POLLUTED KAMANA SAGAR, BARUNI and MATUA MOBILISATION, MAMATA`S COMMUNIST MANIFESTO and MARXIST DALIT AGENDA

POLLUTED KAMANA SAGAR, BARUNI and MATUA MOBILISATION, MAMATA`S COMMUNIST MANIFESTO and MARXIST DALIT AGENDA

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 187

Palash Biswas

Dr. Sanity: THE NEO-MARXIST AGENDA OF THE ANTI-MILITARY LEFT
Caught up in the marxist agenda of their postmodern rhetoric--with which ... Now, of course, we daily the Obama Messiah preaching the same neo-marxist BS, ...
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Disagree with the Marxist liberal agenda, you're a thought ...
Disagree with the Marxist liberal agenda, you're a thought criminal, a "hater! ..... Gee,Jim, how come they didn’t write about the Daily Kos or the Democrat ...
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The Marxist-Leninist Daily
28 Nov 2008 ... All Out to Defeat Harper's Right Wing Agenda! It Must Not Pass! .... Read The Marxist-Leninist Daily Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: ...
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The Marxist-Leninist Daily
6 Dec 2007 ... This is the same anti-people, anti-Canadian agenda that is destroying our ..... Read The Marxist-Leninist Daily Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: ...
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In Defence of Marxism - Yar'Adua’s Seven Point Agenda: any hope ...
23 Jan 2009 ... This point on the agenda is mere wishful thinking under capitalism ... still highly volatile with hostage taking occurring on a daily basis. ...
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29 Sep 2008 ... No to Harper's Law and Order Agenda! ... to strengthen the hand of the state to further criminalize these youth who daily face the brutality ... Authorized by the registered agent of the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada ...
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Obama’s Spread The Wealth Around - Marxist Agenda! | Conservative ...
He is a Socialist with a pure Marxists agenda. ... Daily Popular. Christian Publications Can’t Print the Word “Allah” (4); Fox News Covers Ohio Man Openly ...
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Lenin: A Study on the Unity of his Thought by Georg Lukacs
For even they only interpreted the actuality of the revolution as Marx had ... all questions on the daily agenda, whether they were political or economic, ...
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Daily Kos: Obama and my marxist professor: Revisited
11 Oct 2008 ... This doesn't demonstrate that Obama is a Marxist, nor does it prove that he agrees with the full agenda of the New Party. ...
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Inspired by Gandhi, Palestinians to boycott Israeli products!

Agencies
Posted: Mar 26, 2009 at 1325 hrs IST

Jerusalem Deriving inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi's Indian National Movement, Palestinian activists in 50 villages of northern West Bank decided to launch a boycott campaign against Israeli products.
"We know change will go slowly, but we are determined to imitate what Gandhi did in India when he boycotted English salt," Khalid Mansour, the chairman of the Popular Committees in Nablus told Palestinian news agency 'Maan'.
As per official statistics Palestinians consume 2.6 billion shekels (USD 0.6 billion) worth of Israeli goods each year, Mansoor said.

28 per cent of this money is said to be spent on the purchasing cement from Israel.

Palestinians also consume 30 million shekels (USD 2.40 million) worth of medicines and 10 million worth of gold produced in Israel every year.

He said that subcommittees will be formed in each of the 50 villages to monitor the boycott and start awareness campaign at schools


Vaisnava Movement The religious and social movement introduced by Sri chaitanya (1486-1533). The movement was also known as Bhakti Andolan or devotional movement. Its purpose was to counter the caste system and religious and social superstitions of Hindu society in that period.

The Vaisnava movement originated before Chaitanyadev essentially through the Vaisnava lyrics written by the pre-Chaitanya poets chandidas (14th century) and vidyapati (c 1380-1460). Chaitanyadev added a new dimension to the movement, and it was through his leadership that it developed into a social movement. It assumed the name of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, or simply vaisnavism. Although there already existed in Hinduism a religion based on love and devotion for the divine, Chaitanyadev made it into a new religion by adding to it ideas about liberal humanism and social equality deriving from Sufi philosophy.

http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/V_0007.htm



Chandal a caste of people traditionally engaged in menial jobs. They are of dark complexion. Chandals are untouchables and often conceptually mixed with doms. Chandals engage themselves in cultivation, trading, and shopkeeping, and also work as goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and palanquin bearers. They perform any job higher caste people engage them in. Their dietary habits include pork, mud eel, snake and foods prohibited for other castes. They are generally poor and uneducated and consequently, their lifestyle is abominable. They are forced to live in unhygienic, unhealthy areas littered with animal and other filth. They rear pigs, which further contribute to their sub-human living atmosphere. Chandals call themselves Nama-Sudra. They marry off their daughters while they are infants but observe the same ceremonies as most of their higher counterparts. Bride price is a custom among chandals. Divorce is not so common. Polygamy is permitted in the chandal society.



After the birth of a male child, the chandal mother is ceremonially declared unclean for ten days, but for a female child the period varies from seven to nine days. On the sixth day after the birth of a male child, a Sasthi puja is performed. Although the majority of the caste profess the tenets of the Vaishnava sect of hinduism, they still retain many religious customs (Bastu puja or worship of the earth goddess, Bansura puja or worship of the river god, Manasha puja or worship of the goddess of snake etc.), peculiar to animistic cults. Chandals have brahmans of their own, who preside at their religious and social ceremonies, but they are popularly called Barna-Brahman or Chandaler Brahman, since they are Brahmans, who have degraded themselves in status by presiding over lower caste ceremonies.

Though changes in the material conditions of the chandal caste are not yet much noticeable, it is, however, quite evident that the chandals, like all other traditional occupational groups, are changing structurally and occupationally under the impact of modern communication, education, state policies, NGO activities, globalisation, etc. The traditional role of the chandals is also changing now in view of ever increasing mobility. [Sharmin Naaz]



http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/C_0110.htm

Shame!
It is for the Namoshudras only , that SC, ST, OBC reservation was possible despite violent opposition from all caste hindu quarters. ...
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Not War, Philosophy of Love agaist Terrorism
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The Maha Baruni Bath Festival of the believers of the Hindu religion at village Orakandi under Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj is one of the biggest ... and on the eve of the mela they descent on this small town in lakhs if not a million. ...
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bengali - Palash Speaks
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MANEATERS may not Save the MANKIND! Israel brands
No less than NINTY LACS Namoshudras converted in ISLAM during British rule! ... More over the Namoshudra ICON HARICHAND THAKUR established MATUA DHARMA ...
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White Letters on Black Board - Palash Speaks
Thus, a stream of Tagores became untouchables marrying with Namoshudras. They settled in Narail. Later, Tagores migrated to Kolkata and Prince Dwarka Nath ...
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Caste, Protest and Identity in Colonial India: The Namasudras of ... - Google Books Result
by Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa - 1997 - History - 324 pages
At different places, the most important of them being Orakandi and Lakshmikhali, the mela (fair) attracted thousands of devotees across the local ...
books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0700706267...

The mela falls on H H Sri Sri Harichand Thakur's birthday thirteenth day of Falgun 1214 of the Bangla calendar. A sea of humanity has ascended on this small town on the Indo-bangla border of Thakur...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVQWIv0zWCM




Indo-Bangladesh border sealed

Tripura, June 14(ANI): Thousands of families along the Indo-Bangladesh border have been displaced as the Indian authorities seal porous Indo-Bangladesh border. The authorities are on a drive to fen...
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El0exAbKmZA



Asru: Bengali Refugees



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The Exhibition on the Persecution of Bangladeshi Minorities has been organised in Thakur Nagar, North 24 Paraganas, West Bengal in Association with Hindu Samhati. The exhibition coincides with the...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRv7iHy5T98


MAMATA`s COMMUNIST MENIFESTO or MARXIST RULE have nothing to do with our people. But the TUG OF WAR to GAIN MILEAGE in MATUA BASE , the SC VOTE BANK shows the TIP of the ICEBERG, how POLLUTED is KAMNASAGEAR, the source of our ENERGY, INSPIRAION, EXPECTATIONS, DREAMS and DESTINATION for our people!



The MARXIST DALIT AGENDA has nothing to do with DALIT LIBERATION but it intends to CAPTURE us as BONDED LABOUR of MARXIST BRAHAMINICAL HEGEMONY.



I am HAPPY that on the face of REGIMENTED GESTAPO MONEY, MUSCLE and Political POWER, the MATUAS do RESIST. We all the ABORIGINAL, INDIGENOUS and MINORITY COMUNITIES should stand ROCK SOLID with THAKURBADI, MATUA DHAM, THAKURNAGEAR in its SPECTACULAR RESISTANCE UNPRECEDENTED in the line of HARICHAND GURUCHAND LEGACY of SOCILA MOBILSATION and EMPOWERMENT and AUTONOMY!



We MUST be Proud of our legacy, heritage and IDENTITY!



CPIM accepts its MISTAKES too late as it has been habitual to commit Historical BLUNDER so often and has to rectify its stnce so often!



The annual Matua Mahamela, that began at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas yesterday, witnessed arrival of lakhs of devotees to seek blessing of Harichand and Guru Chand Thakur at the main temple.



More than TWENTY FIVE LAC pilgrims, mostly devotees of Matua religious community, took a holy dip in the vast tank of Kamanasagar adjacent to the Hari Chand-Guru Chand Thakur temple on March 24 at Thakurnagar near Bangaon in North 24 Parganas.The week-long festival was organized to mark the Baruni fair observing the birth anniversary of Harichand Thakur.

Matua mahasangh claims that an elaborate arrangement had been made to accommodate lakh of pilgrims during their short stay here adhering to Calcutta High Court's directions to provide special security arrangement to prevent any untoward incident.

Thakur Hari Chand, who started the Matua sect was the pioneering leader of the untouchables. Mukund Behari Mullick and Jogendra Nath Mandal were very CLOSE to GURUCHAND THAKUR who PREACHED POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT of the DALITS. In 1911,GURUCHAND and MUKUND BIHARI Mallick presented a DEMAND of CHARTER to the BRITISH QUEEN demanding SEPARATE ELOCTORATE for the SC Communities. ONLY for MATUA CHANDAL MOVEMENT UNTOUCHABILITY was ABOLISHED in BENGAL much before Dr BR Ambedkar could launch UNTOUCHABILITY movement. The BRITISH appointed SOUTH BOROUGH Commission to consider the COMMUNAL AWARD which was PREEMPTED by GANDHI and GANG making AMBEDKAR SIGN the POONA PACT.

HARICHAND Thakur was the first man who led INDIGO REVOLT (1859-1860) personally and mobilised MUSLIM as well as HINDU peasants against BRITISH and BRAHAMINICAL EXPLOITATION!

Harichand THAKUR ORIGINATED the IDEA of TEBHAGA and launched the movement first. He was the first man in India who demanded to record SHRE CROPPERS in nineteenth centuray!

Harichand Thakur introduced WIDOW marriage even before RENAISSANCE and his able son led cluster of SOCIL Movements ranging Child Education, family planning, women`s education and so on!

It was the GREAT ATTEMPT of GURUCHAND Thakur only that the BRITISH Govt.RECOGNISED TWENTY ONE castes as SCHEDULED CASTES and allowed RESERVATION for them in 1909 with MORLEY MINTO ACT for the fisrt time in India even before the CONGRESS MOVEMENT for Freedom could get MOMENTUM.

GURUCHAND THAKUR played KEY Role to get JOGENDRA NATH MANDAL ELECTED for the BENGAL ASSEMBLY and eventually, JOGENDRA NATH MANDAL and MUKUND BIHARI mallick ensured the ENTRY of DR BR AMBEDKAR to the CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY after he was defeated by CONGRESS in MAHARASHTRA.

Hence, Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur, whether they happen to be any INCARNATION of DIVINE Power or not, it is SURE they are RESPONSIBLE to Launch BLACK UNTOUCHABLE Liberation movement against MANUSMRITI Rule and APARTHEID in India.

Dr AMBEDKAR Converted to BUDDHISM but GURUCHAND THAKUR had been against CONVERSION and he rejected offers by Missionary MID for CONVERSION in CHRISTIANITY and sticked to the LINE to the task of OVERTHROWING The BRAHAMINICAL HEGEMONY in India. That is why only his FOLLOWERS the MATUAS and specially NAMASHUDRAS have been targeted for EJECTION from their HOMELAND in EAST Bengal, PERSECUTION INFINITE, DEFACE DRIVE and DEPOTATION from independent India!

We had nothing against the MUSLIMS in fact the HINDU as well as MUSLIM peasants were engaged in TEBHAGA Movement while RIOTS were planned by HINDU MAHASABHA and RSS. In Bengal, Muslim converts were drawn mainly from Rajbansi, Pod, Chandal, Kuchand other scheduled castes and tribes!

The holy dip by a large number of pilgrims, which began today at 0245 hours with the present spiritual head of the Matuas Smt Binapani, widow of late Pramatha Ranjan Thakur, a former Union Minister and MP. Taking of the holy dip will continue till 2030 hrs today.

However, the fair will continue for another week that will virtually transform into an all religious fest with the appearance of people of different religious communities. People of Matua community, living in different states of the country from Maharastra to North eastern states and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh would be visiting Thakur Bari during the festival. The Baruni fair that was initiated at the birth place of Harichand and Guru Chand Thakur in Orakandi village of Gopalpur in present Bangladesh was shifted at Thakurnagar a year after independence.



Harichand Thakur was a prominent social worker and founder of Matua religion, has been adored like god among his followers. His birth anniversary since 1950 has become an occasion for the believers to make a pilgrimage in this district bordering with Bangladesh.

The people, basically underpriviledged of undivided Bengal at Goalpara, presently in Bangladesh, follow Matua.

Harichand Thakur and his descendant Guru Chand are regarded as deities to the crores of people of this part of the country and are worshipped daily.



The devotees after taking holy dip in the "Kamanasagar," a large tank, adjacent to the temple and offer pujas and leave the place after being blessed by the Barama, the present spiritual head of the Matuas, Binapani Thakur.

The Mahamela, virtually a secular thought, becomes a meeting place for walks of life for almost a fortnight every year this time.

Even veteran Marxist and state trasport minister Subhas Chakrabarty along with some of his followers and a minister from Tripura visited the place and paid a courtesy visit to the "Barama" last night at the Thakurbari.

Eastern Railway has also made special arrangement to run trains to and fro on Sealdah-Bangaon section for the devotees.




Menwhile, a senior CPI(M) leader on Thursday said the party-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala had committed mistakes and the police firing in Nandigram was one among them. MARXISTS alwyas refused CASTE SYSTEM and MANUSMRITI realities but now it practices the DALITOLOGY and CASTEOLOGY having passed the DALIT AGENDA in HYDERABAD Conference. BIMAN BOSE and ANIL Sarkar have been PROACTIVE to mobilise SC, ST and OBC even after denying the IDENTITY and EXISTENCE of OBC in West Bengal thanks to BASUDEV BURMAN COMMISSION. MR Burman was elected as a CPIM Candidate from MATHURAPUR last time and is fielded in RANAGHAT this time. Nandigram is populated by SC, OBC and minority communities mostly. Sachhar COMMITTEE report has exposed the MARXISTS and their so much hyped SECULAR POLITICS.



WOOING MATUAS CPIM reminds its BETRAYALS since Partition, Refugee Movement and MARICHJHANPI!



Our governments in Bengal and Kerala committed errors. We corrected those errors. We have an institutional mechanism to do that. We hope we get results for that," CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M K Pandhe told reporters in NEW DELHI.He was responding to a question about their expectations from both the States in terms of seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections.



Refusing to speculate on the numbers, Pandhe said the Left Front in Bengal has not been allowed to carry forward their development policies due to opposition by an alliance led by Trinamool Congress, indicating the pullout by the Tatas of its Nano car project from Singur.



Asked about the "mistakes" committed by the Left-led governments, he said, "police firing in Nandigram was one. (West Bengal Chief Minister) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself has admitted it."



On repeated questions on Kerala, the veteran Marxist leader said he "did not want to list" the mistakes committed by the Left Democratic Front government there but indicated that factionalism in the State was an issue.



In a veiled reference to the factional feud in Kerala, Pandhe pointed out that at one point of time, Chief Minister V S Achutanandan and CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan were suspended from the Polit Bureau.



Their suspension was later revoked.



"This is the only party, which has a mechanism to correct itself. You should appreciate it. This is the only party, which can suspend its senior leaders," he said.



The Congress Thursday expressed hope that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) would “realise” its mistake of withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government over the India-US civil nuclear deal.
The Congress reaction came on the day the CPI-M admitted that the government controlled by it in West Bengal committed errors in Nandigram and Singur.

“They (CPI-M) will realise that withdrawal of support to the government was also a mistake,” union minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

The CPI-M-led Left parties withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in July 2008 to protest the government’s decision to sign the civil nuclear deal with the US.

Earlier in the day, CPI-M politburo member M.K. Pandhe said the party-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala had committed “errors”.

“We corrected those errors. We have an institutional mechanism to do that. We hope we get results for that,” Pandhe told reporters while releasing the party pamphlet on ‘Workers chargesheet against UPA government and folder on condition of the urban poor” here.

Refusing to elaborate on the errors committed in Kerala, Pandhe said West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has himself admitted that police firing in Nandigram was a mistake.

Fourteen people were killed and many




My DIDIMA, the mother of JETHIMA, late PRABHAVATI Devi belonged to ORAKANDI HARICHAND GURUCHAND family. I could not read much about the Matua Movement and the IDEOLOGY of Harichand Guruchand Tahkur during my early childhood.

BEING in touch with the BLOOD of the GRAND INDIGENOUS Legacy, Me and SABITA were stunned on TUESDAY to see a POLLUTED KAMANASAGAR where lacs of DEVOTEES had to take a DIP. Fortunatly, SABITA DISCARDED the BATH PLAN as hse intended seeing the poor status of the POND! We learnt so many things about involvement of MLA and MP quota, govt and political INITIATIVE to DEVELOP MATUADHAM, but we found about a dozen SANITATION Arrngment INSUFFICIENT and the INCOMPLETE ENBANKMENT of the HOLY POND , the KAMNASAGAR only!

It is quite SYMBOLIC as MATUA religion and MOVEMNET are also POLLUTED by POLITICS and lack the MOBILISATION enough to FOLLOW the PRINCIPLES of HARICHAND THAKUR and GURUCHAND THAKUR! The movement is not a SOCIAL MOVEMENT it is only a SUBJECTIVE EXPLOSION of BELIEF and SUPERSTITION to be EVAPORATED as soon soon as the MATUAS disband. IT is LIMITED within the BEATS of DANKA, the DRUMS. The RANASINGHA, the WAR PIPES are ABSENT. It is all about REINCARNATION and does not refer to the GREAT HISTORY of ABORIGINAL INDIGENOUS SOCIAL and LAND movements, THE UNTOUCHABLE RENAISSANCE, The UNTOUCHABILITY ABOLISH MOVEMENT led by GURUCHAND THAKER, the INDIGO REVOLT led by HARICHAND THAKUR, the links to Jogendra Nath Mandal, Mukunda Bihari MALLICK, CR DAS, MAHATMA GANDHI, NETAJI and DR BR AMBEDKAR.

We are DISASOCIATED with the AWAKENING, EDUCATION, MOBILASTION, ORGANISATION and MOVEMENT as HARICHAND THAKUR and GURUCHAND THAKUR did PREACHED and PRACTICED and LED to liberation of the BLACK UNTOUCHABLES worldwide!

I got a little OPPORTUNITY to speak to MANJUL THAKUR but we discussed and HE ALSO OUTLINED well the DANGERS and the POLLUTION! I am LUCKY that the MAN talked me so GENTLE and GENEROUS who TURNED out a MAN Like SUBHASH CHAKROBARTI

I agree with MANJUL THAKUR to maintain NON POLITICAL social CHARACTER of MATUA MOVEMNET as the medium of UPLIFTMENT of INDIGENOUS ABORIGINAL PEOPLE. But let me allow to say that the CLEANING of the ROT is an EMERGENT TASK. We have to PLAN and REARRANGE AN INTERACIVE AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM and the THAKURBADI should lead it.

For me, I am not to blame the THAKUR BADI ofr MATUA MAHASANGH for the CHAOS and MISMANAGEMENT. IT is the sole RESPONSIBILITY of our PEOPLE who gather to a STRENGTH of NO LESS THAN TWENTY FIVE LACS and depend on the ENEMY CAMP to arrange and MANAGE our system, our legacy and our movemet. It is SHAME on US and only us that the POLITICAL POWERS BRAHAMINICAL dare to tryu to take over our LEGACY

I found MR MANJUL THAKUR a STRONG MAN we should stand UNITED ROCK SOLID for an ENERGETIC, EMPOWERED, DEMOCRATIC RESURRECTION of HARICHAND THAKUR and GURUCHAND THAKUR legacy as it happens the only ESCAPE ROUTE to survive in INDIAN and SOUTH ASIAN KILLINGFIELDS!

I am thankful to MR THAKUR that he spared some time to interact with us!

Till Monday night, the stretch of Jessore Road between Thakurnagar and Bongaon was a mess. From Tuesday morning, gangs of workmen got busy repairing the road, even as thousands of devotees passed by on their way to the Baruni Mela in Thakurnagar.

Politicians are leaving no stone unturned to woo the nearly 3 million members of the Matua community who make an annual pilgrimage to Thakurnagar but those in charge of the Matua Mahasangha are not impressed. They say that the government provides no assistance in organizing the mela.

Manjul thakur who made sreaming headlines on Wednesday newsapers for TURNING down CPIM MINISTER SUBHASH CHAKROBARTI`s offer for GOV TAKEOVER and MANAGEMENT of the MELA. Mind you, the RULING LEFT FRONT did everything to woo the MATUA VOTERS in THAKURNAGAR as TWENTY FIVE lacs of them gathered in THAKURNAGAR on TUESDAY. CPIM CANDIDATE ASHIM BALA visited BAROMA with SUBHASH CHAKRABARTI. Our frined and guide, the poet and MARXIST Minister from TRIPURA who won SATSANG to ensure LEFT VICTORY in TRIPURA ASSEMBLY also visited BAROMA on TUESDAY. However, this time, he did not call me!

It is a surprise for me why BASUDEV BURMAN who is a CPIM candidate nearby RANAGHAT seat did not visit MATUADHAM.

EVERY way and avenue leading to MATUA DHAM were packed up with POSTERS and FASTOONS of LEFT FRONT with FULL SIZE photo of ASHIM BALA.

TMC did not lag behind as it decorated the gates with the BANNERS with the PHOTO of MS MAMATA BANNERJEE as well as BAROMA. I wonder how MATUA MAHASANGH allowed this claiming NON POLITICAL.

MANJUL THAKUR was bitter enough to speak on POLITICALISATION of MATUA RELIGION.

He also talked against AMBEDKARISATION of MATUA RELIGION.

He told me that MATUA MAHASANGH has no connection with POTTERU or NANITAL Cntre of MATUA MOVEMENT.

HE is also against the ACADEMIC research contradicting the INCARNATION of HARICHAND THAKUR and GURUCHAND Thakur.

Me and SABITA were shocked to see the SUPERSTITIOUS FOLLOWING without any SOCIAL RELEVANCE which had been advocated most by HARICHAND as well as GURUCHAND THAKUR. It is alarming that we could not meet the people coming from different parts of the country and abroad. It was COMPLETE CHAOS and ANRCHY as no body could give us any clue to locate our people from different regions. There is no meeting, no discussion not even any arrangement of COLLECTIVE FOODING.

Though it was very hard to plan the INTERACTIONS , we may agree as every HOME in between BANGAON to BARASAT have become REFUGE CAMPS of MATUAS. They lived there and COOKED there and participated in BARUNI Mela. There had been no statewise or district wise camp of devotees anywhere in the MATUA DHAM PREMISES

BASANTIPUR, my village had been the MATUA Centre until LALIT GUSAIN brethed his last. The GUSAI called my CHHOTOKAKA his GODFATHER for a reason unknown to me.

We are just a UNITED Family the BASANTIPUR people even today.

But in fifties and sixties, the BOND was stronger.

The VILLAGE was established by my late father PULIN BABU and his comrades from EAST BENGAL who had been dumped in the dense forest of GIM Corbett fame JUNGLE of Nainital terai.

They have traveled from different districts of EAST Bengal and landed in WEST BENGAL Refugee camps.

They mobilised AGITATION and the agitaters were transferred to CHARBETIA camp, near CUTTUCK which is a MILITARY base nowadays.

They were the most proactive refugees and hence PUNISHED to be dumped in Nainital.

In Nainital, my father led the first ever REFUGEE Movement in UTTAR PRADESH in 1956 after which BASATIPUR, PANCHANANPUR and UDAI NAGAR villages were established. Dineshpur Bengali Area had already thirty three colonies established during 1952 to 1954.

In 1958, Pulin Babu led the DHIMRI BLOCK Peasants` UPRISING on the line of TELENGANA!

My father was a COMMUNIST in fifties. He was not religious. Since I was influenced by him in the earlier stage of life, I had no interestwhatsoever in RELIGION or RITUALS. The ladies at home, speciall my THAKUMA Shanti Devi and DIDIMA Prabhavati DEVI perfomed all the rituals. My CHOTOKAKA was a Mediacl practicener as well as a HARD CORE ATHEIST.

But the legend of Harichand Thakur and GURUCHAND Thakur was very effective to participate inMATUA MAHOTSAVA at LALIT GUSAI`s home. Matua teams from different villages of DINESHPUR as well as SHAKTIFARM in Naninital and also from different other districts used to visit BASANTIPUR.

I visited THAKUR NAGAR, MATUA DHAM in North 24 Pargans on WEDNESDAY, next day to BARUNI BATH.

My wife SABITA also originally belong to ORAKANDI village and her father late SATISH BISWAS was a well known Matua. Since, I had been in DANDAKARANYA to participate in Matua UTSAV in POTTERU and TIRUDIH, SABITA insisted to go to THAKUR NAGAR hwere I had been with my father in 1973 to see the LEGENDARY MP PR THAKUR, a memebr of CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY! I talked to NANDA GOPAL MAHANT and DR Jagadish haldar who adviced me to skip BARUNI BATH considering Sabita`s health. For a precaution we took with us TUMPA, our ex domestic help who is like an adopted DAUGHTER to us.

We met BAROMA, the widow of PR THAKUR and MANJUL THAKUR, the younger son of the 91 year lady.

Coincidentally, my SHAKTIFARM friend NIRMALENDU, who is RICE MILL Owner and a MATUA leader in GADCHIROLI was present with his family in the THAKURBADI. Nirmalendu introduced me to MANJUL THAKUR who immediately recognised the relation and specilly my father!

I had been knowing that PR THAKUR visited our place in my childhood. manjul Thakur corrected me and informed, not his father, but he himself with BAROMA visited BASANTIPUR in 1968 while I was a student of CLASS SIX and knew nothing about MATUA Religion nor did I Know anything about the INDIGENOUS history of our people and Bengal!

Devotees have to seek shelter in houses of locals. Sometimes, they are forced to spend the night in the open. Fortunately, the weather is fine this year. At times, they stayed out in the rain. Unlike other locations like Gangasagar, no temporary shelters are built by the district administration. There are some medical camps set up by NGOs. The administration sink some tube-wells, knowing fully well that the water has arsenic. Throughout the year, they tell us not to drink the water unless it is drawn from a certain depth. During the mela, devotees are forced to drink contaminated water," says Rabi Haldar, joint secretary of the Baruni Mela committee.

There is no denying that members of the community are among the most disciplined. Though no arrangements are made by the administration to regulate the stream of devotees, there is little chaos. Trouble does break out at times, mainly over traffic movement.
The skirmishes could be avoided, had the movement of lorries and buses been controlled. On one occasion on Tuesday, a stampede like situation developed on a narrow road leading to Thakurbari. Women had to jump into a pond to escape. Not a single policeman was in sight, even as windscreens of vehicles were smashed and mobs pelted stones at each other. This, a day after the high court directed the administration to provide adequate security at the Mela.


.


In Bangladesh,the Maha Baruni Bath Festival of the believers of the Hindu religion began at village Orakandi under Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj early Tuesday.
The fair is organised every year marking the birth anniversary of Hindu priest Sri Sri Harichand Thakur, who was born in the village 184 years ago.
As they believe that Harichand’s residence is one of the holiest places containing holy water, thousands of pilgrims take baths in Kamona Sagar and Dudh Sagar — two ponds in the residence — on the date of his birth ‘to purify them with the holy water and to be cured of their diseases.’
Thousands of pilgrims from across the country, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand attended the festival.
Meanwhile, a three-day Baruni Mela, a traditional fair, began near Bualmary field under Boda upazila in Panchagarh on Monday.
Hundreds of people, including women and children started visiting different makeshift shops within the fair premises. Household articles, entertainment such as circus, jatra, doll dance and acrobatic feats with motor cycle are featuring in the fair.

Lalu, Mulayam, Paswan form 'secular alliance' within RULING UPA!In bad tidings giving a severe jolt for Congress in the South and North, a key UPA constituent, PMK, decided on Thursday to switch sides to align with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, dumping the DMK-led front that had swept the last Lok Sabha polls. In a parallel development bringing heavy pressure on Congress, UPA constituents RJD and LJP and Samajwadi Party announced on a "secular alliance" to unitedly contest 120 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the Congress has no allies.

Sensex closes above 10,000 mark!Inflation moved towards zero by declining to 0.27 per cent for the second week of March, even as essential food prices continued to remain high due to high MSP and inadequate production of pulses and coarse cereals. The 0.17 percentage point decline in wholesale prices inflation from 0.44 per cent during the week ended March 7 was also attributed partly to a high base effect as the rate of price rise was 8.02 per cent in the same period a year ago. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said the Indian economy is not heading towards deflation despite inflation nearing the zero-level in the past few weeks.He further said that the inflation rate would go down very sharply. "It can go to zero or may even be negative for a week or two. It has happened in the past...during 1970s the inflation rate became negative for a brief period. But I don't expect that there would be deflation at all now," Ahluwalia added.

Cong should be ashamed for ‘anti-Sikh acts’, Maneka Gandhi launches a MISSILE to defend her son Barun Gandhi charged with HATE SPEECH!Breaking her silence over her son's alleged hate speech, Varun Gandhi's mother and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Congress, saying the party was taking up the case to ‘conceal’ its ‘anti-Sikh acts’.Ironically, the report of the Pilibhit district authorities on alleged distribution of money by BJP Lok Sabha nominee Varun Gandhi has been forwarded to the Election Commission for further action, a senior official has said. The State Electoral Office has forwarded the Pilibhit District Magistrate's report on alleged distribution of money by Gandhi during a rally on March 4 to the Election Commission, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha told reporters here on Wednesday.

As BJP leader Varun Gandhi, actor-turned-politician Govinda and SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav face Election Commission notices for alleged distribution of cash to people prior to elections, a survey reveals that the practice has in fact grown over the years. The recent survey by Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Media Studies (CMS) also says that the menace is not limited to any single belt but prevalent in all parts of the country, including the literate states.
Titled 'Alarming trend of purchasing voters', the report found that Karnataka topped the country in voters being bribed to cast their vote in favour of a particular political party for money.

On the other hand,India faces the threat of another major terror attack after the audacious 26/11 Mumbai strikes with the "jihadist insurgency" intensifying along the western border and Pakistan seemingly losing control of its militant proxies, a leading US think tank has warned. India already has "an array of militant threats" to deal with, ranging from Naxalites to northeastern insurgents to Kashmiri militants, Stratfor said in its latest analysis.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), which has now been shifted to South Africa, was the prime target of a large scale terrorist strike by Islamic militants, on the lines of 26/11, targeting a host of foreign cricket players, a leading American think-tank has said. Games being played in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were more on the terrorist hit list, it said.
"The Indian intelligence apparatus is thought to have warned the central government of a flood of specific threats against both Indian and foreign cricket players," said Stratfor.
A day after senior Army commander claimed that militants are waiting to infiltrate into the Valley from PoK, Army is engaged in an operation against the infiltrators in the forests of Gurez Valley near Line of Control (LoC).
Sources said that a fresh group of infiltrators has been spotted and intercepted by the troops in the forests of Gurez. “Yes, an operation is going on in Gurez Valley,” Defense spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said. He, however, refused to divulge more details about the operation.
Gurez is also one of the traditional routes that militant had been using in early spring to sneak into the Valley. On Wednesday, Brigade General Staff 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh had said that more militants from across the Line of Control are waiting to sneak into the Valley. “We are prepared to tackle any infiltration attempt on the LOC,” he said.
On March 20, Army intercepted a big militant group in the forests of Drangyari and Hafradu. In the operation, 17 militants and eight soldiers were killed. After the fresh reports of infiltration troops have been put on a high alert.
Meanwhile,stung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attack on its senior leader L K Advani, the BJP on Thursday accused him of indulging in ‘communal politics’ by reminding people about Babri Masjid demolition ahead of the elections. BJP president Rajnath Singh said reference to the demolition amounted to ‘instigating’ a particular community on the eve of polls.
"We were surprised. It was not expected from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to say all this," the BJP chief said in an interview. He was commenting on the attack on Advani by the Prime Minister who had said that the BJP leader had played a ‘prominent role in Babri Masjid destruction’.
After nearly three months, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex regained the 10,000 point level on Thursday as speculators indulged in covering their pending positions amid firming overseas trends.
The Sensex, which has been on a four-day winning streak, added 335.20 points, or 3.47 per cent, to end at 10,003.10, a level last seen on January 5, as major market players and speculators indulged in covering their pending positions on expiry of monthly settlements in derivatives.
Buying also picked up following reports of better-than-expected US economic data, and increased new home sales eased concerns on the economic crisis getting worse.
The Sensex touched the day's high of 10,061.36 and a low of 9,739.93 points amid choppy trading activity.

Hitting back at Congress, two UPA constituents and an ally, RJD, LJP and SP, announced the formation of a "secular alliance" that will contest 120 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar unitedly.
"We three are together. We will fight jointly in North India. We will not clash with each other in the two states having 120 Lok Sabha seats," Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh declared at a press conference in New Delhi.
LJP Chief Ram Vilas Paswan said in Patna that he had talked to SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD leader Lalu Prasad and the three parties would provide an "alternative" in the fight against "communal forces".
Singh said a formal announcement of the alliance would be made at a function here on March 30. He also announced that Paswan has agreed to drop his plans to field former Prime Minister V P Singh's son Ajay Singh from Fatehpur seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The SP leader's assertion comes close on the heels of Congress announcing that it would contest most of the 40 seats in Bihar and a large number of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
In the last one week, the three parties have been drifting away from Congress after it announced its plans to contest against the allies in a number of seats in the two states in the wake of failure of seat-sharing talks.
Hitting back at Congress, two UPA constituents and an ally, RJD, LJP and SP, announced the formation of a "secular alliance" that will contest 120 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar unitedly.
"We three are together. We will fight jointly in North India. We will not clash with each other in the two states having 120 Lok Sabha seats," Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh declared at a press conference in New Delhi.
LJP Chief Ram Vilas Paswan said in Patna that he had talked to SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD leader Lalu Prasad and the three parties would provide an "alternative" in the fight against "communal forces".
Singh said a formal announcement of the alliance would be made at a function here on March 30. He also announced that Paswan has agreed to drop his plans to field former Prime Minister V P Singh's son Ajay Singh from Fatehpur seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The SP leader's assertion comes close on the heels of Congress announcing that it would contest most of the 40 seats in Bihar and a large number of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
In the last one week, the three parties have been drifting away from Congress after it announced its plans to contest against the allies in a number of seats in the two states in the wake of failure of seat-sharing talks.

ISI operatives aiding Taliban in Afghanistan: Report
New York Operatives in Pakistan's military intelligence are directly aiding Taliban's campaign in southern Afghanistan, despite official claims that ISI has severed all relations with the extremists, a media report said in New York on Thursday.
The Taliban's widening campaign in southern Afghanistan is made possible in part by direct support from operatives in Pakistan's military intelligence agency, the 'New York Times' said, citing US government officials.
The support, it said consists of money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance to Taliban commanders who are gearing up to confront the international force in Afghanistan that will soon include some 17,000 American reinforcements.
Support for Taliban and other militant groups is coordinated by operatives in the shadowy S Wing of Pakistan's spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, the officials were quoted as saying.
It said there is even evidence that ISI operatives meet regularly with Taliban commanders to discuss whether to intensify or scale back violence before Afghan elections.
The report contradicted oft repeated claims by Pakistan's top officials that ISI has cut-off all relations with Taliban and other militant groups. But the inability or unwillingness, of the embattled civilian government to break ties that bind the ISI to the militants illustrates the complexities of a region of shifting alliances, it said.
In a sign of just how resigned Western officials are to the ties, the Times quoted one official as saying that the UK government has sent several dispatches to Islamabad in recent months asking that the ISI use its strategy meetings with the Taliban to persuade its commanders to scale back violence in Afghanistan before the August presidential election there.
US officials admit they are struggling to understand these allegiances as they fight an insurgency in Afghanistan.
But the Pakistanis told the paper that the contacts were less threatening than the US officials depicted and were part of a strategy to maintain influence in Afghanistan for the day when American forces would withdraw and leave what they fear could be a power vacuum to be filled by India.
"In intelligence you have to be in contact with your enemy or you are running blind," a senior Pakistani military officer said.
Details of the ISI's continuing ties to militant groups, the Times said, were described by a half-dozen American, Pakistani and other security officials during recent interviews in Washington and the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
The American officials were quoted as saying proof of the ties between the Taliban and Pakistani spies came from electronic surveillance and trusted informants. The Pakistani officials interviewed by the paper said that they had first hand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency.
American officials, the paper said, have complained for more than a year about the ISI's support to groups like the Taliban. But the new details reveal that the spy agency is aiding a broader array of militant networks with more diverse types of support than was previously known - months after Pakistani officials said that the days of the ISI's playing a "double game" had ended.
But American officials told the paper that it is unlikely that top officials in Islamabad are directly coordinating the clandestine efforts. They have also said that mid-level ISI operatives occasionally cultivate relationships that are not approved by their bosses.

Chandala
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"Chandal" redirects here. For the town in Bangladesh, see Chandal, Bangladesh.
Chandala (चांडाल) or Chandal is an opprobrious term, reserved for a despised group of peoples in India by people of India in the Sanskritic literature. Currently it is a caste title used specifically in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions of India. Usage of the term is also noted in ancient and medieval literature of Sri Lanka, South India which is generally Dravidian speaking and in the Indo-China region.

Chandala as a term of despised caste was used even in Dravidian speaking South India and amongst the Prakrit speaking people who migrated from North India into Sri Lanka. But this term is no longer in vogue in these regions. Sandala has become a swear term in the colloquial usage of the Tamil language. Chandal continues to be a derogatory expletive used to refer to a mean person in North India.

Many Dalit castes in north India are still referred to as Chanadalas. and it is a general term to denote any similar caste, as well. They are noted in Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal. In Bengal they have changed their name to Namasudra to escape the negative effects of the terminology.


[edit] In literature
The term Chandala was used in the Manu Smriti or the codes of caste segregation to the Mahabharata the religious epic. It was also used as a synonym for Domba indicating the terms were interchangeable. Instead, it is a general opprobrious term.

In the early Vedic literature several castes spoken of in the Smritis as Antyajas occur. We have Carmanna (a tanner of hides) in the Rig Veda (VIII.8,38) the Chandala and Paulkasa occur in Vaj. S., the Vepa or Vapta (barber) even in the Rig., the Vidalakara or Bidalakar (corresponding to the Buruda of the Smritis) occurs in the Vaj.S. and the Tai, Br. Vasahpalpuli (washer woman) corresponding to the Rajakas of the Smritis in Vaj.S.

According to Fa Hien, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India in the early 4th century AD said Throughout the country the people kill no living thing nor drink wine, nor do they eat garlic or onion, with the exception of Chandalas only. The Chandalas are named 'evil men' and dwell apart from others; if they enter a town or market, they sound a piece of wood in order to separate themselves; then, men knowing they are, avoid coming in contact with them. In this country they do not keep swine nor fowls, and do not deal in cable; they have no shambles or wine shops in their market-places. In selling they use cowrie shells. The Chandalas only hunt and sell flesh. Thus indicating even by then they have been segregated from the mainstream society as untouchables.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche described the Jewish and Christian religions with the term Chandala ("Tschandala") in his works The Antichrist and The Twilight of the Idols. Nietzsche's use of this term was influenced by the French writer Louis Jacolliot, and his work Les législateurs religieux, Manou, Moïse, Mahomet. Nietzsche also claimed that every great spirit has experienced, "as one stage in his development", the stigma of being a Chandala; not because others consider him this way, but because he feels and senses within himself a profound schizm and alienation from the world. [Not correct -- confusion between Chandala and Catiline: Nietzsche hates Chandala. What he says is that "every genius knows, as one stage of his development, the 'Catilinarian existence' -- a feeling of hatred, revenge, and rebellion against everything which already is, which no longer becomes."]


[edit] References
Chanadalas amongst Sinhalese in Sri Lanka
Regulations against the Chandalas in Maharshatra
Namasudra a new term for Chandalas of Bengal
Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola

[edit] External links
Chandala in Tamil Nadu Bakthi movement
Matanga Jataka Jataka Pali No.497
Chandal Slums in Gujarat
Chandala versus Doms
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandala"

Congress -TC backed by Maoists killed our cadre: CPI(M) Polit Bureau
New Delhi (PTI): Condemning the killing of eight of its cadre in West Bengal, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau on Wednesday alleged that the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance backed by Maoists were unleashing a campaign of terror and violence against its supporters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

"These targetted assassinations of CPI(M) is part of a nefarious design by Trinamool Congress and its Maoist collaborators to create terror and disrupt the CPI(M) and the Left Front's election campaign and to intimidate their supporters," the CPI(M)'s Polit Bureau said in a statement.

Denouncing the violence, the party said people of West Bengal will not be cowed down by such violent attacks.

CPI(M) said eight workers were killed till the 18th of this month and seven were killed in the month of February.

The party also appealed to all democratic forces to condemn these "brutal" attacks.



CPM alleges terror campaign against cadres

NEW DELHI, March 25: The CPI-M said on Wednesday that the Trinamul Congress-Congress alliance in West Bengal, backed by Maoists, had unleashed a “vicious campaign of terror and violence” against CPI-M cadres in the state after the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.
In March so far, the party politburo said, eight cadres and activists of the CPI-M were brutally killed in various parts of West Bengal. Five party members were killed on a single day on 18 March, it said.
Assassination of cadres in March were a “part of a nefarious design by the Trinamul Congress and its Maoist collaborators to create terror and disrupt the CPI-M and Left Front’s election campaign and to intimidate their supporters,” the politburo charged. The party appealed to all democratic forces to condemn the attacks.
CPM slams farm policies
Continuing its election-eve “expose” of government failures, the CPI-M also released pamphlets on agriculture and Bharat Nirman and said the farm sector was devoid of infrastructure and witnessing suicides due to faulty policies. Politburo members Mr SR Pillai and Mr K Vardarajan told reporters the farmers’ debt waiver scheme had failed to give them any relief on loans taken from private money-lenders. As a result, there were 69,064 farmer suicides in the first four years of UPA rule, they said. The share of agriculture had fallen from 5.8 per cent of total Plan investment in the seventh five year Plan to 3.7 per cent in the 11th Plan, the party said. On the NREGA, the party charged that the government made every possible effort to cut allocation and curtail the rightful share of the workers. Referring to Bharat Nirman targets of rural telephony, all weather connectivity, safe drinking water, electrification and housing, it said the government insisted on a “bizarre” public-private partnership model, and progress was slow.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=248235



Agriculture, rural India suffered during UPA rule, says CPI(M)





Special Correspondent







“In the first four years of the UPA regime 69,064 farmers committed suicide”









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Crucial proposals of the M.S. Swaminathan-led National Commission of Farmers not implemented

Rhetoric on increasing public investment in agriculture not matched by outlays


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NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday continued its campaign against the Congress-led UPA reign charging that people depending on agriculture and living in rural India suffered during the last five years.

Contesting the claims of a high growth rate of 10 per cent, the party said the rate of growth in agriculture was around 2.4 per cent and during the quarter ending December last year, it recorded a negative growth of – 2.2 per cent of agricultural GDP.

“In the first four years of the UPA regime 69,064 farmers have committed suicide i.e. one farmer committed suicide every 30 minutes,” the party said in the campaign booklet “Lies, Deceit and Demagogy: The UPA Report Card in Agriculture.”

Party Polit Bureau members S. Ramachandran Pillai and K. Varadarajan released the material that included a folder entitled “Bharat Nirman – New Deal or Raw Deal for rural India.”

The party said the Congress claimed that 36 million farm households benefited under the loan waiver scheme but this did not even account for 50 per cent of the total indebted.

It charged that the UPA government refused to implement crucial proposals of the M.S. Swaminathan-led National Commission of Farmers to reduce the interest rates to four per cent and for the universalisation of crop insurance under the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme.

The booklet said the “rhetoric on increasing public investment in agriculture” was not matched by outlays and that the CPI(M) and Left parties prevented the government’s “concerted efforts to dilute and subvert” the NREGP .

It said farmers were not getting remunerative prices for their produce, and jobs in agriculture were decreasing sharply. The party also said the government struck a deal with global agribusiness and went for the Indo-U.S. knowledge initiative on agriculture research and education.

Criticising the Bharat Nirman programme, it said the public-private partnership model was unsuitable and likely to achieve little apart from fat payments to consultants and private contractors.

By December 2008, only 17.95 per cent of targeted rural households have been electrified and only 52 per cent of the targeted rural villages. The actual number of households without electricity is about 8.4 crore, it said.

Targets not met





As for rural roads, the folder noted that only 55 per cent of the target has been achieved in terms of length and 34 per cent in terms of habitation.

Similarly in rural drinking water supply, only 57 per cent of uncovered and 43 per cent of quality-affected habitation targets have been met. Targets for rural telephony and rural housing too have not been met.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/26/stories/2009032654691000.htm


Tug Of War Over Matua Millions 26 Mar 2009, 0517 hrs IST, Jayanta Gupta, TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Tug-Of-War-Over-Matua-Millions/articleshow/4316358.cms

A huge cutout of CPM candidate from Bongaon Asim Bala greets the unending stream of devotees on their way to Baruni Mela in Thakurnagar. A few
hundred yards down the narrow road, a gate bears photographs of Mamata Banerjee, paying her respects to Barama the religious leader of the 50-million strong Matua community in the country.

Over 10 million of them (read voters in election season) live in Bengal alone. What's more, in the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency the Matuas are more than a force to reckon with. They may be the deciding factor.

The number is enough to understand why transport minister Subhas Chakraborty and Left Front leader from Tripura Anil Sarkar went all the way to Thakurnagar. Chakraborty touched the feet of Binapani Devi (the Matua guru) on Tuesday evening and made many promises.

Mamata was not to be left out. "Barama ke amar sotokoti pronam (My deepest respects to Barama)," says one of her banners. Apart from Mamata, it bears the names of Trinamool Congress candidate Gobinda Naskar and Gaighata MLA Jyotipriya Mullick. Another Trinamool gate welcomes the devotees and has photographs of Mamata, Barama and the mela grounds.

No politics here, apparently. Save for a banner on one of the pillars of the gate, dedicating it to the memory of Singur's Tapasi Mullick. After all Tapasi was a Scheduled Caste girl and so are the Matuas.

Even Bahujan Samaj Party has put up banners on the way to the mela ground in Thakurnagar, some 75 km from Kolkata, close to the India-Bangladesh border of Petrapole.

The week-long Baruni Mela attracts 2.5-3 million devotees every year but rarely has the Thakurbari, where the mela is organized, been a popular destination for political parties. Party banners and gates line the roads. Shelters with drinking water facilities have been set up. Elsewhere, political workers guide devotees and help them find parking spaces or a place to spend the night.

Ever since the mela started on Tuesday, Jyotipriya Mullick and Forward Bloc MLA Haripada Biswas have set up camp at Thakurnagar. At the Trinamool rally held at Gaighata on Monday evening, both Gobinda Naskar and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar candidate from neighbouring Barasat were seen sporting badges of the Matua Mahasangha.

The Matua community is not particularly pleased with this fawning by political parties. "Everybody can come here and seek Barama's blessings. We know that this huge gathering looks very attractive to all political parties. After all, people from across the state congregate here. However, we shall not allow any political party to use this platform for their own purposes," said Rabi Haldar, vice-president of the advisory committee to the Mahasangha and joint secretary of the mela committee.

"Gates and banners have been put up without the knowledge of the Mahasabha. We also do not like Barama's photographs being used by parties. We cannot prevent anybody from coming here but we can request political leaders to get in touch with the Mahasangha before trying to get in touch with the devotees."

The Matua community primarily consists of the lower castes who migrated from Bangladesh. They follow the teachings of Harichand and Guruchand Thakur. The latter's grandson Pramatha Ranjan Thakur gave up his practice as a barrister at Calcutta High Court to become the president of the Mahasangha. On March 13, 1948, he founded Thakurnagar after purchasing the land from one Janad Kumari Dasi.

Parties are falling over each other to woo the Mahasangha as the Matuas are one of the best organized communities in the country. The community is divided into registered groups of 500 in all districts, each having a dalapati (group head). Every group has to have a membership of at least 11. In villages where Matuas are fewer in number, heads of families are allotted membership cards with the names of family members. Every family has to pay Rs 5 per month or Rs 50 per year as membership fees. In this way, the Mahasangha keeps stock of all members of the community. No wonder, those in the Mahasangha wield considerable influence over the members.

"The Mahasangha does not have any political affiliation. We do not tell anybody to vote for a particular political party. However, the Mahasangha has the power to call upon all members and ask them to rally behind us for any cause that affects the community. This is why political parties find us so powerful," Haldar adds.

Matua leaders say that Trinamool MLA Jyotipriya Mullick has been by their side for years. In the last few months, others have joined in and extended largesse for development of the Thakurbari. Former MP Debabrata Biswas and MP Subrata Basu have donated Rs 15 lakh each towards setting up of an old-age home in the complex. Mamata has donated Rs 33 lakh towards renovation of the Thakurbari pond (known as Kamanasagar) where devotees take a dip. She has promised Rs 60 lakh more for the renovation.

The Matua leadership do not mind donations whether they are from politicians or community members. However, they firmly believe that today's politicians are a far cry from the likes of P R Thakur, who had been an MLA as well as an MP during his lifetime. There are problems of development within the community that no political party has been able to address. It seems that mere chin-wagging during the Baruni Mela will not suffice to woo the Matua voters.

Hindu Bathing Festival is a Refugee get together
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-E9zYOAknfqPYpJwqKFg-?cq=1&tag=thakurnagar

A huge cutout of CPM candidate from Bongaon Asim Bala greets the unending stream of devotees on their way to Baruni Mela in Thakurnagar. A few
hundred yards down the narrow road, a gate bears photographs of Mamata Banerjee, paying her respects to Barama the religious leader of the 50-million strong Matua community in the country.

Over 10 million of them (read voters in election season) live in Bengal alone. What's more, in the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency the Matuas are more than a force to reckon with. They may be the deciding factor.

The number is enough to understand why transport minister Subhas Chakraborty and Left Front leader from Tripura Anil Sarkar went all the way to Thakurnagar. Chakraborty touched the feet of Binapani Devi (the Matua guru) on Tuesday evening and made many promises.

Mamata was not to be left out. "Barama ke amar sotokoti pronam (My deepest respects to Barama)," says one of her banners. Apart from Mamata, it bears the names of Trinamool Congress candidate Gobinda Naskar and Gaighata MLA Jyotipriya Mullick. Another Trinamool gate welcomes the devotees and has photographs of Mamata, Barama and the mela grounds.

No politics here, apparently. Save for a banner on one of the pillars of the gate, dedicating it to the memory of Singur's Tapasi Mullick. After all Tapasi was a Scheduled Caste girl and so are the Matuas.

Even Bahujan Samaj Party has put up banners on the way to the mela ground in Thakurnagar, some 75 km from Kolkata, close to the India-Bangladesh border of Petrapole.

The week-long Baruni Mela attracts 2.5-3 million devotees every year but rarely has the Thakurbari, where the mela is organized, been a popular destination for political parties. Party banners and gates line the roads. Shelters with drinking water facilities have been set up. Elsewhere, political workers guide devotees and help them find parking spaces or a place to spend the night.

Ever since the mela started on Tuesday, Jyotipriya Mullick and Forward Bloc MLA Haripada Biswas have set up camp at Thakurnagar. At the Trinamool rally held at Gaighata on Monday evening, both Gobinda Naskar and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar candidate from neighbouring Barasat were seen sporting badges of the Matua Mahasangha.

The Matua community is not particularly pleased with this fawning by political parties. "Everybody can come here and seek Barama's blessings. We know that this huge gathering looks very attractive to all political parties. After all, people from across the state congregate here. However, we shall not allow any political party to use this platform for their own purposes," said Rabi Haldar, vice-president of the advisory committee to the Mahasangha and joint secretary of the mela committee.

"Gates and banners have been put up without the knowledge of the Mahasabha. We also do not like Barama's photographs being used by parties. We cannot prevent anybody from coming here but we can request political leaders to get in touch with the Mahasangha before trying to get in touch with the devotees."

The Matua community primarily consists of the lower castes who migrated from Bangladesh. They follow the teachings of Harichand and Guruchand Thakur. The latter's grandson Pramatha Ranjan Thakur gave up his practice as a barrister at Calcutta High Court to become the president of the Mahasangha. On March 13, 1948, he founded Thakurnagar after purchasing the land from one Janad Kumari Dasi.

Parties are falling over each other to woo the Mahasangha as the Matuas are one of the best organized communities in the country. The community is divided into registered groups of 500 in all districts, each having a dalapati (group head). Every group has to have a membership of at least 11. In villages where Matuas are fewer in number, heads of families are allotted membership cards with the names of family members. Every family has to pay Rs 5 per month or Rs 50 per year as membership fees. In this way, the Mahasangha keeps stock of all members of the community. No wonder, those in the Mahasangha wield considerable influence over the members.

"The Mahasangha does not have any political affiliation. We do not tell anybody to vote for a particular political party. However, the Mahasangha has the power to call upon all members and ask them to rally behind us for any cause that affects the community. This is why political parties find us so powerful," Haldar adds.

Matua leaders say that Trinamool MLA Jyotipriya Mullick has been by their side for years. In the last few months, others have joined in and extended largesse for development of the Thakurbari. Former MP Debabrata Biswas and MP Subrata Basu have donated Rs 15 lakh each towards setting up of an old-age home in the complex. Mamata has donated Rs 33 lakh towards renovation of the Thakurbari pond (known as Kamanasagar) where devotees take a dip. She has promised Rs 60 lakh more for the renovation.

The Matua leadership do not mind donations whether they are from politicians or community members. However, they firmly believe that today's politicians are a far cry from the likes of P R Thakur, who had been an MLA as well as an MP during his lifetime. There are problems of development within the community that no political party has been able to address. It seems that mere chin-wagging during the Baruni Mela will not suffice to woo the Matua voters.



From asru exhibiti...

A sea of humanity has ascended on this small town on the Indo-bangla border of Thakur badi, some 1 km to the nearest railway station Thackur nagar. Conservative estimates put the flow of people at 7 and a half lakh and above. The mela or fair is organised every year in Thakur nagar of north 24 paraganas. Wondering what all of them do here take a dip in a small tank to get rid of diseases and bad omen.


From asru exhibiti...

Being a Folklorist myself when I tried to dig into the legend involved there appeared a fabulous legend of folklore. The story is about Thakur, Harichand (1811-1877)and the Caste called Namasudras who were persecuted by the Muslims of east bengal and when in anticipation they came to west Bengal they faced persecution from Muslims as well as upper caste hindus. An upper caste Hindu himself the Thakur after whom the village and railway station are named stoop up and proclaimed that all hindus to that matter all humanity is one and there should be no discrimination whatever. He gave a mantra to fight HARI OM (Almighty the superior) along with a black stick to fight the persecutors.


From asru exhibiti...

The mela falls on his birthday thirteenth day of Falgun 1214 of the Bangla calendar. He was born to, Yashomanta Thakur, and Maithili Brahmin and a devout Vaisnava inOrakandi of kashiani upazila in gopalganj (Greater faridpur) now Bangladesh.H H Harichand's doctrine is based on three basic principles-truth, love, and sanctity. The doctrine treats all people as equal; people are not seen according to castes or sects. Himself a Brahmin, he professed mixed with lower-caste people and treated them with the same dignity as he did other castes. This is why most of his followers believe H H Harichand to be an avatar (incarnation) of vishnu, and are from the lower strata of society. They used to affirm:Rama hari krisna hari hari gorachand. Sarba hari mile ei purna harichand (Rama is lord, Krishna is lord, lord is Chaitanyadev. But all of them make our Harichand, who is our lord.)H H Sri Sri Harichand left 12 instructions for the matuyas, known as Dvadash Ajna (Twelve Commands).

The victims of persecution Namasudras are spread all over India and on the eve of the mela they descent on this small town in lakhs if not a million. The town sees activity from the midnight of the 03rd April 2008 to 5th April and its an ocean of people everywhere chanting Haril Bol and hari Om to the drum beats and the bell beats. Its an auspicious 3 days of spirituality and naivette here in Thakur nagar of North 24 Paraganas some 70 kms to the capital Kolkata.


From asru exhibiti...

H H Harichand did not believe in asceticism; he was more of a family man; and it is from within the family that he preached the word of God. He believed that 'Grhete thakiya yar hay bhaboday. Sei ye param sadhu janio nishchay' (the best ascetic is he who can express his devotion to God remaining a family man). He mobilised all the neglected sects and castes and inspired them to remain true to the openness of Hinduism.

H H Sri Sri Harichand died on Wednesday 23 Falgun, the year 1284 of the Bangla calendar.

Hindu bathing festival in Gopalganj, Bangladesh



The Maha Baruni Bath Festival of the believers of the Hindu religion at village Orakandi under Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj is one of the biggest festivals in Bangladesh. The fair is organised every year marking the birth anniversary of Hindu priest Sri Sri Harichand Thakur, who was born in the village.


From asru exhibiti...
As they believe that Harichand’s residence is one of the holiest places containing holy water, thousands of pilgrims take baths in Kamona Sagar and Dudh Sagar — two ponds in the residence — on the date of his birth ‘to purify them with the holy water and to be cured of their diseases.’
Thousands of pilgrims from across the country, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand attended the festival.



Photos and Video of the Bengali "Asru Exhibition"
2 04 2008
Photos and Video of the Bengali version of “Asru Exhibition” in Thakur Nagar, Thakurbadi, North 24 paraganas, West Bengal




http://factindiablog.wordpress.com/category/fact-kolkata/
Photos: Click here



From asru exhibiti…


From asru exhibiti…

From asru exhibiti…

From asru exhibiti…

From asru exhibiti…

From asru exhibiti…


FACT in association with Hindu Samhati has organised an exhibition of the Persecution of Minorities in Bangladesh by the Islamic Fundamentalists. Ashru (tears), is an exhibition on the shocking persecution that has been and is being inflicted against the Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. The Exhibition shall go on 1st - 6th April, 2008, at Thakurnagar.

The exhibition coincides with the holy occasion of the birthday of Sri Sri Harichand Thakur - a great social and religious reformer of the 18th century and the founding Guru of the Matuya Sect (a Vaishnav Sect). The sect which primarily consists of the Namasudras a valiant Caste of Vaishanavites assembles in numbers as close to a million and raising every year to comemorate the fight against the persecution lead by H H Sri Sri Harichand Thackur in Bangladesh and India. The persecution inflicted by the Islamists was so unbearable that H H Sri Sri Harichand Thakur had to fight them.

The exhibition is organised at Thakurnagar in West Bengal and the occasion is the birthday (Janma tithi) of H H Sri Sri Harichand Thakur. The Exhibition was inaugurated by Sri Keshav Rao Dikshit, Senior Pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The inauguration had the previlige of having Sri Aditya Roy, noted Social Activist, Sri Advocate Ratnoswar Sorkar Secretary All India Refugee Front, Sri Tathogatho Roy, Author, Ex MP Rajya Sabha, Sri Jagadish Sorkar, Councilor, Gobardanga.

” The the people and Govt of India have forgotten the plight of the refugees from the East pakistan / East Bengal while those from the west were accomodated and well compensated those from the east are still lagging in poverty” said Sri Ratnoswar Sorkar. The Refugee front he said would take every action possible to give the refugees their deserving right.

“Hindu Samhati is done a good begining with the Bangladeshi Minorities’ exhibition and I expect the Hindu Samhati to work among the lower classes of the society so that all classes of the society stand united to face any future challenges” Sri Adityo Roy. He added Hindu Unity is not possible without a conmbined effort and upliftment of the denied. The matuya sampraday had been deprived of upper class Hindus and that should never have happened when they were being persecuted by the Islamic fundamentalists.

“The head quarters of Matuya Sampraday in Bangladesh. He asked why the people of Orakandi, bangladesh are not able to come here at Thakur Nagar for this festival Matuya mela”. The Simple reason He said was they are not muslims and only Muslims are pampered with all favours in Bengal. In Bengal there are some individuals and organisations trying to hide the barborous torture by muslims against Hindus. As a result Matuyas of Orakandi took refuge at Thakur Nagar and this is the time to act and if we do not resist the Illegal migration of Bangladeshis the people of Thakurnagar have to become refugees in someother part of the country. There are so many Thakur nagars along the borders said Sri Tathogatho Roy.

We have had a torturous and attrocities victims with heavy hearts all over India. in India we were inflicted with this wounds for over 1000 years, but still we have not learnt any lessons. The partition of India, direct action in Bangladesh 1946 and many other incidents stand illustration of the aparthied against the Hindus. 40,000 women along with Rani padmini welcomed death in fire rather than the attrocious bad sight of the Muslims. Hindu Samati and organisations like this are the need of the hour to bravely stand up to the attrocities and say enough is enough and to speak the truth of actually what had happened. Sri Keshav rao Dixit

Israel should be an eye opener its a perfect case study for the Hindus.

“The attrocities against Hindus are endless and still our communist inspired media or the social and human right workers do not deem it fit to raise a voice against them. In the name of the secular garb the voice of the deprived is being shutdown, in the garb of fancy words like freedom of expression and speech and selective usage of them there has been a continuous effort to insult the Hindus” Sri tapon kumar Ghosh said.

The Organisation FACT stands for Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism and you all sitting here will be surprised to learn that the founder of this organisation is a French journalist who has been living in India for more than three decades. It also reminds us of how denied and in deep slumber we Hindus are, that a foreigner has to take up the fight on our behalf. Ofcourse it is another thing that he is more Hindu than most of us. Tapon kumar Gosh

About the Mela and the Man behind it.

Thakur, Harichand (1811-1877) a Hindu votary and founder of the matuya sect, was born in Orakandi of kashiani upazila in gopalganj (Greater faridpur) on the thirteenth day of Falgun 1214 of the Bangla calendar. His father, Yashomanta Thakur, was a Maithili Brahmin and a devout Vaisnava.

H H Harichand received little formal education. After completing his initial schooling in a pathshala, he attended school for only a few months. He then started spending his time with shepherds and cowboys and roamed with them from one place to another. He started changing from this time. He was loved by all of his friends for his physical beauty, naivete, love for music and philanthropic attitude. He could also sing bhajan (devotional songs).

H H Harichand’s doctrine is based on three basic principles-truth, love, and sanctity. The doctrine treats all people as equal; people are not seen according to castes or sects. Himself a Brahmin, he professed mixed with lower-caste people and treated them with the same dignity as he did other castes. This is why most of his followers believe H H Harichand to be an avatar (incarnation) of vishnu, and are from the lower strata of society. They used to affirm: Rama hari krisna hari hari gorachand. Sarba hari mile ei purna harichand (Rama is lord, Krishna is lord, lord is Chaitanyadev. But all of them make our Harichand, who is our lord.)

Harichand did not believe in asceticism; he was more of a family man; and it is from within the family that he preached the word of God. He believed that ‘Grhete thakiya yar hay bhaboday. Sei ye param sadhu janio nishchay‘ (the best ascetic is he who can express his devotion to God remaining a family man). He mobilised all the neglected sects and castes and inspired them to remain true to the openness of Hinduism.

H H Sri Sri Harichand left 12 instructions for the matuyas, known as Dvadash Ajna (Twelve Commands):
1. always speak the truth,
2. respect your parents like gods,
3. treat woman as your mother,
4. love the world,
5. remain liberal to all the religions,
6. never discriminate on racial counts,
7. try to establish Harimandir (temple of the Lord),
8. sit in prayer everyday,
9. Sacrifice your self for God,
10. do not practice asceticism in a garb,
11. hold the six cardinal passions in check, and
12. utter the name of your Lord while working with your hand.

H H Sri Sri Harichand died on Wednesday 23 Falgun, the year 1284 of the Bangla calendar.

Hindu bathing festival in Gopalganj, Bangladesh

The Maha Baruni Bath Festival of the believers of the Hindu religion at village Orakandi under Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj is one of the biggest festivals in Bangladesh. The fair is organised every year marking the birth anniversary of Hindu priest Sri Sri Harichand Thakur, who was born in the village.

As they believe that Harichand’s residence is one of the holiest places containing holy water, thousands of pilgrims take baths in Kamona Sagar and Dudh Sagar — two ponds in the residence — on the date of his birth ‘to purify them with the holy water and to be cured of their diseases.’
Thousands of pilgrims from across the country, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand attended the festival.

Sunday, May 21, 2006
The Eastern Regions



Like Punjab in the northwest, the region of Bengal in the east saw large-scale conversions to Islam[1]. The causes of the Punjab conversions have been discussed earlier…before discussing the causes in Bengal it is appropriate to study the politico-military background of Bengal.

The Palas

In the latter half of the 8th Century CE, while the Pratihars were rising to power in the west and the Rashtrakutas had emerged in the south, the family of Palas came to dominate the east. The first King Gopala was one of the many chieftains in the former kingdom of Gauda that had disintegrated a century ago. To end the prevailing anarchy, the chiefs and people of Bengal elected Gopala to be their sovereign in the light of his military and leadership abilities.

It was an event unique in the history of India and afforded a striking contrast to the rise of the other two contemporary powers—the Rashtrakutas usurped power from their Chalukya overlords while the Pratihars emerged as leaders of a confederacy of clans[2] that defeated the Arab invaders. And unlike the other two, the Palas[3] were devoted to Buddhism, which had first risen to prominence more than a thousand years earlier in this very region.

A running conflict between the Rashtrakutas and the Pratihars created a political vacuum in North India, which was temporarily filled by Dharmapala who led his forces up to the Punjab (in the west) and Nepal (in the north), and is said to have held a grand durbar at Kannauj. But these campaigns did not add any lands to the Pala dominions which remained around Radha (West Bengal), Vanga (East Bengal), Magadha (Bihar), and Gopala’s ancestral lands of Varendri (North Bengal). Dharmapala suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Pratihars in a battle fought at Monghyr, deep in his own dominions—but a Rashtrakuta invasion of the Pratihar lands again saved the Palas.

Devpala in the 9th Century repeated his father’s feat by leading an army into Punjab and further north into the lands of Kamboja (near the Indus). But no territory was gained in this campaign—even the neighboring kingdoms of Kamarupa (Assam) and Utkal (Orissa) were only compelled to render tribute. The two successors of Devapala were more religious-minded and in that period the Pratihars annexed both Magadha and Varendri while Kamarupa and Utkal also resumed independence.

To make matters worse feudatories of the Palas also carved out their own states like the Chandras of East Bengal and the Kambojas of Radha—the latter are believed to be descendants of the Kamboja officers and men that had joined the army of Devapala during his campaign in their country near the Indus. A small Pala state was all that was left of the former empire.

More than a century later in 988 CE this small state recovered some of its power under Mahipala. This was the age of the Ghaznavid invasions in the north and of the Chola expansion in the south—Rajendra Chola defeated several kings then ruling in Bengal and took the holy water of the River Ganga to purify his dominions. The later Palas did not reach the power of their forefathers and political unity to the eastern regions was provided by a new family, the Senas.

The Senas and the Sultans

These were feudatories of the Palas and had come from the south (Karnata-Kshatriyas) but became independent around 1050 CE. Vijaysena acquired complete control over Bengal and Bihar and fought with the neighboring kings of Kamarupa and Kannauj (the Gahadvals)—he also established a second capital at Navadwipa (Nadiya). The Sena rulers continued the tradition of tolerance and practiced Shaivism and Vaishnavism while also patronizing other religions. In 1178 Lakshmansena ascended the throne and completed the subjugation of the last Pala kings—interestingly he also fought against Jaichandra Gahadval[4] of Kannauj.

This period coincided with the invasion of Kannauj by Muhammad Ghori (1194)—one of his ambitious Turk officers, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji, was posted in the newly-conquered region of Awadh. From this base in 1200 CE he raided the Sena lands and gradually built up his wealth and recruited more soldiers—taking permission of Qutb-ud-din Aibak he invaded the town of Odantapuri, which had several Viharas (monasteries) that he destroyed and shaven-headed monks (Buddhists) whom he slaughtered. The region was henceforth given the name of Bihar (a corruption of Vihara). Within a year he entered the Sena capital Nadiya in the guise of a horse-merchant and cleared the way for the 10,000 Turk cavalry that had surreptitiously laid siege to the city.

Lakshmansena abandoned this capital and retreated to eastern Bengal where his descendants continued to resist the Turk incursions for another half century. By this time the Delhi Turks had become engrossed in the war against the numerous Rajput chieftains in the former kingdoms of Ajmer and Kannauj—from his new capital of Lakhnawati, Khalji and his men sought to establish an independent state but were defeated. Subsequent governors of the eastern regions were appointed by the Delhi Sultans but some founded their own dynasties and others were overthrown by their ministers—what was common between these dynasties was their desire for independence from the Delhi Sultanate.

In the continuing conflict with their overlords in Delhi, the Sultans of Bengal founded new cities further east like Satgaon (Hooghly district) and Sonargaon (Dacca district). They also annexed portions of Sylhet and Tripura and carried out attacks on other regions of the east with little success. The old feudatories of the Palas and Senas must have been part of the Sultanate administration because, in another unique event, one of them usurped power briefly from the Muslim ruler. Raja Ganesa, pronounced Kans in the Muslim records, continued the old administration of Bengal for seven years in the early 15th Century with the help of other Hindu and Muslim nobles[5].

Until the Mughal conquest though, the control of the Sultans remained firm only over the eastern plains of Bengal. But in this region the people were completely converted to Islam.

Cause of conversions

The large Muslim populations in Punjab and Bengal, as against the lesser proportions in the UP region, which was the center of Islamic power, have been the basis of heated debates from the 19th Century. Qazi Abdul Wadud, in his book The Mussalmans of Bengal, claimed that large numbers of foreign Muslims came to Bengal as soldiers and administrators and that the Pathans in a later age also colonized large areas in Bengal. In his view then the Bengali Muslims were of foreign origin—but the reason why many local Muslims claim foreign origin has been given in this earlier post.

The leftist view, voiced by Richard Eaton, is that ethnic groups only lightly exposed to “Brahmanical culture” converted to Islam. In the northwest it were the Pathans and the Baloch, in Punjab the Jat clans, and in Bengal it were the Rajbanshi, Koch, Pod, and Chandal communities. But this does not explain why the same Koch or Rajbansis remained true to their ancestral faith in Cooch Behar, Assam, Tripura? And in the case of Punjab why did the same Jat clans east of Lahore not convert to Islam?

In fact the conquest of the Shahi lands (in Punjab) was successfully completed and the conquest of the Sena lands (in Bengal) was also completed by the end of the 13th Century, major resistance ceased and the people were thus forcibly converted to Islam. By contrast the conquest of Ajmer and Kannauj remained unfinished for a long time—these two kingdoms and the adjoining regions formed the heartland of the Rajput resistance. The entire land was an arena of the “back and forth” battles—the Turks would capture a fort, then lose it to the Rajputs, capture it again, and lose it again[6]. Such contests were repeated in a hundred forts spread across the heart of North India. As has been shown in another post all resistance is linked together, and so in this region the resistance of villagers was far stronger than in Punjab or Bengal. For these reasons, even though the sword of Islam was active in this region, there were few conversions to Islam because that sword was not successful.

As has been shown in the case of Punjab, only the regions where Hindus were politically dominant and militarily strong did they remain true to their ancestral faith. Politically, eastern Bengal was completely conquered by the Turks but we need to see the reasons why the local warriors could not continue a military resistance? Or why the plains of Bengal had an entirely different history than the plains of Bihar?

Military developments

The renowned historian Jadunath Sarkar, a Bengali himself, wrote[7], “Bengal has no indigenous race capable of the long continued exertion, the ready submission to discipline, the concerted action in large bodies, and the cool and steady fighting that are required in resisting the hardier races of invaders.”

This was of course written for a later age because the Palas and the Senas had comparable military power with their contemporaries in other parts of India—what is interesting is the varying composition of this military power. In the Gwalior inscription describing their victory over the Palas, the Pratihars have recorded the Pala army as having dense masses of elephants, horses, and chariots. Chariots! The vehicle of war that had disappeared from most parts of the world was still being used by the rulers of eastern India.

The Arab merchant Sulaiman (850 CE) has recorded that the Pala kings were at continuous war with their neighbors and that they took 50,000 elephants in each campaign. By contrast the Pratihars are described by the same author as having the best cavalry in India augmented by elephants, camels, and infantry. The Arab writers describe the Rashtrakuta troops as mostly infantry but with units of elephants and cavalry—the latter being imported through the Arab merchants.

Horses have been bred in the relatively dry parts of western and northern India, which was the home of the Pratihars, but were never found in the humid regions of the east, the land of the Palas. That area has been the breeding ground of the best elephants found in India and quite naturally has been home to empires that fielded large squadrons of elephants, beginning with Magadha and the Mauryas. Before the elephants became important, the kingdoms in northern India had relied on chariots, and the eastern empires continued this reliance even though they had to import horses to pull these chariots.

So it isn’t surprising that the Palas a thousand years later had large elephant forces but it is puzzling why they continued using chariots when those horses could have been used to boost their limited cavalry. But this tradition of using chariots continued in the east—the later Palas in the 11th Century defeated the Varman kings of eastern Bengal and took from them chariots and elephants as booty. For this same reason the cavalry of the Sena kings was very deficient and proved to be their doom against the heavy cavalry and mobile archery of the Turk invaders.

By contrast the kingdoms of Ajmer and Kannauj had adequate cavalry, but they also had large contingents of elephants and infantry—these varying arms proved difficult to coordinate when faced by mobile archery and cavalry maneuvers. But their proficiency in cavalry allowed the Rajputs to continue the resistance from the innumerable forts and strongholds. This did not happen in the east.

The broken remnants of the Sena power continued to resist the Turks who had established their capital in Lakhnawati—in one such battle the Turks are said to have captured a few elephants from the Senas. Concurrent with foreign invasions the Sena Kingdom was also breaking from within, and the Deva dynasty that usurped power from them is said to have cooperated with Sultan Balban against the Turks of Lakhnawati. But they were ultimately defeated, their kingdom was annexed, and their people were converted to Islam.

Some Hindu principalities remained in the western portion of Bengal bordering Orissa and Jharkhand—this region had outcrops of hills covered with jungles. Their military power was inadequate because of the lack of cavalry—they did not even have the resources to maintain elephant forces and consequently their troops were mostly infantry. These principalities were of no consequence to the Bengal Sultans who fought mostly against outside independent powers like Orissa, Assam, Myanmar, and their own overlords of Delhi. But they were useful in guiding armies through the jungle roads, providing supplies to those armies, and in defending their own homes from invaders. Late in the 17th Century Shova Singh, the Zamindar of Chatwa-Barda in the Medinipur district plundered the lands of his neighbors and the Mughal territories before he was killed and his army defeated by the Mughal prince Azim-ush-shan.

So even when politically inconsequential, these principalities at least had minimal military strength to keep their own people free. For this reason people in the western areas of Bengal remained with their ancestral faith and traditions.

Under the Sultans the forts of the region, though built of mud or clay, were effective in design in repelling invaders. The Rajputs in upper India adapted to the improved construction of forts that had taken place in Muslim and Christian lands and built some magnificent forts of their own in this period, but the indigenous Bengalis in the east could not do the same. The Bengal Sultans also adapted to the use of naval flotillas in the numerous rivers, and in defensive wars against armies from upper India or in the invasions of Assam—these naval wars will be described later. The Turks in Bengal also adapted the use of elephants in their own armies as they had done earlier in Punjab and Delhi.

It remains to study the use of infantry. Jadunath Sarkar again wrote “the army of the Nawabs of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa…was filled entirely with Afghans and Hindu foot-musketeers of Buxar, with a sprinkling of Sayyids of Barha…and Bahelia musketeers from Awadh.” In other words the indigenous Bengalis did not form any part of the army of the Nawabs or of the British who succeeded them. On the other hand Hindus from Bihar and UP dominated both the Nawab’s and the British infantry—which again brings up the question of why the plains of Bihar were different from the plains of Bengal when both were under the same rulers?

[1] The eastern portion of Bengal and parts of Assam are today’s Islamic state of Bangladesh.
[2] The other clans were the Guhilots, Chauhans, Parmars, and Chaulukyas.
[3] The descendants of Gopala (cow-protector) turned the latter part of his name into a hereditary family surname. In the same way as the descendants of Chandra Gupta had made Gupta a hereditary surname in an earlier age.
[4] Jaichandra’s contemporary Prithviraj fought against the Muslims, the Chaulukyas of Gujarat, and the Chandellas of Kalinjar (in Madhya Pradesh state). In a later work, Jaichand and Prithviraj were considered enemies whose “infighting” caused their defeats against the Turk invaders!
[5] But the fact that he was not a Muslim was repugnant to a local Muslim saint, Nur Qutb-ul-Alam, who called on the neighboring Sultan of Jaunpur to invade Bengal and “save Islam”. Raja Ganesa met the saint who agreed to ward off the invasion only after Ganesa’s son converted to Islam and became Sultan Jalal-ud-din.
[6] In another version of these “back and forth” battles the Turks would fit out a large army and besiege a Rajput fort. Failing to conquer the fort they would impose tribute and march away, and immediately the Rajputs would stop payment of that tribute, forcing the Turks to again go through the same cycle with little hope of ultimate success.


http://horsesandswords.blogspot.com/2006/05/eastern-regions.html


'Absence of a strong Dalit movement makes a big difference in Gujarat'
An Interview With Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot







Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot is Director of CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS in Paris.

Anoop Kumar here interacts with Dr. Jaffrelot on Indian politics, communalism and Dalit Movement.








You have been consistently writing on the rise of Hindu nationalism in the country. Recently, we all saw Tehelka’s expose´ of the involvement of the State in the Gujarat pogrom. The whole country felt the shock. However, the Congress government did not respond at all. Even the Left gave a much muted response. Most of us have been outraged. We knew everything; nothing new came out in this expose´ and yet, it was shocking for us.

Yeah, the Left and the Centre have remained silent, except Sonia Gandhi and Digvijay Singh who spoke about the “hindu terrorists”. I was in Ahmedabad recently to investigate about these issues. Talking about Tehelka, talking about Godhra and the riots has, in fact, helped Narendra Modi.

Dallying with these issues has polarized the electorate and has made the hindus vote more for the BJP. To my mind, there are two trends in Gujarat which are now very deeply rooted. On the one hand, this state is doing better than many other states economically. People have developed a culture of economic achievements. They are only after money and are much more interested in a managerial form of government rather than democracy.

So, is this the only reason for the communalization of Gujarat?

This is only one aspect. The second aspect is the other side of the same coin. This lack of interest in democracy creates a situation where we don’t care for social harmony, for communal harmony, for resource re-distribution.

And Muslims are, in that sense, the first casualty. They are considered to be a liability and are still perceived to be a threat. Terrorism is a catch word whose subtext is anti- Muslim.

And so, you are more money-oriented, more materialistic, less democratic and you don’t care for the minorities. You don’t care for the rule of law. What worries me most is the fact that the rule of law is in a bad shape in this state. This state is going the authoritarian way, people are intimidated, cultural policing is developing everywhere, the Patel girls cannot marry anybody, they are ‘rescued’ by Bajrang Dal and the MS University, Baroda, cannot develop the kind of art they want to develop.

Can you believe that Prof. Panniker is now sitting in Delhi, unable to work and his student Chandramohan is in Kerala without a degree?!This is showing a new India, a new face of India. But if the Left and the Congress are not taking any strong stand against the hindutva forces there, it is because they know that if they want to win the coming elections, they have to be soft on these issues.




But don’t you think that this soft pedaling won’t help?

Gandhi would say and that is one of the things he got right - the end is in the means. If in order to win elections you just have a soft hindutva approach - you don’t nominate Muslim candidates, don’t highlight communal issues and you also highlight issues like terrorism that Modi is highlighting, then you take the risk of becoming like him. Means and ends cannot be divorced.

So, I agree it might be a self-defeating approach that the local Congress has adopted – Sonia Gandhi and Digvijay Singh did otherwise. It might be committing suicide in the long run but this is the tactical decision that Congress and others have made.

Gujarat has a history of anti-reservation riots against Dalits and Backwards in the early 80s and from then onwards, this anti-Muslim propaganda has started. Do you see any kind of linkages between the two?

Yes, of course. The two points that I have mentioned are applicable here also. On the one hand, you have meritocracy, an economy-oriented approach towards politics, so you have to work hard. This is the work ethics. And on the other hand, you don’t want these minorities- Dalits, Muslims- to really get their share.

How come, then, the RSS or the Hindutva forces in Gujarat, are able to brainwash some of the Dalits and Tribals to involve themselves in riots against Muslims?

To my mind, the main problem in Gujarat is that there is no strong Dalit movement; there is no Dalit consciousness in Gujarat. It is just not there. We cannot find many Ambedkarites in Gujarat.


Another state where there is no Dalit movement is West Bengal. Another state where Dalits and Muslims have been at the receiving ends both in education and in jobs, in spite of the large concentration of both Muslims and Dalit population. I will just give you an example from my own experience of JNU, where a large number of Bengali students come but one can hardly find any Bengali Dalit student among them. You will find Dalit students from UP, from Maharashtra, from Tamil Nadu, from Andhra but hardly any from Bengal.

Well, first of all, you have to explain this very peculiar situation, where the Left-led state is neither Dalit-oriented, nor Muslim-oriented, as communists don’t believe in caste or community, they believe in class! And, therefore, they don’t want to take caste into account. But, it can also be very convenient. It means that the bhadralok can continue to rule by saying that they don’t believe in caste. In a way, the leftist leaders are saying: “Well, forget about your caste; be with us as members of the proletariat”. This enables them to remain in power. In fact, the social profile of CPI (M) leadership in West Bengal shows that most of them are from very elite ‘upper’ caste backgrounds.

What is your opinion about the Nandigram issue and the role of the Left-led West Bengal Government?

So far, it was not bad at all since the Left-led government had implemented some land reforms in Bengal and was truly secular. When there are 25% Muslims in the state and there have been no riots against them for such a long time, it means that something has really been taken care of. The problem is that with this new CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the situation is changing.

And this is changing not only because of him but because of the changes occurring in the larger context of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. You have to get industrialized and get investment from the private sector and how do you do that? You have to create SEZs, you have to go abroad and bring money back. And you do that at the expense of those who are tilling their lands, because you need to get their land at one point. It is part of his strategy, it is part of India’s strategy, it is part of Modi’s strategy.

SEZs have the same kind of compulsions. You have to remove the people from their lands and give away to those who have big money.

The most shocking thing that has happened in Nandigram is the fact that the state government has divided its own people into two- those who are with the party and those who are not with the party. And this feeling of Us and Them has resulted in such brutal repression. However, the opposition, including the Dalit activists, has always talked about the brutal ways with which the government has responded to them in the past.

This party still has many authoritarian features. It is not a democratic party in that sense. They are simply closing ranks and building enemies- be they the Naxalites, be they the imperialist foreign hands. They are not debating, investigating, introspecting. There should be some soul searching exercise after Nandigram. But this is not happening. That is why Delhi-based intellectuals are leaving the party. They have understood what French intellectuals understood in the 1960s. For decades, the French intellectuals swallowed the Communist propaganda - Stalin, the Czech coup, the Hungarian coup - but later they discovered that they had to withdraw from this nonsense. The next elections will be a test time for the CPI

(M) and as of now, the only change we can anticipate is in terms of policies because they will not be able to pursue the same polices they have been pursuing regarding SEZ. The entire handling of the Nandigram issue is sad, as it will weaken the secular forces at the Centre. And in the state, there is no alternative. Whom will you turn to- Trinamool Congress, Congress or BJP? And again, there is no Dalit party.

In both Kerala and West Bengal, Dalit consciousness is weak despite both the states having a history of very strong Dalit and anti-caste movements like the Namashudra movement and the Rajbansis movement of West Bengal and Ayyankali and Narayana Guru-led movements in Kerala.

But do you think these were Ambedkarite movements? There is a difference. Like the Arya Samaj movement, these movements were more sanskritisation-oriented. They could be very easily co-opted. In fact, they have been co-opted. We cannot call them Dalit movements. May be the Adi-Dharmi movement in Punjab was slightly different but take the example of Narayana Guru’s movement of Kerala. BJP-RSS is very happy with him.

Yeah, they take the example of Narayana Guru and tell Dalits that is the way for their emancipation to remain in the Hindu fold.

Exactly. It is very interesting.

Coming back to the question of an alternative political force, how do you envisage the role of Dalit politics?

The need of Dalit politics can be best understood when you analyze the socio-political situation of states where there is no Dalit politics. Absence of a strong Dalit movement makes a big difference in Gujarat and in West Bengal.

Since the last so many years, you have been visiting and writing extensively on Dalits in India. A Dalit woman is now ruling one of the very important states. Dalit movement post-90s has come a long way. What is your opinion about it?

Dalit movement is definitely on the rise and we must try to understand the reasons behind that. The turning point, for me, is 1989. In 1989, the BSP did better than the BJP in UP. Reservation policies, at last, enabled the Dalit community to get leaders and this is the most important thing you need. Some of these leaders, Kanshi Ram and his colleagues, built organizations (BAMCEF, DS4, BSP) by adapting Ambedkar’s thought to the present situation.

Kanshi Ram to my mind is a true Ambedkarite, in the sense that he has really adapted the motto, the ideas, the technique, and the pragmatic approach of politics that Ambedkar had evolved. You make alliances with whoever you can, just to climb a ladder. When you reach a point, get rid of these people.

Why not? It is certainly offensive but remember, Ambedkar in the Viceroy Council in 1940s had said that I am not cooperating with the imperialist but I am helping my people. Kanshi Ram was not cooperating with the BJP; he was preparing the ground for the next step.

But we must not focus only on the leaders and their tactics. The main point lies certainly in their ground work. Kanshi Ram toured the country for so many years, formed the BAMCEF and created a class of politically-conscious Dalits.

Do you think the anti-Mandal agitation of the early 90s galvanized the Dalits? It was the first time that caste was debated in the public platform?

It was a plus point but the momentum was always there. In 1989, BSP secured 11 percent votes in UP and this was pre-Mandal. But, of course, Mandal accelerated the process.

Coming back to the anti-Mandal agitation, we had organized youth rallies in favour of Reservation for the OBCs in 2006. However, the participation of OBC students and youth was very less. They are not there with us when we fight, when we organize. They seem to be completely absent in all public spaces. Hence, within the Dalit movement, there are several voices which opposed many of us, saying that it is the OBCs who are exploiting the Dalits in the villages and, above all, they are not coming forward for their own interest. What do you have to say on this?

‘OBC’ is not a homogenous category, possibly because they do not suffer from the same stigma as the Dalits, whose ancestors have been seen as ‘‘Untouchables” for so many centuries. Also, OBCs – and this is related to the previous point - did not get an Ambedkar. They don’t have many intellectuals either. There are some Socialist intellectuals who are, of course, pro-Reservation but at the same time, they are not so comfortable with caste.

This is a big challenge for Dalit activists, as you have to find partners among OBCs in this battle. You have to identify them. I think it has to be done at the caste level rather than at the OBC level. You will not find an OBC movement. But one may certainly find caste associations which are politically- conscious. In UP and Bihar, you now have Yadavs, Kurmis and Lodhis aligning themselves with different leaders.

Yes. There have been such instances. In Delhi, there are such caste organizations like those of malis and mauryas, who have started sharing their platforms with Dalit activists on anti-brahminism agendas.

True. Dalit movement must target a pan-Indian OBC caste like malis. Unlike castes which are state-specific, they cannot be parochial. Also, malis have a national hero - Jotiba Phule, who also means a lot for Dalits. OBC is a very heterogeneous category. In fact, the Indian state has been diluting this category by adding more castes to it.

Diluting the OBC category is one ploy to obstruct the growing anti-brahminical agenda. Another ploy is to aggravate and highlight the contradictions among the non-‘upper’ caste communities. The biggest example of the same is the sensational coverage of the gujjar-meena confrontation in Rajasthan by the mainstream media. Actually it was media which flamed that. They carried inflammatory interviews and aired them 24x7. The national dailies printed such photographs like that of three meena youths, riding a bike and brandishing revolvers on their first page. Then, they gave the impression to the whole country that Reservation is dividing the society and is leading to a civil war!

Either you stuff new castes in these categories to just make it loose any meaning or you show how Reservation based caste wars are weakening India. These are deliberate acts to create public opinion against Reservations. When it will come to the question of Reservation in the private sector, they will say, look, this is creating this mess, let us get rid of Reservation. But what is the alternative? Reservation is not the panacea, we all know that. If we can do without Reservations, we will be very happy but there is no alternative. Do something different and above all, stop discriminating on the basis of caste.

There is a growing trend, especially in the mainstream media, to glorify ‘Indian youth’ by creating it’s image as a homogenous category, that is nationalist yet progressive, secular, anti-caste and gender-neutral. In such a situation, do you foresee any such youth movement that is against the hegemonic and exploitative structures of the society like caste, communalism and patriarchy?

No, I don’t think so. I don’t think that there can be a homogenous youth movement. The youth is heavily divided between caste and class. The youth of middleclass is first of all middle-class. They don’t involve themselves in social movements. There parents might have had some kind of social consciousness. But today’s middle-class youth runs after money, wants to have a good life, travel abroad and just doesn’t care. All these people will live behind the big walls, in “golden ghettoes” with private hospitals, private schools. It is the youth more than the elderly people who are doing that.

Therefore, to my mind, the only solution is to lobby and put pressure on these people and to show them that the only way to defuse tensions which may make the Indian train derail is to make concessions. If they fear for the growth rate, then they will do something. You cannot rely on their generosity; you cannot rely on their goodwill alone. They have never enough for themselves. You have to achieve the bargaining power. And this was precisely the strategy of Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. You build a political force and then you bargain.

What do you think about the Dalit student’s movement?

Well, what I have seen in universities like JNU or Pune University is striking. This is not only a social movement but a kind of brain power. It is important for the Dalit movement to have young leaders who are so articulate, because in the end, it will acquire maturity and have a nation-wide impact. For the moment, you don’t hear too many Dalit voices.

Look at the newspapers. Who are the Dalits whom we hear? We hardly come across the arguments of Dalit intellectuals on, say, Reservation. There are Dalit intellectuals but they have been made invisible. They are only interviewed on events. Dalit students are articulating thought processes which will definitely make a difference in the near future. May be, one day, India will not need any Dalit movement any more; caste will be gone. This is the aim, no?

http://insightyoungvoices.org/InsightIssues/Issueix/tete_a_tete/an-interview



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In This Issue
Subterranean Caste in Kerala
Interview with Arundhati Roy
Social Inequality in EFL-U
SEZ, Land and Dalits
Discussion with K. Balagopal
Caste in Cinema
Double Identities
A Story in Multiplicity

Editorial Team
Ria De
Jimmy James
Geetanjali Kumar
Ritam Sengupta
Asmita Das


The university space is more liberal than the rest of the country in terms of caste?

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Archive
▼ 2008 (39)
▼ April (13)
▼ Apr 08 (1)
What is the politics of the journal?
► Apr 06 (1)
Attacking Caste Neutrality
► Apr 05 (11)
The Subterranean Caste in Kerala
SEZ, Land and Dalits
A Discussion with K Balagopal, Human Rights Forum
Caste in Cinema
Double Identities
A Story in Multiplicity
Caste Inequality in EFL-U
Caste Inequality in EFL-U
Caste Inequality in EFL-U (II)
Caste Inequality in EFL-U (III)
Interview with Arundhati Roy
► March (17)
► Mar 23 (2)
Undoing Silence
Women and Caste
► Mar 21 (7)
I am not even the ' other ' in the binary
Who is Sarpanch Agamma?
Why Is Modern India Vegetarian?
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOOPAKA SUBHADRA
Prisons We Broke
The Prisons We Broke: Baby Kamble
BAWANDAR (2000)
► Mar 07 (7)
Outcaste is a public wall-journal that was started...
Death of a Dalit student in HCU
Letter to the Vice Chancellor University of Hydera...
Bant Singh’s Story
Recast: rethinking issues of caste and race
The Dalit Movement: From where, where to
India untouched :Stories of people apart (2007)
► Mar 06 (1)
Thank You For Your Valuable Response...
► February (9)
► Feb 25 (9)
Introduction to Out-Caste
Face 2 Face
Double Take
“Follow me, falter not now,Down with Manu’s injunc...
A Day in the Life of...
Literary Edge 2
Literary Edge 1
In person
Questions of the Week



Responses
Dear friends,
Me and some of my friends would like to know a certain thing : who was the high caste bengali student who didnt want a Dalit for a room mate.
As far as we think, when someone chooses their room mate, what they see is if they can get along well with each other. Did anyone ask someone his/her caste while doing so?
A reply will be appreciated.
Thank you,
Shukti

From the Editor:
As far as we think, when someone chooses their room mate, what they see is if they can get along well with each other. Did anyone ask someone his/her caste while doing so?
A reply: As far as the editors are concerned, we sincerely do not know of any such case where a bengali upper caste student refusing to share rooms with a Bengali Dalit student 'citing' (if one would really cite it) the particularity of caste differences. but that is definitely not a claim made in the survey report. let us take a look at was being claimed in the report:
We share rooms with people whom we are comfortable with. That is definitely true.
*But a survey of shared rooms in the 3 hostels indicates that in over 70% of the shared rooms, the roommates are of the same caste.*
Though choice of roommate may be made on the basis of linguistic or religious or course wise uniformity, it remains a question whether a Bengali Higher caste student (to take one example) would share a room with another Bengali Dalit student. Cultural differences are significant in such choices but these differences might just preclude caste differences too.
the example is clearly a hypothetical situation drawn up to explicate the point that among people who are obviously sharing rooms with people from the same linguistic community, there is a peculiarity of caste uniformity observed. again as we choose roommates with whom we are comfortable with or as shukti put it, we "get along well with", the 'comfort' or 'getting along well with' is definitely a quotient of our situated and historical realities. that would be why a Bengali student necessarily shares rooms with a Bengali student or majority of Arabic participants share rooms with each other. so much as we continue denying it presently, (and this is exactly what we were planning to counter when we claimed to attack caste neutrality in the journal) the claim made in the survey report was specifically addressed to the fact that the getting along well with is not as innocent as it seems. this yet again does not indicate a proliferation of caste considerations at the level of primary intentionality in choosing roommates. that was clearly not the point made and this does not require explication, it was more than obvious from the language. but the fact that our 'traditional' practices seem to be repeated even in our 'modern' setups requires serious analysis and thought if we are really to track caste or any other inequality in its real sites and contexts which seem to have a certain capacity of reiterability as is clear from our present conditions-there is no Dalit professor or 40%-50% of group D employees are Dalits.
We ask the rest of the class if they really can think of any 'concrete' reason as to why such a huge majority of shared rooms in the university have people from the same caste?
if the unconscious cannot be brought to test, criticism can hardly proceed after a point. that in itself is a difficult task. perhaps a few people we have read might help us to deal with this.
We hope this is a satisfactory reply. we can off-course take the qustion to the next class and bring out the 'uglier' dimesions. we, the editors would be more than happy to respond and it also bears upon us to do so.
Thanks,
Geetanjali
Ria
Jimmy
Ritam
Asmita.


Thank you for the reply.
If there is proper study to back up the statement, it is fine. I was just curious because many of the people I know here have roommates who are not from the same caste, or same linguistic or cultural community, and sometimes not from the same religion. But since the situation is hypothetical, I would like to state that it becomes a bit complicated for us to understand the statement without an explaination.
Caste consciousness may be importatnt in some cases, but I think what really matters is a common course or a common language, or geographical proximity. Some of the people I know come from the same linguistic community yet have a huge difference in lifestyle and opinions. An M.A. english student will naturally look for an M.A. participant as a roommate. As for the case of Arabic, I think since most of them come from one particular religion, their roommates obviously will be Muslims.
I guess what matters is the friends circle. Probably that is why not all people who belong to the same community hang out together.
I understand that the aim of the survey was to say that "choosing a roommate is not an innocent phenomenon." But in order to genralize a hypothetical situation, I think other perspectives should also be considered. It is also important taht facts should be made available(cite specific examples, who stays with whom and what are their castes.)
I think the survey/study should be made available to end such confusions. If we can have a look at it, it will help us to clarify. It is not a request from me but from many of my friends who find it difficult to agree with the claims. With specific examples, the claims can be justified.
Thanks,
Shukti




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Latest Marxist Corporate Agenda for Capitalist De | Palash Speaks
Latest Marxist Corporate Agenda for Capitalist De ..... Dhanna Singh from Punjab who drives a wooden cart at daily wages whenever he gets a chance. ...
blogs.ibibo.com/Baesekolkata/latest-marxist-corporate-agenda-for-capitali - 161k - Cached - Similar pages -
Abiotic Oil Theory: The Bane of Enviro-Marxists | American ...
Get American Conservative Daily delivery daily to you by email! ... to square one and looking for another way to institute a populist, socialist agenda. ...
www.americanconservativedaily.com/2008/02/abiotic-oil-theory-the-bane-of-enviro-marxists/ - 50k - Cached - Similar pages -
Daily Diatribe » Marxist Mockery
12 Dec 2006 ... He may have croaked up to 3000 marxists (and managed to shed many more ..... agenda of the smug and self-important employees of the network? ...
dailydiatribe.com.au/?cat=18 - 60k - Cached - Similar pages -
High Gas Prices, The Democrat's 'Marxist tactic of Crisis ...
21 Jun 2008 ... Both discuss the Democrats' socialist, Marxist agenda. ..... Current Problems · DB's Medical Rants · Daily News Central - Health News ...
www.hyscience.com/archives/2008/06/high_gas_prices.php - 83k - Cached - Similar pages -
Until Proven Innocent: Cultural Marxism at Duke | MND: Your Daily ...
The feminist agenda is so ingrained in American culture that ‘the facts’ of every ... the fort after this attack on cultural marxism as exported to SE Asia! ...
mensnewsdaily.com/2007/11/13/until-proven-innocent-cultural-marxism-at-duke/ - 62k - Cached - Similar pages -
Dr. Sanity: THE MORALLY VACUOUS LEFT AND ITS NEO-MARXIST AGENDA
This is seen in the daily death counts; the portentous talking heads ... Caught up in the marxist agenda of their postmodern rhetoric--with which they hope ...
drsanity.blogspot.com/2007/03/morally-vacuous-left-and-its-neo.html - 43k - Cached - Similar pages -
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Sociological Marxism
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We call this enterprise “Sociological Marxism” for two reasons. .... economic growth and to comprehensively organize the daily life of people, both ... In many ways, this is the most important agenda of sociological Marxism, since the ...
www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/SM-c1-why%20SM.pdf - Similar pages -
Boston Top News Examiner: Bank nationalization on the agenda ...
Bank nationalization on the agenda, Lindsey Graham joins Marxist revolution ... San Jose daily weather almanac - March 19 · March Madness on Demand--NCAA ...
www.examiner.com/x-2398-Boston-Top-News-Examiner~y2009m2d15-Bank-nationalization-on-the-agenda-GOP-joins-M... - 67k - Cached - Similar pages -
WASHINGTON DIARY: A new socio-economic agenda (Daily Times ...
31 Dec 2008 ... WASHINGTON DIARY: A new socio-economic agenda (Daily Times) ..... Former Marxist rebels put up their strongest electoral challenge in 20 ...
iaoj.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/washington-diary-a-new-socio-economic-agenda-daily-times/ - 71k - Cached - Similar pages -
Welcome to IASPS
The second myth is that the contrary evidence before us daily -- that average Moslems ... Friedman's agenda is liberalism. He is using the Islamic terrorist .... Or, is there something specific about Islam, as there was about Marxism, ...
www.israeleconomy.org/strategic/dyislam2.htm - 39k - Cached - Similar pages -
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Palash Biswas





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