Bhandarkar Institute

[Jan E.M. Houben]

Thanks for the eyewitness acount.
On recent actions and statements of Pune
scholars:
"Bori secretary Saroja Bhate said that in view of
the vandalism by the �Sambhaji Brigade�, the
state should make security arrangements
immediately at similar institutions"
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/408950.cms)
"Former Bori secretary M.G. Dhadphale remarked
that the institute had been destroyed, but it
would put together again. "While shouting the
name of Shivaji Maharaj, they tore books on
Shivaji, demolished the statue of goddess
Saraswati and made away with the idol of
Ganesh.""
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/407223.cms)
Marathi article in Sakal on collective
restoration work by sympathisants and students
from various institutions:
http://www.esakal.com/20040107/pune3.html

And then, inevitably, in the circles of
instigators and organisers of the ransack
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/407218.cms),
glorification of the violence:

MSS founder Purushottam Khedekar:
... justifying the rampage, he said the detained
activists were the real vanguards of Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj. "The episode took place out of
sheer love for Shivaji," Khedekar justified.
Nanawate said they had received a tip-off a month
ago that the Bhandarkar institute had a huge
stock of the libellous books penned by James
Laine.
"However, unfortunately, we could not get a
single copy of the book from Bhandarkar
institute," Nanawate said.
"It has come to our knowledge that some passages
in Laine's book state that Shivaji's renowned
mentors, Samarth Ramdas Swami and Dadaji Kondeo,
are his biological fathers. This kind of brutish
penmanship raises questions about Jijamata's
morals as well. How can we tolerate such
blasphemy," Khedekar asked.
Condemning the action taken by the police against
the 72 detained MSS and Sambhaji Brigade
activists, Khedekar said there was nothing wrong
in what the activists had done.
"Sooner or later, we will manage to free them
from police custody," said Khedekar, who works as
an executive engineer with the public works
department.
Khedekar said they celebrated Shivaji Jayanti and
Mahatma Phule Jayanti every year. "However,
nobody wants to talk about our good work," he
said.

Jan Houben

--- Adheesh Sathaye
<adheesh at SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU> wrote:
>  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.
>
>

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