Editor: Rekha Saraswat

Vol. 78 No7

OCTOBER 2014

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THERADICALHUMANIST (Since April 1949) Formerly : Independent India (April 1937- March 1949)

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Founder Editor: M.N. Roy

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B.D. SHARMA 18th March 1926 - 14th September 2014

The Last Straw Swims Away Into Oblivion!!

(Nothing Seems To Be Left Now To Hold On) -Rekha Saraswat

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Condolence Messages for Adv. B.D. Sharma & Prof. Manoj Datta have lost our President Shri B.D. WeSharma who had been free from ill-will towards all beings and was endowed with compassion and pity and remained free from attachment and vanity. He always remained absorbed in contemplation and dwelled in peace.

He never hurt anyone nor was hurt by anyone. He remained pious and pure and steered his way across by renouncing material desires. We saw him enlightened and uncompromising in glory and ignominy and his mind remained restrained and stiller. He was a contented person through and through.

—Narottam Vyas away of Sharma ji is a great loss to Passing the radical humanist movement in general and to me in particular. Tarkunde ji had shifted to Delhi in or around 1970 and had reorganized the Indian Radical Humanist Association (IRHA) and the Indian Renaissance Institute (IRI) in Delhi. It was around that time that I came in touch with Sharmaji. He was practicing at that time in the Supreme Court. In spite of his busy schedule he never missed any meeting or conference or study camp organized on behalf of the IRHA or the IRI. He became the Chairperson of the Indian Renaissance Institute around seven years back and guided its activities with great devotion. Many noteworthy conferences and study camps were organized in various parts of the country during his tenure to discuss and debate the ‘Radical Humanist’ philosophy along with the burning problems of the country. He was one of the last vestiges of the celebrated ‘Royist group’ who had the privilege of having worked with M.N. Roy, a

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legendary personality of those times, in his struggle for liberating India out of the labyrinth of superstition, blind faith, orthodoxy and foreign slavery. As a person he never entertained any ill will against anyone. He always treated with respect those who disagreed with him or criticized him. He was always ready to help anyone who approached him. He conducted large number of cases free for the poor and the needy. Large number of advocates took training and guidance under him and eventually set up themselves as very successful and competent professionals. He was one of the chosen few who were awarded by the then Chief Justice of India for having completed the legal practice of 50 years during the celebration of 50th year anniversary of the Supreme Court in or around 2000. Born in a highly religious and orthodox family in Rajasthan, he developed himself as a rationalist and atheist against heavy odds. He was a ‘radical humanist’ in the true sense. He will always remain an inspiration to me and many others who aspire to cherish the values of the ‘Indian Renaissance’.

—N.D. Pancholi am so pained to mail this sad news. His Idead body has been found by breaking open his door this morning. He was a bachelor & was living alone. Manoj was the spearhead of the RH movement in Bengal; he had to go underground during the time of the JP movement, while WB state unit president late Santibrata Sen & secretary Debaprosad Chaudhury (Bablu) had to spend some 18 months in jail as MISA prisoners. At that time I participated in two secret meets of great significance in company of Manoj. At the fag end of Emergency, he came over ground & convened perhaps the first public meeting in India in the Calcutta University Institute with late justice Vm Tarkundey, Jyoti Babu, former WB Chief Minister Profulla Chandra Sen & others.

—Ajit Bhattacharyaa

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meeting in Santiniketan several years ago when the giants of the movement Sib Babu and Amlan Babu too were around. It has really only been downhill for a number of years now.

—Babu o saddening with this tremendous loss; Sharmaji and Manoj. All our sincere condolences to their families and to all RH friends.

It’s so shocking. No words can express the personal loss of a dear dear friend like Manoj. We are deeply grieved.

— Ramesh and Manisha ad news indeed for the radical humanist community coming as it does just a day after we received the news of Sh. B.D. Sharmaji’s demise.

—Mahi Pal Singh am deeply saddened to hear about the demise of Mr. B.D. Sharma and Manoj Dutta- important contributors of Radical Humanist movement. I met Sharmaji only two years back in the international seminar held in Delhi and in that short time I found him very impressive as a man of high mental stature and very much friendly. Manoj da, who I knew since my student life, was very lively and inspiring in his own lively style. It is a great loss to our Association.

—Anjali Chakraborty am publishing this October ’14 issue of the RH with a very heavy heart! We were already trying to bear the loss of Balraj Puri, our veteran Radical Humanist and renowned journalist from J & K who left us forever on 30th August 2014 when Adv. B.D. Sharma, President of Indian Renaissance Institute (IRI) went back to his elements on 14th September 2014 at 12:15 noon.

But as if that was not enough!! Another veteran Radical Humanist from Kolkata, our very affectionate Prof. Manoj Datta went into an eternal sleep the same night!! Honest, conscientious, rational, humane individuals are gradually becoming scarce around us!! But life must go on...And we must continue to do our little bit in it before we too evaporate into the nothingness of this world!!!

—Rekha Saraswat

after Sharma ji’s demise, the Immediately sad news about Manoj Dutta was another shock. He was very dedicated activist before he fell ill and had lot of important experiences of the movement to share with us. He was clear in the radical humanist philosophy and had devoted himself to the cause throughout his active life. It is sad that he was not well for the last few years. The radical humanist movement has lost one of its very important members. I express my heartfelt grief and convey my condolences to the bereaved family.

—N.D. Pancholi t is sad that the Radical Humanist movement lost the last veteran in India. B D Sharma who worked for the movement till the end of his life was real inspiration to several people.

He was a very devoted follower of Radical Humanist movement and M.N. Roy's philosophy. I knew him since the last few decades and worked with him in the movement. He met Prof Paul Kurtz in Delhi when I brought him from USA and arranged seminar in Moulana Azad medical college under the guidance of Dr Jugal Kishore. Very sad for the Radical Humanist movement with the death of B D Sharma. One more sad news from Ajit ji.

Manoj was a radical humanist known to me since long time and he visited several times to Andhra Pradesh RH meetings. We had several exchanges of letters and opinions. I also contiibuted to his journal. Big vacuum, of course, in West Bengal for RH movement.

—Innaiah Narisetti am immensely saddened to hear of the death of Sharma ji. His face, full of kind smiles, and his voice always saying friendly and positive and affectionate things will sadly become a matter of memory. I first met him in 1987 during the M.N. Roy Centenary year. I do hope that the family will find solace in the knowledge that he led a full and fulfilling life. And with Manojji no longer with us the RH movement loses an independant thinker who was also a fine speaker and an affectionate friend. I last met him at the IRI

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The Radical Humanist

www.theradicalhumanist.com

Vol. 78 Number 7 October 2014

Contents

Monthly journal of the

Condolence Messages for Adv. B.D. Sharma & Sri. Manoj Datta 3 1. From the Editor’s Desk: The Dialectics of Tripple R —Rekha Saraswat 6 2. From the Writings of M.N. Roy: Historical Role of Islam:The cause of Triumph 7 3. Guests’ Section: Gandhi’s India The Misunderstood Modi —Uday Dandavate 9 Police Encounter Guidelines: Reaffirmation of Rule of Law —Sanjay Parikh 11 4. Current Affairs’ Section: a) How did Modi Achieve? b) Border More Complicated After Xi’s Visit —Kuldip Nayar 14 a) From Chief Justice of India to Governor of a State- A Bad Precedent b) Abolish Padma Awards —Rajindar Sachar 17 5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section: Dawkins under Attack —J.L.Jawahar 19 What Ails Us —Ajit Bhattacharya 21 6. Academicians' Section: The Exorcist —Chandrahas 23 Had Bagha Jatin succeeded! A Nationalist Revolt in Colonial India during World War I —Prithwindra Mukherjee 27 7. Humanist News Section: Condolence meeting in memory of Shri Balraj Puri: A Report 41

Indian Renaissance Institute Devoted to the development of the Renaissance Movement; and for promotion of human rights, scientific-temper, rational thinking and a humanist view of life.

Founder Editor: M.N. Roy Editor: Dr. Rekha Saraswat Contributory Editors: Prof. A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Dr. R.M. Pal, Professor Rama Kundu Publisher and Printer: Mr. N.D. Pancholi Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India, Ph. 91-121-2620690, 09719333011 E-mail articles at: rheditor@gmail.com Send Subscription / Donation Cheques in favour of The Radical Humanist to: Mr. Narottam Vyas (Advocate), Chamber Number 111 (Near Post Office), Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, 110001, India n.vyas@snr.net.in Ph. 91-11-22712434, 91-11-23782836, 09811944600 Please Note: Authors will bear sole accountability for corroborating the facts that they give in their write-ups. Neither IRI / the Publisher nor the Editor of this journal will be responsible for testing the validity and authenticity of statements & information cited by the authors. Also, sometimes some articles published in this journal may carry opinions not similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but they would be entertained here if the need is felt to debate and discuss upon them.

—Rekha Saraswat 5

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became a key to man’s power over nature.

Societies, economies and polities, none were left untouched!

Egalitarian societies, socialist economies, liberal states gradually became the need of the hour.

The Machiavellian reason, the romanticism of Rousseau, the Kantian and Nietzsche’s revolutions, the Hegelian synthesis, the philosophies of positivism and utilitarianism all together brought their direct influence on Marx. Revolution was bound to follow! He suggested and it happened through Lenin and his successors in the USSR and China.

Roy joined them somewhere here and became a part of the biggest Marxist-Communist revolutions in history. He came back to India with the same emotion of ushering in a classless egalitarian society here too. Revolution was his purpose but his reason was not subservient to his enthusiasm.

He soon realized that he had become an alien in his own land! India was just unfolding under the influence of the 19th Century renaissance culture.

It was almost half a century behind and was borrowing science and literature, arts and technology from the west. Its own renaissance was not yet in the making. Thus the political set-up was also being taken on lease. Without its own original socio-cultural egalitarian class-less, sect-less and caste-less mind-set the democratic exercise was a sham. He realized that he was out of place in this pseudo-process of so-called ‘democratic’ political transformation and was thus, thrown out of it with his band-wagon, most honestly. He accepted his defeat most humbly. His reason guided his romance and he postponed his plan of revolution for posterity to take up at an appropriate time.

How to decide whether the appropriate time has come or not? Science and technology is there in full bloom. We are internationally acclaimed for our Arts and Literature. Indians abroad are in the foremost arena of progress. Majority of Indian voters are the educated and aware youth. Has the renaissance in India, on Roy’s terms, arrived?

From The Editor's Desk:

Dialectics of Reason, Romanticism and Revolution —Rekha Saraswat person who applies reason in Anyanalyzing the origin of life on this earth begins to believe in his own capacity to solve the riddles of nature. The 19th Century scholars Burckhardt, Symonds, Voigt, Jacob, Turberville and many more did the same and began to place human life above divinity, giving advent to the period of 19th Century Renaissance. Since then the concept of Humanism began to thrive on the basic confidence that a human being has the potential of facing all odds of existence.

Reason, thus applied, romanticized human mind to create its own history. Its influence left no part of life untouched. Not only scholars but also rulers in Europe became a part of the spread of renaissance culture; Alfonso of Naples, Medici of Florence, in Germany Frederick the Wise of Saxony, Emperor Maximilian, Francis I in France, Henry VII and Duke of Gloucester in England to name a few. The satirists Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, Cervantes and Rabelais made the European land fertile for the new spirit of Humanism through literature. Arts, literature, science, religion all of these were overpowered by the storm of a fearless, positive philosophy of living.

Yet, in the beginning renaissance was confined to the four walls of the powerful, influential men of aristocratic origin and affluence. The majority of the middle class and the common people were still engulfed in the world of religious fanaticism, class-culture and faith.

It broke the boundaries for everyone, irrespective of their background of origin only with the help of the non-metaphysical, purely scientific discoveries and inventions of scientists like Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo and many more like them, who gave rise to new scientific theories. Science now, 6

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From the Writings of M.N. Roy:

Historical Role of Islam Chapter IV

The Causes of Triumph Continued from the previous issue.....

ancient religion of Zoroaster, with its Thepernicious doctrine of the dual principles of Good and Evil, both equally eternal, was particularly obnoxious to the stern worshippers of “One God”. Yet, even the Magian creed did not altogether forfeit the toleration of the conquering Arabs. As late as the third century of the Hegira, ancient Temples of Fire stood splendourously overshadowing the modest Mosque by their side.

Those proud monuments of an ancient faith crumbled not under the ruthless blow of the fanatical Sword of Islam; they were doomed to destruction and fall to inevitable ruins in consequence of the general desertion of their votaries. No amount of coercion could possibly force a whole nation to abandon its traditional faith with so little resistance, and accept that of the conqueror with such surprising alacrity, as did the Persians over the vast territory from the Tigris to the Oxus. The ancient faith was decayed. It no longer satisfied the spiritual requirements of a cultured people. The menacing shadow of Khariman had eclipsed the luster of the “Sun and Fire”. The Persian masses embraced the simple monotheism of Mohammad as the message of liberation from the dark despotism of the eternal principle of Evil.

The north of Africa, from Alexandria to Carthage, was the only territory where the Christian faith was totally obliterated by the spread of Islam. There again, the cause of the sweeping religious revolution was not the intolerance of the new creed, but the decay of the old faith, and the general chaos and despair caused by that decay. The faith of the 7

gospel of Jesus, established by the talent, piety and power of Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine, had been subverted by Arian and Donatist heresies, and the Catholic fury, with which the impoverished masses revolting under the banner of religious heresy were suppressed, had ruined the once prosperous provinces economically. Then, the Vandal and Moorish invaders had devastated the ruins so mercilessly as to throw the people into a hopeless state of social chaos and spiritual morbidity which drove them to seek an illusive solace in the absurdities of Monasticism.

In that dense darkness of social dissolution and spiritual despair, the virile and optimistic message of the Prophet of Arabia flashed like an illuminating flame of hope. The mind of the multitude was lured by the temporal as well as the heavenly blessings offered by the new religion. The conquering trumpet of Islam awakened the despondent spirits who, defeated in the struggle of terrestrial life, had precariously entrenched themselves in the superstition of a divine existence.

Healthy indulgence of nature, allowed, even encouraged, by the new faith, speedily overwhelmed the perverse notions of asceticism fomented by a degenerate version of the gospel of Christ. Islam opened up a new vision of hope before a people sunk in the depth of despondency.

The convulsion created by it ushered in a new society in which everyone had the opportunity of ascending to the natural level of his courage and capacity. With the exhilarating inspiration of Islam, and under the benevolent rule of the Saracen conquerors, the fertile soil and industrious peoples of North Africa soon recovered their prosperity.

“It is altogether a misconception that the Arabian progress was due to the sword alone. The sword may change an acknowledged national creed, but it cannot affect the consciences of men. Profound though its argument is, something far more profound was demanded before Mohammedanism pervading the domestic life of Asia and Africa….The explanation of this political phenomenon is to be found in the social condition

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of the conquered countries. The influences of religion in them had long ago ceased; it had become supplanted by theology….How was it possible that unlettered men, who with difficulty can be made to apprehend obvious things, should understand such mysteries? Yet, they were taught that on those doctrines the salvation or damnation of the human race depended. They saw….that personal virtue or vice were no longer considered; that sin was not measured by evil works but by the degrees of heresy….

What an example when bishops are concerned in assassinations, poisonings, adulteries, blinding, riots, treasons, civil war; when Patriarchs and Primates were excommunicating and anathematizing one another in their rivalries for earthly power, bribing eunuchs with gold, and courtesans and royal females with concessions of Episcopal love, and influencing the decisions of councils asserted to speak with the voice of God by those base intrigues and sharp practices resorted to by demagogues in their packed assemblies! Among legions of monks, who carried terror into the imperial armies and riots into the great cities, arose hideous clamours for theological dogmas, but never a voice for intellectual liberty or the outraged rights of man. In such a state of things, what else could be the result than digest or indifference?

Certainly men could not be expected….to give help to a system that had lost all hold on their hearts.

“When, therefore, in the midst of the wrangling of sects….and anarchy of countless disputants, there sounded through the world….the dread battle cry, ‘There is but one God’,….is it surprising that all Asia and Africa fell away? In better times, patriotism is too often made subordinate to religion; in those times, it was altogether dead”.

(J.W. Draper, History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Vol. I, pp. 332-33) The principle of equality, preached by the followers of Mohammad, originated in the traditional freedom of the nomadic life of the Arabic tribes. They had all shown equal valour in

the national profession of robbery. When that modest call of the olden times assumed the majestic proportion of conquest, the individual Arab did not forget that his horse could speed as fast and his scimitar was as sharp as those of any. He had taken an equal share in defending his desert home against the conquering armies of Sesostris and Cyrus, Alexander and Darius, Pompei and Ashirwan, Ptolemy and Trajan. He would not play a less noble part in the pastime of turning the table. But the principle of equality proclaimed by Islam proved to be a factor in its spectacular triumph no less potent than the scimitar of the Saracen hero. It contrasted sharply with the oppressive laws governing the class and caste-ridden societies of the Roman, Byzantine, Persian and, later, the Indian Empires.

Islam stood for freedom and equality which, as a matter of fact, had long been forgotten in all the lands of the degenerated ancient civilizations. to be continued........

[Publisher’s Note: This book, first published in 1939, was written when Roy was in jail in the early thirties under a sentence of twelve years rigorous imprisonment, later reduced to six, for ‘conspiring to deprive’ the king-Emperor of his sovereignty in India. Looking back at events in the intervening period, one might wish that this book had been read more widely in the decade before the Indian sub-continent became independent and at the same time partitioned into two States. A better knowledge and more objective understanding of the history of Islam on the part of Muslim as well as non-Muslim India might have prevented much of the later tragic developments and human suffering. But it is never too late for knowledge and understanding to undo the harm that the lack of them has done. Hence, this small book on the historical role of Islam, in East and West, may itself have a historical role to play, apart from its intrinsic value as a scholarly treatise, beautifully written, on a fascinating chapter of human history]

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Ecological thinking is considered anti-development, whereas plundering of natural resources a sign of a superpower status.

Gandhi’s India We don’t mind voting for crooks, thieves and —Uday Dandavate murderers as our representatives but we are not willing to stand behind people of character, he objective of this note is to reflect on conviction and humility. how popular sentiment might be getting How do we reverse this trend? in the way of India emerging as a modern society of responsible citizens.

The Misunderstood Modi The biggest barrier to evolution towards a just and moral society is a psychological shift we have fter ten years of misunderstanding the made in our day to day dealings. Today we are less United States is embracing Mr. inclined to be guided by ideological and ethical Narendra Modi.

The next week is going to be full of standards. We are more likely to make choices engagements for Mr, Modi to help Washington based on practical trade-offs. politicians and Corporate America understand the Another shift I witness is in who we consider our much misunderstood Modi. To understand Mr. role models. I see successful, wealthy and powerful Modi one must understand his mental model. people serving as role models, as opposed to people who choose a life dedicated to service (of Mr Narendra Modi, just as his ally in Andhra underprivileged), sacrifice (for a larger good) and Pradesh- Chandrababu Naidu, fancies himself as the CEO of India Inc.. No wonder his mental model struggle (against injustice). directs him to view the country as a market, people In fact deal making is considered a virtue and as consumers, and public policy as a supply chain. standing up for a just cause impractical.

In the same spirit he fancies himself as the ultimate The ability to exercise power and brute force is authority in decision making, his cabinet as his considered a sign of strong leadership, and management, and other political parties as tolerance, reconciliation, and inclusiveness a sign competition that needs to be crushed ruthlessly. In of weakness. this model of thinking development flows to people Jugaad is celebrated as a competency, whereas who can afford to pay. There is also a place for a quality is compromised for expediency. token contribution for corporate social Those working within the rule of law do not responsibility. Brand management is a big part of command as much respect as those willing to Bend, corporate thinking Mr Modi brings to the table. circumvent or break law to achieve fast results.

"Ends Justify the Means" is a tacit moral Acrimonious and violent behaviors are becoming a framework of his market driven mental model. standard feature in public life, whereas restrained, India indeed is going through a fundamental shift in dignified and civil actions are fast becoming a thing thinking. Social Justice is not trending anymore. of the past.

Understanding Mr. Modi's mental model will help The idea of social justice is being replaced by align with the future of India under Mr. Modi's leadership. ROI will be a key factor in any chauvinism of different types.

Conspicuous consumption commands respect, relationship- both economic and political. The whereas those living frugal life are dismissed as trends from Gujarat model of development suggest that Investment in Mr. Modi's dreams produces losers.

Guests' Section:

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exponential returns for business partners.

Measurable results delivered in time bound manner will receive support from Mr. Modi. He is committed to invigorating the market and enhancing investor confidence. Towards that goal, he will use his power to remove any barriers to development such as environmental activism, trade unionism, or unauthorized corruption at ground level that gets in the way of projects that he will bless.

The United States will find in Mr. Modi an eager partner to do business with. He is not likely to let the misunderstanding of the past decade that kept him from visiting the US get in the way of cutting deals.

[Uday Dandavate heads a design research consulting firm, SonicRim in U.S.A. He writes and speaks on topics related to people centered design and innovation in international journals and conferences. uday@sonicrim.com]

Letter to the Editor:

Proposal Of Celebrating The Centenary Of Bagha Jatin’s Glorious Battle In Balasore Dear Rékhâ, Having an impression that your colleagues did not quite appreciate my proposal of celebrating the centenary of Bagha Jatin’s glorious battle in Balasore, I have prepared, however, the enclosed guiding line of what he did and what we owe to him. I shall be obliged if it comes to any use.

The merit of this sketch is to cover several of the points essential to understand a man who personified the aspiration of a generation, of a nation, of an epoch. There are topics which can be ably developed by scholars interested in this movement. There are hints of what he wanted his people to be and what they have become. Did not M.N. Roy dream of creating a new society founded on the ideals of his Jatin-da?

Beyond the limitations of the RH, as a free thinker if you feel like serving this cause elsewhere in any other form, do not hesitate. If you find other lovers of Truth inclined to join you, the more will certainly be merrier. Other than Bengali and Oriya, our regional languages ignore this chapter altogether, considering Bagha Jatin to have been a mere regional leader. Can you think of any solution? I had requested the National Book Trust authorities to get my little biography Bagha Jatin translated into other languages; even deaf ears would have responded; they did not.

If you like, I can send you a copy of a petition signed in 1972 by more than eighty MPs representing major political parties, requesting the then Defense Minister to rename the Fort William of Kolkata as Bagha Jatin Durg; judging from the esteem the present President of India has for the memory of Bagha Jatin, can we get souls to move the matter?

Sorry for this avalanche of ideas. Do whatever you can. Many thanks for that realization. Warm regards.

Prithwindra-dâ Paris,

Note: The Author, Prithwindra Mukherjee (grandson of Jatin da, M.N. Roy;s first mentor) has sent me an article with the title, "Had Bagha Jatin succeeded! A Nationalist Revolt in Colonial India during World War I". Now that I may not be able to organise the Centenary programme I may at least publish his write up in the RH. You may read it in on pages -- -- of this issue --Rekha Saraswat

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Police Encounter Guidelines: Reaffirmation of Rule of Law —Sanjay Parikh Supreme Court, in a petition filed by ThePeople’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has laid down as many as 16 Guidelines which have to be treated as law declared under Article 141 of the Constitution. The Order dated 23rd September, 2014 of the Apex Court is applauded as well as criticised.

The occasion to lay down the guidelines arose out of a writ petition filed by the PUCL in the Bombay High Court questioning the 99 Police encounters which had taken place between 1995 and 1997 in Mumbai resulting in death of 135 persons. The High Court, after finding that the police failed to act in accordance with law and there were lapses and laxity on the part of police, formulated 10 mandatory directions to be followed by the Police.

The High Court significantly observed that it will be for the competent court and not for the police to decide whether the act of encounter was in self defence. The High Court also made it clear that the police shall not close any case on the alleged ground of self defence.

Therefore, before the Supreme Court, the directions given by the High Court already existed; in addition, the guidelines framed by the National Human Rights Commission were also available.

First set of guidelines were issued by the NHRC (Justice Rangnath Misra being its Chairperson) on 5.11.1996. The need to frame the guidelines arose in the context of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) challenging 285 police encounters, as fake. The NHRC had taken up sample 5 cases to determine whether prima facie the allegations of APCLC were correct. The State of Andhra Pradesh was duly represented by its Advocate General. Mr. K.G. Kannibaran (former president of PUCL and a senior advocate) had

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appeared for APCLC. The Commission after examining the entire material had opined that prima facie the version of the complainant- APCLC appeared to be nearer truth, namely, that prima-facie all 5 cases appeared to be fake police encounters. It was during this enquiry that startling admission was made by the Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh: that in these cases, the practice obtaining in the State was that when an encounter death takes place, an entry was made in the police station of the said fact and FIR was drawn up showing the deceased as an accused and then closing the case as having abated on account of death of the accused person. It was admitted that no investigation was ordinarily undertaken and that the Police itself used to decide that it acted in the right of private defence, based on their own knowledge, and thereafter, closing the matter. The NHRC found this practice totally unacceptable and commented that scheme of criminal law prevailing in India made no distinction between an ordinary person and a police man. The argument of inconvenience to the police was rejected by referring to the constitutional framework and that hardship of the State cannot take away or abridge Article 21 of the Constitution. The doctrine of necessity was rejected as it cannot apply as a cover against the Fundamental Rights. The Commission opined that if the procedure of registering the FIR and conducting investigation as per law is not followed, “it would give licence to the police to kill with impunity any citizen in the name of an encounter by just stating that he acted ‘in the right of private defence’ or under Section 46 of the Code. A procedure that brings about the unjust, unfair and unreasonable consequences cannot be countenanced as being within Article 21 of the Constitution.” The NHRC categorically held that the practice which was followed in Andhra Pradesh by the Police was unjust, unfair, unreasonable and violative of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Thereafter by letter dated 29th March 1997, the guidelines laid down for Andhra Pradesh were sent to the Chief Ministers of all the States by the NHRC

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(during the tenure of Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah as the Chairperson). On 2nd December, 2003, the NHRC (under the Chairmanship of Justice A.S. Anand), while reiterating the earlier guidelines of the Commission, added that the experience of the Commission in the past 6 years was not very encouraging and that most of the States were not following the guidelines in the true spirit. In view of this experience, some modifications were made and as many as 8 guidelines were issued to all the States/UTs. The modified guidelines included submission of 6 monthly statements of all cases of deaths in police action to the NHRC by the 15th day of January and July respectively. Justice G.P. Mathur, acting Chairperson, of NHRC later added that all cases of deaths in police action should be reported within 48 hrs of such death and that the second report should be sent within 3 months. The proceedings of the NHRC thus clearly show that police encounters were perceived as cases of gross human rights violations.

The data collected by the NHRC from 1993 to 31.3.2010, show that 1590 cases of encounter were based on the information, out of which 1560 were concerned with police, 19 with defence and 11 with para-military forces. Out of these cases, 861 were closed. Similarly, the number of encounter received through complaints were 1366: 1311 of Police, 20 of defence and 35 of Para-military; out of which, 968 were closed. During this entire period, the NHRC had given compensation only in 27 cases. The said data is based on the information given by the States/Uts, but no data of police encounter is available where no information was recorded, where all incriminating evidence was removed and where nobody dared to complain against the police.

Fake police encounters do happen in the name of fighting terrorism. PUCL had filed a petition before the Supreme Court in the Year1992 (decided in 1997 in PUCL Vs UOI & Ors.) regarding killing of two persons in Manipur in a fake encounter, who the police was charging as members of a terrorist organisation. The Supreme 12

Court had asked the District and Sessions Judge to enquire into it and submit a report. In the enquiry report, the Sessions Judge found that there was no encounter; the two Manipuri persons were shot dead by the police while in police custody. The Supreme Court awarded compensation to the families of these two persons. It, however, added that even while dealing with terrorists, the proper course was to deal with them according to law, “administrative liquidation� was not a course open to the police.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights emphasise on right to life and that it cannot be taken away arbitrarily. Our Constitution provides for the sanctity of life, a fair procedure and equal treatment of all the citizens. Indian law does not make any distinction between a policeman and an ordinary person if a serious crime resulting in death takes place. The Criminal Procedure Code envisages registration of FIR in all the cognizable offences followed by a fair and independent investigation and submission of a charge sheet before the court. It also envisages magisterial enquiry in the causes of death. The Indian Penal Code provides exceptions where a person can claim that he acted in the right of private defence and has not committed an offence. Section 105 of the Evidence Act says that burden of proving the fact that the act falls under any of the general exceptions provided in the IPC is on the person who claims it, otherwise the court shall presume the absence of such circumstances.

The police like an ordinary person can therefore, claim the benefit of these exceptions only in defence and cannot take advantage of it by either not registering the FIR or not investigating it impartially and fairly. Similarly, Section 46 (3) of Cr.P.C gives power to the police to arrest a person and does not empower the police to cause death if the offence alleged is not punishable with death or life imprisonment. But if death occurs, the facts are required to be examined by court during trial; the police cannot decide for it. If the Constitution and the laws framed by the Parliament provide for a

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procedure to be followed in all cases of death, there is no reason why the police can claim an exception and assert its right to cause death without proper investigation and trial in accordance with law.

Another elaborate judgment of full bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court dated 6.2.2009 also recognised that an FIR is required to be registered and investigated in all cases where a police officer causes death of a person, acting or purporting to act in discharge of his official duty or in self defence, as the case may be.

The criticism of the judgment is not justified. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the existing law and its implementation by the police authorities. The Supreme Court has emphasised that every person has to act within the Rule of Law and that administrative liquidation under the cover of difficult circumstances is not permissible.

The 16 guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in its order dated 23rd September, 2014 are: 1. Tip-offs about criminal activities must be recorded either in writing or electronic form 2. If pursuant to a tip-off the police use firearms and this result in death of a person, then an FIR initiating proper criminal investigation must be registered 3. Investigation into such death will be done by an independent CID team which has to fulfil eight minimum investigation requirements 4. Mandatory magisterial inquiry into all cases of encounter deaths

5. The NHRC or State commission must be immediately informed of the encounter death 6. Medical aid to injured victim/criminal and a magistrate should record his statement 7. Ensure forwarding FIR and police diary entries to court without delay 8. Expeditious and proper trial 9. Informing next of kin of the dead alleged criminal 10. Bi-annual statements of all encounter killings to be sent to the NHRC and state commissions by a set date in a set format 11. Disciplinary action against and suspension of a police officer found guilty of wrongful encounter 12. Compensation scheme under the CrPC to be followed for awarding it to kin of dead victim 13. Police officers must surrender their weapons for investigation, subject to rights under Article 20 of the Constitution 14. Also intimate family of accused police officer and offer services of lawyer/counsellor 15. No out of turn gallantry awards for the officers involved in encounter killings 16. The family of the victim can complain to the Sessions judge if it feels that these guidelines have not been followed the judge will take cognizance [Sanjay Parikh is advocate, Supreme Court and National Vice President, PUCL]

"There are two sets of views regarding the relation between individual and society. Any discussion must be conducted on the basis of these two views. One view is to take society as given and then to find out the ways and means for adjusting the individual's relation to society. Society is given; the individual is a part of society; he lives in it. Therefore, to have a harmonious life, the individual must adjust himself to society.

The other view is just the reverse; it regards the individual as the primary factor and society as the creation of man. Man created society for his purpose, and the logical corollary of this view is that social relations (political, economic, ethical, all the various kinds of social relations) must be adjusted so as to promote the purpose of the life of the individual." —M.N. Roy, Politics, Power and Parties, Chapter III, 'The Individual And Society', p. 33

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Current Affairs Section:

How did Modi Achieve?

—Kuldip Nayar

Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Prime the US was, in more ways than one, was a success. He may not have brought with him anything tangible from America but has created a climate of confidence and won back Washington which always looked at India with suspicion. Here is a person, who was denied a US visa, who was able to shame the US Administration with speeches of friendship with America.

Modi was able to formulate a joint statement with President Barrack Obama that goes farther than what his predecessors were able to achieve. For the first time, an Indian Prime Minister wrote a joint edit with the US President in an American newspaper. This is a healthy practice which the Indian media should follow.

However, in the process, Modi has buried Jawaharlal Nehru’s idea of non-alignment deep.

True, the movement has lost its raison d’être, the confrontation between the Communists and the democratic bloc. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the Communists lost the cold war.

Still the movement had come to represent an idea that small nations should not fear the big ones because of their size or power. In comparison, the number of states comprising the third world countries was far more than those either in the American bloc or the Soviet.

Modi is a product of the capitalist world. He has neither the pull of the Nehru era of socialism, nor that of Mahatama Gandhi’s self-sufficiency. Modi wants the country to develop, whatever be the means and how big the economy may create a distance between the haves and the have-nots.

I, belonging to an era where the independence meant economic betterment of the lower half, do not understand or appreciate how a country which is poor can develop or give justice to the have-nots without moving towards left. I believe that the

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socialistic pattern of society which we chose was the right path and we should go back to it. But Modi’s good-worded speeches, which meant everything to everybody, may be pleasing to the ear. He is, indeed, a forceful speaker. But what do we do on ground is important.

Take for example, the Planning Commission. That it had become a parallel government is true. But we should have removed the bureaucratic conflicts.

The planning for a country like ours has to be there to marshal the resources and distribute them equitably among the states. The Planning Commission needed to be put back on the track, not to pushed aside, as Modi has done.

It is a pity that the left in the country has not grown in influence. But this is because the communists do not understand the Indians. Marx is important. So is Gandhi. Yet, in the Communists’ politburo, you can see the photos of Marx and Engels, not that of Gandhi or Nehru who represented our independence struggle and sacrifices. Modi could have utilized the Planning Commission for the capitalist system which he preaches and follows.

But its abolition does not make sense.

Many in the country praise Modi for not mentioning Kashmir when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had devoted 19 sentences, to quote a Pakistani, to Kashmir, never done before. Modi did not even mention Kashmir in his speech. This has gone down well in the country. But by ignoring a problem, it does not disappear. India has to discuss the problem peacefully, across the table, sooner or later because Pakistan, besieged by several difficulties, finds support in the country.

The Hurriyat, which seeks to represent Kashmir, is acquiring fundamentalism and losing its appeal in India as well as among the democratic countries in the West. The Huriyat would have earned laurels if it had turned out Syed Ali Shah Gilani when he changed his pluralistic line and talked in parochial terms.

I agree with the reaction coming from across the border that we overacted when we cancelled the

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talks with Pakistan after its High Commissioner in India invited the Hurriyat leaders. Such talks have been held before even when the Hurriyat spoke about separatism. But Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj gave a clear and categorical reply that the foreign secretary-level talks have been suspended.

She also explained that the government had changed and its policy was different.

I want to recall some instances of the past for Modi and Sushma Swaraj so that some continuity is visible in the policy followed then and now. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif summed up his talks with the late Inder Kumar Gujral years ago at Male.

“Aap Kashmir de nahi sakte, our hum aap se le nahi sakte” (you cannot hand over Kashmir to us and we are in no position to take it from you). Not only that, Nawaz Sharif confronted the army and entered into a time bound agreement with India to sort out the issue of Kashmir. It’s another matter that the army dismissed him and took over the reins of the country. He had to undergo imprisonment of several months.

Why should the same Nawaz Sharif devote 19 sentences to Kashmir, the largest reference any Pakistan leader has made at the UN? Apparently, he has developed a vested interest in the Prime Minister’s chair that he occupies. The armed forces, inherent by anti-India sentiment, do not want a settlement with New Delhi because the dispute is the raison d’être of its power in Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif, elected with the support of the military and the rightists remained tethered to secularism. He wanted to prove that Islam was not opposed to democracy or secularism which was equivalent to pluralism. Why has he changed? Or why he begs seeing which side is buttered. He never compromised. I personally think the wilderness has taught him a lesson.

In the US, Modi was able to create an environment where the BJP has begun to count. His priority for the SAARC countries has also delineated the agenda for the government. It’s good that he has dropped hostility towards Pakistan. Now, it is time

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for the two countries to pick up the threads from where Manmohan Singh had left off.

Border More Complicated After Xi’s Visit hunch is that Gujarat’s map of India Myshowing Arunachal Pradesh with dotted lines, suggesting a disputed territory, was at the instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gujarat is his backyard and he can have anything done there. Even the contradiction was half-hearted and left to further “investigation.”

What Modi probably tried to convey to the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping was that he was willing to keep Arunachal Pradesh as a disputed territory provided there was an indication by Beijing that it was willing to settle the border dispute keeping New Delhi’s sensibility as well as sensitivity in view. The standoff in Ladakh holds no such hope.

President Xi’s response was not helpful and he sustained the incursions in the Indian territories during his entire visit. And after returning to Beijing, the Chinese President has reportedly told his top military officials that they should be ready for regional wars which he contended must be won.

It was all directed towards New Delhi which, for reasons best known to it, did not say a word to register its annoyance. It was a stance which the subject nations take against their masters.

What surprised me was why we invited the Chinese President when Beijing has made no amends for the betrayal in 1962 when it attacked the unprepared India. Nor has it vacated the territory which it forcibly captured since then. The Ministry of External Affairs should have tested waters before Xi’s visit.

The various steps China has taken since, from the stapling of visa on passport to amassing PLA soldiers in Gilgit-Baltistan, should make things clear for New Delhi—a plethora of irritations.

However, it would be naïve to play into the hands of China as India did in 1962. A sense of growing

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strength has given Beijing a measure of superiority.

It is crudely exhibiting it, particularly when India looks disorderly and divided.

More concerting for New Delhi is that Beijing is an emerging power in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, the countries surrounding India. New Delhi should also reach out to Taiwan, Vietnam and other south Asian countries which are feeling the assertiveness of China. And Beijing should be made to realize that India has accepted China’s suzerainty over Tibet but not the demographic change or the ruthless repression in that territory. The Dalai Lama is already feeling restive and edgy.

Jawaharlal Nehru warned India as back as in 1962 thus: “It is a little naïve to think that the trouble with China was essentially due to a dispute over some territory. It had deeper reasons. Two of the largest countries in Asia confronted each other over a vast border. They differed in many ways. And the test was as to whether anyone of them would have a more dominating position than the other on the border and in Asia itself.” I mean no disrespect to the Chinese President. But his visit was doomed to be a failure. Investment is at best palliative to the hurt caused on the border. I have not been able to understand, much less appreciate, the purpose of the visit from our point of view.

In fact, China’s incursions in Ladakh when the President and Prime Minister were talking in Delhi, underlined the intractable stance on the border.

That China would invest $20 billion (the initial figure was $100 billion) in India suits Beijing because it wants to increase trade with New Delhi which offers a vast market and other opportunities.

But what about the basic requirement: trust. Nehru introduced to Chinese leader Zhou Enlai to the world. He looked up to Nehru but that was till he got known in the international arena. Zhou Enlai betrayed Nehru when China took advantage of our trust—and unpreparedness.

I do not think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ever have as much equation with the

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Chinese President as Nehru had with Zhou Enlai.

Still, the latter carried out the task he had in mind, capturing in Ladakh the area which China claimed to be its own. In fact, the incursions in our territory that took place during the talks between Modi and Jinping underlined that China does not want to accommodate India on the border issue.

I do not find the determination at the highest level.

There is a lot of wishful thinking. What purpose does it serve in discussing whether Prime Minister Narender Modi had the better of China or President Jinping on the border issue when the reality of our society is the caste and class? The dalits are still treated as untouchable as our forefathers did.

Today’s youth is indifferent to everything else but not to the feeling of superiority which he seems to feel as his birthright.

Eleven children, all cousins belonging to a dalit family, were ousted from a government primary school in a village in Bikaner, Rajasthan, after two of them drank water from an earthen pot meant for an upper caste teacher. He reportedly humiliated the two students and even beat them up. True, the teacher, Mangal Singh, was arrested after the family lodged a police complaint against him. But the society on the whole remains unreceptive.

Prime Minister Modi talks about development.

What kind of development does he have in mind where the caste bias is sustained? To some extent, the class and caste seem to coincide.

Coming back to the disputed part of India-China border, the matter has got more complicated after the visit of President Jinping. For example, the Chinese troops which entered the Indian territory not only stayed there but also increased their strength. They have reportedly now withdrawn from the place. But Beijing has made it loud and clear that India should stay from the disputed territory.

[Kuldip Nayar is a veteran syndicated columnist catering to around 80 newspapers and journals in 14 languages in India & abroad. kuldipnayar09@gmail.com]

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From Chief Justice of India to Governor of a State- A Bad Precedent —Rajindar Sachar since news appeared that Union Ever Government is contemplating appointing former Chief Justice Sadasiwam as Governor of Kerala, spate of comments, rather adverse have appeared in the press. Questions were rightly raised as to the propriety and also the dignity of the office of CJI being compromised by accepting this appointment.

Speaking personally I do not mind confessing that I was deeply distressed because some judgments of Justice Sadasiwam a year or so before his retirement did give cause for faith in judiciary. His bold decision to direct the implementation of Election Commissions recommendation to introduce “None of the Above” in election law showed his broad look, considering that both BJP and Congress had been opposing it for over a decade.

Justice Sadasiwam also showed his humanitarian streak when he boldly commuted the death penalty of Bhullar of Punjab on the ground of inordinate delay in carrying out the sentence of hanging. The Supreme Court no doubt had been dealing with the matter but there was a mixed soup—he at least boldly took lead in clarifying the matter.

So I am disappointed when Justice Sadasiwam went public seeking to justify his decision. My first reaction was to keep silent because to me judiciary is too invaluable an asset in a democracy and one should be cautious in ones criticism. But now that of Justice Sadasiwam has finally accepted the assignment, it is no longer possible to remain silent rather it is moral duty to speak. I plead in my defence, the words of Justice Holmes of USA Supreme Court, who said “I trust that no one will understand me to be speaking with disrespect of the law because I criticize it so freely……But one may criticize even what one reveres….and I should

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show less than devotion, if I did not do what in me lies to improve it.”

Congress in its opposition has crossed all decent limits. It accused the BJP government returning a favour in exchange to having received a favourable decision in the case of Amit Shah. Chief Justice Sadasiwam was appointed Chief Justice during Congress UPA regime. Does the Congress suggest that it appointed Sadasiwam because it hoped to get favourable orders from him? How disgusting the conclusion. The opposition to Sadasiwam being appointed Governor is on larger ground of public interest of separation of Executive and Judiciary.

But the hypocrisy of the Congress in putting on saint like attitude is hypocritical when in reality it must bear the blame of original sin.

Examples of polluting judiciary by Congress are galore. In 1949 Chief Justice of Punjab was Dewan Ram Lal. He was a personal friend of Nehru.

Immediately on his retirement, Nehru appointed him as Indian Ambassador to Rome (Italy). At that time healthy precedents were yet to be established.

It was considered such a routine that when Chief Justice S.R.Das who was taking over from Chief Justice Ram Lal in Punjab High Court met Pandit Nehru at Delhi before proceeding to Simla where at that time High Court was situated. Pt. Nehru told him without any embarrassment to tell Ram Lal C.J. that he need not worry because the orders for his appointment as ambassador would be issued soon. The distance that rightly should prevail between executive and judiciary had not been established. May he at that time Pt. Nehru’s personality was such that the bona-fides of the government were not easily doubted. But since then one has to face the low level the maneuvering in politics is resorted too. So without any embarrassment Congress appointed Bibi Fatima Begum (from Kerala) who retired as a Supreme Court judge and appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu. Congress also followed the partisan practice when it nominated Chief Justice of India Ranganath Mishra to Rajya Sabha- it never offered any explanation for breaching the distance between

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executive and judiciary. But of course that in no why justifies BJP of breaching the accepted convention world over.

I feel that CJI (Sadasiwam) should have declined the appointment. A high office carries within itself certain compulsions.

In sensitivity to public opinion and correct precedents, let me give an example. In mid fifties a politician was appointed Governor of Andhra Pradesh. Nizam of Hyderabad though bereft of political power was still holding his domain of private properties, trusts. Nizam’s exclusiveness was such that had refused to receive Pt. Nehru at airport when he went to Hyderabad immediately after the takeover of Hyderabad by Indian Government. So Nizam never called on the Governor during his tenure of 5 years. The Governor also never called on the Nizam. The Governor, after retirement in 1962 came back home. Thereafter he received a letter at his home from Nizam on his personal letter paper inviting him to be a trustee of some of the Nizam’s several trusts “for the benefit of the members of my family and for other religious charitable purpose”. He offered membership of one of the trusts to Governor with effect from 1st June of 1963 “on a monthly allowance of Rs. 3,000/- plus traveling expenses for visiting Hyderabad for meeting of the trust.” (Rs. 3000/- was not a small amount at that time, it was the monthly salary of a judge of High

Court). The Nizam wrote “I am making this offer on my own accord as I was much impressed by your popularity as Governor of Andhra Pradesh, and the manner in which you maintained the dignity of that office.” The Governor declined the offer because according to him if he accepted the offer it might give rise to gossiping that he got the trusteeship by being unduly friendly to the Nizam.

I am giving this example because even if Governor had accepted this offer, it was no big deal. But a healthy convention of public morality would have been lost. I feel Chief Justice Sadasiwam would have to bear cross for permitting judiciary to be slandered by small time politicians who are engaged in their petty maneuvering.

Congress had distorted judiciaries’ face many a time by super-sessions – refer the case of Chief Justice A.N. Ray which can never be lived down.

Let the BJP not learn these bad lessons. For democracy, a healthy distance between the executive and judiciary is essential.

[Justice Rajindar Sachar was Chief Justice, High

Court of Delhi, New Delhi; Chairperson Prime Minister’s High Level Committee On Status of Muslims; UN Special Rappoetuer on Housing; Member, U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and President, PUCL, India rsachar1@vsnl.net; rsachar23@bol.net.in]

To Remember Gandhi: A Message to be forwarded to one and all!

Back in 1919, with a view to forge unity between two communities, Gandhi asked them to collectively take the following vow: “With God As A Witness We Hindus And Mahomedans Declare That We Shall Behave Towards One Another As Children Of The Same Parents, That We Shall Have No Differences, That The Sorrows Of Each Will Be The Sorrows Of The Other And That Each Shall Help The Other In Removing Them. We Shall Respect Each Other’s Religion And Religious Feelings, And Shall Not Stand In The Way Of Our Respective Religious Practices. We Shall Always Refrain From Violence To Each Other In The Name Of Religion.”

What was asked Hindus and Muslims in 1919 should be asked again of them today. --N.D. Pancholi,

Secretary, IRI 18

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IRI / IRHA Members' Section:

Dawkins under Attack —J.L. Jawahar painful to follow the controversy raised Itbyis Adam Lee about Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. By what he wrote in his ‘Daylight Atheism’ the criticism by Adam Lee appears more personal than ideological. Otherwise there is no justification for him to mention that Dawkins is worth more than 130 million pounds, that he married an actress. He also laments that Dawkins earns by one lecture more than what Lee earns in one year. It is brazenly personal and clearly indicates an attempt to prejudice the reader against Dawkins.

To my little knowledge, Dawkins never claimed to be the leader of atheist movement. But he was always on the forefront to defend atheism in every possible way to thrash the unscientific arguments and crude beliefs in no uncertain terms. He is certainly more active in the movement, if at all we want to call atheism a movement. It was not his fault. Adam Lee or any other person is at full liberty to be more active in the movement and become more prominent. But this is not the way to get recognition.

By saying that the atheist movement is led by white male, whom do we want to blame? First of all, how could anybody conclude that the movement is dominated by the white male? That allegation was necessary to find fault with the persons who are prominent in the movement. But for that, there is no basis for the allegation. While talking of a universal movement, we should not have a vision limited to the western media where the other part of the world is either ignored or represented poorly. Even then, how could anybody fail to take note of the respectable ladies who stand for atheism against so many odds – like Taslima Nasreen, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Susan Jacoby, Julia Sweeney etc.? There are

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plenty of women and men, black and white and brown. Everybody cannot be as active or as aggressive as others who are prominent. By saying that the movement is dominated by the white male, if we are trying to provoke the other atheists to become more active, then it is a constructive suggestion. But when it is made based on a personal and ulterior purpose, it is despicable. It only drives a wedge within the movement.

No atheist would find fault with the color, stature, gender or wealth of a person. Better if we chose to find fault with the opinions, ideas and arguments of persons to criticize them rather than on personal traits like color or gender which the person could not help.

Atheist movement stands on the personal conviction of members individually, and not on the support of persons who seek personal recognition by raising unethical and illogical problems. Such tactics may succeed in political parties and not in genuine movements. The fact that a person is an atheist does not assure that all his ideas on every problem will be the same as of another atheist.

Their identity is limited to the problem of God alone. That is why it is not technically constituted into a party, which necessarily demands conformity. Realizing it, the late M.N. Roy had dissolved his Radical Democratic Party and confined his activities to the New Humanism Movement.

The movement of ‘Daylight Atheism’ could be a welcome sign as it calls on the atheists to come out boldly and assert themselves against the unscientific traditions prevailing in the society. But when the call is linked to unwarranted allegations against other members of the movement, the purpose is defeated and the intention is becoming suspicious. Calling names like ‘New Atheism’ is an attempt to wean away some of the members to constitute a separate group where there is no group.

There is nothing ‘New’ in the atheism. It remains the same even from the days of Charvakas. It continues to get more support as the horizon of

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knowledge expands. Atheism will go on spreading without hindrance as long as there is respect for knowledge and rational thinking.

There was another incident on which Dawkins had to face unjust criticism. He stated that he was improperly groped by a teacher in his school days, but he was not affected by it.

He immediately rescued himself from the teacher and told his friends about it. Most of them stated that they too had similar experience with that teacher. And none of them was affected by that experience. All of them were free from any effect of that incident. Giving that example Dawkins suggested that one need not play victim of such insignificant incidents in life and try to move on.

He pleaded that such incidents happen in life and they need not be magnified. One must put them in proper place and move ahead. It is accepted that it would be a different matter if the student is held captive and subjected to repeated experiences like that. It is also possible that the violence might be more serious and could not be wished away in spite of the victim trying to forget. But his detractors found fault with him stating that he has exonerated the improper behavior of the teacher. He is far from that. He only expects the subjected party to have strength of character to ignore such things and treat them as trivia. They are not the experiences worth remembering and carrying throughout life. Nobody could suggest that the teacher should be exonerated. Such behavior on the part of a teacher, guardian, bishop or priest is unpardonable, because we cannot expect all the victims to be strong enough to overcome its effects.

In another incident, Dawkins advised a lady to have abortion when she asked for advice after knowing

that the foetus she was carrying was affected by Down-Syndrome. It is an accepted procedure with medical practitioners to advise the parents to get such foetus aborted. It was what Dawkins also told her. He is blamed that he has no respect for life and so he could suggest abortion. What do we mean by respect for life? Is it respect for life to bring a vegetable into the world and waste your life taking care of it? The baby itself will never know that he is an individual human being. For what purpose and for whose benefit do you allow such things to happen? Once the baby is allowed to be born, the parents naturally try their best to look after the child. It becomes a life-long burden on them without any benefit to anyone. The argument of ‘respect for life’ is borrowed from the anti-abortionists who call themselves ‘pro-life’. To find fault with Dawkins for giving such an advice appears clearly motivated and prejudicial.

Perhaps, that is the price Dawkins had to pay for his strong convictions and enthusiastic support of science and rationalism. The greater they are, the harder they fall! But he need not fall for this kind of winds of storm. His personality is strong enough to withstand such threats. Nevertheless, it is a warning that efforts to undermine the movement might be from the people who themselves wear the garb of atheists or moralists. When they cannot attack the philosophy, they try to undermine it by attacking the persons who believe in it.

Let us move ahead without mutual bickering and without personal agenda.

[J.L. Jawahar is a vetaran Radical Humanist and

Rationalist, writer and author from Hyderabad, A.P. He may be cotacted at: jjasthi@yahoo.com]

Dear Friends, Your article for the RH should be emailed at: rheditor@gmail.com or posted at: C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P. Please send a passport size photograph and your brief resume if it is being sent for the first time to the RH. A note whether it has also been published elsewhere or is being sent exclusively for the RH should also be attached with it.

— Rekha Saraswat.

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What Ails Us —Ajit Bhattacharya [A Rejoinder to the Editorial entitled “Birds of a Feather flock together?” (March-2014)] M.N. Roy never gathered mosses While and updated him with higher wisdom throughout his life, we are struck to certain fixations and are thus unable to look out of the box.

Party politics may appear antithetical to New Humanism’s fundamental philosophy and understanding of humanist social change.

If it is so then why party less Radical Humanist Movement has not reached any where? We have therefore, to judge the so called basic tenets once again.

Real contribution of Roy to political thought and social engineering are to be pin pointed and our Movement is to be geared towards that. We should keep in mind that Roy never claimed that he had said the final truth.

Initiatives have always come from individuals but from our hoary savage past collective and co operative efforts had given shape to those individual dreams. History has witnessed no second way to date.

M.N. Roy was never a fundamentalist in practice.

While vehemently opposing representative govt., Roy recommended that upright and intelligent persons should contest election as independent candidates (vide -M.N. Roy and Radical Humanism-by Gaurypada Bhatterjee and Biplobi Darsonik Manabendra Nath Roy—by Apurba Dasgupta) Did he mean that the Radical Humanists would keep themselves outside the ring and other good people should enter the bloody and nasty electoral fields? Was Roy such a hypocrite?

The so called last step must have a first step. Who will whistle the start and when? Did Roy mean that a Radical Democratic State would take shape without political efforts? Are culture, social change and Renaissance no way connected to politics?

Who said that some were desperate about their participation in the present political scenario? This is half truth. I had a lengthy talk on the issue with 21

N.D. Pancholi in Delhi last November. He said that they were thinking of putting some Independent candidates. I opined that we should rather try to form a Humanist- Socialist front for the same. It did not take shape. Thus we again left the field to the rogues and are talking big as usual from safe distance. It is not the dissolution of the RDP that is fast making us a vanishing tribe. It is rather avoiding field politics altogether which has cut us from the mainstream. Political writings and speech without participation is lame ducks. The Radical Humanists got national relevance only once during the JP movement under the able leadership of late Justice V.M. Tarkunde. That was pure politics. But we soon lost that momentum and returned to the cloister of our confusing thoughts without attempting to clarify them till date. A hang over that persists for sixty six years is no hang over at all.

It is the real elixir.

Number and posts-It is really amusing for a post holder to discount numbers and posts. The IRI founders did not fore see the present tight corner we are now in. In the last IRI conference consideration of my proposals for adding new posts of Vice President etc. was deferred to the next meeting on a valid reason. Now it invalidates the IRI executives, I am afraid. The first act of the Trustees is to elect an interim President. But where is the initiative?

We no more differentiate between action and activities. Hence the mess as both need numbers and posts.

The Permanent State of Exception-The party system is barely four hundred years old. The Restoration of the English Monarchy in 1660 heralded the growth of the party system as it was the first recognition of governance by law.

Apparently this is the most positive contribution of the party politics. But as Prof. Giorgio Agamben, a noted Italian philosopher has recently remarked that the sovereign authority and aspirants thereto are both anarchical by nature. They do not care even to obey the rules they themselves frame. This twenty first century formulation and the coinage of the phrase "the Stare of Permanent Exception" or

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Emergency when juridical process does not work was not known to M.N.Roy. But this mischief of party politics was fully sensed by Roy some seventy five years ago through his vast field experience. This realization led him to dissolve his Radical Democratic Party. But he knew that power and politics can never be dissolved. Hence he

recommended that upright persons should participate in electoral politics to tame both power and politics.

[Ajit Bhattacharyaa is a veteran Radical Humanist from West Bengal]

An Appeal to the Readers Indian Renaissance Institute has been receiving regular requests from readers, research scholars, Rationalists and Radical Humanists for complete sets of books written by M.N. Roy. It was not possible to fulfil their demands as most of Roy's writings are out of print. IRI has now decided to publish them but will need financial assistance from friends and well-wishers as the expenses will be enormous running into lakhs. IRI being a non-profit organization will not be able to meet the entire expenses on its own. Initially, following 15 books have been ordered for print: New Humanism; Beyond Communism; Politics, Power and Parties; Historical Role of Islam; India’s Message; Men I Met; New Orientation; Materialism; Science & Philosophy; Revolution and Counter-revolution in China; India in Transition; Reason, Romanticism and Revolution; Russian Revolution; Selected Works-Four Volumes; Memoirs (Covers period1915-1923).

Cheques /bank drafts may be sent in the name of ‘Indian Renaissance Institute’ at (address): Shri Narottam Vyas, Advocate, Chamber No.111 (Old), Supreme Court, New Delhi-110001 Online donations may be sent to: ‘Indian Renaissance Institute’ Account No: 02070100005296; FISC Code: UCBA0000207 UCO Bank, Supreme Court Branch, New Delhi (India) We make an earnest appeal to you to please donate liberally for the cause of the spirit of renaissance and scientific thinking being promoted in the writings of M.N. Roy. Thanking you

IRI Executive Body Subhankar Ray,

N.D. Pancholi,

Officiating President

Secretary

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Narottam Vyas, Treasurer

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Academicians' Section:

The Exorcist — —Chandrahas [Here is English version of Prof J. L Reddy`s Purana Pralapam. Mr. Chandrahas, Retd. Commissioner of Income Tax has translated a major portion of Purana Pralapam in to English The original book by the name of Khattar Kaka was written by late Hari Mohan Jha of Patna University and it was received well in Hindi world. It was also translated in Telugu by Prof Lakshmi Reddi. Sent by N. Innaiah] hat day Vikatakavi Uncle was seen grinding bhang. He saw the tantrik beside me and asked, “Who’s he?” I said, “He’s Ozha. An evil spirit has entered Chowdari’s bungalow. Ozha has come to drive it away.” Uncle smiled and said, “He’s a big evil spirit himself. Can there be an end to the difficulties of those whom he possesses?” Ozha glared at uncle and said, “I’m a tantrik, an exorcist. I have attained control over the mantras after being in Kamakhya for twelve years. There’s nothing that I can’t do?” Uncle said, “I will make a leech catch your nose. Can you with the power of your mantra drive away a leech? I will hold a paisa in my fist. I will agree that you have the power if you can make it disappear with your mantra and tantra, will you?” Sensing that the situation was not conducive, the tantrik slipped off quietly from there. I said, “The tantrik says the bride is possessed by a ghost.” Uncle sported a smile. “My son, old Chowdary unfortunately married again and has brought an elephant in must. Is it then a surprise that at night a ghost gets on top of Chowdary’s wife?” I said, “Everything is a joke for you, uncle.” “If this is not something to laugh at, what else is?

There is a saying that - ‘A weak fellow’s wife is the sister-in-law of the whole colony’. The ghost too must have desired to come here and become the brother-in-law, couldn’t it?” “Uncle, do you believe in the evil spirits?” Uncle said, “Why not? I believe in ‘bhutam’, ‘vartamanam’ and so on.” “I don’t mean that ‘bhutam’.” “Then what”? “The ghost that possesses human beings”! Uncle thought for a while and said, “Yes. I believe in that ghost too. Even now that ghost is perched sitting atop your head.” I said, “Uncle, you are sarcastic. But Padma Purana contains descriptions of the

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evil spirits in plenty, isn’t it?” Mixing black pepper in bhang, Uncle said, “That evil spirit surely is perched on your head and is speaking. It must have sat on the heads of mighty scholars also. Whenever you question them, their reply is ‘It’s written like this and that’. They need to be told ‘O, great one. Let what’s written be what it is.

Have you ever written that you are their servants? What happened to your sense? Have you pledged it somewhere? When people of other countries are inventing new machines, you say that you won’t swerve from the path of your grandfathers, why?” I said, “Once upon a time, there was science in our country also. There was aeroplane too…” Uncle was irritated. He said, “That ghost is still speaking. The ghost of the past! The elephant has gone. The place where elephants were tied also is gone. But we still are holding the goad and sitting just to say that once upon a time there was an elephant tied in front of our house also. My son, what’s the point in talking about the past? What’s needed is to see what is there now, shouldn’t we? The tamarind is not there but its taste still is lingering. People of other countries have marched forward a great deal. But we sleep on the cot boasting ‘once upon a time we were flying in the sky’.

When people of other countries look to the future, we look backwards, at bhutkal. How can we push forward unless we discard this ghost?” “I know you don’t believe in ghosts and phantoms. But we witness so many possessed by the devil. How come”? Mixing a fistful of soamf in bhang, uncle said, “Arey, that’s the fear of the ghost. That’s all. On a dark night in a deserted place seeing a thief or an adulterer many start reciting Gayatri mantra or eulogy of Hanuman. Taking krishnabhisarika (a heroine who goes to a secret place wearing dark dress on a dark night to meet her paramour) for a ‘yakshini’, they are frightened to death. If anyone prattles because of mental instability, it’s assumed that a ghost is speaking. If anyone throws a stone or a brick in front of the house, it’s said that the ghost has caused trouble. On a dark night in a deserted place if a light is seen it’s an ogre; if it’s a snake it’s ghost snake. If it is not known how fire is kindled, it’s ‘bhahmagni’. It’s all due to blind belief. That’s all.” “Uncle, you have no interest in other worldly matters. But there are wizards who have control over the devil and get to know everything. They can cause death with a mantra. They can roll a dice and take control of a snake. They can turn a wheel and detect a thief. They can overpower a Betala and get articles they

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wish for. With the power of mantra, they can cause something on the radio and made him believe that death, cast a spell or exorcise a devil.” Uncle who was that was the voice of a dead man and would have

grinding bhang with his head lowered raised his head and said, “Untrue. Totally untrue! If at least one of these was true, I would have publicised it beating a drum. The government would have employed the fellow who turned the wheel instead of CID police. The irrigation minister would have caused rains by reciting mantra and doing japa. Our external affairs minister would have appointed devils in place of the ambassadors. The defence minister would have cast a spell against the enemy.

Crores of rupees spent on the army would have been saved. When the country is attacked the tantriks would have lined up against the enemy army. And when they said the mantra, ‘aam fat’, the enemy would have been reduced to ashes. When the plague spread, the health minister would have mrityunjaya mantra recited – ‘…’ ‘I worship Triyambak Siva who makes aroma and vigour to increase.’” I said, “Uncle, the tantrik is procuring many items to secure release of the ghost. Mustard seeds, dung of black cow, ash, hair of a black horse!” Rolling bhang into a ball, Uncle said, “This is absolute fraud. Tell me what is the cause and effect between the ghost and the hair of a black horse?” I said, “The world of mantra and tantra is clothed in secrecy. That’s why the tantrik rids the bride of the ghost at night when there is no one around.” Tapping the ground with his walking stick Uncle said, “I call this a crime. The education in the other countries is publicised by the drum beat whereas in our country it’s talked of in whispers. A thief can never tolerate light. Trickery is carried out in darkness. The science of foreign countries is dazzling brightly. The entire world went into raptures at the discovery of radio and television. If on the contrary a thing like radio was discovered by a scholar of our country, you wouldn’t know how he would have behaved. He would have said that the radio was broadcast straight from the Brahma Lok. He would have made a householder bathe with his cloths on, take him to the deserted burial ground on a no moon night, made him listen to 24

squeezed him all his life. He would have made radio look like Chandika, cover it with a red cloth, sprinkle grains of rice (akshatalu) and red vermillion, recite inane mantras and would have hid it without revealing the truth to anyone. And just before dying, he would whisper the secret into his son’s ear and make him an expert in that.” I said, “Uncle, in your view, is mantra nothing but deceit?’ Continuing to grind bhang, Uncle said, “Son, mantra means advice. If a woman is unable to conceive I would advise her to go for uterus examination. That’s the correct mantra. Instead, if I say ‘Sun is sitting on the uterus door and until he does not get away from there you cannot conceive’ that would amount to fraud. Further if I say ‘To please the Sun god, arrange twelve Brahmins to recite “Om ghrinih suryaya namah” six thousand times a day after a feasting on halwa and puris” that will amount to a greater fraud. Add to this advice ‘The wheel of Sun’s chariot is stuck up a little bit and so to pull it up we need droppings of an owl, camel dung, bat’s droppings, the horse shoe, red gem, and twelve tolas gold’ then it will amount a much greater fraud. These wretched rascals only go about the world as miracle men. ‘Sri 108’ is added to their name at the beginning. If I had the authority I would have dragged them to court under section 420 for cheating.” “Uncle, all those who perform mantra- tantra are rascals; are they?” Uncle said, “Son, all of them are cheats and conmen. They live on deceit. You remember this sloka in my ‘Vikatakavi Purana’ – ‘…’ ‘Tantrik, mantrik, palmists, those who give the results of signs and those who make predictions are cheats and pakands.’” I said, “Then Uncle, are mantra-tantra a myth?” Mixing sugar in bhang, Uncle said, “In fact, tantra means chemistry. A mixture of two things results in creation of a new thing which has different qualities. It’s due to this science that the people of foreign countries have attained such heights in technology. We on the contrary are tricksters who create useless things and say that

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through mantra and tantra convert soil into sugar and stone into gold and such humbug. That’s all.” Uncle understood that I was surprised and so he said, ”Here in the name of tantra, mantra, yoga, magic and sorcery the ocean of deceit is welling up. Look at the mantra-tantra ideas suggested in Agni Purana to vanquish the enemy‘…’ ‘Pound the enemy with your weapon. Pulverise.’

After reciting this mantra for 108 times, if the damaruk is sounded, the enemy army will go helter-skelter. The soldiers will run away dropping their weapons.’ “Listen to Chamundadevi mantra – ‘…’ ‘If this mantra is under your control, Chamundadevi with her trushul will slash, cut your enemies and beat with the cane. She will tie them up with a rope. She will drive a dagger. She will reduce the enemy to dust. She will eat up.’ Those with atom bombs will all be defeated. Now tell me. Will any country have a defence against such mantras?” When he found me stupefied, Uncle said, “People will be shocked when they know the kind of tricks that our mantra-tantra talk of. Sample this – ‘…’ ‘No weapon can touch the body if it is smeared with the paste of aapaamurga herb on an auspicious day.’ “An enemy becomes impotent with this trick of Dattatreya. Good riddance. Hear this – ‘…’ ‘On Saturday or Wednesday bury a chameleon where the enemy urinates. That’s all. The enemy turns impotent. Sankara himself revealed this secret.’ “If a woman has to be subjugated, recite this mantra – ‘…’

“That’s it. She will run and fall in your lap. Shabash!

What else?” ‘…’ ‘On Pushya nakshatra day, give rudra jata root by placing it in the betel leaf. The moment she takes it, she becomes your slave.’ “My son, there is yet another trick. With that not only your lover but her father too will start pressing your legs. – ‘…’ ‘If white jilledu and ox gall is ground and mixed in own urine and applied on forehead as tilak, everyone who sees it will become his servant. “What no formula can achieve is accomplished with urine, isn’t it?” Uncle smiled and said, “My dear, don’t conduct any of these experiments.

Be careful otherwise you will land in trouble. Leave these things to tantrik.” I said, “If he really has such powers, would he have been loafing like this? Alas! He has no roof over his house.” Uncles said, “Then tell him to apply tilak on donkey’s fat.” When he found me staring at him, Uncle said, ”I’m not saying this for fun.

It’s said in this tantra like this - ‘…’ ‘If anyone applies tilak of a mixture of donkey’s fat, haratal and manhsila, he’ll become a king like the king of Lanka.’ “I wonder 25

why they don’t patent the tricks that they have invented!”“Uncle, why are there such nonsensical things in the tantras?” “Tantras are full of such experiments in abhichara and adultery, one more ludicrous than the other, to dupe people and fulfil their selfish interests.

‘You can roam about unseen on a particular star, if you recite so-and-so mantra and by keeping a particular herb in the mouth.’ If this is true, our riffraff would have lived in trains without noticed by the T.C. Sweetmeat shops would have gone bankrupt. Everyday the tantriks would have had tasty food free of cost. They would have visited any in-laws’ house and would have had feast. When there is such a tantra, who would care for prajatantra?”

“I’m surprised to hear all this, Uncle.” Uncle said, “We have broken world record in our creativity and boasting.

It’s just not the human beings but the cows of our country also knew mantra-tantras. Hear the super natural power of Kapila Cow – ‘…’ ‘From its mouth, three crores of people brandishing swords, from the nose five crores with spears, from the eyes one hundred crores sporting arrows and bows, from udder crores holding staves, from the hooves crores of instrumentalists, from anus crores of barbarians emerged.’ “Now tell me. Has such a cow been born anywhere in the world so far?

That’s why I say there is none to equal us. In our society, even dog is a vehicle of a god (Bhairava). Owl and donkey too are vehicles of goddesses (Lakshmi and Sitala Devi). Owl is of use in tantrik experiments. See what’s written in Dattatreya Mantra – ‘…’ ‘One can read a book in dark if collyrium made of owl’s skull, ghee and water is applied to the eyes.’ “It’s for owl-like people that such tricks are useful!” I said, “Uncle, the tantrik is preparing a machine for the bride.” Mixing bhang well, Uncle said, ”Don’t call it a machine. Call it a conspiracy instead. With the help of this machine, one can fly in the sky; hills can be broken; ocean can be controlled; rain can be made and electricity can be created. All these machines have been invented by the people of other countries. In fact, it can be said that the machine known as Betala has been overpowered by them. Machine ploughs the land; pounds paddy; cooks food; weaves cloths; carries loads; turns the fan; plays songs and takes one for a trip in the sky. We import all the machines from abroad. What machine can we give in return for them?

At best, our tantriks can pull out a hair, make talisman out of it and send it labelling it as ‘siddhi Vinayaka yantra’.” Finally I asked again, “That means you have

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absolutely no faith in ghost mantra?” Uncle said, “Son, when did we know about ghost mantra? The ones who really know about ghost mantra are the foreigners. They have taken control of the five elements known as the earth, water, fire, sky and air and out of them whatever they need. They are winning over water, earth and the sky. Look at us.

We roam about searching for the hair of a black

horse while hunting fake evil spirits! The country can be better off only after we make bhasmibhuth (ash) of foolishness bhuth (evil spirit) which is sitting atop us and riding us. Isn’t it because of that I worship Siva, who is Bhuthnath.” After saying this, Uncle raised his bhang glass and drank it as an offering to Siva.

Legal Fraternity Hails Bombay High Court Order To Keep Religion Out Of Forms experts have welcomed the Bombay High Court judgment directing the state not to Legal compel any individual to specify his religion in any form or declaration made to the government. The legal fraternity feels the ruling carries forward the underlying spirit of the Constitution of India which provides equal rights to all citizens. Asim Sarode, advocate and human rights activist, hailed the decision as very progressive. "The values of our democracy should be considered in a more dynamic interpretation. This judgment takes that thought ahead. However, we are still struggling as a society while professing or practising a religion." Saroda said Article 25 of the Constitution of India, is being misconstrued by fanatics. "Caste and religion are being mentioned because of reservation for certain categories. Reservation on the basis of religion and class should be changed. This judgment is a step forward to bring secularism in real practice."The HC order came on a public interest litigation filed by three members of an organisation – Full Gospel Church of God. The members had sought for issuance of a gazette recording that they are not Christians but they belong to "No Religion". The petitioners had informed the court that the state should be told not to insist on religion in any of its forms or declarations.

Former IPS officer-turned advocate Y P Singh said, "There are a lot of rational thinkers, who feel religion is a superstition. I don't believe in religion so why should I be forced to write the religion in state documents/declarations. This order is in consonance with the tenets of freedom enshrined in our Constitution, and it should have come a long time ago."Singh said India is a secular country and religion should be voluntary. "Its need should be only for statistical purpose, religion has to be an absolutely confidential thing for every individual."In its order on Tuesday, the HC had said, "Freedom of conscience under Article 25 of the Constitution encompasses in itself a freedom to an individual to take a view that he does not belong to any religion. The freedom conferred also includes a right of an individual to claim that he is an 'Atheist'." When HC came to the rescue of atheist teacher. Last year, the HC had granted a major relief to Sanjay Salve, an atheist teacher from Nashik, by directing the management of the school, where he was employed since 1996, to release his dues held back since 2008. Salve was harassed as he would not fold his hands during the daily school prayer meet. The court had noted that it was not mandatory for Salve to fold his hands during the prayer meet. He had moved the HC, citing Article 28 (3) of the Constitution, which gives right to any person attending educational institutes receiving state funds to not participate in religious instructions.

News circulated by N. Innaiah, U.S.A. Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-legal-fraternity-hails-bombay-high-court-ord er-to-keep-religion-out-of-forms-2021316 Thursday, 25 September 2014 - 5:45am IST Agency: DNA

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Had Bagha Jatin succeeded! A Nationalist Revolt in Colonial India during World War I —Prithwindra Mukherjee in Europe begins the While commemoration of the First World War, in India we are approaching the centenary of the heroic self-giving of Jatindranath Mukherjee, popularly known as Bagha Jatin (“Valorous like a Tiger”): at the age of thirty-five, on 9 September 1915 he - with four brave comrades - fought up to their last bullet, against a detachment of armed police, before succumbing : their short life and their glorious death thus preceded and prepared the movement of the mass that Gandhi was predestined to lead. *In the foreword of a Bengali biography of Bagha Jatin, Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee had penned in 1947: “The young Bengali revolutionaries had written a blood-red chapter of thei Country’s fight for freedom. Sacrificing all they had, once upon a time they had rushed to the ritual call of death and, inch by inch, by shedding their lives, they had left for us the relish of a greater life. Unfortunately, today we have forgotten most of them; even their names have been almost obliterated from the memory of the present generations. In the pages of history, neither at home nor abroad has this story been properly presented; the historians’ pen has till now been terrorized by fear of the Rulers, fear of the society, and scruple for superstition.

Most of those who were pioneers in that revolutionary movement are no more. In silence and without anyone’s knowledge, those who had pledged their quest of freedom, they had never wished to drag their glorious deeds out of the caverns of secrecy for informing everybody in the broad daylight. Once that their quest turned out to be elements for history, a few of them, surviving, have tried to preserve those elements in form of

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stray and corrupt memoirs. That memorable yet very little-known history of the epoch in question remains hidden in proceedings of various trials for political conspiracies, most of them in form of Secret Papers of the then Government. Probably for some more years those documents will not be available for historical research. Although in the form of books and essays, in the form of certain short stories and novels there have been attempts made to expose to Bengali readers the history of the revolutionary doctrine of Bengal but, from the point of view of facts, they remain - in most of the cases - mere fragments, incomplete; moreover half-diluted in fiction, a certain romantic imagination has been the outgrowth around this movement. It is now time to collect earnestly whatever material we can concerning the utmost available biography of the leading revolutionary figures, their activities, their principles, their revolutionary methods, their vision of life and the ideology they put to practice in life. “...Jatindranath” wrote Dr Mookerjee, “was the well-known and principal leader of the second episode in the history of revolutionary movement.

This little book represents an abridged yet exactly described story of his life and his action; a precious material for history. It will only be possible to write a global history of the revolutionary movement by collecting thus, bit by bit, all available material; and if such an endeavour is not undertaken immediately, much material will sink into the depths of oblivion.” *It is time that we examine a few details about Bagha Jatin’s policy and the role he was to play in history. During half a century since 1955, devoted to research on the life and the times of this legendary hero, the author had kept in mind as one of the guiding lines the above foreword by Dr Mookerjee. After a long correspondence with and interviewing people who had known Bagha Jatin, thanks to Bhupendrakumar Datta, he explored the State and National Archives under a privileged condition, before consulting files in European and American archives. He has, by now, published a

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good number of books; two in Bengali: (a) Sadhak biplabi Jatindranath, West Bengal State Book Board, Calcutta (1991, reprinted 2013); (b) Bagha Jatin, Dey’s Publishers from Calcutta (running several editions since 1991); two books in English: (a) Undying Courage, Academic Publishers from Calcutta (1985); (b) Bagha Jatin, National Book Trust, New Delhi (2010, reprinted 2013); in French the lengthy chapter “The Thinker in Action” (pp.109-172) in his thesis, Intellectual Roots of Freedom Movement in India (1893-1918), Codex Publications, 2010, foreword by Jacques Attali. Side by side, he published several articles and papers such as : (a) Proceedings of Indian History Records Commission, Mysore, February 1977; (b) Proceedings of Indian History Congress, Bhubaneswar, December, 1977; (c) Wikipedia (English and French editions) under the pen name Bob Clive.

Truly speaking, as mentioned by Jacques Attali, the non-violent movement for India’s freedom launched by Gandhi between the two wars and after the Second World War had its roots in the actions often radical - of his predecessors. During the First World War, Indian nationalists received indeed the support of German empire in form of arms and ammunitions sent to India from the Californian coast. Our research intends to explore the highlights of this project and pin-point the decisive role played by Bagha Jatin in this context. Fond of action in silence, he has been compared to those “whales that indwell the depths of the ocean, stirring the innermost core of society”. M.N. Roy wrote: “He must be appreciated as the archetypal man the like of whom, though not many, live and die apparently without leaving any foot- prints on the sands of time. But in reality, they embody rays of hope, breaking through the darkness of the mass of mediocrity, aggravated from time to time by the blinding flashes of the greatness of built-up personalities.”

I. The Plan for an Insurrection: The first question that arises is: Bagha Jatin’s plot - known to historians as the Indo-German Conspiracy (or the 28

Zimmerman Plan) to import arms and ammunition from Germany via California, during World War I leaked out mostly from several fronts. Which were they?

Perfectly lucid about the immense degree of ambition he had injected into this plan which he knew, however, was likely to fail in the context of a country so long under bondage, Bagha Jatin was convinced that thelay thelay jat jagbe: only blow after blow, in succeeding phases, could help waking up the Nation in the long run.

Simultaneously, he had been sending emissaries abroad to convince people of the world how urgent were India’s will to win her independence from the colonial exploitation. Having conversed by correspondence and met most surviving colleagues of Bagha Jatin since 1955, I could summarise into three stages the revolution as he had conceived it: (a) Individual martyrdom of elite, to begin with. (b) Then, skirmish and guerrilla warfare. (c) Finally, freed psychologically from the clutch of multiple hesitations and fears, prepared at last to sacrifice themselves in the name of the Motherland, the mass would know how to swell the ranks of a movement of the people for an Insurrection.

Having perfectly sensed the multiple plays of diffidence and duplicity inside the country and abroad, when Bagha Jatin came to know about the failure of the arms expedition, instead of lamenting over the shattering of so many years of painstaking labour, he is reported to have stated in a calm voice: “God has rectified our decision. We had wished to free India with another foreign power. But India has to rise with her own strength.” When as a consolation, some dare-devil associates proposed to carry on other attempts to import arms by land, Bagha Jatin - while going through the ominous newspaper cutting received from Penang chuckled and said: “Country’s salvation from within!”This reminded everybody about his intimate wish: amra morbo, jat jagbe! (“We shall die [so that] the Nation wakes up”). *We have to keep in view that since January 1910,

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for thirteen months Bagha Jatin had been an under-trial prisoner waiting for the verdict of the Howrah Conspiracy Case which was launched to prove his role as the principal instigator of a revolution against the British Crown, with the participation of students, workers and, above all, native soldiers from various regiments of the Royal army. The two officers of the 10th Jats, Surjan Singh and Ramgopal - in charge of the Fort William of Calcutta, the vital centre of the Security of the Empire - had been members of the secret society led by Bagha Jatin: his associates accompanied them to numerous barracks in Upper India. Extremist factions of the Arya Samaj, disciples of Swami Dayananda (1824-83) based at Benares, Nainital, Lahore, Peshawar, had already responded warmly to the revolutionary call of Jatin Banerjee (Swami Niralamba), friend of Bagha Jatin. Even before his release, Bagha Jatin was informed by his emissaries abroad about the famous expectation of Friedrich von Bernhardi (1849-1930): this German general, an eminent author, had been the Director of the history of war of the General Staff; promoted Commandant General of the 7th Division in 1909, he was disliked by Wilhelm II and other authorities for his Germany and the Next War in which he predicted that a war between Germany and Great Britain : he foresaw therein the great danger for England in its colonial interests owing to a possible fusion between Indian and Egyptian nationalist along with Pan-Islamism. J.C. Nixon, ICS, recognised how Bagha Jatin was quick in holding the oncoming war to be a splendid opportunity for his insurrection; hence for the year to come, he put a dramatical end to all violent riposte to Government acts of repression. *Home interned, Bagha Jatin managed to meet the German Crown Prince on visit to Calcutta and received from him the promise of arms delivery, in case of an uprising. In 1913, busy bringing relief to the flood-stricken areas on the Damodar River, Bagha Jatin organised secret meetings with his associates for a big action in the near future. At this 29

juncture, he received also Rasbehari Bose (1886-1945): absconding since his almost successful attempt to murder the viceroy Hardinge at New Delhi, Bose received from Bagha Jatin the clear project of an insurrection of the 1857-style revolt of the Sepoys. Having met in Jatin the “ideal leader of men”, Bose consulted Sri Aurobindo and received his full consent in favour of his joining the plan that Bagha Jatin undertook.

II. Indian revolutioners in Europe: the Zimmermann Plan: Welcomed by socialist friends like Henry Mayers Hyndman (1842-1921), founder of the Social Democratic Federation, in 1905, Shyamaji Krishnavarma (1857-1930), Indian patriot and disciple of Herbert Spencer, published from London the Indian Sociologist while he inaugurated India House to accommodate Indian students in a revolutionary climate. Shyamaji was assisted by young militants like V.V.S. Aiyar (1875-1925), V.D. Savarkar (1883-1966), Har Dayal (1884-1939), Tirumal Achari (1887-1951), Virendranath Chattopadhyay or “Chatto” (180-1937?). Carrying the flame of Shyamaji to Paris, Madam Bhikhaji Cama (1861-1936) and Raoji Rana (1870- ?) created in Paris a similar home. As soon as the Bande Mataram edited by Sri Aurobindo from Calcutta ceased to appear, in 1908 Madam Cama launched a new journal, homonymous, printed from Geneva, singing praise of Bengali martyrs like Khudiram, Prafulla Chaki, Satyen Bose and Kanailal; in July 1909, Cama and Shyamaji demanded a memorial monument at London to pay tribute to their patriotic zeal. *Educated at the universities of Madras and Calcutta, a close friend of the cousins of Sri Aurobindo, Chatto left for Paris in 1909 to help Cama editing her paper. Dogged by British Police agents he fled to Germany in April 1914, joining the University of Halle for a PhD in philosophy.

There he was warmly greeted by his admirer Avinash Bhattacharya or “Bhatta” (1885-1967), PhD in Science and research fellow at the Institute of Chemistry, frequenting the very high society members. In addition to his scientific works, Bhatta

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contributed regularly articles on Indian culture to the first grade German press, much appreciated by the elite. In collaboration with Baron von Bertheim of the Foreign Office and Baron Max Freiher von Oppenheim (1860-1946), officer specialist of Middle East, Chatto created the Berlin Committee (“Deutscher Verein der Freunde Indien”) under the presidency of Albert Ballin (1857-1918), Director of the Hamburg-Amerika Steamer Company : it counted among its members patriots from all over Germany and Switzerland. They represented various social and religious origins from all over India: (1) Dada Chanji Kersasp, close friend of Dhiren (brother of Professor Benoy Sarkar), coming from the USA (University of Iowa) for higher studies in Berlin. Thanks to Gadhar revolutionaries lik Taraknath Das, G.D. Kumar and Professor Surendra Mohan Bose, at San Francisco he had been trained in manufacturing and handling all sorts of explosives. (2) Sambhushiva Rao of Madras, brought up at Calcutta to become a Brahmo missionary, had spent years in Austria and Hungary.(3) Dr Joshi, (4) Gopal Paranjape, (5) Vishnu Suktankar, (6) Abdul Hafiz (PhD in philosophy from the University of Leipzig), (7) Raghunath Panduranga Karandikar emissary of B.G. Tilak and former resident of India House at London), (8) Moresvar Govindrao Prabhakar (Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cologne), (9) Satish Ray, (10) Narainswami Marathe, (11) Dr Jnan Dasgupta (Chemist appointed by Hoffman-Laroche at Basle), (12) Shrish Chandra Sen (Professor of Sanskrit and Philosophy, Bagha Jatin’s emissary), (13) Abder Rahman (University of Freiburg), (14) Siddiqi (University of Gottingen, hailing from Hyderabad, like Chatto, with a scholarship), and (15) Mansur Ahmed (PhD student in Arabic philology).

On 30 September 1914, in the presence of von Oppenheim, of Albert Ballin and of the minister Clementz von Delbruk (1856-1921), Prince Heinz, the Kaiser’s brother, received Chatto and Bhatta and gave them the solemn assurance of the 30

Government of Germany in favour of a contract immediately valid in fourteen clauses including “does not call for any intervention of the German army” and - three years before the Bolshevik revolution in Russia - with “the desire of establishing a Socialist Republic in India.” Known as the Zimmermann Plan, the points of the contract included: (1) For generating and guiding revolution in India, we require money, arms and, if necessary, some expert army officers.

(2) For consolidating revolt, the German Government should immediately arrangement to send some of our colleagues to India.

(3) Train young Indians at Spandau or in some other military explosive factory.

(4) Other young men to be trained in marine factories like Kiel, Bremen, Lubeck for manufacture and use of sea-mines.

5) To write, print and distribute subversive literature in Indian languages under the care of specialised German establishments 6) To make available to the Indian revolutionary Committee some airplanes useful for this propaganda.

7) To deliver rapidly materials and military facilities on Indian ports 8) To issue banknotes of 10 rupees denomination for the use of the secret preparations in India.

9) To endow the Indian revolutionary Committee, installed in Berlin, of all possibility to guide revolutionary work in India.

10) In case of a successful revolution, we shall establish our own Socialist Republic of India, without any Austro-German intervention.

11) To make no concession to the Indian Principalities susceptible to oppose this plan.

12) To grant necessary protection to Indian revolutionaries that would ask political asylum in Germany in case the operation fails.

13) Contrary to the antecedent of the Savarkar case, Germany would not yield to any pressure of the

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Allies asking to expel anybody belonging to this revolutionary effort in India.

14) Same precaution will be valid for the families or the children of the revolutionaries who would need the protection of the Kaiser’s government.

Historian Arun Chandra Guha admires, pertinently, in this Contract, the explicit precaution of the Indian revolutionaries not to call on armed intervention from Germany and he observes that this desire to found a Socialist Republic in India preceded by three years the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

By the end of September 1914, in two separate lots, Dr Joshi, Professor Shrish Sen, Rao, Bhatta and Satish Ray - in the company of other members - left Berlin to meet the Jugantar leaders at Calcutta.

They insisted on the urgent need of consolidating the revolutionary links at Batavia where representatives of the German government would wait for them. At the same time, Marathe and Dhiren Sarkar, two delegates of the Berlin Committee left for Washington DC to meet the German ambassador Heinrich von Bernstorff (1862-1939) with coded instructions of the Foreign Office stitched under the lining of their coats.

Bernstorff, accordingly, commissioned von Papen (1879-1969), his military attache to purchase adequate quantity of arms and ammunition to be shipped from the coast of California to ports in the Bay of Bengal, via Batavia. Official messages from New York, dated 7 December 1914, 11 February and 27 March 1915 confirm von Papen’s stocking on board the schooner Annie Larsen 11 000 guns, 250 Mauser revolvers with sufficient ammunition, to be loaded in the 200 tons cargo steamer Maverick and delivered on Indian ports.

Leaving Washington DC, Sarkar and Marathe met at San Francisco Taraknath Das, Herambalal Gupta and other leaders who had been looking after the Gadhar since Har Dayal’s hurried departure for Geneva. Several of them, in response to Chatto’s call, followed Barakatullah. Raja Mahendra Pratap (1886-1979), decorated by the Kaiser and carrying

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credentials from him, set out for Kabul, on 10 April 1915, on mission in the company of Otto von Hentig (1886-1984). Led by Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer (1885-1948), a second mission joined them. They raised an army of liberation with Indian soldiers from various British regiments imprisoned by the Germans. Their object was to storm into India from the Afghan front.

III. Indian Revolutionaries in the USA: Bagha Jatin’s emissary, Taraknath Das (1884-1958) had joined the University of California, Berkeley, in 1907. At the same time, he established with friends the Indian Independence League to bring together Indian immigrants, to give them an exact idea of their rights on the spot and their duties towards India, often helping them as intermediary between them and the American authorities. He took the competitive examination for U.S. civil admission to be employed as an interpreter by the Immigration Office at Vancouver. Having launched his paper Free Hindustan in October 1907, he invited his former colleague Guran Ditt Kumar - hailing from Bannu, NWFP - to run the Swadesh Sevak, a Gurumukhi edition of his paper.

Protesting against all injustice imposed by the British regime at Vancouver, in January 1908, Tarak opened an evening school for the “Hindu” immigrants. Turned into the father of the political conscience of his compatriots, Tarak was dismissed from his job and had to shift his journal to Seattle.

Henceforth, giving free expression to his convictions, he drew the attention of George Freeman, the Irish revolutionary, editor of the Gaelic American who invited him to share with him his New York office from August 1908.

Meticulously following the instructions of Bagha Jatin, thanks to his brilliant university career Tarak was admitted to the most coveted University of Norwich in Vermont for advanced military training. As a logical result of this training, whereas he had applied for joining the Vermont National Guard in June 1909, under pressure from the British authorities, the University put an end to his enrolment. Under a similar pressure, in November

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1910, Freeman had to stop publishing Tarak’s journal. In 1911, Tarak founded the East India Federation, counting on the participation of numerous Indian associations thriving in the USA and Canada. This was the prototype of the powerful Federation that was to be called Gadhar directed by Har Dayal. Simultaneously, Tarak could undertake his PhD thesis in political science and international relationship: after a prestigious viva voce, it was to receive congratulations from specialists all over the world. Expecting to get rid of the dogging British Police, in 1914 he became a citizen of the USA. Relentless fighter till the end of his life, Tarak was to continue teaching political science at the universities of Columbia and Georgetown.

The Foreign Office at London had intensified its Intelligence investigation in the USA and Canada hoping to curb the nefarious activities of the Indian revolutionaries flourishing in North America.

Among them topmost names were: Taraknath Das, G.D. Kumar, Maulana Barakatullah (1864-1928), Harnam Singh “Sahri”, Surendramohan Bose.

Thus the US engagement in favour of the British was to modify the situation considerably.

Barakatullah had been receiving regularly at his New York apartment, since 1907, the visit of Samuel L. Joshi and Freeman. Six years later, Barakatullah left for Tokyo to teach Hindustani at the university.

With the expanding of the Gadhar, in May 1913, Kumar left San Francisco for establishing a basis at Manilla in the Philippine Islands forwarding Depot, supervise the work near China, Hongkong, Shanghai, remaining in touch with Bhagwan Singh and Professor Barakatullah in Japan, he collected funds for the Gadhar, remitting them to Har Dayal.

Later, at Yokohama, he was to look after the Gadhar militants returning to India.

The last time we hear about Kumar - the dedicated soul - was at the trial of the Hindu German Conspiracy 1917-18 at San Francisco, when Taraknath Das took a leading part in defense of his compatriots, according to the special list in the

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Record Group 118 and a cutting of the San Francisco Chronicle dated 19 January 1918 (Archives of the U.S. Attorney). *One year after his reaching Japan, inspired by a Pan Islamic alliance, as an honest Musalman and Indian patriot, Barakatullah published his journal, the Islamic Fraternity.

Moving across Constantinople, Cairo and Petrograd, he resumes contact with friends at the India House, London, before returning to Tokyo. Since January 1912, he started condemning the predatory instinct of the English. In 1913, dismissed from his job, just before the declaration of the World War, Barakatullah returned to San Francisco to assist Tarak Das. IV. The Insurrection: The massive exodus of the Gadhar members from the USA toward Punjab consolidated this enthusiasm: reaching often Calcutta (like the Komagata Maru), they were welcomed mainly by Atulkrishna Ghose and Satish Chakravarti, representing Bagha Jatin. As such, in November 1914, Bagha Jatin received the visit of Kartar Singh Sarabha (1896-1915), and Pingley in the company of his emissary Satyen Sen of the Ghadar (all the three returning with fresh news from Berlin): in 1906, after a closeted meeting with Bagha Jatin - one by one - Taraknath Das, Satyen, his cousin Shrish Sen, and Adhar Laskar had left India. Kartar Singh Sarabha (1896-1915) was sixteen when he had joined the University of California, Berkeley for studying chemistry.

Thanks to his intimacy with India revolutionaries like Bhai Paramanand and Taraknath, he discovered how blatant the discrimination against coloured people was. Roused by Har Dayal’s call, in 1913, he gave up his studies to look after the Gurumukhi edition of the Gadhar (“The Revolt”) and composing patriotic songs. He accompanied Satyen and Pingley first of all to keep Bagha Jatin abreast of the developments under the Zimmermann Plan; then, to receive at Calcutta and expedite the hundreds of Gadhar militants to the North assembled to participate in the uprising led

by Bagha Jatin and Rash Behari Bose. As for

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Vishnu Ganesh Pingley, (? - 1915), a student at the University of California, Berkeley, hailed from a Brahmin family at Pune. Friend of Kartar, he too played an important role in the leadership of the Gadhar. On their way home, the three met Dr Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) who expressed his will to help them.

Carrying instructions from Bagha Jatin for Bose, Kartar and Pingley went to Benares in November 1914. Henceforth, in consultation with Bagha Jatin – who arranged to visit Benares in January 1915 –, Rash Behari Bose with a team of Bengali experts installed two factories for making explosives: one in Amritsar, the other in Lahore. Having strategically preferred the imminent arrival of German arms before an uprise, Bagha Jatin agreed, however, to Rash Behari’s desire of occupying the ardent availability of the Sikh repatriates who had joined hands with indoctrinated soldiers from different regiments inside India and with batches of students, all impatient to overthrow British oppression. They fixed 21 February, 1915 for the first nation-wide uprising spreading simultaneously from Lahore to Calcutta, passing

by Jabbalpur and Benares. “Bombs were prepared; arms were got together; flags were made ready; a declaration of war was drawn up; instruments were collected for destroying railways and telegraph wires. In the meantime, however, in order to raise funds for the financing the enterprise, some Punjab revolutionaries had committed various dacoities.”

The likeness of style – already in force in Calcutta, as a part of Bagha Jatin’s programme – led further to the discovery of the types of Bengali bombs, declared the Rowlatt Report.

V. Dogged by Spies: Unfortunately, among the repatriated Sikhs, there was one Kripal Singh, a spy who had been trained by the notorious Hopkinson in USA and mandated by him. Making use of the influence of his cousin Balwant Singh (an indoctrinated officer of the 2nd Cavalry), Kripal had been in the know of the decisions which he transmitted promptly to the Police. Warned soon about the role of this spy, on 16 February, the 33

revolutionaries advanced the date of insurrection by two days; but it could only sow confusion in the extended chain of patriots, with so little training.

Pingley and Rash Behari dispersed before a general search in the districts revealed the existence of weapons, of bomb components and four national flags. During massive arrests, Pingley was incarcerated in the night of 23 March, in possession of ten bombs, along with sympathisers who had sheltered him in the barrack of the 12nd Cavalry in Meerut; among them, Nadir Khan (an Afghan officer, whom Pingley had presented to Rash Behari) turned into Informer for the Police.

Let us keep in mind a few points. Sir Michael O’Dwyer, responsible of the Police in Ludhiana and specialised in the supervision of the activities of the eight thousand repatriated Gadhar members, had the impression that the British government in India sat on “a snarling volcano”. Having alerted the authorities, since December 1914, and urgently renewing his demands in February and in March 1915, to remedy this inadmissible state of the things, he finally obtained, in March, 1915 the entering into vigour of the aforementioned Defence of India Act: it allowed to make abstraction of the established procedures and to detain without trial all seditious suspects as long as “necessary”. A vast campaign against the patriots, arresting them by hundreds or assigning them to home internment, struck Pingley, Kartar Singh and five other main personalities with capital punishment. In spite of precautions taken by the Police, Kripal Singh was assassinated.

VI. The second front of Betrayal: During Tarak’s academic mission in the Far-East, Godfrey Charles Denham of Central Intelligence Department, British India, on 18 March 1917, searched without warrant his apartment at 44 Portola Street, San Francisco, confiscated his papers and books, though Tarak was a U.S. citizen since 1914. Leaked out in the Press, the news roused a row in the American public opinion against the Pro-English policy of President Wilson. Truly speaking, Wilson’s admiration for the English people and a

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certain disdain for the coloured people - even if they were U.S. citizens - created a climate of diffidence towards these brown-skinned immigrants from Asia challenging the well-being of the English colonial system. Picked up from the secret military service, William Wiseman and Norman Thwaits sent to Washington one “Robertson” - a pseudonym - as an agent at the Department of Justice. At the same time they recruited a batch of refugees from Central Europe to keep a watch on the shipment of smuggled materials to be delivered in Germany.

In 1915, Emmanuel Victor Voska (1875-1960), double agent appointed by Tomás Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1957), the future president of Czechoslovakia, had brought together into a network his compatriots, a minority in the USA, putting up to date their spying activity on the German and Austrian diplomats who were hostile to the interests of USA and its allies.W.C. Hopkinson, born in Delhi, son of an English sergeant, fluent in several languages of the North, was commissioned by the Indian colonial Police to supervise the causal link between the revolutionary agitations inside India and the unrest in Canada and North America. He was more directly paid to dog Tarak since his reaching USA via Canada. Hopkins recruited the zealous Kripal Singh to remain further abreast of the Gadhar militants’ doings. He had also a flair that the erstwhile Jugantar militant Chandra Kanta Chakravarty was of a particular interest.

Earning the confidence of the Berlin Committee, Chandra had been replacing Herambalal Gupta, as link between Berlin Committee and the Ghadar via Embassy of Germany in Washington DC. Initiated as a pious Brahmachari by Swami Abhedananda at the Vedanta Centre of New York, Chandra had rented the basement of the same building (at 494, East 141st Street) and shared it with his German accomplice Ernst Sekunna, a pawn-broker: trying to rent a room for him, Hopkinson discovered that Sekunna was the real proprietor of the building. Its housekeeper, a Czech refugee belonging to Voska’s circle, disclosed that lots of Indians from 34

India, England, France and Germany had been frequenting the basement and he found there “doubtful literature and newspapers from all over the world,” negligently scattered all over. The Czech housekeeper had been recording Hopkinson’s visits, too.

Sekunna had been running a bogus enterprise first of all to divert German funds to a flourishing bank account, to purchase real estates at New York and, also, on the other hand, to continue his plans as a double agent. Inflated by this success, Chandra ceased to be cautious: having fanned the curiosity of the Czech agents, he left plenty of written proofs of his doings inside their apartment at 364 West 120th Street de New York. Emmanuel Victor Voska and Ladislav Urban rejoiced while discovering them. As it has been mentioned in the biography of Bagha Jatin, in course of an Americano-American vanity fair, New York and Washington societies had been gradually rivaling San Francisco in importance, ambitious and cunning Chandra discerned the moment when Franz von Papen, the German military Attache, began handling a fabulous amount of money and deciding in favour of the purchase and shipments of arms for India. Though backed by the Berlin Committee, unknown to all patriotic sentiment, Chandra pushed forward his own plans and proposals before the German legation, supported by his German mentor Sekunna. Sekunna had been, above all, a member of the Bureau called Intelligence for the East (Nachrichtenstelle für den Orient), created by the German Government on the eve of the First World War for the purpose of encouraging and supporting conspiracy and agitations in British India and their satellites in Persian and Egypt. Under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its director was Baron Max von Oppenheim: throughout the War, it was to collaborate intimately with the Khedive Abbas II of Egypt and the Indian revolutionary organizations such as the Berlin Committee, the Jugantar, the Gadhar, along with eminent Muslim socialists like Maulavi Barakatullah. In addition to von

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Oppenheim, it counted as members Franz von Papen, Gunther von Wesendonck, Wilhelm Wasmus (so-called “Lawrence of Germany”), Ernst Sekunna and others. It was directly in charge of happenings connected with the Indo-German Plot, including affairs like uprisings in Bengal, the Gadhar trips, the requisitioning of the schooner Annie Larsen, the raising of an army of liberation on the Thai-Burmese frontier, and other less known events in the Near East and the borders between British India and Afghanistan. It was busy destabilizing the British hold on the Muslims in India, Middle East and Egypt. It had the credit of the first conspiracies in Turkey and of the Jihad issued by the Caliph. In

addition to spying and sending seditious missions to Persia and Afghanistan, the Bureau looked after the recruiting - in collaboration with the Berlin Committee - the Indian soldiers imprisoned by Germany in Mesopotamia.

Thanks to Papen’s introduction to the German Ambassador Bernstorff in person, Chandra increasingly greedy, “described as the oily leader of an oily revolution.” - obtained an official post with an amazing salary. In the published reports of the Hindu-German case, Chandra emerges “as an unscrupulous, deceitful and cowardly figure.” A letter from the Home Ministry warned Leeland Harrison against Chandra, not to have enough trust in “our little friend” by giving him the responsibility he hopes to have; he can lie faster than a horse can trot and “he is capable of crawling across a keyhole.”

Let us switch back to the house-keeper of the building at San Francisco where Chandra and Sekunna lived. The man came from Moravia and belonged to Voska’s faction of Czech revolutionaries. Having had a free access to the apartment of the Indians and their German agents, Voska appointed spies to follow the cue of the Indo-German network up to China. Quite a few of his contacts - apparently Austrian patriots - passed on to Voska most important facts by intercepting messages from Von Papen, replies from Zimmermann, detailed information about the dispatch of arms and ammunition on board the

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Annie Larsen and the Maverick to be delivered to revolutionaries in India, including plots of sabotage in American explosive factories, etc. On reaching Masaryk timely at London, these details created such an enormous panic in the international exchange of the Allies that - especially after having put an end to the vital delivery of arms thanks to the swift intervention of the British navy - Masaryk received, in return, in addition to due credit and prestige, several well deserved rewards.

VII. Bagha Jatin’s Heritage: Voska described several of these characters and events later in his book. These were notes “referred to not just minor events but to those that had international impact and historic consequences including India’s freedom movement,” admits Ross Hedvíèek, an American publicist of Czech origin. “Yes, perfectly so,” confirms Ross, who claims : “Had E. V. Voska not interfered in this history, today nobody would have heard about Mahatma Gandhi and the father of the Indian nation would have been Bagha Jatin.”

He further notes: “Bagha Jatin wanted to free India from the British hold but he had the idea of allying against them with the Germans from whom he expected to receive arms and other helps. Voska learnt it through his network and, as pro-American, pro-British and anti-German; he spoke of it to T.G. Masaryk.” This latter rushed to keep the institutions informed about it.

Thus, Voska transmitted it to Masaryk, Masaryk to the Americans, the Americans to the British. In friendly terms with the Jews of Central Europe, T.G. Masaryk knew how, blackmailed by the Jewish lobby - mainly by Samuel Untermyer, of the law firm, Guggenheim, Untermyer, and Marshall - the President Wilson was opposed to the activities of the British Indian immigrants in America. Masaryk mentions most of these facts in the English version of his book. Whereas the Jews had been raising funds for establishing Israel in the Middle East, Indian patriots - as expected by Bernhardi - collaborated with the Pan-Islamist current.

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* Having perfectly sensed the multiple plays of diffidence and duplicity inside the country and abroad, when - in June 1915 - Bagha Jatin came to know about the failure of the arms expedition, instead of lamenting over the shattering of so many years of painstaking labour, he is reported to have stated in a calm voice: “God has rectified our decision. We had wished to free India with another foreign power. But India has to rise with her own strength.” When as a consolation, some dare-devil associates proposed to carry on other attempts to import arms by land, Bagha Jatin - while going through the ominous newspaper cutting received from Penang - chuckled and said : “Country’s salvation from within!” Nalinikanta Kar, present in this closeted meeting, was to write to Bagha Jatin’s grandson that this utterance reminded everybody about the intimate wish of the leader: amra morbo, jat jagbe! (“We shall die [so that] the Nation wakes up”).

With time, it is recognised that Bagha Jatin with his heroic death, in 1915, did not only inaugurate the second phase of his revolutionary project but, almost simultaneously, by preparing the field for Gandhi’s triumphal encounter with Destiny, he initiated even the third phase.

Bhupati Majumdar (1890-1973), one of the followers of Bagha Jatin - who was to occupy several ministerial posts in the Government of West Bengal since India’s independence – assigned to Bagha Jatin alone the creation of the international revolutionary network, during the First World War, for winning India’s freedom.

Militant nationalism was no more a dream. The Berlin Committee had started raising an army of liberation with Indian soldiers from various British regiments captured by the Germans in the Middle East, with a view to invade India in a pincers movement : remote controlled from Berlin, in the West, through Afghanistan, under the leadership of Mahendra Pratap. And, from San Francisco, in the East, through Burma, via Thailand, joining the insurrection flaring from the Fort William at Calcutta up to Punjab Bagha Jatin was fond of 36

saying: “Thailand will be our Switzerland of Asia.” *After a meticulous study of the documents concerning the Howrah Case and the writings of revolutionaries involved, the critical and prudent look of Amales Tripathi reveals more explicitly “the new and original currents” released by Jatin Mukherjee’s policy: (a) To forge a revolutionary consciousness with the help of sporadic but daring acts and individual martyrdom; (b) To organise an armed resistance in small groups, concomitant with an effort to improve the general (particularly financial) level of the people’s life; (c) To requisition arms, from native sources (like the Rodda Case) and by importing them (with German collaboration via Californian coast); (d) To strengthen a guerrilla organisation; (e) To indoctrinate native soldiers in different regiments (such as the 10th Jats and the 16th Rajput Rifles) and to launch an All-Indian uprising.

Just as we have come across two opposite trends active in the freedom movement - Moderate and Extremist -, it will be necessary for us also to become aware of the two contradictory factions within this last one: (a) members of the Anushilan, reactionary, centralised, based in Dhaka and more active in East Bengal; (b) those of the Jugantar, progressive, decentralised, mainly active in North and West Bengal, and Upper India. With the advent of Gandhi, the Jugantar was to learn to appraise the direction taken by the much awaited popular revolution and was to side Gandhi up to the limit of its compatibility and their convictions; the others – along with Indian Communists - were to oppose him up to the point of collaborating with the colonial policy. Since the opening chapter of his autobiography, Pratul Ganguli, one of the main leaders of the Anushilan, gives vent to an apology of his belonging to Brahman orthodoxy and, to bring water in his mill, he puts some words in Bagha Jatin’s mouth claiming him also as a champion of this superiority by birth.

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Such a vain and false enterprise is regretted by all lovers of history, because Bagha Jatin’s entire life and whatever he taught were but a long and solid protest against discriminations and superstitions of all kind, welling from hazards of birth, against fatalism, against idle speculations, against social and economic sectarianism, against the humiliation and the injustice of men that put down men, notably in the colonial context. It will be seen, how, since his teenage, Jatin practised hand to hand tournaments between opponents who were both ‘touchables’ and ‘untouchables’. During the annual religious festivities, Jatin was seen imploring his uncle to put an end to social favouritism by serving quality rice to men of upper castes, and a coarse variety to the others. He shared the earthen platter with an old Muslim lady. In 1905, during the agitations against the Partition of Bengal, Jatin was to seat side by side militants - Muslims and Hindus of all classes - around communal meals, to affirm the fraternity between Indians. He welcomed all his brothers - disciples and political associates from all social levels and to put them up as his household members. One of his childhood friends and revolutionary colleagues, Kunjalal Saha, hailed from a lower caste. Another, Bhavabhushan Mitra – belonging to the caste of kayastha - was fond of informing Jatin’s grand-children : “During his emergency missions, often I had the chance of accompanying him. I remember that epoch when it was difficult to find volunteers to cremate dead bodies belonging to the lower caste citizens, or victims of tuberculosis or contagious epidemics; all infringement to these social inhibitions was liable to ostracism. Jatin took a particular pleasure in organising such ceremonies overtly.” Among other “new and original currents that were released by Jatin Mukherjee”, Bhavabhushan was amused to underline in utter lucidity: “We, who had no right to wear the sacred thread of upavita, under his influence, we wore it and we practised the rituals reserved to the Brahmanas, whereas many others (like himself) who had had it by their birth, discarded it merrily.” Since his childhood, Jatin’s 37

innate humanitarian devotion had been fed by the teaching and the uncompromising example his own mother Sharatshashi Devi, even before his meeting with Swami Vivekananda. *While waiting for the consignments of arms, on the East coast of the Indian peninsula in Bengal and in Orissa, the supreme choice that presented itself to Bagha Jatin and his four associates, on 9 September, 1915 was : whether to flee the approaching armed Police (a flight which was amply possible thanks to their topographic knowledge of the region and the administrative facilities of international travel), or to sacrifice their life in a pitched resistance. They adopted the second solution of courting death to liberate the minds of a people enslaved to multiple fears: fear to live, fear to disobey, and fear to die. These five revolutionaries wanted to leave before their companions in arms an unforgettable model of selfless patriotism, strategy and heroism. On the morning of 10 September, 1915, Charles Tegart, Deputy Commissioner of the British Indian Police (Calcutta), went to Jatin Mukherjee’s bedside during his last hours at the Balasore hospital. It is learnt that among the Tegart Papers, preserved in the South Asian Study Centre Archives, University of Cambridge, there is a work entitled, Revolutionaries of Bengal by Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, published in 1923 by Indian Book Club.

The author has recorded Tegart’s reply to the Barrister J.N. Ray’s enquiry about the rumours concerning Jatin Mukherjee’s death, shortly after the Battle of Balasore (p56): “Unfortunately he is dead.” Ray remarked, “Why unfortunately?”

Tegart is reported to have said: “Though I had to do my duty, I have a great admiration for him. He was the only Bengali who died in an open fight from a trench.” In the margin of this passage there is a check mark, presumably by Tegart himself, attesting the accuracy of this statement.

It is worth noticing that later, in agreement with the usual tone employed by Western observers such as Chirol, Ker, Rowlatt, upto Judith Brown, Tegart was to write: “In the character of Jatin (...)

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and most of the other enthusiasts, the visionary was stronger than the realist (…)” Tegart added to this tribute : “At the same time, their driving power was immense.” Let us not forget that such praise was rather rare from the English administrators.

Talking about Gandhi and Nehru, L.S Amery (Minister for Indian Affairs) found them “niggling unpractical creatures”, while Linlithgo regretted, “They could never run straight.” Setting apart the average condescending assessment of the natives, Tegart was further eloquent when he admitted, nevertheless, that if - according to Jatin Mukherjee’s project - the army of liberation composed of ten thousand patriots could have received an adequate training in the Thai-Burmese frontier - and if the consigned ships could deliver the weapons and the munitions in an Indian port -, the British would lose the First World War. *People often speculate on the nature of the government that the Indian patriots would choose, had the Zimmerman Plan not failed. We think, first of all, it would have been secular, composed of really Pan-Indian members. Both internal evidences of the so-called “extremist” - radical Jugantar party inside India, and the working abroad of the Gadhar in the United States and the Berlin Committee in Europe leave us an ample hope that, first of all, deserving and competent leaders from all the communities - Hindu (e.g. Taraknath Das, Lala Har Dayal, Chatto or Viren Chattopadhyaya), Muslim (e.g; Maulana Barakatullah, Obeidullah Sindhi), Parsi (Dadachanji Kersasp) and Sikh (e.g.

Bhagwan Singh) - would get their chance to collaborate harmoniously, with authority and conviction. Slowly, the ever-alert eyes of Hopkinson detected within the fold of the Gadhar, however, a Pro-Sikh trend of separatism creeping in. It was a Sikh who chose mercilessly to put an end to the long persecution of this evil-doer in October 1914. *While Bagha Jatin and Rashbehari Bose had been preparing the Insurrection inside India, on 12 February 1915, Chatto presented Raja Mahendra Pratap to the Kaiser with the proposal of leading a 38

delegation to Kabul and march into British Indian territory. Sensing a possible betrayal and considering failures to be pillars of success, Bagha Jatin had chalked out a series of overt actions preceding and following the 21 February Insurrection, both for supplying funds as well as for bucking up the militants’ spirits. On 12 February, a spectacular taxi-cab hold-up at Garden Reach yielded a haul of Rs. 18,000 (a fabulous sum). As I have described elsewhere, this “new feature in revolutionary crime” (to quote the Rowlatt) had just been introduced in France by the gang of the anarchist Jules Joseph Bonnot (1876-1912). On 22 February, the Beliaghata dacoity brought booty of Rs. 22,000. On 24 February, while holding a secret meeting on Pathguriaghata Street, a stranger entered the apartment and called out Bagha Jatin’s name. Shot at and taken to be dead, the spy mentioned Bagha Jatin in his dying declaration. On the 28th, near Hedua, a blacklisted Bengali police inspector was shot dead. As a response to Bagha Jatin’s reign of terror, emergency measures were introduced : armoured cars, flying squads, drop-gates,sirens, patrolling of armed sentries, placards announcing fat reward : Jatin Mukherjee wanted, dead or alive ! Pingley was arrested on 23 March and hanged. Pursued by a warrant, Rash Behari left for Japan on 12 May, 1915, with the hope of continuing his revolutionary activities abroad. * The mission under Pratap and von Hentig left Berlin on 10 April 1915. Not yet informed about the failure of the arms expedition and the self-giving of Bagha Jatin on 9 September, they reached Kabul on 2 October 1915. Two months later, Pratap formed there a temporary Government of Free India under his presidency, with Barakatullah as the Prime Minister and Obeidullah Sindhi as Home Minister. Had Bagha Jatin been living, he would have - as usual - chosen to act from behind the stage and would have invited to this cabinet some of the seasoned leaders like Rashbehari Bose, Viren Chattopadhyay and Bhupendranath Datta and his loyal followers like

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Taraknath Das, Naren Bhattacharya (M.N. Roy), Atulkrishna Ghose, for various portfolios.

Knowing Sri Aurobindo’s reticence to leave Pondicherry, he would have invited Tilak as the first president of Free India. And, probably as Prime Minister, an apparently outsider: Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1976-1948).

Before the stepping in of Gandhiji (and Jawaharlal Nehru, his follower), Jinnah had been known as yet for his ardent patriotic profile, eager to serve India most sincerely; a follower of Dadabhai Naoraji, he had been well off with three major trends of the Congress: (a) Pheroze Shah Mehta (the Liberal); (b) Gopal Krishna Gokhale (the Moderate); (c) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (the Radical). He had been working hard to incite the reticent Muslims to join active politics in a climate of Hindu-Muslim fraternity. Out of a personal instinctive dislike for Jinnah, Gandhi as well as Nehru had failed to appreciate his genuinely centripetal contribution.

Can any student of history ever forget Subhas Chandra Bose who, in 1939, had been reelected President of the National Congress for the second time, but had to resign under the cruel and mean machination of the Mahatma? Similarly, had Jinnah not been victim of this chronic misunderstanding, had he not been systematically looked down up on, there would have been no Khilafat, no exploitation by agent provocateurs (like the Ali brothers); paramount in a series of no-this and no-that there would have been no heinous communal riots in 1946 under the Muslim League ruling, no tragic Noakhali, no Partition, no genocide, even no Pakistan at all. *People ask whether Gandhiji ever mentioned Bagha Jatin’s contribution in the history of India’s freedom movement. It is known that with Sri Aurobindo’s approval, in 1920, the former Jugantar militants - all of them, followers of Bagha Jatin (like Jadugopal Mukherjee, Bhupendrakumar Datta, Arunchandra Guha, Surendramohan Ghose) - espoused non-violence as a policy on condition of resuming their own method whenever needed, to rectify Gandhiji’s failure, as in 1923. The 39

Mahatma, more than once, expressed his appreciation of the quality of collaboration he received from them. But in spite of Deshabandhu Chittaranjan’s public tribute saluting the memory of Gopinath Saha as a martyr, in 1924, when Gandhiji was requested to confirm this homage from the Congress platform, refused it. Seven years later, the same Gandhiji, under pressure, accepted to honour the self-giving of Bhagat Singh, hanged under similar circumstances as Gopinath.

In August 1947, I had the fortune of spending a day in Gandhiji’s company. All my attitude of hero worship vanished when I was informed that the Mahatma was to leave Calcutta in a hurry in order to avoid witnessing the first country-wide celebration of Bagha Jatin’s glorious death on 9 September 1947, in independent India.

In a recent revelation we come across information that in 1925, however, Gandhiji is reported to have told Tegart that Jatin Mukherjee, generally referred to as “Bagha Jatin”, was “a divine personality”.

Little did he know that Tegart had once mentioned to his colleagues that if Jatin were an Englishman, then the English people would have built his statue next to Nelson’s at Trafalgar Square. In his note to J.E. Francis of the India Office in 1926, Tegart described Bengali revolutionaries as “the most selfless political workers in India”.

Bibliography: Bhattacharya, Abinâsh Chandra, Europé bhâratiya biplab’ér sâdhanâ, Popular Library, Calcutta, 1978, 2e édition /abrév : Europé/ Hedvièek, Ross in CSmagasin, Pravda orodu Kinskych Zpatky nahlavni stranku, Srpen 2006 /abrév : Ross H/ Masaryk, Tomas Making of a State : Memoirs and Observations, 1914-1918, Howard Fertig (éd.), Londres 1927, G. Dubsky, Prague, 1930 /abrév : Making/ Mukherjee, Jâdugopâl Biplabi jîbaner smriti, Calcutta, 1982 (2e édition) /abrév : Smriti/

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Mukherjee Prithwindra, Sâdhak biplabi Jatîndranâth West Bengal Book Board, Calcutta (2e édition, 2012) /abrév: Sâdhak/ Mukherjee, Prithwindra Les racines intellectuelles du mouvement d’indépendance de l’Inde (1893-1918), éditions Codex, 2010 /abrév. : Les racines/ Mukherjee Prithwindra Bagha Jatin, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2013 (2e édition) /BJ_NBT/ Nixon J.C., Index to Notes on Outrages, 1917, Vol. VIII Archives Nationales de l’Inde, 1917, New Delhi /abrév : Outrages/. Reproduit in Terrorism, Vol. II Roy M.N., “Jatindra Nath Mukherjee” éditorial in

Independent India, le 27 février 1949 /abrév : JNM/ Samanta Amiya K. (compil.), Terrorism in Bengal, Government of West Bengal, Calcutta, 1995, 6 vols /abrév : Terrorism/ VOSKA E. W., IRWIN W., Spy and Counter-Spy, Doubleday, Doran & Co, New York, 1940, nouvelle édition, Londres, 1941 / abrév : Spy/ [Prithwindra Mukherjee is the grandson of Bagha Jatin (Jatin da, M.N. Roy's first mentor in India). He is the author of more than 50 books, a poet and an exponent of Bengali, French and English literature, comparative and creative musicology (Hindustani, Karnatic, Western classicsl and modern). He is settled in Paris, France since 1966.]

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Humanist News Section:

Condolence meeting in memory of Shri Balraj Puri: A Report a meeting in memory of Balraj Puri Inorganized by the Peoples’ Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL) on this Saturday, the 13th September, 2014 at the Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi glowing tributes were paid to him by several speakers.

Badri Raina, former professor of Delhi University and well known commentator on politics, culture and society, remembered the days of 1947 when RSS and other militant Hindu organizations had been slaughtering the Muslims in thousands- the figure reaching more than a lakh & half in the Jammu region, and at that critical time Balraj Puri collected a band of secular students to form a Jammu Students Union who devoted themselves to check the communal madness and were able to save many lives. Raina drew attention to the tremendous work done by Puri in maintaining, promoting and strengthening secular values and communal harmony in J&K. He was respected by all sections of the society in the State and his voice always had sanerinfluence when sensitive issues erupted. In his personal life Puri was very simple and his house in Karan Nagar,Jammu, from the very beginning to the present day has been open to people from all stations and backgrounds. He never aspired for political patronage or personal favour.

Pushkar Raj, well known human rights activist, former General Secretary of the PUCL and at present representative of Amnesty International in Australia, spoke about the love and affection bestowed upon him when as a young man he had initiated himself in the human rights work. He spoke about the amount of labour put by Puri in preparing the autonomyreport as Working Chairman of the Regional Autonomy Committee set up by the J&K govt. and how he immediately tendered his resignation when he found that the govt. was not sincere about it. Puri was the Director 41

of the Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan since its inception in J&K. He was the guiding spirit behind the teaching course in Journalism started by the Bhawan wherein a brilliant corps of journalists was groomed who are at present holding very important positions in various newspaper establishment and are known for their honesty and integrity.

Prem Singh, General Secretary of the Socialist Party, remembered his last meeting with Puri about three years back when he and other members had gone to meet him at his house during convention of the J&K chapter of their party at Jammu to seek his blessings and advice. He remembered Puri’s valued contributions made in the various fields and lamentedthat his demise was a great loss to the democratic and secular movement in the country.

He called upon the present generation to preserve and promote the legacy left by Puri.

Raj kumar Jain, the veteran socialist, spoke about the contribution made by Puri to the growth and development of the socialist movement in the country of which he was one of the important pillars. Though socialist movement was broken in various factions but all the factions had no hesitation in going to him to seek his support and invite him to their conferences.

The view entertained by Puri on Kashmir question was acceptable to all the factions of the socialists.

Salim Engineer, Secretary of the Forum For Democracy & Communal Amity, said that Puri was one of the important members of the Forum which was formed in 1993 after demolition of the Babri Masjid under the chairmanship of Shri V.M. Tarkunde. The Forum had been campaigning holding meetings in various parts of India to promote communal amity and Puri used to attend and address such conferences.Shri Venkatesh Nayak representing Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Shri K.G. Verma, retd. Professor from Delhi University also paid their tributes.

In the beginning of the meeting, N.D. Pancholi, representing PUCL, gave a brief account of the social and political activities of Balraj Puri. He said

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that Puri was a multi-faceted personality - social worker, journalist, scholar, a great champion of human rights and a political analyst of great repute.

In his young days he participated in the ‘Quit India Movement of 1942’. He also participated in ‘Quit Kashmir Movement’ of 1946’ in association with Sheikh Abdullah against Dogra Ruler Maharaja Hari Singh. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, between 1948 to 1964, regularly sought his opinion when crucial issues erupted in relation to Jammu & Kashmir. Puri was member of the ‘Recovery of Holy Relic Committee’ which was removed from the Hazratbal shrine in 1963 due to which the Kashmir in particular and the Muslim community in general were on the boil, and helped in defusing the situation. He was founder member of the Citizens For Democracy floated by Jay Prakash Narayan in 1974 and also of PUCL which was initially set up in October 1976 during the Emergency. He was in the forefront in highlighting the issues of violations of human rights in Kashmir by the security forces as well as by the militants when Jagmohan’s rule as Governor of J&K let loose state repression on the people in the early period of 1990. Pancholi cited one instance of March 1990 when a PUCL-CFD joint team, which was constituted at the instance of Puri which included Justice V.M. Tarkunde (Retd.), Justice Rajinder Sachhar (Retd.), Balraj Puri and Pancholi

himself to investigate into human rights violations in the valley, was at the Hazratbal shrine to inquire into an incident, some militants came and began to question about the team members. They were using Kashmiri language. The local guide of the team, being afraid that the militants might do some harm to the team members if they come to know that the team members were Hindus, told them that the team members were not Hindus but Christians.

Balraj Puri knew Kashmiri and being angry he reprimanded the local guide for telling a lie. Puri confronted the militants and told them in Kashmiri that team members were not Christians but were Hindus and had come to inquire into violations of ‘Insani Haquq’ in the valley. The words ‘Insani Haquq’ (human rights) appeared to have some impact on the militants and soon they disappeared.

Pancholi said that his work and writings will always serve as great inspiration to those involved in the human rights movement.

The condolence meeting also condoled the demise of the other members of PUCL who passed away during the last year, namely U.R. Ananthamurthy and Malladi Subamma. Two minutes silence was observed in the memory of the departed. Large number of persons belonging to various strata of society –especially academicians, journalists, human rights activists and advocates, attended the meeting.

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