide how best to proceed with this canal project which has severe impact on several fronts for both nations. Since the project mooted 144 years ago has still not begun one more year to take into consideration proper safeguards would not hurt anyone including the voters of Tamil Nadu State elections next year. If GOI decides to bulldoze their way with this project there is no doubt that the Sethusamuderam canal is designed to become a monumental disaster. Jayantha Gnanakone

http://palkbay.wikia.com/wiki/Our_own_Panama_Canal_Palk_Bay_project_has_huge_positive_externalities

VHP OPPOSES RE-STARTING OF SETHU SAMUDRAM PROJECT; JIHADI AGGRESSION IN WEST BENGAL FOR 'BRIHOTTOR BANGLADESH'
MEDIA STATEMENT OF MA. SRI ASHOKJI SINGHAL, PATRON, VISHVA HINDU PARISHAD INT'L

New Delhi, Feb. 27, 2013 - On the issue of the Sethu Samudram Channel Project on which the Hon'ble Supreme Court has ordered status quo, the Central Government has now got reactivated and determined to restart the project after discarding the recommendations of the government-appointed expert committee headed by Dr R.K. Pachauri.

The Smt. Sonia Gandhi & Karuna Nidhi duo is all out to destroy the only extant historic and Dharmic heritage of Bhagwan Sri Ram. If the Government does not accept the Dr Pachauri Committee recommendations, the Sant Fraternity would also repeat the mass movement against the evil designs of the Government and force it to accept the Dr Pachauri Committee recommendations.

The Sonia Government does not accept even the existence of Ram on the ground that its people in the archaeological department do not have Bhagwan Sri Ram's Birth Certificate. They gave an affidavit to this effect earlier to the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

The Pachauri Committee and its team of experts have given their definite opinion that this project is not viable on economic and environmental yardsticks. The Committee concluded that: "Alignment 4A (proposed alternate route) and Alignment 6 (cutting through the Ram Sethu) were economically and ecologically non-feasible. Alignment 4A could potentially result in ecological threats that could pose a risk to ecosystems in the surrounding area, and in particular to the biosphere reserve."

On both sets of alignments, the expert body was of the view that it would fail the benchmark Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 12 per cent prescribed for such scenarios. The Committee said: "It is unlikely that public interest would be served by pursuing the project on the basis of Alignment 4A."

Giving a go-by to the expert body's advice, the fresh affidavit of the Centre said: "The Government of India does not accept the conclusions and recommendations of the Pachauri Committee." The Government says that they have already expended 8290 million rupees on the project and in view of the benefits of the project they are determined to re-start it. When this project has failed the economic and environmental yardsticks, the penalty of 8290 million rupees should be slapped on the Smt. Sonia Gandhi & Karuna Nidhi duo.

It is surprising that even if the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner this Government is all out to challenge and humiliate the Hindus.

Our fight will continue till the Government withdraws its affidavit. It is our clear view that the Ram Sethu be declared a National Heritage so that none would dare meddle with it in future.

JIHADI AGGRESSION IN WEST BENGAL FOR 'BRIHOTTOR BANGLADESH'

On February 19, 2013, around 2 a.m. IST (night), an evangelical Muslim Imam from Ghutiari Sharif in Canning subdivision situated on the Indo-Bangladesh border was returning from a religious congregation pillion riding a bike reportedly carrying Rs. 1,150,000 in cash (as per police sources) when they were intercepted by a gang of robbers who looted the cleric and the altercation resulted in the death of the Imam by gun shot. The Muslim teachers of Goladohra Naliakhali Harinarayani Vidyapith held a meeting in the morning presided over by the headmaster Abdul Salam Mollah and unanimously held the Hindus of Naliakhali responsible for the death of the cleric. According to local residents, the Mollah was earlier transferred from a different school because of his ardent opposition to the Hindu ritual of Saraswati Puja. He had recently held a condolence meeting in the area mourning the death of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri laskar who had been executed for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. Tens of thousands of Muslims from neighbouring areas, such as Canning, Jibantala, Sarengabad, Jhorormore, Narayanpur and Dhoaghata gathered on the site and also attacked and injured police personnel. The attackers also arrived in trucks from the Muslim-majority localities of Park Circus, Rajabazar, Garden Reach and Metiabruz in Kolkata.

They ransacked and looted the homes of Bengali Hindus as the residents fled for their lives. The mob desecrated Hindu temples and shrines, destroyed Tulsi manchas (Basil plants commonly placed as a religious observance in the homes of Hindus), broke the images of Hindu deities and urinated on them. The rioters hurled bombs, doused the houses with petrol and set them on fire. Violence and arson spread to nearby locations such as Dhopar More and Bangalpara. Hindu homes and places of business were ransacked in Gopalpur, Goladogra and Herobhanga. The Jihadis blocked the road at Bhangankhali, Priyor More, Hospital More and Natunhat. They also staged a 'Rail Roko' at Ghutiari Sharif station in the Sealdah-Canning section of the Eastern Railway. Before the authorities could do anything, the Jihadis had burnt more than 200 Hindu houses in several villages that came under the jurisdictions of the Canning, Joynagar, Kultali and Basanti police stations, and displaced more than 2,000 Hindu villagers. Some of the displaced people took shelter in makeshift relief camps while others had to live on the road. The state government announced a compensation of 300,000 to the family of the murdered cleric and 10,000 to each of the 93 families displaced by the Jihadi attack. 52 people were arrested by the police in connection with the violence. Some NGOs have provided food and medicine to the affected region in Naliakhali. Many international human rights organizations, as well as India's National Human Rights Commission, have remained silent about the attacks as perhaps they also need to appease the Jihadis and keep them in good homour.

The dangerous consequences of the 'Appeasement Policy', 'Vote Bank Politics' and the Jihadi designs of Greater Bangladesh ('Brihottor Bangladesh') through 'Muslim infiltration', planting of thousands of Madarsas (Islamic seminaries) along the Indo-Bangladesh borders in West Bengal, Assam and other northeastern states have started showing. The world recently saw the massive Jihadi aggression in Assam and now sees it in West Bengal. The recent Dilsukhnagar (Hyderabad) blasts also have the Jihadi footprints. In 1998, Lieutenant General S.K. Sinha, the then Governor of Assam and later the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, submitted a report to K.R. Narayanan, the then President of Bharat pointing out that massive illegal immigration from Bangladesh was directly linked with "the long-cherished design of Greater Bangladesh," and also quoted pre-1971 comments from late Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and late President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman endorsing the inclusion of Assam into East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Anxiety and popular anger over illegal immigration prompted political unrest in the state of Assam. The people are also very angry that the Indian government has failed to secure the country's borders with Bangladesh and stop and reverse the Jihadi infiltration.

The situations appear that after a few elections, the Governments in West Bengal and Assam might be led by Muslim Chief Ministers on the strength of their majority Muslim MLAs as the 'secular' parties are also now launching more and more Muslim candidates as the Muslim population has been growing in these areas by geometric progression. The people of the country must show the door to all the governments whether at the Centre or the States who have been practicing brands politics that proactively patronize and promote the 'Green Corridorists' or the 'Red Corridorists' or the 'White Corridorists' which if allowed would lead to civil war, disintegration, Nizam-E-Mustafa [establishment of Mustafa's (Muhammad) law)], etc.

Now even some political parties wedded to 'Vote Bank Politics' are advocating mass amnesty to hardcore terrorists and their release from jails and the U.P. Government has even started working towards it. If they actually mean and materialize it, that means they are trying to push the country sooner than later into a state of civil war and the people, therefore, must outrightly reject such politicians and their parties.

The Government of India Ministry of Minority Affairs has in a book published by it has advised children to eat chicken and beef so that they would get more oxygen and iron. The Government should remember that the then government in 1857 had invited the independence movement by using cow fat in the guns. Cow and its progeny is the driving force of our agrarian economy. Cow is complete ecology. Hindus have always sacrificed for the cause of cow. All our national heroes have advocated saving the cow. Under the circumstances the suggestion of the Government of India to eat beef is unfortunate and deserves condemnation. It should immediately withdraw this suggestion.
- Released by Prakash Sharma, Spokesperson, VHP, 57, North Avenue, New Delhi.

The Saga Of Ram Sethu: Indian Government Plan To Develop Shipping Lanes To Sri Lanka Angers Hindus And Environmentalists

By Palash R. Ghosh | February 27 2013 1:27 PM

Renewed plans by the Indian government to develop a deepwater shipping lane between the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka has outraged some fundamentalist Hindus who cite the proposed endeavor will destroy a coral bridge sacred to their faith.

At the center of the controversy is “Ram Sethu” (called “Adam’s Bridge” in English), an 18-mile-long coral and limestone shoal linking Tamil Nadu in India with Mannar Island off the coast of Sri Lanka. Ancient Hindu scriptures declared that the “bridge” was constructed by either the ape god Hanuman or Lord Rama to allow Rama to cross to Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita, who was kidnapped by the evil king Ravanna.

The ultimate defeat of Ravanna is a key moment of ancient Indian mythology as it embodied the triumph of good over evil.
Satellite image of Adam's Bridge

In the New Delhi parliament, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called on the government to scrap the plan, accusing the Congress party leadership of exhibiting “no faith in God.”

Nonetheless, the government insisted it will proceed with plans to dredge parts of the bridge as well as its sandbanks in order to permit large container vessels to pass through the slender body of water separating India and Sri Lanka, thereby cutting the usual time required for passage from the western coast of India to the east coast (Ships currently have to circumnavigate around Sri Lanka, which significantly delays their voyage).

The project – called ‘Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project’ which will allow large ships to move between the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay -- will be managed by the Port of Chennai.

The government even rejected a report by an inquiry committee led by leading environmentalist, Dr. R.K Pachauri, the United Nations' climate change panel chairman, which opposed the shipping enterprise partly on ecological grounds.

"Dr. Pachauri's recommendations are not acceptable to the government,” said Atulya Misra, chairman of the government's Chennai Port in a statement.

“The government is pressing on with our original plan. Political parties are divided on the issue but all this was taken into account when the decision was [initially] made in 2006.”

A journalist named Kanchan Gupta wrote in Niticentral, an alternative Indian media outlet, that the government should cancel its plans to destroy Ram Sethu, which he called “anti-Hindu.”

“If the stalled… project is revived, dredgers equipped with cutters will resume badgering [our] past, literally and metaphorically, to create a channel for ships,” he wrote.

He also noted that retired marine scientists and experts claimed that the project in its present form could lead to an ecological disaster, given that Ram Sethu appeared to protect the southern coats of Indian from the fury of the 2004 tsunami.

“Destroying the sethu, they point out… ‘opens up serious potential damage to the entire Kerala and Tamil Nadu coast when the next tsunami occurs,” Gupta added.

Critics also point out that since Ram Sethu should be designated a national monument -- the demolition of which would be tantamount to a criminal offense.

Subramanian Swamy, president of the Janata Party, another opposition group, told reporters in New Delhi: "The important thing is that the project is not acceptable. It is illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable and extremely expensive.”

An organization called “Save Ram Sethu” also cited that the project would destroy local marine life in the waters.

In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, SRS wrote: “Shipping lanes will cause oil spills and marine pollution in the area which will harm the rare corals and thousands of marine turtles and rare sea animals such as the dugongs. The region will be irrevocably blemished and mankind will lose forever this precious biodiversity hotspot.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/saga-ram-sethu-indian-government-plan-develop-shipping-lanes-sri-lanka-angers-hindus-1106142

Feb. 28, 2013

Press Release

The Union Budget estimates and proposals for 2013-14 is insipid pedestrian and counter productive. The continued financing of fiscal deficit by market and captive bank loans is inflationary and land the economy in a debt trap crisis. The gross revenue estimate is based on an unrealistic GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent in constant prices and 13 percent in current prices. This is widely off the mark and hence the budget deficit will be higher and inflationary.

Subramanian Swamy

http://prof-vaidyanathan.com/2013/02/27/budget-blues-misery-index-goes-up/

Budget blues: Misery Index goes up

February 27, 2013 · by Prof Vaidyanathan · in niticentral.com


The Economic Survey released by the Finance Minister indicates that the misery index has increased.

The economy — GDP at factor cost at constant 2004-05 prices – has grown at five per cent in 2012-13 compared to 6.2 per cent in 2011-12 and it is forecast to grow at 6.1 per cent to 6.7 per cent in the coming year namely 2013-14.

There is a popular method adopted by economists sitting under the tall ceilings of Government buildings in Delhi to adopt what is called ‘ceilings method’ of forecasting. In this econometric method — If I recall economist Bibek Debroy introduced this term – one stares at the ceiling say for five to 10 minutes and then proclaims the forecast growth rate.

Given the dismal scenario of industry and agriculture growth rate, combined with sluggishness in the service sector this forecast seems to be of ‘celing method’.

If we consider GDP at constant market prices (at 2004-05 prices) it is expected to be 3.3 per cent only in 2012-13 compared to 6.3 per cent in 2011-12.

One thing is sure that all important parameters of the economy show secular decline in the last five years of the Congress-led UPA Government. One hopes this is not the secular issue this Government wants to achieve.

The survey observes that the manufacturing sector (comprising mining and quarrying, electricity gas and water supply and construction) registered a growth rate of only 3.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Within this, growth of manufacturing sector is at even lower levels at 2.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent for these two years. Growth in Agriculture was weak at 3.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent. Service sector which was growing at double digits earlier declined to 8.2 per cent in 2011-12 and 6.6 per cent in 2012-13.

This is like a cricket commentator who suggests that the performance of the team was bad due to batting, bowling and fielding

Then the survey gets into rudali mode of explaining the reasons for the woes. Declining savings rate is an area of concern. Given the level of inflation, particularly food inflation, that people manage to save is itself good news. Domestic savings in 2011-12 was 31 per cent and 2012-13 is awaited.

One long rudali is about households investing in gold. Government may treat it as consumption but households consider it as investment. The survey itself points out that the return on gold is 24 per cent between 2007 and 2012 and seven per cent on Nifty and eight per cent on savings deposits. The survey fails to recognise that gold jewellery is a pension/insurance product to a large number of poor women and it is also used as collateral in small business borrowings from ‘unorganised credit’ markets.

The survey recognises the importance of service sector in terms of share in GDP and growth rate but fails to point out that substantial portion of service sector activities are undertaken by partnership/proprietorship firms (unincorporated enterprises or non-corporate sector).
In many service activities like trade/hotels and restaurants/non-railway transport, etc, the share of non-corporate sector is as high as 70 per cent to 80 per cent. If the credit needs of these sectors are choked due to non-bank regulations and no reforms in regulating them then the growth rate will be impacted.

As far as Government finances are considered, less said the better. Gross tax revenue was budgeted at Rs 10.8 lakh crore for 2012-13. The April-December picture was 63 per cent of budgeted revenue (BE) which is much lower than last five years average of 69 per cent. The tax to GDP ratio has fallen to 9.9 per cent in 2011-12 compared to 11.9 per cent in 2007-08. The survey correctly identifies that raising tax to GDP ratio above 11per cent is critical for sustaining the process of fiscal consolidation. This is home work for the next Government.
The fiscal deficit of the centre is 5.7 per cent of GDP in 2011-12 as per the provisional actual. The Government of India can alone explain the terminologies like provisional actual. But if we add the deficit of State Governments and all public sector undertakings then the actual deficit of the Government system may be nearer to 12-14 per cent.

The survey identifies the weak areas and shortfalls but makes only passing references to leakages in NREGA and other such schemes. Survey should have discussed in more detail the issues associated with ‘freebies’ like NREGA and the impact of it in generating genuine productive employment. Instead it only points out about money expended and how wages have gone up. But what about generating productive assets?

The survey mentions about inflation which is running more than double digits — the retail one and more particularly the food items. But unfortunately the survey does not provide estimate of corruption percentage in relation to GDP. One can safely surmise it to be 10 per cent on the lower side since every human endeavour is impacted by that. We can call it a womb to tomb – birth certificate to death certificate – issue and so a 10 per cent assumption may be on the conservative side.

This means inflation rate plus bribe rate at 20 per cent which we call the misery rate is the single largest achievement of this UPA 2

Author is Professor at IIMB- views personal

Special committee on Sethusamudram project punctures Government claims
BHUVAN BAGGA | New Delhi, February 28, 2013 | 05:34

Mail Today Graphic.
The UPA government may have rejected the findings of the R. K. Pachauri committee , which studied the controversial Sethusamudram project , but the panel head is resolute on each and every observation made in the report.

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, the head of the government-appointed eight-member committee, told Mail Today on Wednesday that not only is the present proposed alignment - 4A - of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) "economically nonviable", but some of the assumptions (made by the government) about the economic returns from the project are also "over optimistic".


Pachauri made this claim four days after the UPA government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court citing the project's "economic, navigational and strategic advantages" as reasons to pursue the controversial project, which cuts through the mythological "Ram Setu", despite the panel's observations.

In an exclusive interview to Mail Today , Pachauri defended his team's "purely scientific findings" and wished "luck" to the UPA government if it " still" wanted to proceed with the project.

'Outdated'

The scientist dismissed the government's proposal as outdated.

According to him, the last major project of a similar scale was the "Panama Canal". "That's the only one I can think of, and even that was more than a century ago... In those days, people did not think in ecological, environmental terms, the way we do now. We also have computers, technology, science, stimulation and other stuff that can help us see the larger picture, picture for the future... We should use it now, rely on it," Pachauri said.

Defending his team's findings, he said: " As for our scientific study, our dedicated team did it for a period of over one year, taking into account different factors and circumstances. We considered two parameters in the study - the project's impact on ecology and economy - and no one can find any fault with it whatsoever."

The panel report, a copy of which is with Mail Today, states: "From the foregoing, it can be seen that the project, including the possibility of adopting the alignment 4A, could potentially result in ecological threats that could pose a risk to the ecosystems in the surrounding area and, in particular, to the biosphere reserve." The report punctures holes in some of the key economic claims of the government.

It states that the "benchmark rate of return of 12 per cent isn't met for the range of scenarios examined in the case of alignment 4A". Pachauri said, "We found it economically unviable. Assumptions of the rate of return and other economic parameters were much too 'optimistic'. The return was not even meeting the Planning Commission set 12 per cent rate of return."

The report concludes: "Given the doubts raised by the detailed analysis, it is unlikely that the public interest would be served by pursuing the project on the alignment 4A." Pachauri also warned against other variables such as risk of oil spills, cyclones, tsunamis and other natural threats. "There was a massive cyclone at the very spot in 1964. One has to take into account the impact of such natural phenomena. Besides we also have to keep in mind climate change, its impact on the (rising) sea levels and their relation to the project," he said.

About the breach of the ' Ram Setu', Pachauri said: " The 4A alignment that we surveyed will require cutting through 'that' which is called the part of 'Ram Setu' by some people... but of course, our study has entirely been based on science and has got nothing to do with any religion." He said if the government rejects alignment 4A, it could possibly take years to work out another alignment.

"All the other existing alignments have already been ruled out by the SC and other authorities... In fact, it was the SC that asked the government to get a scientific study done on this alignment, and now that we have found it unviable... finding a new one could take some years," he said.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sethusamudram-project-rajendra-kumar-pachauri-upa/1/251985.html

Mr Katju is a very busy man

Tarun Vijay

19 February 2013, 01:10 PM IS

Having termed 90% of Indians as 'idiots', Mr Markandey Katju, the headline-grabber chairman of the Press Council of India has been supported by the Congress for his recent utterances. Nothing surprising.

Mr Katju is a very busy man. Except the Press Council, everything gets his attention.



His job was to serve the cause of a free and fearless media and turn the Press Council into an effective instrument to safeguard the rights and privileges of journalists and address the grievances of the people in this regard.

He has failed in that assigned duty. It will be interesting to know how many days he actually attended the office and addressed issues that affect the credibility of his institution and the media at large.

Instead, he loved to become a political spokesperson enjoying perks and privileges at public expense.



Some of his gems are like this:



"I say ninety percent of Indians are idiots. You people don't have brains in your heads. It is so easy to take you for a ride."

"First of all, let me tell you one thing -- Pakistan is no country. It is a fake country."

And the media reported from Kolkata: "Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju has described west Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as 'intolerant and whimsical' and warned her that she would lose power if she did not change." 

And the reply that came soon was this: "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit back at her critics with the remark 'raja chale bazaar, kutta bhouke hazaar' (the king walks unperturbed as dogs bark)." The comment is believed to have been aimed at a letter by Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju.' 



In a country which has the world's largest newspaper industry having more than 82,237 registered newspapers out of which 4,853 new newspapers were registered during 2010-11 and according to the annual report of World Association of Newspapers (WAN) 2011 an estimated 330 million newspapers are circulated daily in the country, the premier official body concerning media affairs received only 90 complaints in the last four years, and even 'out of the 90 complaints, more than 40 were filed four years ago'.

On an independent media watch site, The Hoot, Indira Akoijam writes, "delay in adjudications on the part of the Press Council made the complainants to either stop pursuing the case or such complaints to be disposed of depending on the Inquiry Committee. Three pending cases from the year 2007 were taken up for adjudication in 2011 and 2012. The Press Council does not cite anywhere in its published index of adjudications as to why the cases remained pending from 2007 until taken up in 2011- 2012."



An example of a serious complaint which was taken up for hearing after 12 months, illustrates the 'active' nature of the PCI: "In one case, a suo motu inquiry was directed on the reported attack on the offices of Kannada Prabha and Jaya Kirna, which appeared in The Hindustan Times, The Hindu and The Times of India. The complaint was filed on 22nd March 2010 …The complaint was finally heard on 27th February 2012 where the complainants informed that they had no grievances and hence, the Inquiry Committee dropped the suo motu inquiry." 

Another example of how the issues of press and morality was dealt with is an eye opener. "Two complaints were filed under this category ( Press and Morality), one dealing with an inappropriate portrayal of women in an advertisement by a local newspaper in Assam, and use of an indecent picture of a woman in one of the articles in India Today, New Delhi. One complaint was dismissed as no one appeared for the hearing and in the other case (Assam news daily, Asomiya Pratidin) PCI advised the newspaper not to accept advertisements that may corrupt young minds." (http://thehoot.org/web/HoweffectiveisthePressCouncil/6292-1-1-9-true.html)
.

The Press Council under Mr Katju has become so ineffective that newspapers and magazines against which the complaints are filed often ignore its call to appear for hearing or remain dismissive of its 'cautionary advises'. Mr Katju remains soft on anti-national writings. In one case, filed by the Army against the highly objectionable and seditious article published in a Srinagar daily, the Press Council simply cautioned the editor to be more careful in the future and in another case , the editor or the owner ignored its show cause notice. What did Mr Katju do? Press Council 'expressed displeasure when the respondent did not appear for the hearing on the show cause notice. The case was subsequently dropped".



Indira Akoijam in her brilliant analysis opines about the Press Council's conduct, "even in cases dealing with morality, plagiarism, paid news and harassment, the strictest decisions only amount to being censured ... More than the fate of the cases filed before the Council, which often come to a tame end, the point to note is that several recent controversies involving members of the print media do not even come up before it. These include cases of election-time paid news, the controversies regarding the Radia tapes where print journalists were involved, the publishing of mms pictures by a leading Hindi daily, cases of regional newspapers reporting hate speech, and so on."



But ostensibly a busy Mr Katju has no time to devote on such issues for which he was appointed. Instead, he has given an impression of being an applicant in a hurry to the media cell of a political party. It's quite natural that like a mother comes to defend her errand son, a national leader of the Congress has dutifully come to rescue him.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/mr-katju-is-a-very-busy-man

Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy39
@dkgdelhi : RaM Setu leads to Lanka. Rajapakshe supports scrapping of SSCP. And under UN Law of the Sea 1968 he has a right


March 1, 2013
Rejection of Pachauri Committeee report by GOI is a serious issue which has ramifications under international law. Any Setu channel cutting midway through the Rama Setu, even if close to India's territorial waters has an impact on the Sri Lankan coastline and fishing activities.

INDIA is bound under international law to take Sri Lankan Government into confidence before undertaking any project in these waters.

A precedent exists in Panama Canal: President Jimmy Carter Signed the Panama Canal Treaty September 7, 1977
How many times have you taken a shortcut through a neighbor's backyard? The U.S. created a 51-mile shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through a distant neighbor's "backyard" and called it the Panama Canal. Of course, the U.S. got permission from Panama first, back in 1904. On September 7, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty promising to give control of the canal to the Panamanians by the year 2000.

In particular, the choice of an alignment cutting through Rama Setu will result in the destruction of a monument which stood as a TSUNAMI wall during the last Dec. 26, 2004 Tsunami. Tampering with the structure may have serious impact on Indian and Sri Lankan coastlines in case another Tsunami strikes (which is very, very likely given the movements in plate tectonics along the India-Burma-Sunda plates).

Sri Lankan govt. can take the case to Intl. Court of Justice under international law.

There is the additional factor of Kachativu agreement signed by Indira Gandhi which clearly recognized the rights of Sri Lanka under international law and based on these a strong case exists for Sri Lanka to claim that any channel cutting through the shared INTERNATIONAL WATERS (though technically within the Indian side of the territorial waters) which have a serious effect due to the future devastations which will be caused to Sri Lanka coastline in case another tsunami strikes and the so-called Setu Channel is operational which will draw the energy of the tsunami close to the Indian and Sri Lankan coastal boundaries.

The tampering with Rama Setu to create a navigation channel cannot be a unilateral decision by Govt. of India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kachchatheevu The channel runs too close to Kachativu for Sri Lanka's comfort. The agreements themselves are subject do political disputes. The proposed Setu Channel will impair the fishing activities by both Indian and Sri Lanka fishermen, thus rendering the Kachativu agreements virtually DEFUNCT, null and void.

If Sri Lankan Govt. issues a formal diplomatic complaint, Hon'ble SC will HAVE TO take note of it. IN any case, the case pending in SC already underscores the fact that Sri Lankan govt. agreement should have been taken and that Sri Lankan has raised serious ecological objections to the proposed sethusamudram project itself. GOI will land up in an international maritime dispute.

Kachativu island now belongs to Sri Lanka
New Delhi | Tuesday, Aug 31 2010 IST
Kachativu Island now belongs to Sri Lanka and ''we frequently advise our fishermen that they should not enter the Sri Lankan waters,'' External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said today.

Replying to a calling attention on this issue in the Lok Sabha, Mr Krishna, however, said efforts are on between the Indian fishermen's organisations and their Sri Lankan counterparts to resolve their disputes regarding some of the facilities ''our fishermen require.'' He also said that currently Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is in Sri Lanka and she is also expected to raise this issue with the Rajapakse Government. Unhappy with the Minister's reply, members from Tamil Nadu expressed their anger and strong displeasure.

Earlier, members across party lines from the state urged the Government for scrapping of the'' illegal 1974 Kachativu Island agreement with Sri Lanka and reclaim its sovernigty over this strategically located island situated in the Palk Bay.'' Raising the matter, UPA partner and senior DMK leader T R Baalu said this agreement was signed in June 1974 and was brought before Parliament in July 1974 in the form of discussion, while as per the constitution any part of the Indian land could be handed over only after amending constitution and passing a resolution to that effect.

He said,'' since the agreement is illegal so it should be scrapped.

The agreement in no way is in the interest of our Nation and so the Government should take initiative for its restoration.'' He said it had snatched away the bread earning rights from the Tamil fishermen as they were no longer been allowed to catch fish in that region which is known as one of the best "Prawn" region in this part of the world.

Supporting Mr Baalu's arguments, Dr M Thambidurai (AIADMK) said Kachativu Island was an integral part of Tamil Nadu and while signing the agreement, the State Government was not taken into confidence. He urged the Government to scrap this agreement altogether. He further said as per reports available indicates that Chinese Navy is keen on having its presence in the Indian ocean and'' if they could set up some facility that would be a great threat to our national security so the Government should restore the pre-1974 status of this tiny Island.'' P R Natarajan (CPIM) and A Ganeshmurthy (MDMK) both associated themselves with the arguments of Mr Baalu and Mr Thambidurai and were of the view that India should scrap the 1974 treaty.

-- (UNI)

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20100831/1577318.html
India spared no effort to assist and cooperate with Sri Lanka to eliminate the LTTE
8 July 2011, 9:57 pm
by G. Parathasarathy

When the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J Jayalalithaa, paid her first visit to New Delhi after assuming office, she forcefully articulated her concerns on Sri Lanka. Two issues concerning Sri Lankan Tamils evoke passions in Tamil Nadu.

The first is the firm belief that after the LTTE was eliminated in 2009, Sri Lankan Tamils have been displaced from their homes and denied basic human rights.

The second concern is the attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy on grounds of their encroaching into Sri Lankan territorial waters, beyond the 285 acres, uninhabited, Kachativu Island.

Records of the British India Government since 1876 have showed Kachativu as part of Ceylon. The Raja of Ramnad, in the then Madras Presidency, however, laid claim to the Island in the 1920s. Kachativu was recognised by India as Sri Lankan territory in agreements signed in 1974 and 1976.

The demarcation of the maritime boundary, under which India acknowledged Sri Lankan sovereignty over Kachativu, was based on the internationally recognised principle of the median line and in consonance with Article 15 of the Law of the Seas.

After the LTTE took control of Northern Sri Lanka, fishing in each other’s territorial waters became contentious. The Sri Lankan navy resorted to excessive and indiscriminate use of force. But in 2008, India and Sri Lanka agreed that excluding what Sri Lanka considers as “sensitive areas,” there would be “practical arrangements” to deal with bona fide Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen crossing the international boundary line.

Sri Lanka would be well advised to see that the spirit of this agreement is respected by its navy. The exchange of letters accompanying the 1976 agreement makes it clear that fishermen of either party shall not engage in fishing in the other’s “historic waters, the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zones”.

Inevitably, but sadly, triumphalism, rather than reconciliation, has characterised the reaction of sections of public opinion in Sri Lanka, ever since the bloody ethnic conflict ended in 2009.

There is broad agreement and substantive evidence, which has been endorsed by a UN Panel, set up by the Secretary General, of gross human rights violations by both the Sri Lankan Government and armed forces, on the one hand, and the LTTE, on the other, particularly as the ethnic conflict drew to a close. Both sides were found to have resorted to summary executions and disappearances.

The ethnic conflict left over 300,000 Tamils, described as “Internally Displaced Persons” (IDPs), in refugee camps. India has committed Rs 1,000 crore ($ 220 million) for rehabilitating the IDPs, including provision of materials like cement and GI sheets, for rebuilding homes. Large scale medical assistance has also been extended.

A programme to reconstruct 50,000 houses was commenced in 2010 and Tamil farmers assisted with supply of seeds, tractors and agricultural implements. A similar approach has marked India’s commitment to broaden ties across the Island nation.

India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner, with the Indian private and public sectors widely having a significant presence there. India has extended Lines of Credit of around $ 960 million for improving the tsunami-damaged Colombo-Matara rail link and for rolling stock and wagons for the northern railway line.

In a longer term perspective, India would be well advised to assist the Tamil population in Sri Lanka by setting up educational and vocational training institutes in northern and Eastern Sri Lanka.

The 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, enacted pursuant to the 1987 Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene Accord provided for devolution of powers to Provinces, including to the Tamil dominated northern and the multi-ethnic eastern provinces.

President Rajapakse had averred that he would be prepared to go even beyond this framework to meet Tamil aspirations. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mr G. L. Peiris, while visiting India, agreed that “a devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, would contribute towards creating conditions for such reconciliation”.

President Rajapakse seems to be having second thoughts on his past assurances. Doubts are now being expressed about abiding by the provisions of the 13th Amendment, on crucial issues like law and order and lands. After having won landslide electoral triumph for ending of the ethnic conflict, President Rajapakse may end up losing the prospect of lasting harmony and amity, if political expediency prevails over statesmanship.

Following reports of human rights violations by Sri Lanka’s armed forces, 17 countries, including France, Germany, Mexico and UK moved a Resolution in the Human Rights Commission in May 2009, which sought to investigate reported human rights violations by the Sri Lankan armed forces. India, together with countries such as Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and others had this move rejected.

These countries instead backed a Resolution, which was passed by 29 votes for and 12 against, which condemned the LTTE and called on the Sri Lanka Government to proceed with efforts for national reconciliation and resettlement of IDPs.

Given the contents of the recent report of the Panel constituted by the UNSG, which alludes to large scale violation of human rights by the Sri Lankan Government, the 2009 Resolution will inevitably be revisited and reviewed internationally.

India has spared no effort to assist and cooperate with Sri Lanka, to eliminate the LTTE and to deal with international pressures mounted on its neighbour in international forums.

Sri Lanka will hopefully realise the importance of abiding by the solemn assurances it has given to India of going beyond the 13th Amendment, to meet the legitimate aspirations of its Tamil population.

The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.


http://transcurrents.com/news-views/archives/2070

2 March 2013
Foreign Funding of NGOs

BY Prashant Reddy

Should FDI in India’s thinktank sector worry us? It is a debate long overdue

In 1976, at the height of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, India’s Parliament enacted a piece of legislation called the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. It prohibited political parties and ‘organisations of a political nature’, civil servants and judges, as also correspondents, columnists and editors/owners of registered newspapers and news broadcasting organisations— and even cartoonists—from receiving foreign contributions.

The very fact that the Act makes a specific reference to cartoonists should be hint enough of the establishment’s paranoia vis-à-vis the ‘invisible hand’ of foreign powers back then. During a Rajya Sabha debate on the proposed bill on 9 March 1976, the term ‘CIA’ (Central Intelligence Agency) was mentioned at least 30 times by different legislators, while ‘Lockheed Martin’ (a military aerospace corporation) came up at least six times in the context of alleged instances of Americans pumping dollars into governments worldwide to buy influence during the Cold War.

The sentiment of the times was captured by the following statement made during that debate by Khurshid Alam Khan, father of India’s present Minister for External Affairs: “The CIA’s doings all over the world have very clearly indicated as to what could be done by foreign money and foreign interference.”

In 2010, a different parliament, with opposition members who had not been imprisoned like those in 1976, unanimously voted to update the law by passing the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). In fact, the Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the bill was headed by the BJP’s Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and it had no major objections.

This time round, there was no talk of the CIA or Lockheed Martin. Instead, concern was focused on the increasingly influential role of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as institutions of civil society in India. The term ‘NGO’ found at least 40 mentions during the Rajya Sabha debate on the 2010 bill. The main concern of the Upper House appeared to be a lack of transparency among NGOs receiving foreign contributions. Hence the calls to strengthen the monitoring regime, although several MPs expressed worry that the new law would give the Centre too much discretionary power to crack down on dissenting NGOs.

Worries about the 2010 Act’s overreach were validated last year when the Government used it to clamp down on NGOs involved in anti-corruption and anti-nuclear protests. As part of that exercise, at least four NGOs were booked under the FCRA for allegedly diverting foreign funds to aid the organisation of protests against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. Their bank accounts were frozen. The protests, however, did not end.

Perhaps the most ironic use of the FCRA was when the Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly held back potential funding from the US-based Ford Foundation for the Mumbai-based Institute for Policy Research Studies (IPRS), a thinktank that runs Parliamentary Research Service (PRS).

Incubated at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a Delhi-based thinktank, PRS was spun off and institutionalised as IPRS in 2010 as a Section 25 non-profit company with a registered office in Mumbai. The main aim of PRS was to provide non-partisan legislative research services to parliamentarians, most of whom are starved of resources to conduct independent research required to hold the Executive accountable in Parliament. The service’s popularity among MPs was obvious from the fact that several of them reportedly made individual representations to the Home Ministry against blocking foreign funds for its parent institute.

The tragedy of why Parliament does not have a public-funded service like PRS is a debate for another day, but choking the IPRS of foreign funds raises a question of hypocrisy since the Central Government routinely collaborates with a wide range of civil society thinktanks that receive funds from the West.

Let’s start with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). According to its filings with the MHA, accessible on the FCRA website (http://mha.nic.in/fcra.htm), ICRIER has received over Rs 11.5 crore in foreign donations from a range of international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Sasakawa Peace Foundation between 2007 and 2012. This council, currently headed by Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia, wife of Planning Commission Vice-chairperson Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, appears to have a cosy relationship with the present establishment. When the Government was in a fix over the contentious General Anti- Avoidance Rules (GAAR) of taxation, for example, it delegated the task of ironing out its problems to a four-member committee headed by Dr Parthasarathi Shome, a well-known economic policy expert at ICRIER. There are several other projects on which the Council’s faculty collaborates closely with the Government of India.

That thinktanks are well networked goes without saying. In fact, ICRIER and PRS were involved in quite a controversy during last year’s Parliament vote on Foreign Direct Investment in India’s multi-brand retail sector. As reported by India Today, (‘Foreign Direct Instruction for our MPs?’ 6 December 2012), IPRS had organised a ‘close-door’ meeting at Delhi’s Constitution Club the day before the vote, where MPs were briefed on the benefits of FDI by Professor Arpita Mukherjee of ICRIER. Some MPs had publicly labelled this a ‘lobbying’ effort.

Another example of close collaboration between the Centre and a thinktank that gets significant foreign funding is the one between the Government and the CPR, headed by Dr Pratap Bhanu Mehta. Between 2007 and 2012, according to its filings with the MHA, this thinktank received foreign funds of over Rs 40.8 crore from a range of donors such as the Ford Foundation, Google Foundation, International Development Research Centre, Economic and Social Research Council, Hewlett Foundation and IKEA Social Initiative.

Environmental policy is another area in which foreign-funded thinktanks have a significant impact. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), headed by Sunita Narain with a governing board that has Ela Bhatt, BG Verghese, Dr MS Swaminathan and Dr NC Saxena among others, has received over Rs 67.7 crore in foreign funds between 2006 and 2012. The CSE’s main donors, according to FCRA records, include the Denmark- based Dan Church Aid, Germany-based Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst EV, Heinrich Boll Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Other donors include the Commission of European Communities and Government of India.

Going by the media coverage that CSE receives, it is safe to say that this thinktank has a profound influence on India’s environmental policy. An indication of its ties with the Government is the fact that the two had their own ‘side-event’ at the recently concluded Doha talks on climate change.

The other green thinktank with generous foreign contributions that works closely with the Government is The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Consider this: the International Bioenergy Summit of 2012 held in New Delhi was organised by TERI and sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). According to its FCRA filings, TERI, with a staff of over 900, has received about Rs 155.9 crore between 2006 and 2012 from a vast variety of donors.

In the field of health policy, one of the most influential thinktanks is the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). Since it was founded in 2006, it has received a total of Rs 219 crore in funds, its biggest foreign donor being the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and biggest Indian donor being the Government of India. Other foreign donors, according to FCRA filings, include the National Institutes of Health (of the US government), Welcome Trust, International Development Research Centre and MacArthur Foundation.

A public-private initiative, the PHFI is expected to shape India’s approach to public health policy over the next decade. An example of its influence on India’s health policy is the fact that its secretariat has been thanked and praised in a report of the High Level Expert Group constituted by the Planning Commission to frame a new policy on ‘universal health coverage’ for all Indians.

On matters of internet policy, the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), a Bangalore-based thinktank focused on internet governance and intellectual property issues, has been a member of some key government committees, like the one under Justice AP Shah to study privacy laws in India. The CIS also receives foreign funding. According to its website, it has received over Rs 8.3 crore in funds, a significant portion of it from foreign donors like the UK-based Kusuma Trust, which was founded by Anurag Dikshit, an Indian businessman who made a fortune selling his stake in a popular online gambling website. He eventually donated most of his wealth to the Kusuma Trust, which funds various charities across the world.

In the human rights space, there is the famous Lawyers Collective, which, apart from its human rights advocacy, also provides legal aid to members of disadvantaged communities. Although this collective does not appear to work all that closely with the Government, it is interesting to note that it was founded by Indira Jaising, who is currently one of the Centre’s Additional Solicitor Generals. Since 2006, according to its FCRA filings, the organisation has received around Rs 21.8 crore in foreign funds from the Ford, Levi Strauss and Open Society foundations and from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, among others.

Another thinktank that deserves a mention is the Centre for Civil Society (CCS), which was founded by Dr Parth J Shah and has a ‘Board of Scholars’ with Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Jagdish Bhagwati, Lord Meghnad Desai and Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar, among others, as members. While it is not clear from its website whether it works closely with the Government, it was ranked 51st in a recent global survey of thinktanks by University of Pennsylvania. According to a CCS press release, these rankings were ‘based on not just our research and analysis, but also on our engagement with policy makers and ability to influence policy decisions’. The CCS’s rank was quite a surprise, given its modest resources. According to its FCRA filings, between 2006 and 2011, it received about Rs 6.2 crore from foreign donors such as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, John Templeton Foundation and International Policy Network. As per its audited accounts, available on its website, donations from Indian donors were equally modest.

+++
The above examples demonstrate the influence of foreign funded thinktanks on almost every major aspect of Indian policy today, be it economic or environmental, related to public health or internet governance.

Is this good or bad for India as a country? Given that most sectors of the economy are now open to foreign investment, does it make sense to regulate and restrict foreign funds for such thinktanks under laws like the FCRA?

The answer depends on what Indian society expects of them. Do we expect them to be completely independent of donors in their views? Would an organisation like the CSE still get foreign funds from European donors if it were to readily welcome genetically modified (GM) food in India? In such circumstances, how independent should we expect these thinktanks to be in the arena of policy?

Absolute objectivity—or at a least public perception of it—is an absolute myth. No matter who funds a thinktank, be it foreigners or Indians, it is impossible to be seen as such. The more pressing issue is of transparency. Are Indian policymakers aware of the details of foreign funds received by these thinktanks?

Take, for example, a recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report that expressed serious reservations about GM food. The Committee repeatedly quotes with approval the deposition of Dr Vandana Shiva against GM food. A little-known fact about Dr Shiva is that her organisation, Navdanya, according to its FCRA filings, has received a total of Rs 16.7 crore between 2006 and 2012 in foreign donations from mainly European organisations (some of which also contribute to the CSE) like Bread for the World, Diakonie Emergency Aid, Hivos Foundation, Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst EV, RSF Innovations in Social Finance, and even from the European Union itself.

Would a Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by an MP of the CPM, a party that is always suspicious of the ‘foreign hand’, show the same deference to Dr Shiva’s views if its members knew of Navdanya’s European donors, several of which are also Christian churches?

In an op-ed article in The Indian Express (‘Do not disagree’, 29 February 2012), Dr Pratap Bhanu Mehta while criticising the FCRA, states, ‘Of course, NGOs should be transparent and accountable in terms of their sources of funding.’ Yet, the CPR, of which Dr Mehta is president, only discloses the names of its donors in its annual report, and that too without revealing the amounts received from each. Similarly, Navdanya offers no information on either of its websites, Indian and Italian (navdanyainternational.it), on any of its funding. Other thinktanks like the PHFI and CIS offer a more detailed breakup of their different sources of funding, while some like the CSE and CCS provide only a roll of donor names and a figure of cumulative funding with no breakup of individual contributions. So, while these thinktanks are forced to disclose their foreign funding sources to the MHA under the FCRA, why do they not volunteer exhaustive information on their own websites?

An amusing facet of this is that the Central Government and Corporate India are more transparent (even if forced to be) than these civil society institutions, thanks to the Right to Information Act, 2005, and the extensive disclosure requirements under the Companies Act, 1956. Of companies in particular, information is accessible over the internet on the MCA21 website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. This contrast is amusing because some of these thinktanks never tire of demanding transparency of the State and corporate sector.

For several thinktanks, it is often hard to figure out something as basic as the nature of the legal entity through which they conduct their activities. Are they societies, associations or trusts? More pertinently, why is the Government not pushing for a stricter transparency regime? A major stumbling block may be the fact that these thinktanks are set up under state laws and it is difficult for the Central Government to coordinate a nationwide transparency regime. However, given that most are beneficiaries of income tax exemptions, it may be possible for the Centre to use the Income Tax Act to demand comprehensive disclosures. Since they enjoy tax benefits, they might also qualify as ‘public authorities’ under the Right To Information Act, 2005.

Another reason that disclosure of funding is important is to inform the analysis of people who usually see NGOs as selfless entities dedicated to nothing but a higher cause. While this may be true of some NGOs, many leaders of these set-ups have personal stakes in ensuring certain outcomes. After all, future donor grants often depend on sustaining one’s influence in the policy space. Many of the institutions described in this article have been regular recipients of funds from the same sources year after year.

Another question is the volume of funds coming in and where it will leave India’s public institutions that were originally meant to aid policymaking with unbiased intellectual inputs. How are cash-strapped Indian universities to compete with these well-funded thinktanks? Government-run institutions of higher learning are supposed to have an inbuilt guarantee of academic independence, but would their scholarly voices be drowned out by those backed by bigger resources?

Also, given the frequency with which a few foreign funders appear on donor lists, is it time to worry about their influence on Indian policies? After all, generous funding lets the faculty of these thinktanks jetset around the world to attend conferences, organise seminars in India and network with officials at a level that most public universities cannot afford. How does this impact our civil society discourse? Should Parliament limit the amount that a single foreign entity can donate, or are we better off sticking to a regulatory regime that only insists on a set of disclosure norms?

On a concluding note, let us not forget that a large part of the credit for the RTI Act of 2005—the country’s most empowering piece of legislation since the Constitution of 1950—goes to the advocacy efforts of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a farmers group in Rajasthan that does not accept institutional funding from either India or overseas. Bank interest on its corpus and donations by individuals are the MKSS’s only sources of funding. Together, the two gave it Rs 30 lakh for the financial year 2010-11, details of which are available on its website.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/business/foreign-funding-of-ngos

Memsahib’s Diary: An astonishing, incredible Kumbh Mela!

By Christine Pemberton

February 24, 2013

This week’s diary comes with a warning.

The memsahib is in full OTT, clichéd, gushing, waxing-absolutely-lyrical-about-India mode.

And all thanks to a magical few days at the Kumbh Mela.

To say “I have never seen anything like it” is a truism. But I trust you know what I mean when I repeat – I have never, in 30 years of knowing India – never, ever seen anything remotely like this.

It wasn’t so much the massive crowds, which were still massive despite having been considerably thinned out by the torrential rains and flooding of February 15. It wasn’t even the impressive organisation and policing, to which I shall return later.

It was rather the total absence of any form of aggression or ill temper or quick temper, or any of the other sparks that can so easily ignite a crowd. I have never, ever, anywhere in the world seen such huge numbers of people coexisting in such apparent harmony and good nature.

The river bank is crowded, at all times of the day, and people pour in a never-ending stream, carrying luggage, clothes, food, babies, and they all head instinctively for the sangam. A small space is found amidst the crowd, to deposit luggage on the damp straw that covers the river’s edge. People strip down — in that amazing Indian way in which one can change in public and show not an inch of flesh. No one stares, no one takes any particular notice of anyone else. Thousands upon thousands of people, all cheek by jowl, stripping off, drying off, praying, laughing, snoozing, eating, doing their small family puja, lighting diyas, taking their sacred dip – and all in such an aura of harmony and good nature.

Everyone’s default setting at the Kumbh seems to be ‘smile’.

Let me give you one small example. There we were early one morning, two of us, wandering along the crowded river bank, weaving our way through the thousands of people. A voice suddenly said, “Memsahib, sorry.” I turned to see a man, shivering and wet and wearing only underpants. He was pointing at my shoe. To my horror I saw that I had somehow managed to walk over his pile of dry clothes without realising it, and there were his dry underpants caught on my shoe, and I was coolly walking off with them. I was mortified and apologised profusely but all he did was smile and say, “Koi baht nahi madam” and wander off as good-natured as you please.

Not an iota of irritation with a clumsy foreigner. I am not sure I would have been so magnanimous had roles been reversed.

Photography of people bathing is not allowed. Makes sense. We hadn’t realised this until a policeman came up to me, and asked in the sweetest way possible if I would mind not taking photos of people bathing. I had actually been taking pictures of women drying their saris, and told him so. Good, he smiled, and walked off.

The police were exemplary. Omnipresent and so polite and courteous. Policing was uber-visible, signage was excellent, there were constant loudspeaker announcements about a lost child, or about someone who had got separated from their group, or politely asking people to park properly.

And as for the cleanliness… Litter bins everywhere, that were (oh, rare thing in Delhi) regularly emptied.
There were people armed with what looked like large shrimping nets, constantly scooping out the flowers and diyas and anything else that made its way into the river, and the water looked astonishingly clean.

And so we wandered up and down the river banks, through the camps and through the crowds, marveling at the departing Naga sadhus, watching elephants being given offerings, shopping for trinkets, and eating the delicious (free) food given at many camps. There was a huge noisy busy buzz, coupled with an easygoing friendliness, if that makes any sense at all. Everyone was there with a great sense of purpose, and that purpose was (it would seem) only a happy one. Pray, take that very important holy dip, and then enjoy the mela.

So, India/UP Government/Mela organisers — shabash.

Take a bow. Fantastic organisation, great crowd-control, fabulous policing.

Incredible India at her absolute noisy, colourful, moving, incredible best.

(I did warn you at the outset that this was going to be a gushing diary.)

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/02/24/memsahibs-diary-an-astonishing-incredible-kumbh-mela-49465.html

While America Slept

How the United States botched China's rise.

BY KISHORE MAHBUBANI | FEBRUARY 27, 2013


Since the dawn of geopolitics, there has always been tension between the world's greatest power and the world's greatest emerging power. No great power likes to cede its No. 1 spot. One of the few times the top power ceded its position to the No. 2 power peacefully was when Great Britain allowed the United States to surge ahead in the late 19th century. Many books have been written on why this transition happened peacefully. But the basic reason seems cultural: One Anglo-Saxon power was giving way to another.

Today, the situation is different. The No. 1 power is the United States, the standard-bearer of the West. The No. 2 power rapidly catching up is China, an Asian power. If China passes America in the next decade or two, it will be the first time in two centuries that a non-Western power has emerged as No. 1. (According to economic historian Angus Maddison's calculations, China was the world's No. 1 economy until 1890.)

The logic of history tells us that such power transitions do not happen peacefully. Indeed, we should expect to see a rising level of tension as America worries more and more about losing its primacy. Yet it has done little to act on these fears thus far. It would have been quite natural for America to carry out various moves to thwart China's rise. That's what great powers have done throughout history. That's how America faced the Soviet Union. So why isn't this happening? Why are we seeing an unnatural degree of geopolitical calm between the world's greatest power and the world's greatest emerging power?

It would be virtually impossible to get Beijing and Washington to agree on the answers to these natural questions, as there are two distinct and sometimes competing narratives in the two capitals.

The view in Beijing is that the calm in Sino-American relations is a result of the extraordinary patience and forbearance shown by China. Chinese leaders believe they have followed the wise advice of Deng Xiaoping, the late reformist leader, and decided not to challenge American leadership in any way or in any area. And when China has felt that it was directly provoked, it has also followed Deng's advice and swallowed its humiliation. Few Americans remember any such instances of provocation. Chinese leaders remember many. In May 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a U.S. plane bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. America apologized, but no Chinese leader believed it was a mistake. Similarly, a Chinese fighter jet was downed when it crashed into a U.S. spy plane near Hainan Island, China, in April 2001. Here, too, China felt humiliated. Few Americans will recall the humiliation Premier Zhu Rongji suffered in April 1999 when he went to Washington to negotiate China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO); Chinese elites haven't forgotten. In their minds, China has been responsible for the low levels of tension in U.S.-China relations because China has swallowed such bitter pills time and again.

The view in Washington is almost exactly the opposite. Few Americans believe that China has been able to rise peacefully because of China's geopolitical acumen or America's geopolitical mistakes. Instead, the prevailing view is that America has been remarkably generous to China and allowed it to emerge peacefully because the United States is an inherently virtuous and generous country. There can be no denying that the United States has been generous to China in many real ways: allowing China's accession to the WTO (under stiff conditions, it must be emphasized, but stiff conditions that ironically benefited China); allowing China to enjoy massive trade surpluses; allowing China to join multilateral bodies like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum; and perhaps most importantly of all, allowing hundreds of thousands of Chinese students to study in American universities. These are generous acts.

Kishore Mahbubani is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and author most recently of The Great Convergence, from which this excerpt was adapted.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/02/27/the_calm_before_the_storm_china_rise?print=yes&wp_login_redirect=0

Mother Teresa 'saint of the media', controversial study says
Mar 2, 2013, 07.20AM IST TNN[ Kounteya Sinha ]

The controversial study called Religieuses says that Teresa — known across the world as the apostle of the dying and the downtrodden — actually felt it was beautiful to see the poor suffer.

LONDON: A study conducted by Canadian researchers has called Mother Teresa "anything but a saint", a creation of an orchestrated and effective media campaign who was generous with her prayers but miserly with her foundation's millions when it came to humanity's suffering.

The controversial study, to be published this month in the journal of studies in religion/sciences called Religieuses, says that Teresa — known across the world as the apostle of the dying and the downtrodden — actually felt it was beautiful to see the poor suffer.

According to the study, the Vatican overlooked the crucial human side of Teresa — her dubious way of caring for the sick by glorifying their suffering instead of relieving it.

Instead, the Vatican went ahead with her beatification followed by canonization "to revitalize the Church and inspire the faithful especially at a time when churches are empty and the Roman authority is in decline".

Researchers Serge Larivee and Genevieve Chenard from the University of Montreal's department of psychoeducation, and Carole Senechal of the University of Ottawa's faculty of education, analysed published writings about Mother Teresa and concluded that her hallowed image, "which does not stand up to analysis of the facts, was constructed, and that her beatification was orchestrated by an effective media campaign".

According to Larivee, facts debunk Teresa's myth. He says that the Vatican, before deciding on Teresa's beatification, did not take into account "her rather dubious way of caring for the sick, her questionable political contacts, her suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received, and her overly dogmatic views regarding ... abortion, contraception, and divorce."

At the time of her death, Teresa had 517 missions or "homes for the dying" as described by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Kolkata. They welcomed the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving apt care.

'Miracle of medicine'

According to the study, the doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions and a shortage of actual care, food and painkillers. They say that the problem was not a paucity of funds as the Order of the Missionaries of Charity successfully raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Researchers said that when it came to her own treatment, "she received it in a modern American hospital".

The three researchers also dug into records of her meeting in London in 1968 with the BBC's Malcom Muggeridge who had strong views against abortion and shared Mother Teresa's right-wing Catholic values.

The researchers say Muggeridge had decided to promote Teresa. In 1969, he made a eulogistic film on the missionary, promoting her by attributing to her the "first photographic miracle", when it should have been attributed to the new film stock being marketed by Kodak.

Following her death, the Vatican decided to waive the usual five-year waiting period to open the beatification process. According to the researchers, one of the miracles attributed to Mother Theresa is the healing of Monica Besra, who suffered from intense abdominal pain, after a medallion blessed by her was placed on Besra's abdomen.

Larivee said, "Her doctors thought otherwise: the ovarian cyst and the tuberculosis from which she suffered were healed by the drugs they had given her. The Vatican, nevertheless, concluded that it was a miracle. Mother Teresa's popularity was such that she had become untouchable for the population, which had already declared her a saint."

Larivee however signs off on a surprisingly positive note and says there could also be a positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth. "If the extraordinary image of Mother Teresa conveyed in the collective imagination has encouraged humanitarian initiatives that are genuinely engaged with those crushed by poverty, we can only rejoice," they signed off.

http://m.timesofindia.com/world/uk/Mother-Teresa-saint-of-the-media-controversial-study-says/articleshow/18760028.cms

MOTHER TERESA: ANYTHING BUT A SAINT…

The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa is dispelled in a paper by Serge Larivée and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal’s Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Sénéchal of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education.

The paper will be published in the March issue of the journal Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses and is an analysis of the published writings about Mother Teresa. Like the journalist and author Christopher Hitchens, who is amply quoted in their analysis, the researchers conclude that her hallowed image—which does not stand up to analysis of the facts—was constructed, and that her beatification was orchestrated by an effective media relations campaign.

“While looking for documentation on the phenomenon of altruism for a seminar on ethics, one of us stumbled upon the life and work of one of Catholic Church’s most celebrated woman and now part of our collective imagination—Mother Teresa—whose real name was Agnes Gonxha,” says Professor Larivée, who led the research. “The description was so ecstatic that it piqued our curiosity and pushed us to research further.”

As a result, the three researchers collected 502 documents on the life and work of Mother Teresa. After eliminating 195 duplicates, they consulted 287 documents to conduct their analysis, representing 96% of the literature on the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity (OMC). Facts debunk the myth of Mother Teresa

In their article, Serge Larivée and his colleagues also cite a number of problems not take into account by the Vatican in Mother Teresa’s beatification process, such as “her rather dubious way of caring for the sick, her questionable political contacts, her suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received, and her overly dogmatic views regarding, in particular, abortion, contraception, and divorce.”

‘The sick must suffer like Christ on the cross’

At the time of her death, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions welcoming the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. The missions have been described as “homes for the dying” by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Calcutta. Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving appropriate care. The doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions, as well as a shortage of actual care, inadequate food, and no painkillers. The problem is not a lack of money—the Foundation created by Mother Teresa has raised hundreds of millions of dollars—but rather a particular conception of suffering and death: “There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,” was her reply to criticism, cites the journalist Christopher Hitchens. Nevertheless, when Mother Teresa required palliative care, she received it in a modern American hospital.

Mother Teresa’s questionable politics and shadowy accounting

Mother Teresa was generous with her prayers but rather miserly with her foundation’s millions when it came to humanity’s suffering. During numerous floods in India or following the explosion of a pesticide plant in Bhopal, she offered numerous prayers and medallions of the Virgin Mary but no direct or monetary aid. On the other hand, she had no qualms about accepting the Legion of Honour and a grant from the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti. Millions of dollars were transferred to the MCO’s various bank accounts, but most of the accounts were kept secret, Larivée says. “Given the parsimonious management of Mother Theresa’s works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?”

The grand media plan for Mother Teresa’s holiness

Despite these disturbing facts, how did Mother Teresa succeed in building an image of holiness and infinite goodness? According to the three researchers, her meeting in London in 1968 with the BBC’s Malcom Muggeridge, an anti-abortion journalist who shared her right-wing Catholic values, was crucial. Muggeridge decided to promote Teresa, who consequently discovered the power of mass media. In 1969, he made a eulogistic film of the missionary, promoting her by attributing to her the “first photographic miracle,” when it should have been attributed to the new film stock being marketed by Kodak. Afterwards, Mother Teresa travelled throughout the world and received numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. In her acceptance speech, on the subject of Bosnian women who were raped by Serbs and now sought abortion, she said: “I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing—direct murder by the mother herself.”

Following her death, the Vatican decided to waive the usual five-year waiting period to open the beatification process. The miracle attributed to Mother Theresa was the healing of a woman, Monica Besra, who had been suffering from intense abdominal pain. The woman testified that she was cured after a medallion blessed by Mother Theresa was placed on her abdomen. Her doctors thought otherwise: the ovarian cyst and the tuberculosis from which she suffered were healed by the drugs they had given her. The Vatican, nevertheless, concluded that it was a miracle. Mother Teresa’s popularity was such that she had become untouchable for the population, which had already declared her a saint. “What could be better than beatification followed by canonization of this model to revitalize the Church and inspire the faithful especially at a time when churches are empty and the Roman authority is in decline?” Larivée and his colleagues ask.

Positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth

Despite Mother Teresa’s dubious way of caring for the sick by glorifying their suffering instead of relieving it, Serge Larivée and his colleagues point out the positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth: “If the extraordinary image of Mother Teresa conveyed in the collective imagination has encouraged humanitarian initiatives that are genuinely engaged with those crushed by poverty, we can only rejoice. It is likely that she has inspired many humanitarian workers whose actions have truly relieved the suffering of the destitute and addressed the causes of poverty and isolation without being extolled by the media. Nevertheless, the media coverage of Mother Theresa could have been a little more rigorous.”

About the study

The study was conducted by Serge Larivée, Department of psychoeducation, University of Montreal, Carole Sénéchal, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, and Geneviève Chénard, Department of psychoeducation, University of Montreal.

The printed version, available only in French, will be published in March 2013 in issue 42 of Studies in Religion / Sciences religieuses.

http://scienceblog.com/60730/mother-teresa-anything-but-a-saint/


Official biography of Mother Teresa published by the Vatican: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_madre-teresa_en.html

Les côtés ténébreux de Mère Teresa
Serge Larivée serge.larivee@umontreal.ca
Université de Montréal
Carole Sénéchal
Université d’Ottawa
Geneviève Chénard
Université de Montréal

Abstract

L’impact de l’œuvre de Mère Teresa n’a pas de frontières géographiques ni religieuses. Dans les quatre parties de ce texte, nous tentons de comprendre ce phénomène. Nous présentons d’abord la méthode utilisée pour colliger les informations disponibles, puis nous évoquons quelques repères biographiques qui permettent de comprendre sa mission et la contribution des médias à sa popularité. La troisième partie identifie quatre pierres d’achoppement sur le chemin de sa canonisation : son opinion religieuse plutôt dogmatique, sa manière de soigner les malades, ses choix politiques et sa gestion douteuse des montants d’argent qu’elle a reçus. Quatrièmement, nous abordons quelques éléments de sa vie relatifs à sa béatification, dont sa « nuit de la foi », l’exorcisme dont elle a été l’objet ainsi que la validité du miracle qui lui a été attribué. En conclusion, nous nous interrogeons sur les raisons pour lesquelles les critiques dont elle fait l’objet ont été ignorées par le Vatican.

The impact of Mother Teresa’s work has no religious or geographical boundaries. In the four parts of this text, we try to understand this phenomenon. We first present the method used to collect the available information and then discuss a few biographical considerations to clarify her mission and the media’s contribution to her popularity. The third part identifies four stumbling blocks on her way to canonization: her rather dogmatic religious views, her way of caring for the sick, her political choices, and her suspicious management of funds that she received. Fourth, we discuss some elements of her life related to beatification, including her “night of faith,” the exorcism to which she was subjected as well as the validity of the miracle attributed to her. In conclusion, we question why the criticism of which she has been the target has been ignored by the Vatican.

http://sir.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/15/0008429812469894
The online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/0008429812469894
Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses published online 15 January 2013
Serge Larivée, Carole Sénéchal and Geneviève Chénard
Les côtés ténébreux de Mère Teresa

Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses
http://sir.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/15/0008429812469894.full.pdf+html


http://www.docstoc.com/docs/147462173/Les-cotes-tenebreux-de-Mere-Teresa-(Serge-Larivee-et-al-Jan-2013)

Studies in Religion_Sciences Religieuses-2013-Larivée-00084298124698941

Short of funds, Sanskrit project stays idle
CHENNAI, February 12, 2013

VASUDHA VENUGOPAL


The Hindu The project, started in 1933 by the British government, is a 40-volume encyclopaedic work. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

At University of Madras, one of country’s oldest projects still awaits part of sanctioned amount

One of the oldest projects in the country, assigned to the Sanskrit department of the University of Madras, is in danger of being stalled, mainly due to lack of funds.

The project, New Catalogus Catalogorum, a huge 40-volume project started back in 1933 by the British government, is an encyclopaedic work on unpublished manuscripts, an alphabetical register of Sanskrit manuscripts and allied works and authors found anywhere in the world.

The manuscripts cover a variety of subjects ranging from religion, philosophy and literature to sciences like astronomy, mathematics, medicine, architecture, metallurgy, yoga, management, governance, polity and town planning.

“Millions of manuscripts are available all over the country, preserved in libraries, mutts, museums, and many other public and private collections, and many have travelled to different parts of world. The purpose of the project is to take stock of manuscripts, available anywhere in the world, cataloguing and documenting them to assist researchers and student enthusiasts of Indology,” said Siniruddha Dash, head, Sanskrit department, University of Madras.

Department teachers say only fourteen volumes were completed by 2000 but the momentum of the work picked up since 2000. Eleven volumes were completed and published in four years (2003-2007) with a grant of Rs. 75 lakh from the National Mission for Manuscripts, IGNCA, department of Culture Government of India.

“We had 25 volumes of the catalogue ready by then, after which we submitted our budget for funds in 2007. But the proposal was accepted only in 2010. We received only Rs. 50 lakh of the sanctioned Rs. 2 crore. We managed to bring out seven more volumes but there is not much we can do with the limited amount,” says a senior official of the department.

With assistance from the State government being minimal, the project has always been dependent on Central government funds. The department is still waiting for the remaining Rs. 1.5 crore to complete the project.

“It is one of the few exhaustive, ambitious projects in the country and we have been very dedicated to its cause,” said Prof. Dash. “Scholars traced the availability of vast number of manuscripts available in South India, rich not only in quantity but also in quality. At the suggestion of Dr. A. C. Woolner, the then Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University and head of Sanskrit Studies, it was decided to undertake this project,” said Prof. Dash.

“Now, when it is nearing completion, it is stalled. All the delay has affected the project a lot,” said Prof. Dash.

European scholars too, he said, have written to various committees urging immediate release of funds for the project. “We get calls almost everyday for published volumes. They get sold in three months. When the whole world is showing an immense interest in Sanskrit, stalling of the project due to lack of funds is unfortunate,” said Prof. Dash.

The project needs at least 30 trained professionals trained in manuscript reading and documenting of their details but they have been managing with just seven, say project members. “Due to shortage of faculty members, we appointed some retired scholars on contract basis. They have been waiting for their arrears too, and one of them has died doing so,” says a senior professor.

Researchers claim the project has not got much help from the State government. “Citing history and politics of the State, many have tried to stall the projectmany times. However, with the new V-C, there is a sense of hope. Salaries for last two months have come. We hope the Central government takes note of our plight too,” said a professor.

Mother Teresa's altruism and generosity claimed to be a 'myth'
By ANI | ANI – 23 hours ago

Washington, Mar 2 (ANI): The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa has been dispelled by a group of researchers, who claim that her hallowed image-which does not stand up to analysis of the facts-was constructed, and that her beatification was orchestrated by an effective media relations campaign.

Serge Larivee and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal's Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Senechal of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Education have made the claims.

"While looking for documentation on the phenomenon of altruism for a seminar on ethics, one of us stumbled upon the life and work of one of Catholic Church's most celebrated woman and now part of our collective imagination-Mother Teresa-whose real name was Agnes Gonxha," Professor Larivee, who led the research said.

"The description was so ecstatic that it piqued our curiosity and pushed us to research further," Larivee said.

As a result, the three researchers collected 502 documents on the life and work of Mother Teresa.

After eliminating 195 duplicates, they consulted 287 documents to conduct their analysis, representing 96 percent of the literature on the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity (OMC). Facts debunk the myth of Mother Teresa.

In their article, Larivee and his colleagues also cite a number of problems not take into account by the Vatican in Mother Teresa's beatification process, such as "her rather dubious way of caring for the sick, her questionable political contacts, her suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received, and her overly dogmatic views regarding, in particular, abortion, contraception, and divorce."

At the time of her death, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions welcoming the poor and sick in more than 100 countries.

The missions have been described as "homes for the dying" by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Calcutta.

Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving appropriate care.

The doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions, as well as a shortage of actual care, inadequate food, and no painkillers.

The problem is not a lack of money-the Foundation created by Mother Teresa has raised hundreds of millions of dollars-but rather a particular conception of suffering and death.

"There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ's Passion. The world gains much from their suffering," was her reply to criticism, cites the journalist Christopher Hitchens.

Nevertheless, when Mother Teresa required palliative care, she received it in a modern American hospital.

Mother Teresa was generous with her prayers but rather miserly with her foundation's millions when it came to humanity's suffering.

During numerous floods in India or following the explosion of a pesticide plant in Bhopal, she offered numerous prayers and medallions of the Virgin Mary but no direct or monetary aid, the researchers said.

On the other hand, she had no qualms about accepting the Legion of Honour and a grant from the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti.

Millions of dollars were transferred to the MCO's various bank accounts, but most of the accounts were kept secret, Larivee said.

"Given the parsimonious management of Mother Theresa's works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?" Larivee said.

Despite these disturbing facts, how did Mother Teresa succeed in building an image of holiness and infinite goodness? According to the three researchers, her meeting in London in 1968 with the BBC's Malcom Muggeridge, an anti-abortion journalist who shared her right-wing Catholic values, was crucial.

Muggeridge decided to promote Teresa, who consequently discovered the power of mass media.

In 1969, he made a eulogistic film of the missionary, promoting her by attributing to her the "first photographic miracle," when it should have been attributed to the new film stock being marketed by Kodak.

Afterwards, Mother Teresa travelled throughout the world and received numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

In her acceptance speech, on the subject of Bosnian women who were raped by Serbs and now sought abortion, she said: "I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing-direct murder by the mother herself."

Following her death, the Vatican decided to waive the usual five-year waiting period to open the beatification process.

The miracle attributed to Mother Theresa was the healing of a woman, Monica Besra, who had been suffering from intense abdominal pain.

The woman testified that she was cured after a medallion blessed by Mother Theresa was placed on her abdomen.

Her doctors thought otherwise: the ovarian cyst and the tuberculosis from which she suffered were healed by the drugs they had given her.

The Vatican, nevertheless, concluded that it was a miracle. Mother Teresa's popularity was such that she had become untouchable for the population, which had already declared her a saint.

"What could be better than beatification followed by canonization of this model to revitalize the Church and inspire the faithful especially at a time when churches are empty and the Roman authority is in decline?" Larivee and his colleagues said.

Despite Mother Teresa's dubious way of caring for the sick by glorifying their suffering instead of relieving it, Serge Larivee and his colleagues point out the positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth.

"If the extraordinary image of Mother Teresa conveyed in the collective imagination has encouraged humanitarian initiatives that are genuinely engaged with those crushed by poverty, we can only rejoice. It is likely that she has inspired many humanitarian workers whose actions have truly relieved the suffering of the destitute and addressed the causes of poverty and isolation without being extolled by the media. Nevertheless, the media coverage of Mother Theresa could have been a little more rigorous," they said.

The research is set to be published in the journal Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses. (ANI)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/mother-teresas-altruism-generosity-claimed-myth-052026363.html

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2013/03/mother-teresa-no-saint-but-saint-of.html


MAR
2
Mother Teresa, NO saint, but 'saint of the media'. How Vatican creates myths --Full text of study (Serge Larivee et al, Jan. 2013)

Mother Teresa 'saint of the media', controversial study says
Mar 2, 2013, 07.20AM IST TNN[ Kounteya Sinha ]

The controversial study called Religieuses says that Teresa — known across the world as the apostle of the dying and the downtrodden — actually felt it was beautiful to see the poor suffer.

LONDON: A study conducted by Canadian researchers has called Mother Teresa "anything but a saint", a creation of an orchestrated and effective media campaign who was generous with her prayers but miserly with her foundation's millions when it came to humanity's suffering.

The controversial study, to be published this month in the journal of studies in religion/sciences called Religieuses, says that Teresa — known across the world as the apostle of the dying and the downtrodden — actually felt it was beautiful to see the poor suffer.

According to the study, the Vatican overlooked the crucial human side of Teresa — her dubious way of caring for the sick by glorifying their suffering instead of relieving it.

Instead, the Vatican went ahead with her beatification followed by canonization "to revitalize the Church and inspire the faithful especially at a time when churches are empty and the Roman authority is in decline".

Researchers Serge Larivee and Genevieve Chenard from the University of Montreal's department of psychoeducation, and Carole Senechal of the University of Ottawa's faculty of education, analysed published writings about Mother Teresa and concluded that her hallowed image, "which does not stand up to analysis of the facts, was constructed, and that her beatification was orchestrated by an effective media campaign".

According to Larivee, facts debunk Teresa's myth. He says that the Vatican, before deciding on Teresa's beatification, did not take into account "her rather dubious way of caring for the sick, her questionable political contacts, her suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received, and her overly dogmatic views regarding ... abortion, contraception, and divorce."

At the time of her death, Teresa had 517 missions or "homes for the dying" as described by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Kolkata. They welcomed the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving apt care.

'Miracle of medicine'

According to the study, the doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions and a shortage of actual care, food and painkillers. They say that the problem was not a paucity of funds as the Order of the Missionaries of Charity successfully raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Researchers said that when it came to her own treatment, "she received it in a modern American hospital".

The three researchers also dug into records of her meeting in London in 1968 with the BBC's Malcom Muggeridge who had strong views against abortion and shared Mother Teresa's right-wing Catholic values.

The researchers say Muggeridge had decided to promote Teresa. In 1969, he made a eulogistic film on the missionary, promoting her by attributing to her the "first photographic miracle", when it should have been attributed to the new film stock being marketed by Kodak.

Following her death, the Vatican decided to waive the usual five-year waiting period to open the beatification process. According to the researchers, one of the miracles attributed to Mother Theresa is the healing of Monica Besra, who suffered from intense abdominal pain, after a medallion blessed by her was placed on Besra's abdomen.

Larivee said, "Her doctors thought otherwise: the ovarian cyst and the tuberculosis from which she suffered were healed by the drugs they had given her. The Vatican, nevertheless, concluded that it was a miracle. Mother Teresa's popularity was such that she had become untouchable for the population, which had already declared her a saint."

Larivee however signs off on a surprisingly positive note and says there could also be a positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth. "If the extraordinary image of Mother Teresa conveyed in the collective imagination has encouraged humanitarian initiatives that are genuinely engaged with those crushed by poverty, we can only rejoice," they signed off.

http://m.timesofindia.com/world/uk/Mother-Teresa-saint-of-the-media-controversial-study-says/articleshow/18760028.cms

MOTHER TERESA: ANYTHING BUT A SAINT…

The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa is dispelled in a paper by Serge Larivée and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal’s Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Sénéchal of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education.

The paper will be published in the March issue of the journal Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses and is an analysis of the published writings about Mother Teresa. Like the journalist and author Christopher Hitchens, who is amply quoted in their analysis, the researchers conclude that her hallowed image—which does not stand up to analysis of the facts—was constructed, and that her beatification was orchestrated by an effective media relations campaign.

“While looking for documentation on the phenomenon of altruism for a seminar on ethics, one of us stumbled upon the life and work of one of Catholic Church’s most celebrated woman and now part of our collective imagination—Mother Teresa—whose real name was Agnes Gonxha,” says Professor Larivée, who led the research. “The description was so ecstatic that it piqued our curiosity and pushed us to research further.”

As a result, the three researchers collected 502 documents on the life and work of Mother Teresa. After eliminating 195 duplicates, they consulted 287 documents to conduct their analysis, representing 96% of the literature on the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity (OMC). Facts debunk the myth of Mother Teresa

In their article, Serge Larivée and his colleagues also cite a number of problems not take into account by the Vatican in Mother Teresa’s beatification process, such as “her rather dubious way of caring for the sick, her questionable political contacts, her suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received, and her overly dogmatic views regarding, in particular, abortion, contraception, and divorce.”

‘The sick must suffer like Christ on the cross’

At the time of her death, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions welcoming the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. The missions have been described as “homes for the dying” by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Calcutta. Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving appropriate care. The doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions, as well as a shortage of actual care, inadequate food, and no painkillers. The problem is not a lack of money—the Foundation created by Mother Teresa has raised hundreds of millions of dollars—but rather a particular conception of suffering and death: “There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,” was her reply to criticism, cites the journalist Christopher Hitchens. Nevertheless, when Mother Teresa required palliative care, she received it in a modern American hospital.

Mother Teresa’s questionable politics and shadowy accounting

Mother Teresa was generous with her prayers but rather miserly with her foundation’s millions when it came to humanity’s suffering. During numerous floods in India or following the explosion of a pesticide plant in Bhopal, she offered numerous prayers and medallions of the Virgin Mary but no direct or monetary aid. On the other hand, she had no qualms about accepting the Legion of Honour and a grant from the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti. Millions of dollars were transferred to the MCO’s various bank accounts, but most of the accounts were kept secret, Larivée says. “Given the parsimonious management of Mother Theresa’s works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?”

The grand media plan for Mother Teresa’s holiness

Despite these disturbing facts, how did Mother Teresa succeed in building an image of holiness and infinite goodness? According to the three researchers, her meeting in London in 1968 with the BBC’s Malcom Muggeridge, an anti-abortion journalist who shared her right-wing Catholic values, was crucial. Muggeridge decided to promote Teresa, who consequently discovered the power of mass media. In 1969, he made a eulogistic film of the missionary, promoting her by attributing to her the “first photographic miracle,” when it should have been attributed to the new film stock being marketed by Kodak. Afterwards, Mother Teresa travelled throughout the world and received numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. In her acceptance speech, on the subject of Bosnian women who were raped by Serbs and now sought abortion, she said: “I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing—direct murder by the mother herself.”

Following her death, the Vatican decided to waive the usual five-year waiting period to open the beatification process. The miracle attributed to Mother Theresa was the healing of a woman, Monica Besra, who had been suffering from intense abdominal pain. The woman testified that she was cured after a medallion blessed by Mother Theresa was placed on her abdomen. Her doctors thought otherwise: the ovarian cyst and the tuberculosis from which she suffered were healed by the drugs they had given her. The Vatican, nevertheless, concluded that it was a miracle. Mother Teresa’s popularity was such that she had become untouchable for the population, which had already declared her a saint. “What could be better than beatification followed by canonization of this model to revitalize the Church and inspire the faithful especially at a time when churches are empty and the Roman authority is in decline?” Larivée and his colleagues ask.

Positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth

Despite Mother Teresa’s dubious way of caring for the sick by glorifying their suffering instead of relieving it, Serge Larivée and his colleagues point out the positive effect of the Mother Teresa myth: “If the extraordinary image of Mother Teresa conveyed in the collective imagination has encouraged humanitarian initiatives that are genuinely engaged with those crushed by poverty, we can only rejoice. It is likely that she has inspired many humanitarian workers whose actions have truly relieved the suffering of the destitute and addressed the causes of poverty and isolation without being extolled by the media. Nevertheless, the media coverage of Mother Theresa could have been a little more rigorous.”

About the study

The study was conducted by Serge Larivée, Department of psychoeducation, University of Montreal, Carole Sénéchal, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, and Geneviève Chénard, Department of psychoeducation, University of Montreal.

The printed version, available only in French, will be published in March 2013 in issue 42 of Studies in Religion / Sciences religieuses.

http://scienceblog.com/60730/mother-teresa-anything-but-a-saint/


Official biography of Mother Teresa published by the Vatican: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_madre-teresa_en.html

Les côtés ténébreux de Mère Teresa
Serge Larivée serge.larivee@umontreal.ca
Université de Montréal
Carole Sénéchal
Université d’Ottawa
Geneviève Chénard
Université de Montréal

Abstract

L’impact de l’œuvre de Mère Teresa n’a pas de frontières géographiques ni religieuses. Dans les quatre parties de ce texte, nous tentons de comprendre ce phénomène. Nous présentons d’abord la méthode utilisée pour colliger les informations disponibles, puis nous évoquons quelques repères biographiques qui permettent de comprendre sa mission et la contribution des médias à sa popularité. La troisième partie identifie quatre pierres d’achoppement sur le chemin de sa canonisation : son opinion religieuse plutôt dogmatique, sa manière de soigner les malades, ses choix politiques et sa gestion douteuse des montants d’argent qu’elle a reçus. Quatrièmement, nous abordons quelques éléments de sa vie relatifs à sa béatification, dont sa « nuit de la foi », l’exorcisme dont elle a été l’objet ainsi que la validité du miracle qui lui a été attribué. En conclusion, nous nous interrogeons sur les raisons pour lesquelles les critiques dont elle fait l’objet ont été ignorées par le Vatican.

The impact of Mother Teresa’s work has no religious or geographical boundaries. In the four parts of this text, we try to understand this phenomenon. We first present the method used to collect the available information and then discuss a few biographical considerations to clarify her mission and the media’s contribution to her popularity. The third part identifies four stumbling blocks on her way to canonization: her rather dogmatic religious views, her way of caring for the sick, her political choices, and her suspicious management of funds that she received. Fourth, we discuss some elements of her life related to beatification, including her “night of faith,” the exorcism to which she was subjected as well as the validity of the miracle attributed to her. In conclusion, we question why the criticism of which she has been the target has been ignored by the Vatican.

http://sir.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/15/0008429812469894
The online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/0008429812469894
Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses published online 15 January 2013
Serge Larivée, Carole Sénéchal and Geneviève Chénard
Les côtés ténébreux de Mère Teresa

Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses
http://sir.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/15/0008429812469894.full.pdf+html


http://www.docstoc.com/docs/147462173/Les-cotes-tenebreux-de-Mere-Teresa-(Serge-Larivee-et-al-Jan-2013)

Studies in Religion_Sciences Religieuses-2013-Larivée-00084298124698941

Les cotes tenebreux de Mere Teresa (Serge Larivee et al, Jan. 2013)


Posted 19 hours ago

Narendra Modi launches attack on dynasty politics in Congress, says the party has sacrificed nation for one family
PTI | New Delhi, March 3, 2013 | 12:07

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Photo by Yasbant Negi

Against the backdrop of a growing chorus for making him the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lashed out at the "commission-seeking" Congress-led UPA government which is destroying the nation like a termite and dubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "night watchman" for the Gandhi family.

Modi was scheduled to speak on good governance in Gujarat, but he used the forum at the BJP conclave here to lambast the UPA government and the Congress in his one-hour speech.

"Congress is destroying this country like termites. It is very difficult to deal with termites - you finish them in one place and they rise in another. The only medicine for this ailment is sweat of the BJP worker. Only this sweat can free this nation from the termite that is the Congress," Modi said in his speech, amid applause from the gathering.

In what sounded virtually like an election speech, Modi said the time has come to throw out the Congress and bring in a government that is sensitive towards the sufferings of the people.

Attacking the Congress for scams like the VVIP helicopter deal and 2G spectrum, Modi said, "The time has come to draw a comparison between the Congress and the BJP. While BJP is for a mission, Congress is for commission. The contest will be between mission and commission."

Modi also alleged that the Congress tradition has been to sacrifice the nation's interest for the sake of one family.

Without naming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said the Congress appointed a "night watchman" to keep the seat warm for the first family of the Congress.

"They did not realise that the night will be so long and dark. As a buffer, they appointed an economist to the post," he said.

Modi's address stood out in sharp contrast to that of his Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh counterparts Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh. While the two chief ministers stuck to highlighting achievements of their governments, Modi dwelled on national issues.

The Talkatora Indoor Stadium was jam-packed when Modi delivered his speech.

Modi said that though Pranab Mukherjee was more deserving, the Congress did not make him the Prime Minister and chose Manmohan Singh. "They realised that if Pranab Mukherjee is successful then what will happen to the (Gandhi) family."

The Gujarat Chief Minister also criticised the National Advisory Council, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, as one which is filled with people belonging to the "five- star" culture and having "total disconnect" with the people.

Modi, who may be given a prominent role in national politics by the BJP later this month by inducting him into the Parliamentary Board of the party, said it is a very big challenge and a matter of concern that the UPA government is there at the Centre.

"There is no feeling of whether there is a government or not. It is not in the Congress character or in their blood to do something for the nation," he alleged.

Earlier, Modi began his speech by thanking BJP president Rajnath Singh for felicitating him yesterday and attributed his third consecutive victory in Gujarat Assembly elections to the guidance of the national party leadership, party workers and the people of his state.

"This is a victory of the BJP's ideology and of its political culture," he said.

Modi praised the performance of the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa.

"My experience in Gujarat has been that the country has decided to move ahead. People of the country have decided to throw out the Congress. Our only concern is to fill the places vacated by the Congress with the right people," Modi said.

He also asked the party workers to rise above leadership issues and work tirelessly to bring the BJP to power.

"We should go from here with the pledge that we will contribute all our might for the party. BJP and lotus, the symbol of the BJP, have the strength to save this nation. Who is the individual, who is the leader does not matter. The aim is important. We have no right to disappoint the people," Modi said.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/narendra-modi-rajnath-singh-bjp-national-executive-meet-congress-government/1/252409.html

Comments
New Delhi: Urging BJP workers to oust the ruling Congress in the 2014 general elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Sunday slammed the central government for not keeping the nation's interest in mind.

Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) two-day national council meet which started here Saturday, Modi launched a direct attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, saying it kept its own interests above the nation.

"The country is sinking. The poor are under the burden of price rise. We cannot even feel if there is a government at the centre or not," Modi, possible contender for the prime ministerial post, said.

"The Congress has ruled the country for several decades. At that time there was no opposition, the media was not so strong and there were not so many activists. But what did the Congress do? At that time many countries were trying to rise. India lagged behind. Why? Because they (Congress) never wanted the country to develop," Modi said.

]Modi at the BJP council meet. AP Without naming any one, he launched a direct attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, vis-a-vis Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi: "Sacrificing the national interest for the interest of one family is the tradition of the Congress," he said.

"They appointed a night watchman by naming Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Had Pranab Mukherjee been prime minister, there would have been less destruction in the country," Modi said.

"Had Pranab been successful, what would have happened to the family?" Modi said.

"Freeing the nation from the Congress rule would be an act of patriotism. It would be a task as great as that our freedom fighters did," Modi said.

He stressed on the need of inculcating hope and aspirations in people, saying that a BJP-led government at the centre would act as a facilitator for those aspirations.

Praising the BJP and focussing on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi said that the BJP was the only alternative for the Congress "misrule".

"The Congress has spread like termites in the country. It is very difficult to get rid of termites. Only one medicine will work, that of the sweat of the BJP worker," Modi said.

IANS

The author is a renowned Pakistani intellectual. His urdu books Tehzeebi Nargisyat and Mubaalghe, Mughaalte are widely regarded as the revival of critical thinking and free inquiry in Urdu non-fiction.

Coexistence with India
Mobarak Haider | 5th February, 2013
_____________________

-Illustration by Khuda Bux Abro.

Pakistan’s new army doctrine comes as good news for all who wish us well as a nation. For the first time in 65 years the army has shifted its focus from the eastern border to our internal enemy in the northwest. Let us hope it does not mean hands free for a crackdown on the Baloch, an issue that needs a political solution while harder military measures may result in deeper tragedies. Although, the army spokesman assured our lions and eagles that we shall keep India as our enemy no.1, yet the admission that the enemy within is more dangerous at the moment, may well prove to be a turning point in our history.

But we have to realise that the enemy within is not simply the non-state actors who have declared holy war on Pakistan; it is a special mindset that has created them and will continue to breed them in the future. It is this mindset which was discussed in detail in my book Tahzeebi Nargasiat and in subsequent writings, including my last blog. Facts and events of our history have shown that this mindset of pathological narcissism, of self-righteous self-love breeds a hundred tragedies till the society falls into paranoia and starts hurting itself and everything around it. What our army and government have now decided to fight is a threat not only to Pakistan but to the entire region’s peace. We have to combat that mindset and the forces that promote it, if we wish to survive as a state and society, whatever the amount of effort it may need, however painful the sacrifices it may demand. We cannot afford to fail, because such failure can empower nations of the region to intervene, exposing our land of anarchy to immense bloodshed and misery.

Unfortunately, the enemy within is the product of our obscure ambitions since 1947. It is of critical importance for us to understand why and how our establishment fed this monster for decades. We, the people, must know the truth if we wish to survive and grow.

The dominant classes of Pakistan that demanded separation from the rest of India in 1947 were mainly the same who had ruled India under different Muslim dynasties. They were the landed aristocracy, “pirs” and ulema of different levels. They lost power to the British, but never gave up their claim over India. Some Muslims who served the British as civil servants and the army men also joined to share the ambition for power. Being small in number these groups, even with the support of the entire Muslim population of India could not hope to dominate a huge Indian population in a democratic system. Therefore, they aroused the Muslim masses to support their demand for a separate homeland, appealing to their religious pride and fear of persecution. Congress leaders and a large number of Muslims who chose to live as Indian citizens all exerted each nerve to show our Muslim league leadership that a religious approach to politics in a world of diverse religions and people will initiate disaster but the highly aroused fears of persecution decided our course; our self-image as a special community prevailed.

Faith is one thing while a profession of faith is quite another. Like all ruling elite of medieval ages, our Muslim rulers of India were down-to-earth, worldly men; but they professed Islam only to win the devout support of religious leadership. Religious leaders have also been equally great self-seekers. These two groups of dominant professionals colluded throughout history to rule simpler people with the tool of faith, not only in the Muslim kingdoms of India but everywhere else too. They were magicians and pharaohs in Egypt, Khashtris and Brahmins in India, kings and priests in Christian Europe and Caliph Kings and ulema of fiqh in the Arab Empire. This pattern of power-sharing by the Muslim kings and ulema worked well in India. Shah Waliullah invited Abdali in that same capacity of a down-to-earth, power sharing priest. This same formula created the present day kingdom of Saud where a tribal chief and a holy man struck a deal. Almost a similar deal created Pakistan where Quaid-e-Azam seems to have been just a brilliant lawyer whose job ended soon after the partition.

Independence comes as jubilation to a nation. But in 1947 it came with tragedies of separation and bloodshed to the subcontinent. India overcame many of her problems because its leaders depended not on a religious class but on democracy, where the army accepted its subordinate and supporting role, while politics and diplomacy made the main defense. In Pakistan, medieval concepts dominated instead. We had been perpetually indoctrinated to love the “mujahid” and the maulana. The ulema and religious parties immediately demanded a decisive role. Landed gentry found the ulema and the army as their best protectors. That perhaps explains why no land reform has damaged them to this day.

These two stake holders decided to promote each other as the champions of Islam, fighting the heretics of India as their core duty. The Kashmir problem existed only as a permanent excuse for arousing sentiment; it was never handled with the modern tools of effective diplomacy because a liberal, democratic India always found more friends against our ever deepened religious identity. Only one education was allowed and available to the nation: Fight India with the power of Islam. This brought absolute power to our GHQ and finally served American plans; the soldiers of Islam faithfully fought for America’s global supremacy, opening Pakistan’s doors to international holy warriors.

An army that assumes political power cannot remain a professional fighting force; our army gradually outsourced its fighting jobs in Kashmir and Afghanistan to civilian opportunists who were made dearer to us than our own kith and kin through Islamic sentiment. General Zia encouraged these violent hordes to make money through crime and drugs. That might have exposed them to international buyers with greater rewards than Pakistan could offer. Ambition to rule Pak-Afghania may have motivated them and, unfortunately, these non-state actors are not just a few rebels out there; they have a vast popular backing among our affluent middle classes.

With absolute lack of vision, our political and military leadership created a mindset which has no respect for systems of a modern state. The only authority that appeals to this mindset is the maulana and the mujahid. A very heartbreaking struggle awaits our lines of defense.

Unfortunately it is not yet clear whether our army and leaders really believe that “the enemy within” actually means those who use Islam for their power and support in their mission to destroy this state and society. So far neither the state nor the society seems to realise that these forces will destroy both of them as they exist today. In fact, the killer is a darling, a hero, a holy destroyer because he is fighting to implement in practice what the state and society profess as their ideal but do not implement.

While the state and society pretend to love Arabian Mullah’s Islam as a theory, they lack the readiness to live it. This society was told for generations that the state and all its resources must serve only Islam and fight the enemies of Islam. The “westernised” men in power believed this slogan would serve them well, without demanding any change in their Officer’s Mess culture. But political Ulema like Maudoodi, Mufti and Usmani were not their slaves; they had great ambitions with the Holy Arab Empire behind them. As generals and bureaucrats plunged in their prosperity drive and property deals, organised Islam steadily entered lower ranks in all centers of power and lashed at the semi liberal patterns of society, calling it depravity, perversion and shameless rebellion against Allah.
Dichotomy of conviction and conduct creates a crushing sense of guilt. The entire society and its rulers stood like truant boys before the godly maulana. Pakistan’s teeming millions of working masses had no sense of guilt, but Bhutto, their dearly loved leader, found his own iron melting and went to Maudoodi’s den to seek forgiveness. His later decision to lay down his life, however, brought him back to the simple-hearted masses, perhaps because they love simple and liberal Islam and do not feel the guilt of dichotomy which so molests our affluent middle class.

Everybody of importance soon realised that externalisation of guilt in public and repentance in private were good ways to wash dirty hands, while keeping what they had grabbed. The emergence of Zia was natural while that of Musharraf was so unnatural that an armed invasion of the Islamic Republic became possible to cleanse it of un-islamic “filth”. When holy warriors today attack our troops or explode our people, resentment is not directed towards the warrior, it simply turns to the “hypocrite” in power. The holy warrior’s destructiveness, therefore, is not so hateful as to deserve the treatment that India or America deserves. This perhaps explains why the “enemy within” is so single-minded and so organised while our leaders, generals and middle classes vacillate like overgrown stalks in wind.

Our first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan panicked when he received an invitation from the Soviets and requested the Americans to save him by sending an invitation. Thus, we assumed our interesting role that spelled gradual disaster: Islam for America to fight the Soviets + Islam for our army to fight India. Much later when the East wing was gone and the two nation theory almost done, Z A Bhutto added another enemy to the list of our eternal enemies. Now we had Hindus and Jews in addition to atheists, a thousand years to fight for a thousand miles on the East and a thousand miles across the Holy Lands. We injected our nation’s blood in the nukes till the intoxicated nation lost its consciousness due to anemia. How rewarding was it to have the Islamic bomb? We lost Bhutto as a punishment from our Western mentor who knew our nuclear prowess was meaningless against the Soviets while dangerous in the hands of an emotionally charged religious state against India and Israel. We fought India each time to lose, because the US did not support us but we won against the Soviets because the Free World stood behind. We consistently refused to see that not only America but the whole world valued India and Israel. Only China supported us for a while against India till we showed her our holy teeth in Sinkiang, and Saudi Arabia encouraged us against Israel only by occasionally permitting us to kiss the holy royal hands.

The enemy within is a breed of crude, unreasoning tyrants who have no respect for life and law, not even their own. The mindset which created this self-righteous specie is strongly negative. It negates and excludes all that is “the others”, so that what remains to be admired is “we” and “ours”. Everything we do is right and just. Unfortunately, for more than a millennium, we, the Muslims of the world, served our ruling elite as their power base, as their soldiers, their police and agricultural work force. Perpetual conflict with the subject people, excessive emphasis on faith and dominance of the dogmatic Ulema dried up the positive human creativity of Muslims, as well as their subjects.

The Holy Prophet of Islam (SAAW) desired to know the essence of things, but Muslim societies for ever produced only Imam, Hafiz and Mujahid. The tradition of reason and critical thinking grew for just a century but dried up as an illegal activity after Imam Hambal, to be finally strangulated by Imam Ghazali. Freedom to think and disagree was strongly crushed with the final defeat of Mu’tazilla. Since creativity needs freedom to think and disagree, therefore, the Muslim civilization lost all creativity. Although the pride of righteousness and spirituality was pumped into the Muslim psyche, our world remained deeply soaked in myopic selfishness and parrot learning. Trade excelled in the Arab empire more than it had in any earlier periods of history, but innovation and improvement in other fields became alien to the Muslim Ummah; agriculture, handicrafts, transport, navigation, political system, health, education and administration stagnated for centuries because the conquerors and traders don’t need innovation. Even weaponry which was the source of our power remained pathetically conventional till the Mongols came to show us that we were not the fastest horsemen or the most efficient killers.

Our leaders and generals must see these facts of history and life. We have to open a national seminar that aims at reforming our middle class concepts of guilt and virtue and competence. Disastrous ambitions of political Islam to rule this region and the world must be exposed as merit-less and suicidal. Islam must be redeemed as a soft and kind path to ethical goodness and humility. Its role must end as a weapon in the hands of an aggressively pretentious but totally uncreative mullah. But that will start only when our leaders realise the threat and discard their strategic assets. It is disturbing to hear that ambitions of strategic depth and parasitic blackmail persist; no redemption is possible if that is true.

All medieval conquerors were basically predators; they lived at the cost of the people they conquered, appropriating their resources, which naturally antagonised the subject people. Muslim rulers, after the first four caliphs, used the Islamic doctrine of Zimmitude generally to their worldly benefit.

Rulers can win their subjects’ respect, even their affection, with their wisdom and justice. After many atrocities and crimes against their Indian subjects the British were able to leave India as almost friends, and no hostility exists today between them and their former subjects because their leaders and people confessed their crimes; they agreed to leave; and they left many gifts of value like modern learning, religious tolerance, systems of governance, constitutional democracy, science and technology.

Unfortunately, unlike the colonial capitalists of Europe, our ancestors had very few benefits to offer to their Zimmis in India which could endear them to their subjects. Added to it was the religious pride of our ulema that believed in the supremacy of Islam and flaunted it without a semblance of courtesy or hesitation. This only antagonised the subject people ever more deeply and necessitated perpetual use of force to maintain Muslim rule. In order to nourish the fighting spirit of the soldiers and common Muslims, ever more pride of faith and ever deeper contempt for reason was injected into their psyche through the ulema and clergy. The principle of equal human treatment of the Muslims and non-Muslims remained alien to their rule.

The absence of positive performance was compensated with boastful pride of the ability to destroy. That is perhaps an inherited attitude when our orators in Pakistan proudly talk of what we destroyed: our ancestors destroyed Indian idols and kings followed by the recent smashing of the peaceful Buddha; recently we destroyed the Soviet Union, we have pushed America to disaster, we shall destroy India, Europe and every system of “Jahiliah”, including our own systems and people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This mindset hardly ever asks: what did we create or build?

We, as a nation, have gradually lost all respect for science and scientists; we have substituted research with conspiracy theories; we boast of our nuclear build-up, which is again an ability to destroy, not defend, an ability stolen from heretics without learning the science that creates it. This shortcut mentality, to escape science and invention, is an expression of our lazy, self-righteous pretensions. To bury the guilt, our power hungry ulema expects us to admire a scientist, a nuclear opportunist who admires the Taliban, and hate the real scientists of the world as heretics.

It is, therefore, natural for our people with this mindset to support the monster when it destroys Pakistan and the world with the banner of Islam in its hand. Self-righteousness is the dismissal of humility; it jams our ability to objectively appreciate merit, so that the virtue and merit of others never attracts our attention. Bragging of our own virtue and merit grows louder as our record of performance dips. This dichotomy of practice and pretension paralyses judgment and kills the resolve to make amends.

Ever since Independence, our governments and army leaders propagated the easy excuse that India aspires to annex Pakistan to realise an ancient Hindu dream of “Greater India”. But was this view realistic? Is it an exclusively Hindu dream? The fact is: Muslim rulers and the ulema also desired Greater India. They had endeavored hard for centuries to rule the whole of India; many times in these seven centuries they tried to hold Afghanistan with one hand while holding Bengal with the other. Ever since 1947, our generals and leaders have tried to grab Afghanistan and hold Bengal by force. Our lions and eagles still dream to destroy Bharat and make it a Muslim colony again.

Thus, it was natural for the ancient people of the subcontinent to dream of a united India even if it was no more possible. Long before the Muslim conquerors, India had Ashoka, Kanishka and Harshwardhana who ruled large parts of India with no less glory than the Muslims did. It was hardly anything abnormal if some nostalgic sons of the soil wished to restore their past glory in their own land, while the majority did not share the dream. Hindus have lived in this land for more than 4000 years with a deep sense of belonging. On the contrary, our Muslim ancestors came 1000 years ago and did not develop a sense of belonging. They did not assimilate or integrate with the people they ruled, keeping their identity as foreigners, with loyalty to the holy lands of Arabia. The British also ruled as foreigners but they did not demand a part of India like we did; they agreed to leave India while we did not, although we declared that we were not Indians. Our self-righteousness so limits our sense of justice that what we practice with great pomp and show, seems hateful to us if others desire it.

Justice and honesty demand that facts be examined before we accept or reject a claim. The facts did not verify the claim that India aspired to annex Pakistan or a part of it. Although a limited right wing of Indian politics threatened to avenge the wrongs of history, yet that mood never dominated India. On the contrary our opinion makers and the ulema on this side of the border kept pushing up on mass level the hype to conquer Kashmir and hoist our flag over the “Red Fort”.

It is difficult in Pakistan to state the fact that India did not annex Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka or another dependent country. It did not annex Bangladesh which achieved its separation from Pakistan purely with Indian Army action. The wars which we claimed as Indian aggression on our eastern border were later exposed as our own initiation. These are facts that embarrass our claims of persecution.

http://dawn.com/2013/02/05/coexistence-with-india/
http://dawn.com/2013/02/26/coexistence-with-india-iii/