Bhandarkar Institute

[Guest guest]

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

>

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, adheesh@s... wrote:> I will be

going to BORI again tomorrow to help in the cleanup and to see

> if i can speak with Prof. Bhate...

 

Let me pay my humble tribute to the young heroes(students including

Adheesh Sathaye) who are helping salvage the treasures damaged by

the criminals.

 

Our heritage is safe with such volunteers helping safeguard our

heritage. I feel so intensely proud of you, Adheesh and your

colleague students. Students and volunteers like Adheesh make this

our pun.yabhumi Bharata.

 

Dhanyavaad.

 

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman