francois gautier

The lessons of history

2012-01-18T13:50:00.003+05:30

Frenchman Francois Gautier has set up a museum that brings out the Vedic point of view of history

"From the integer zero to complex mathematical calculations and even surgical techniques, the contribution of the Vedas is integral to the entire world," claims Francois Gautier, founder of FACT foundation, an organisation that brings attention to forgotten or neglected issues through awareness campaigns, conferences, exhibitions, films and research papers on art, culture, history and human rights abuse.

A painting portraying Maratha warrior Shambhuji Raje at the Shivaji

Museum in Wadagaon

The organisation has set up a museum in Wadagaon, near Marathwada Mitramandal Institute of Technology, which displays paintings, photographs and films based on themes that cover the spectrum of Indian history, from the Vedas to a peek into the future of India.

The Shivaji Museum at Wadagaon

Launched on January 14, the museum is akin to an art gallery. Adjacent to the museum, there is a temple dedicated to Mata Bharati and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, as an initiative by FACT to revive the worship of Mother India and get inspired by historic personalities who have contributed to society. Pune-based architect Sheetal Harpale has designed this Sri Yantra temple. Visitors are also welcome for the aarti, which is performed at the temple at the time of opening and closing of the museum.

"Entry to the museum is free for all. The aim is to bring forth historical facts to create an awareness about heritage and history from the Vedic point of view," informs Gautier. Spread across five acres, the museum highlights several dark periods of history such as the Inquisition in Goa by the Portuguese, the Sufi persecution, the Ahmedi persecution, agitation against Buddhism, the prosecution of early Syrian Christians of Kerala and more. The aim behind showcasing the tumultuous episodes is to remind people of the consequences of division and thereby inspire a sense of brotherhood and mutual love for cultures, races and religions.

"Currently, we are displaying exhibitions based on themes revolving around Shivaji Maharaj, Hindu tolerance throughout the ages, Aryan invasion along with 10 rotating exhibitions," says Gautier.

"The rotating exhibitions will feature paintings, photographs and films from our archives at FACT. We have a team of historians in Rajasthan who commission painters to illustrate their research work on different aspects of Indian history. Now, we have displayed exhibitions on topics such as the issue of Naxalites, Kashmiri Pandits, minority communities in Bangladesh and more," he adds.

From 9 am to 6 pm, all seven days of the week

At Wadagaon Shinde, ahead of Marathwada Institute of Technology, Wadagaon, Shinde Road.

Call 9970204411

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2012/jan/170112-the-guide-pune-The-lessons-of-history.htm

The Hijacking of Shivaji Maharaj By Vested Interests

2011-12-24T13:46:00.001+05:30

Francois Gautier
Marathas should not only be proud that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was a Maratha, but they should also acknowledge that he has had a lasting influence on the Marathi psyche, which makes their people more nationalistic and self confident than those of many other Indian states.
At the same time, Shivaji should be elevated to the status of a ‘national hero for modern India’, for he embodied all the qualities that are so badly needed in today’s Indian politicians: Shivaji was fearless and his courage was extraordinary. He was devoted to his own country, call it Bharat or Bhavani Bharati, or India. He was truly secular, never harming his enemies’ wives and children and though he was a devoted Hindu, he never destroyed a mosque.
He was a great administrator; whatever he conquered, he saw to it that it was justly administered. He was absolutely free of corruption and cared little for his own comfort. He had great vision and wanted to unify India. Because of his sacrifice, India’s culture, spirituality and social fabric is better preserved from Mumbai to Kanyakumari.
There are a few who have tried to hijack Shivaji and bind him for their own purposes. One such is Marathi writer and activist Sanjay Sonavani, who wrote a piece in Lokmat on November 19, attacking the Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism for building a shrine and a museum in Pune. First, the article is full of glaring errors: the Foundation has erected a shrine dedicated to Bhavani Bharati, not Shivaji; second, FACT is trying to build a museum of Indian history named after Shivaji and which honours him, but Shivaji’s history will only be a part of the museum.
Sonavani attacks FACT on three counts: he says FACT is trying to make a god out of Shivaji; he objects to the fact that Shivaji is associated to Bharat Mata; and he says FACT is trying to link Shivaji to the Vedas. But FACT never said Shivaji was god, we only quoted Aurobindo Ghosh who wrote that he was a Vibhuti. A Vibhuti is not god but an instrument of god. Sri Aurobindo had also written that Napoleon was a Vibhuti and that he was the first one who had a vision of a unified Europe. Nobody ever protested that.
Then, as far as Shivaji’s connection, or non-connection with Mother India or Bharat Mata, there are two undisputed facts: that Shivaji was extremely devoted to his own mother, who played an important influence in his life; secondly that he was as devoted to his own country, and that he wanted to rid her of her enemies. If that is not love for Mother India, then what is? That Hindus have, since time immemorial, chosen to associate their country to the feminine element is highly laudable. The Romans had done the same: Patria.
I am a Frenchman brought up in the ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity and to me it is absolutely irrelevant what caste Shivaji belonged to, who his father or guru was. He was an extraordinary being. It matters not either, whether he related himself to the Vedas or any Hindu scriptures. I doubt it: he was a warrior who wanted to preserve his culture and protect his people. What is for sure is that he was a Hindu, as are a billion Hindus today, whether they are Marathas or Tamil. The theory of the Aryan invasion has been proved false by numerous recent discoveries, it has been opposed by every saint, whether Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; yet it is still used today by Christian missionaries, Marxist historians and Muslim scholars to divide India between South and North, Hindi and Dravidian, Brahmins and Shudras. Sanjay Sonavani plays into their hands.
Finally, the biggest enemies of Hindus are Hindus, not Muslims or Christians. India could never have been conquered if Hindus had not betrayed Hindus. The last great Hindu empire, Vijaynagar, which was so extraordinary that its history will have pride of place in FACT’s museum, could not have been razed by Muslims if the Lingayats had not betrayed their brothers and sisters. Shivaji’s most dangerous opponent was a Hindu, Jai Singh who served Aurangzeb. It is sad that even today Hindus are so divided, undermining each other and the few supporters of their great history and spirituality. It is also a great shame that in the town of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one cannot find a single museum worth the name to honour his memory and the spiritual and martial inheritance he left behind him. FACT only wants to remedy to that

francoisgautier26@gmail.com
The writer is editor-in-chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde and author of A New History of India
ARTICLE URL: http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/comment_the-hijacking-of-shivaji-maharaj-by-vested-interests_1616224

Francois Gautier at the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History

2011-12-22T02:40:00.001+05:30

Francois Gautier at the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History

Inauguration of First phase of the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History

2011-12-22T02:22:00.003+05:30

FACT Inauguration of First phase of the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History

Inauguration: H H Sri Sri Ravishankar

& Nitin Gadkari

Time: 10 AM

Date : 14th Jan 2012

Venue: Ahead of Marathwada Institute,

Wadagaon, Shinde Road, Pune - 411047

Bharat Maata Mandir, Pune in full glory

2011-10-24T18:36:00.000+05:30

For Full pictures click here

Bharat Maata Mandir, Pune in full glory

The 10 year war's villain & biases

2011-10-16T12:00:00.000+05:30

Francois GautierBook reviewSunday 16 th oct Book review of The 9/11wars by Jason BrukeBurke writes that `in 2010, nearly 3/4th of Pakistan identified India as the greatest threat,' but he does not mention that India's role in the war against Islamic terrorismThe 9/11 Wars, written by Jason Burke, the New Delhi-based South Asia correspondent of the Guardian (UK), is an extremely well written book that seeks to document the invasions, bombings, battles and riots that broke after the World Trade Centre attacks of September 11, 2001, which have since then cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.Based on hundreds of interviews with militants, refugees, senior intelligence officials and ordinary people, Burke attempts to reveal the true nature of contemporary Islamic militancy and the inside story of the fight against it.

Indeed, his research has been so thorough that the notes, bibliography and index, run into more than 200 pages, nearly one-third of the book.Right from the first pages of The 9/11 Wars, one can feel Burke's determination to keep a distance both from Islamic fundamentalism, as well as with the Western point of view, incarnated by the US and its allies, Britain being the foremost one. This is the strength of the book: “But if there has been no defeat for the West then there has been no victory either,“ he writes. “Over the past 10 years, the limits of the ability of the US and its Western allies to impose their will on parts of the world have been very publicly revealed.“At times, though, he appears more severe with the US: “Even though now facing serious problems of debt, America has nonetheless been able to pay for the grotesque strategic error of the war in Iraq, at a total cost of up to a trillion dollars depending on how it is calculated, and a 10-year conflict in Afghanistan, all the while financing a huge security industry at home.“But it is also its weakness.

For example, one of Burke's spiel is that the Arab Spring protests that have toppled three dictators, were triggered by the sacrifice of ordinary Arabs, such as Mohamed Bouazizi, a disgruntled Tunisian street vendor who set fire to himself last December. As Burke points out, “while Bouazizi did not deem it necessary to drag 3,000 other souls with him to Paradise, he achieved an impact that Osama bin Laden could only dream of.“Some of us would disagree with that assessment. Hosni Mubarak, for instance, was an enlight ened dictator: he kept the deadly Muslim Brotherhood at bay, did not irrationally hate Jews and women under his reign had secular freedom. The Arab Spring in Egypt has had dubious results: Christians are again persecuted, the relation with Israel has worsened and freedoms have been curtailed.This is a review that will be mostly read by Indians.Let us then take a look at what it says about India and Islamic terrorism.While the index on Pakistan runs into nearly three pages, the references to India take only 11 lines! This symbolises the West’s obsession with Pakistan, embodied by successive US Presidents, who think that you can fight terrorism by propping up the one nation from which most of the Islamic terrorism, including the one directed at India, comes from.

What does Jason Burke say on Kashmir? “The Pakistani involvement in Kashmir was re-energised in 1989, as local Muslims in the state rose against the discriminatory and often brutal role that had been imposed by New Delhi”.Well, I happened to cover Kashmir extensively in the early 1990s for Le Figaro, and I remember how, one by one, the leaders of the Hindu community in the valley — L. Taploo, N.K.Ganjoo, Kishen Gopal, M.L.Bhan, Lassa Kaul — were killed, leading to the exodus of the Pandit community. The Indian Army then was more of abystander than an active participant.It’s the militants who forced a war upon India. Burke seems to have taken a cue from Mark Tully who would always say: “The Indian government accuses Pakistan to foster Kashmir separatism”, implying it was not true. Of course, time proved him wrong.Burke also fails to explain why fundamentalist Islam, with its immense persecution complex, thinks it can fight the entire world — and win. But it cannot: not against the might of the US — which, whatever its arrogance, came forward when freedom was threatened in the world — and the whole of Europe and India and maybe China oneday, if Pakistan continues to secretly sponsor Muslim separatism in Xinjiang.

Although Jason Burke rightly points out that “in 2010, nearly three-fourth of the population of Pakistan identified India as the greatest threat to their country,” he does not mention that India’s role in the war against Islamic terrorism is extremely vital. Firstly because of its strategic position, with Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan on one side, and the potential Islamic temptation in Indonesia, Java or China, on the other.And lastly because India, with its ancient tradition of Sufism, its enlightened Muslim community leaders such as Azim Premji, who is an Ismaili Muslim, perhaps Islam’s most liberal branch, may be the only place in the world where Islam might come to terms with the fact that it needs to reform itself to adapt to the 21st century.But first, Muslims need to come out strongly against Islamic terrorism; without always using Kashmir or Palestine or Chechnya as an excuse for the ramming of planes full of innocent people on buildings full of innocent people.

No room for culture clash

2011-10-16T10:28:00.001+05:30

Source Deccan chronicleAugust 14, 2011

By François Gautier

I met Namrita by sheer chance. And I believe, a beautiful turn of fate. I was living in Paris and was on my way to Nepal for a story. I stopped in Delhi and had to deliver a letter from a friend to a certain address. I reached the house and rang the bell — and Namrita opened the door. The short meeting led to the exchange of a couple of letters and a few meetings.We eventually settled down 21 years ago. It had to happen as we were both on the same wavelength. She came from a Westernised upper-class family in Delhi, understood my background, had travelled abroad and there wasn’t any clash of culture — something generally seen in couples like us.But this wasn’t the only attribute to her personality.

Namrita had the same values of love, care and warmth that make any Indian, Indian. I believe these values have only helped us travel these many years together with ease. The companionship has seen both of us maturing in our skins. I have become more family-oriented, grounded and stable, while she, through me, has got in touch with spirituality, mediation and yoga. It is a paradox — with me more inclined towards the Indian culture! But that has helped us get together and make a family. In fact, there’s no exaggeration in accepting the fact that I was very lucky not to have faced any challenges!Having said that, our marriage like any other, saw its share of compromises and walking that extra mile.

Namrita had to make an effort too, as my lifestyle was very different. She adapted to all those little “bumps” with ease, a trait most Indians have. Another trait that Indians have is their love towards the family. Post my marriage, my father stayed with us. It is something uncommon in the West, where old people are generally put in homes. But Nam-rita was very comfortable with the thought and I also liked it. Thanks to this change, we enjoy the company of an extended family.We don’t have our own children but we keep visiting the family and the family visits us. When Namrita was ready to do what she hadn’t done so far, settling in Puducherry became possible. Today, we are in Delhi, but do travel to Puducherry.Namrita is a textile designer by profession and I am a writer.

We are both in active professions and have our own space. But we have done a few interesting things together. These include courses on the Art of Living and meditation, and writing a book. The Art Of Healing — The Healing Breath — is the book we wrote together last year.Though I recognise the fact that spouses must have different professions, as this helps them get their own space and privacy, a few projects like these help them bond. Nam-rita also helps me with her design inputs whenever I am exhibiting. We also find time to travel to remote places in the Himalayas on special occasions such as birthdays and try to spend some quiet time together. Such moments are important.However, it must be said that we both have our personal identities. By temperament, I was an introvert and Namrita was a social person. But thanks to my influence on her, I find her at home spending some quality time with herself. A marriage is nothing but a combination of many things, more importantly of trusting each other and growing together. Today, I can only say that my relationship was a beautiful chance encounter. I could have avoided going to Namrita’s place so many years ago. I had the option, but fate had something better in store for me!As told to Jyoti Verma

Francois Gautier: The other factor behind Anna Hazare’s success

2011-09-06T06:33:00.000+05:30

Source: DNAINDIA

Monday, September 5, 2011The recent Anna Hazare movement embodies one of the most significant and extraordinary happenings in modern India and in the history of the world: one man, using only the tools of his own will power and without any violence, whatsoever, brought an entire government to its knees, forcing it to tackle the cancer of corruption which is eating his country’s entrails. It is an example for the world to follow. Yet, the whole truth may not be all that evident.

Anna has been fighting corruption in Maharashtra for many years. However, he never drew large crowds. Even his Gujarat trip had gatherings of no more than a few hundred. One would wonder what might have caused this sudden upsurge. There may be several factors behind this — the media hype, the blunders the government committed in harassing him, the anger in the people towards the government which needed a channel and, most of all, the support given by the most popular guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Sri Sri draws crowds of one to two hundred thousand wherever he goes. When Sri Sri, as one of the founders of India Against Corruption, extended his support, all these millions of people spontaneously joined Anna’s cause. Swami Ramdev had also earlier canvassed support for an anti-corruption movement, logging nearly 100,000 km, but the police clamped down on his followers and he was forcibly removed. Sri Sri went further and travelled to 14 states across India to address hundreds of thousands at Art of Living satsangs raising awareness about the Jan Lokpal Bill and offering holistic solutions to tackle corruption. The Art of Living, with 10,000 teachers in urban areas and about 50,000 yuvacharyas (rural volunteers) in villages of India, continued spreading awareness about corruption and its solution and exhorted people not to take or give bribes. Stickers saying ‘I don’t take a bribe’ were distributed and enthusiastically pasted by government employees all over India.Sri Sri, who carries a responsible image with all political parties, including the one in power, was also instrumental in facilitating dialogue by meeting different sides involved in the issue. With its back on the wall, the government was thinking of forcibly hospitalising Anna Hazare. It is then that Sri Sri met leaders of the BJP, who were originally hostile to Anna’s left-leaning aides and convinced them to press for acceptance of the key issues in Parliament. It was due to mobilisation of support in both the Houses that the three point resolution was passed. Arvind Kejriwal publicly thanked Sri Sri and the Art of Living for the role they played in generating the outcome that Anna’s fast at Ramlila Maidan accomplished. The Art of Living continues to support Anna Hazare’s fight for a strong and independent anti-corruption authority.

— The author is the editor in chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde and the author of The Guru of Joy

The lost history of Lumbini

2011-09-02T10:25:00.000+05:30

Source: Daily pioneer

Francois Gautier, The Pioneer

Muslim invaders treated Buddhists as infidels and attacked their places of worship. They razed every single Buddhist temple they encountered, burnt libraries and killed monks. This is why we cannot find Buddhist structures in India, except a few stupas, and why Lumbini has been lost

Buddhism was once upon a time prevalent in India till about the 4th century AD. Many historians, both in India and abroad, have implied that it nearly totally disappeared from India, because it was slowly ‘swallowed’ back by Hinduism at the hands of spiteful Brahmins.

Others have however pointed out that if Hinduism resisted the Muslim onslaught thanks to its Kshatriyas - the Rajputs, Marathas and Sikhs - Buddhism, because it made non-violence an uncompromising dogma, was literally wiped-off the face of India in a few centuries, as it refused to oppose any resistance.

For the Muslim soldiers, Buddhists, who adored statues and did not believe in Allah, were as much infidels as the Hindus, and they razed every single Buddhist temple (and also Jain temples, as the ruins below Fathepur Sikri have proved) they encountered, burnt all the precious libraries and killed tens of thousands of monks, without encountering any opposition. This is why you cannot find a single trace of Buddhist structures today in India, save for a few stupas, which were too cumbersome to be destroyed.

The history of the Islamic onslaught on Buddhism in India should be rewritten. In 1193 CE, for instance, the wonderful Nalanda University was razed to the ground by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turkish Muslim invader on his way to conquer Bengal. He looted and burned the monastery, and killed hundreds or even thousands of monks. The shock of this event lives on in local cultural memory: The three libraries of Nalanda - with books like the ones famous travellers famous Xuanzang and Yi Jing carried back to China were so large that they smouldered for six long months.

But most interesting is the history of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, which is one of the four holy places of Buddhism. Lumbini is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas in modern Nepal. In Buddha’s time, Lumbini was a beautiful garden full of green and shady sal trees.

The garden and its tranquil environs were owned by both the Sandyas and the Kolias clans. King Suddhodana, father of Gautama Buddha, was of the Shakya dynasty belonging to the Kshatriya or the warrior caste. In 249 BC, when the Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini, it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription which, in English translation, runs as follows: “King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here, a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan”.

Lumbini then remained neglected and forgotten for centuries. But in 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great Ashoka pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and a sandstone sculpture within the temple itself, which depicts the scenes of Buddha’s birth. But there was great damage, which Feuhrer could not explain, except speculate that the place was once ransacked.

Historian Bhuban Lal Pradhan believes that it was Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517 AD) and Aurangzeb (1668-1701 AD) who were mainly responsible for the ravage and subsequent desertion of the Lumbini and Kapilavastu regions. Nepalese rulers were helpless and even Mukund Sena (1782-93 AD), who ruled the region from Palpa, could do nothing to recover the religious glory of the site and the result was that this holy place was lost in the dense forest that grew over it. Later the name of Lumbini gradually changed to Rummindei and then to Rupandehi, the present name of the district.

Since Feuhrer’s discovery, several excavations have been conducted and a large number of ancient relics have been brought to light which reveal that Lumbini was an important place of Buddhist pilgrimage even during the time of the Mauryas. Now China is leading a project worth $3 billion to transform the small town into a premier place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around the world. Little Lumbini will have an airport, highway, hotels, convention centre, temples and a Buddhist university. It’s not all about philanthropy, but also to undermine the Dalai Lama’s influence in South Asia.

Romila Thapar, India’s most respected historian, believes that because Buddhism challenged the very structure of the caste system, it was not liked by the upper castes who did not let it flourish. She also points a finger at the “policy of assimilation” of Hinduism, such as stating that Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

But Romila Thapar is wrong. If it can be said that Adi Shankaracharya’s preaching the five-fold path of bhakti got the Buddhist converts back into Hinduism, the reality is that Buddhism in India was wiped out by Islamic invaders and that Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam, suffered greatly in the process.

Francois Gautier's open letter to Manu Joseph : Slander against Hindu Gurus in New york Times -

2011-09-02T10:15:00.000+05:30

Sub: your article in the New York Times

Mr. Manu Joseph,

I am journalist like you: correspondent in South Asia of the French daily Le Figaro for ten years, now editor of La Revue de l’Inde (Editions l’Harmattan, Paris) the only magazine solely dedicated to India in the French speaking world (20.000 copies per issue).
Also a writer, author of a dozen books in French and English. Amongst them ‘The Art of Healing (Harper Collins, 2010), The Guru of joy (Hay House USA, 100.000 copies sold), La Caravane Intérieure (Paris, Les Belles Lettres).

I am a too born Christian. My father, a very good man, was a devout catholic; my uncle was the parish head of the famous church Saint Jean de Montmartre.

I also live in India and am married to an Indian from Delhi. But the comparison stops there. I have respect for India’s ancient culture and would never dare running it down the way you did.

The history of respect and devotion to Gurus is a very ancient tradition and is something that is both spontaneous and natural to millions of Indians. I have also interacted for many years with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and observed that he is engaged in countless charity works, both in India and abroad; that he gives selflessly his time to others, never getting angry, never getting impatient, in the nearly 20 years I have known him. His Sudarshan Kriya technique has brought joy, energy and well-being to millions of people, including me – I would recommend it to all journalists, who are subjected to so much stress and unhealthy life styles.

What I have also observed during my many years in India is that not only both the Hindus and Indian media will never run down the Pope or Indian bishops, but will even go to churches, even if they are Hindus, because they recognize that God takes many forms and incarnations. But apparently you, and many other Christians in India, do not reciprocate this respect.

What you have indeed shown is that your Christian identity takes precedence over the impartiality you should show as a journalist. With no direct knowledge of the Art of Living foundation, or of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s work, you have used the power of the Word, to slander your own culture, that too in such a prestigious publication as the New York Times, taking advantage of the innocence and ignorance of India of most of its readers.

Shame on you!

Francois Gautier

Hazare arrest fiasco: Just who is calling the shots at the Centre?

2011-09-02T10:06:00.000+05:30

Francois Gautier | Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The first prerequisite of a good journalist is to be inquisitive. And indeed, the Indian media can be very inquisitive, as investigations into the recent scams by Times Now or Tehelka have shown.

Yet, when it comes to Sonia Gandhi, there is a conspiracy of silence. Firstly, no newspaper or television channel ever mentions the fact that she probably has cervical cancer, and you have to go online to foreign publications to learn it.

Now, Mrs Gandhi is the most powerful person in India, a super prime minister, over the existing PM and as such her bill of health is a matter of public scrutiny, as it would be for Barack Obama or Angela Merkel.

Secondly, the most basic questions that any journalist worth his/her salt should inquire into are not asked:

Is she still running the government by proxy from the US? Knowing how the Congress works, Anna Hazare’s arrest had to be taken at the highest level, like it was the case with the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev. Either Ahmed Patel (Gandhi’s political advisor) called her directly, or Rahul Gandhi was the intermediary.

There are other questions too:
Where did she have treatment for the past eight months?

How did she manage this time — and many times before — to get out of her 10, Janpath residence and the country without anybody taking notice, given the amount of security and media scrutiny around her?

Does she travel abroad in a scheduled flight or on a chartered plane?

Who pays for her travels and her medical expenses?

Why go to the US for surgery? India has some of the best doctors in the world and westerners come here nowadays for major surgeries, as hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai are as good as — and cheaper than — those in Europe or the US.

The argument of privacy and not wanting to disturb other patients does not stand. Security is so tight around her in India that nobody can get through, whereas in the US, she will be only allowed minimal security and journalists will be able to get much closer.

Critics might say: ‘We respect her privacy and her pain.’ Yes, but when it comes to Narendra Modi, BS Yeddyurappa or LK Advani, the press shows no such restraint and even goes overboard in scrutinising them.

The tragedy of India is that, unlike China, it was colonised for too long and it is left behind with a legacy of over-admiration — if not of submissiveness — for the white man and woman, which takes the politically correct shape of democratic acceptance of the ‘other’, or of protecting his or her ‘privacy’. That is fine, but not in the case of public figures.

Nobody also says aloud that only a small percentage of the money gotten through scams goes into the pockets of politicians involved, the major part is for the parties’ coffers and is used to fight the enormous costs of Indian elections, where one actually tries to buy voters, or even purchase MPs, as was done during the 2008 vote of confidence over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

And the Congress is the party that has institutionalised this cancerous practice that is eating the entrails of this great nation, as much as cervical cancer is eating into Mrs Gandhi’s body, because everybody has to follow the system, if he or she wants to be elected and stay in power.

The media accuses A Raja, Suresh Kalmadi, Sheila Dikshit and others, but nobody points a finger at Mrs Gandhi. Yet it is only natural that Mrs Gandhi should take responsibility as she controls the party and wields immense power disproportionate to her post.

Appeal for museum of Indian history dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj

2011-07-18T07:50:00.000+05:30

Dear Friend,

As you may know, I am building in Pune a museum of Indian history dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj.
We have begun by erecting a shrine dedicated to Mata Bharati along with the first exhibition hall.

What I would like to know from you :

a) if you are interested to receive periodical updates on the museum

b) if you or any of your friends could contribute knowledge for the museum, for instance, do you know anybody who is an expert on vedic mathematics or the Goa inquisition or any historical subject of relevance to India and could mount an exhibition? We also need software know how, historical games, power point, interactive films, etc...

c) would you or any of your friends contribute financially to this project ;

we need approximately for the first phase 5 crores rupees, and this is the most difficult part of the museum.

FACT has US and Indian tax exemption and FCRA permission.

Thanking you for your support.

Regards
François Gautier
Trustee FACT

Sanatan Prabhat कधीतरीच हिंदूंच्या संतापाच्या ज्वालामुखीचा उद्रेक ! जम

2011-07-07T08:58:00.000+05:30

http://www.sanatan.org/marathi/dainik/news.php?dt=2008-08-26&action=fullnews&catid=3&id=11428

कधीतरीच हिंदूंच्या संतापाच्या ज्वालामुखीचा उद्रेक !

Source Sanathan

जम्मू-काश्मीरमधील अमरनाथ जमिनीच्या वादावर तोडगा काढण्यासाठी सर्वपक्षीय बैठक बोलावण्याऐवजी सरकारने जम्मूमधील हिंदूंचा संताप जाणून घेण्याचा प्रयत्‍न केल्यास योग्य होईल ! अमरनाथ मुद्यावर आत्मचिंतन करण्याची संधी सरकारने घालवू नये; कारण कधीतरी हिंदूंच्या संतापाच्या ज्वालामुखीचा उद्रेक होतो. हिंदूंच्या संतापामागे अमरनाथ जमिनीचा एकच मुद्दा आहे का ? त्यांच्यामध्ये संताप निर्माण करण्यासाठी इतर मुद्दे नाहीत का ? या गोष्टींचा उहापोह होणे आवश्यक आहे.
- फ्रेंच पत्रकार फ्रान्सुआ गोतिए

फ्रेंच पत्रकार फ्रान्सुआ गोतिए

शतकभरात काश्मीरसह ईशान्येकडील राज्यांत हिंदू अल्पसंख्य !
हिंदू शांतीप्रिय नागरिक आहेत; मात्र जगात प्रत्येक ठिकाणी हिंदूंची अवहेलना केली जाते. फिजी, पाकिस्तान किंवा बांगलादेश येथे भारताच्या विरोधात संताप व्यक्‍त करतांना हिंदूंना लक्ष्य ठरवले जाते. १९०० सालात काश्मीर खोर्‍यात १० लाख हिंदू होते, तर आता तेथे काही शेकडोच हिंदू शिल्लक आहेत. दहशतवाद्यांमुळे काश्मीर सोडून पळून जाण्याची वेळ त्यांच्यावर आली. आसाम, त्रिपुरा किंवा नागालँड येथे तेथील हिंदूंपेक्षा बेकायदेशीरपणे घुसखोरी केलेल्या बांगलादेशींची संख्या जास्त आहे. तसेच या राज्यांत िख्र्तासीवाद्यांचा दहशतवादही मोठ्या प्रमाणात पसरला आहे.

सर्वसमावेशक हिंदूंना लक्ष्य का केले जाते ?
गेल्या ३ हजार ५०० वर्षांचा इतिहास पहाता, हिंदूंनी कधीच इतर देशावर आक्रमण केलेले नाही. तसेच त्यांनी त्यांचा धर्म इतरांवर कधीच लादला नाही. सांप्रत काळात हिंदु धर्माची उपांगे असलेल्या योग, ध्यान, आयुर्वेद, प्राणायम यांचा अंगीकार जगभरातील लाखो नागरिक करत आहेत. जगातील बहिष्कृत अल्पसंख्यांकांना हिंदूंनी नेहमीच आश्रय दिलेला आहे. अशा हिंदूंना िख्र्तासींनी धर्मांतराच्या माध्यमातून, तर मुसलमानांनी रक्‍तरंजित आक्रमणांनी नेहमी विरोधच केला.

अमरनाथमधील उद्रेक कशासाठी ?
गुजरात दंगलीची आपण निंदाच केली पाहिजे; मात्र त्यामागची कारणे जाणून घेणे तेवढेच आवश्यक आहे. गुन्हेगाराच्या एका गटाने ५९ निष्पाप हिंदूंना रेल्वेमध्ये जाळून टाकले होते. त्यामुळे हिंदूंचा संताप अनावर झाला. एवढ्यावरच हा संताप सीमित नाही, तर वर्षांनुवर्षे गुजरातच्या हिंदूंवर झालेल्या अन्यायांचाही संताप होतो, हे आपण जाणले पाहिजे. अमरनाथ मुद्याच्या बाबतीतही तसेच आहे. मुसलमानांना हज यात्रेसाठी कोट्यवधी रुपये सरकारकडून दिले जातात, त्याबद्दल हिंदूंनी कधी तक्रार केलेली नाही; मात्र जेव्हा हिंदूंना यात्रेसाठी सुविधा हव्या आहेत, तेव्हा त्या सरकारकडून नाकारल्या जातात; म्हणूनच हा उद्रेक आहे ! या सरकारने किंवा पुढे येणार्‍या सरकारने हिंदूंच्या या संतापाची दखल घेतली नाही, तर आणखी अनेक `जम्मू' ज्वालामुखीप्रमाणे उद्रेक झालेले आपल्याला दिसतील !

The power of the rain

2011-07-07T01:53:00.000+05:30

Francois Gautier | Monday, July 4, 2011
Source: DNA india

It was billed as the biggest yoga camp ever. The place: Berlin, Germany, in the majestic Olympic stadium that can sit 70.000 people. The occasion: the 3O years celebrations of the Art of Living Foundation, led by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of India's 5 most influential people, according to Forbes.

For months volunteers of the Art of Living Foundation worked hard to produce a flawless show, involving hundreds of performers.

On D Day, everything was ready. But that was not counting the vagaries of the weather: that morning, it started to rain, hard and steady. 40.000 disciples of the Art of Living prayed silently to their Master so that the rain stopped before the performance. But another miracle happened.
First 50 Indian singers smiled though the rain while reciting ancient Sanskrit slokas. Then 500 Polish dancers hopped, skipped and bowed in the mud and puddles. The ancient science of yoga came indeed alive with hundreds of adepts going though asanas. The Art of Living performers seemed to transcend the rain: standing for a long time in flimsy clothing, in 13° centigrade, under sheets of rains, while waiting for their turn, they exploded in joy, grace, rhythm and sometimes power.

The sheer joy, energy, enthusiasm of not only the performers, but also of the nearly 40.000 spectators who had braved the rain, was something to watch. Nobody, even amongst the ministers, presidents and MP's who sat with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the dais, was indifferent.

And finally, that was what the miracle was about: not some cheap stunt of the rain stopping, by some power, or just a freak chance, which would have had many in religious ecstasy. But thousands of performers transcending adversity — which that day took the shape of unexpected cold and rain — through their devotion and love of their Master, and in the process, attaining heights of performance, which they might not have achieved in perfect conditions.

And in this union of their minds and bodies, not only were they forgetful of the rain, but different people from different countries, religions, cultures, some of them even hostile to each other, blended, naturally. And the message, which this gathering was to give, went through effortlessly: that the whole world can come together, while celebrating harmony in diversity. This is the miracle of love, this is the miracle of the rain. And even the sceptics rose as one man as the laser show and thousands of cheering spectators closed the first day of the Art of Living celebrations.

The Arab Spring is making way for a scorching Islamist Summer ‎

2011-06-15T12:38:00.007+05:30

Source: DNA INDIA

The Mother of Pondich-ery once said some-thing like this: “Man is enamoured of his own pain — and sometimes, he even welcomes it”!

I remember a few years ago in Kathmandu, Nepal, when the monarchy had fallen, hearing the Indian ambassa- dor in Nepal, Shyam Sharan, announcing gleefully during a press conference that the Maoists were on the verge of taking power and that they had India’s support. I must have been the only journalist there who pointed out that the Maoists were not particular-ly enamoured of Delhi and that India would face yet an-other potential pro-Pakistan or pro-Chinese hostile coun-try overlooking it from a strategic height. He looked at me as if I was mad.

The Mother was right. Man sometimes actually welcomes the forces that are hostile to him or his country or even have come to destroy him. How many times did Indian maharajas, generals, nawabs, invite the enemy in their midst? All Arab and Euro- pean conquerors had it easy that way.

This leads us to the attitude of the West, particularly of the United States, towards what has been called the Arab revolutions. For some of us who watched these street re-volts, there was always the question: where is it going to lead? Those in South Asia who covered Kashmir, re-member the old Kashmir, where Sufism and tolerance were still alive till the late eighties, where women went uncovered, cinemas and ho-tels flourished. But we also
witnessed the last Sufi shrinein Kashmir, Char-e-Sharif burnt to the ground by mili-tants, women forced to cover themselves from head to toe, cinemas banned — and we lost our innocence in the process, henceforth always harbouring some suspicion about ‘revolutions’ in the Muslim world.

It is true that there was youth, enthusiasm and spon-taneity in many of these re-volts, but nevertheless, one was surprised at the way the western world, particularly Barack Obama, not only em-braced them, but even gave military support to them under the guise of NATO
airstrikes.

Mubarak and Gaddafi may have been dictators — but they were secular in their own way. Hosni Mubarak particularly, was no terrorist like Gaddafi. He was a friend of the West, kept the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most radical movements in the world after the al Qaeda, at
arm’s length and women in Egypt could go around freely, veiled or not veiled.

After he was removed, with President Obama’s blessings, the whole world rejoiced. Yet, very quickly, we witnessed the first signs of Egypt heading in the wrong direction: the Supreme Military Council which has taken over from Mubarak, immediately realigned foreign policy to include better relations with Iran. The foreign minister is soon going to go on a highly
symbolic visit to Gaza, now run by Hamas and last week Cairo reopened its border with the Gaza strip, which may allow Hamas to freely import rockets to bomb Israel. Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic fundamentalists, jailed by Hosni Mubarak, have also been released and are preaching openly or forming new parties. Recent weeks have seen the worst clashes in years between Muslims and the Coptic Christian minority, even though priests and
imams stood together in Tahrir Square. More alarmingly, a recent poll found that 58 per cent of Egyptians want to tear up the 32-year-old peace treaty with Israel, 62
per cent, want Egyptian law to follow the Koran strictly, and 75 per cent look favourably on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thus, if these revolutions actually embodied the aspirations of the people of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, or Yemen, for a more Islamic brand of government, we will see not only, as in Kashmir, a radicalisation of Islam, the loss of liberties, especially for women, but also these regimes later turn back against the very hands that helped them: the West and particularly the United States.

Barack Hussain Obama has several identities: American — and there is no doubt he has a sincere aspiration for his country; African — but we have not seen much of concern for these countries; Christian — his wife is a staunch Christian and he swore allegiance to America on the Bible … But also Muslim— and that is the big question mark: how much does
this secret, hidden part of his personality influence him and how much does it weigh
on his decisions? The way President Obama has been supporting not only Egypt but coaxing NATO to bomb Libya and kill hundreds of civilians must put a question mark on his hidden identities.

If these revolutions embodied the aspirations for a more Islamic brand of government, we
will see not only a loss of liberties, but we will also see these regimes turn against the West —NYT

The author is editor-in-chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde and author of A New History of India (Har Anand, New Delhi) inbox@dnaindia.net; françoisgautier26@gmai.com

Shivaji Museum fundraising plea by Francois Gautier

2011-06-06T21:09:00.000+05:30

The uncalled for fascination with Aurangzeb

2011-05-23T09:19:00.001+05:30

Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 1:08 IST
By Francois Gautier | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

We all admire William Dalrymple for his writing style, knowledge of India and for making Delhi his home. Yet, his fascination for the Mughals, which already made him write the ‘The Last Mughal’ and ‘White Mughals’, is bizarre, to say the least, as the Mughals were the biggest perpetrators of human rights abuses of their time, not only against Hindus and Sikhs, but even against their own kin.

It seems Dalrymple now wants to embark upon a new book about one of India’s most controversial historical figures, Aurangzeb, whom he considers “absolutely fascinating” and “very self aware, very Shakespearean”.

Speaking about the richest Mughal emperor who also had the second-longest reign after Akbar, Dalrymple says: “By the end of it, he does becomes a monster of myths, but his final letters are full of regret and awareness about how much he destroyed of what he had inherited.”

And he adds: “What is little spoken is that he was an extremely generous donor of various ashrams and maths. Just the sheer data that can be gathered about his donations to Hindu monasteries is extraordinary…”

Now is that true? Aurangzeb (1658-1707) was neither the eldest, nor the favourite son of his father Shah Jahan. To ascend the throne, he killed his two brothers, dispatched his father to jail, and subsequently murdered him by sending him poisoned massage oil. He later imprisoned his son (in his will, he admonished: “Never trust your sons”). He was also very cruel to the Hindus, ordering temples destroyed and making sure that the idols of Hindu gods and goddesses were buried under the steps of the mosques (like the Jama Masjid in Delhi) so that future generations of Muslims will trample upon them.

Aurangzeb built a number of mosques on destroyed temples, including Kashi Vishwanath, one of the most sacred places for Hindus. Other Hindu sacred places within his reach too suffered destruction with mosques built on them. A few examples: Krishna’s birth temple in Mathura, the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat, the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares, and the Treta-ke-Thakur temple in Ayodhya. The number of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in four, if not five, figures. Aurangzeb did not stop at destroying temples; their users were also wiped out.

Muslims suffered as much as Hindus: 90% of today’s Indian Muslims should know that their forefathers were converted by force under Aurangzeb. Even his own brother, Dara Shukoh, was executed for taking an interest in Hindu religion.

The shadow of Aurangzeb still floats upon India: in Kashmir, where 4,00,000 Hindus were made to flee their homeland. India looks like sometimes it is forsaking its Sufi inheritance and letting Aurangzeb’s spirit take hold of it. What will happen once the army goes? Aurangzeb is not only present in Kashmir, his very name still triggers passion on both sides of the Hindu and the Muslim community. Yet, one has just to go through Aurangzeb’s own firmans (edicts), which are still preserved in the Bikaner archives, to know what kind of man he was.

One is also surprised that the Sikh community, particularly the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, has kept quiet. Have they forgotten what Aurangzeb did to them?

Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded because he objected to Aurangzeb’s forced conversions. Aurangzeb, who had never forgiven the Sikhs for having supported his brother Dara, persecuted the Sikhs viciously. In response, Guru Gobind Singh transformed the Sikh community into a military community. Many perceive Guru Gobind Singh as no a warlord with no religious credentials; yet, he was a powerful military general who transformed the Sikhs into a militaristic society.

The Sikh community should debate whether they want to make Aurangzeb a hero or remain close to the Hindus? Why do not the Sikhs in Delhi lobby so that Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi is renamed after one of their gurus?

Indian Muslims too have to make a crucial choice: do they want Aurangzeb’s inheritance to prevail upon Islam in India, or will they invoke Dara Shukoh’s spirit and bring the greatness of Sufism back into India?

As for Dalrymple, let him dwell upon his fantasies. Western Indology is still mired in its olds prejudices and cliches, which make Aurangzeb a hero and Guru Gobind Singh or Shivaji Maharaj mere petty chieftains.

FACT INDIA's Sikhism exhibition in LA inaugurated by H H Sri Sri Ravishankar

2011-05-20T16:37:00.000+05:30

Above: His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inaugurating FACT - India's exhibition on Sikhism at Los Angeles Baisakhi Mela - 17th April, 2011

Why is Sonia Gandhi so scared of Narendra Modi?

2011-05-07T13:02:00.000+05:30

Published: Friday, May 6, 2011, 2:21 IST

By Francois Gautier

One hopes that the people of India are not blind to the utter cynicism of some of its politicians. The way they are efficiently and ruthlessly killing the whole Lokpal movement with the help of deceit and slander is frightening. All the while, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, whose party is not only the main recipient of corruption but has actually institutionalised it, throw decoys at us with declarations of 'zero tolerance of corruption'.

It is funny how this government is hell bent in preserving what is corrupt, untruthful, inefficient - as symbolised by the deal they have made with Karunanidhi that they will not touch his family - and fanatic about destroying what is free of corruption and is prosperous.

Sonia has been on a personal vendetta against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for a long time. She had a useful tool in Teesta Setalvad, who, it is now discovered, has bribed witnesses, filed false affidavits, and committed repeated perjuries in court. Teesta's usefulness is nearing an end as she may soon land up in jail, so the Congress has now found another willing tool in Gujarat police officer Sanjiv Bhatt to implicate Modi in the post-Godhra riots.

The government has subverted its investigative instruments such that the CBI goes after Modi even as it closes its eyes to the wrongs that chief ministers of the Congress or its allies, such as the DMK, are openly doing.

For example, the CBI requested the judiciary to drop the case against Jagdish Tytler, who was seen by innumerable witnesses leading mobs to murder Sikhs, while it is going all guns blazing against Modi, who at best was caught off guard when the riots in Gujarat broke out in 2002, or at the worst, delayed in calling the army. But did not Rajiv Gandhi do the same thing ("When a big tree falls, the earth shakes," he had said) after his mother was murdered by her own bodyguards? Rajiv also delayed calling in the security forces.

It is illogical that the legal instruments of Indian democracy are used to pin down the CM of India's most lawful, and prosperous and least corrupt state, which impresses even non-BJP tycoons such Ratan Tata, when a Lalu Prasad was allowed to loot Bihar and keep it in the most desolate state because he was an ally.

Is it logical today that the Indian media only highlight the 2002 Gujarat riots, carefully omitting the fact that they were triggered by the horrifying murder of 57 Hindus, 36 of them innocent women and children, burnt in the Sabarmati Express? Riots of that intensity do not happen in a day; they are the result of long-term pent-up anger and a spark - like the killing of Hindus, whose only crime was that they believed that Ram was born in Ayodhya.

It is widely known that the dreaded Khalistan movement in Punjab was quelled in the '80's by supercop KPS Gill in a ruthless manner by a number of 'fake encounters' that killed top Sikh separatists. This was done under a Congress government, both at the Centre and in Punjab. Rajiv was the PM then, but he was never indicted. This is so because terrorists have no law and they kill innocent people; and sometimes ruthless methods have to be used against them.

Why is Sonia going so single-mindedly against Modi? Because, he seems to be the only alternative to her son Rahul Gandhi becoming prime minister in the next general elections. We should give credit to Sonia for her cunning and ruthlessness.

It is no good being a Hindu in Sonia Gandhi's India. It is better to be a Quattrocchi, who was exonerated by the CBI. Or a terrorist like Sohrabuddin from whose house in Madhya Pradesh 40 AK-47 rifles, and a number of live hand grenades and bullets were confiscated, who was declared "Wanted" in five states with 40 cases registered against him. Then you stand a chance to be protected by the government of India, while those who have at heart their country's integrity go to jail.

Sonia has achieved such terrifying power, a glance of her, a silence, just being there, is enough for her inner circle to act; she has subverted so much of the instruments of Indian democracy and she controls such huge amounts of unlisted money that sooner or later this 'karma' may come back to her under one form or the other.

A Benefit concert for FACT INDIA's Museum of Indian History, Pune

2011-04-06T10:27:00.001+05:30

A Benefit concert for FACT INDIA's Museum of Indian History, Pune

INCREDIBLE INDIA

2011-04-05T21:26:00.000+05:30

Source: DNA INDIA

Nowadays, in every hotel, every railways station, every government office, you can find posters selling

« Incredible India ».

I have been a defender of India for many many years, but the Incredible India campaign does not always match the reality on the ground.

Take visas, for instance. Because India’s intelligence agencies did not do their work properly and Headley was able to move around freely around the country, preparing the 26/11 terror attacks, visa rules have been tightened to such an extent that it has become ridiculous. Recently I asked for a visa for my assistant, a French lady, who likes India, and wants to work in India. She would help in the making of La Revue de l’Inde, the only magazine solely devoted to India in the French speaking world, and which props-up India as the natural, liberal and democratic alternative to China… The Indian embassy in Paris offered her a 3 months visa! Visa rules in India are nehruvian and outdated. The Chinese have understood that one needs to open one’s doors if one wants investments. Incredible India!

Take railways. 20 years ago one had to wait for a long time to get a confirmed berth on the Ranikhet Express which connects to two of the most popular hill stations in northern India: Nainital & Ranikhet. Any change? When we booked our tickets, we were waitlisted 12 & 13. A month later, we were still 12 & 13! Lalu Prasad & Mamta Banerjee might start new trains to please their constituencies, but they do not increase the existing capacities and as a result Indian railways have hardly progressed in 20 years, whereas again, the Chinese have clean, comfortable and fast trains. I say fast, because when we finally got confirmed berths on the Ranikhet express, the train was seven hours late and took 14 hours to cover the 378 kms that separate Delhi from Kathgodam, which makes for an average speed of 19 kms an hour. Incredible India !

India is the largest democracy in the world, they say. Is it at the moment? Reliance claims the Government has asked them to spy on a 100.000 phones. What about the other operators? How many phones is this Government spying on? The CBI blatantly lets go of Quatrocchi the only man who could implicate Sonia Gandhi in the Bofors scam, but goes out big time after Hindu ‘terrorists’. There is some progress though, because a few people are beginning to point a finger at Sonia Gandhi (Raja must have shared some of the scam money with the Congress for their election campaigns and we all know that Sonia holds the strings of the purse – hence her immense power), whereas before nobody dared, for fear of some goons ransacking their office or even being killed. Incredible India !

Speaking of mobiles. The 2G scam is not only about mobile operators paying bribes to Mr Raja to buy bandwidth at throwaway prices and sell them a month later at huge profits to foreign companies, as Tata did to Japanese Docomo, it is also about them thinking they can get away with anything and employing strong arms tactics to recover unpaid bills. I have been a customer of Essar, (then Hutchinson, then Vodafone) since 1997, when I paid a deposit of 5000, which is worth at least four more today. In 2008 my 11 year on-time paid connection (9811118828), was arbitrarily disconnected by Vodafone for a disputed bill of Rs 2000 (of unwanted adds while in Bali, which one of the then Hutch executives had agreed to waive). Then on 10.3.10, I received a call on my new mobile from sub-inspector Kripal Singh (08010649949), who said there was a non bailable warrant against me for unpaid mobile bills. He gave me the mobile number of a lawyer at Delhi’s Tees Hazra’s court (09540602039) and that I had to pay him an amount of Rs.7,500/- before 5 PM, otherwise I would go to jail. Most people pay out of fear. Incredible India!

What about banks? There is so much cheating in India by rich people (like Hassan Ali, who has just gone to jail though it is known for years he has 4 fake passports), that the low income lawful customers pay for them. Since five years foreigners can own property in India or even have 100% shares in companies. I am a PIO, so I have every single right that any other Indian have, except to vote. But try opening a trust account, even in a private bank like HDFC. It’s just hell, as your are mistrusted at every step, a hundred forms have to be signed, copies of your PIO have repeatedly to be given and every request starts with a no, no, no. The tragedy in India as it is so centralized with the Government breathing with a million rules on everyone’s necks, that private initiative is stifled, because everybody is so scared that they go even overboard in denying you. Incredible India!

If only Indian politicians could hear what ordinary Indians are saying about them. Our driver in Jaipur who is paid 5000RS a month by a hotel that charges 22.0000 Rs a day for a room, says with a smirk as soon as we get in his car: “India, My India, Incredible India, but everybody is corrupt Sir, I hate them all”. Incredible India!

Good journalism should always balance criticism with positive outputs so that one’s readers should not feel that the world is bleak and hopeless. Let me say then, that India has shown again that when in extreme distress, it can raise its head and correct its headings. The judiciary and the press are fighting the incredible corruption cancer that has taken over Indian politics and some accountability is being primed at the moment.

In Jaipur again, I stumbled in a stadium with over 100.0000 people, many of them youngsters, singing, dancing, breathing, and meditating with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during the occasion of Shivaratri. That was amazing: Incredible India.

Fgautier26@rediffmail.com

Editor in Chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde and author of “A New History of India” (Har Anand, New Delhi)

BEING AN INDIAN ABROAD. PART II

2011-03-16T14:35:00.000+05:30

My note, « Being an Indian abroad », posted on Facebook, triggered a few reactions.

Obviously, America is not only fast food, artificial lights, cars and a superficial vitality. There is a certain openness about America, a willingness of the American people to listen to other points of view, which is unique. Yes, America is also a land of freedom where in the last three hundred years, people from all nationalities, all social classes, have been given the chance to make it good. And they have in turn responded to this unique trust by giving the United States their 100% allegiance and energies, which makes it today the leading industrial and military nation in the world. One finds too a sense of collectiveness, a caring for the others, which gives America some of the best road system in the world and first-class public amenities, such as the community centers found in many American cities.

But is America really the benevolent, casteless society that some of facebook members are convinced it is ? Well, its true that hey have elected Obama, a unique phenomenon, which shows America’s openness, but still, I am not sure. For one, what the White Americans did to the Blacks not that long ago, must be ranking amongst some of the saddest deeds perpetuated by one class of humanity on another; not to speak of the terrible and shameful treatment inflicted upon the hapless Red Indians, the original inhabitants of their land, a karma that the US will have to pay sooner or later. There are also a lot of inequalities in the States: extremely rich people and some incredibly poor folks, mostly Blacks, for such a country of tremendous wealth. American journalists and human rights activists like to highlight the “oppressed” condition of women in India. But as early as the late sixties, India elected democratically a woman Prime Minister, the highest post of the nation – and that for nearly twenty years. Can the country of triumphant feminism and gender equality boast of a woman President? Hillary Clinton did not make it. The problem is that most Indians suffer too much from an inferiority complex vis à vis the West, to point this out to the Americans who are constantly criticizing India for its human rights in Kashmir and Gujarat

Yes, in America one enjoys the liberty to do whatever one wants without the red tape, bureaucracy and heavy taxation that one is subjected to in India, or even in industrialized countries such as France. But after 11th September 2001, freedoms have been heavily curtailed in the US, especially if you have a brown skin, as many Indians, Hindus sorry, are finding out today, being mistaken by ignorant Americans for Pakistanis, Afghanis or Saudis. Today, each of your movements are watched in the US, as there are video cameras everywhere, not only at airports, but also at traffic lights, in stores, at cinemas. Everything is known about you, thanks to computerization - and we even once heard on the PA of Atlanta airport: “ you can go to jail for something you say, even as a joke” ! Compare this to India: I have lived here for 40 years, I have gone to the most remote places, traveled to sacred spots with my cameras, tape recorder and white face. And never once have I been aggressed, never once has my passport been asked in the streets (try traveling in the subway in Paris if you have a brown face and a leather jacket), never once have I been mugged at late nights in Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai, whereas in Washington, the capital of the ‘land of freedom’, we were told not to go out alone in certain parts after 8 PM.

Some of the posts dealt with the extraordinary “religious freedom one can enjoy in the US, where nobody bothers whether you are a Jew, a Hindu, or a Christian”. Fair enough. But let’s put it that way: the American population is overwhelmingly Christian and nobody there finds anything to say that the President of the United States is sworn in on the Bible, or that in some states a Christian prayer is uttered before the start of the school. India has a thumping Hindu majority (80%), but imagine the uproar if Mr. Manmohan Singh had been sworn in on the Bhagavad-Gita ! And remember what happened when Murli Manohar Joshi wanted to introduce the chanting of the Vandana Saraswati in schools. Yet, India had three Muslim Presidents since independence, a Sikh PM today, when Sikhs constitute 3% of the total population and a Christian Supremo, who is just an elected MP, when Christians are only 2% in India. Would that be possible in the US?

OK, some of you have a point: when I say that all Indians settled in the US should regroup themselves under a “Hindu American banner”, it does look as if I want to exclude Christians, Muslim and Sikh Indians. Indeed, most of the protesting emails when this article was first published by Rediff.com, were from Christians, Muslims and Sikhs. But the question is: do these minorities really want to be part of India? Let’s answer the objections from Christians first. One Christian reader tells me “Christians have no freedom in India, or else they are killed like Australian missionary Graham Staines”. There is no denying that this was a horrible crime and that its perpetrators should be punished - and they have been punished. But this is an isolated case and our friend disregards what the Christians have done to Hindus over the centuries. The first Christian community in the world, that of the Syrian Christians, settled in India in the first century. They were not only allowed to practice their religion in peace, but they prospered here, whereas at the same time they were persecuted in Rome and later in many Arabic countries. But when Vasco de Gama landed in India in the 16th century, the Portuguese, with the active collaboration of many of the Indian Christians, unleashed a reign of terror in Goa and some parts of Kerala, crucifying Brahmins, razing temples, forcibly marrying their soldiers to Goanese women. The British, even if they did not use such violent means, gave a free hand to missionaries to convert huge parts of India, particularly in the North-East. Today, American or Australian dollars are used to still convert unethically, by using the economic incentive amongst tribals and untouchables, teaching the new converts to hate their culture and customs and creating a spirit of separatism, as the Christian Bodo and Mizo militants have shown.

A few Sikh friends also resented my not having mentioned Sikkism. Let me quote straightaway from Sri Aurobindo: “ The Sikh Khalsa was an astonishingly original and novel creation and its face was turned not to the past but to the future. Apart and singular in its theocratic head and democratic soul and structure, it was the first attempt to combine the deepest elements of Islam and Vedanta. But it could not create between the spirit and the external life the transmitting medium of a rich creative thought and culture. And thus hampered and deficient it began and ended with narrow local limits, achieved intensity but no power of expansion..."
Unfortunately, the Sikhs, because they had to defend themselves against the terrible persecutions by the Muslims, became a militant religion, adopting hawkish habits, which they kept, even in time of peace. And they also retained some of the more negative sides of Islam: intolerance, or feeling of persecution, thus cutting themselves from the mainstream spirit of Hindu tolerance from which they anyway came, and where they might ultimately go back. But do they not come from the great Hindu family? Has not till lately every good Hindu family donated one of their sons to Sikhism? Do not Hindus, still today go to Gurdwaras? Yet today, many expatriate Sikhs want to have nothing to do with Hinduism, and sometimes even with India. Badrinath, a holy place to Hindus and Hemkunt Saheb, the most important place of pilgrimage for Sikhs after the Golden Temple, are only separated by a few kilometers. You will find Hindus taking the very arduous trek up to Hemkunt Saheb, but today hardly any Sikhs bother to take the bus to Badrinath. By cutting itself from its roots, Sikkism might be running adrift and lose its relevance.

What about Indian Muslims? Today we see, even though they benefit in India from a freedom they would not have in Saudi Arabia, or even in Pakistan, that Indian Muslims often feel their first allegiance goes to Islam and not to India. The irony of it all is that Muslims invaded India, raped it repeatedly, ran it with an iron and bloody hand, attempted to make of India a totally Islamic country by forcibly converting millions of Hindus – and today they manage to portray themselves in the eyes of the world as the persecuted ! When fed-up by centuries of Muslim oppression, persecutions, ostracism and separatism, upper caste, as well as lower caste Hindus in Gujarat burst out in a frenzy of unforgivable violence after the burning of 57 innocent Hindus in a train by a Muslim mob, Indian Muslims cry for revenge: “I invite people to commit crimes against Hindus in Gujarat”, said one of the emails from a Muslim gentleman. Another Muslim lady, Shabnam Hashmi, has been going around all the United States, saying that it was the RSS who killed the hapless kar sevaks in the Sabamarti Express – and she got the ear of all US mainstream newspapers, such as the NYT, as well as many Government-backed human right agencies. Are American that stupid to believe such a terrible lie ? Isn’t it time that the Indian Muslim community, both abroad and in India, most of whom are Hindus who had to convert by force, make a choice between Babar, a man who destroyed everything which was good, beautiful and holy and lived by the power of violence and Ram, who believed in the equality of all and gave-up all riches and honors of the world because he thought his bother deserved the throne more than him ?

Another strong objection from some readers: religion divides. First let me say that Hinduism, as Sri Aurobindo or Vivekananda, or Shri Ramakrishna, envisioned it, is not a religion but a living spirituality which has given to the world - and still gives it today - wonderful tools: hata-yoga copied all over this planet, meditation, or pranayama, which, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, which teaches pranayama in 140 countries, “can be practiced by anybody, whatever their nationality and religion”. Secondly, at a time when the two largest monotheistic religions of the world, Islam and Christianity still claim that their God is the only true one and it is still their right in the 21st century to convert, or even kill in the name of Jesus Christ, or Mohamed, Hindus, through the extraordinary concept of the avatar, recognize that God manifests himself at different times, in different countries, under different names and thus grant to everybody the right to worship God under any form. This is a very precious spiritual (and not religious) knowledge which has been lost to the world and which, even the most humble Hindu peasant spontaneously practices.

It is also true that things in India are not as they should be. Hindus there are not united, India is divided along caste and religious lines by unscrupulous politicians. Yes, Hindus can also be racists, as one reader remarked; they do suffer at the same time, as another one commented, from a big inferiority complex, as well as one of superiority, quite an achievement! Yes, it is as well correct that expatriate Indians do often tend to become more conscious of their roots than India Indians: they will send their children to learn Bharata Natyam and will remember all the festivals. Good: there is a whole generation of upper middle class kids in India who are so desperately aping the worst of the West, that they are lost for India. Yes, Hindus can on top pf that be selfish, passive, cowardly, miserly, whereas many of them are extremely rich. But nevertheless, they remain a wonderful people, alive with an inbred joy and spirituality.

Contrary to what one of the readers assert, there is a definite atmosphere in India, something special, something unique, which is there nowhere else in the world. Those of you who spent a lot of time abroad, will notice a certain quality in the atmosphere as soon as you enter India, if you are a little sensitive. There is nothing miraculous about it, it juts springs from millions of sages, yogis, thinkers, sadhus, avatars having incarnated themselves on this sacred land of India and meditated there and preached love and compassion. This can be felt even more strongly at certain locations: on the banks of Benares, in Rishikesh or Haridwar, in Madurai, or even of all the places, in Srinagar, where there is still today a strong spiritual atmosphere, maybe because it was once the cradle of Shivaism.

So: Indian Americans or Hindu Americans ? To start with, there are already Indian Americans, those that Columbus mistook for real Indians and you can’t usurp their names. Secondly it ultimately depends on the Christians, the Sikhs and the Muslims, who in the last few decades, have drifted more and more from the Indian psyche, striving to strike a fundamental identity of their own. India and Hinduism always gave them space to express themselves and left them the full freedom of religious expression. But in return, Muslims and Christians persecuted the Hindus; and Sikhs, let themselves be used by Pakistan to harm India’s collective unity. We have also seen that the numerous Indian Americans associations in the US, where there are indeed Muslim, Christians and Sikh Indians, are frequently paralyzed by these three groups, who although they are very small in numbers, often work against India and the Hindu majority by creating such forums as the South Asian journalist Association, which is sometimes used as an anti-Hindu/India forum by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indian Muslims.

Thus, if Hindus in the United States regroup themselves under a “Hindu American” label it might prompt the three minorities to wake-up to the reality of a stronger, overwhelmingly Hindu majority. On top of that, as I have already said, it will give a clear-cut identity to Indians in the States, dissociating them from the Pakistanis, the Bangladeshis, the Saudis, or the Afghans, who have a much less friendly attitude towards the West than Hindus. It will also help make known to the average American the extraordinary achievements of the Hindu community in the US, which must be the most upwardly mobile – and perhaps the richest – community in America. Lastly, it will help the Indian Government, by creating a powerful and effective lobby in the US, free from the shackles imposed by the Christian, Sikh and Muslim Indians. Ultimately, it will up to these three minorities to decide whether they want to re-join this great family that is “Induism”. For we should then give back to ‘Hindus’ it proper meaning: Indus from the civilization of the valley of Indus, probably the most ancient civilization of the world still active today. Once upon a time, Indian Christians, Parsis, Muslims and Hindus were called ‘Indus’ by the invaders without differentiation of caste and religion. Is it not time to put back this habit into practice?

Finally, is America going to be perpetually the Eldorado that still make Indians dream ? Not sure. There are certain signs which show that the US economy is entering a period of darkness: the slump in the stock market, the packing up of half of Silicon Valley, the near bankruptcy of many American airlines, and more than that, the eroding of the cocksure confidence of Americans. There are bound to be more terrorist attacks on the US in the next few years, as Samuel Huntington’s prophecy of a “clash of civilization” between Islam and the West, with China siding with Islam (lets us not forget that Beijing already gave Pakistan the technology to build its nuclear weapons) and Hindu India allied with the West, will prove more and more true. This in turn will trigger more panic, more loss of confidence amongst Americans and eventually a stock market crash on the lines of the one which happened in 1929.

On the other hand, India, this “Third World country”, has learnt to live with Islamic terrorism, its people do not panic as Americans do, it has a relatively stable stock market, its software business is still expanding and is beginning to offer salaries which will compete with the West. Could it be that this great brain drain towards America could be reversed and that NRI’s start coming back to their country of origin in search of greener pastures? One could even dream: today one still sees this huge humiliating queues in front of the US embassy in Delhi, where visa applicants are treated like cattle. Will we one day witness Americans waiting in line in front of the Indian embassy in Washington to obtain working visas in
India ? It will happen my friends. One day.

FRANCOIS GAUTIER

Don’t miss the corruption in our everyday life

2011-02-18T16:24:00.000+05:30

Source: DNA INDIA

Corruption is not only the 2G scam that percolates into everyday Indian life.

Cricket is an area where rottenness has set in. Eleven spoilt brats hog the limelight… and lose three out of five times.

The recent IPL auction was a shameful affair televised nationally: players being sold off as if they were pieces of meat - and most not finding buyers, while a few were bought for absurd prices.

Cricket is also the destroyer of other sports: It monopolises the media and advertisement attention and, as result, India, an upcoming superpower, is ranked 145th in football, 232nd in basketball and is nowhere in the world. Compare this to China which, in less than 30 years, has come to dominate world sports.

Take ads. In the West, sportspersons usually advertise for sports goods. Here, Dhoni, a hero to millions of youths, will not only endorse Coca-Cola, which is harmful to health, but even whisky (under the guise of soda). Is that not a form of corruption?

Speaking of Bollywood, its reputation is grossly overrated: many films are copied frame by frame, from western movies, there is hardly any message, and actors in India do not come from acting schools but are often the children of famous people.

Is industry any better? A Hero Honda still peddles as ‘latest technology’, motorcycles that were in used in the West in the ‘80s. If you look at the motorcycles’ ads, notice that the emphasis is never on the technological features, but on some highly paid actor performing (fake) stunts, amidst dazzling girls in non-Indian landscapes. Indians want to get fairer. Unscrupulous companies, such as Hindustan Lever, thus peddle creams which claim that in a few days you can become whiter. Is this not also a form of corruption?

Take airlines. Jet Airways claims to be the largest airline in India. Yet it offers its passengers aging narrow bodied aircrafts, while its chairman, Naresh Goyal lives in a palatial London house with five Rolls Royce (whatever you may say about Vijay Mallya, his fleet is made of brand new wide-bodied jets, he lives here, and his Force India has put India on the map of F1).

There are even more subtle forms of corruption: look at how the ordinary man is always ready to jump a queue or cheat the taxman or the banks, making life miserable for the lawful customers as the first assumption of banks in India is that you want to cheat them.

Yet we have to excuse Indians. For the last 20 centuries, terror has been bred in the Indian psyche from the Hindu Kush, where, says the Encyclopaedia Britannica, hundreds of thousands of Indians were massacred, to 26/11.

It is not only Hindus who suffered: the forefathers of 95% of today’s Indian Muslims were brutally converted. Buddhism was wiped off from the face of India by the ruthless onslaught of Arab armies. Even the Syrian Christians, who had integrated themselves into the Indian mainstream, were shattered by the arrival of the Portuguese, who imposed a fundamentalist Christianity and split them into two.

Thus, terror breaks the social fabric, breeds corruption, forces the terrorised citizens to cheat to survive - and the habit stays, even when freedom has come. What to do then? Pay better. A cop who has five children to feed, will be less prone to corruption if he has a good salary. Punish harshly. You don’t have to go to the extent of the Chinese government, which shoots politicians guilty of corruption, but if Raja, who swindled India of billions of dollars, would go to jail for 10 years, it would act as a deterrent and put faith in the common man that he too should become honest.

Good governance is a must. Whatever you can say about Narendra Modi, when you go to Gujarat, roads are paved, no bribes are sought, industries flourish, and ministers work 7 days a week. If India could have five states functioning thus, it could prove a watershed.

For the truth is that Indians are a great people. Corruption was inflicted upon them by terror, but it is a disease that they can get rid of provided they elect the right people.

The author is the editor in chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde and the author of The Guru of Joy

Fgautier26@gmail.com

Mata Bharati temple in Pune- Read, Support, Spread the word

2011-01-26T08:13:00.001+05:30

Dear friends,

My Foundation, FACT (fact-india.com), is building in Pune a shrine ...dedicated to Mata Bharati., so as to revive the worship of Mother India. Indeed, till the early 20th century, India was considered as a Deity, a Living Body. But today it has gone. As a result, Indians often do not feel any particular pride in their own country and their children are even more disconnected from the idea of India.

Our architect Sheetal Harpale, of Pyramid Associates, Pune, has designed a wonderful Sri Yantra temple (attached). From the dome, a ray of light will fall on a bronze statue of Mata Bharati endowing Shivaji Maharaj (attached) which we have commissioned from a renowned sculptor.

This unique project, which His Holiness Ravi Shankar has agreed to inaugurate, will cost 30 lakhs. I appeal to your generosity, this temple can be YOURS.

FACT is a registered Trust with the Government of India, we have FCRA permission (to receive funds from abroad) and tax exemption. Cheques can be made in the name of FACT and sent to this address: François Gautier, Auromodel, Auroville, 605101, Tamil Nadu, via Pondichery, India. We will engrave the names of the bigger donors on one of the walls of the temple. We plan to open by the end of the year. All donors will get a receipt and a letter from FACT.

Best

Francois Gautier

A Holocaust Museum In Delhi

2011-01-12T13:32:00.000+05:30

Source: Francois gautier

The massacre of 6 million Jews by Hitler and the persecution that Jews suffered all over the world in the last 15 centuries has been meticulously recorded by Jews themselves after 1945 and has been enshrined not only in history books, but also in Holocaust museums, the most famous one being in Washington DC. It has not been done with a spirit of revenge - look at Israel and Germany today - they are in the best of terms; yet, facts are facts and contemporary Germany had to come to terms with its terrible actions during Second World War.

Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists have suffered also a terrible Holocaust, probably without parallel in human history. Take the Hindu Kush for instance, probably one of the biggest genocides of Hindus. There is practically no serious research ever done about it and no mention in history books. Yet the name Hindu Kush appears many times in the writings of Muslim chroniclers: in 1333 AD Ibn Battutah, the medieval Berber traveller, said the name meant 'Hindu Killer', a meaning still given by Afghan mountain dwellers. Unlike the Jewish holocaust, the exact toll of the Hindu genocide suggested by the name Hindu Kush is not available. “However, writes Hindu Kush specialist Srinandan Vyas, the number is easily likely to be in millions”. Or the beheading of the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, was because he objected to Aurangzeb's forced conversions.

A few known historical figures can be used to justify this estimate. Encyclopaedia Britannica recalls that in December 1398 AD, Timur Lane ordered the execution of at least 50,000 captives before the battle for Delhi; likewise, the number of captives butchered by Timur Lane's army was about 100,000 . Encyclopaedia Britannica again mentions that Mughal emperor Akbar 'ordered the massacre of about 30,000 captured Rajput Hindus on February 24, 1568 AD, after the battle for Chitod, a number confirmed by Abul Fazl, Akbar's court historian. Afghan historian Khondamir notes that during one of the many repeated invasions on the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, which used to be part of the Hindu Shahiya kingdoms “1,500,000 residents perished”. “Thus, writes Vyas, it is evident that the mountain range was named as Hindu Kush as a reminder to the future Hindu generations of the slaughter and slavery of Hindus during the Moslem conquests”.

Or take the recent plight of the Kashmiri Pandits. Over 4 lakh Kashmiri Pandits have been forced to flee their homeland. Many Pandit men, women and children have been brutally murdered. About 70,000 still languish in makeshift refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi. Scores of temples in Kashmir have been desecrated, destroyed, looted, More than 900 educational institutions have been attacked by terrorists. Properties of Pandits have been vandalised, businesses destroyed or taken over, even hospitals have not been spared. Did you know that this huge human tragedy is taking place in Free India? Kashmir was known as "Sharda Peeth" , the abode of learning.

BURNING BOOKS, LOOTING OF CULTURE is also a very important part of the plan, as we have seen during the early Muslim invasions, where the Buddhist centres of learning were ruthlessly burnt and razed to the ground. Kashmir was also the crucible of Knowledge, Spirituality, a hallowed centre of learning and the cradle of Shivaism. Kashmiri Pandits excelled in philosophy, aesthetics, poetics, sculpture, architecture, mathematics, astronomy and astrology. Sanskrit was studied, propagated and spoken by women and men. Scholars and saints such as Kalhan, Jonraj, Srivar, Abhinavgupta, Somanand, Utpaldev, Somdev and Kshemendra created here an intellectual centre of unrivalled repute. Fundamentalism and terrorism have been ruthless in their assault on "Sharda Peeth", zealous in ravaging its heritage, and consistent only in bloodthirsty intolerance. The destruction of Hindu places of worship, forced conversions of Pandits and death and ignominy to those who resisted, were accompanied by a savage assault on literary activity. This process has been going on since centuries.

As a correspondent covering India for more than 20 years, I have witnessed the terrible damage that terrorism in Kashmir has inflicted upon people’s lives, their family, their culture, the very fabric of society, not only of the Kashmiri Pandits, but also of the Muslims of the Valley, who after all, are the victims too of Pakistan’s bloody designs. Hence, with two journalist friends, we started a Foundation: FACT – Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism. The first task of FACT has been to mount an exhibition on terrorism, focussing on the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, so that the people of India, who do not suffer directly from terrorism understand, what it does to others. This exhibition, which opened in Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, on 18th July, was a great success. It was inaugurated by the acting US ambassador, Robert O Blake, and Mr Bitta, Chairman All India Anti Terrorist Front. More than 25.000 people visited the exhibition till its closing day, on 23rd July. Amongst them; L.K. Advani, Deputy PM, Justice Anand, Chairman National Human Rights Commission, Dr Karan Singh, MM Joshi… It was covered by most English and Hindi national newspapers and reported on by Zee News, Star News, Sahara, DD1, ANI, DD2 and NDTV.

THE KASHMIRI PANDITS EXHIBITION WAS INAUGURATED BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR, THE FOUNDER OF THE ART OF LIVING FONDATION AND M..S. BITTA, PRESIDENT OF THE ALL INDIA ANTI TERRORIST FRONT ON 1ST SEPTEMBER AT 6.PM, AT FLUID SPACE, MANIPAL CENTRE, IN THE HEART OF BANGALORE CITY . IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS AND IT WAS COVERED BY ALL MAJOR NEWSAPERS. THE EXHBITION ALSO TRAVELLED TO POLAND ON 10TH SEPT AND TO BERLIN, AT THE ASIA PACIFIC MEET ON 15TH.

Our aim is manifold: we would like to take the present exhibition all around India and all over the world, particularly the United States, where most symposiums on Kashmir, including some organized by the US State Department, are peopled mostly by Pakistanis, Muslims and US based Indians who are anti-Hindu, such as Angana Chatterjee, who uses Sri Aurobindo’s name to teach anti-Indian stuff in an American university. Then we would like to start another exhibition on forced Christian conversions in the North-East. And ultimately, we would like to build a Hindu/ Sikh/ Buddhist Indian Holocaust Museum based in New Delhi, or in Bangalore. It will record not only the genocide of Hindus Sikhs and Buddhists at the hands of Muslim invaders, but also the terrible persecutions of the Portuguese (hardly mentioned in Indian History books), the British atrocities – nobody knows for instance that 20 millions Indians died of famine between 1815 and 1920, because the English broke the agricultural backbone of India to get raw materials which they needed, cotton, jute etc. We need the support of all of you for this Indian Holocaust Museum.

François Gautier
fgautier26@gmail.com
Ph: 0413 2622209 / 9811118828

Not the time for self-flagellation : Francois Gautier

2010-10-24T01:26:00.002+05:30

October 24, 2010 1:26:07 AM

source: piooneer

Francois Gautier

Hindus must seek pride in their religious identity and fight back those who are bent upon denigrating India’s civilisational history. The world owes a lot to Hinduism’s humanising influence

One remembers Sri Aurobindo’s famous Uttarpara speech: “That which we call the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the universal religion which embraces all others.” One also can’t help noticing that the religion of Hindus is not in their heads, as it is for Christians — “I must pray, I must be good, I must not sin” — but it is rather something they live by: “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam — the whole world is my family”.

Today, though, Hinduism has become a dirty word in India and everyone wants to be dissociated from it, including many ‘secular Hindus’. Hindu terrorism is also being equated with Islamic terrorism, a wrong analogy if ever there was one, as Hindus have never invaded another country in the last 2,000 years and never tried to impose their religion by force, as Islam and Christianity have done, nor even by conversion, like Buddhism. Hindus have moreover always given refuge to all persecuted religious minorities in the world: The first Christian community on this planet, that of the Syrian Christians, in Kerala, the Jews who were never persecuted in India, as they have been elsewhere, the Parsis of Zarathustra, who fled Islam, or the Tibetans today. Still, one is beginning to doubt Hinduism.

At this juncture, comes The Timeless Faith: Dialogues on Hinduism by Deepam Chatterjee with a foreword by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar which puts to rest all doubts. The book redefines simply and clearly the eternal principles of Hinduism:

A Hindu is one who searches for the ultimate truth.

Unlike other religions, Hinduism refuses to sanction the monopoly of one god, or one scripture as the only way to salvation.

Hinduism is the eternal faith (Sanatan Dharma) or the universal law by which all human beings are governed.

Hindus believe that the soul takes birth in a physical body, dies and is reborn until it has attained perfect divinity.

Hindus believe that one can cleanse oneself from karmas through yogic practices.

One can be a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew or a follower of any other religion and still practise Hinduism.

It is thanks to that timeless wisdom that a Hindu today still accepts that Christ, Buddha or Mohammed may be avatars or envoys of god. Yet, the reverse is not true: A Christian and even less a Muslim will not enter a temple for they would believe that they would be committing a sin. Hindus have also been one of the most persecuted peoples in the world.

Westerners living in India would do well to remember that they owe much to Hinduism’s tolerance and traditional acceptance — a project like Auroville, for instance, could not exist elsewhere. Try to build a Hindu commune in the United States (Osho attempted it) or in France (ask Mata Amritanandamayi who is battling accusations of being a cult leader). Even Ms Sonia Gandhi should know that she owes her position to the overwhelming Hindu majority of this country who have an ancient tradition of worshipping the Shakti and also respect her religion although Christians have tried to convert Hindus in India to their own faith.

It is also a matter of sorrow and dismay that there is both an unconscious but also sometimes conscious attempt by those who practise yoga and pranayama to dissociate themselves from Hinduism and turn it into some kind of a New Age technique. Let them remember that these traditions were devised, practised and preserved by Hindu sages for thousands of years. Baba Ramdev has shown the way: He is a Hindu leader and not scared of saying it out loud.

This book is a timely reminder of how much the world owes, and will owe in the coming decades, Hinduism and the enduring vision that it truly represents.

The writer is an author and journalist based in New Delhi.

Talk by francois gautier

2010-10-01T22:13:00.001+05:30

Date: Oct 01 2010
Event: French Journalist Francois Gautier's Talk & Reception -
Venue: Cafe Bombay, Atlanta

Sponsored and Supported by Hindu Temple of Atlanta and Shiv Mandir of Atlanta

Sponsored by India Awareness Foundation

770-664-8779 | 770-270-1758

Sometimes outsiders can see and respond more effectively to situations where insiders may be oblivious or even complacent to ground realities. Well Francois Gautier is one such French journalist who has steadfastly stood up for ‘just’ Hindu causes. So, in effect, he can hardly be called an outsider coz he is more at home and current with what is happening and what needs to be done than most of us. Rather he is an anointed Hindu with passion to serve the cause of religion as well as protection of its ethos.

Francois is visiting Atlanta October 1 thru October 3 and Atlanta is giving him a civic reception with his captivating lecture covering topics of varied interest, namely:

1. How terrorism is affecting India and USA
2. Need for saving Hindu heritage and creating museum of Indian history and Hindu holocaust in Pune
3. How and why Hindus in the US must help preserve and uplift India's image

About François Gautier
François Gautier was born in Paris in 1950 and had a strict upper-class catholic education in boarding schools all over Europe. His family wanted him to be a businessman and he attended an American business school in Paris called IDRAC, but his interest was in writing and he quit to work in a small newspaper, which quickly folded. He dabbled in photography and then wrote the script of a film for a friend (whose father, a famous film director, had given him 30.000 francs to do his own film). Before the film was released, however he left for India when he had just turned nineteen.

When he reached India, he felt he had reached home and settled in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondichery, where he met the Mother and immersed himself in Sri Aurobindo’s writings, which will have a deep influence on him all throughout his life. He however stopped writing for a long time, except his own diaries and learnt meditation and gardening ! But I In 1982, at the occasion of the Asian Games in Delhi, he chanced upon an article (on the Asian games) in a French newspaper.

In the early eighties, he began freelancing in India for different publications and finally ended-up being the correspondent in South Asia, for the Geneva-based « Journal de Geneve », then one of the best international newspapers in Europe. In 1993, he switched to Figaro, one of France’s leading newspapers for which he worked exclusively for eight years. He also started writing regular columns for Indian newspapers, first in Blitz Bombay, then in the Hindustan Times, later came the ‘Ferengi’s column” in the Indian Express, then the “French Connection” column in the Pioneer, as well as regular contributions for Rediff., New Indian Express, Dainik Jagran, etc.

François has written several books: Un autre Regard sur l’Inde” (Editions du Tricorne, Geneva-Paris), which has been reprinted thrice and for which he was invited in May 2000 to ‘Bouillon de Culture’, France’s most prestigious TV literary programme; “Arise O India” (Har Anand) 1999, “A Western journalist on India” (Har-Anand 2001), “India’s Self Denial (Editions Auroville Press, 2001), “Swami, moine hindou et PDG (Editions Delville, Paris, 2003, 8000 copies sold) “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a guru of Joy” (India Today Book Club, 2003; 11 reprints, 60,000 copies sold). La Caravane Intérieure (Les Belles Lettres, Paris 2005). A New History of India (Har Anand, 2008)

Francois is now the editor in chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde and a director of a book collection on India with the same publisher. Francois is married to an Indian from Delhi, Namrita and shuttles between Pondichery, Bangalore and Delhi.

Francois, along with his wife Namrita, is also the trustee founder of FACT-India, which does exhibitions and commissions films documenting Human Rights abuse in South Asia. Amongst them: an exhibition on the persecuted minorities of Bangladesh, another one on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits (which was shown to the US Congress in 2005), a film on the trauma of 1947 and another one on the testimonies of the Mumbai train bombings of 2006.

Symbol Of Ayodhya by Francois Gautier

2010-09-29T17:38:00.001+05:30

Source: Ayodhya

by Francois Gautier @ Sword of Truth

How many of those who have lambasted so many times the ?Hindu fundamentalists? and lamented the destruction of the Babri Masjid mosque as the ?death of secularism in India?, have been to Ayodhya? (not Faizabad, mind you, which is Ayodhya?s twin Muslim city).

When one arrived in Ayodhya before the destruction of the mosque, one was struck by the fact that it was a Hindu town ?par excellence?. More than Benares even, it is dotted everywhere with innumerable temples; it has all these old Hindus houses and this lovely river with its ghats which runs through the lower town. And then, forlorn on the top, there was this lone mosque with its two ugly domes, which looked so out of place and unused, that any one with a right sense -and that includes the Muslims- should see that it was not worth making an issue of.

The destruction of the Babri Masjid still evokes such fiery reactions, that the importance of Ayodhya has been totally overlooked: Ayodhya is a symbol, through which two India?s are facing each other. And the outcome of their confrontation will shape the future of this country for generations to come. The first India wants to be secular and unite together through an egalitarian, democratic spirit all the minorities, ethnic groups, religions and people of the country. But the question is: What would be the binding element of this kind of India? Secularism, says the first side. But secularism has a different meaning for each one. For the British, it was a convenient way to divide and rule, by treating each Indian community on par, although some were in minority and others in majority, thereby planting the seeds of separatisms.

For the Congress Party, it has always meant giving in to the Muslims? demands, because its leaders never could really make out if the allegiance of Indian Muslims first want to India and then to Islam - or vice-versa.

And for India?s intelligentsia, its writers, journalists, top bureaucrats, the majority of whom are Hindus, it means, apart from belittling its own religion and brothers, an India which would be a faithful copy of the West: liberal, modern, atheist, industrialized, intellectual and western- oriented.

Moreover, what makes India unique? Certainly not its small elite which apes the West; there are millions of these western clones in the developing world who wear a tie, read the New York Times and swear by liberalism and secularism to save their countries from doom. Nor its modern youth, whom you meet in Delhi?s swank parties, who are full of the MTV culture, wear the latest Klein jeans and Lacoste T Shirts, and who in general are useless, fat, rich parasites, in a country which has so many talented youngsters who live in poverty. Not even its political, bureaucratic and judicial system; it?s a copy of the British set up, which is not fully adapted to India?s unique character and conditions.

What then? The second India which is confronting the other through the Ayodhya issue is, of course, the India of the Hindus.

When Imam Bhukari states that ?we (the Mughals) gave everything to this country, its culture, its manners, its arts, and the Hindus by destroying the Babri Masjid showed how little gratitude they have?, apart from making a pompous declaration, he proclaims exactly the opposite of the reality.Because the truth is that not only Hinduism is what makes India unique, so different from all the other nations of the world, but it is the single most important influence in Indian history.

In the words of Sri Aurobindo, India?s Great Sage and Modern Age Avatar: ?The inner principle of Hinduism, the most tolerant and receptive of all religious systems, is not sharply exclusive like the religious spirit of Christianity or Islam...it is the fulfilment of the highest tendencies of human civilisation and it will include in its sweep the most vital impulses of modern life..? And indeed, if you look at India today, you find that Hinduism has permeated, influenced, shaped, every part of this country, every religion, every culture.

Be it the Christians who are like no other Catholics of the world, or Indian Muslims, who whatever they may say, are utterly different from their brothers in Saudi Arabia. But Hinduism is too narrow a word, it?s a corruption of the original word ?Indu?, for true Hinduism is Dharma, India?s infinite and eternal spiritual knowledge, which took shape into so many varied expressions throughout the ages, be it the Vedantas, Buddhism, or the Arya Samaj and which is today still very much alive in India, particularly in its rural masses, which after all constitute 80% of its population. And the words of the great Sage still echo in our ears: ?Each nation is a shakti or power of the evolving spirit in humanity and lives by the principle it embodies.

India is the Bharata Shakti, the living energy of a great spiritual conception- and fidelity to it is the very principle of her existence...But we must have a firm faith that India must rise and be great and that everything that happened, every difficulty, every reverse must help and further the end...? What one has to grasp is that the issue of Ayodhya only makes sense when the immense harm the Muslims did to India is not negated, as indeed it has been and still is today in the official History books in the West - and sadly in India also.

The Muslim jehad against Hindus, alas, continues even today, whether in Kashmir, where the last Hindus were made to flee in terror, or in Bangladesh and Pakistan, where the crowds still regularly go on rampage against Hindus and their temples (as told by a Bangladeshi Muslim herself,Talisma Nasreen). It is in this light, that it becomes extraordinary for an impartial observer to see today that when for once, the Hindus wanted to displace, not even to destroy, One mosque and rebuild the ?temple?, which they believe was built in this particular place, for one of their most cherished Gods, the one which is loved universally by all, men, women, children, They were treated as rabid fundamentalists.

The great Mughals must be laughing all the way down their graves! What a reversal of situation! What a turnabout of history! And when the mosque was destroyed, it evoked such fiery reactions, such pompous, overblown, sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, atrocious, ridiculous, sly and totally undeserved outrage, both within India and in the Western world (who should be the last one to give lessons to India), that the importance of Ayodhya as a symbol has been totally overlooked.

The obvious trap is to think that the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya is something to gloat about and that it is the duty of all good Hindus to see that other important mosques at Mathura, Vanarasi, or elsewhere, be also razed to the ground; or that all cities with a Muslim name be renamed with a Hindu one.

This is not true Hinduism, which has always shown its tolerance and accepted in its fold other creeds and faiths. Indeed a true ?Indu? India will be secular in the correct sense of the term: it will give freedom to each religion, each culture, so that it develops itself in the bosom of a Greater India, of which dharma, true spirituality, will be the cementing factor.

Nevertheless, the destruction of the Babri Masjid, however unfortunate, hasmade its point: the occult Mughal hold over Hindu India has been broken and centuries of Hindu submission erased. Hindus have proved that they too can fight.

Francois Gautier

User comments to Symbol Of Ayodhya Article.

Very enlightening and motivating article, thanks for posting it up. It?s time to take back our nation from the clutches of pseudo-secularists and ungrateful minorities. The first step should be to rename Hinustan as a Hindu Rashtra, not a secular country. Research should be conducted on every Hindu temple or building that was destroyed by the musselmans and the christians and the reports should be made public. Then, according to the wishes of the Hindu majority, wherever there have been mosques or churches built on the demolished remains of temples, the present structures should be demolished and a Hindu temple built in its place.

For a 1000 years, the musselmans and christians destroyed our most valued religious places, and they have not once apologized for their acts. Not the Pope, not the mullahs, have ever expressed any remorse for their wrong- doings. And then they have the audacity to criticize and demean our religion in public day-in and day-out. This should not be happening. It?s time to take back what?s ours, it?s time to teach them lesson about respect and tolerance, with violence, the only language they understand.

Hari Om Namah Shivay

Dinner with Francois gautier in Atlanta, US

2010-09-27T18:11:00.000+05:30

Date/Time:
Friday Oct 1, 2010 at 6.30 PM

Venue:
Café Bombay, 1622 Woodcliff Drive NE,
Atlanta, Georgia 30329,
Tel: 404-320-0229

Snacks, Dinner & one-on-one

Supported by Hindu Temple and Shiv Mandir
Sponsored by: India Awareness Foundation; 770-664-8779, 770-270-1758

An Exploration into Ancient India with Francois Gautier : UK Tour

2010-09-22T03:53:00.001+05:30

A presentation on Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum of Indian History

Date: 28th September, 2010
Time: 7 PM
Venue: Imli, 167 Wardour St., Soho W1F 8WR
RSVP: 020 7287 4243

An Exploration into Ancient India with Francois Gautier

Date: 24th September, 2010
Time: 7.30 - 9.00 PM
Venue: Friends's House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ
RSVP: Dr. Kapil Mathur, kapil@artofliving.org

Francois gautier: His works in pictures

2010-09-22T03:26:00.000+05:30

^ Interview with H.H. Dalai Lama

^ Interview with Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India

^ Interview with I.K. Gujral, Prime Minister of India

^ Interview with L.K. Advani, Deputy Prime Minister of India

State of the Indian Union : By Francois Gautier

2010-08-10T23:40:00.000+05:30

Source: Op-Ed The Pioneer Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The crisis in the Valley has been fomented by anti-nationals. Sovereignty is key, and the Government must take care to eschew uncalled-for concessions or subsidies. Today, if a Hindu wants to undertake a pilgrimage to one of the most ancient shrines in the history of Hinduism, Amarnath, he must do it under heavy police and Army protection, and at the risk of his life. It is as if, not only is he going to a foreign country, but also to a
hostile foreign country.

Today, as it is now known, there is a conscious, well-planned movement to provoke the police and the BSF by a widespread stone throwing movement in the Valley of Kashmir. Hundreds of BSF soldiers have been hurt in the last few months. Inevitably, when the crowd goes out of control, limited firing has to be resorted to and casualties do happen. Of course, the entire Valley, which every second day, goes on strike for the flimsiest reason, shuts down and the media and Amnesty cry foul.

The frightening fact is that the writ of the Union Government is nearly gone in Kashmir. Every TV footage shows crowds waving Pakistani flags and nobody objects. Bollywood has spawned a spoof on
Osama Bin Laden and nobody in India seems to find anything wrong with it. Many are unaware that Kashmir is the State receiving most subsidies. Every time the Prime Minister goes there thousands of crores of subsidies are announced. Since 1989, all Government officials in the Valley of Kashmir, while they hardly work in the year because of strikes and curfews, get their pay check. The truth is that the ground is prepared for an agreement covertly brokered by the US and coated in clever words, which will give de facto
independence to Kashmir. There are good, intelligent people in the Congress. Surely some of them would agree that this would be a tragedy for India?

Unfortunately, in Delhi amongst journalists and intellectuals, you will find many, such as Mr Vinod Mehta of Outlook magazine, who will say: "So what? India is a big country, we can do without Kashmir."
Why should India retain Kashmir, then?

The most obvious reason is that the Valley of Kashmir is of extreme strategic importance to India. If Kashmir would fall out of India's hands, New Delhi would be surrounded by three hostile nations who strategically could swoop down from a height: Tibet, which was once the peace buffer between India and China; Nepal, which is de facto in hostile hands; and Kashmir, the gateway between the Middle East and Asia.

Secondly, if India allows Kashmir to go, why not Manipur, why not Punjab, or even Tamil Nadu, which has Dravidian aspirations? Many countries in the world face separatist problems, whether France with
Corsica, Spain with the Basques, or even Britain with the Falklands, which is thousands of miles away. Why should India let go of Kashmir, which has been culturally, and physically part of its body for at least 5,000 years?

Finally, Kashmir is the cradle of Shaivism, thousands of yogis, gurus, sannyasins, have prayed meditated, performed tapasya in this holy land; and for that reason only, it should be sacred to India. Part of the blame for the present apathy of Indians towards the deteriorating situation in Kashmir, must fall on the Press,
particularly the Western media, which has always maintained that Kashmir was a "disputed" territory. Many of us journalists know that since the mid-80s Pakistan encouraged, financed, trained and armed Kashmiri separatism. But Mark Tully, for instance, who is revered in India for his 'fair' reporting (and has most probably written Hindutva, Sex & Adventures -- Roly Books), always made it a point to say: "Elections are being held in Indian-held Kashmir"; or "Kashmir militants (instead of 'terrorists') have killed Hindus". All the
other foreign journalists, yesterday and today, have followed the BBC's benchmarks. Even President Barack Obama's foolish policy vis-à- vis the country which fosters nine-tenths of terrorist attacks in the world has been arguably influenced by the media.

It is not only that the few hundred Hindus (there were five lakh in 1980) who have chosen to remain in the Valley of Kashmir who are under threat. It is not only the pilgrims of Amarnath, visiting a shrine in their own country, today even Hindu gurus are targeted:
They are defamed, made fun of. Shri Shri Ravi Shankar is the latest to have been targeted by the media.

The Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism, a non-political, non- partisan, human rights organisation, can provide the umbrella under which the 12 spiritual leaders who have a million plus disciples -- Satya Sai Baba, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, Mata Amritanandamayi, the Shankaracharya of Kancheepuram, Guruma of Ganeshpuri, Shri Ramdev, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, to name some of them -- can meet three times
a year and issue a number of adesh, which will be binding on 800 million Hindus in India, a billion worldwide, as a way forward. The safeguard of Kashmir and the Amarnath pilgrimage could be on its first agenda.

http://dailypioneer.com/275084/State-of-the-Indian-Union.html

More at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com

KASHMIR, A FOREIGN COUNTRY? : Francois gautier

2010-08-07T18:45:00.001+05:30

Today, if a Hindu wants to undertake a pilgrimage to one of the most ancient shrines in the history of Hinduism, Amarnath, he must do it under heavy police and army protection, and at the risk of his life. It is as if, not only is he going to a foreign country, but also to a hostile foreign country.

Today, as it is now known, there is a conscious, well-planned movement to provoke the police and the BSF by a widespread stone throwing movement in the Valley of Kashmir. Hundreds of BSF soldiers have been hurt in the last few months. Inevitably, when the crowd goes out of control, limited firing has to be resorted to and casualties do happen. Of course, the entire Valley, which every second day, goes on strike for the flimsiest reason, shuts down and the Media and Amnesty cry foul.

The frightening fact is that the writ of the Central Government is nearly gone in Kashmir; stringers, most of them hailing from the Valley, report a distorted picture from Srinagar and nobody finds anything to say. Every TV footage shows crowds waving Pakistani flags and nobody objects. Bollywwood has spawned a spoof on Bin Laden, whose Al Qaeda has killed hundreds of innocent Indians in markets or in Mumbai, and nobody in India seems to find anything wrong in it (no way this could happen in the US or even France).

Do you know that Kashmir is the most subsidized state in India? That every time the PM goes there, whether from the Congress, or the BJP, thousands of crores of subsidies are announced? Since 1989, all government officials in the Valley of Kashmir, while they hardly work in the year, because of strikes and curfews, get their pay check. It makes no difference to the fact that if a referendum was conducted, at least 85% of the Valley of Kashmir would opt to be attached to Pakistan.

The truth is that the ground is prepared for an agreement covertly brokered by the US and coated in clever words, which will give de facto independence to the Valley of Kashmir. There are good, intelligent people in the Congress. Surely some of them would agree that this would be a tragedy for India?

Unfortunately, in Delhi amongst journalists and intellectuals, you will find many, who will say: “So what? India is a big country, we can do without Kashmir”.

Why should India retain Kashmir, then?

The most obvious reason is that the valley of Kashmir is of extreme strategic importance to India. If Kashmir would fall out of India’s hands, New Delhi would be surrounded by three hostile nations who strategically could swoop down from a height: Tibet, which was once the peace buffer between India & China (remember how the Chinese easily overcome the Indian army in 1962?); Nepal, which is de facto fallen in hostile hands; and Kashmir, the strategic gateway between the Middle East and Asia.

Secondly, if India allows Kashmir to go, why not Manipur, why not Punjab, or even Tamil Nadu, which has Dravidian aspirations? Many countries in the world face separatist problems, whether France with Corsica, Spain with the Basques, or even Britain with the Falklands, which is thousand of miles away. Why should India let go of Kashmir, which has been culturally, and physically part of its body for at least 5000 years?

Finally, Kashmir is the cradle of Shivaism, thousands of yogis, gurus, sannyasins, have prayed meditated, performed tapasaya in this holy land; and for that reason only, it should be sacred to India.

Part of the blame for the present apathy of Indians towards the deteriorating situation in Kashmir, must fall on the Press, particularly the western media, which has always maintained that Kashmir was a “disputed” territory. Many of us journalists know that since the mid-eighties Pakistan encouraged, financed, trained and armed Kashmiri separatism. But Mark Tully, for instance, who is revered in India for his ‘fair’ reporting (and has most probably written “Hindutva, Sex & Adventures” – Roly Books), always made it a point to say: “India accuses Pakistan to foster separatism in Kashmir”; or:”elections are being held in “Indian- held Kashmir”; or “Kashmir militants (instead of ‘terrorists’) have killed Hindus”. All the other foreign journalists, yesterday and today, have followed the BBC’s benchmarks. Even President Obama’s foolish policy of making a frontline state the country which fosters nine tenth of terrorist attacks in the world, owes something to the BBC.

It is not only the few hundred Hindus (there were 500.000 in 1980) who have chosen to remain in the Valley of Kashmir, who are under threat. It is not only the pilgrims of Amarnath, visiting a shrine in their own country, today even Hindu gurus are targeted: they are defamed, made fun of them, imprisoned or accused of lying. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the latest to be targeted by the Media, whereas he has devoted his entire life to service to humanity.

It’s time for Hindus to unite. Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism, a non-political, non-partisan, Human Rights Organization, which I head, can provide the umbrella under which the twelve gurus who have a million plus disciples (Satya Sai Baba, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Amrita Anandmayi, the Shankacharya of Kancheepuram, Guruma of Ganeshpuri, Shri Ramdev, Satguru Jaggi, etc), can meet three times a year and issue a number of ‘adesh’, which will be binding to 800 million Hindus in India, a billion worldwide.

The safeguard of Kashmir and the Amarnath pilgrimage, could be on its first agenda. The preservation of the universal spirituality, which some call Hinduism, and which today is under grave threat, could be its permanent one.

fgautier26@gmail.com

A road map to change and purity

2010-07-18T10:55:00.000+05:30

Source; express buzz

Francois Gautier

First Published : 30 May 2010 10:29:00 AM IST

Last Updated : 30 May 2010 12:28:36 AM IST

Jagmohan, who was once an MP, then a governor in Delhi and subsequently in Kashmir, where he made quite a name for himself (read My frozen Turbulence), has come out with a new book, Reforming Vaishno Devi which makes a parallel between the cleaning-up of the Vaishno Devi shrine, and reforming Hinduism. He starts by quoting Sri Aurobindo to tell us how much he has been connected to the Mother, since his childhood: “When you ask who is Bhavani, the Mother, she herself answers you: ‘I am the Infinite energy which streams forth from the Eternal in the world and yourselves, I am the Mother of the Universe, the Mother of the Worlds, I am Bhavani Bharati, Mother of India.’”We jump now to the time when Jagmohan becomes governor of Kashmir, turbulent times indeed, which saw the first stirrings of the separatist movement and the exodus of 4,00,000 Kashmiri Hindus. Jagmohan, after the Centre imposes President’s rule in J&K in March 1986, goes with his wife to visit Vaishno Devi, near Jammu, one of the oldest shrines dedicated to the Mother. He is appalled by the filth. There is no drinking water, no latrines, rabid dogs roam around, beggars hassle you every metre of this place, which is littered with filth and garbage. But when he enters the shrine proper, he has a strong mystical experience, feels the Mother’s presence and comes out transformed. Jagmohan is a thinking man. Thus he ponders and broods about the extreme contradiction between the outer dirtiness of Vaishnoo Devi and the Divine Presence still found inside. He comes to the conclusion that nothing short of a takeover can solve the problems. Therefore, on August 30, 1986, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Act is promulgated and signed by Jagmohan and he springs into action. The 11-km route that leads to the shrine is enlarged and lit by hundreds of lamps. Some 15 lakhs tiles are laid, latrines are built, cottages, restaurants, stalls rise up as if by a miracle, beggars are rounded up and employed, dogs are sterilised. There is some resistance, particularly from the Baridars, but on the whole, everybody applauds. The successful transformation of Vaishno Devi sets Jagmohan think again: Could Hinduism be also reformed? He again quotes Sri Aurobindo: “Hindu religion appears to me as a cathedral temple, half in ruins, while in the mass, crumbling or badly outworn in places, but a cathedral temple in which service is still done to the Unseen”. After a rather longish, but impeccable definition of Hinduism, Jagmohan spells out the way to do it: a takeover of temples, which are often badly kept and neglected; a renovation of historic sites such as Kurukshetra, which gave to the world the imperishable Gita; and a revival of the core values of Hinduism which see the Divinity in every man and his being part of the Whole: One in All and All in One. Overall, this is a good book, which makes very valid points: that not only the physical India — even the sacred India — as represented by Vaishno Devi (before clean-up), or Varanasi, is an appalling mess. But it’s also its institutions, its politicians, its very social foundations, that are eaten-up by a cancer only a reformed Hinduism will be able to cure. A Hinduism that rids itself of its superstitions, its outdated caste system, its apathy, lack of courage and vision. Moreover, the means that will be used to reform Hinduism are not in conflict with other religions. Thus, it would be the whole of India which would be uplifted.On the down side, Jagmohan’s style tends to be a bit rambling and he seems at times to be writing a diary rather than a book. One can also find fault with his optimism: Hindus do not appear interested at the moment in reform, and the pace at which westernisation is taking hold of India is frightening. This said, we will not change this world unless we attempt to do so and this book gives a good road map to it.— fgautier26@gmail.com

Francois gautier travelling to UK

2010-06-02T16:13:00.000+05:30

The event has lapsed.....but for information

an afternoon cup of Chai with a distinguished journalist Francois Gautier, a great friend of India and author of dozen of books on Hinduism.
Francois will talk about his initiative to build a Museum of Indian History in Pune, India.

The Museum will convey the Indian History from Vedic Period to present times.

Please make an effort to show our support for this project.

We start promptly at 4.00 pm till 6.30 pm (31st May).

Venue:
Hindu Cultural Society,
HCS Bhawan, 3 Lyndhurst Ave.,
North Finchley, London N12 0LX.

It will be friendly gathering - where you will be able to talk personally with Francois.

Namaste

Veni Vaghela

THE Hindutva, Sex and Adventures : CONTROVERSY

2010-05-03T18:51:00.000+05:30

April 27, 2010

The controversy over who wrote Hindutva, Sex and Adventures(Roly Books, New Delhi): Mark Tully, or myself, continues unabated. Critics keep on implying I wrote the book – and Mark Tully did not. Yet, as I have already said, I am a much more ardent – and militant – defender of Hindus than Mark Tully ever was and will ever be. The brand of Hindutva proposed in Hindutva, Sex and Adventures reads rather mild to me. In reality, I think that not only Dharma, the Truth that is behind Hinduism, is the very foundation of Indian civilization, but that if it dies, as it is attacked today from all sides: by Christian conversions, islamization, marxism, westernization & minorytism, it would be a catastrophe for the whole world.
If you read between the lines of most of Mark Tully’s books, you will see that he says – albeit in a diluted manner – that: a) secularism is a colonial left over; b) Hinduism constitutes the genius and the base of Indian civilisation. There is no doubt that Sir Tully is a well liked personality. But Mark was never too bold in his moral stands: see how he is now saying that Hindutva, Sex and Adventures is affecting his reputation. Why should he be ashamed of being a defender of the Hindus? I am not. In fact, I find his establishing a dialogue in the book between Imla, the Indian journalist, who is a diehard secularist (as most Indian journalists are) and Andrew, who gradually realizes that Hindus are a very wonderful – but persecuted people, is a brilliant ploy. It is a pity that every single critic has demolished the Hindutva part of the book, without even bothering to analyse the very important points Tully raises on Kashmir, Ayodhya, Sonia Gandhi, or Islamic terrorism.
Mark Tully may also have wanted to atone for his coverage of South Asia. I remember when we were both reporting on the Valley of Kashmir in the early nineties, that he would always highlight human right abuses on Muslims by the army, but hardly ever spoke about the 400.000 Kashmiri Hindus who were chased out of their ancestral homeland by threats, violence, rapes, torture and murder – and today have become refugees in their own countries. Mark Tully is known for his ‘fair’ reporting, but actually, he and the BBC coined phrases and set standards in reporting on South Asia, which still stand today and harm India’s image. Many of us know that since the mid-eighties Pakistan encouraged, financed, trained and armed Kashmiri separatism. But Mark always made it a point to say: “India accuses Pakistan to foster separatism in Kashmir”; or :”elections are being held in Indian- held Kashmir”; or “Kashmir militants ” have attacked an army post, instead of “terrorists”. All the other foreign journalists, yesterday and today, (except myself and maybe Tiziano Terzani) have followed the BBC’s benchmarks.
This near colonial attitude towards India has even influenced today’s politicians in the West. For instance, Obama’s present foreign policy of thinking he can fight terror by making a frontline state of the very country which fosters 3/4th of the terror attacks in the world, and of putting the screws on India so that it negotiates with Pakistan, even at the cost of compromising on its sovereignty in Kashmir, is a direct offshoot of the BBC’s reporting in South Asia for 25 years. We also can read between the lines and know that Mr Obama is pressuring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give-up India’s military nuclear programme, leaving her at the mercy of not only Pakistan’s , but also China’s formidable nuclear arsenal.
The irony is that the Indian Government seems to be enamoured of Mark Tully. But if you observe carefully, he was a strong detractor of Indira Gandhi, particularly on Blue Star and during the anti-Sikh riots. Though he praised Rajiv Gandhi in his beginnings, he became a critic of his style of functioning in the later years, specially after the IPKF fiasco. And he has been saying “that the moribund and leaderless Congress party has lashed onto Sonia Gandhi, who is Italian by birth and Roman Catholic by baptism”. (‘Nehru Dynasty’ for the BBC).
The below extract of Hindutva, Sex and Adventures seems to reinforce that statement.

EXTRACT “HINDUTVA SEX AND ADVENTURES”: SONIA GANDHI
- I am coming to Delhi to cover Sonia Gandhi’s election as President of the Congress party, Imla said. They met at the Taj Mansingh for a cup of tea before walking to 1 Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters. Andrew could see that she was getting more and more snappy and she was actually looking for subjects about which she could disagree with him, sometimes violently, for she definitely possessed a very bad temper.
They had such a fight about Sonia Gandhi. Andrew had found Sonia Gandhi quite likable when she was just Rajiv Gandhi’s (the pilot) spouse, a loving wife, who had adopted the Indian way of life; a good daughter in law: Indira Gandhi died on her lap on the way to the hospital, after being shot by her Sikh bodyguards; and more than everything, a good mother, who doted on her children and tried all her life to protect them. Andrew suspected she had kept her Italian passport, even after taking the Indian nationality (India does not allow you to hold two passports), but he had met quite a few foreigners in Delhi who also retained their origin passports after having obtained the Indian one. He had toyed himself for some time with the idea of taking the Indian nationality, now that he spoke Hindi quite fluently, but it was too difficult to travel with an Indian passport. He did not mind also her remaining a Christian: after all, he was still one himself. Indeed, one of his Italian journalists friends had prayed with her, along with Rajiv Gandhi, at a mass in Calicut with the bishop officiating – that was her private business. But after her husband was blown to pieces by the LTTE, he observed a drastic change in her: she did not seem to trust anybody anymore, became aloof and suspicious. He watched with dismay how the Congress leaders, some of them men and women of substance, whom he knew personally, applied pressure on her to enter politics for years. He had learnt also, through some well placed friends, that gradually, via the Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi foundations, she started controlling huge amounts of money. He knew also that in India money means political power, as a party needs hundreds of crores of rupees to win a general election. Thus, he thought that in her fortress of Janpath, surrounded twenty-four hours by security, she gradually lost touch with the reality of India.
Andrew, who had met her a few times after Rajiv’s death, thus took discreetly his distances with her, though in typical British fair play, he never made any comments publicly.
When they reached the Congress headquarters amidst unprecedented security, which Andrew thought was unwarranted, considering there had never been any threats on Sonia Gandhi’s life, there must have been at least a hundred other foreign correspondents awaiting the crowning of Mrs Gandhi. As usual, Sonia made them wait (once when Andrew was covering Sonia’s campaigning in Hospet, Karnataka, she was late by eight hours). She lived literally next door in Janpath, but she finally arrived in a caravan of vehicles, with dozens of security guards running around her car, as if she was the American president. When she got out, most Congressmen bowed down in front of her, while some even touched her feet. Andrew was shocked: he felt that it was debasing for Indians, people of talent and culture to scrape down in front of someone who in the West would be an average person. But most of his colleagues did not seem to find anything wrong in it. As for Imla, she was smiling. Sonia’s election as Congress President was a foregone conclusion, nobody really opposing her. It’s like the crowning of an empress, thought Andrew.
When they were walking back, he had an argument with Imla:
- It would be impossible for a non-Christian, non-English, non-White Hindu woman, to become the supreme ruler behind the scenes in England, he said. Don’t you find this a little humiliating?
- Not at all. It’s because you don’t understand us, she retorted, we accept the others, not like you Britishers.
He tried to remain cool:
- But this goes to extremes, Imla: there are a billion Indians, many talented; can’t you find one of your own to lead this country ?
This time she was getting angry:
- She is one of our own, ok? She has an Indian passport, she wears a sari, she speaks Hindi and she has India at heart. Not like some of your Hindutva fanatics, she threw at him.
- You know I am not Hindutva, he replied, hurt
- Oh yes, you are… Your sympathy goes to them now. That’s why you hate Sonia Gandhi.
- But I don’t hate her my dear, I just think that she wields too much power, being just an elected MP like hundreds of others…
But Imla had already stormed away and hailed a rickshaw to go back to her aunt….

‘My Hindutva is much more radical than Tully’s'

2010-04-11T11:06:00.000+05:30

Soure Express buzz
03 Apr 2010 09:34:59 PM IST
I have been implicitly accused by Neha Tara Mehta of Mail Today, to have written the book Hindutva, Sex & Adventures (Roli Books, 2010), about which she says: “Rarely has a novel got as many tongues wagging in Delhi, especially after a few glasses of wine”.The book narrates the story of a South Asia foreign correspondent, John Luyt, who has dodged bullets in Kashmir, reported on Ayodhya, covered Pakistan and interviewed six Indian prime ministers. However, John veers from a British secular outlook, to a ‘soft’ Hindutva stance, which makes him declare: “I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride, yes, our civilisation has a Hindu base to it”. There are also some very explicit ‘tantric’ sex scenes with his partner Imla, an Indian journalist (who is decidedly ‘secular’), which made the Times of India say: “The erotica is deliciously steamy and can vie for the Good Sex award, if there’s one. Highly recommended reading”!The author is hiding behind the pseudonym of John MacLithon. However, there are only five foreign journalists based in India who could have written this book:Mark Tully, of course, BBC’s correspondent for many years, before retiring in Delhi with his partner. Bernard Imhasly, a Swiss, who has covered South Asia for two decades, is married to an Indian and of late has developed an interest in Indian spirituality.John Elliott, three decades here, past president of the Foreign Correspondents Club. Lives in New Delhi and knows everybody.David Housego. Also three decades in India, formerly with Financial Times, known to love Sanskrit and Indian spirituality.François Gautier. Also fits the profile: covered India and South Asia for two decades, a defender of the Hindus.Yet, this book is not at all me, for many reasons: one I cannot write such good English; two, this is a story of a British radio journalist, a medium totally unknown to me; & three, my brand of Hindutva is much more radical than Tully’s.On the other hand, Mark Tully is the most likely candidate. If you read his books between the lines, you will notice that he advocates a Hindu nation; many of the quotes in the book, especially on secularism, are things that Mark said in some of his conferences. He has often been accused of being soft on Hindutva, as Amulya Ganguly, of Hindustan Times points out: “For several years now, the BBC’s Mark Tully has provided indirect support to the BJP’s Hindutva cause. His contention is that secularism is unsuitable for India”. Lastly, ‘Sir’ Mark knows that Hindutva is a dirty word in Sonia Gandhi’s India and that he would have been branded if he had come out openly. Hence he hides behind a pseudonym.This said, Mark Tully, who is a decent man, raises some important points in his book: the legitimacy of Sonia Gandhi, the historical validity of India’s claim on Kashmir, the ruling of British magistrates on Ayodhya, or Husain’s painting Laxmi’s vagina over Hanuman’s tail. Let the readers judge for themselves.— fgautier26@gmail.com

Hindutva, sex & adventures -II

2010-04-07T10:47:00.000+05:30

However angry I am at the accusation of having written Hindutva, Sex & Adventures, whereas I never hid under a pseudonym to say what I think, I cannot but feel that Mark Tully – or whoever has written this book – has raised some very pertinent issues. In fact I am aghast at most of these reviewers – all of them Hindu journalists – who bash the Hindutva part of it. Dilip Bobb, for instance, rubbished the book in a few words, without even taking care to debate the validity of the points which are raised. Is it because Hindutva is abhorrent to Mr Bobb’s Christian identity?
In fact, I even agree with some portions of the book. The description of the Indian journalist/heroin of the book below, for example, seems to me to apply to most of the Indian journalists of the feminine kind.
fg
… Andrew had heard about yoga before coming to India and felt no inclination towards it, as it was so different from his Anglican practice. But, as he would say later, you cannot live in India long, without taking some interest in yoga. There was a mammoth yoga conference in Rishikesh, where many yogis, gurus and teachers were to take part and Andrew decided to cover it, not only because it was there that the Beatles had gone to study yoga in Maharishi Yogi’s ashram, but also because it is a holy place for most Hindus….
… The next morning he went to the yoga conference where security was tight at as many famous saints were there, such as the shankaracharya of Kanchi, Ma Amrita Anandamai, B.K Iyengar, who more than anybody had helped to spread yoga in the West and swami Bhakta, an upcoming young guru, clean shaven, with flowing orange robes, who taught yoga and a revitalized form of pranayama and with whom Andrew had fixed an interview the next day.

Andrew, standing under an awning near the entrance, noticed her immediately. She was impatiently flashing a press card at one of the security guards and animatedly arguing with him. She was not only pretty, but her anger also exuded a kind of intensity that was appealing to him. He liked girls with personalities and had discovered, of late, that pretty girls are often shallow and self-conscious and that desire dies quickly when beauty is just an empty shell. She was wearing a white shirt and black pants, her black hair was tied behind her head, nothing flashy, but it suited well her personality. She must have felt the weight of his stare and she turned her head and their eyes briefly met. God, she also has pretty eyes, thought Andrew.
Andrew would not give up so easily, he followed her and as she was sitting down in the empty last but one row, he slipped into the chair next to her. She gave him a cool look, she had always been mistrustful of strangers:
-Thanks for having helped me, she nevertheless said and then turned her head away.
But he would not give-up
- Hi, my name is Andrew Luyt and I am a British radio journalist, he said, extending his hand.
She hesitated and then shook it, noticing with a slight surprise that he kept it in his, longer than was decent to do.
- My name is Imla What are your doing here, she asked ?
-   I am learning all about yoga
-   - Oh, she answered, there is a lot of bull here. It’s all about marketing and brainwashing people.
Andrew was surprised: she looked so Indian, in spite of her western attire.
-   Well, he replied, I am an Anglican and some of my clergy think that yoga is very un-Christian, but how can you dislike something that was born in your country and that has taken the world by storm ? Every gymnastic discipline, every aerobic has some yogic ancestry !
But she was not convinced:
-   What we need in India now are good roads, honest politicians and lots of high tech, not godmen which are two dime a dozen in every nook of this country !
Andrew heard for the first time the word ‘godman’, used derogatively by the Indian media to call Hindu gurus and which he would encounter again and again. He asked:
- Then, why are you here ?
-   Oh, she replied, my newspaper has sent me to write a piece on Swami Bhakta for the Sunday magazine, because he is becoming very big in India, though I do not care much for him. But I have not even managed to catch his secretary so far.
Now I have her he thought:
- Well I have an appointment with him tomorrow morning. Would you like to join me ? I will give you a little bit of time at the end.
For the first time, she seemed interested in him:
- Yes, of course, she said, quick as only a journalist can be. Can you give me a few tips ?
- Sure, he smiled, if you let me buy you dinner at the pizzeria.

The pizzeria was then the only decent western restaurant in Rishikesh, run by a fat Italian, who talked a lot and baked fairly decent pizzas in his makeshift tandooori oven. She met him at seven o’clock. She had put on a salwar kameez and looked even more beautiful, slim, demure and pretty. They sat facing each other in the tiny restaurant overlooking the Ganges. She was distant and eyed him suspiciously, yet he could feel that she was curious about him.
He started asking her questions. She was born in Delhi but worked in Mumbai for the largest midday paper. Her father was an officer in the army, her mother a teacher and she was still living with them.
She was so Indian, yet in many ways, she was more westernized than him. She did not care about yoga and spirituality. Her political views were pretty straightforward:
-   I think the Congress represents the best chance for our country where there are so many minorities, so many religions and ethnicities, she said defiantly to Andrew (who then, could not agree more with her). Seeing Andrew silent, she continued:
-   You westerners have a romantic idea of India. But it’s all about half of our population not having access to proper sanitation, drinking water, or even one meal a day. This is why, Nehruvian socialism is also the right choice for us, as we need to uplift the destitute, the untouchables, which a brahmanic society has kept down for centuries.
But what astounded Andrew even more, was her culture. She had never read Kalidasa, whom Andrew had jus discovered in a bookshop in Khan market. His poetry, genius and sensuality shined even in the bad translation from the Sanskrit and Andrew intuitively felt that he was as good as Homer, as Shakespeare even. When he told her, she laughed :
-   Kalidasa, who ?
But she knew Tennyson’s poem ‘All things will die’, of which she recited the last stanza in a singsong voice, which sounded so out of place in this tiny restaurant serving Italian food in one of the holiest cities of India :
- And the blue wave beat the shore;
“For even and morn
Ye will never see
Thro’ eternity.
All things were born.
Ye will come never more,
For all things must die.”

He felt touched somehow: there was spirituality in this poetry, which was so close to his own atavism and culture.
She also knew the latest bestsellers in the US: Mario Puzzo, Ken Follett, Danielle Steele, Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, Dick Francis, half of whom Andrew had never read.
- But what about you, she asked, you are a typical journalist, prying information and not giving away anything ?
He told her freely about himself, his being born in India, his difficult schooling, his radio days and coming back here, which felt like home, in spite of the wide difference in cultures. He told her about his first features and his recent trip to Kashmir. He planned to cover the entire subcontinent and was excited by it. Yes, she may be right about the Congress and Nehru, but he came from a journalist culture where one had to report everything to give the radio listener a chance to make his or her own opinion.
She asked him a few questions in Hindi, to which he answered pretty fluently with his British accent, having worked hard at his Hindi in Delhi. She looked at him with interest now. He was not that handsome, but he had a puppy dog air that sometimes endeared him to women. She also found that as he talked, she completely forgot his gruff face and got caught by the melodious power of his voice, which had a near sexual energy in it. He was a charmer too and knew how to weave stories about his encounters with funny maharajas or his solitary ride on the Dal lake, which enthralled her. At some point, however, she got a little bit aggressive :
-   Don’t think Kashmir is all about sentimental boat rides. We Hindus have a lot to answer there… We have exploited Kashmiris for centuries and the army today is killing innocent men in fake encounters and Indian soldiers regularly rape kashmiri women …
Andrew, who had always hated pushy female journalists, did not answer. He had noticed that in India the most aggressive journalists, those who were often the most bitingly nasty in their reporting, were women. Was it because they had to compete in a man’s world, he thought, or was it – as he had also found out through personal experience – because Indian women have a strong masculine streak in them ? India, he would say later, appears to be ruled by men. But if you look carefully in all marriages, from the CEO to the farmer, it is often the woman who takes all important decisions.
Suddenly he disliked her. He found her too precocious, too made-up in her conversation, too westernized for his own taste, and with so little roots in that Indian-ness which he was looking for all over India. He thought her ideas were clichéd and he resented her I-told-you-so answers to his questions. At some point he nearly asked for the bill to signify that the meeting was over. Then he looked at her again: she was so lovely. And he repeated it aloud, in the midst of a conversation that was going nowhere and as she was getting more and more remote and cold.
-   - You are so beautiful…
Normally she would have either slapped the guy or just taken her bag and walked out. But it was so unexpected, it was said with such conviction and simplicity, that she did not know what to say. She always had a tart and ready-made reply for such frontal and indecent statements, but this time she was speechless. And when the compliment really started sinking in, she realized that it pleased her. It was not just a man trying to make her happy, it was something she had been yearning for so long: a recognition that not only she was beautiful, but also that beneath her beauty there was a stuff that was worth discovering – and no man had ever tried before to touch that inner stuff of her. It seemed to her for a moment that Andrew was referring to both her beauties: the known and the invisible
She hesitated for a second and then said, as spontaneously and effortlessly as Andrew had thrown his compliment:
-   - Thank you.
Let’s swim in the Ganges early tomorrow morning, he said, I have been told by a colleague that there is a small beach upstream, near the Laxman jhulla, where we can even sunbathe. After that we will go to interview swami Bhakta as it is on the same bank. Again she hesitated for a moment and then agreed. They parted in front of the restaurant with a formal handshake….

Hindutva, sex & adventures

2010-04-07T10:43:00.001+05:30

I have been wrongly accused to have written the novel “Hindutva, Sex & Adventures (Roly Books, 2010). But in my 25 years of journalism, books and conferences, I never hid behind a pseudonym to say what I think and to defend Hindus. There are four other foreign correspondents who could have very well written this book; Mark Tully, John Eliott, Bernard Imhasly and David Housego. Of all these, Mark Tully is the only one who time and again indicated he had ‘soft’ sympathies for Hindutva.
However angry I am at being falsely accused, I do think that Mark Tully, who is a decent guy, or whoever wrote this book, has raised very pertinent issues, by having a dialogue between the hero Andrew Luyt, who slowly sees that Hinduism is the basic structure of India – and Imla, his Indian journalist girlfriend, who like most Indian journos, is a diehard secularist. Thus I cannot resist posting a few extracts of the books:
fg
…Like most western journalists, and in spite of being born here, Andrew came to India with a fair amount of goodwill and an aspiration to do justice to this huge and diverse subcontinent. But, also like most correspondents, he also landed armed with a number of prejudices, picked-up here and there during his strict protestant education: poverty, castes, gods and goddesses, fakirs, elephants, sacred cows and maharajas…

On the second day, he was invited by a British colleague to a party. He had heard that Delhi parties were famous for being boozy and late. It was in East Nizamudin, a place he would come to love and where he would live. But this time he got lost, not having grasped yet the maddening illogic patterns of street numbers in India. It was in the apartment of another foreign correspondent, a Frenchman, known for his love of women and stupendous capacity for drinking and it was full of journalists, both Indian and Western. The apartment was wide and beautifully furnished with teak antic pieces, there was a lot of alcohol, quite a few stunning women- mostly Indian – the foreign ones did not look like much to Andrew – and one could hardly hear oneself talking. Andrew, still a little shy, in spite of his booming voice, stuck himself in a corner and just observed. The western journalists wore all white cotton trousers, white open shirts, and had a seriousness about them that stuck Andrew. The Indian journalists had a glass of whisky in one hand, a cigarette – or sometimes a pipe – in the other, and loudly talked of politics to the western journalists who listened to them enthralled.
For the first time Andrew heard words, which later would become part of his vocabulary:
- Gosh, said, a chap from the London Telegraph, whom Andrew had briefly met once, these Hindu fundamentalists will bring curse to this country; see how they are claiming that most the mosques in India, including the Babri Masjid, are built on destroyed temples…
- Yeah, replied another chap, whom Andrew had never met, in a German accented-English, we journalists, have to do our bit for India’s persecuted minorities, you know, the Christians who are attacked in tribal ideas, or the Muslims who do not get the same education as Hindus and are nowhere to be found in the top layers of Indian society.
- Right you are, continued the Telegraph chap. I am actually compiling a report of Human Rights abuses in India. We need to preserve Secularism, which I believe we British bequeathed to this country, he concluded, rather pompously, thought Andrew…
All these new words, plus the smoke, noise, and movement, left him slightly stunned after the quietness of British parties. Dinner was served at 11 pm, which struck him as rather late. He ate quickly, mumbled a goodbye to his host and went back by rickshaw to the Claridges, again baffled by what he was encountering in India
He started hunting for a place in Delhi, which was easier said than done. Even in those times, foreign diplomats, who were ready to pay anything for a house in posh areas of Delhi, had helped to make rental prices skyrocket to ridiculous heights: 75.000 Rs for a big flat in Golf Links, or one lakh for a house in Jorbagh. The owners were usually rich Punjabis, who asked for 50% of the money to be paid in black in foreign accounts and demanded one – sometimes two – years in advance. One day Andrew went to see a flat in Sujan Singh Park, near the Ambassador hotel, where lived the famous writer and journalist Kushwant Singh. The owner was a fat Sikh who had rings on every finger. Flat was nice, but when Andrew requested to see the servants’ quarters, he was shown a dump of a room without any windows and when he asked about the bathroom, the fat Sikh replied
- they don’t need bathrooms, they can use the public toilets in Khan Market !
Andrew, in spite of his British self-control, nearly slapped the guy and left without a word. He would discover much later that rich North Indians often paid and treated very badly their servants and whenever he saw in papers that a servant had murdered his or her masters and fled with their money, he remembered the servants’ quarters in Sujan Singh Park. Finally he settled for a run down flat in East Nizamudin, overlooking the shrine of the Muslim Sufi saint, Nizamud-din Chishti, a district which then was not yet as popular as it would become with intellectuals and journalists. He remodelled it, hunted Delhi’s antic markets for old colonial furniture and made it in a haven of peace. Ultimately, he would become known as the ‘Knight of East Nizamuddin’….

hey welcome back

2010-02-16T06:47:00.000+05:30

Its been a long time and am Back...

A LETTER TO ALL THOSE WHO ACCUSE ME TO BE AN ANTI-MUSLIM. BY FRANCOIS GAUTIER

2009-12-31T16:28:00.000+05:30

What is intellectual fascism? It is to accuse the other, without bothering to analyze these charges by the test of logic and reason …   Fascism is also to refuse dialogue, which can take place before witnesses in the form of a debate. All Indologists who denigrate India, whether American ones, such as Witzel, or French like Jaffrelot, always refuse to dialogue with those they denigrate or those who defend the Hindus.  Fascism is to label someone who has lived 40 years in India, has been married 20 years to an Indian, whose friends are Indians of different ethnic origin or religion, to be a right wing fascist. Someone, who in his private life, is neither racist nor hateful, nor fascist .
Intellectual fascism is sitting behind a plush desk in Harvard or Paris (or in this big bubble that is Delhi) and dissect India, using prejudices and false theorems, based on the politically correct, which are only a product of one’s education, atavism, or what one reads (this is called second hand knowledge).   Fascism is to label as a fascist someone who has covered Kashmir for 15 years at the time of its most serious unrest, who has traveled extensively in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and who crisscrossed India like very few western journalists, except maybe Mark Tully. Even if he is wrong – at least he speaks from experience – and perhaps the time will prove him right…
All I did when I was working for Swiss newspaper Le Journal de Genève and later French daily Le Figaro, was to state that there was a problem with Islam in South Asia, at a time when it was not politically correct to say so. I also wrote a series of articles on major religions in India, showing the enduring tolerance of Hinduism, the brutality of Islam, the proselytizing tendencies of Christianity and the disappearance from India of Buddhism – not at the hands of Brahmins – but thanks to Muslim invasions. These articles provoked the ire of French Indologists, who began writing to Le Figaro an impressive number of letters of protest, demanding my resignation. From that day, I was marked and a smear campaign at all levels has been initiated against me.
When one is accused of being anti-Muslim, it’s worse than being a leper, one is sentenced without trial, without the accusers putting themselves in question for a second. If they did, they would realize that it is a terrible irony: we excuse suicide bombings in Israel or in Mumbai which kill thousands of innocents, in the name of the ‘persecution’ of Palestinians, Chechens and Kashmiris; but accuse of the worst crimes someone who has never murdered anyone, or even advocated hatred, but simply wrote about the reality he found on the ground with his own eyes, during twenty years of reporting.
Throughout my career I have thus suffered from these labels that are not explained but are passed on from person to person and quickly make the around of everything related to India, whether travel agencies, expatriates, diplomats or journalists: “He is an anti- Muslim, a pro-Hindu, a Fascist” … Nowadays, even the most enlightened only want to listen to the politically correct, the current ideologies of the masses, they rarely want to listen to something different which strives to go beyond appearances. I have seen six ambassadors of France, but never have I been asked about my opinion on one subject or another. I was even recently thrown by the current ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, who called me a fascist … … because I told him that it was only after 59 innocent Hindus including 36 women and children, had been burnt in a train by a mob of Muslims, that the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat have started (Jerôme Bonnafont who is the first openly gay foreign ambassador, should know better).
It is this very French arrogance, which is not normal in the land of Descartes, which labels as a sect, anything which has a Hindu color, or casts as fascists anybody with whom they disagree, without giving them the chance to defend themselves. President Sarkozy, who showed he could be different, should form a small committee of French who LIVE India from within, so as to advise him.
F G

FRANCOIS GAUTIER LETTER SENT TO ALL THOSE WHO accused of being fascists A

2009-11-10T16:37:00.001+05:30

English Translation of Francois Letter

FRANCOIS GAUTIER LETTER SENT TO ALL THOSE WHO accused of being fascists A

Fascism is to accuse the other without bothering to get these charges by the test of logic and reason ...

Fascism is to refuse dialogue, as do all Indologists CNRS and EHESS them when I extend my hand, dialogue can take place before witnesses as a debate ...

Fascism is fascism to treat someone who has lived 40 years in India, has been married 20 years to an Indian, whose best friends are Tamil, and also has Muslim friends. Someone in his private life is neither racist nor hateful, nor bad ...

Fascism is sitting on its weight behind Paris (or in this big bubble that is Delhi) and dissect India from prejudice, false theorems, based on political correctness, which Only the receipt of his education, his heredity and what we read (this is called the second hand knowledge) ....

Fascism is fascism to acknowledge someone who has covered the Kashmir for 15 years at the time of the most serious disorders, which has traveled up and down in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, who crisscrossed India like any other French journalist ... Even if he is wrong - at least he speaks from experience - and perhaps the time will give reason ...

Everything I did when I was working for Le Figaro, is to say that there was a problem with Islam in South Asia, at a time when it was not politically correct to say. I also wrote a series of articles on major religions in India, which provoked the ire Indians. They have written to the Figaro an impressive number of letters of protest, demanding rights and answer my resignation. From that day, I was marked and a smear campaign at all levels has been initiated against me.

When one is accused of being anti-Muslim, it's worse than being a leper, one was sentenced without trial, without the accusers objectified second. If they did, they would realize that it is a terrible irony: we excuse suicide bombings in Israel or in Mumbai which killed hundreds of innocents in the name of 'persecution' of Palestinians, Chechens and Kashmiris; but is accused of the worst crimes anyone who has ever murdered anyone, or even advocated hatred, but simply wrote what he found in his eyes, in twenty years of reporting.

Throughout my career I have suffered from this label that is not explained but is conveyed from person to person and is quick around everything related to India, whether the travel agencies, expatriates, diplomats or journalists: "It is a Muslim, a pro-Hindu, a Fascist" ... People, even the most enlightened, do not want to listen to the politically correct ideology of mass, they do not want never hear the difference. I have seen six ambassadors of France, but never have I been asked to ask you opinion on one subject or another. I even recently thrown by the current ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, who called me a fascist ... ... because I have made it out after 59 innocent Hindus including 36 women and children, have been burnt in a train by a mob of Muslims, the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat have started.

It is this very French arrogance, which is not explained in the land of Cartesian to deal with any sect, which has a color Hindu fascists or those with whom we disagree, without giving them the chance to s' explanation and without even explain to himself the logic of his accusations. President Sarkozy, who showed he could be different, should form a small committee of French who LIVE from within India, to advise him.

Francois Gautier
..............................................................
LETTRE DE FRANCOIS GAUTIER ADRESSEE A TOUS CEUX QUI L’ACCUSENT D’ÊTRE UN FACHISTE

Le fascisme c'est d'accuser l'autre sans prendre la peine de faire passer ces accusations par le test de la logique et de la raison…

Le fascisme c'est de refuser le dialogue, comme le font tous les indianistes du CNRS et de l’EHESS quand je leur tends la main, dialogue qui peut prendre place devant témoins sous forme de débat…

Le fascisme c'est de traiter de fasciste quelqu'un qui vit depuis 40 ans en Inde, est marié depuis 20 ans à une Indienne, dont les meilleurs copains sont des tamouls, et qui a aussi des amis musulmans. Quelqu’un qui dans sa vie privée n’est ni raciste, ni haineux, ni méchant…

Le fascisme c'est d'être assis sur son pesant derrière à Paris (ou dans cette grosse bulle qu’est Delhi) et de disséquer l'Inde à partir de préjugés, de faux théorèmes, en se basant sur le politiquement correct, qui n’est que du reçu de son éducation, son atavisme et ce qu’on lit (cela s’appelle de la connaissance de deuxième main)….

Le fascisme c'est d'accuser de fascisme quelqu'un qui a couvert le Cachemire pendant 15 ans, au moment des troubles les plus graves, qui a parcouru de long en large le Pakistan, le Bangladesh, l’Afghanistan, qui a sillonné l’Inde comme aucun autre journaliste français… Même s’il se trompe - au moins il parle d'expérience – et peut-être le temps lui donnera raison…

Tout ce que j’ai fait, lorsque je travaillais pour le Figaro, c’est de dire qu’il existait un problème avec l’islam en Asie du sud, à un moment où il n’était pas politiquement correct de le dire. J’ai aussi rédigé une série d’articles sur les grandes religions en Inde, qui ont provoqué l’ire des indianistes. Ceux-ci ont écrit au Figaro un impressionnant nombre de lettres de protestation, demandant des droits de réponse et ma démission. De ce jour là, j’ai été marqué et une campagne de diffamation à tous les niveaux a été initiée contre moi.

Quand on est accusé d'être antimusulman, c'est pire que d'être un pestiféré, on est condamné sans jugement, sans que les accusateurs s'objectivent une seconde. S'ils le faisaient, ils réaliseraient que c'est une ironie terrible: on excuse les attentats suicide en Israël ou à Bombay qui tuent des centaines d’innocents, au nom de la ‘persécution’ des Palestiniens, des Tchéchènes ou des Kashmiris; mais on accuse des pires crimes quelqu’un qui n’a jamais assassiné personne, ni même prôné la haine, mais a simplement écrit ce qu’il a constaté de ses yeux, en vingt ans de reportages.

Tout au long de ma carrière, j’ai souffert de cette étiquette qui ne s’explique pas mais est véhiculée de personne en personne et fait rapidement le tour de tout ce qui touche à l’Inde, que ce soit les agences de voyage, les expatriés, les diplomates ou les journalistes : « c’est un antimusulman, un pro-hindou, un fasciste »… Les gens, même les plus éclairés, ne veulent écouter que le politiquement correct, l’idéologie de masse, ils ne veulent jamais entendre la différence. J’ai connu six ambassadeurs de France, mais jamais m’a-t-on invité pour me demander on avis sur un sujet ou un autre. Je me suis même dernièrement fait jeter par l’ambassadeur actuel, Jérôme Bonnafont, qui m’a traité de… fasciste… parce que je lui ai fait remarquer que c’est après que 59 hindous innocents, dont 36 femmes et enfants, aient été brûlés dans un train par une meute de musulmans, que les émeutes antimusulmanes du Gujarat ont démarré.

C’est cette arrogance bien française, qui ne s’explique pas au pays des cartésiens, de traiter de secte tout ce qui a une couleur hindoue, ou de fascistes ceux avec qui on est en désaccord, sans leur accorder la chance de s’expliquer et sans même s'expliquer à soi-même la logique de ses accusations. Le président Sarkozy, qui a montré qu’il savait être différent, devrait constituer un petit comité de Français qui VIVENT l’inde du dedans, pour le conseiller.

François Gautier

francois gautier's US NJ Speech

2009-08-26T19:54:00.001+05:30

Francois Gautier Program of Museum of Indian History; Part 1
by factindiafunds

Francois Gautier Program of Museum of Indian History; Part 7
by factindiafunds

Francois gautier's New jersey Speech.

2009-08-25T10:30:00.003+05:30

Mr. Francois Gautier interviewed on his life and philosphy

2009-08-24T13:34:00.000+05:30

French journalist and writer Francois Gautier on his journey from spiritual to political Hinduism

Photographs of Francois gautier's US TOUR 2009

2009-08-20T14:04:00.000+05:30

Francois gautier Speaks at the Indian Independence day celebrations in USA 2009

Francois gautier Speaks at the NJ 16th Aug 2009

Francois Gautier: Custodian of India’s Historical Heritage

2009-08-18T02:38:00.005+05:30

By Kalyani Giri, www.indoamerican-news.com

HOUSTON: Eminent journalist and author Francois Gautier is passionate about India. His love affair with that country began in the ‘70s, when as a young student, he left his native France and meandered across Europe and arrived in India. So captivated was he by India’s arresting liveliness and the warmth and kindness of the people, that years later in the early ‘80s he returned to India and made it his home. During the last three decades, he has been a high-profile ambassador to India through the power of his pen.

“It is a wonderful privilege to be born Indian,” said Gautier to a multigenerational gathering at the Arya Samaj of Greater Houston on August 10. “I’m a westerner but I feel it is a privilege to live in India.”

The renowned writer is currently visiting several cities within the US to raise funds through his visionary foundation FACT – India for the creation of an Indian history museum in Pune, in the state of Maharashtra in India. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History, named for the Indian military leader Shivaji (1627 – 1680), will cost an estimated US$40 million. Gautier is eager to begin work as soon as he returns to India and is confident that this fundraising tour will bring in the much-needed initial $100, 000 to jumpstart the project. A wall within the museum will bear the names of donors supporting the museum project. The museum will be built on land donated by a private trust. Gautier believes that with the help of commissioned historians hired by the museum, visitors will be privy to accurate chronicles of India’s great history. For Gautier, the epiphany came upon him when he started research on a book he was writing. He found that history books carried outdated theories such as the Aryan invasion that have since found to be fictional.

Earlier in the day, he chatted informally with Indo American News sharing his thoughts and vision for the museum.

“India has been largely maligned by distorted information and misrepresentation. No records or schoolbooks have a correct account of the Hindu Kush genocide, where millions were slaughtered. Exactly how many were killed isn’t known but that was India’s holocaust. Yet everyone knows about the Jewish Holocaust,” said Gautier. “India’s history, falsely propagated by the British, Christian missionaries, and western media, has made me realize that we need to show Hindu civilization in its correct and true context. For the sake of our children and the generations to come, and the world!”

The first exhibit to be set up will honor the life and times of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. India’s rich cultural heritage will be portrayed through the Vedas. The museum will document and exhibit the various invasions from Alexander the Great to the Arabs, the Goa Inquisition, the ongoing massacre of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus by Muslim terrorists, the persecution of the Syrian Christians, Buddhism’s rise and decline, India past and current. Highlighted too, will be India’s glorious contribution of yoga and Ayurveda to the world community.

“The museum will be there for our children, for them to know that regardless of the fact that the British broke the backbone of our agricultural system and caused the deaths of millions of Indians from famine, and despite the Muslim onslaught, India prevailed and remains prosperous,” added Gautier, a practicing Hindu who was spiritually influenced by the writings of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950). He has since joined forces with spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who supports him in his quest for the truth about India’s past. Gautier estimated that it would take several years till completion of the museum.

“I’m thinking about 10 to 15 years. Once people realize how important this project is, and how essential, the funds will pour in,” confided Gautier. Speaking softly in a lilting Indo-French accent, his messages however were undoubtedly strong as he condemned the slaughter and maniacal “ethnic cleansing” of Hindus in the Kashmir valley by the Muslims, an area Gautier covered as a political journalist from 1987 to the late ‘90s.

“There were over a million Hindus living peacefully in Kashmir. Today there are a mere hundreds. The Kashmiri Pandits moved me with their despair, but nobody else seemed to give a damn. Indian media abroad and in India were only covering the Muslim angle,” said Gautier.

Through FACT – India, an organization he founded in 2003 to draw attention to human rights abuses in South Asia, Gautier documented the genocide in Kashmir in a video called Terror Unleashed – An Exhibition on Kashmir, and presented it to the US Congress in the desperate hope that Washington would intervene and help resolve the issue.

“Several House Representatives saw it and lauded the video but nothing was really done about it,” said Gautier. “US presidents think that by pouring money into Pakistan, it will curb terrorism. That won’t work.”

Gautier said that the dissent among Hindu community leaders has led to disunity.

“If there’s fighting among ourselves, how do we present a united front to the world? After all this time that Indians have been in the US and enjoy great prosperity, they still do not have a voice that is heard. Yet other communities work together and in that unity, they find a voice. Indian organizations need to share a common agenda and work towards that.”

He confided that it is “tragic” that the children of Indian immigrants adopt the American way of life and are lost to India.

“They’re hostile to spirituality. And it’s mostly the fault of the parents who either don’t care, or don’t instill cultural pride in their children. Families are fragmented, values lost. Instead of pushing children to visit the temple, engage them in other spiritual activities like the classical arts and yoga. It will bring them closer to their cultural roots,” said Gautier. “It’s such a pity that India is so poor at sports, as that could have helped make them proud of India.”

At a private meeting with local youth at the Arya Samaj, Gautier urged young people to be proud of their cultural heritage. “It is a privilege and a responsibility to have Indian roots and there is no contradiction here – you hail from the lineage of the Vedas. People are moving forward and coming to Hinduism for spiritual answers,” said Gautier.

It is a special privilege to be born a Hindu: Francois Gautier

2009-08-11T02:52:00.000+05:30

Source: India Post

NEW YORK: Noted French journalist and writer Francois Gautier who has made India his home and propagation of Hinduism his cause and mission for over three decades, is currently traveling across the US to raise funds through his foundation, FACT – India, for the setting up of an Indian history museum in Pune, India.

Gautier, perhaps one of the very few Westerners to have unconditionally adopted a Hindu way of life, feels the widely prevalent distorted image of Indian history as propagated by the British, Christian missionaries, communists and the western world in general for over two centuries, has necessitated the museum to portray Hindu civilization in the right light.

In an interview with India Post during his visit to New York last week, Gautier spoke about his ambitious museum project, the many threats to Hinduism in today’s world and how Hindus can gain the respect of the world.

IP: Can you tell us about the Museum of Indian History?

Gautier: I have been donated some land in Pune by a private trust where I want to build the museum to be called the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History.

I see in India there are no museums of Indian history worth the name. So the idea is to start from the Vedas, go on to talk about the greatness of the whole of India and the entire drama of the invasions through history, the Hindu holocaust, and then portray India of today and tomorrow.

IP: What kind of funds do you need and how long will it take to complete the museum?

Gautier: It’s a huge project but definitely it will happen. It’s about $40m dollars, and I don’t know how long it will take — perhaps 10-20 years, because I don’t have the money right away. But I am ready to start, once I start, the donations will come and people will understand the importance of this museum.

IP: Why is it important to have such a museum?

Gautier: As a journalist and writer, when I started documenting for my book, I realized that most history books on India are based upon very old theories considered defunct or debatable such as the Aryan invasion theory, which evidence shows has never taken place.

Both British historians and later Nehruvian historians have toned down the considerable impact on Indian culture of the invasions starting from Alexander the Great to the Arabs, the Muslim invaders and the British — that entire part of the history has been swept under the carpet. And even later, the history of India’s Independence is very unfairly portrayed.

The need of the museum is very important so we can look at India’s history in a very scientific manner, which is what my organization FACT India is doing.

IP: Will the museum focus only on the Hindu history of India?

Gautier: The museum will also broach upon many of India’s dark periods in its history like the inquisition in Goa by the Portuguese, the Sufi persecution, the Ahmedi Muslim persecution in Bangladesh, how the Buddhist history was wiped out and how some of the early Syrian Christians of Kerala were persecuted. And of course the Hindu holocaust right from Hindu Kush (massacre of Hindus) to the current terrorist activities against them.

I want school children to come to the museum and learn of their own culture and be proud. Kids in Indian schools are learning about Shakespeare and Milton, not about their Hindu or Indian culture. In my country we are taught about great French people like our poets, social reformers, artists etc… so I grew up proud of my culture, but Indian kids do not grow up learning about or feeling proud of their culture.

IP: Do you see any kind of opposition to your project from either the government or any section of the Indian society?

Gautier: Of course there’s bound to be some opposition, you can’t make everybody happy. But one has to go by the truth. Whatever one’s limitations, if backed by truth, even if it is opposed, there will be some kind of direction and protection.

In fact, there are three reasons for setting up the museum in Pune: One– of course the land donated is in Pune; second– since I work in Pune, I found that people of Pune, irrespective of their political affiliations, are quite nationalistic in nature. I feel my museum will be more protected in Pune than anywhere else in India; thirdly– Pune is Shivaji’s birth place. There is no museum of Shivaji anywhere in Maharashtra though he is a true hero. So naming it after Shivaji will be a protection for this museum.

IP: Over the many years of your career, how successful have you been in changing western perceptions of Hinduism?

Gautier: It’s a very difficult task, because unfortunately the image of Hinduism is not that good. But, there is more ignorance than hostility. Westerners do not know that it is a monotheistic religion. Secondly, Hindus, especially Brahmins have been at the receiving end of many like the British, the missionaries, the Islamic invaders all of who created a very negative image of Hinduism — particularly the missionaries emphasized only the negative sides of Hinduism and amplified them a thousand times. Today we still find that even after 200 years, these negative images have survived even in the minds of Hindus in India.

Unfortunately it is a great handicap for journalists like me who like Hinduism and want to defend it. I can’t say I have been very successful, but at least now westerners are open to going to India and understanding Hindus.

There are so many good things to be said for Hinduism, but unfortunately there is no will among Hindus to try to explain to westerners. Hindus are just content to come to the West and melt into local cultures or at best keep their spirituality and religion to themselves.

IP: What do you think of the role of the Indian intellectual elite and media in projecting the image of Hindus?

Gautier: The British have left such a mark on the minds of much of Indian intelligentsia and elite, right from the erstwhile Maharajas who have copied the British way of life that it has left a deep impression on generations after that. Today Indians think that everything that comes from the West is good. It’s very stupid, because many things in the West have failed like family values etc.

This generation of Indian intelligentsia is aping Marxism so brilliantly, which is dead even in Russia, and is probably only left in Cuba, but I don’t see why Indians should copy Cuba (laughs).

Look at the Chinese, they are so proud of their culture; nobody dares to fiddle with them, even America will not dare to interfere with their affairs.

IP: Many Hindus fear the very survival of Hinduism in the face of Islamic fundamentalism. How real are their fears?

Gautier: The fear is very real. I see there are five or six enemies that may be covertly or overtly attacking Hinduism. In the past there was any one threat at a time like the Greek, British or Muslim invasions. But today, there are the threats of Muslim fundamentalism, Christian conversions, Marxist onslaught, Westernization and so on which are eroding the Indian culture all at the same time. However, there are many great gurus today like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and others who are repackaging the Hindu tenets like spirituality. pranayama, yoga, ayurveda etc for everyone’s easy consumption while not associating them with Hinduism. Though I do not agree with that, it’s an important movement today and helping to preserve that culture.

It’s true that Hinduism is under attack and it looks frightening at times. That’s why the museum is so important.

IP: Have you ever felt conflicted about the culture you were born into and the one you adopted?

Gautier: Personally I have never felt conflicted, but people of my country often do not understand why I defend the Hindus– that has been a bit of a problem. Though my country is sympathetic to India, when you touch the intellectual layer – people who are fed on the Nehruvian history and the downgrading of Hindu culture, I have come into conflict sometimes with these people. But for me living in India is a protection; people often appreciate the work I do. Some of my friends do not understand why I poke the dangerous Islamic fundamentalism by defending Hindus. I started speaking about it (Islamic fundamentalism) 20-25 years ago when it was not at all politically correct to speak about it. Even those friends who like me sometimes do not really understand me. I have faced a lot of hostility also.

IP: What can Hindus living in America do to preserve their culture?

Gautier: For Hindus living in the US, whether fist or second generation, it is important that they carry their Hinduness. It is a special privilege to be born a Hindu, because you inherit the knowledge which is very ancient and very practical. Also the many Hindu groups which are scattered should unite to become a lobby like the Jews. They should teach their children to be proud of being Hindu while being faithful to their Americanness. They should create a lobby in the US to be able to influence South Asia policy at the administration level and see that it does not cap India’s nuclear policy.

IP: Is there something that really frustrates you?

Gautier: Hindus don’t think big. Most Hindu movements in the US have mostly people without a vision, they don’t unite; it’s very frustrating. When I last visited the US in 2002, the Hindu community was more vibrant, today I find many of the Hindu leaders of that time burnt out or taken a back seat or gone back into mainstream life; that is saddening. If only Hindus knew their own power — there are one billion in the world — Islam is conscious of its might and its numbers; Christianity though on the decline, is conscious of its greatness in terms of technology and power. Hindus, who are not all that small in number, have to use more muscle. Meekness and submissiveness will not take them far, they have to show muscle power. That’s the way to get respect in the world.

By SRIREKHA N. CHAKRAVARTY, India Post News Service

complete schedule of Francois Gautier's US progrmmes

2009-08-09T12:19:00.000+05:30

PS: Please call up to confirm with concerned hosts / convenors

Aug 2 - New York, Hindu Unity Day
Flushing Temple, NY
Contact: Narain Kataria, 718-478-5735

Aug 8 - Dallas, Hindu Unity Day, 10 am - 2 pm
D/FW Hindu Temple, 1605 N. Britain Rd, Irvin, TX
www.dfwhindutemple.org, 972-445-3111.
Dinner with Francois, 7 - 9:30 pm
Kalyan Viswanathan, kalyan.viswanathan@gmail.com, 614-668-1668

Aug 9 - Dallas, Seminar on Indian History / Lessons from History for the Modern World
1 - 5 pm, Holiday Inn Select, 26-45 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, TX.
Speakers: Mr. Francois Gautier, Mr.Robert Spencer & Mr.Joe Kaufman
Organised by Sanatana Dharma Foundation
Kalyan Viswanathan, kalyan.viswanathan@gmail.com, 614-668-1668

Aug 10 - Houston
10 - 11 am, Interviews with India Herald, Voice of Asia, Indo-American News
12 noon, Lunch with Francois at Aashiana Indian Cuisine
12610 Briar Forest Dr, Houston, TX 77077, (281) 493-0981
7 pm, Arya Samaj of Greater Houston
Fund Raiser for Museum of Indian History
www.aryasamajhouston.com
14375 Schiller Rd, Houston, TX. (281) 752-0100
Susheem Mehta, susheem@hotmail.com, 281-494-1909 / 713-203-0315

Aug 14 - Boston, Talk by Francois Gautier, 7 pm
80 Forest Park Dr, Waltham, MA
Sanjay Kaul, sanjaykaul@hotmail.com, 781-330-1691

Aug 15 - Boston, 12 - 3 pm
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Bldg : Group 6, Rm 153
Prof. Balram Singh, bsingh@umassd.edu

Aug 15 - Boston, India’s Independence Day, 6 pm
Little Kresge Auditorium, Bldg W16, 77
Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Sangam, MIT , Hitesh Chelawat, chelawat@mit.edu, 617-999-7526

Aug 16 - New Jersey, 3:30 pm (Tickets available here)
Arsha Bodha Center, 84 Cortelyous Lane, Somerset, NJ
www.arshabodha.org Contact : Satya Nemana 732-762-7104

Aug 19 - Maryland, UMD College Park, 7 - 9 pm
History of Hinduism: Travails through Millennia
Juan Jimenez Hall, Stamp Union, UMD, College Park
Contact : Utsav Chakrabarti, utsavc_arch@yahoo.com, 443-691-0759

Aug 22 - San Francisco, 5:30 - 7 pm
Las Palmas Park, 850 Russet Dr, Sunnyvale, CA
Organised by HSS
Contact : Khanderao, khanderao@yahoo.com, 408-737-7930

Aug 24 - Los Angeles, 7:30 pm
Talk by Francois : The Secret Brotherhood of India and Israel
Museum of Tolerance, 9786 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

Press release Aug 2nd Hindu Unity day: Francois Gautier

2009-08-04T13:12:00.003+05:30

Francois Gautiers US TRIP Aug 2nd 2009

Aug 2nd, New York
Francois Gautier on his conference tour of North America, speaking at Hindu Unity Day
organised by Hindu Temple Society of North America, NY.

Francois spoke passionately about the need for unity among Hindu organisations and
Hindus in general. As diverse as the Hindu thought and way of life is, the greatest need
of the hour is for all Hindus to unite to rid Hindu society of inequalities, poverty, and to
stand up for the rights of oppressed Hindus. He paid rich tributes to the Vedic culture, the
Sanatana Dharma which he said is the last living spirituality, whereas all the ancient
civilisations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, South American,Greek etc) have been wiped out.
The prospering of Hindu civilisation today has been possible only because of the deep
rooted faith and pride among the Hindus about their religion and culture.

Francois also emphasized the need to correct the widely prevalent distorted picture of Indian history as propagated by the Britishers, missionaries, communists and the western world for over two centuries to show the Hindu civilisation in poor light. His latest book
A New History of India, gives an indepth analysis of this issue. Through his foundation,
FACT-India, Francois and Namrita Gautier are working to fight against Terrorism, Human Rights abuses in Indian subcontinent and to preserve the wealth of Hindu civilisation for generations to come.

Francois also noted that India does not have a museum of Indian History, in spite of India
having a rich history and culture dating back to at least 7000 years. FACT-India has acquired 20 acres of land in Pune to build The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History.
It will be a state of the art museum with Audio and Video guided tours and research facilities. Most importantly the museum will be a monument, to remind all Indians of their ancient culture and history and to remember the wars and holocausts of the last 1000 years and avoid repeating those terrible incidents all over again. Indeed, it is time for us to cherish and be proud of our culture and history, pay tributes to our brave heroes (women and men), learn from our history and not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

On behalf of FACT-India team, Francois urged Indians in US (& worldwide) to join in this noble endeavour to understand and embrace the contributions, values and spiritual ethos of the ancient land of Bharat and restore the dignity that the wonderful Hindu civilisation rightfully deserves.

FACT-India is a registered non-profit organisation in India and USA. Contributions to The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History can be made online at www.fact-india.com. All donations are tax-deductible. FACT-India gratefully acknowledges your precious contributions.

15th Hindu Sanghatana Diwas: Tristate area

2009-08-02T11:11:00.001+05:30

15th Hindu Sanghatana Diwas: Tristate area
Keynote speaker: Francois Gautier
Chief guest: Dr Subrahmanya Swami

India History Seminar Aug 09 2009, Dallas, Texas

2009-08-01T09:51:00.001+05:30

India History Seminar Aug 09 2009, Dallas, Texas

Time : 1 to 5:00 PM CST

Venue: Holiday Inn Select (Ball room), 2645, LBJ freeway, Dallas, Texas 75234

India History Seminar 8-9-2009-V4

Francois Gautier's lecture on Hindu Holocaust Museum : New Jersey

2009-07-31T17:54:00.001+05:30

Francois Gautier's lecture on Hindu Holocaust Museum

RSVP: Click here to register. Visit http://www.fact-india.com/

Date: 16th August 2009 Sunday 3:30 pm onwards

Venue: Arsha Bodha Center www.ArshaBodha.org

84 Cortelyous Lane, Somerset, NJ 08873

Francois Gautier, a distinguished journalist, a long time friend of India and author of dozen books on India & Hinduism invites you to talk about (1) Plight of Hindus and misguided policies (2) Building Hindu Holocaust Museum of True Indian History, why it is necessary and raise funds for its construction. Also enjoy "Parijatapaharanam" entertaining Grand Kuchipudi Dance by Smt. Divya Yeluri & team - a Nritya Madhavi School presentation www.Kuchipudi-Dance.com Entry Fees: $15 (food included with RSVP). Click here to register, FactIndiaFunds@gmail.com, 847-462-4692, Tickets: www.fact-india.com

FACT India was established by Francois Gautier in 2003, to highlight human right abuses in India. Contributions to FACT India are tax deductible, TaxID : 20-8615051. Please send donations to FACT India, 6823 Windrock Rd, Dallas, TX 75252, (Kalyan Viswanathan, kalyan.viswanathan@gmail.com, Ph. 614-668-1668). Contact: Ph: 847-462-4692 Satya Nemana, Narain Kataria, Arish Sahani, Umesh Shukla, Samathha Reddy, Prakash Waghmare, Rakshapal Sood, Gaurang Vaishnav, Sarang Rastogi, Abhimanyu Gupta, Sunanda Thali, FactIndiaFunds@gmail.com

http://cities.sulekha.com/united-states/new-jersey/events/music/2009/07/francois-gautier-s-talking-tour.htm

François Gautier’s US Tour... Itinerary

2009-07-30T14:48:00.001+05:30

Distinguished journalist, writer and a long time friend of India, Mr. Francois Gautier of FACT - India invites you to discuss..

- How terrorism is hitting India hard

- Wrong perception of India in US media

- Misguided policies of US in Indian Subcontinent

- What NRIs can do to raise awareness about the real India

- How can Indian Americans unite and why

- Why does India need a museum of Indian history that will provide a true picture

- And why the museum will focus on the history of Hindu holocaust

Conferences will be followed by a short presentation on The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History, which FACT - India is building in Pune, India. This state of the art museum will provide a frank look at Indian history from Vedic times up to today.

Aug 2nd - Hindu Unity Day, Ganesh Temple, Flushing, New York
Aug 8th - Dallas, Hindu Unity Day
Aug 9th - Dallas, 1-5 pm Seminar on Indian History
Aug 9th - Dallas, 7-9 pm, Private Fund Raiser Dinner
Aug 10th & 11th - Houston
Aug 14 & 15 - Boston
Aug 16 - New Jersey
Aug 19 - Maryland, UMD College Park
Aug 22 - San Francisco
Aug 24 - Los Angeles

For information about Francois Gautier and his works, please visit FACT - India. FACT - India was established by Francois Gautier in 2003, to highlight Human Rights abuses in South Asia. FACT - India is a non-profit organisations registered in India and USA respectively.

Contributions to FACT - India are tax deductible, Tax ID: 20-8615051.

Please mail your donations to FACT - India, 6832 Windrock Rd, Dallas, TX 75252.
Contact: Kalyan Viswanathan, kalyan.viswanathan@gmail.com, Tel.: 614 668 1668,
Francois Gautier, fgautier@rediffmail.com,
Dr. Samathha Reddy, innovative.reddy@gmail.com

KARMA AND THE 09 INDIANS ELECTIONS

2009-05-17T18:42:00.000+05:30

May 15, 2009

KARMA AND THE 09 INDIANS ELECTIONS

Each nation, like the human soul, packs karma in each of its lives or cycles. Good karma or bad karma have one unique characteristics: they are like a tiny seed, bearing their fruits ages or cycles later, often giving the impression to the ignorant mind of total injustice done to innocent souls. Thus the individual who seems to suffer unfair circumstances in this life, may be paying for a bad karma done dozens of lives ago. In the same manner, a nation which appears to suffer inexplicable hardships: persecution, earthquakes, great natural catastrophes, dictatorships, may be amending for a karma accomplished centuries ago. The Tibetan people’s plight seems to be a good example of this phenomenon. Here is one of the most harmless, peaceful, adorable culture on earth, spiritualised on top of that, who suffered and is still suffering the worst ignominies at the hands of the Chinese communists, who have eradicated their culture, razed to the ground hundreds of ancient and marvelous temples, killed either directly or indirectly – concentration camps, torture, famine – more than one million of this adorable people! Why? The Dalai-Lama, himself, one of the last great spiritual figures of this era, admits that it was because of an ancient “black karma”, bad deeds. Was it feudalism? Was it not opening itself to the world for so long? Or misuse of Tantrism? Who knows and who can judge? But it’s a good bet to say that there is probably no total injustice in this world. Everything springs from a mathematical, ultra-logical system, where one gets the exact reward one deserves, which bears no moral connotation like in Christianity. That, is called Karma.

There is also another wonderful concept in India, that of Dharma, which is the path of righteousness and living one’s life according to the codes of conduct as described by all ancient scriptures. It means “that which holds” the people of this world and the whole creation. On the other side, a-dharma is what makes people stray from the path of compassion, love, togetherness and that which creates hate, corruption and selfishness. As in a human being, a nation can choose a dharmic path or an a-dharmic one. The dharmic path, whatever the pitfalls, ensures the survival of the soul of a nation – which has been India’s story so far; and the a-dharmic one, the fall of even the greatest of civilisations, whether Rome, Greece or Egypt. Today for Indians, dharma is choosing between forces that are attacking India’s spiritual legacy and forces which will help preserve it.

Then we have the notion of the Avatar and the Asura in ancient India. As the avatar or the Vibhuti is direct incarnation of the Divine forces, the asura works against Dharma and ushers an era of a-dharma. It should also be emphasized that there is no such thing as the utter evil and absolute good of Christianity or American films in human beings: often the asuric beings seem to embody some good, whether it is charity or even secularism.

At this very moment, Indians have been asked to decide their future by electing a new Government. Sometimes, it is said that people act out of ignorance. But this time it is not so: Indians have been warned repeatedly in the forms of monstrous terrorist attacks, one after the other, that something is terribly wrong. They have also seen how the whole system is deteriorating, that cynicism in politics is the rule of the day, that their own Media is terribly biased and can be bought, that ancient values are being lost quickly by the way of Christian conversions, wildcat westernization and the sprout of Islamic fundamentalism. So, ultimately Indians are being given the choice to vote decisively for their future. If they do opt for the repeat of the same government which has ushered all these forces, out of regional, caste or religious pettiness, selfishness, or plain indifference, it can be said safely that somewhere they will do it consciously. They will have then to bear the consequences of their choice. That is called Karma

Then Sir Aurobindo’s words will echo down the ages:
“There are moments when the Spirit moves among men and the breath of the Lord is abroad upon the waters of our being; there are others when it retires and men are left to act in the strength or the weakness of their own egoism. The first are the periods when even a little effort produces great results and changes destiny; the second are spaces of time when much labour goes to the making of a little result. It is true that the latter may prepare the former, may be the little smoke of sacrifice going up to heaven which calls down the rain of God’s bounty.

Unhappy is the man or the nation which, when the divine moment arrives, is found sleeping or unprepared to use it, because the lamp has not been kept trimmed for the welcome and the ears are sealed to the call. But thrice woe to them who are strong and ready, yet waste the force or misuse the moment; for them is irreparable loss or a great destruction.”

fgautier@rediffmail.com

While traitors are unhanged, monks suffer

2009-05-02T02:28:00.000+05:30

Francois Gautier
New Indian Express
April 26, 2009

When Alan Paton wrote Cry The Beloved Country he was lamenting how the whites could devise, construct and implement race and colourbased social and economic injustices over the blacks in apartheidera South Africa. ‘Cry O my Beloved India’ could be very well applied to our politics, for things have gone to such a pitch of unfair, blatant and outrageousness that it baffles the mind. Yet neither the politicians, nor most of the press find anything wrong in it. Just a few examples: Varun Gandhi spent nearly three weeks in jail under the NSA, just because he said something that might be reprehensible.

But many mullahs spew fire and venom in their Friday discourse in numerous mosques in India — and none ever gets arrested, because riots would erupt immediately.

Sadhvi Pragnya, a Hindu woman monk, has been languishing in jail for months, even though no conclusive proof has been brought forward of her direct involvement in the Malegaon blasts case. Recently she was assaulted by a Muslim inmate at Byculla Jail and sustained injuries to her face, nose and neck. But you have the Islamist leader Abdul Nasser Madani, a prime accused in the Coimbatore bomb blasts, which cost the life of 60 people, who is standing for election in Kerala with the full backing of the CPI-M.

In Orissa, the police arrested the BJP candidate from Kandhamal constituency, Ashok Sahu, because he accused the church of using foreign money to induce innocent tribals to convert — which is a well documented fact, please read Tehelka’s cover story.

Yet terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab, who went on killing people as if he was strolling in a mall, is enjoying a royal life. The entire Arthur jail has been vacated for him. 11.000 pages of his indictment charges are going to be translated in Urdu, just because he has asked for it and the court has even sanctioned the absurdity of DNA tests to determine his age. The entire country wants him judged quickly and hanged, but to please a minority, the Congress is dithering.

In the same way, the President of India, who is pliant to the will of the Congress, will not allow Afzal Guru, who has committed treason against his own country, to be hanged, till elections are over, for fear of alienating the Muslim vote. Yet the Congress keeps telling us Indian Muslims are patriotic. Then, why should it fear losing its votes when it hangs a traitor? Nobody thought two times about hanging Godse.

The LTTE blew up Rajiv Gandhi in a totally senseless and cruel manner, just because he was on the verge of becoming PM again. But today, because of Tamil Nadu votes, Rajiv’s widow, Sonia, sent emissaries to Sri Lanka to pressure the government to effect a ceasefire just as it is about to wipe out the LTTE after 25 years of a bloody civil war. Does it make sense to you?

India is about equality and rising above castes; yet since 1947, politicians of this country, particularly the Congress, and later V P Singh, Mulayam Singh, or Lalu Prasad, have divided India along castes and religious lines.

But Mayawati tops them all: she gave a push to her prime ministerial aspirations, promising Scheduled Caste status to 16 more castes if she takes power at the Centre.

In India, you are supposed to be elected with Rs 10 lakh of white money. But everybody knows that to become an MP today, you need Rs 10 crore, as you have to boast of a hundred-car caravan when you go campaigning, hire private planes, helicopters, gift free saris, dhotis, televisions, cash even, more and more. So where do you get the balance in black money? From corrupt businessmen, from the mafia, from kickbacks.

The tragedy is that the Indian press does not play its role, because not many mainstream newspapers or television channels complained when Varun Gandhi was in jail, while Madani, a criminal who has the lives of 60 innocent people on his hands, was not only scot free, but was standing for MP with the full backing of a political party, whose leader just said that he would not refuse the post of Prime Minister.

The real problem is that India has been colonised for too long, contrary to China whose people remain proud of their culture and intensely nationalistic. It has resulted in a deep-rooted inferiority complex in the Indian psyche, where every intellectual is always looking towards the West for approval and Indians are so obsessed with having the western type of democracy, without adapting it to the Indian conditions.

The system has become so perverted that only radical surgery to remove the diseased parts will start the indispensable cleansing process.

Cry O my beloved India: look at what Thy children have done to Thee…

fgautier26@gmail.com
expressbuzz.com
http://tinyurl.com/cyjr8o

THE KAFKAIAN STREAK OF INDIAN POLITICS

2009-04-28T09:01:00.000+05:30

Kafka (1852–1931), was a Czech writer, most famous for his novels, the Trial, and the Metamorphosis, where the Absurd, the Grotesque and the Illogical were given a new life with impossible twists. The word ‘Kafkaian’ has today transcended the literary realm and is pertaining to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, illogical, often with a sense of impending danger.

The term ‘Kafkaian’ could be very well applied to today’s politics in India, for things have gone to such a pitch of absurd, unfair, blatant and outrageous illogical state, that it baffles the mind. Yet neither the politicians, nor most of the press find anything wrong in it.
Just a few examples:
Varun Gandhi spent nearly three weeks in jail under the NSA, just because he said something which might be reprehensible. But many mullahs spew fire and venom in their Friday discourse in numerous mosques in India – and none ever gets arrested, because riots would erupt immediately.

Sadhvi Pragnya, a Hindu lady monk, has been languishing in jail for months, even though no conclusive proofs have been brought forward of her direct involvement in the Malegaon blasts case, and recently she was assaulted by a Muslim inmate at Byculla Jail and sustained injuries to her face, nose and neck. But you have the Islamist leader Abdul Nasser Madani, a prime accused in the Coimbatore bomb blasts, which cost the life of 60 people, whose party, the PDP, is campaigning for election in Kerala with the CPI-M. Kafkaian?

In Orissa, the police arrested BJP candidate from Kandhamal constituency, Ashok Sahu, because he accused the Church of using foreign money to induce innocent tribals to convert – which is a very well documented fact, please read Tehelka’s cover story.
Yet, terrorist, Kasab, who went on killing people as if he was strolling in a mall, is enjoying a royal life. The entire Arthur jail has been vacated for him. 11.000 pages of his indictment charges are going to be translated in Urdu, just because the gentleman has asked for it and the court has even gone to the absurdity of ordering DNA tests to determine his age. The entire country wants him judged quickly and hanged, but to please a minority, the Congress is dithering. Kafkaian or not?

In the same way, the president of India, who is a pawn in the hands of the Congress, will not allow to Afzal, who has committed treason against his own country, to be hanged, till the elections are over, for fear of alienating the Muslim vote. Yet the Congress keeps telling us that Indian Muslims are patriotic. Then, why should it fear of losing its votes when it hangs a traitor? Nobody thought two times about hanging Godse. Kafkaian or not? You judge.

The LTTE blew up in a totally senseless and cruel manner Rajiv Gandhi , just because he was on the verge of becoming PM again. But today, because the of the Tamil Nadu votes, Rajiv’s widow, Sonia, is sending an emissary to Sri Lanka to pressurize the government to effect a ceasefire, just as it is about to wipe out the LTTE after twenty years of a bloody civil war. Does it make sense to you? Is it truly Kafkaian?

India is all about equality and rising above castes, yet since 1947, politicians of this country, particularly the Congress, and later V.P Singh, Mulayam Singh, or Lalu Prasad, have hopelessly divided India along castes and religious lines. But Mayawati tops them all: she just gave a push to her prime ministerial aspirations, by promising Scheduled Caste status to 16 more castes if she came to power at the Centre. Can you think of a more Kafkaian way of obtaining votes?

In India you are supposed to be elected with ten lakhs of white money. But everybody knows that to become an MP today, you need ten crores, as you have to boast of a hundred cars’ caravan when you go campaigning, hire private planes, helicopters, gift free saris, dhotis, televisions, cash even, more and more. So where do you get the 9 crores and 90 laks black money? From corrupt businessmen, from the mafia, from kickbacks. Can you think of a more Kafkaian situation?

Ultimately democracy in India has become a Kafkaian affair, as it has been so perverted, so hijacked, to the point of absurd. The same is true of the Indian judiciary: it always wants to be more thorough, more punctilious than the western system. As a result, if you have a good lawyer, or if you are a politician, you can twist the law, bend it to your own advantage and get out scot free. Rich people sit on posh houses in Mumbai or Delhi for which they pay a pittance of a rent, because they go to court against the legitimate owners.

The tragedy is that the Indian press does not play its role, because not many mainstream newspapers or television channels complained when Varun Gandhi was in jail, while Madani, a criminal who has the lives of 60 innocent people on his hands, was not only scot free, but was standing as an MP with the full backing of a political party, whose leader just said that he will not refuse the post of Prime Minister.

The real problem is that India has been colonized for too long, contrary to China whose people remain proud of their culture and intensely nationalistic. It has resulted in a deep-rooted inferiority complex in the Indian psyche, whereas every intellectual is always looking towards the West for approval and Indians are so obsessed with having the western type of democracy, without adapting it to the Indian conditions. The system has become so perverted that only radical surgery to remove the diseased parts will start the indispensable cleansing process.

O Kafka, you should have been born in India…

François Gautier

NEW STRATEGY Of OBAMA FOR PAKISTAN AND the AFGANISTAN

2009-04-22T22:07:00.002+05:30

Translated from Original French site Using Babel Fish

As president Obama has just affirmed it, the new strategy of the United States for Afghanistan and Pakistan “will target the dismantling of the terrorist networks and will employ for this purpose a vast range of means, energy of the improvement of the capacities of the regional security forces to a new attention paid to the diplomacy, the development and the international cooperation”. But is this really a new strategy?

Its predecessors, of Reagan with Bush, while passing by Clinton, were pressed all on Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight the Soviets initially, then to neutralize the Talibans Qaida et al. today. “We must make sure that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan are used as sure shelters with Al-Qaïda”, precisely Mr. Obama on March 29 said.

The president qualified the new plan of “overall strategy which counts not only on rifles and bombs, but also on agronomists, doctors and engineers to help to create a climate in which people recognize that they have to gain more while becoming our partners and those of the international community that by adhering to some these ideologies extremists”. With this intention, Mr. Obama wishes a vaster civil presence in Afghanistan and asked the American congress to adopt a private bill authorizing an direct aid in Pakistan of 7,5 billion dollars over 5 years. These funds would be used to build schools, roads and hospitals just as to reinforce the Pakistani democracy.

Let us recall that between 1952 and 2008, Islamabad received more than 73 billion $ out of foreign aid, according to Pakistan' S Economic Survey. But since the attacks of Mumbai of last November the total sum received by Pakistan is of 23.3 billion $! This included not the Chinese assistance whose one does not know the exact sum. The intentions are creditable. But the Indian government is not convinced: “Since Ronald Reagan, most of the weapons given by the Americans to the Pakistani were turned over against us to the Cashmere, then later were used to make attacks in India, from which those of Mumbai of last November”, comments on an official Indian who prefers to keep anonymity. However the Indian government knows that this new plan in South Asia results from close consultations during several months of the US government with Afghan persons in charge and Pakistani as with the allies of the United States within the International force of assistance to safety in which 41 countries in Afghanistan under the command of NATO take part.

New Delhi also noted that Mr. Obama had already ordered the deployment in reinforcement of 17.000 soldiers and marines to support the maintenance mission of peace under U.N. mandate to the approach of the Afghan elections scheduled for August. The new plan of the United States recommends 4.000 additional soldier sending, whose task will be to reinforce good progresses in the formation of the Afghan security forces so that they can protect their country. This does not obstruct in any manner New Delhi, which also wishes “to reinforce the democracy in Afghanistan”, but the Indian government worries about financial aid and the weapons which will be provided to Islamabad by Mr. Obama.

“An central element of our strategy is to provide drive to the Afghan national army so that it can play a key role and it is one of some successes of which we were pilot during the last years. Indeed, the Afghan national army has much credibility. Its soldiers are effective combatants. We must reinforce that”, specified Mr. Obama. “. ” This leaves credulous many Indian observers: “As soon as the Americans from go away, Afghanistan, for whom to fight is a national pastime, will fall down in anarchy - and it is us close Indians who will suffer from it, Sabeer Narendra a journalist of Delhi exclaims.

The plan of Obama also clarifies the need for supporting Pakistan in its fight against the extremists, a point punctuated by the suicide bombing against a mosque which made more than 50 died, on March 27, in the North-West of the country, and by an terrorist attack against a police academy of Lahore, on March 30. But the Indians make the point that not only the Pakistani entretuent himself, but that for twenty years they have exported terrorism: “all the great Islamic attacks, that they are those of Bombay or New York, have each one a Pakistani connection”, underlines Narendra. “One of the increasingly alarming points of these last years is the concept, I think, at the ordinary Pakistani that it is about a way or of another of a war which relates to does not concern the United States but it”, indicated Mr. Obama. “This attitude, I think, involved in Pakistan a gradual recrudescence of the extremism which constitutes the most important threat against the stability of its government, and in the final analysis, the most important threat against the Pakistani people. ” The Indians have a quite different opinion: “the attitude of the successive Pakistani governments since the Zia general, was always ambivalent, because with a hand they claim to support the fight against terrorism and other they grant licence to the secret services of Pakistani army (ISI) to arm to finance and involve certain islamist groups such Lashkar-e-Taiba”. “What we want to do, it is to say to the Pakistani people: you are our friends. You are our allies. We will give you the necessary tools to overcome Al-Qaïda and eliminate the zones from refuge of the extremists. But we also expect a certain responsibility for your share, and so that you became conscious of the gravity and the nature of this threat”, Obama pled. “Bush held the same speech in Pakistan after the attacks of the World Trade Center, smiles Narendra. But one does not fight terrorism by supporting one of the principal fountains of terrorism.

Mr. Obama is a lit man, but he succumbs, like many Western leaders, with the nuclear blackmail of Pakistan, which always threatens to use its atomic weapons against India. This is why even French president Nicolas Sarkozy pushes India and Pakistan with the negotiation and possibly with an agreement on the Cashmere, which would see India making many concessions. But how, concluded it, these two presidents cannot see that contrary to Pakistan, small islamist country always at the edge of the implosion, India, a nation democratic, liberal, pro-Western, is their best ally in the war against terrorism? ”

BJP must come out with a 'Nation First' agenda

2009-04-22T09:15:00.001+05:30

March 26, 2009

By Francois Gautier

Sending a clear message to divisive forces, the BJP must come out with a ‘nation first’ agenda of governance and fulfil the promises it has made to the masses.

The curse of Hindus has always been disunity and betraying each other to the enemy. Today we see this trend again in the BJP where sometimes the highest party office-bearers can’t even say hello to each other. As far as one can remember, the BJP had three pillars: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr LK Advani and Mr Murli Manohar Joshi.
Mr Vajpayee is no longer able to lead an active life due to health concerns and thus Mr Advani and Mr Joshi, who was president of the BJP in the early-1990s and had hoisted the Indian Tricolour in Srinagar at a time when no other leader gave a damn about Jammu & Kashmir, are two pillars of the party today. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has risen to the stature of a national-level leader, not only because he is an ironman but also because he has made his State a model of economic efficiency.

The BJP should make it known that it will really build the Ram Mandir, protect temples, stop Christian conversions, honour India’s gurus and impose some guidelines on media, which have a pre-conceived notion about Pope and Islam but always see Hindu godmen and sadhvis through the eyes of ‘secularism’.

On the external affairs side, the BJP should reaffirm its commitment to keep Arunachal Pradesh, stand-up to China’s bullying, and support Tibet to counteract Beijing, which is propping up Maoist Nepal and covertly using Burma as a military base.

The party should also make it clear that it will keep Jammu & Kashmir with India, hang terrorists (and not translate 11,000 indictment pages into Urdu for terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab), punish Pakistan by launching surgical strikes next time it attacks India through a proxy war and keep the United States at bay as long as America supports and provides arms and ammunition to Pakistan.

But you would say: What about the NDA? The BJP should not bother about its allies who are anyway jumping the ship as they think the Congress will win the election. If Mr Advani stands true to the aspirations of Hindu voters, the BJP can come to power on its own at the Centre and thus be able to implement the changes which India so urgently needs: Adopt a Uniform Civil Code, repeal Article 370, reform the judiciary, and switch over to a Parliamentary system of governance.

The BJP should reiterate that it considers all Indians equal and that it is always attentive to the demands of the Muslim community.

Unfortunately, the media always feels closer to the Congress and flaunts this proximity blatantly. It is gleeful every time the BJP is in trouble. For instance, the media and the Congress have been much more severe with Mr Varun Gandhi than Kasab (the former didn’t say anything provocative while the latter went on a shooting spree).

As for the West’s opinion, French Ambassador Jérome Bonnafont, an otherwise courteous diplomat, summed it up very well when he said: “The RSS and the BJP are dangerous fascists and Muslims in India are persecuted, not having the same opportunities as Hindus.” He also genuinely feels that the burning of Hindus in the Sabarmati Express never happened, but that “the anti-Muslims riots in Gujarat were a crime against humanity”.

As Indians worship their country as the ‘mother’, the BJP should reintroduce the notion of ‘Mother India’ in its election manifesto. If US President Barack Obama can be sworn in on the Bible, then all future Indian Prime Ministers can take the oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita. Those who are Christians can use the Bible and the Muslims the Quran. That should satisfy everybody.

The writer is a senior French journalist who lives in India.

Source: Daily Pioneer

A Fatherhood More Equal?

2009-04-09T21:13:00.003+05:30

Illustration by Sorit

OPINION

A Fatherhood More Equal?

Source: Outlookindia.com

In exalting Gandhi, we've elbowed Sri Aurobindo into the shadows

Francois Gautier on Sri Aurobindo

In this time of elections, the Congress has again claimed ownership to the Father of the Nation. But is the Mahatma, whose tremendous personality cannot be denied, indeed the architect of Indian independence, as most history books, Indian and western, are claiming?

The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (Columbia University Press, May 2008), a recently released biography by the American Peter Heehs, sheds new light on Sri Aurobindo's role as a leader of the Congress. Not many people know that originally, the Congress was created in December 1885 by an Englishman, A.O. Hume, with the avowed aim to "allow all those who work for the national (read British) good to meet each other personally". Yet, between 1906 and 1910, Sri Aurobindo was not only demanding outright independence from the British, but he also re-enacted Krishna's message in the Bhagavad Gita by allowing his brother Barin to manufacture bombs in his own house and secretly endorsing early assassinations of select Englishmen. Compare this to the Mahatma, who only asked for independence in 1940—and that because he was against cooperating with the British in their war efforts against the Nazis.

Heehs writes: "Sri Aurobindo never ceased to believe that Indians had the right to use violence to topple a government maintained by violence." This enormously important aspect of Sri Aurobindo's life, of protecting dharma, of standing for what is good and true and noble, by force if necessary, is today ignored and not applied to the enemies of modern India. Many of today's disciples of Sri Aurobindo and his companion, the Mother, would rather sweep this aspect of his life under the carpet. Thus, someone has slapped a court case against Heehs in Orissa, thereby stopping the book from being published in India.

Heehs also dwells on the famous Uttarpara speech, in which Sri Aurobindo, after one year in Alipore jail, clearly defines what he calls the Sanatana dharma: "Something has been shown to you in this year of seclusion, something about which you had your doubts and it is the truth of the Hindu religion. It is this religion that I am raising up before the world, it is this that I have perfected and developed through the rishis, saints and avatars, and now it is going forth to do my work among the nations. When, therefore, it is said that India shall rise, it is the Sanatana dharma that shall rise."

If we, in France, had a great man such as Sri Aurobindo, who comes out in the Heehs biography not only as a revolutionary and a yogi, but also a tremendous philosopher and peerless poet, we would cherish him endlessly. His poetry would be taught to children, his philosophical works would be part of the university curriculums, books would be written about him, museums would be built.... In fact, France's outspoken ambassador in India, Jerome Bonnafont, is an ardent admirer of Sri Aurobindo's political works.
But today, amongst Indian politicians (apart from Dr Karan Singh, a scholar on Sri Aurobindo), everybody quotes conveniently from Gandhi, although nobody applies his ideals of charkha, non-violence, khadi and birth control by sexual abstinence. No journalist ever mentions this extraordinary yogi, whose sayings of one hundred years ago are still one hundred per cent relevant today. Not only is he absent from schools and universities, in some manuals written by the Congress, he is branded a 'terrorist'. Shame on India!
Somnath Chatterjee, who has been made an icon by the Indian media in spite of his sitting on the cash-for-votes scam, has built an Indian history museum at the Parliament annexe. In this museum, the history of India more or less starts with Ashoka (because he was supposedly Buddhist), jumps to Akbar (who is glorified beyond measure) and finishes with Subhash Chandra Bose, Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.Not one mention of Sri Aurobindo or even Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Isn't it time Indian history is rewritten?

Heehs's book can be used to rectify some of the major injustice done to Sri Aurobindo, the true father of Indian independence, who prophetically said about Pakistan in 1947: "India is free, but she has not achieved unity, only a fissured and broken freedom. The whole communal division into Hindu and Muslim seems to have hardened into the figure of a permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that the Congress and the nation will not accept the settled fact as for ever settled.... For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled; civil strife may remain always possible, possibly even a new invasion and foreign conquest." How prophetic!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(The writer is editor-in-chief of La Revue de l'Inde and has been living in India for over 30 years.)

Nostradamus sees Saffron !

2009-04-09T21:09:00.002+05:30

Francois Gautier
Source : Express buzz
First Published : 05 Apr 2009 12:43:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 05 Apr 2009 08:36:50 AM IST
Michel de Nostre-Dame, better known as Nostradamus (1503-1566), was a famous French astrologer whose predictions, which included the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, have proved infallibly accurate.
Last month, unpublished manuscripts of Nostradamus have been discovered (and authenticated) in an old trunk in the French city of Lyon.
Curiously, there are two full pages, which deal at length with India, particularly with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the forthcoming elections.
We are giving here the first words in Latin, the language which he used, along with a rough translation in English.
“Politicus Bharatus Janatus Indicus veni grandus est para Indus cognisant Indica tum est… ” The BJP will represent the aspirations of the Hindus, the overwhelming majority of India.
He goes on to explain who are the Hindus: “Indus terrum nostrum grandus homo manus onum unus familium planetum est. Indicus pax pacis terra est ferrum tempus…” They will be the most tolerant people, even in the Age of Iron, because they will still accept that God may manifest Himself at different times under different names, using different scriptures. Hence all persecuted people throughout the ages, will always found refuge in India, where they will practice their religion in peace.
Then Nostradamus makes his first prediction: “Indus cursum est trahisum nostrum est… Politicum Bharatus Indicus trahisum est…” But the curse of the Hindus will always be disunity and they will betray each other to the enemy again and again. One day, some of the highest bearers of the BJP party will not even say hello to each other.
Next, another prophecy: “Politicus Bharatus Janatus Indicus tri pillarus est, Vajpayum, Advanum et Murlum Joshum Kashmirum drapus levus. Vajpayum maladum est…” The BJP will have three pillars: AB Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. As eventually, Vajpayee will no longer have an active life, Advani will become the leader. MM Joshi, who hoisted the Indian flag in Srinagar, will be his number two.
He goes on: Narendrum Modum supremus chefum, ironus manus est et economicum grandum est…” Narendra Modi in between will raise himself as a national figure, not only because he is an iron man, but also because he has made of his state a model of economic efficiency.
Then comes another forecast, which Nostradamus may have got wrong: “Duo millenum novo, Jesus Christum postum, Advanum racontum narrates est Joshum grandus princeps est et Modum dux ducis rector est, sixtum legatus est…” In 2009 AD, Advani will announce that if his party is elected, MM Joshi will be made External Affairs Minister and Narendra Modi, Home Minister. Then the party will gain an extra 50 seats.
Nostradamus is not done. It goes on: “Politicus Bharatus Janatus Indicus prnonuncio Ramum templum et Christanium consto est et gurum defendo est, kashmirum macto est…” The BJP will also make it known that it will build the Ram Mandir, protect temples, stop conversions and keep Kashmir for India.
Michel has also some forecast about foreign policy: Chinum pugna est, Tibetum sanctum est, proctectiorum, amen ; pakistanus attakum est et ereptor latrunculus iugolo, caido.
The BJP will reaffirm its commitment to eastern states (he probably meant Arunachal Pradesh), stand-up to China’s bullying, and support Tibet to counteract Beijing which is propping-up Maoist Nepal. It will swiftly punish Pakistan next time it attacks India by proxy.
However, added Senor Nostradamus: “Politicus Bharatus Janatus Indicus comes, comitus amicus desertus est congressus victis .” The allies of the BJP will be deserting the boat as they think (the Congress) will win. But if the BJP stands true to the aspirations of its Hindu voters, it can come on its own at the Center.
Why? “Independantum Blancum copium est; necessarus changum indianus cumum facus est”… As India has heavily borrowed from the White Man (British?) at Independence, it will become necessary to “Indianise” the nation so that it may manifest again its true unique soul.
What is it? “Lex legis mutation, presidentum auctorita dato est, confuto desisto lex legis…” Introduce a common civil code, repeal false laws (article 370?), reform the Judiciary, change to a Parliamentary system, which will give true powers to the President who can nominate a Prime Minister from the majority.
Nostradamus goes on to explain why these changes are important: “Congressus niveus domina regnus, Indicus forcus inmicus est. Maurus, Christianus presentum est.” Under the reign of the White lady (Sonia Gandhi?) forces inimical to India have crept in. Madrasas have sprung up everywhere and so have churches that are converting by the thousands, Hindus gurus are jailed and mocked at… As for the foreign diplomatic corps, Nostradamus has this prediction: “Fransiscus ambassadorus, Jeromus Bonnafus, negatum Indus massacrum Sabartinum et supportus Maurus genocidus et accusum Politicum Bharatus Indicus ”.
French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont will deny the burning of the Hindus in the Sabarmati Express and accuse the BJP of being fascists.
Finally, Nostradamus’ ultimate prophecy: “Aurobindus Ghosus Matre Indica realisum est, Indianum Agus ancientus mortum non est...” Under the BJP’s leadership, Indians will worship again their country as Mother India and Sri Aurobindo’s words will echo: “India of the ages is not dead nor has She spoken Her last creative word. And that which She must seek now to awake, is not an anglicized oriental people, doomed to repeat the cycle of the Occident’s success and failure, but still the ancient immemorial Shakti recovering Her deepest self ”.
fgautier@rediffmail.com

Religion, Marxism and Slumdog

2009-03-18T18:35:00.001+05:30

François Gautier
Source: Express buzz

First Published : 16 Mar 2009 02:09:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 16 Mar 2009 09:35:52 AM IST

WHY did a film like Slumdog Millionaire, which conveys an utterly negative image of India — slums, exploitation, poverty, corruption, anti Muslim pogroms — create so many waves in the West, pre and post Oscars? And why does not the Indian government protest, as the Chinese would indeed have, for a twisted and perverted portrayal of its own reality? There are several answers: When the missionaries began to evangelise India, they quickly realised that Hinduism was not only practised by a huge majority, but that it was so deeply rooted that it stood as the only barrier to their subjugating the entire subcontinent.

They therefore decided to demonise the religion, by multiplying what they perceived as its faults, by one hundred: caste, poverty, child marriage, superstition, widows, sati … Today, these exaggerations, which at best are based on quarter-truths, have come down to us and have been embedded not only in the minds of many Westerners, but also unfortunately, of much of India’s intelligentsia.

We Westerners continue to suffer from a superiority complex over the socalled Third World in general and India in particular. Sitting in front of our television sets during prime time news, with a hefty steak on our table, we love to feel sorry for the misery of others, it secretly flatters our ego and makes us proud of our so-called ‘achievements’.

That is why books such as The City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre, which gives the impression that India is a vast slum, or a film like Slumdog Millionaire, have such an impact.

In this film, India’s foes have joined hands. Today, billions of dollars that innocent Westerners give to charity are used to convert the poorest of India with the help of enticements such as free medical aid, schooling and loans.

If you see the Tamil Nadu coast posttsunami, there is a church every 500 metres. Once converted, these new Christians are taught that it is a sin to enter a temple, do puja, or even put tilak on one’s head, thus creating an imbalance in the Indian psyche (In an interview to a British newspaper, Danny Boyle confessed he wanted to be a Christian missionary when he was young and that he is still very much guided by these ideals — so much for his impartiality).

Islamic fundamentalism also ruthlessly hounds India, as demonstrated by the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, which are reminiscent of the brutality and savagery of a Timur, who killed 1,00,000 Hindus in a single act of savagery.

Indian communists, in power in three states, are also hard at work to dismantle India’s cultural and spiritual inheritance. And finally, the Americanisation of India is creating havoc in the social and cultural fabric with its superficial glitter, even though it has proved a failure in the West. Slumdog plays cleverly with all these elements.

Many of the West’s India-specialists are staunchly anti-Hindu, both because of their Christian upbringing and also as they perpetuate the tradition of Max Mueller, the first ‘Sankritist’ who said: “The Vedas is full of childish, silly, even monstrous conceptions. It is tedious, low, commonplace, it represents human nature on a low level of selfishness and worldliness and only here and there are a few rare sentiments that come from the depths of the soul”.

This tradition is carried over by Indologists such as Witzel or Wendy Doniger in the US, and in France where scholars of the state-sponsored CNRS, and its affiliates such as EHESS, are always putting across in their books and articles detrimental images of India: caste, poverty, slums — and more than anything — their pet theories about ‘Hindu fundamentalism’.

Can there be a more blatant lie? Hinduism has given refuge throughout the ages to those who were persecuted at home: the Christians of Syria, the Parsees, Armenians, the Jews of Jerusalem, and today the Tibetans, allowing them all to practise their religion freely.

And finally, it is true that Indians, because they have been colonised for so long (unlike the Chinese) lack nationalism.

Today much of the intellectual elite of India has lost touch with its cultural roots and looks to the West to solve its problems, ignoring its own tools, such as pranayama, hata-yoga or meditation, which are very old and possess infinite wisdom.

Slumdog literally defecates on India from the first frame. Some scenes exist only in the perverted imagery of director Danny Boyle, because they are not in the book of Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat, on which the film is based. In the book, the hero of the film (who is not Muslim, but belongs to many religions: Ram Mohammad Thomas) does not spend his childhood in Bombay, but in a Catholic orphanage in Delhi. Jamal’s mother is not killed by “Hindu fanatics’, but she abandons her baby, of unknown religion, in a church. Jamal’s torture is not an idea of the television presenter, but of an American who is after the Russian who bought the television rights of the game. The tearful scene of the three children abandoned in the rain is also not in the book: Jamal and his heroine only meet when they are teenagers and they live in an apartment and not in a slum.

And finally, yes, there still exists in India a lot of poverty and glaring gaps between the very rich and the extremely poor, but there is also immense wealth, both physical, spiritual and cultural — much more than in the West as a matter of fact.

When will the West learn to look with less prejudice at India, a country that will supplant China in this century as the main Asian power? But this will require a new generation of Indologists, more sincere, less attached to their outdated Christian values, and Indians more proud of their own culture and less subservient to the West.

fgautier26@gmail.com

The lives of Sri Aurobindo: book review

2009-03-05T17:20:00.002+05:30

François Gautier
First Published : 27 Feb 2009 03:52:00 AM IST

There is no greater mystery than the Divine incarnating Itself upon earth, what in India is called the Avatar or the Guru concept. It is also a story of Ultimate Sacrifice: Jesus Christ was crucified physically, but every guru is crucified by his or her disciples, even if he or she does not end on a cross. It is the mysterious alchemy of how the All-Perfect, the All-Powerful, agrees to don a human body, along with not only the suffering that goes with it, but also the imperfections a human life is endowed with, which makes it so powerful. Peter Heehs, an American historian, who lives in the Sri Aurobindo ashram, Puducherry, has attempted to recount the life of 20th century’s greatest avatar, in The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (Columbia University Press, May 2008).

It created a furore even before it was released in India, as extracts were circulated on the Net. This led to a lot of unpleasantness for Heehs.

Someone slapped a case against him in Orissa, stopping the book from being published in India. He was asked to leave the archives of the Sri Aurobindo ashram, where he worked for two decades; and it is rumoured that he was even assaulted by a student of the Sri Aurobindo school.

All biographies of gurus and saints face a painful choice: should they paint over human blemishes and glorify them, as it helps the devotees better focus on the divine? Or should they give the entire picture of a journey from the human to the perfect? Most religious texts and scriptures have chosen the first option. But Peter Heehs went for the second one — and we are grateful for that. For his work will be regarded by future generations as the absolute biography of Sri Aurobindo, avatar extraordinary, poet, revolutionary, philosopher and yogi. Not only is the book remarkably well researched but, as the title indicates, he has really covered all aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s life.

When an Avatar or a Master comes upon earth, he or she delivers a teaching adapted to the times, the language and the mentality of the period, for they always live in the present moment. But when the Master goes — and sometimes even during his or her lifetime — the disciples start the process of making a religion out of their teaching and make him or her in their own little image. Thus many of the sadhaks of the Mother have swept under the carpet Sri Aurobindo’s revolutionary years, which are very important, as he is the true father of the Indian nation, being the first to openly ask for outright independence.

Most of today’s disciples in the ashram or Auroville do not know, for instance, that Sri Aurobindo allowed his brother Barin to manufacture bombs in his own house and secretly endorsed early assassinations of select Britons, thereby re-enacting 5,000 years later Krishna’s message to Arjuna.

But how does that tally with ideas about spirituality, which we basically associate with non-violence? This aspect of Sri Aurobindo’s life, protecting dharma, standing for what is good and true and noble, by force, if necessary, is today ignored and not applied to the enemies of modern India.

It is difficult to write about something close to us, as one often tries to make a distance by being too critical.

It is thus true that Heehs is harsh in some of his assessments — but not where he has been pilloried by disciples of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

Like most Western Indologists, for instance, he has a deep suspicion of Hinduism. He therefore glosses over the famous Uttarpara speech, where Sri Aurobindo clearly defines what he calls the Sanatana Dharma, as the spirituality which is contained in the Hindu religion: “That which we call the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the universal religion which embraces all others”.

But Peter only mentions that “left wing critics use the Uttarpara speech as a proof that Sri Aurobindo’s nationalism was Hindu to the core; and right-wing enthusiasts regard the speech as an expression of the imperishable Indian spirit” (p.187). Heehs also passes some judgments on Sri Aurobindo, which are at best puerile: he calls him “intransigent”, which tended “to limit his effectiveness” (p.212); he also finds “his poetry and prose outdated” (p.414). But Savitri, Sri Aurobindo’s Magnum Opus, will be read hundreds of years from now, and compared to the Iliad and the Odyssey, with the prophetic and supramental element added.

This stated, I have to say that reading this book has been one of the most uplifting literary experiences: it has refreshed and upgraded my relationship with Sri Aurobindo. I have understood better the extraordinary mystery of avatarhood and the terrible sacrifice made by all great gurus of all religions.

The rhythms of that book accompanied me in my sleep, primed my mornings and touched my heart to the deepest. Thank you, Peter Heehs.

I hope some sensible judge will quickly lift the ban and that all your detractors will have the courage to read this remarkable biography and change their opinions.