Bhandarkar Institute

[Adheesh Sathaye]

 Dear colleagues,

 Since I happen to be in Pune at the moment, staying with family and
 writing a dissertation, I have had the unfortunate opportunity to view
 the devastation and take part in today's cleanup efforts firsthand. I
 thought I might share my observations and experiences, with the caveat
 that I am not a reporter nor do I profess any sort of authority in
 assessing scenes of mob destruction. I simply feel that you might like
 to hear about what I experienced today.

 First, several of the incredibly brave and dedicated workers at BORI
 were beaten - though thankfully none requiring hospitalization or any
 medical treatment as such; the most severe seemed to be Thopate, who,
 due to his, *ahem*, "large" frame, was singled out by the mob. To my
 mind, a very brave effort on the part of the staff saved the printing
 press and the newly built computer building. Seeing the mob at work in
 the main building, some staff members locked these buildings from the
 inside and sat there while bricks were being thrown against the barred
 windows, weathering the 45 minute storm. None of the Secretaries or
 other Officers of BORI had yet arrived when the attack on the
 institution began, so they are all physically safe, though undoubteldy
 emotionally devastated. I feel such great sympathy for the likes of
 Professors Laddu and Mehendale, who have devoted their lives to this
 institute.

 I expect the loss of books and journals will be great - as many of you
 now, the books in the BORI library were not in the best of condition to
 begin with and many did not withstand the toppling of the institute's
 eighty-year-old massive bookshelves and the trampling and dancing upon
 to which they were subjected. At the very least, for the forseeable
 future I see the activities of the Institute as limited to largely to
 salvage operations.

 The main hall, (Tata Hall) was subjected to particularly heavy abuse:
 all of the shelves were pulled down, all of the windows and most of the
 furniture damaged or destroyed, and Bhandarkar's stately portrait was
 slashed (perhaps irreparably, but i am not sure.) The front office as
 well as the executive offices - Prof. Bhate, Dr. Bhalerao, Prof.
 Dadhphale and so on were also not spared and subjected to a great deal
 of physical damage - computers, the (in)famous copier, furniture,
 cabinets, anything made of glass, all were vandalized. The library, and
 particularly its entrance foyer was simply devastated - again, mainly
 the shelves were toppled, books and files torn and scattered, seemingly
 indiscriminately, the portaits of Sanskritists defaced, and the glass
 broken. THe Prakrit wing, from what I could see, experienced little damage.

 The manuscript division, which at least from my point of view holds the
 true treasures of BORI, was also pillaged, though from what I can tell,
 the vast majority of the manuscripts have not been subjected to severe
 damage. This, however, I urge, is simply my observation. The majority of
 the cabinets, though many had been toppled, had not been ransacked
 nearly to the degree as what I saw in Tata Hall or in the library. The
 cleanup operation did not move to the manuscript room today, and they
 understandably want to take their time in assessing the damage there,
 and to handle the manuscripts with caution, so I urge that my
 observations be taken as very preliminary.

 A meeting of the executive board was held today around noon, and Prof.
 Bhate, who is a family friend, was understandably busy fielding
 questions from media, politicians, dignitaries, and the like. As a
 result, I have not yet had a chance to speak with her and so I cannot
 describe what sorts of decisions have been made. But I can certainly
 vouch for the fact that no one at Bhandarkar saw this coming. The Jim
 Laine / Bahulkar issue had arisen over tea at the Institute on Friday,
 and while all felt it was deplorable and that the political climate has
 become very serious, there was not the slightest suggestion that
 anything of this magnitude might take place.

 While the committee members were engaged in meetings and interviews, the
 staff and a great, great number of volunteers - largely students,
 family, and neighbors (and myself) - engaged in an impressive and
 demanding 'rescue' operation. Many of the young guys who rallied
 together to hoist up the heavy wooden bookshelves did so tirelessly and
 surprisingly without argument. Indeed, the unspoken bond of people
 working together to right a wrong is hard to describe. A great number of
 people, armed with jhaaduus, surgical masks and rubber gloves, managed
 to sweep up most of the glass in the main building and the library, move
 all the books out of the toppled bookcases into stacks in the center of
 the room, clear out all of the destroyed furniture, and set the
 bookcases upright in Tata hall (and in much of the library). There is
 still a great deal of cleanup work to be done, particularly in the
 manuscript room, and of course the business of assing damage, repairing,
 replacing, and restoring the furniture, bookcases, and the books
 themselves will take months if not years.

 While the operations at Bhandarkar are focused on cleanup and recovery,
 I should emphasize that several scholars and individuals in Pune have
 been also physically threatened and have been given personal police
 protection. The situation is therefore still very serious here and in no
 way is the matter settled. However, the media coverage in Marathi of
 this issue has been massive, and I imagine it is something that the
 community will not easily be able to brush aside.

 I will be going to BORI again tomorrow to help in the cleanup and to see
 if i can speak with Prof. Bhate; within limits, if there are more
 specific details you would like to know or if there is anything you are
 curious about, please ask me and I will try to find out tomorrow.


> Adheesh Sathaye
> Ph.D. Candidate,
> Dept. of South and Southeast Asian Studies
> University of California, Berkeley
>