Statement on BORI

[Dominik Wujastyk]

What follows is a letter shortly to be sent to the Prime Minister of India
and the other addressees listed below.

If you wish to endorse the letter, please send your signature (+ titles
and institutional affiliations) to

        stwright at uchicago.edu

NB: for names to be included they must be received by
        MIDNIGHT, SUNDAY JANUARY 11.
The names will be listed in alphabetical order.

Efforts are continuing to determine the best way to make financial
contributions to BORI. More information will follow soon.


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An Open Letter to:

The Prime Minister (Govt. of India), Mr. Atal Bihari Vajapeyi
The Minister of Human Resource Development (Govt. of India), Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Shushil Kumar Shinde

CC:
Ambassadors of India to France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, USA

The Times of India
The Hindu
Indian Express
Deccan Herald
The Telegraph [Calcutta]
India Today


We are deeply shocked by the January 5 vandalism at the Bhandarkar
Oriental Research Institute in Pune, one of the great treasuries of Indian
knowledge, by a mob of the Maratha Sewa Sangh calling itself Sambhaji
Brigade. We deeply deplore the public harassment of senior scholar
Professor Shrikant Bahulkar of the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeet by the Shiv
Sena.

We call upon the Prime Minister, the Minister of Human Resource
Development, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other leaders of the
Government of India and of the State of Maharashtra to condemn these acts
publicly and unequivocally, to seek swift and appropriate punishment of
all those involved, and to ban the organizations responsible for these
acts.

A centuries-old tradition in India of social and intellectual tolerance is
being destroyed before our very eyes. The current political leadership
must act decisively and they must act now to ensure that such things never
again occur. The world is watching, and history will judge.

Signed:

Name                    Title           Institution (for purposes of identification only)