THE LION OF THE PRIDE

Mother Durga - Rider On the Lion

HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD TURN TO TERRORISM?

The parkama around Harmindar Sahib

11-24-08 - DREAM - I was in a large house - my son ran in and said he had to go to the bathroom but he couldn't because the toilets were all plugged up and not working. I told him I would take care of it right away.
 
I grabbed a good size white rag and started walking to the bathroom. In the hallway, I met a tall woman who stopped me and  handed me a small 4 inch x 4 inch size book. She said, "Here is a little book you should read. The title was "The Lion of the Pride". I took and book to look at the cover and meanwhile the other mothers went into the bathroom to clean the toilets for their sons.

I took the book with me to the bathroom and saw one of the boys dunk himself in the nasty water at the back of the long oval toilet that had no cover on it. He came up out of that water looking as clean as could be.
 
I was surprised and woke up.

end of dream

NOTE: 

I didn't really expect to find a little book with the title "The Lion of the Pride", but I found this poem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Voice of Sikh Youth_ (http://www.sikhsangat.com/lofiversion/index.php/)

Mar 24 2006

wahegurujikakhalsawahegurujikifateh.

I was just going through some media on my computer, watched a few 84 videos and felt a variety of emotions which I've expressed in this poem.


1984

The great land of the once 5 rivers.
Indira stamps her wicked feet, the cowardly snake shivers.
Ghandi’s dogs bark with hate swearing at the Golden Temple,
Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa roars with the saint warrior mental.

On this day did Sikhs arrive from world wide,
to celebrate the life of the first Sikh martyr Guru Arjan Dev Ji with pride.
Instead were cries as Gursikhs died,
Because of this the Khalsa was revived,
Sikhs stood together kara’s side by side,
To defend Dharam unite and remove divide.

As army tanks entered the holy Darbar,
Leaving cracks on the Parkarma - this was only the start.
Bodies littered the holy complex,
For anything other then killing they had no interest.
The sacred Sarovar [pool] of Guru Ram Das which was once golden blue,
Only now to be deep red as blood and bodies could been seen through.

Innocent pilgrims and families came to celebrate this holy date,
Little did they know what was held in there fate.

The dogs followed orders from the devious snake,
Stormed their way to the lions - ready to challenge the great.
Every Sikh girl and woman was stared at with evil lust,
Snake Indira’s eyes pierced the Sant [saint] as she hissed in disgust.

Sikh prayers stayed strong with no food nor water,
Every Singh [lion] & Kaur [princess] praying to stop the unjustifiable slaughter.
Footsteps galloped their way into the holy shrine,
Without their heads covered and with their footwear securely tied,
A soul purpose to murder every Sikh in sight,
The dogs laughed at the women gripping their children in fright.
Shooting random bullets, hitting every non-Hindu person,
Destroying precious Sikh artifacts and the original versions.

On this tragic day were Sikhs further provoked,
As openly did soldiers drink and smoke,
As if the days ware a giggle and joke,
As they continually created gun and grenade smoke.

They were fully prepared and equipped but we weren’t,
Guru Granth Sahib Ji they shot and burnt,
Because of this it was learnt,
That the government of India we can never trust…
We trusted them once and they turned the sacred Sikh library to dust.
Because of this it is a must, that we never forget there breach of trust
Those who commit such ghastly crimes,
And replicated them in over 100 other holy shrines,
Will remorse with guilt in Guru JI’s court.

To think for them we have fought and gave our lives,
Even Guru Sahib did so their faith could survive.
And this is how they repaid us, with invades and grenades,
Could we have been any more betrayed?

The Lion of the pride fights like Guru Gobind Singh Ji on his horse,
The Shere Khalsa wield their swords with tremendous warrior force.
Laying lifeless on the ground soaked in blood are few army corpse,
The sheep’s brah and gill are furious, they push in more soldiers with their
claws.

Increasing the amount of Guru Ji’s Shaheeds,
What a mighty force did Bhindranwale lead,
who showed Indira we do not beg on our knee’s,
she caused so many innocent to bleed,
she convinced the nation she was doing a good deed
in hear devious mind she planned to mislead
she told the world she didn’t want terrorists to breed,
while she was killing old Singhs while counting on there prayer beads,
For the first time in history Guru Ka Langar could not feed,
The elderly, women and children were in need,
All they wanted was to be freed,
Congress denied us of what was agreed,
To Indian government the Sikh Panth will never concede
Amy masses continued to exceed
To allow these awful atrocities to proceed
A discussing sight this was indeed
We never will we let them succeed.

If Operation Bluestar was not enough,
Indian government had planned other stuff..
The November [1984] Delhi riots they would not delay
Sikhs were a casualty for Hindu mobs to slay
But that’s another Sakhi for another day.

To much has happened my mind cannot bare,
A homeland where Sikhi can prosper is forever in my prayer.
These diabolical acts seemed so untrue
In this day and age what is left for us to do?....
As we look back on history and see nothings changed,
It is time for us to change our ways.

We should drink the nectar of our Guru,
The nectar strengthened by the double edged sword
The nectar of compassion and love
We should Become immortal and fear Satguru Ji only
Keeping the company of sadh sangat we shall never be lonely
To become children of our great Guru we must,
Abandon the sins of anger, possessions, greed, ego and lust
Be [tyiar bar tyiar] upholding the principles of the mighty spiritual Khalsa.
Remembering Guru Ji always and spreading the light of Sikhi further.

[Tyiar is the Fire Phoenix]

Mar 25 2006, 12:41 PM

QUOTE
Guru Granth Sahib Ji was shot and burnt

QUOTE(mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan)
I am the dust of the feet who have pyaar [love] for the [sikh quam] as you do.

[Sikh religion is a Panth (sect) of Hindus as are Bairagis etc. they are not a Quam (distinct identity).]

bless you.

I am no humble Sikh, I am Manmukh VeerJi... I'm glad you liked the poem.

Wahegurujikakhalsawahegurujikifateh

 

THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

The Golden Temple

Destination: The Golden Temple, Amritsar

INTRODUCTION

The Golden Temple is the ultimate Sikh pilgrimage. The Harmandir Sahib, as it is traditionally known, actually means the temple of Hari or the Supreme God. Also known as the Darbar Sahib, the stupendous, architectural masterpiece is located in the city of Amritsar. The temple stands in the middle of a square tank known as the Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar).

There is a causeway across the Pool of Nectar to reach the Temple. The shrine is symbolical of the doctrines of Sikhism. It also represents the magnificent strength of all the Sikhs. The amazing thing about Harmandir Sahib is that it has doorways on all four sides, meant to be open for the people of all the four castes. Every devout Sikh looks forward to visit and offer prayer at this magnificent temple.

HISTORY

Guru Arjan Dev thought of building a central place of worship for the Sikh community. In 1588, after finalizing the design of the Darbar Sahib, he laid down the foundation of the temple himself. His followers started living in the adjacent area and the town of Ramdaspur came up. The town of Ramdaspur later came to be known as Amritsar, deriving its name from the holy pond that beautifies the area surrounding Hari Mandir. The planning to dig the holy tank or Amrit Sarovar was made by Guru Amar Das. However, the construction of the tank took place under the supervision of Baba Budha ji. The land for the site was acquired free of cost from the zamindars (landlords) of native villages. The first Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh made Amritsar his spiritual capital. He developed the temple further including the gilding of the embossed plates, renewing of the pietra dura and the embellishment of the ceilings with the mirror and floral designs.

WHEN TO VISIT

Normal:
Throughout the year

Special Event: The Golden Temple becomes a hub of activity during the Gurpurbs when pilgrims throng the shrine in large numbers

THE PILGRIMAGE

The Journey

The Golden Temple is located in the old city, which is south of the railway station of Amritsar. From the station, one can hire a cab for the shrine. The airport is situated 12 km northwest of the town. Taxis can be hired from the airport to reach the temple. The Amritsar bus stand is located to the northeast of the Harmandir Sahib.

Rituals

Visiting the Darbar Sahib is an enthralling experience. Some characteristic rituals are required to be followed here, which are simple and peace promoting. At the Golden Temple, a day comprises of the following activities:

1.Amrit Vela
2.The Harmandir Sahib
3.Parkarma Shrines and Ath Sath Tirath
4.Decorated Palki and Sawari
5.Parkash Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
6.Har-ki-Pauri
7.Rahras and Arti

Amrit Vela


Amrit Vela means the pre-dawn moment—the time when the clock strikes four in the morning. The pilgrims wake up and start preparing for a serene early morning visit to the Darbar Sahib. After reaching the temple entrance, one must take off their shoes at the ‘shoes counter'. The next step is to dip one's feet at a channel of running water. On the way to the temple, there are lined-up flower stalls for one to buy garlands or just fresh flowers for offering.

Harmandir Sahib

The sublime shrine is reached by descending a flight of marble stairs. The idea is to teach humility to mankind. The staircase leads to the parkarma, where the inspirational and awesome Harmandir Sahib is situated in the center of the Sarovar. Naturally, one is inclined to bow down to touch the cool marble with their foreheads. To go around the entire parkarma, one has to start from the left and stop at shrines on the way, before making it finally to the Harmandir.

The Parkarma Shrines and Ath Sath Tirath

The Dukh Bhanjani Ber is the very first shrine on the parkarma. It is actually built around a jujube tree. Legend has it that a dip in the sacred pool inexplicably cured a crippled youth. The Sikhs believe that a visit to the temple remains incomplete without bathing at this spot.

The next stop is a raised marble platform, known as the Ath Sath Tirath. It is believed that taking a bath near it fulfils one's wish of visiting the 68 holy places of India. The next corner has the shrine of Baba Deep Singh, the legendary old warrior who died at this spot. The names of Sikh martyrs who died in the wars are inscribed on marble tablets set in the floor of the parkarma or on the pillars of the verandahs. The Akal Takht and the Darshani Deorhi are the next destinations for the eager devotees.

Parkash

Parkash is the ceremony in which the head priest carries the Guru Granth Sahib to its place of honor, which is a place below the velvet canopy, richly brocaded in silver and gold. He then sets it on velvet cushions and silks placed on a manji sahib. Then the head priest sits in front of the Holy Book and reads it aloud the Vaaq (the Lord's message) to the sangat (congregation). Now it is time for the entire sangat and the sewadars to stand up for the Ardas (prayer). The shabad kirtan, or the chanting of sacred verses, takes place after this.

Har-ki-Pauri

The Har-ki-Pauri is the place to be visited after the Ardas prayer. It is on the southern side of the inner parkarma. There is a marble staircase leading into the sarovar. Visitors stop here to sprinkle water from this sacred pool into their heads. One can drink a little bit of water for its remedial power also.

Continuing on the inner parkarma, the devotees again bow towards the Guru Granth Sahib. Then they make way back over the causeway, through the Darshani Deorhi and onto the main parkarma. At this stage, one would see the Ber Baba Buddha or the Tree Shrine. Baba Buddha was the first head priest of the Harmandir Sahib

Rahras & Arti


The evening is a time for the devotees to come and listen in deep thoughtfulness to the evening recitations. It is time for the Rahras, the Arti and the shabad kirtan. At end of the prayers, the Sri Guru Granth Saheb is reverentially and royally carried to the palki waiting outside. The palki is carried by dedicated Sikhs. The grand Darshani Deorhi is shut down for the visitors after this.

EVENTS AND FESTIVALS

The Golden Temple comes alive during the Gurpurbs. The Gurpurbs are deeply ingrained in Sikhism. They are so important that the Sikhs used to sacrifice their lives in order to organize them. The primordial Gurpurbs are the Dewali or Bandi Chhor Diwas (October/November), Vaisakhi or Khalsa Sajna Diwas (March 30) and the Sahidi Diwas that marks the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (May/June). The birthday of Guru Nanak is celebrated on Kartik Pooranmasi day (which generally falls in November). Sikhs from all over the world congregate at Harmandir Sahib to celebrate the Guru's birthday. Another Gurpurb is the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, which is celebrated with great devotion on Poh Sudi Saptami day (December/January).

Gurpurbs are generally celebrated for three days. Before the actual date, Akhand Path is organized in the Gurdwara. The procession of Nagarkirtan is held a day before. This is led by the Panj Piyaras (five beloved ones) and the palki (palanquin) bearing the Guru Granth Sahib, both of which are followed by groups of kirtani. The passage of the Nagarkirtan is bedecked with religious posters, flags, and flowers. Kirtan Darbar and Amrit Sanchar are held in the Gurdwara hall. The langar (food) is served to the visiting devotees.

FROM: http://www.templeview.in/about_golden_temple.htm

 

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Guru Arjan Dev Ji , the Vth Guru of the Sikhs composed Guru Granth Sahib in the year 1603-4 AD and Bhai Gurdaas, a learned devoted sikh penned it down.

People wonder - a holy book of the Sikhs, and it does not mention about the Sikh Gurus. Yes - It is not a history book of the Sikh Gurus. Though the Sikhs treat their Gurus as immortals but the Gurus treated themselves as mortals and the Guru Granth Sahib does not talk about mortals. The Gurus did not praise themselves. They called themselves as humble servants of God and worked in the service of mankind. It were only the successive Gurus who praised and appreciated the works of the predecessor Gurus. It were the Bhutts (singers) in the time of Guru Arjan Dev who praised the Gurus. While writing about the Guru's greatness, one "Bhatt" (singer) by name "Mathura" wrote in the praise of Guru Arjan Dev : "Whoever meditates on Guru Arjun Dev, shall not have to pass through the painful womb of reincarnation ever again. || 6 ||" (Sri Guru Granth Sahib -page 1409).


 


It was a praise for a living Guru, perhaps it is for this reason that the Guru gave up his mortal life in sacrifice to become Immortal. 

1. Guru Granth Sahib praises only God. It praises the true holy actions and virtues of different personalities as manifestations of God, irrespective of to what religion they belonged. It explains to mankind that Truth is Eternal and from whichever source it comes, it is acceptable. It is on this principle that along with the words of Sikh Gurus, Guru Arjan selectively accepted, according to the Sikh doctrine, bani (writings) of 19 other blessed saints from Hindus and Muslims and the Bhatts who were singing in the praises of God in Guru Darbaar(court) at the times of Guru Arjan Dev. The Guru Granth Sahib is composed of 5867 hymns (Shabads) in 31 musical notes (Ragaas).

2. Guru Granth Sahib is a living Treasure. It tells us about :
1. How to be True?
2. How to attain God?
3. How to pray?
4. How to get rid of all the sufferings and live?
5. How to realize God?
6. How to see God in the whole universe? 
7. How to serve all creatures in the universe?
8. How to love all? 
9. How to be simple, real and un-hypocrite? 
10. How to get rid of the superstitious, meaningless customs which wasted man's energy, money, time and still kept the man always worried and depressed ?

This is not the least. It teaches many virtues of life. It teaches that 'truthful living is higher than truth." It is an ocean. One can only feel and realize while going through this holy book. It is a religious book of the whole world. Science cannot contradict it and science learns from it. 

In the words of famous writer and Noble Laureate Miss Purl Buck: "I have studied religious books of almost all the religions of the world. The comfort, peace and solace available here is not available anywhere else. It gives the way for better living to all, believers or non-believers."
 

Guru Ka Langar and Daswand

The institution of "free kitchen" or the "temple of bread", as Prof. Puran Singh called it, was started by Guru Nanak. He desired that every Sikh should share his food with others - Wand Chhakna - and that his kitchen should be open to all. Subsequently the Langar took on an institutional form and became a part of the Sikh temple. This community kitchen is meant to provide food to all devotees and pilgrims. Every Sikh is expected to contribute to it either by donating food stuff or by participating in the cooking and distribution of the food.

Guru Nanak set up a Langar at Kartarpur where people brought corn and fuel, and worked together to prepare a common meal for the whole community. Guru Angad extended the Langar and personally served in it. Guru Amardas turned it into an institution and ordered that all who came to see him must first eat in Langar: food first, congregation next - pahley pangat, pachhey sangat. Even Emperor Akbar and the Raja of Haripur had to sit on the floor with the common people and take a meal with them. Apart from promoting social equality, the Langar eliminated taboos about chaunka - the preparation of food in a special enclosure, etc. The scope of "Langar" was widened by Guru Ramdas who ordered that water and meals be also served to travelers and squatters. Guru Arjan and his wife personally served water to the Sangat.

Many of the Sikhs started their own Langars at Anandpur. One day, Guru Gobind Singh went out incognito on an inspection of Langars. He found out that Bhai Nand Lal maintained the Langar well, while others were indifferent to the needs of poor Sikhs. He warned them and remarked, "The mouths of the poor are Guru's receptacles of gifts."
According to Prof. Puran Singh, "What is a home but a hospitable feasting of children with bread, love and faith?" What is spiritual life in a temple of flesh without a full meal first? The very first temple made by Guru Nanak therefore, was the Temple of Bread or Guru's Langar.
 

Manasa, the Goddess Snake

Goddess Nageshwari, an aspect of Devi Shakti, was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. She learnt all the shastras and vidyas from the Lord. She then went on to contemplate on Lord Vishnu as well. Having been married to the powerful sage Jaratkaru, she gave birth to a divine child, Aastika. In the meantime, a king named Janamejaya planned to conduct the Sarpa Yaga, a fire ritual where snakes would be offered as sacrifice. All the Nagas (members of the snake clan), the angels and the Gods got perturbed by his plan, but could do nothing to help the situation. Aastika went to the Yaga just as Janamejaya was about to start the rituals. Janamejaya got so impressed by this divine countenance that he promised to give the boy anything he asked for. Aastika asked him to stop the Yaga, thereby saving the Naga clan from mass destruction. Having fulfilled her divine mission, Nageshwari proceeded towards Manasa Sarovar and then settled down in Haridwar as Manasa Devi. The benevolent Manasa Devi bestows immense boons on her devotees and helps them tide over their adversities and cures them of all their ills as well.
 

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts organised a 10-day workshop with 12 folk artists from Bihar, West Bengal and Assam recently. The theme was ‘performing traditions’ related to Manasa, the snake goddess.
 
INDIRA GANDHI national centre for the arts (IGNCA), Janpath, New Delhi organised a 10-day workshop with 12 folk artists from Bihar, West Bengal and Assam recently. The theme was ‘performing traditions’ related to Manasa, the snake goddess. The artists had come from rural interiors and had a proven record of professional performances in the genre, in their own milieu.
 
On the last day, the group performed the play ‘Manasa’, which was admired by the viewers. The project director, Dr Ashish Ghosh, who is also a theatre person told that there are 65 versions of Manasa legend from late-medieval literary creations in Assam, Bengal and Bihar. Many more versions can be found in folk performance practices.
 
Manasa is a story about the birth of the snake goddess. During the churning of the ocean (samudramanthan), the universe was engulfed by poison. Part of it was consumed by Shiva (to make him nilakantha), and part was deposited with kadru in Netherland (paataal), and the creation was saved.
 
One day, Shiva was aroused to passion in a garden and dropped his semen on a lotus leaf. The semen found its way through the lotus stem to paataal where Manasa was born. She was nurtured by Kadru, who gave her back the deposited poison to make her the protector of snakes. On knowing that she was the daughter of Shiva, Manasa claimed her right to be worshipped as a goddess. This was opposed by Chandi, Shiva’s wife, leading to conflicts. Shiva advised her to visit the earth, and convince Chand Saodagar, the powerful merchant king and a staunch devotee of Shiva to offer her worship.
 
She descended on earth with Neta, her stepsister and advisor. She could manage to get worship from lowly people and women, including Chand’s wife Soneka. But Chand refused and humiliated this goddess of lowly origin. Manasa did not take things lying down. She planned with Neta a course of action so as to make Chand submit to her. They tricked the heavenly dancers, Usha and Anirudh, to be born as Chand’s seventh son Lakhinder and his wife Behula, then made Chand’s six sons die of snake bite, drowned his merchandised ships to make him a pauper, caused him wonder through distant lands and face humiliation over years, and then getting him back home to find his surviving son.
 
Chand made full proof arrangements to save Lakhinder from snake bite on the nuptial night but only to fail. Yet Chand refused. Now, Behula took the lead. She went in a voyage with her dead husband on a boat made of banana trunks, passed through several turns signifying threats and lures, and reached the turn that leads to heaven. One found Neta there washing clothes for the gods. She took Behula to lord Indra’s court and asked her to please the gods with her dance, which she did. Pleased, Indra asked her to meet Shiva, who in turn, sent her to Manasa, if only to save Lakhinder. Behula came to know Manasa’s tricks, made her survive Lakhinder, six brothers, the merchandise and the sailors, only to know that these were all premeditated plans. Manasa asked Behula to go back to Chand, and compelled him to offer worship. Said Manasa, “You will be relieved of your curse and go back to heaven only when Chand agrees.” Behula reached Chand’s home. Chand refused.
 
Behula turned back with her entire entourage. Chand was shaken. He agreed to worship Manasa on two conditions. One, he would worship with his left hand, and the other, he would put a chandwa (a decorated tarpaulin) above the alter of Manasa signifying Chand’s supremacy. Manasa agreed. It is said that from that date onwards, Manasa worship had spread far and wide on earth. 
 
The response from the invited audience was overwhelming. Many called it an experience. The reasons are not far to seek. The simple and rustic presentation could effectively capture the mythical exploits of Manasa reflecting social realities and relations. All the accomplished artists were true to their roots and retained their own dialects and performance styles.
 
The role of Manasa was performed by Anil Mondal whereas Peja Boro performed the role of Lord shiva, rest all other roles were shared by the twelve actors, by way of changing attires and quickly slipping into different characters.

 

 

The Great Miracle of this Holy Place is that it is one of the famous Shakti Pith of the Universe. It is one of the original source of the Supreme Cosmic Power of Universe. It is the symbol of Supreme Cosmic Energy and hence there is no idol or picture in the Nij Mandir or Temple of Shri- Arasuri Mata Ambaji, but there is simple a cave like Gokh in the inner wall, in which a Gold Plated Holy Shakti Visa Shree Yantra is visible, but it was neither photographed in past nor can also be photographed ever in future too. But this Holy Gokh of Mata Ambaji with Shakti Yantra is used to be so decorated by the Pujari of this Holy Place that one can see it or imagine it as an idol of Mata Ambica. Again on each day of a week , Shri Amba Mataji's Gokh having this Holy Shakti Visa Yantra in its centre in the Nij Mandir is also decorated in such different way and manner that it may look one of the famous Incarnations of Goddess Nav Durga, sitting on its special Vahan.

       Thus the Visa Chakra Holy Yantra, in a symbol of one of the above said Maha Devi Shakti Swaroopi, sitting in the Holy Gokha of Nij Mandir with tradition Shringar is worshiped on the relevant day  with Sodashopachar Shastrokta Vidhi i.e., with all kinds of Vedic rituals and traditions by the priests or pujaries of Sidhapur, belonging to the ancient priests of the Temple of Ambaji i.e. Pujari Kul of Bhatt Family, together with all other daily and occasionally Puja, Devotions and Pilgrimage Offerings made by the pilgrims and tourists, under the direct supervision and administration of Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust (SAAMDT).

    The Visa Yantra in the Gokh of the inner wall of the Nij Mandir or Temple of Mata Ambaji is here worshipped and there is no idol of Devi Arasuri Ambica. A Gold Plated Holy Shakti Visa Yantra is fixed on a marble plate. The ornaments and holy attire are placed in such a way and manner that it looks like an idol of Mataji Ambaji. As per the Indian Scriptures and legends, this
Gold Plated Shakti Visa Yantra is entirely a holy Shree Yantra. This golden Yantra has kurma back with gold and is connected with that of the original Yantras of Nepal and Ujjain Shakti Piths and has 51 letters therein this Shakti Shree Yantra. It is also believed that the worship of this Visa Shree Yantra is done only after tying a bandage on the eyes as it is prohibited to look at it. This Yantra is also worshiped ritually with Nav Chandi Yagna and with other traditional Sodashopchar Puja, on each eighth day of every month. It is also considered as Kalpavruksha, because of which this Devasthan has also florished like anything. So it is strictly prohibited to take any snap or photographs of Nij Mandir or of the Holy Idol of Mata Ambaji.

     Moreover
on each 8th day of each month as per the Indian Vikram Samvat year, in other words, on each Sud Atham of each month, a traditional Nav Chandi Yagna as per Vedic Rituals is also done by Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust itself , through Brahmins, in front of the Nij Mandir near Chachar Chowk, where a huge Yagna Shala is also constructed. Whereas on each month of Asho, Chaitra, Maha and Ashadh, the worship of Jagadamba and Visa Shakti Yantra is carried out by means of Satachandi Yagna ,during the time of Nav Ratri.

      The Shringar of Mata Ambaji here in the Nij Mandir is changed according to different Darshan hours, such as it is of a virgin Kumarika Devi during morning hours, that of a blonde young woman during noon hours and that of an old lady during evening hours every day. In the main temple the silver sandals or Paduka of Mata Ambaji are also worshiped. There is also a big idol of a Holy Lion in front of Gokha of Mata Ambaji, and the devotees use to worship this holy lion with Kanku Puja, which is also a traditional symbol of Indian married woman who use to keep Kanku on the front of the middle of her head and hairs, for the sake of her happy matrimonial life.

      There is no discrimination of any caste, creed or religion in front of Mata Ambaji. The Darshan of Mata is  available to all kinds of people. But nobody is allowed to worship the Holy Yantra, except the priests of the temple and the family members of the former rulers of Danta State, after taking ritual baths and in silk apparels only. There is always worships of Goddess of Mata Ambaji with Durga Path, Mantras and stotras of Bhawani.

       Usually Mata Ambaji is worshiped with
Arti Puja & Naivedya everyday in morning and evening during Sandya Kal, except in summer time when Mataji is worshiped with Three Arti Puja & Naivedya every day. Moreover there is a special arrangement for Annakoot and Thal of Devi Bhagawati, for which Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Temple Trust and the priest Bhattji makes all the necessary arrangements at the request of any devotees, seeking to perform this Special Seva of Annakoot and Thal of Devi Bhagawati
,

     
 There is also an
Akhand Divo - a Holy Lamp in Chachar Chowk, which has been burning since many years i.e. since the period of Akheraj , a merchant and the devotee of Mata Ambaji as per the legend. The same Holy Lamp is still burning in front of Mata Ambaji and the devotees use to fill Ghee therein and keep it burning before Mataji.

       The Main Temple of Ambaji is short and small but there is a huge Mandap and there is a Holy Gokh of Mataji in the Garbh- Gruh, and in front of this there is a big Chachar Chowk. So Mata Ambaji is also known as Chachar Chowkwali too. The ritual worships of Ambaji is usually performed in this Chachar Chowk, and during the period of
Navratri the devotees use to play and enjoy Garba of Mata Ambaji in front of the main temple in this Chachar Chowk, which is also illuminated with colorful lightings from all corners, as it is so done during the Festivals of Ambaji Devasthan.

FROM: http://www.ambajitemple.org/Devotion.htm

 

Operation Blue Star
 

Operation Blue Star

The Golden Temple with Akal Takht in the background
Date June 3, 1984 - June 6, 1984
Location Golden Temple in Amritsar, India
Result Sikh militia are driven out of Golden temple complex
Belligerents
Indian Army Sikh militiamen
Casualties and losses
Military: 83 killed, 248 wounded Militants (including civilians): 492 Killed

Operation Blue Star ( ਬਿਲਯੂ ਸਟਾਰ , बिल्यू स्टार (bilyū sţār)) (June 3 to June 6, 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India,[1] to remove Sikh terrorists who were amassing weapons in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.[2]. The operation was launched in response to a deterioration of law and order in the Punjab. The government's reasons for a seemingly late action, its choice of day to attack and heavy army assault is still highly debated. The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks and armored vehicles.[3] Militarily successful, it is considered to be a political disaster and an un-precedented act in modern Indian history.[4] The impact of the military assault, its aftermath and the increased tensions led to assaults on members of the Sikh community within India and uproar amongst Sikhs worldwide. In India, many Sikhs resigned from armed and civil administrative office and returned their government awards.[5] Revenge for the desecration of the Sikh shrine was pledged by some in the Sikh community,[5] resulting in the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

The operation

The Indian Army used seven Vijayanta Tanks during the operation[6]

Indira Gandhi first asked Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, then Vice-Chief of Indian Army and who was to succeed as the Army chief, to prepare a position paper for assault on the Golden Temple.[7] Lt. Gen. Sinha advised against any such move, given the sacrilegious outlook from pious Sikhs. He suggested the government adopt an alternative solution. A controversial decision was made to replace him with Gen. Arun Vaidya as the Chief of the Indian army. Gen. Arun Vaidya was assisted by Lt. Gen. K. Sunderjee as Vice-Chief. Operation Blue Star was eventually planned and controlled by them.[7]

On June 3, a 36 hour curfew was imposed on the state of Punjab with all methods of communication and public travel suspended.[8] Electricity supplies were also interrupted, creating a total blackout and cutting off the state from the rest of India and the world.[9] Complete censorship was placed on all types of Media.[9]

The Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple on the night of June 5 under the command of Major General Kuldip Singh Brar. The forces had full control of the Golden Temple by the morning of June 7. Bhindranwale, Shahbeg Singh and several other militant leaders were killed in the operation along with a large number of followers and innocent civilians. The armed forces also suffered many casualties.[10]

Operation Blue Star coincided with a Sikh annual festival. Pilgrims, including the elderly and children, were trapped inside the temple when the operation began and many were reported as wounded and killed as a result.[10]

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the Golden Temple

Throughout his career Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale remained in contact with Indira Gandhi,[11] who maintained the contact despite allegations.[12] Bhindranwale had earlier taken refuge in the Golden temple in April 1980, when he was named as a suspect in the killing of Nirankari Baba Gurbachan Singh[13] to which Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had offered voluntary arrest to Punjab Police but was never arrested due to greater design by Indian Government. The Nirankari Baba, also known as Baba Gurbachan Singh, had been the target of an attack by followers of a Sikh group, Akhand Kirtani Jatha, outside the Golden Temple when he appeared claiming himself to be incarnation of Guru Gobind Singh. The Nirankaris are a heretical sect, who claim to be a part of the Sikh panth, but are not considered such by the Khalsa. On 13 April 1978 Nirankar's Head Gurbachan Singh openly ridiculed and insulted the 10th Guru , Sri Guru Gobind Singh in Nirankari Convention held in Amritsar,to which members of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha after hearing Nirankari Gurbachan Singh ,held a peaceful protest march. On reaching the convention bodyguards of Niranakari Head Gurbachan Singh opened fire at the peaceful protestors, seeing this Fauja Singh drew his sword and tried to stop the firing; he was shot by a bodyguard.[14][15] The bodyguards of the Baba used semi-automatic machine guns to fire at the protesters who were carrying swords and sticks. In the ensuing violence, several people were killed: two of Bhindranwale's followers, eleven Sikhs of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, and three Nirankaris.[15] That event was, allegedly[who?], premeditated by the Indian government[14][16] with the Nirankaris subsequently acquitted of any wrong-doing by the courts, on grounds of self-defence.

In 1982, Bhindranwale and approximately 200 followers moved into a guest-house called the Guru Nanak Niwas, in the precinct of the Golden Temple.[17] From here he met and was interviewed by international television crews whilst violence in the Punjab against Hindus continued.[17]

On 23 April 1983, the Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Golden Temple compound. The following day, after the murder, Harchand Singh Longowal (then president of Shiromani Akali Dal) hinted at the involvement of the Chief minister of the Punjab, Darbara Singh, in the murder.[18]

On October 5, 1983 and November 18, 1983, militants posing as Sikhs hijacked two buses, Sikh and Hindu passengers were separated and the Hindus shot dead.[19] The selective murders were condemned by Bhindranwale.[20]

Bhindranwale with his entourage at the Golden Temple.

When Darbara Singh resigned as chief minister of Punjab after the massacre of Hindu travellers on October 6, 1983, Bhindarwale said " Six Hindus are killed and the (State) government has fallen. Two Hundred Sikhs have been gunned down by police and nothing has been done. This shows that to the (Central) government Hindu lives are more important than Sikh lives".[21][22]

On December 15, 1983, Bhindranwale was forced to move out of Guru Nanak Niwa's house by members of the Babbar Khalsa who acted with Harcharan Singh Longowal's support Longowal by now feared for his own safety. By 1983, the Golden Temple became a shelter for a large number of militants. Mark Tully and Satish Jacob wrote:[23]

"All ... terrorists were known by name to the shopkeepers and the householders who live in the narrow alleys surrounding the Golden Temple...The Punjab police must have known who they were also, but they made no attempt to arrest them. By this time Bhindranwale and his men were above the law."

The Golden Temple compound and some of the surrounding houses were fortified. The Statesman reported on July 4 that light machine-guns and semi-automatic rifles were known to have been brought into the compound. On February 1, 1984, Harcharan Singh Longowal claimed that Bhindranwale had suggested to him that motorcycles and arms should be purchased on a mass scale for killing members of a 'particular community'".[24] Bhindranwale angrily responded to the allegation, saying "...nothing is more farther in my mind than this ".[21]

Faced with imminent army action and with the foremost Sikh political organisation, Shiromani Akali Dal (headed by Harchand Singh Longowal), abandoning him, Bhindranwale declared "This bird is alone. There are many hunters after it ".[21]

Time magazine reported (about Amritsar) that:[25]

"These days it more closely resembles a city of death. Inside the temple compound, fierce Sikh warriors wield submachine guns, guarding against encroachment by government security forces. Outside, the security men keep a nervous vigil, all too aware that the bodies of murdered comrades often turn up in the warren of tiny streets around the shrine."

Overview

Operation Blue Star was launched to eliminate the Sikh militants who had taken control of the Amritsar Golden Temple Complex. The Sikh militants within the Harminder Sahib were led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and former Major-General Shabeg Singh MVC,who had been expelled from the Indian Army for embezzlement. Maj. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar had command of the action, operating under Gen. Sunderji.

20 hrs - 22 hrs

Indian Army taking position outside the temple complex

The first element was the destruction of Shabeg Singh's outer defenses. Much of this had been completed in the preliminary shelling. Major-General Brar had hoped to force Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale into surrendering, which did not occur. The destroyed defenses included seventeen houses which the police believed Bhindranwale's followers occupied in the alleys surrounding the Golden Temple. Nearby was the Brahmbuta Akhara, a large building housing the headquarters of a Sikh sect. Then there were three main towers which had been fortified to create positions from which Bhindranwale's men could defend. Because the towers rose well above surrounding buildings, they were excellent observation positions for tracking the movement of Indian troops in the narrow alleys surrounding the temple. The tops of these towers were destroyed in the preliminary artillery fire.

22 hrs - 2330 hrs

Between 10:00 PM and 10:30 PM on June 5 commandos from 1st Battalion, the parachute regiment, were ordered to run down the steps under the clock tower on to the parikarma, or pavement, and move quickly around the edge of the sacred pool to the Akal Takht. As the paratroopers entered the main gateway to the Temple they were gunned down by light machine-gun firefrom both sides of the steps. The few commandos who did get down the steps were driven back by a barrage of fire from the building on the south side of the sacred pool. In the control room, a house on the opposite side of the clock-tower, Major-General Brar was waiting with two supporting officers to hear confirmation that the commandos had established positions inside the complex.[26]

An APC used in the operation.

The few commandos left regrouped in the square outside and reported back to Major-General Brar. He ordered them to make another attempt. The commandos were then to be followed by the 10th Battalion of the Guards, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Israr Khan. This second commando attack managed to neutralize the machine-gun posts on both sides of the steps and get down on to the parikarma. They were followed by the Guards who came under heavy fire and were not able to make any progress. They radioed for permission to fire back at the buildings on the other side of the tank. That would have meant that the Golden Temple itself, which is in the middle of the pool, would have been in the line of fire. Brar initially refused, but started to receive reports of heavy casualties from the commander of the Guards.

2330 hrs - 01 hrs

Brar again requested tanks after an APC was destroyed by a rocket fired by a Sikh militant. His request was granted and seven tanks rolled into the Golden Temple complex. They cleared the ramparts and later assaulted the main temple in order to neutralize the militants remaining in the structure. The shelling achieved its objective and the primary target of removing militants from the Akal Takht was achieved by 01:00. However, the secondary objective of removing militants from other neighbouring structures went on for a further 24 hours.

Aftermath

Bullet and shell riddled Akal Takht building after Operation Blue Star

As per the affidavit filed by retired Brigadier D.V. Rao in court of Harjit Singh Khalsa, judicial magistrate first class, Amritsar, on March 19, 2007, the Indian Army suffered 83 deaths, which included four officers, four Junior Commissioned Officers and 75 other ranks. As per the affidavit, 13 Indian Army officers, 16 JCOs and 220 other ranks were injured in the operation. Indian army recorded 492 civilian deaths inside Golden Temple with 433 persons segregated as "separatists" amongst 1592 persons apprehended.[27][28] During June of 1984, brigadier D.V. Rao served as Commander of 350 Infantry Brigade based in Jalandhar, which formed part of Ninth Infantry Division of Indian Army. The unofficial casualty figures from eye-witness accounts (such as Amnesty International) was much higher.[29]

An unspecified number of Sikh soldiers resigned from positions across India in protest, with some reports of large-scale pitched battles being fought to bring mutineers under control.[30] The operation also led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. On October 31 of that year, two of her armed Sikh security officers murdered her.[31] Anti-Sikh riots were triggered by Mrs Gandhi's assassination. The widespread killing of Sikhs, principally in the national capital Delhi but also in other major cities in North India, led to major divisions between the Sikh community and the Indian Government.

General A S Vaidya, the Chief of Army Staff at the time of Operation Blue Star, was also assassinated in 1986 in Pune by two Sikhs, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha. Both were sentenced to death, and hanged on 7 October 1992.

The army was removed from the Golden Temple later in 1984 under pressure from Sikh demands.[32] Sikh militants continued to use and occupy the temple compound and on May 1, 1986, Indian paramilitary police entered the temple and arrested 200 militants that had occupied the Golden Temple for more than three months.[33]

On May 2, 1986 the paramilitary police undertook an 12-hour operation to take control of the Golden Temple at Amritsar from several hundred militants, but almost all the major radical leaders managed to escape.[34]

In May 1988, army troops were called in again to remove militants from the . The conflict during May 12-18 resulting in clearing the compound and on May 23, regular worship resumed. On May 29, the government banned both political and military use of the shrines in India. Sikh militants then murdered the head priest on July 26, 1988. In June 1990, the Indian government ordered the area surrounding the temple to be vacated by local residents to try to stop the militant activity around the temple.[35]

Choice of time to attack by Government

The timing of Operation Blue Star has baffled Sikhs. It was a religious day, regarding the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (the founder of Golden Temple), and Sikhs from all over the world visit the temple on this day. In 1736 the Golden Temple was attacked by the Mughal army, resulting in heavy casualties of civilian Sikhs.[36] Attack of Ahmad Shah Abdali on Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) also came on Vaisakhi day when Sikhs gather in large numbers in Amritsar. Many Sikhs view the timing and attack by the Indian Army as an attempt to inflict maximum casualties on Sikhs and demoralize them.[37]

The Sikh community's anger and suffering was further increased by comments from leading newspaper editors, such as Ramnath Goenka, terming the operation as " A greater victory than the win over Bangladesh, this is the greatest victory of Mrs. Gandhi".[38]

Criticism of the operation

The use of artillery in the congested inner city of Amritsar proved deadly and reckless considering many civilians lived near the Golden Temple. The media blackout throughout the Punjab resulted in widespread doubt regarding the official stories and aided the promotion of hearsay and rumour.[39]

The army responded to such criticisms by pointing out that the militants in the temple were armed with machine guns, anti tank missiles and rocket launchers and that they strongly resisted the army's attempts to dislodge them from the shrine, and appeared to have planned for a long stand-off, having arranged for water to be supplied from wells within the temple compound and had stocked food provisions that could have lasted months. However, in a recent book written by M.K. Dhar, former Indian Intelligence Bureau chief writes that many weapons were implanted by the Indian Intelligence itself before the operation.

The Army Chief and other senior Generals made statements that no harm was done to the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. The TV news reported about findings of a Rocket Launcher and two medium machine guns. But these did not find any mention in the official white paper issued by the Govt. The white paper mentions of General Shabeg Singh of having a walkie talkie in his hand, but mentions of no-one else having that to receive or pass on the orders. Shahbeg Singh was mentioned as having sacked from the army but no mention was made that he was acquitted by the appropriate court of all the charges against him. One editor told Richard Nations that the national press was giving good play to the Govt. line "out of sympathy for the Indian Army, the last Holy Cow we have." [40]

In the words of BBC journalists Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, the White Paper in its anxiety to highlight the threat which had forced the govt. to take such a drastic action came near to describing the Akali Dal as separatists too, which once again outraged the moderate majority of the Sikh community.[41] When the White Paper was written off by the Press and the Sikhs as an in-adequate justification of the operation, an all-out effort was made by the govt. to blame Pakistan and the Foreign Hands. In all their speeches, both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi highlighted the foreign hand in Punjab, but the effect was marred by their reluctance to identify that hand. Sometimes it was the CIA, sometimes Pakistan and sometimes even Britain.[42] A pamphlet, 'Conspiracy Exposed', distributed by the Congress Party talked about highly sophisticated weapons found inside the Golden Temple complex which were produced in China. These allegations did not convince the Press. Sikhs also wrote of the foreign hand. They knew that Indira Gandhi had a habit of blaming India's problems on foreigners.[43]

Mark Tully and Satish Jacob also wrote that matters were made worse by the poor performance of the government-controlled media, especially the television service, Doordarshan.[44] Under the guidance of a special committee, dominated by a close friend of Rajiv Gandhi, Doordarshan mounted a series of programmes to justify the army action in the Golden Temple. Major General K.S Brar was seen standing outside the Harmandir Sahib describing the operation like a victorious conqueror.[45] Other programmes concentrated proving the guilt of the Sikhs. Pictures of naval divers recovering arms were shown and the allegations that drugs had been used were also made. They had to be withdrawn because they could not be substantiated. A visibly un-happy, Head Priest of Akal Takht, was forced to read out a statement saying that the Golden Temple was undamaged, when he knew that there were bullet holes in the Sikh's most sacred shrine.[46]

Allegations of Cruelty on the Indian Army

The Sikh Reference Library was set on fire during the Operation and Army confiscated lot of Sikh relics. The Indian Government accepted that the army was involved in the confiscation of Sikh relics including handwritten manuscripts.[47]

There were thousands of pilgrims inside the Darbar Sahib on day of Martyrdom and conservative estimates have put the number to 5000-9000. Several human rights groups such as Citizens For Democracy and other journalists have witnessed Sikh dead bodies being thrown in dump trucks and illegally cremated by the Indian Army.

C.K.C Reddy, an Indian journalist writes that the whole of Punjab and especially the Golden Temple Complex was turned into a murderous mouse trap from where people could neither escape nor could they seek succor of any kind.The way the dead bodies were disposed off adds to the suspicions regarding the number and nature of the casualties.The bodies of the victims of military operation in Punjab were unceremoniously destroyed without any attempt to identify them and hand them over to their relatives. The government, after the operation, on the other hand, did every thing in its power to cover up the excesses of the army action.The most disturbing thing about the entire operation was that a whole mass of men, women, and children were ordered to be killed merely on the suspicion that some terrorists were operating from the Golden Temple and other Gurdwaras. [48]

Justice V.M. Tarkunde labeled the Army operation as an undeclared, unilateral ruthless war against hundred of innocent defenseless men and women in far-away tiny villages of Punjab from where their voices do not reach the rest of India. In the name of curbing terrorism,he writes that unabashed state terrorism was unleashed on the Sikhs branding them as criminals, arbitrary arrests and McCarthy style witch-hunt, sadistic torture...shooting down of young men in false encounters were common occurrences; even village women were not spared, they were harassed and beaten up, dishonored and taken away to Police Stations or to unknown destinations.The eye witnesses witnessed the use of gas by the Army, the pile of dead bodies on the `Parikarma,' the arrival of tanks which some of them thought were the ambulances, the hovering of helicopter at night, throwing their search light on targets which were bombed, the wanton destruction of the Akal Takht (the Eternal Throne), the Research Library and the Museum. Tarkunde asserts , it is the State itself which openly indulges not only in murder and assault but also in inhuman torture, molestation of women...and false encounters leading to gruesome death. In his words on the condition of Sikhs- "Our visit was almost like lifting the corner of a veil to discover a face - an amazing face full of conflicting emotions, suffering yet defiant, anguished yet challenging, tortured yet proud"[49]

The Christian Science Reporter reported that the pattern in each Punjab village appeared to be the same. The Army moves in during the early evening, cordons a village, and announces over loudspeakers that everyone must come out. All males between the ages of 15 and 35 were trussed and blindfolded, then taken away. Thousands have disappeared in the Punjab since the Army Operation began. The government has provided no lists of names; families don't know if sons and husbands are arrested, underground or dead." [50]

Ram Narayan Kumar, a noted human rights lawyer in his book "Reduced to Ashes" asserts that Sikhs in Punjab are demonized as a community, targeted for abuse by the authorities and they had no protection from the leaders of the supposedly independent institutions, including the judiciary, either in shielding their fundamental rights against imminent violations or in obtaining acknowledgment and legal restitution of wrongs. In his words "Freedom of discourse remained an empty promise which even the higher judiciary joined the chorus to turn the page and obliterate the victims' memory on the grounds that a public discussion and scrutiny focusing on past abuses and the role of institutions would undermine the interests of peace and social order." [51]

Joyce Pettigrew,a Swedish Anthropologist in her book title "The Sikhs of Punjab" wrote that the Indian Army went into Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple Complex) "not to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to suppress the culture of a people, to attack their heart, to strike a blow at their spirit and self-confidence."

The army simply stated that they "answered the call of duty as disciplined, loyal and dedicated members of the Armed Forces of India....our loyalties are to the nation, the armed forces to which we belong, the uniforms we wear and to the troops we command"[52]

The Army placed total casualties at:

  • Military : 83 killed, 248 wounded
  • Sikh Casulties : 492 Killed (100 women and 75 children), 86 wounded (7 women and 4 children).[53]

The figure was placed by independent historians at:

According to some journalists, several Sikh youths were also killed by Indian Army by tying their hand at back after completion of Operation at point blank range.[56]

The wearing out approach taken by Rajiv Gandhi five years later, in Operation Black Thunder when Sikh militants had again taken over the temple complex, was highly successful as they managed to resolve the stand-off peacefully. The army responded by stating that "no comparison is possible between the two situations, as "there was no cult figure like Bhindranwale to idolise, and professional military General like Shahbeg Singh to provide for military leadership"[57] and "confidence of militants having been shattered by Operation Blue Star".[57]

See also

Sikh Extremism

References

  1. ^ Operation BlueStar, 20 Years On
  2. ^ Operation Bluestar, 5 June 1984
  3. ^ Ahmad, Ishtiaq (1996). State, Nation, and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia. Continuum International Publishing Group, 130. ISBN 1855675781. 
  4. ^ Praagh, David Van (2003). The Greater game: India's Race With Destiny and China. India: McGill Queen's Press- MQUP. ISBN 0773516395. 
  5. ^ a b Westerlund, David (1996). Questioning The Secular State: The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics.. C. Hurst & Co, 1276. ISBN 1850652414. 
  6. ^ Singh, Sangat (1992). The Sikhs In History. Uncommon Books, 378. ISBN 8190065009. 
  7. ^ a b Sharma, Cf. Brig. Man Mohan (1998). What Ails The Indian Army. Trishul Publications, 273-75. ISBN 8185384258. 
  8. ^ Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited, 54. ISBN 8174760687. 
  9. ^ a b Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited, 81-82. ISBN 8174760687. 
  10. ^ a b Ahmed, Ishtiaq (1996). State, Nation, and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia. Continuum International Publishing Group, 130. ISBN 1855675781. 
  11. ^ "The confusion in the Governors house in Chandigarh was made worse by Mrs. Gandhis maintaining contact with Bhindranwale. Her go-between was the President of Punjab Congress, Raghunandan Lal Bhatia...This link, which was well known to officials, enhanced Bhindranwales status and made the Indian administration even more reluctant to grapple with him." Tully, Mark; Satish Jacob (1985). Amritsar; Mrs. Gandhi's last Battle. New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 121. ISBN 81-291-0917-4. 
  12. ^ Blank, Jonah (2000). Arrow of The Blue Skinned God: retracing the Ramayana through India, 354. ISBN 0802137334. 
  13. ^ India in 1984: Confrontation, Assassination, and Succession, by Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. Asian Survey, 1985 University of California Press
  14. ^ a b Mark Tully, Satish Jacob (1985). Amritsar; Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, 58-59. 
  15. ^ a b Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood. Psalms of Terror.
  16. ^ Singh, Tavleen (1984). The Punjab Story, Amarjit Kaur, et.at., 32. 
  17. ^ a b Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
  18. ^ Longowal said "Whenever the situation becomes ripe for settlement, some violent incident takes place. I think the (Indian) government is behind the murder of the DIG", "(The person behind the murder is) The one who is afraid of losing his seat of power (Darbara Singh)" (April 27, 1983) Indian Express, interview with Longowal. 
  19. ^ "...such acts of butchery are not sponsored by the Sikh community as a community, nor even the Akali Dal, or by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.....". (November 20, 1983. Chandigarh.) The Tribune, Editorial. 
  20. ^ ...[Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale] has condemned the murders as has Harchand Singh Longowal. (November 20, 1983. Chandigarh.) The Tribune, Editorial. 
  21. ^ a b c SANT JARNAIL SINGH BHINDRANWALE - LIFE, MISSION, AND MARTYRDOM by Ranbir S. Sandhu, May 1997
  22. ^ Singh, Tavleen (1984). The Punjab Story, Amarjit Kaur, 41. 
  23. ^ Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, Amritsar -Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle (Calcutta: Rupa & Co. by arrangement with Pan Books, London, 1985)
  24. ^ Kuldip Nayar and Khushwant Singh, Tragedy of Punjab, Vision Books, New Delhi, 1984, page 79.
  25. ^ City of Death, Time, November 7, 1983.
  26. ^ Indian Army Viewpoint
  27. ^ Army reveals startling facts on Bluestar
  28. ^ 492 civilians died in Bluestar: Brig Rao
  29. ^ Video of interview with an Indian Army Officer who explains details of how the Sikhs fought, and the number of casualties.
  30. ^ General promises to punish Sikh mutineers
  31. ^ 1984: Indian prime minister shot dead
  32. ^ SIKHS, IN RALLY, PRESS THE ARMY TO QUIT TEMPLE, SANJOY HAZARIKA, THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 3, 1984, Monday
  33. ^ INDIAN POLICEMEN RAID SIKH TEMPLE, STEVEN R. WEISMAN, NEW YORK TIMES, May 1, 1986
  34. ^ NY Times, May 2, 1986
  35. ^ India Uproots Thousands Living Near Sikh Temple, BARBARA CROSSETTE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, June 3, 1990
  36. ^ Gyani, Gian SIngh (1923). Twarikh-i-Guru Khalsa. 
  37. ^ Dhillon, Gurdashan Singh. Truth About Punjab (SGPC White Paper). Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. 
  38. ^ Singh, Patwant (June {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}), "Alienation Is The Key", Sikh Review, http://www.sikhreview.org/june1994/comment.htm 
  39. ^ Anniversary Issue, India Today, December 26, 2005,p 136.
  40. ^ Far Eastern Economic Review, July 12, 1984; in 'The Sikhs in History' pp.386 ISBN 0964755505
  41. ^ Tully, Mark, Satish Jacob, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, pp.209-10. ISBN 81-291-0917-4
  42. ^ Tully, Mark, Satish Jacob, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, pp.209-10. ISBN 81-291-0917-4
  43. ^ Tully, Mark, Satish Jacob, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, pp.209-10. ISBN 81-291-0917-4
  44. ^ Tully, Mark, Satish Jacob, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, pp.207. ISBN 81-291-0917-4
  45. ^ Tully, Mark, Satish Jacob, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, pp.207. ISBN 81-291-0917-4
  46. ^ Tully, Mark, Satish Jacob, Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, pp.207. ISBN 81-291-0917-4
  47. ^ http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030607/windows/note.htm
  48. ^ CKC Reddy, et al, Army Action in Punjab: Prelude & Aftermath, New Delhi: Samata Era Publication, 1984, pp. 46-48
  49. ^ Judge V M Tarkunde, et al, Oppression in Punjab: Report to the Nation, New Delhi: Citizens for Democracy, 1985, pp. 8-10, 18-19
  50. ^ Mary Anne Weaver, The Christian Science Monitor, October 15, 1984)
  51. ^ Ram Narayan Kumar, et al, Reduced to Ashes (Volume One), Asia Forum for Human Rights, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 2003, pp. 75)
  52. ^ Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited, 156. ISBN 8174760687. 
  53. ^ Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited, 124. ISBN 8174760687. 
  54. ^ a b Joshi, Chand (1984). Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality. Vikas, 161. ISBN 0706926943. 
  55. ^ Singh, Patwant (2000). The Sikhs. Knopf, 233. ISBN 0375407286. 
  56. ^ Tully, Mark; Satish Jacob (1985). Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle. J. Cape, 169. ISBN 0224023284. 
  57. ^ a b Brar, K.S. (1992). Operation Blue Star: True Story. UBS Publishers Distributors (P), Limited, 153-154. ISBN 8174760687. 

 External sources

 

1984 Anti-Sikh massacre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Anti Sikh Riots)
The place where Indira Gandhi was walking, when she was assassinated on October 31, 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards .

The 1984 Anti-Sikh massacre took place in India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh guards acting in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar, in which the Indian Army attacked Sikh militants hiding in the Harimandir Sahib, the holiest Sikh shrine, causing damage and subsequently outrage amongst Sikhs.

Over the next four days Sikhs were killed in retaliatory attacks led by Congress activists and sympathizers. The then Congress government was widely criticized for doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator, especially since voting lists were used to identify Sikh families.[1] Then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, made an insensitive statement at Boat Club in New Delhi on November 19th 1984, on the birthday of Indira Gandhi, “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.”.[2][3][4] His widow, Sonia Gandhi and current President of the Congress Party, officially apologized in 1998 for the events of November, 1984. The most affected regions were neighborhoods in Delhi.

Many ordinary Indians of different religious dispositions made significant efforts to hide and help Sikh families.[5].

The Incident

On November 1, 1984, large mobs largely formed by supporters of the ruling Indian Congress party from suburbs of Delhi and bordering villages of Western Uttar Pradesh descended on eastern and central Delhi. Sultanpuri, Mangolpuri, Trilokpuri, and other Trans-Yamuna areas of Delhi were the worst affected. The mobs carried iron rods, knives, clubs, and combustible material, including kerosene. They used voters' lists to identify houses and business establishments owned by Sikhs one by one and of which the voters' lists were of course distributed to them by the politicians themselves. The mobsters swarmed into Sikh neighborhoods, arbitrarily killing any Sikh men they could find. Their shops and houses were ransacked and burned. In other incidents, armed mobs stopped buses and trains, in and around Delhi, pulling out Sikh passengers to be lynched or doused with kerosene and burnt.

Many historians have noted that these events should not be called riots, but be described as one sided pogrom or a crime against humanity. The Congress party still has its secular credentials questioned due to the incidents of 1984.

Timeline of Events

October 31, 1984

9:20 AM: Indira Gandhi is shot by two of her Sikh security guards at her residence, No. 1 Safdarjung Road, and rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Approximately 10:50 AM: Indira Gandhi dies.[6][7]

11:00 AM: All India Radio listeners learn that the two security guards who shot Indira Gandhi were Sikhs.

4:00 PM: Rajiv Gandhi returns from West Bengal and reaches AIIMS. Stray incidents of attacks in and around that area.

5:30 PM: The motorcade of President Zail Singh, who is returning from a foreign visit, is stoned as it approaches AIIMS.

Late Evening and Night: Mobs fan out in different directions from AIIMS. The violence against Sikhs spreads, starting in the neighboring constituency of Congress Councillor Arjun Das. The violence includes destruction of Sikh properties. Shortly after Rajiv Gandhi is sworn in, senior advocate and opposition leader, Ram Jethmalani, meets Home Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao and urges him to take immediate steps to save Sikhs from further attacks. Delhi's Lt. Governor, P.G. Gavai and Police Commissioner, S.C. Tandon, visits some of the affected areas, but no precautionary follow-up actions are initiated. It is alleged that Rajiv Gandhi deliberately delayed in calling in the Army, a move which many believe could have saved the lives of many.[citation needed]

During the night of October 31st, several Congress leaders hold meetings and mobilize support of a full scale assault against Delhi's Sikhs.

November 1, 1984

Very Early Morning: Several Congress leaders hold meetings mobilizing their followers to attack Sikhs on a mass scale. The first killing of a Sikh occurs in east Delhi in the early hours of November 1.

Approximately 9:00 AM: Armed mobs take over the streets of Delhi and launch a massacre. The first targets are Gurdwaras, the holy temples of Sikhs, to prevent Sikhs from collecting there and putting up a combined defense. Mobs are armed with iron rods of a uniform size. Activist editor Madhu Kishwar claims seeing the rods being distributed amongst the miscreants. Mobs also have abundant supplies of petrol and kerosene. Victims later traced the source of kerosene to dealers belonging to the Congressional party.

Throughout the day: Police units, though adequately armed and supplied, take no action against miscreants in most places. The few areas where the local police stations take prompt measures against mobs see hardly any killings or major violence; Farsh Bazar and Karol Bagh are two such examples. In other localities, the priority of the police, as later stated by the then police commissioner S.C. Tandon before the Nanavati Commission, is to take action against Sikhs who resist the attacks.

Most of the mobs are led by Congress members, including those from affluent families. The worst affected areas are low income colonies like Trilokpuri, Mongolpuri, Sultanpuri and Palam Colony.

The Congress leaders later identified by the victims as organisers of the carnage include three MPs H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Dharam Dass Shastri and 10 councillors Arjan Dass, Ashok Kumar, Deep Chand, Sukhan Lal Sood, Ram Narayan Verma, D.R. Chhabbra, Bharat Singh, Vasudev, Dharam Singh and Mela Ram.

November 2, 1984:

Throughout the day: Curfew is in force throughout Delhi - but only on paper. The Army is also deployed throughout Delhi but nowhere is it effective because the police do not co-operate with soldiers (who are not allowed to open fire without the consent of senior police officers and executive magistrates). Meanwhile, mobs continue to rampage with the same ferocity.

November 3, 1984:

Late Evening: The national Army and local police units work together to subdue the violence. After law enforcement intervention, violence is comparatively mild and sporadic.

Role of Delhi Police

Following excerpt is taken from Who Are The Guilty report published in November 1984 by Delhi based Human Rights organizations PUDR (People's Union For Democratic Rights) and PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties). [1] [2]

Role Of Police

All through the period from October 31 to November 4 - the heights of the riots the police all over the city uniformly betrayed a common behavioural pattern marked by (I) total absence from the scene; or (ii) a role of passive spectators or (iii) direct participation or abetment in the orgy of violence against the Sikhs. On November 1, when we toured the Lajpat Nagar area we found the police conspicuous by their absence while Sikh's shop were being set on fire and looted. Young people armed with swords, daggers, spears, steel trishuls and iron rods were ruling the roads. The only sign of police presence was a police jeep, which obstructed a peace procession brought out a few concerned citizens (who later organised themselves into the Nagarik Ekta manch) on the evening of November 1, When the procession was on its way to the Lajpat Nagar main market, a police inspector from the van stopped the procession, warned it not to proceed reminding its members that the city was under curfew and Section 144. When leaders of the procession wanted to know from the police inspector why the arsonists and rioters were not being dispersed if curfew was on, he gave no reply and warned instead that theprocessionists could go to the Lajpat Nagar market at their own risk. At the Lajpat Nagar market, leaders of the procession sought to pacify the mob by pointing out that innocent Sikhs were not responsible for Mrs. Gandhi's assassination and should be protected from the attacks. They raised the slogan : " Hindu-Sikh bhai bhai " As the crowd began to listen to the speeches made by the procession leaders, organised attempts were made by certain groups from among them to shout down the speakers, by raising the slogans :- "Indira Gandhi Zindabad" "Hindi Hindi bhai bhai". It is significant that wherever we went, we did not find any sign of mourning or grief on the faces of those who were participating in the looting and burning. Attempts of pacify them by the peace marchers were met with derisive laughter. Listening to their gleeful faces, one would have thought it was a festival, but for the arson and loot that was going on.

In the resettlement colonies, the police came out from their passive role and directly participated in the violence against the Sikhs. We were told by survivors that at the first signs of tension those who felt threatened personally went to the nearby police stations to seek their intervention. But the police did not respond. In Trilokpuri, the police reportedly accompanied the arsonists and provided them with diesel from their jeeps. The Station Hours Officer (SHO) of Kalyanpuri police station under which Trilokpuri falls, withdrew the constables who were on duty there when action against the SHO and his two colleagues by suspending and arresting them for a criminal negligence of duties. In Sultanpuri, the SHO, one Bhatti, is alleged to have killed two Sikhs and helped the mob in disarming those Sikhs who tried to resist the mob.

Several residents of Loni Road in the trans-Jamuna area, who were camping at Shakarpur when we interviewed them on November 7, told us that the police announced on loudspeakers two or three times at night on November 1 that they would not be responsible for the safety of the Sikhs and that the latter must look after themselves. One women from the same area said she had seen a police jeep full of men and that the stoning of Sikh shops was conducted from the jeep. Another resident from the same road said that the police had incited the looting of a watch shop before it was burnt.

In Kotla Mubarkpur, a domestic worker told our team members that the police had encouraged the looting. Later they were reported to have said to the looters; " We gave you 36 hours. Had we given the Sikhs that amount of time, they would have killed every Hindu"/

In the Kingsway Camp, residents claimed that seventy percent of the loot was to be found in the police lines, suggesting that the police took a leading role in the plundering.

When after this destruction and murders, people went to complain and file FIR's the police in many areas refused to record their complaints, according to information gathered from the Hindu neighbours of the victims. A respected Sikh professional whose house was burned on 1st November was not able to register an F.I.R. despite all efforts. In Mangolpuri we were told, a police officer asked the Hindu complainants why they were protecting Sikhs and advised them to look after safety of Hindus. Typical was the experience of Dharam Raj Pawar and Rajvir Pawar - two residents of Ber Sarai - who on November 1, went to the sector IV R.K. Puram Police station to ask for protection of Sikh family (which till then was being sheltered by Hindu neighbours from impending attack by a mob led by a Congress-I man, Jagdish Tokas) The officer in charge of the police station reportedly told them that he could not offer any help. Two constables later said to them, " You being Jats should have killed those Sikhs. What are you doing here ? Don't you know a train has arrived from punjab carrying bodies of Massacred Hindus ?"

A few individual police officials who did try to intervene and stop the riots found their efforts frustrated primarily through lack of co-operation from the top. One senior officer told us that when on October 31 and November 1 be received reports about some 3000 to 3000 people moving around the city in scooters and motorcycles without helmets, he contacted the CID seeking information from them regarding the identity of these people. Till November 7, when we met him, he had not received any report from the CID.

While analysing the role of the police during the crucial period we can not afford to ignore the responsibility of those in position of authority at the top, namely the Home Ministry. The Home Minister, Mr. Narasimha Rao who was inducted in the new Cabinet by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi soon after Mrs. Gandhi's death, was enpowered in his capacity as a Home Minister to deploy the para-military forces ( if the Delhi Police force was found to be inadequate or inefficient) to quell the violence that erupted following the announcement of Mrs. Gandhi's death. Mr Rao is not a new incumbent who is unaware of the procedural technicalities. We are left with the question : why did Mr. Rao, with his past experience as a Home Minister in the previous cabinet, fail to take the necessary steps and summon the forces available to him to nip in the bud the communal elements that organised the riots ?

 Aftermath

Harjinder Singh Jinda, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Ranjit Singh Gill of Khalistan Commando Force assassinated Lalit Maken (Member - Parliament of India and a leader of Congress (I) to take revenge of 1984 Anti Sikh Riots. Lalit Maken was killed on July 31 1985. In a 31-page booklet titled 'Who Are The Guilty', People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) listed 227 people who led the mobs, Lalit Maken's name was third on the list [8].

Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha also assassinated Congress (I) leader Arjan Dass because of his involvement in 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. Arjan Dass's name appeared in various affidavits submitted by Sikh victims to the Nanavati Commission which was headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India [9].

Commission(s) of Enquiry

Numerous commissions have been setup to investigate the riots, however, many of the primary accused were acquitted or never charge-sheeted. Ten commissions and committees have till now inquired into the riots. The most recent commission on the riots, headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati submitted its 185-page report to the Home Minister, Shivraj Patil on February 9, 2005 and the report was tabled in Parliament on August 8, 2005. The commissions below are listed in the order they were formed.

Marwah Commission

This commission was appointed in November 1984. Ved Marwah, Additional Commissioner of Police, was assigned the job of enquiring into the role of the police during the carnage of November 1984. Many of the accused officers of Delhi Police went to Delhi High Court. As Ved Marwah completed his inquiry towards the middle of 1985, he was abruptly directed by the Home Ministy not to proceed further[3]. Complete records of the Marwah Commission were taken over by the government and were later transferred to the Misra Commission. However, the most important part of the record, namely the handwritten notes of Mr Marwah, which contained important information, were not transferred to the Misra Commission.

Misra Commission of Enquiry

Misra commission was appointed in May 1985. Justice Rangnath Misra, was a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Misra submitted his report in August 1986 and the report was made public six months thereafter in February 1987. In his report, Justice Misra stated that it was not part of his terms of reference to identify any person and recommended the formation of three committees. There was only one term of reference to this commission, i.e. whether the violence was organised? The commission and its report has been heavily criticized as biased and a miscarriage of justice.

 Kapur Mittal Committee

Kapur Mittal Committee was appointed in February 1987 on the recommendation of the Misra Commission to inquire into the role of the police, which the Marwah Commission had almost completed in 1985 itself, when the government asked that committee to wind up and not proceed further. After almost two years, this committee was appointed for the same purpose. This committee consisted of Justice Dalip Kapur and Mrs Kusum Mittal, retired Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. It submitted its report in 1990. Seventy-two police officers were identified for their connivance or gross negligence. The committee recommended forthwith dismissal of 30 police officers out of 72. However, till date, not a single police officer has been awarded any kind of punishment.

 Jain Banerjee Committee

This committee was recommended by the Misra Commission for recommending registration of cases. It consisted of Justice M.L. Jain, former Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr A.K. Banerjee, retired Inspector General of Police. The Misra Commission held in its report that a large number of cases had not been registered and wherever the victims named political leaders or police officers, cases were not registered against them. This committee recommended registration of cases against Mr Sajjan Kumar in August 1987, but no case was registered. In November 1987 many press reports appeared for not registering cases in spite of the recommendation of the committee. In December 1987, one of the co-accused along with Sajjan Kumar, namely Mr Brahmanand Gupta filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court and obtained a stay against this committee. The government did not oppose the stay. The Citizens Justice Committee filed an application for vacating the stay. Ultimately, the writ petition was decided in August 1989 and the high court quashed the appointment of this committee. An appeal was filed by the Citizens Justice Committee in the Supreme Court of India.

Potti Rosha Committee

Potti Rosha Committee was appointed in March 1990, by the V.P. Singh government, as a successor to the Jain Banerjee Committee. In August 1990, Potti-Rosha issued recommendations for filing cases based on affidavits victims of the violence had submitted. There was one against Sajjan Kumar. A CBI team went to Kumar's home to file the charges; his supporters locked them up and threatened them harm if they persisted in their designs on their leader. As a result of this intimidation, when Potti-Rosha's term expired in September 1990, Potti and Rosha decided to disband their inquiry.

Jain Aggarwal Committee

The committee was appointed in December 1990 as a successor to the Potti Rosha Committee. It consisted of Justice J.D. Jain, retired Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr D.K. Aggarwal, retired DGP of Uttar Pradesh. This committee recommended registration of cases against H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Dharamdas Shastri and Jagdish Tytler. The Committee also suggested setting up of two - three Special Investigating Teams in the Delhi Police under a Deputy Commissioner of Police and the overall supervision by the Additional Commissioner of Police, In-charge - CID and also to review the work-load of the three Special Courts set up to deal with October - November 1984 riots cases exclusively so that these cases could be taken up on day-to-day basis. The question of appointment of Special Prosecutors to deal with October - November 1984 riots cases exclusively was also discussed. This committee was wound up in August 1993. However, the cases recommended by this committee were not even registered by the police.

Ahuja Committee

Ahuja Committee was the third committee recommended by the Misra Commission to ascertain the total number of killings in Delhi. This committee submitted its report in August 1987 and gave a figure of 2,733 as the number of Sikhs killed in Delhi alone.

Dhillon Committee

Dhillon Committee headed by Mr Gurdial Singh Dhillon was appointed in 1985 to recommend measures for the rehabilitation of the victims. This committee submitted its report by the end of 1985. One of the major recommendations of this Committee was that the business establishments, which had insurance cover, but whose insurance claims were not settled by insurance companies on the technical ground that riot was not covered under insurance, should be paid compensation under the directions of the government. This committee recommended that since all insurance companies were nationalised, they be directed to pay the claims. However, the government did not accept this recommendation and as a result insurance claims were rejected by all insurance companies throughout the country.

 Narula Committee

Narula Committee was appointed in December 1993 by the Madan Lal Khurana government in Delhi. One of the recommendations of the Narula Committee was to convince the Central Government to grant sanction in this matter. Mr. Khurana took up the matter with the Central Government and in the middle of 1994, the Central Government decided that the matter did not fall within its purview and sent the case to the Lt. Governor of Delhi. It took two years for the Narasimha Rao Government to decide that it did not fall within Centre's purview. Narasimha Rao Government further delayed the case. This committee submitted its report in January 1994 and recommended the registration of cases against H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. Ultimately, despite the delay by the Central government, the CBI was able to file the charge sheet in December 1994.

The Nanavati Commission

Nanavati Commission was appointed by a unanimous resolution passed in the Rajya Sabha. This commission was headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India. The commission submitted its report in February 2004. The Commission claimed evidence against congressmen Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and H.K.L. Bhagat for instigating the mobs to violence. The Commission also held the then police commissioner S.C. Tandon directly responsible for the riots. There was widespread protest against the report as it did not mention clearly the role of Tytler and other Congressmen in the riots. It finally led to the resignation of Jagdish Tytler from the Union Cabinet. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (who ironically is a Sikh himself) also apologised to the Sikhs for the riots, few days after the report was tabled in the Parliament.

Reopening of 1984 Riot Cases against Jagdish Tytler

India's Central Bureau of Investigation closed all cases against Jagdish Tytler in November 2007 for his alleged criminal conspiracy to engineer riots against Sikhs in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984. CBI submitted a report to the Delhi court which stated that no evidence or witness was found to corroborate the allegations against Tytler of leading murderous mobs during 1984 [4].[10] It was also alleged in the court that then member of Indian Parliament Jagdish Tytler was complaining to his supporters about relatively "small" number of Sikhs killed in his parliamentary constituency Delhi Sadar, which in his opinion had undermined his position in the ruling Indian National Congress party of India [5].

However in December 2007, a certain witness, Jasbir Singh, who is living in California, appeared on several private television news channels in India, and stated he was never contacted by Central Bureau of Investigation. India's main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded an explanation from the minister in-charge of CBI in Indian Parliament. However, Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachouri, who is in-charge of department of CBI, and was present in the parliament session refused to make a statement.[11]

On December 18-th 2007, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi court Mr. Sanjeev Jain, who had earlier dismissed the case after CBI submitted a misleading report in his court; ordered India's Central Bureau of Investigation to reopen cases relating to 1984 Anti-Sikh riots against Jagdish Tytler.[12]

Quotations

  • I felt like a refugee in my country. In fact, I felt like a Jew in Nazi Germany. (Khushwant Singh)
  • Criminally led hoodlums killed Sikhs, looted or burnt homes and properties while the police twiddled their thumbs. (India Today, November 15, 1984)
  • I was told,‘You appoint another committee to identify the people but HKL Bhagat is not involved.’ (Advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka)

Cultural References

The Delhi riots were the core subject of the film Amu (2005)

References

External links

 Further reading

  • Jaskaran Kaur, Barbara Crossette. Twenty Years of Impunity: The November 1984 riots of Sikhs in India. London: Nectar, 2004.[6]
  • 1984 Truth & Justice. 1984 Sikhs' Kristallnacht 16-page report, 2007 [7]
  • Cynthia Keppley Mahmood. Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues With Sikh Militants. University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0-8122-1592-3.
  • Cynthia Keppley Mahmood. A Sea Of Orange: Writings on the Sikhs and India. Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 1-4010-2857-8
  • Ram Narayan Kumar et al. Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. South Asia Forum for Human Rights, 2003. [8]
  • Joyce Pettigrew. The Sikhs of the Punjab: Unheard Voices of State and Guerrilla Violence. Zed Books Ltd., 1995.
  • Anurag Singh. Giani Kirpal Singh’s Eye-Witness Account of Operation Bluestar. 1999.
  • Patwant Singh. The Sikhs. New York: Knopf, 2000.
  • Harnik Deol. Religion and Nationalism in India: The Case of the Punjab. London: Routledge, 2000
  • Mark Tully. Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle. ISBN 0-224-02328-4.
  • Ranbir Singh Sandhu. Struggle for Justice: Speeches and Conversations of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Ohio: SERF, 1999.
  • Iqbal Singh. Punjab Under Siege: A Critical Analysis. New York: Allen, McMillan and Enderson, 1986.
  • Paul Brass. Language, Religion and Politics in North India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974.
  • PUCL report "Who Are The Guilty. Link to report.
  • H S Phoolka and Manoj Datta. "When a tree shook Delhi."

INDIRA GANDHI

Indira Gandhi was the first women Prime Minister and an important world stateswoman. She was born in Allahabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. She was a great crusader of world peace. When she was just 13 years old, Indira organized a 'Monkey Army' (Vanar Sena) comprising of young teenagers which proved her intention to fight for the independence of her country.

In 1942, she got married to Feroze Gandhi. Two sons were born to her- Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi. Indira Gandhi became the third Prime Minister of India on January 24, 1966 and remained in this post up to 1977. In 1975, her election to Parliament was declared invalid and she declared internal emergency, which led to her defeat in 1977 elections. Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980 with an overwhelming majority.

She was one of the most efficient Prime Ministers of India and is credited with great achievements. Noteworthy among them are nationalization of banks, liberation of Bangladesh and 20 point programme for the upliftment of the poor. She was honoured with 'Bharat Ratna' in 1971.

Mrs. Gandhi, met her tragic end on 31st October 1984, when she was brutally assassinated by her own guards.

Biography

Indira Priyadarsini Gandhi (November 19, 1917 – October 31, 1984) was Prime Minister of India from January 19, 1966 to March 24, 1977, and again from January 14, 1980 until her assassination on October 31, 1984.

Daughter of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and mother of another, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi was one of India's most remarkable political leaders after independence. She took the surname Gandhi when she married Feroze Gandhi, and she was of no relation to Mahatma Gandhi.

Early years

The Nehru family can trace their ancestry to the Brahmins of Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi. Indira's grandfather Motilal Nehru was a wealthy barrister of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. Nehru was one of the most prominent members of the Indian National Congress in pre-Gandhi times and would go on to author the Nehru Report, the people's choice for a future Indian system of government as opposed to the British system. Her father Jawaharlal Nehru was a well-educated lawyer and was a popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. Indira was born on the 19 November 1917 to Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru and his young wife Kamala Nehru; at this juncture, Nehru entered the independence movement with Mahatma Gandhi.

Growing up in the sole care of her mother, who was sick and alienated from the Nehru household, Indira developed strong protective instincts and a loner personality. Her grandfather and father continually being enmeshed in national politics also made mixing with her peers difficult. She had conflicts with her father's sisters, including Vijayalakshmi Pandit, and these continued into the political world.

Indira created the Vanara Sena movement for young girls and boys which played a small but notable role in the Indian Independence Movement, conducting protests and flag marches, as well as helping Congress politicians circulate sensitive publications and banned materials. In an often-told story, she smuggled out from her father's police-watched house an important document in her schoolbag that outlined plans for a major revolutionary initiative in the early 1930s.

In 1936, her mother Kamala Nehru finally succumbed to tuberculosis after a long struggle. Indira was 17 at the time and thus never experienced a stable family life during her childhood. She attended prominent Indian, European and British schools like Santiniketan and Oxford, but her weak academic performance prevented her from obtaining a degree. In her years in continental Europe and the UK, she met Feroze Gandhi, a young Parsee Congress activist, whom she married in 1942, just before the beginning of the Quit India Movement - the final, all-out national revolt launched by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party. The couple was arrested and detained for several months for their involvement in the movement. In 1944, Indira Gandhi gave birth to Rajiv Gandhi, followed by Sanjay Gandhi two years later.

During the chaotic Partition of India in 1947, she helped organize refugee camps and provide medical care for the millions of refugees from Pakistan. This was her first exercise in major public service, and a valuable experience for the tumult of the coming years.

The couple later settled in Allahabad where Feroze worked for a Congress Party newspaper and an insurance company. Their marriage started out well, but deteriorated later as Gandhi moved to New Delhi to be at the side of her father, now the Prime Minister, who was living alone in a high-pressure environment at Teen Murti Bhavan. She became his confidante, secretary and nurse. Her sons lived with her, but she eventually became permanently separated from Feroze, though they remained married.

When India's first general election approached in 1951, Gandhi managed the campaigns of both Nehru and her husband, who was contesting the constituency of Rae Bareilly. Feroze had not consulted Nehru on his choice to run, and even though he was elected, he opted to live in a separate house in Delhi. Feroze quickly developed a reputation for being a fighter against corruption by exposing a major scandal in the nationalized insurance industry, resulting in the resignation of the Finance Minister, a Nehru aide.

At the height of the tension, Gandhi and her husband separated. However, in 1958, shortly after re-election, Feroze suffered a heart attack, which dramatically healed their broken marriage. At his side to help him recuperate in Kashmir, their family grew closer. But Feroze died on September 8, 1960, while Gandhi was abroad with Nehru on a foreign visit.

Rise to power

During 1959 and 1960, Gandhi ran for and was elected the President of the Indian National Congress. Her term of office was uneventful. She also acted as her father's chief of staff. Nehru was known as a vocal opponent of nepotism, and she did not contest a seat in the 1962 elections.

Nehru died on May 24, 1964, and Gandhi, at the urgings of the new Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, contested elections and joined the Government, being immediately appointed Minister for Information and Broadcasting. She went to Madras when the riots over Hindi becoming the national language broke out in non-Hindi speaking states of the south. There she spoke to government officials, soothed the anger of community leaders and supervised reconstruction efforts for the affected areas. Shastri and senior Ministers were embarrassed, owing to their lack of such initiative. Minister Gandhi's actions were probably not directly aimed at Shastri or her own political elevation. She reportedly lacked interest in the day-to-day functioning of her Ministry, but was media-savvy and adept at the art of politics and image-making.

When the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 broke out, Gandhi was vacationing in the border region of Srinagar. Although warned by the Army that Pakistani insurgents had penetrated very close to the city, she refused to relocate to Jammu or Delhi. She rallied local government and welcomed media attention, in effect reassuring the nation. Shastri died in Tashkent, hours after signing the peace agreement with Pakistan's Ayub Khan, mediated by the Soviets.

Shastri had been a candidate of consensus, bridging the left-right gap and staving off the popular conservative Morarji Desai. Gandhi was the candidate of the 'Syndicate', regional power brokers of immense influence, who thought that she would be easily led. Searching for explanations for this disastrous miscalculation many years later, the then Congress President K. Kamaraj made the strange claim that he had made a personal vow to Nehru to make Gandhi Prime Minister 'at any cost'.

With the backing of the Syndicate, in a vote of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Gandhi beat Morarji Desai by 355 votes to 169 to become the fifth Prime Minister of India and the first woman to hold that position.

Indira Gandhi assassination

  (Redirected from Assassination of Indira Gandhi)
 
The place where Indira Gandhi was walking, when she was assassinated.
Indira Gandhi's saree and her belongings at the time of her assassination, preserved at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum in New Delhi.

Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, was assassinated on October 31, 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, who wanted to avenge the desecration of the Harmandir Sahib (Sikhism's holiest shrine) during Operation Bluestar.

Mrs. Gandhi was walking through the garden of the Prime Minister's Residence at No. 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi on her way to be interviewed by the British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. As she passed a wicket gate guarded by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, they opened fire with Sten submachine guns. Beant Singh was killed by gunfire at the scene of the assassination. Satwant Singh was arrested by Mrs. Gandhi's other bodyguards.

Mrs. Gandhi was rushed to Delhi's General Hospital immediately after the shooting. She died one hour later, undergoing surgery to remove 7 of the 19 bullets that wounded her. She was cremated on November 3, near Raj Ghat (a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi) and the place was called Shakti Sthal.

Over the next four days Sikhs were killed in retaliatory pogroms led by Congress activists and sympathizers. The then Congress government was widely criticized for doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator, especially since voting lists were used to identify Sikh families.[1] Then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi made a statement at Boat Club in New Delhi on November 19, 1984, on the birthday of Indira Gandhi “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.”.[2][3][4] His widow, Sonia Gandhi and current President of the Congress Party, officially apologized in 1998 for the events of November 1984. The most affected regions were neighborhoods in Delhi.

The Justice Thakkar Commission of Inquiry set up to probe Indira Gandhi’s assassination recommended a separate probe for the conspiracy angle behind the assassination. The Thakkar Report stated that the “needle of suspicion” pointed at R.K. Dhawan for complicity in the conspiracy.

Satwant Singh was sentenced to death along with conspirator Kehar Singh. The sentence was carried out on January 6, 1989. Satwant Singh was the last man to be hanged in Tihar Jail in Delhi.

The book "The Assassination of Indira Gandhi" by Ritu Sarin describes the event in detail.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Swadesh Bahadur Singh (editor of the Sher-i-Panjâb weekly): “Cabinet berth for a Sikh”, Indian Express, 31-5-1996.
  2. ^ The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation
  3. ^ When the big tree fell
  4. ^ Remembering 1984
  5. ^ The Assassination of Indira Gandhi ... - Google Book Search at books.google.co.nz

Mumbai (Bombay) Skyline

This is not the old Bombay of movies you remember

MUMBAI, India (CNN) -- A series of seven explosions killed at least 174 people on crowded commuter trains and stations Tuesday evening in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai. (Bombay)

Officials said at least 464 people were injured in the blasts in the city's western suburbs as commuters made their way home. All seven blasts came within an 11-minute span, between 6:24 and 6:35 p.m. (12:54 and 1:05 p.m. GMT).

Analysts are comparing the attack with the mass transit bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London last year, saying they all involved a series of multiple blasts and were well-coordinated.

There was some confusion about the number of dead and injured as information was compiled from hospitals and explosion sites in Mumbai, the west Indian seaport previously called Bombay.

"There still are bodies being recovered," said Pooja Saxena, with the International Federation of the Red Cross, speaking early Wednesday.

CNN-IBN correspondent Jency Jacob was aboard one of the trains during the attacks.

"People started running helter-skelter and started jumping from the train," Jacob said. (Watch rescuers pull victims from wrecked trains -- 1:59)

"When I jumped from the train, I saw that the first-class compartment was totally ripped apart and people were hanging from the train. There are some people who were thrown out from the train and they were lying on the track, bleeding completely." (Read a full account of the horror Jacob witnessed)

One person was arrested in New Delhi in police raids after the explosions, reported CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network, but there's been no claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged calm and said the attacks were "shocking and cowardly attempts to spread a feeling of fear and terror."

"I reiterate our commitment to fighting terror in all its forms," he said in a written statement.

U.S. officials said suspicion fell on two Islamic terrorist groups whose focus has been on the disputed territory of Kashmir -- Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Both groups have been implicated in attacks that involved coordinated bombings during peak times in India, the officials said.

It may be no coincidence that the attacks occurred just ahead of the Group of Eight summit of world leaders that begins Saturday in St. Petersburg, Russia, said Sajjan Gohel, director of international security for the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

Last year's July 7 terror bombings in London that killed 52 people came as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was hosting the G8 summit in Scotland and one day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, Gohel told CNN International.

Both the 2005 London bombings and the 2004 Madrid bombings, that killed 191 people, were directed against rush hour commuters on mass transit systems.

"This time again, they're (terrorists) trying to show that they are live, active. They want attention, they want the focus," Gohel said. "It was a coordinated, multiple, simultaneous mass casualty atrocity. This is the hallmark of a powerful transnational group."

Gohel noted that at least one of Tuesday's attacks targeted a first-class commuter car, and police were looking at that carriage to see if it might yield clues. The names of those aboard would have been known beforehand -- as opposed to regular computers.

Dana Dillon, a senior policy analyst in the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, said if Indians believed a Pakistani militant group was behind the bombings, it could disrupt two and a half years of dialogue between the countries that has led to a de-escalation of troops and other positive moves.

"If this terrorist attack messes that up, it could be catastrophic to the region," Dillon said.

'Limbs lying everywhere'

The blasts hit trains or platforms at the Khar, Mahim, Matunga, Jogeshwari, Borivili and Bhayander stations. The seventh explosion struck a train between the Khar and Santacruz stations, a police official told CNN-IBN.

Police also found and defused another bomb at the Borivili station, according to CNN-IBN. (Train map)

Video footage from a train station showed people in bloodstained clothes receiving medical treatment, while others were carrying victims and some lying motionless near railroad tracks. Windows of a train appeared to be spattered with blood.

At least one train was split in half.

Jacob said after his train was attacked he moved toward the back of the train where he "could see some explosives, some pipes that were falling down. The police were investigating that. It seems to be that the explosive was packed off in pipes and kept in the first class men's compartment."

A CNN-IBN correspondent who was on one of the trains said it was leaving a station when the blast occurred. People jumped and were killed as the train hit them.

"Limbs [are] lying everywhere, bodies [were] cleared from the tracks by local business owners who rushed from their shops," the correspondent said.

Another CNN-IBN correspondent reported seeing 15 bodies at the Matunga station.

People living almost two miles (three kilometers) away from the Borivili station said they heard the blast.

The Western Railway system -- which 4.5 million people use daily -- was shut down and Mumbai's subway system put on high alert after the blasts. Police in the capital of New Delhi also heightened security.

Airports across India were put on high alert, too.

Blasts appear to follow terrorist pattern

U.S. officials said the blasts followed a pattern of initiated by the two main Islamic Kashmiri separatist terrorist groups.

Kashmiri separatists were blamed for twin car-bombings that killed 53 people in Mumbai in August 2003 as well as an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi in 2001.

In March 1993, more than 250 people were killed when at least 13 bombs were detonated around Mumbai. That attack followed a wave of fighting between India's Hindu and Muslim communities.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf strongly condemned the attacks, and a statement released by his country's Foreign Ministry called them a "despicable act of terrorism."

"Terrorism is the bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectively and comprehensively," the statement said.

Earlier Tuesday, a grenade attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least four people. Authorities suspect militants are responsible for that attack on a minibus in Srinagar. There was no immediate indication of a connection to the Mumbai blasts.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the government had some advance knowledge that such an attack might take place. "What we didn't have was the place and the time," Patil said.

 

At Least 187 Dead in Mumbai (Bombay) India
30 bodies found at the Oboroi hotel on second day
Terror Attacks
Over 327 injured
over 200 hostages held - all released by the end

Stormtrooper lowered over the Jewish Center

European Pressphoto Agency

The site of an explosion near the airport in Mumbai. By SOMINI SENGUPTA

Published: November 26, 2008
MUMBAI, India — Coordinated terrorist attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, on Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city’s largest train station, a movie theater and a hospital.

Even by the standards of terrorism in India, which has suffered a rising number of attacks this year, the assaults were particularly brazen in scale and execution. The attackers used boats to reach the urban peninsula where they hit, and their targets were sites popular with tourists.

The Mumbai police said Thursday that the attacks killed at least 101 people and wounded at least 250. Guests who had escaped the hotels told television stations that the attackers were taking hostages, singling out Americans and Britons.

A previously unknown group claimed responsibility, though that claim could not be confirmed. It remained unclear whether there was any link to outside terrorist groups.

Gunfire and explosions rang out into the morning.

Hours after the assaults began, the landmark Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel, next to the famed waterfront monument the Gateway of India, was in flames.

Guests banged on the windows of the upper floors as firefighters worked to rescue them.

Fire also raged inside the luxurious Oberoi Hotel, according to the police. A militant hidden in the Oberoi told India TV on Thursday morning that seven attackers were holding hostages there.

“We want all mujahedeen held in India released, and only after that we will release the people,” he said.Some guests, including two members of the European Parliament who were visiting as part of a trade delegation, remained in hiding in the hotels, making desperate cellphone calls, some of them to television stations, describing their ordeal.

Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News television that a gunman had ushered 30 or 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered them to put up their hands.

“They were talking about British and Americans specifically,” he said. “There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said, ‘Where are you from?’ and he said he’s from Italy, and they said, ‘Fine,’ and they left him alone.”

Sajjad Karim, 38, a British member of the European Parliament, told Sky News: “A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me.”

Before his phone went dead, Mr. Karim added: “I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We are now in the dark in this room, and we have barricaded all the doors. It’s really bad.”

Attackers had also entered Cama and Albless Hospital, according to Indian television reports, and struck at or near Nariman House, which is home to the city’s Chabad-Lubavitch center.

The police told Reuters that an Israeli family was being held hostage. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it was trying to locate an unspecified number of Israelis missing in Mumbai, according to Haaretz.com, the Web site of an Israeli newspaper.

Several high-ranking law enforcement officials, including the chief of the antiterrorism squad and a commissioner of police, were reported killed.

The military was quickly called in to assist the police.

Hospitals in Mumbai, a city of more than 12 million that was formerly called Bombay, have appealed for blood donations. As a sense of crisis gripped much of the city, schools, colleges and the stock exchange were closed Thursday.

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister for Maharashtra State, where Mumbai is, told the CNN-IBN station that the attacks hit five to seven targets, concentrated in the southern tip of the city, known as Colaba and Nariman Point. But even hours after the attacks began, the full scope of the assaults was unclear.

Unlike previous attacks in India this year, which consisted of anonymously planted bombs, the assailants on Wednesday night were spectacularly well-armed and very confrontational. In some cases, said the state’s highest-ranking police official, A. N. Roy, the attackers opened fire and disappeared.

Indian officials said the police had killed six of the suspected attackers and captured nine.

A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen said it had carried out the attacks. It was not known who the group is or whether the claim was real.

Around midnight, more than two hours after the series of attacks began, television images from near the historic Metro Cinema showed journalists and bystanders ducking for cover as gunshots rang out. The charred shell of a car lay in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly Victoria Terminus, the mammoth railway station. A nearby gas station was blown up.

The landmark Leopold , a favorite tourist spot, was also hit.

Reached by phone, some guests who had been trapped in the Taj said about 1 a.m. that they had heard an explosion and gunfire in the old wing of the hotel.

A 31-year-old man who was in the Taj attending a friend’s wedding reception said he was getting a drink around 9:45 p.m. when he heard something like firecrackers — “loud bursts” interspersed tion Nears (September 24, 2008)

A window of the banquet hall shattered, and guests scattered under tables and were quickly escorted to another room, he said. No one was allowed to leave.

Just before 1 a.m., another loud explosion rang out, and then another about a half-hour later, the man said.

At 6 a.m., he said that when the guests tried to leave the room early Thursday, gunmen opened fire. One person was shot.

The man’s friend, the groom, was two floors above him, in the old wing of the hotel, trapped in a room with his bride. One of the explosions, he said, took the door off its hinges. He blocked it with a table.

Then came another blast, and gunfire rang out throughout the night. He did not want to be identified, for fear of being tracked down.

Rakesh Patel, a British businessman who escaped the Taj, told a television station that two young men armed with a rifle and a machine gun took 15 hostages, forcing them to the roof.

The gunmen, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, “were saying they wanted anyone with British or American passports,” Mr. Patel said.

He and four others managed to slip away in the confusion and smoke of the upper floors, he said. He said he did not know the fate of the remaining hostages.

Clarence Rich Diffenderffer, of Wilmington, Del., said after dinner at the hotel he headed to the business center on the fifth floor.

“A man in a hood with an AK-47 came running down the hall,” shooting and throwing four grenades, Mr. Diffenderffer said. “I, needless to say, beat it back to my room and locked it, and double-locked it, and put the bureau up against the door.”

Mr. Diffenderffer said he was rescued hours later, at 6:30 a.m., by a cherrypicker. “That was pretty hairy,” he said. “I don’t like heights.”

Among those apparently trapped at the Oberoi were executives and board members of Hindustan Unilever, part of the multinational corporate giant, The Times of India reported.

Indian military forces arrived outside the Oberoi at 2 a.m., and some 100 officers from the central government’s Rapid Action Force, an elite police unit, entered later.

CNN-IBN reported the sounds of gunfire from the hotel just after the police contingent went in.

In Washington, the Bush administration condemned the attacks, as did President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team. The State Department said there were no known American casualties, but the White House said it was still “assessing the hostage situation.”

Reporting was contributed by Michael Rubenstein and Prashanth Vishwanathan from Mumbai; Jeremy Kahn and Hari Kumar from New Delhi; Souad Mekhennet from Frankfurt, Germany; Sharon Otterman and Michael Moss from New York; and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

 

Standoff holds after Mumbai attacks

 
  Listen to Article

MUMBAI: Indian commandos rescued hostages Thursday and continued to mount standoffs against heavily armed militants who a day earlier had swept into Mumbai, India's commercial capital, in a shocking series of coordinated and bloody attacks.

The gunmen, firing automatic weapons and throwing hand grenades, attacked at least two luxury hotels, the city's largest train station, a Jewish center, a movie theater and even a hospital.

The Mumbai police said Thursday afternoon that the attacks had killed at least 101 people and wounded at least 314.

Even by the standards of terrorism in India, which has suffered a rising number of attacks this year, the assaults were particularly brazen in scale, coordination and execution. The attackers moved against their targets after arriving at the Nariman Point district on boats.

It was not clear on Thursday evening how many militants were involved in the attacks, which began around 9:30 Wednesday night. Nor was it known how many hostages were still being held.

More than 100 killed in India terror attacks
Thai leader declares state of emergency at airports

Indian officials said the police had killed six attackers and captured nine.

A group unknown to global terrorism experts claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to Indian media outlets. Analysts believed the group, calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen, had no apparent link to Al Qaeda.

"It's even unclear whether it's a real group or not," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism scholar and professor at Georgetown University in Washington. He added that the style of the attacks, particularly since they were staged without suicide bombers, was "not exactly Al Qaeda's modus operandi."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a televised address that the attackers probably had "external linkages" - the first official indication that the authorities were likely to blame outsiders.

The attackers struck at least seven targets in Mumbai, including a number of high-profile sites that offered little in the way of  security.

"When one thinks of the Indian globalized elite, one thinks of Mumbai," said Christine Fair, a senior political scientist and a South Asia expert at the RAND Corporation. "It's India's New York."

On Thursday evening, The Associated Press reported that police commandos were surrounding Nariman House, the headquarters of the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch. Gunmen reportedly seized the facility late Wednesday.

Officials were uncertain how many hostages, if any, were inside. But the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was trying to locate an unspecified number of Israelis missing in Mumbai, according to Haaretz.com, the Web site of an Israeli newspaper.

On Thursday afternoon, a police official said, guests who were being held hostage at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel had been "rescued," although others had locked themselves in their rooms.

At the Trident-Oberoi, another five-star hotel that was attacked, people apparently were still being detained, said the official, A.N. Roy, the police chief of Maharashtra State, where Mumbai is located.

Roy appeared on NDTV on Thursday and was quoted by Reuters about the standoff at the Taj: "People who were held up there, they have all been rescued. But there are guests in the rooms, we don't know how many."

He made no comment about the hostage-takers at the Taj but said the continuing hostage situation at the Oberoi was being "conducted more sensitively to ensure there are no casualties of innocent people."

Hours after the assaults began Wednesday night, the Taj, built in 1903 and located next to the famed waterfront monument the Gateway of India, was in flames. Television footage showed flames roaring out of upper-floor windows and licking at the hotel's signature red domes. Guests banged on the windows of the upper floors as firefighters worked to rescue them.

Fire also raged inside the Oberoi, according to the police. A militant hiding in the Oberoi told India TV on Thursday morning that seven attackers were holding hostages there.

"We want all mujahedeen held in India released, and only after that will we release the people," he said.

Some guests, including two members of the European Parliament who were visiting as part of a trade delegation, remained in hiding in the hotels, making desperate cellphone calls, some of them to television stations, describing their ordeal.

Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News television that a gunman had ushered 30 or 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered them to put up their hands.

"They were talking about British and Americans specifically," he said. "There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said, 'Where are you from?' and he said he's from Italy, and they said, 'Fine,' and they left him alone."

Early reports about militants seeking out British and Americans to be taken as hostages could not be  confirmed.

Sajjad Karim, 38, a British member of the European Parliament, told Sky News: "A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me."

Before his phone went dead, Karim added: "I managed to turn away, and I ran into the hotel kitchen, and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We are now in the dark in this room, and we have barricaded all the doors. It's really bad."

Attackers had also entered Cama and Albless Hospital, according to Indian television reports.

Several high-ranking law enforcement officials, including the chief of the anti-terrorism squad and a commissioner of police, were reported killed.

The military was quickly called in to assist the police.

Hospitals in Mumbai, a city of more than 12 million that was formerly called Bombay, have appealed for blood donations. As a sense of crisis gripped much of the city, schools, colleges and the stock exchange were closed Thursday.

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister for Maharashtra State, told the CNN-IBN station that the attacks hit five to seven targets, concentrated in the southern tip of the city, known as Colaba and Nariman Point.

Unlike previous attacks in India this year, which consisted of anonymously planted bombs, the assailants on Wednesday night were well armed and very confrontational. In some cases, said Roy, the attackers opened fire and disappeared.

Around midnight, more than two hours after the series of attacks began, television images from near the historic Metro Cinema showed journalists and bystanders ducking for cover as gunshots rang out. The charred shell of a car lay in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly Victoria Terminus, the mammoth railroad station. A nearby gas station was blown up.

The renowned Leopold Café, a favorite tourist spot that was founded in 1871, was also hit.

A 31-year-old man who was in the Taj attending a friend's wedding reception said he was getting a drink around 9:45 p.m. when he heard something like firecrackers - "loud bursts" interspersed with what sounded like machine-gun fire.

A window of the banquet hall shattered, and guests scattered under tables and were quickly escorted to another room, he said. No one was allowed to leave.

Just before 1 a.m., another loud explosion rang out, and then another about a half-hour later, the man said.

At 6 a.m., he said, when the guests tried to leave the room early Thursday, gunmen opened fire. One person was shot.

The man's friend, the groom, was two floors above, in the old wing of the hotel, trapped in a room with his bride. One explosion, he said, took the door off its hinges. He blocked it with a table.

Then came another blast, and gunfire rang out. He did not want to be identified, for fear of being tracked down.

Rakesh Patel, a British businessman who escaped the Taj, told a television station that two young men armed with a rifle and a machine gun took 15 hostages, forcing them to the roof.

The gunmen, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, "were saying they wanted anyone with British or American passports," Patel said.

He and four others managed to slip away in the confusion and smoke of the upper floors, he said. He said he did not know the fate of the remaining hostages.

Clarence Rich Diffenderffer, of Wilmington, Delaware, said after dinner at the hotel he headed to the business center on the fifth floor.

"A man in a hood with an AK-47 came running down the hall," shooting and throwing four grenades, Diffenderffer said. "I, needless to say, beat it back to my room and locked it, and double-locked it, and put the bureau up against the door."

Diffenderffer said he was rescued hours later, at 6:30 a.m., by a cherrypicker.

Among those apparently trapped at the Oberoi were executives and board members of Hindustan Unilever, part of the multinational corporate giant, The Times of India reported.

Indian military forces arrived outside the Oberoi at 2 a.m., and about 100 officers from the central government's Rapid Action Force, an elite police unit, entered later.

CNN-IBN reported the sounds of gunfire from the hotel just after the police contingent went in.

The Bush administration condemned the attacks, as did President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. The White House said it was still "assessing the hostage situation."

Somini Sengupta reported from Mumbai and Mark McDonald from Hong Kong. Michael Rubenstein and Prashanth Vishwanathan contributed reporting from Mumbai; Jeremy Kahn and Hari Kumar from New Delhi; Souad Mekhennet from Frankfurt; Sharon Otterman and Michael Moss from New York; and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MUMBAI, India

11-29-08

The full scope of the horror and desperation of the terrorist attack on Mumbai began to come into focus on Saturday after Indian commandos finally took control of the last nest of resistance.

The Mumbai police said Saturday afternoon that the death toll had risen to 155 and was likely to rise again. They also said 283 people had been wounded.

Most of the dead were apparently Indian citizens, but at least 22 foreigners were killed, including at least five Americans. Among the dead were a rabbi from Brooklyn and his wife, who ran a Jewish center that was one of at least 10 sites the militants attacked in their rampage beginning Wednesday night.

Just 10 gunmen, the city’s police commissioner said, had caused all the mayhem.

“With confidence I can say that 10 terrorists came in,” the commissioner, Hasan Gafoor, said Saturday in the first official indication of the size of the terrorist contingent. “We killed nine of them, and one was captured alive.”

Around dawn on Saturday, gunfire began to rattle inside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, where the last knot of attackers was still battling Indian commandos. None of the terrorists had issued any manifestoes or made any demands, and it seemed clear that they intended to fight to the last.

It wasn’t long before flames were roaring through a ground-floor ballroom and the first floor of the Taj, a majestic 105-year-old hotel in the heart of southern Mumbai.

But by midmorning, after commandos had finished working their way through the 565-room hotel, the head of the elite National Security Guard, J. K. Dutt, said the siege at the Taj was over. Three terrorists, he said, had been killed inside.

Mr. Gafoor said security forces were still combing through the hotel on Saturday afternoon and it was expected that they would find more bodies. One commando leader said earlier that his team had come across a single room in the Taj containing a dozen corpses or more.

With the battle over, Indian Army troopers outside the hotel could begin to relax. They took pictures of each other with their cell phone cameras and, flashing broad smiles, gave the thumbs-up sign to onlookers.

The brazen and well-coordinated assault, which lasted more than 60 hours, has thoroughly shaken Mumbai, the financial and entertainment capital of India. The attacks have rattled India as well, raising tensions with neighboring Pakistan and prompting questions about the failure of the authorities to anticipate the tragedy or to react swiftly enough as it unfolded.

For the first time, after veiled accusations that Pakistan was involved in the assault, Indian officials specifically linked the attacks to their neighbor and longtime nemesis. India’s foreign minister blamed “elements in Pakistan,” spreading the repercussions of the attacks beyond India’s borders.

American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday that there was mounting evidence that a Pakistani militant group — Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has long been involved in the conflict with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir — was responsible.

Pakistan has denied any involvement, and the government had offered to send the head of its spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence directorate, to India to assist in the investigation of the attacks. But news agencies reported Saturday that Pakistan would instead send a lower-ranking official.

A spokesman for the Pakistani prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, gave no reason for the change, agencies reported, nor did he say when a visit might take place.

The Indian authorities also were beginning to face sharp questions about why operations to flush out a handful of assailants at the Jewish center and the Taj had not moved more rapidly. And many other basic questions remained for a crisis that unfolded so publicly, on televisions, Web sites and Twitter feeds across the world. Who were the attackers? And how could so few of them have created such havoc?

A glimpse of the desperation and fear that the attack created could be seen Saturday at the back of the seven-story Taj: Bedsheets that had been knotted together hung from a number of broken windows. One chain of sheets, dropped from a sixth-floor window, reached less than halfway to the ground.
 

Yasin Ali, 25, the owner of a handicraft shop behind the hotel, said he had seen as many as 30 people using the sheets to escape the terrorists. They had shimmied down the chains, dropped into a garden area near the hotel swimming pool and then run out a back gate. He said the escapees appeared to be hotel staff, kitchen workers and a few Westerners.
In the Taj garden, meanwhile, a blue-tiled fountain continued to bubble and spurt.

The main success for the authorities had come Friday at the Oberoi, the other luxury hotel that had been attacked. (The other main sites were the city’s principal train station, a hospital, a cinema and a café.) The authorities said that two gunmen had been killed at the Oberoi and that 93 foreigners — some of them wearing Air France and Lufthansa uniforms — had been rescued, although 30 bodies had been found.

Survivors offered harrowing accounts of their ordeal, trapped on the upper floors of the high-rise hotel while gunmen prowled below. The National Security Guard said it recovered two AK-47s, a 9-millimeter pistol and some grenades.

Indian commandos said the attackers at both hotels appeared well trained in handling weapons and hand grenades, and they seemed to know the buildings’ layouts, indicating a high degree of preparation. Some were seen arriving by boat; others may have been registered guests at the hotels for days.

“AK-47s and hand grenades, how to use and deploy them, this is not something you just pick up,” said Bruce Hoffmann, a professor at Georgetown University and the author of “Inside Terrorism.”

“Soldiers spend months learning how to do these things. You can’t learn this over the Internet.”

The leader of a commando unit involved in a gun battle inside the Taj said Friday that his team found a gunman’s backpack, which contained dried fruit, 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, four grenades, Indian and American money, and seven credit cards from some of the world’s leading banks, he said. The pack also had a national identity card from the island of Mauritius.

The attackers were “very, very familiar with the layout of the hotel,” said the commander, who disguised his face with a black scarf and tinted glasses to hide his identity. He said the militants, who appeared to be under 30 years old, were “determined” and “remorseless.”

As the State Department reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called President-elect Barack Obama twice to brief him on the attacks, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday there was mounting evidence pointing to the involvement of Lashkar or possibly another Pakistani group focused on Kashmir, Jaish-e-Muhammad.

The American officials cautioned that they had reached no conclusions about who was responsible for the attacks or how they were planned and carried out. An F.B.I. team was being sent to Mumbai to assist with the forensic investigation. In a statement, President Bush said he was saddened by the deaths.

On Friday at the Nariman House, home to the Hasidic Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch, commandos slid down ropes from a hovering Army helicopter, landed on the roof and crept inside. After a gun battle that lasted more than five hours, troopers finally gained control of the building.

The bodies of at least five people were found inside, including the slain rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, who held dual American and Israeli citizenship, and his wife, Rivka, an Israeli citizen. Another was that of Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, a Brooklyn native who moved to Jerusalem several years ago, according to a statement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Israeli radio reported that a sixth body had been found at the center as well.

The dead at the Oberoi included a 58-year-old man and his 13-year-old daughter, members of a spiritual community visiting from Virginia, who were shot in the lobby. They were among at least five Americans who were killed, the State Department said on Friday night.

R. R. Patil, the home affairs minister of Maharashtra State, where Mumbai is situated, said the assailant who had been captured alive was a Pakistani citizen. The Indian foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said early evidence explicitly pointed to Pakistan’s involvement. “Preliminary evidence, prima facie evidence, indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

“On a number of different levels these attacks are alarming,” Mr. Hoffman said. “Outside of the zones of warfare, since 9/11 there haven’t been major, major terrorist attacks. There’s been this lull, and the thought that perhaps we’ve turned a corner on this.

“But this just reminds us that terrorism remains an international problem.”

Mark McDonald reported from Hong Kong, and reporting was contributed by Ruth Fremson and Jeremy Kahn from Mumbai; Hari Kumar and Heather Timmons from New Delhi; Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem; Alan Cowell from Paris; and Graham Bowley from New York.

 

Saturday, November 29, 2008

 

HOT Back Breaking News: Blowback on Subcontinent – Worldwide Intel War Descends Into Anarchy
Category: News and Politics

http://blog.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel

HOT Explosive Back Breaking News

Blowback on Subcontinent

Worldwide Intel War Descends Into Anarchy

by Tom Heneghan
International Intelligence Expert

http://newsnet14.com/images/mossad_logo.jpg  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Mi5_2.gif http://moinansari.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/government-of-pakistan-logo.jpg http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/images/cia-logo.JPEG

 

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,6373575,00.jpg

 

Saturday  November 29, 2008

United States of America – It can now be reported that on Wednesday, November 26th, a paramilitary team of seventy (70) Pakistani ISI soldiers arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) by sea on the CIA-ISI registered MV Alpha and proceeded on military style speedboats to the Indian shore and immediately traveled to the command and control headquarters for the paramilitary operation at the Jewish Center Nariman House.

Three days of food awaited the terrorists along with sophisticated military style Blackberries, grenades and other sophisticated explosive devices to be used in the attacks.

Aiding and abetting the paramilitary team was a high tech television monitoring device in the Nariman House that allowed the terrorist group to monitor the movement of Indian Police and the Indian Anti-Terrorist Task Force that had used the Nariman House in the past for anti-terrorist surveillance inside Mumbai.

http://www.danielpipes.org/pics/new/large/334.jpg http://www.innworldreport.net/inn/images/val/163_14mossad.gif

Liaison between the Indian Anti-Terrorist Task Force and the Israeli Shin Bet, which was used in training of the Indian Anti-Terrorist Task Force, were two Jewish Rabbis with dual citizenship who previously lived in New York City.

The Mossad Strikes in Mumbai

By Brother Nathanael Kapne

…The initial firing began at the Chabad/Nariman House, an easy access for Mossad operatives. Hindus of the Nariman area spoke live on several TV channels saying that for two years suspicious activities were taking place in the Chabad/Nariman House, raising concern regarding Israel's involvement in the Hindutva Revolution, the current opposition government…MORE

http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=333

Reference: This is not the first time the Israeli Mossad used Rabbis in black ops and other nefarious activities given the role of Rabbi Dr. Zacharie in sending the anthrax post 9/11, a chemical attack which was used to deter proper investigation of the 9/11 black op attack on the United States.

The anthrax attack was also used to intimidate U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens from going forward with the proof of the theft of the year 2000 presidential election from the Vice President now duly elected President Albert Gore Jr.

Justice Stevens' mail was actually intercepted and illegally held by Israeli Mossad agent and TRAITOR, current Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.

NOW, OF COURSE, IT IS GOING TO GET WORSE, YOU KNOW IT IS NOT GOING TO GET BETTER!

The paramilitary group also received from their liaison group at the Nariman House, sixty (60) Indian Anti-Terrorist Task Force uniforms, which would be used in the terrorist attacks and allowed the Pakistani paramilitary team to disguise themselves as Indian security officials while they were conducting their attacks.

The joint U.S.-French Intelligence Task Force, headquartered on European soil, now reports that the Nariman House had been used to provide intelligence to the paramilitary group while they were training for this operation off the shores of Somalia.

Intelligence provided to the paramilitary group, included casing out the targets for their attacks.

http://thumbnail.search.aolcdn.com/truveo/images/thumbnails/2C/6A/2C6AC1127A6B16.jpg P.S. At this hour, NBC-General Electric and its bought and paid for Bush-Clinton Crime Family Syndicate defense intelligence witch, Alex Witt, is once again propagating the BIG Lie.

Witt is alleging there were only 10 terrorists and that a fishing trawler, NOT the MV Alpha, was used to transport the "terrorists" to Mumbai.

Item: The British-owned fishing trawler was a recently released vessel taken hostage by the Somalia pirates.

It is now being used as an Intelligence Agency prop to cover up the role of the Pakistani ISI-CIA registered MV Alpha in actually transporting the paramilitary team.

Of course this makes no sense, given this operation was scripted and planned at least two years in advance.

There is no way these alleged terrorists aka the paramilitary group would jeopardize their operation based on hijacking a fishing trawler and then using the trawler as the means of transport for the paramilitary group and using military style aquatic speedboats to take them to the Indian shore.

Clearly a cargo ship met the logistical needs of the paramilitary team.

The lasted BIG LIE from the NSA controlled media is that these were rafts not speedboats.

At this hour, some of this bogus intelligence is being given to the Indian government, NOT by a captured terrorist but an actual FBI informant, who actually walked out of the Nariman House unharmed.

As we bring you this intelligence briefing, the U.S. FBI, headed by Robert Mueller, is sending an FBI Task Force to India to engage in Obstruction of Justice.

As reported in our previous intelligence briefing, the illegal resident of the White House, Bushfraud, continues to blackmail and bribe the Indian Prime Minister in regards to blaming these paramilitary attacks on Bushfraud's partner-in-crime and patsy, alleged "Al Qaeda".

Note: The Indian Prime Minister and his intelligence agencies now have "smoking gun" proof linking a SECRET covert directorate, an arm of the Pakistani ISI, in directing and manipulating terrorist and paramilitary groups inside Pakistan.

That SECRET directorate, which has liaison to both Israeli and British Intelligence, as well as the U.S. CIA, operates without any knowledge or oversight from the current democratically elected Pakistani government.

As reported in the previous intelligence briefing, it is unclear whether the Indian government will allow this team to actually land on Indian soil.

P.P.S. Previous media reports during this paramilitary siege had quoted the Israeli Ambassador to India as stating that there were as many as nine Israeli citizens present in the Nariman House.

This was a deflection and ruse to disguise and actually signal to the FBI informant, (now in Indian custody), to assassinate the two Jewish Rabbis in order to silence them from eventually revealing the role of both Israeli and British Intelligence in the coordinated paramilitary operation.

We can also report that the Indian government still holds in custody the identified Israeli Mossad agent, who, himself, was an employee of the Nariman House and was actually captured by Indian Police and held for questioning two days before the paramilitary group arrived in India from Pakistan.

The identified Israeli Mossad agent, who is claiming now that he is part of the Israeli diplomatic core, is demanding diplomatic immunity from the Indian government to avoid further interrogation.

This is creating a massive crisis between the Indian and Israeli governments.

The crisis was further escalated by the attempt of the Israeli government to send commandos to the Nariman House without the authorization of the Indian government.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/11/28/jewish_wideweb__470x278,0.jpg

Commandos storm Mumbai Jewish centre: AFP witness

MUMBAI, (AFP) - At least 17 commandos on Friday abseiled from a helicopter into the Jewish centre in Mumbai taken by Islamic militants, and explosions were heard, an AFP witness said.

…Witnesses said the first group of seven armed men crouched on the roof of the building as the helicopter returned to drop 10 more military personnel.

Intermittent loud explosions were heard from inside the building. It was not clear if the commandos involved in the assault were Indian or Israeli.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/081128/afp/081128022222asiapacificnews.html
 

Unconfirmed reports detail an actual firefight between the Indian Anti-Terrorist Task Force and the Israeli commandos.

This could clearly account for the claims of the Israeli Ambassador to India that there were up to nine (9) Israeli citizens present in the Nariman House near the end of the siege.

The pending arrival of the Israeli commandos was actually communicated to the Indian government by the British Ambassador to India.

At this hour, the blowback between the Israeli, British, U.S. and Pakistani Intelligence Agencies is a hurricane, which threatens to destroy the entire worldwide intelligence agencies network cooperation and let loose paramilitary and terrorist organizations actually tied to these agencies given the simple fact that they may no longer be on the payroll of the New World Order thugs.

P.P.P.S. We can now divulge that the warning of a New York City subway attack, communicated to CIA Director Michael Hayden, also included warnings that a major paramilitary operation was about to occur somewhere in south Asia.

The warnings came from the Russian Intelligence Agency, which had intercepted cables between the Pakistani ISI and the British Embassy in New Delhi.

So you see, folks, this is part of blowback.

It is a worldwide Intelligence Agencies meltdown.

One final note: As the Israeli Mossad-British Intellience-NSA corporate controlled American media elite continue to spin away in an attempt to blame all of this on alleged "Al Qaeda", who is headed, of course, by a dead man, Osama bin Laden aka CIA asset Tim Osman, you hear the constant drumbeat by the media for more (illegal) spying on the American People, more Patriot Act legislation, surveillance cameras on every street corner, and actual talk of more martial law type decrees.
 

ZIONIST MEDIA

Mumbai Attacks Blamed On Al-Qaeda As Pretext For U.S. Military Response

By Philip Dru

The majority of the corporate media has gleefully seized upon the terror attacks in Mumbai to claim that they are the work of "Al-Qaeda," despite clear and contradictory evidence suggesting otherwise, as a pretext to increase bombing campaigns in Pakistan and beef support for the ailing war on terror in Afghanistan.

The swiftness with which the media blamed "Al-Qaeda" was staggering, especially considering the fact that the attacks had not even concluded before the boogeyman was whipped out of the closet once more to act as a poster child for the war on terror and allow the TV networks to show lots of blood, panic and authority figures pointing guns at people…MORE

http://www.nwotruth.com/mumbai-attacks-blamed-on-al-qaeda-as-pretext-for-us-military-response/

Remember, the media filth, which is on a 14-second NSA delay trigger, has enabled the Bush-Clinton Crime Family Syndicate for years to:

-    cover up the stolen year 2000 presidential election,

-    the illegal war in Iraq based on a lie, the actual Red-Blue U.S.-Canadian war games that were used as a disguise for the 9/11 BLACK OP,

-    the countless illegal firings of U.S. Attorneys, and

-    finally the Bush-Clinton-Federal Reserve crime spree, which looted the U.S. Treasury.

One must conclude the American corporate controlled media filth have a lot to loose should the truth become clear to the American People.

I have a solution for these media liars and whores: Send them all on a cruise to Somalia and don't give them any pirate insurance.

Accordingly, we again remind the American People to prepare for revolutionary mode as there is no other choice.

This occupation and Gestapo attack against the American Constitution and our utter way of life must end, AND END NOW!

It can be done the easy way or the hard way.

History tells us it is going to be done the hard way – SO BE IT!

At this hour we live free or die as we continue to identify the enemies of the American Republic and the American Revolution of the 21st century and eradicate them.

Stay tuned as we will continue to break this case for you with emergency updates at any moment.

...
 

Live Free or Die!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/hist/employment/images/cars/end/flags.jpg

Special message to our greatest ally of 200 years, the Republic of France :

It is time for us all to conquer or die and proceed with the liberation of the American People before it is too late.

Overlord at Yorktown remains relentless and victorious as Lafayette remains at Brandywine.

http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/jefferson-thomas.jpg Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, said "…I am surrounded by enemies but I shall never stand down in the face of tyrants..."

http://www.ushistory.org/brandywine/images/sold06.gif
 

God Bless and Save the

United States of America

Land the We Love
 

TOM HENEGHAN'S EXPLOSIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS
International Intelligence Expert, Tom Heneghan, has hundreds of highly credible sources inside American and European Intelligence Agencies and INTERPOL -- reporting what is REALLY going on behind the scenes of the controlled mainstream media cover up propaganda of on-going massive deceptions and illusions.

Patriotic, God-loving, peaceful Jewish People are  NOT  the same as the  war mongering ZIONIST KHAZARIAN Jews.

Urgent Statement By Anti-Zionist Jews Worldwide

http://rense.com/general84/antiz.htm

http://blog.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel

 

 

India has proof of ISI role in Mumbai attacks: Sources
4 Dec 2008

NEW DELHI: India has proof that the Inter Services Intelligence was involved in planning the terror attacks and training the terrorists killed more than 180 people during a 60-hour siege of the country's financial capital, sources said in New Delhi on Thursday.

The names of trainers and the places where meticulous training took place are also known to the government, the sources said.

The United States is believed to have even more evidence, some of which it has shared with India, they said.

Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who was in Pakistan on Wednesday, is believed to have told his Pakistani interlocutors that Washington had enough evidence to show a Pakistani hand in the attack, the sources said.

Sources here also refuse to believe that the Pakistani army did not have knowledge of the Mumbai operation given that ISI is controlled by it.

At the same time, sources do not believe that the civilian government in Pakistan is involved in the attack. In fact, one view is that the civilian government itself may be a target of the strike which may be used by the army to heighten tensions with India to return to power.

Washington has asked Pakistan to crackdown on Lashkar-e-Taiba, which now goes under the name of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and to arrest its chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed because it has evidence of their involvement in the attack, the sources said.

The attack was planned, equipped and organised in Pakistan where the terrorists were trained and provided logistical support.

Contrary to the version that the terrorists used a hijacked Indian fishing boat to reach Mumbai after sailing from Karachi, the view here is that much more sophisticated means were used.

The sources spoke of a clear disconnect between the Pakistani civilian government and the all-powerful military establishment, which is causing difficulties for India in dealing with the situation.

Islamabad's about-turn on sending the Director General of ISI to India is cited as an instance of this disconnect.

During a telephone conversation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Mumbai attack, President Asif Zardari had referred to an earlier Pakistani proposal for a meeting between the ISI chief and the head of India's external intelligence agency, RAW.

Singh told Zardari that this was acceptable to India, after which Pakistan government had announced that the ISI head would travel to India.

After a post-midnight call on Zardari by Army chief Gen Ashfaque Kayani this decision was reversed with the President taking cover under a "mis-communication" with the Indian prime minister. Instead it was decided to depute a Director-level officer to India.

When the terror attack took place Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was in India and had consciously decided not to cut short his visit. However, the Indian government was told at 2.30 am that a special aircraft
was being sent less than 4 hours later to take him back to Pakistan.

In what observers see as a clear message to the civilian government, the Pakistan army chief's plane was sent to Delhi to pick up Qureshi, who boarded the flight around 7 am.

The view here is that the Pakistan army is using the current developments as a way out of the difficult situation it faces in the areas bordering Afghanistan where its writ does not run. Some 900 desertions are said to have taken place from the army.

 

 
 

Friday, June 20, 2008

Sahide Sardar Bhagat Singh Proud of India (Lion of India)

Bhagat Singh was born in a Sikh family of farmers in the village of Banga of Layalpur district of Punjab (now in Pakistan) on September 27th of 1907. His family stood for patriotism, reform, and freedom of the country. His grandfather Arjun Singh was drawn to Arya Samaj, a reformist movement of Hinduism, and took keen interest in proceedings of the Indian National Congress. Bhagat Singh's father Kishen Singh and uncle Ajit Singh were members of Ghadr Party founded in the U.S. in early years of this century to route British rule in India. Both were jailed for alleged anti-British activities. Ajit Singh had 22 cases against him and was forced to flee to Iran. Thereafter he went to Turkey, Austria, Germany and finally to Brazil to escape Black Water (Kalapani) punishment for his revolutionary activities in India.

The Jalianwala Bagh Massacre

Young Bhagat Singh was brought up in a politically charged state of Punjab which was left with a seething memory of the Jalianwala massacre of more than 400 innocent lives and thousands injured (1919). As a lad of fourteen he went to this spot to collect soil from the park of Jalianwala (bagh) in his lunch box, sanctified by the blood of the innocent and kept it as a memento for life.

Bhagat Singh was studying at the National College founded by Lala Lajpatrai, a great revolutionary leader and reformist. To avoid early marriage, he ran away from home and, became a member of the youth organization Noujawan Bharat Sabha which had memberships of all sects and religions. He met Chandrashekhar Azad, B.K. Dutt and other revolutionaries. They used to print handouts and newspapers in secret and spread political awareness in India through Urdu, Punjabi and English. These were all banned activities in India at the time, punishable with imprisonment.

The Simon Commission, Murder of Lala Lajpatrai and the Revenge

Anti-British feelings were spreading; Indians wanted some proper representation in running the administration of their country to which British reciprocated only on paper. Noticing restlessness was spreading, the British Government appointed a commission under the leadership of Sir John Simon in 1928, to report on political happenings. There was no single Indian member in this commission, and all the political parties decided to boycott the commission when it planned to visit major cities of India.

In Lahore, Lala Lajpatrai and Pandit Madan Mohan Malavia decided to protest to the commission in open about their displeasure. It was a silent protest march, yet the police chief Scott had banned meetings or processions. Thousands joined, without giving room for any untoward incident. Even then, Scott beat Lala Lajpatrai severely with a lathi (bamboo stick) on the head several times. Finally the leader succumbed to the injuries.

Bhagat Singh who was an eye witness to the morbid scene vowed to take revenge and with the help of Azad, Rajguru and Sukhadev plotted to kill Scott. Unfortunately he killed Mr. Sanders, a junior officer, in a case of mistaken identity. He had to flee from Lahore to escape death punishment.

Bomb in the Assembly

Instead of finding the root cause for discontent of Indians, the British government took to more repressive measures. Under the Defense of India Act, it gave more power to the police to arrest persons to stop processions with suspicious movements and actions. The act brought in the council was defeated by one vote. Even then it was to be passed in the form of an ordinance in the "interest of the public." No doubt the British were keen to arrest all leaders who opposed its arbitrary actions, and Bhagat Singh who was in hiding all this while, volunteered to throw a bomb in the central assembly where the meeting to pass the ordinance was being held. It was a carefully laid out plot, not to cause death or injury but to draw the attention of the government, that the modes of its suppression could no more be tolerated. It was agreed that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt would court arrest after throwing the bomb.

It was a forgone conclusion in 1929 April 8th at Delhi Central Assembly. Singh and Dutt threw handouts, and bombed in the corridor not to cause injury and courted arrest after shouting slogans Inquilab Zindabad (Long Live, Revolution!)

Meanwhile the killers of Sanders were identified by the treachery of Bhagat Singh's friends who became "Approvers." Bhagat Singh thought the court would be a proper venue to get publicity for the cause of freedom, and did not want to disown the crime. But he gave a fiery statement giving reasons for killing which was symbolic of freedom struggle. He wanted to be shot like a soldier, and not die at the gallows. But, his plea was rejected, and he was hanged on the 23rd of March 1931. He was 24.

Bhagat Singh became a legendary hero for the masses. Innumerable songs were composed about him, and the youth throughout the country made him their ideal. He became a symbol of bravery and a goal to free India.

Mahatma Gandhi on the Martyrdom of Bhagat Singh

Freedom fighter Sardar Bhagat Singh was hanged by the British on accusations of anti-government activities on March 23, 1931. Here, Gandhi pays tribute to the patriotism of the young martyr while disagreeing with his revolutionary methods. Excerpted from Gandhi's article in Young India.

Bhagat Singh and his two associates have been hanged. The Congress made many attempts to save their lives and the Government entertained many hopes of it, but all has been in a vain.

Bhagat Singh did not wish to live. He refused to apologize, or even file an appeal. Bhagat Singh was not a devotee of non-violence, but he did not subscribe to the religion of violence. He took to violence due to helplessness and to defend his homeland. In his last letter, Bhagat Singh wrote --" I have been arrested while waging a war. For me there can be no gallows. Put me into the mouth of a cannon and blow me off." These heroes had conquered the fear of death. Let us bow to them a thousand times for their heroism.
But we should not imitate their act. In our land of millions of destitute and crippled people, if we take to the practice of seeking justice through murder, there will be a terrifying situation. Our poor people will become victims of our atrocities. By making a dharma of violence, we shall be reaping the fruit of our own actions.

Hence, though we praise the courage of these brave men, we should never countenance their activities. Our dharma is to swallow our anger, abide by the discipline of non-violence and carry out our duty.
March 29, 1931


Abdullah, born in 1905 in Saura of Kashmir, to Shekh Muhammed Ibrahim who died just days before the birth of the child, was influenced in his early days by the history of Islam and poets like Iqbal, but later by Gandhiji and other political leaders of India like Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad and Muhammed Ali Jinnah. Another source of influence for him was Mustafa Kemal Pasha of Turkey. Abdullah joined hands with Iqbal to found the Muslim Conference, the goal of which was to replace the king's rule and set up a responsible government. This saw him in prison for more than 15 years, under various arrests. But his Muslim Conference was able to snatch a decision in favour of its demand for a people's assembly, and it won landslide victory in elections to the assembly.

The Jammu-Kashmir Muslim Conference, under the Sheikh's leadership, decided to admit non-Muslims also into it, and so its name was changed as 'Jammu-Kashmir National Conference'. Nehru and the other Indian leaders supported Abdulla's demand for a popular rule for Jammu and Kashmir. In October 1947 an interim government was formed, Abdullah as its head. Shortly he became the Prime Minister, though the King continued as someone like a governor. Abdullah was a member of the Indian team to the U.N. (1948), and a member of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the constitution for India (1949), a member of the Indian Parliament (1952) and then the Prime Minister of Kashmir. But he was ousted, arrested and imprisoned on the charge of conspiracy to free Kashmir from India. He was freed in 1958, but seeing that he had turned more anti-Indian by this time, he was jailed again. He was freed after six years to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute, but Nehru's death in 1964 made things more uncertain.

The following years saw Sheikh Abdullah becoming in and out of favor with the government of India several times. But peace dawned between India and Abdullah again and a pact was signed according to which the state became a regular member of the Indian Union, and brought under all the provisions of the constitution, and he became Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Elections were held in the state and he became Chief Minister again in 1977. He died in 1982, leaving the leadership to his son, Farukh Abdullah.
 

This is an  inspiring Prayer to Durga by Sri Aurobindo, invoking Her to come down and  uplift India.


HYMN TO DURGA

- Sri Aurobindo


MOTHER  DURGA! Rider on the lion, giver of all strength, Mother,
beloved of Shiva! We, born from thy parts of Power, we the youth of
India, are seated here in thy temple. Listen, O Mother, descend upon
earth, make thyself manifest in this land of India.

MOTHER DURGA! From age to age, in life after life, we come down
into the human body, do thy work and return to the Home of Delight. Now
too we are born, dedicated to thy work. Listen, O Mother, descend
upon earth, come to our  help.

MOTHER DURGA! Rider on the lion, trident in hand, thy body
of beauty armour-clad, Mother, giver of victory. India awaits thee, eager
to see the gracious form of thine. Listen, O Mother, descend upon earth,
make thyself manifest in this land of India.

MOTHER DURGA! Giver of force and love and knowledge,
terrible art thou in thy own self of might, Mother beautiful and fierce.
In the battle of life, in India’s battle, we are warriors commissioned by
thee; Mother, give to our heart and mind a titan’s strength, a titan’s
energy, to our soul and intelligence a god’s character and knowledge.

MOTHER DURGA! India, world’s noblest race, lay whelmed
in darkness. Mother, thou risest on the eastern horizon, the dawn
comes with the glow of thy divine limbs scattering the darkness.
Spread thy light, Mother, destroy the darkness.

MOTHER DURGA! We are thy children, through thy grace,
by thy  influence may we become fit for the great  work, for the great
Ideal. Mother, destroy our smallness, our selfishness, our fear.

MOTHER DURGA! Thou art Kali, naked, garlanded with
human heads, sword in hand, thou slayest the Asura. Goddess, do thou
slay with thy pitiless cry the enemies who dwell within us, may none
remain alive there, not one. May we become pure and spotless, this
is our prayer. O Mother, make thyself manifest.

MOTHER DURGA! India lies now in selfishness and fearfulness
and littleness. Make us great, make our efforts great, our hearts vast,
make us true to our resolve. May we no longer desire the small, void of
energy, given to laziness, stricken with fear.

MOTHER DURGA! Extend wide the power of Yoga. We are
thy Aryan children, develop in us again the lost teaching, character,
strength of intelligence, faith and devotion, force of austerity, power
of chastity and true knowledge, bestow all that upon the world.
To help mankind, appear, O Mother of the world, dispel all ills.

MOTHER DURGA! Slay the enemy within, then root out
all obstacles outside. May the noble heroic mighty Indian race,
supreme in love and unity, truth  and strength, arts and letters,
force and knowledge ever dwell in its holy woodlands, its
fertile fields under its sky-scraping hills, along the banks of its
pure-streaming rivers. This is our prayer at the feet of the Mother.
make thyself manifest.

MOTHER DURGA! Enter our bodies in thy Yogic strength.
We shall become thy instruments, thy sword slaying all evil, thy
lamp dispelling all ignorance. Fulfil this yearning of thy young children,
O Mother. Be the master and drive the instrument, wield thy sword
and slay the evil, hold up the lamp and spread the  light of knowledge.
Make thyself manifest.

MOTHER DURGA! When we possess thee, we shall no
longer cast thee away; we shall bind thee to us with the tie of love
and devotion. Come, Mother, manifest in our mind and  life and
body.

Come, Revealer of  the hero-path. We shall no longer cast
thee away. May our entire life become a ceaseless worship of the
Mother, all our acts a continuous service to the Mother, full of
love, full of energy. This is our prayer, O Mother, descend upon earth,
make thyself manifest in this land of India.

Sri Aurobindo


(Translated from Bengali)
 

The Bhagavad Gita

as translated by Sri Aurobindo

Chapter I

The dejection of Arjuna

Publisher's Note: The translation of the Gita presented here was compiled mainly from Sri Aurobindo's "Essays on the Gita". It first appeared in "The Message of the Gita", edited by Anilbaran Roy, in 1938. Sri Aurobindo approved this book for publication; however, he made it clear in one of his letters that the translations in the Essays were "more explanatory than textually precise or cast in a literary style". Many of them are paraphrases rather than strict translations.
Sri Aurobindo also wrote that he did not wish extracts from the Essays "to go out as my translation of the Gita". This should be borne in mind by the reader as he makes use of this translation, which has been provided as a bridge between the Gita and Sri Aurobindo's Essays.


CHAPTER I

THE DEJECTION OF ARJUNA

1. Dhritarashtra said: On the field of Kurukshetra, the field of the working out of the Dharma, gathered together, eager for battle, what did they, O Sanjaya, my people and the Pandavas?
2. Sanjaya said: Then the prince Duryodhana, having seen the army of the Pandayas arrayed in battle order, approached his teacher and spoke these words: -
3. "Behold this mighty host of the sons of Pandu, O Acharya, arrayed by Drupada's son, thy intelligent disciple.
4-6. Here in this mighty army are heroes and great bowmen who are equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna: Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada of the great car, Dhrishlaketu, Chekitana and the valiant prince of Kashi, Purujit and Kuntibhoja, and Shaibya, foremost among men; Yudhamanyu, the strong, and Uttamauja, the victorious; Subhadra's son (Abhimanyu) and the sons of Draupadi; all of them of great prowess.
7. On our side also know those who are the most distinguished. O best of the twice-born, the leaders of my army; these I name to thee for thy special notice.
8-9. Thyself and Bhishma and Kama and Kripa, the victorious in battle, Ashvatthama, Vikarna, and Saumadatti also; and many other heroes have renounced their life for my sake, they are all armed with diverse weapons and missiles and all well-skilled in war.
10. Unlimited is this army of ours and it is marshalled by Bhishma, while the army of theirs is limited, and they depend on Bhima.
11. Therefore all ye standing in your respective divisions in the different fronts of the battle, guard Bhishma."
12. Cheering the heart of Duryodhana. the mighty grandsire (Bhishma). the Ancient of the Kurus, resounding the battlefield with a lion's roar, blew his conch.
13. Then conchs and kettledrums, tabors and drums and horns, suddenly blared forth, and the clamour became tremendous.
14. Then, seated in their great chariot, yoked to white horses. Madhava (Sri Krishna) and the son of Pandu (Arjuna) blew their divine conchs.
15-16. Hrishikesha (Krishna) blew his Panchajanya and Dhananjaya (Arjuna) his Devadatta (god-given); Vrikodara of terrific deeds blew his mighty conch, Paundra; the King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew Anantavijaya, Nakula and Sahadeva, Sughosha and Manipushpaka.
17-18. And Kashya of the great bow, and Shikhandi of the great chariot, Dhrishtadyumna and Virata and Satyaki, the unconquered, Drupada, and the sons of Draupadi, O Lord of earth, and Saubhadra, the mighty-armed, on all sides their several conchs blew.
19. That tumultuous uproar resounding through earth and sky tore the hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra.
20. Then, beholding the sons of Dhritarashtra standing in battle order, - and the flight of missiles having begun, the son of Pandu (Arjuna), whose emblem is an ape, took up his bow and spoke this word to Hrishikesha, O Lord of earth:
21-23. Arjuna said: O Achyuta (the faultless, the immovable), stay my chariot between the two armies, so that I may view these myriads standing, longing for battle, whom I have to meet in this holiday of fight, and look upon those who have come here to champion the cause of the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.
24-25. Sanjaya said: Thus addressed by Gudakesha (one that has overcome sleep. Arjuna), Hrishikesha, O Bharata, having stayed that best of chariots between the two armies, in front of Bhishma, Drona and all the princes of earth, said: "O Partha, behold these Kurus gathered together."
26-27. Then saw Partha standing upon opposite sides, uncles and grandsires, teachers, mother's brothers, cousins, sons and grandsons, comrades, fathers-in-law, benefactors.
27-28. Seeing all these kinsmen thus standing arrayed, Kaunteya, invaded by great pity, uttered this in sadness and dejection:
28-30. Arjuna said: Seeing these my own people, O Krishna, arrayed for battle, my limbs collapse and my mouth is parched, my body shakes and my hair stands on end; Gandiva (Arjuna's bow) slips from my hand, and all my skin seems to be burning.
30-31. I am not able to stand and my mind seems to be whirling; also I see evil omens, O Keshava.
31-32. Nor do I see any good in slaying my own people in battle; O Krishna, I desire not victory, nor kingdom, nor pleasures.
32-36. What is kingdom to us, O Govinda, what enjoyment, what even life? Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments and pleasures, they stand here in battle, abandoning life and riches - teachers, fathers, sons, as well as grandsires, mother's brothers, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kith and kin; these I would not consent to slay, though myself slain, O Madhusudana, even for the kingdom of the three worlds; how then for earth? What pleasures can be ours after killing the sons of Dhritarashtra. O Janardana?
36-37. Sin will take hold of us in slaying them, though they are the aggressors. So it is not fit that we kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our kinsmen; indeed how may we be happy, O Madhava, killing our own people?
38-39. Although these, with a consciousness clouded with greed, see no guilt in the destruction of the family, no crime in hostility to friends, why should not we have the wisdom to draw hack from such a sin, O Janardana, we who see the evil in the destruction of the family?
40. In the annihilation of the family the eternal traditions of the family are destroyed; in the collapse of traditions, lawlessness overcomes the whole family,
41. Owing to predominance of lawlessness, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt; women corrupted, O Varshneya, the confusion of the Varnas arises.
42. This confusion leads to hell the ruiners of the family, and the family; for their ancestors fall, deprived of pinda (rice offering) and libations.
43. By these misdeeds of the ruiners of the family leading to the confusion of the orders, the eternal laws of the race and moral law of the family are destroyed.
44. And men whose family morals are corrupted, O Janardana, live for ever in hell. Thus have we heard.
45. Alas! we were engaged in committing a great sin, we who were endeavouring to kill our own people through greed of the pleasures of kingship.
46. It is more for my welfare that the sons of Dhritarashtra armed should slay me unarmed and unresisting. (I will not fight.)
47. Sanjaya said: Having thus spoken on the battlefield, Arjuna sank down on the seat of the chariot, casting down the divine bow and the inexhaustible quiver (given to him by the gods for that tremendous hour), his spirit overwhelmed with sorrow.

as translated by
Sri Aurobindo

in: SABCL, volume 13 "Essays on the Gita, with Sanskrit Text and Translation of the Gita"
pages 577-587
published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram - Pondicherry
diffusion by SABDA

FROM: http://intyoga.online.fr/bg_01.htm

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