[Y-Indology] attacks on Bhandarkar Institute & S. Bahulkar

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/6/04 10:07:53 AM, witzel writes:

 

>cf: http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/maharashtra/20040105-0.html

>

>Luckily, I filmed some of their MSS years ago, when they still allowed

>that...Such restrictions always work against the institution that imposes

them: QED

 

 

What a catastrophe!!!

 

Fire, flood, earthquake, war, civil unrest, etc., can destroy single copies.

The only real solution is multiple copies spread over multiple locations. This

group's

 

http://lockss.stanford.edu/

 

motto is Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe.

 

 

What a catastrophe!!!

 

Brian

 

 

--------------------

YogaVidya.com

BrianDanaAkers.com

--------------------

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

I have been overwhelmed by your condemnation of the attack and moral support

for BORI and myself. I cannot thank every one separately. I hope the

situation in Maharashtra will be brought to normalcy in a few weeks.

Shrikant Bahulkar

 

-

"Mi. Witzel" <witzel

<INDOLOGY; <indo_iranian>;

<INDOLOGY>; <risa-l.lists.sandiego.edu

Tuesday, January 06, 2004 1:10 AM

[Y-Indology] attacks on Bhandarkar Institute & S. Bahulkar

 

 

>

> The Hindu's News update: 1/5/04

> http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/00405183011.htm

>

> Regional

> Maharashtra: Mob ransacks research institute, 70 held

> Pune, Jan. 5. (PTI): An angry mob allegedly owing allegiance to "Sambhaji

> Brigade" of Maratha Mahasangh, `destroyed' thousands of rare manuscripts

> and other priceless articles at the acclaimed Bhandarkar Oriental Research

> Institute here, to protest 'disparaging' remarks by a foreign author about

> Chhatrapati Shivaji, police said.

> Seventy people were arrested in this connection and charged under various

> sections of IPC, police said adding that the mob also took away several

> rare books.

> A mob of about 150 people came in vehicles and barged into the institute,

> snapped telephone lines, ransacked the cupboards, tore thousands of books

> and badly damaged writings on palm leaves, rare artefacts and old

> photographs.

> The mob was protesting against objectionable remarks by author James Lane,

> renowned Maratha warrior Chhatrapathi Shivaji in his book 'Shivaji: Hindu

> King in Islamic India'.

> It damaged the Mahabhartiya department, manuscript department, publication

> department and Postgraduate Teaching and research of the institute,

founded

> on July 6, 1917 to commemorate the work of Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar.

> The mob also damaged computers, xerox machines, furniture, reference index

> cards and several things having priceless value.

>

> In detail: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2004/january/73054.htm (with

> photo of destruction)

>

> cf: http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/maharashtra/20040105-0.html

>

> Luckily, I filmed some of their MSS years ago, when they still allowed

that...

> Such restrictions always work against the institution that imposes them:

QED

>

> =========

>

> See further on S. Bahulkar's minimal help for Lane and the recent,

> resultant attack (blackening Bahulkar's face) by Shiv Sena:

>

> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/385627.cms

> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/385626.cms

>

> Quote: "not a single scholar or professor in the University of Pune

> condemned the attack on Bahulkar. "

> -- clearly inviting more violence (as above)

>

> ==========

>

> It should be clear now why Motilal (recently) and now Oxford Univ. Press

> (India) have chickened out:

>

> Threats, physical violence and censureship are thriving...

>

> (Remember the OUP resistance against NCERT's scrapping of 2 books on the

> struggle for independence? Or the more recent case of banning DN Jha's

> 'Holy Cow'?)

>

> Happily, now I (and others) can also expect to get my face blackened

> because I sent Jha some information, on his request... "Bring them on!"

>

> MW

> ============================================================

> Michael Witzel

> Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University

> 1 Bow Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

>

> ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages)

> home page: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm

>

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