Bhandarkar Institute

[Richard Salomon]

Thanks to Adheesh Sathaye for showing us that there are heroes as well as
villains in this story.

Richard Salomon

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adheesh Sathaye" <adheesh at SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU>
To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 10:21 AM
Subject: Bhandarkar Institute


> 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
> >
>