Dr Subhendu Raj
Monday, 29 February 2016
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
NEERJA BHANOT : COURAGE PERSONIFIED
Only after a biopic film "NEERJA" has been released that we are re-discovering our braveheart Neerja. Everyone seems to be impressed by the courage of Neerja Bhanot who was killed on foreign soil in 1986 aboard a hijacked plane by terrorists from the Abu Nidal Organisation, but not before she almost single-handedly saved 359 passengers of mixed nationalities aboard a Pan Am flight.
She received the highest gallantry awards from three countries viz., India , U S and Pakistan for exemplary courage and fortitude . An extremely rare honour. Interestingly, Pakistan government awarded her an award called Tamgha-e-Insaaniyat (Awarded for showing incredible human kindness) before the Govt. of India awarded the Ashoka Chakra to her posthumously.
Ashoka Chakra Citation
On the Fifth of September, Nineteen Eighty Six, twenty three years old Shreemati Neerja, daughter of Shri Harish Bhanot, was a member of the crew of Pan American Airways Flight from Bombay to New York via Karachi as Senior Flight Purser.
A group of four heavily armed hijackers rushed to the aircraft on the tarmac at Karachi Airport.
Showing tremendous presence of mind and quick reflexes, it was her instant shout of 'Hijack' which alerted the flight crew who immediately escaped, thereby immobilizing the aircraft.
With the exit of the flight crew, she took command of the situation and kept the terrified passengers calm.
She deftly managed the situation and prevented the trigger-happy hijackers from going berserk.
However, when suddenly the power in the aircraft went off in the aircraft and she helped a number of passengers to escape through the emergency door, she became a marked target of the hijackers.
One of the desperate hijackers grabbed her from behind and shot her dead.
Her loyalties to the passengers of the aircraft in distress will forever be a lasting tribute to the finest qualities of the human spirit.
Shreemati Neerja, daughter of Shri Harish Bhanot , thus displayed the most conspicuous bravery in the face of grave adversities and tried to save the lives of the passengers on the ill- fated flight at the cost of her own life.
President of India
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Would you believe it …
This Is What Killing Billions Of Animals For Meat
Consumption Is Doing To The Environment
This Is What Killing Billions Of Animals For Meat Consumption Is Doing To The Environment
They are called feedlots, officially referred to as “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation” (CAFO) and more commonly known as factory farms. They house thousands of animals in horrid conditions that breed disease and massive environmental degradation. Despite this fact, they remain a non-issue to several major organizations whose job it is to raise awareness on the various issues contributing to our planet’s destruction at an exponential rate.
According to FarmForward, after examining the numbers from the U.S. Department of agriculture they determined that 99 percent of farmed animals in the U.S. are raised on feedlots. We are talking about billions of animals raised for slaughter every year, and that is in the U.S. alone. Globally, more than seventy billion of these animals are raised for slaughter every single year. (source)
“Feedlots are a brilliant representation of how abstract our food industry has come. It’s an efficient system for extracting the maximum yield from animals. That’s the world we live in now. We want to extract the maximum yield from everything, no matter what business you are in.” (source)
Here is a video to illustrate what I am talking about. This footage is from North Carolina, where there are more than 2,000 of these farms.
Did you know that the leading cause of rainforest destruction is our own food supply? We tear them down to make room for food crops and livestock grazing, and are doing so at an approximate rate of an entire football field’s worth of forest every single second. Every single day, close to 100 plant/animal/insect species are lost because of this practice. (More facts found within the video clips below.)
Below you will see one example of what factory farming is doing to the environment. The chemicals excreted from animal waste turn the landscape into giant cesspools.
This picture comes from Mishka Henner, and you can view many more of these shocking and disturbing photos of feedlots here.
Did you know that in 2006, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a report stating that the livestock business generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined? Did you know that 51 percent (or more) of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture?(source)(source)(source)(source)
“The billions of chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows who are raised for food each year in the U.S. produce a tremendous amount of excrement, releasing methane and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Methane, which is at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, accounts for 9 percent of the greenhouse-gas emissions in this country. And the 523 million chickens raised and killed each year in Delaware and Maryland alone generate enough waste to fill the dome of the U.S. Capitol about 50 times in a single year – or almost once a week. And each cow emits approximately 66 to 79 gallons of methane every single day. There are currently 88 million cattle in the United States. You do the math. Together, these cows reportedly produce more methane than landfills, natural gas leaks and fracking.” (source)
There are some sources that cite that the UN report only found an 18 percent contribution. Even if it is less than 50 percent, the fact that it has not been mentioned is strange.
Regardless of what the number is, we know it is a big contributor that’s never talked about, but things are slowly changing.
If we are talking about human activity as one (of what could be many) factors contributing to environmental destruction and global climate change, why is it that factory farming is not always included?
Below are a few clips from the upcoming documentary called “Cowspiracy.” It sheds light on the modern day meat industry and its relation to climate change, as well as its detrimental effect on the Earth’s environment, in multiple ways. It goes deeper, and provides more information on the fact that modern day meat consumption is the leading cause of environmental destruction and human induced climate change on our planet, yet we never hear about it.
Monday, 22 February 2016
THE CASTE CAULDRON
Why are some caste groups clamouring for backwardness (and therefore seeking reservation from the State in education / services / other sectors ) in our country ? – A look at the contemporary demands made by such castes
Right now we are in the throes of bedlam , arson and curfew caused by the Jat agitation in Haryana making life difficult for common people not only in the state but elsewhere. The Kapus in Andhra Pradesh are on a boil similarly causing much social turmoil . Earlier we had the Patidars or Patels in Gujarat , the Jats in Rajasthan articulating in similar fashion many of their demands for seeking reservation from the State.
What are the demands ? Let us have a look at them
The Jats
By Varinder Bhatia
Who are the Jats, and what are they demanding?
Jats are an agricultural caste group in Haryana, and seven other states in North India, notably Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
In Haryana, they are the predominant caste, and therefore politically influential. In his tome on the “Panjab Castes” following the 1881 census, Sir Denzil Ibbetson noted that “from an economical and administrative point of view [the Jat] is the husbandsman, the peasant, the revenue-payer par excellence... he is usually content to cultivate his fields and pay his revenue in peace and quietness...”
The Jats currently out on the streets across Haryana are demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions under the OBC category.
When did the demand begin?
Discontent boiled over after the 1991 Gurnam Singh Commission report included Jats in the Backward Classes category along with seven other groups, and after the Bhajan Lal government withdrew the notification that had been issued for inclusion.
Two more Backward Classes Commissions set up in the state excluded the group – in 1995 and 2011. Reservation for Jats was one of the poll promises made by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who came to power in 2004; he subsequently wrote several letters to the Union government seeking their inclusion of Jats.
After an agitation, in April 2011, the government set up the K C Gupta Commission to go into the question once again. In 2012, the commission recommended the inclusion of Jats and four other castes, Jat Sikhs, Ror, Tyagi and Bishnoi, in the category Special Backward Classes (SBC). The Hooda government accepted the report and 10% quota was granted, but this was later set aside by the Supreme Court.
What are the legal issues involved in granting reservation to Jats? What is the policy in neighbouring states?
On March 17, 2015, the Supreme Court quashed the UPA government’s decision to extend the OBC quota in central government jobs to Jats, refusing to accept that Jats were a backward community.
Consequently, the reservation introduced for Jats in Haryana and eight other states — Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — was set aside. In April 2015, the NDA government filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the March 17 verdict. A decision on it is pending.
Where do the Jats stand in Haryana’s political hierarchy?
Since being carved out of Punjab in 1966, Haryana state has had 10 chief ministers, and seven have been Jats. Jats comprise 27% of the electorate, and are the state’s predominant caste group, who dominate a third of the 90 Assembly constituencies in the state. The leaders of the two main opposition political parties — Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress and Abhay Singh Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal — are Jats. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar represents the Punjabi community, and belongs to the Khattar caste.
The Jat agitation is centred on Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bhiwani — the three districts that, along with Panipat, Sonipat and Hisar, are known as the state’s Jat belt. The three districts are mostly covered under two parliamentary constituencies — Rohtak and Bhiwani — and 18 Assembly constituencies. The BJP won 10 out of these 18 seats, while six went to Congress and two to INLD.
But if the Jats are so politically influential, should they not already be well represented in higher education and government jobs?
© Provided by Indian Express Members of the Jat community in Rohtak during the agitation demanding reservation in jobs and education. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
According to the K C Gupta Commission, Jats had 17.82% representation in Class 1 and 2 government jobs. In the lower grades, this representation is estimated at as high as 40 to 50%. The representation of Jats in educational institutions was 10.35%. The literacy rate among Jat men is said to be 45%; among women, about 30%.
The Jats’ primary occupation remains farming. The average landholding is 2-3 acres. Only 10% of Jats are landless. Over a decade ago, some sections of Jats were not ready to accept the status of “backward class” because at that time land was not fragmented, and most Jat landholdings were large. With changing times and dividing families, however, holdings began to shrink.
So, which are the castes that do have reservation in Haryana?
Out of 80 castes, only 16 — Ahir, Arora/Khatri, Bishnoi, Brahman, Gossain, Gujjar, Jat, Jat Sikh, Kalal, Mahajan/Bania, Meo, Muslim, Rajput, Ror, Saini and Tyagi — do not find mention in the lists of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes notified by the Haryana government. The Ramgarhia caste, which is synonymous with Khati or Barhai, also does not find mention in the list of Backward Classes of the Haryana government.
The remaining 63 castes/communities have been notified either as a Scheduled Caste or Backward Class.
Did the Khattar government fail to anticipate the anger of the community?
The BJP is heading the government for the first time in the state, and the lack of experience could have led to an inaccurate assessment of the situation. The Jat agitation for reservations has been an annual affair around this time of the year (February-March) since 2012, but this year’s violence could have something to do with the BJP still being seen as an outsider in Haryana's traditional Jat politics, its election victory notwithstanding. Of the eight cabinet ministers (including the Chief Minister), only two are Jats.
Where is this agitation now headed?
The Jats have trashed a government offer to include those with annual income of less than Rs 6 lakh under an Economically Backward Persons (EBP) category with a 20% quota, to be shared with four other castes: Tyagis, Rors, Bishnois and Jat Sikhs.
The government has now announced it will prepare a draft Bill for reservation, and try to bring it in the Assembly session beginning March 17. However, such a Bill may not stand judicial scrutiny in view of the 50% ceiling on quota in government jobs imposed by the Supreme Court.
This ceiling has been reached in Haryana, which has 27% reservation for OBCs, 20% SCs and 3% for the disabled. This is why the Punjab and Haryana High Court had struck down the Congress government’s 10% per cent quota for Jats, Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Tyagis and Rors as Special Backward Classes.
Patidars in Gujarat
By: Satish Jha
On July 6, 2015, Hardik Patel, 22, started an agitation under the banner of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti to demand the inclusion of Patidars in the OBC list. A mega rally in Ahmedabad on August 25 led to caste riots. At least 9 Patidar youths and one policeman was killed. According to police records, between June and December 2015, Patidars organised 1,251 protest meetings.
Patidars, who are farmers, are counted among Gujarat’s wealthiest communities. They have nearly 14% of the vote share, and are traditionally BJP supporters. They have applied to the Gujarat OBC commission seeking OBC status. Hardik is in jail, charged with sedition.
He has been accused of trying to “dislodge a democratically elected government” by waging war against the state in order to force it to take an “unlawful decision” on reservation for the community. The charges under Sections 124A (sedition) and 121A (conspiracy to wage war) have been upheld by Gujarat High Court; an appeal is pending in the Supreme Court.
Kapus in Andhra
By: Sreenivas Janyala
On January 31, sidelined former TDP leader Mudragadda Padmanabham called a meeting of Kapus to demand the TDP government fulfil its poll promise to include Kapus in the BCs list. The YSR Congress Party extended its support to the meeting, held near Tuni railway station in East Godavari. The crowd turned violent, set a train on fire, attacked the police station and set vehicles afire.
The government has been dragging its feet in giving guidelines to the K L Manjunath Commission constituted to recommend the inclusion of Kapus in the BC list without disturbing the existing quotas. In 2014, Kapus, who constitute 23.4% of the population of AP, backed N Chandrababu Naidu.
After the unprecedented violence, a shocked Padmanabham withdrew the protest but warned the government he would sit on a protest fast. Naidu has assured that the Manjunath Commission would submit its report within six months.
Jats in Rajasthan
By: Mahim Pratap Singh
Before March 2014, Jats were in the central list of OBCs in Gujarat — Jat (Muslim) — and Rajasthan (except in the districts of Bharatpur and Dholpur). Jats also figured in the state lists of Haryana, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, UP, MP, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The UPA sought the advice of the National Commission for Backward Classes on including Jats from these nine states, and the two Rajasthan districts, in the central list of OBCs. The NCBC advised against it, “as they are not socially and educationally backward community”, but the government notified an amended list anyway.
The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, which in March 2015 scrapped the central OBC quotas for the Jats in question, including in the two Rajasthan districts.
Rajasthan Jat leaders have now expressed solidarity with the ongoing protests in Haryana. Some college students have carried out a protest in Bharatpur.
Source : http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/backward-march-what-the-jats-want/
Sunday, 21 February 2016
Some controversial books that one should read before one dies .
1. Books that will get you thinking
The most daunting part about reading is the act of picking up a book to read! A bad book, much like a bad date, can put you off for days or weeks. A good book, on the other hand, can set you on a path that you'd never want to leave. Here we have it then, a selection of some controversial books that you must read even if they are ban in some parts of the world…
2. The Q’uran
Don’t let yourself be dominated by stereotypes. In this book you will find out a lot of new and interesting things about this very often misinterpreted religion. Now, what makes Q’uran quite controversial and not very welcome in many bookshelves is its interpretation of Jesus as a non-divine, common person. Once you read Q’uran, you’ll see that it doesn’t have anything to do with violence and terrorism but peace instead.
3. The God Delusion
Atheists champion it, theists denounce it, and there is very little middle ground. That was Richard Dawkins’s intent with it. This is by far his most inflammatory treatise on atheism to date, and his biggest commercial success. It has sold over 2 million copies. In this book, Dawkins goes through a logical process of destroying the idea of a God of any kind, then discusses the nature of morality, whether it requires a religion to work.
4. And Tango Makes Three (Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson)
This picture book tells the true story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo. When the penguins were seen trying to hatch an egg-shaped rock, zookeepers gave them an actual egg. Roy and Silo then raised the chick, Tango. Despite the story concerning penguins, it stirred controversy about same-sex marriage and homosexuality, resulting in widespread bans.
5. The Satanic Verses
One of the most controversial and acclaimed novels ever written, The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie’s best-known and most galvanizing book. Set in a modern world filled with both mayhem and miracles, the story begins with a bang: the terrorist bombing of a London-bound jet in midflight. Two Indian actors of opposing sensibilities fall to earth, transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil.
6. Lajja: Shame by Taslima Nasrin
Following the publication of Lajja, Nasrin suffered a number of physical and other attacks. She had written against Islamic philosophy, angering many Muslims of Bangladesh, who called for a ban on her novel. In October 1993, an Islamic fundamentalist group called the Council of Islamic Soldiers offered a bounty for her death.
7. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings
Although he wrote in the 1500s, but this guy was a mover and a shaker. While the rest of Germany was cool being Catholic, he stood up against the idea that money could buy a person's way into heaven; instead, he believed in grace. Due to his opinions, he was excommunicated by the Pope and condemned as an outlaw by the Emperor.
8. God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as "one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time." takes on his biggest subject yet - the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. With his unique brand of erudition and wit, Hitchens describes the ways in which religion is man-made. "God did not make us," he says. "We made God."
9. The Harry Potter Series
Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling is wildly popular and seen generally as adventurous and harmless tales for children. These books have their fair share of opponents (not to mention hoards of fans). Some parents and religious groups feel that these books can take children deep into the unwanted land of fantasy. The book was also criticized for not keeping true to geographical, historical and architectural facts.
10. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
A recent book that surrounded by controversy since its publication is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The book gives a fictional account of characters revealing a hidden truth concealed by the Catholic Church for centuries, including the divinity of Christ, his celibacy, and the possibility of a genetic heritage. Most of the complaints against the book are due to the speculation and misrepresentation of the history of Roman Catholic Church and the basic questioning of the tenets of Christianity.
11. Silas Marner
Another classic novel you’d have a lot of fun reading even though it’s banned. But what is it that made this breathtaking story written by George Eliot end up on this unflattering list? The Church doesn’t like this book because it questions the need for organized religion , the term “God” and raises all kinds of questions that could be interpreted as “anti-religious”.
12. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1939 novel follows the Joads, a poor family from Oklahoma, during the Great Depression. Immediately upon its publication, the novel was banned in many places and even burned in some. Its detractors faulted Steinbeck's sympathy for the poor and socialist tendencies. Leaders in the farming industry also attacked the book for its portrayal of migrant workers receiving poor treatment.
13. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This story about banning books was itself banned in several American states, which cited offensive language and content. The striking cover art by Joe Pernaciaro and Joseph Mugnaini has become one of the most powerful and iconic images of 20th-century literature. The distraught figure that graces the cover is comprised of book pages and stands over a pile of burning books—a haunting, and powerful image that personifies the demise of independent thought and the freedom to read.
14. A Day No Pigs Would Die
This coming of age story by Robert Newton Peck is one of the most challenged books of all time. People just can't seem to get past the graphic description of animal butchery.
15. Bridge to Terabithia
Author Katherine Patterson is the daughter of missionaries and the wife of a minister, but that hasn't stopped people from saying that her book, Bridge to Terabithia promotes Satanism through references to magic.
16. The Diary of a Young Girl
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait.
17. Hindu Heaven by Max Wylie
It cannot be brought into India. Max Wylie, the creator The Flying Nun TV show, researched this book while teaching in Lahore. The novel questioned the work of American missionaries in India. It also dealt with the harsh effects of the climate on the missionaries.
18. Nine Hours to Rama
The book and the movie based on it, both were banned in India. The book was thought to be justifying the actions of Nathuram Godse who murdered Gandhi. The book also points to the lapse in security.
19. Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence by Jaswant Singh
In this book Jaswant Singh he praises the founder of Pakistan was banned by the BJP-ruled Gujarat government in August 2009 claiming that it contained “derogatory” references to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Barely a month later, the ban was overturned by the Gujarat High Court which ruled that the government's notification lacked “thinking and understanding” and there was no ground to ban it.
20. 1984 by George Orwell
While 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely than ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia", that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world — so powerful that it's completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions — a legacy that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.
http://www.speakingtree.in/slideshow/must-read-controversial-books
Friday, 19 February 2016
Tuesday, 16 February 2016
It's in fashion to brand anyone an anti-national now
Are you an Anti-national ?
Check it yourself ... here (Click on the link and take a short test )
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/so-youre-an-anti-national-and-didnt-know-it-heres-a-quiz-thatll-help-you-know-for-sure-2626788.html
Are you an Anti-national ?
Check it yourself ... here (Click on the link and take a short test )
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/so-youre-an-anti-national-and-didnt-know-it-heres-a-quiz-thatll-help-you-know-for-sure-2626788.html
Saturday, 13 February 2016
Although conceived of earlier , it was yesterday on Saraswati Puja / Basant Panchami that this journal of mine came into being . Apart from my work I'd also share some of my favourites , fixations and other non specific miscellany that inspire me and even rule over me , my thought process ... or whatever I like
In this strain ...
The passing away of Nida Fazli affects me deeply. Though I had heard his lyrics it was only now that I was discovering the varieties of meanings of his shayiri. What a great poet was Nida Fazli ... his shaiyiri had a simplicity through which he spoke of the greatest realities of life effortlessly in common words
Apni Marzi se kahan apni safar ke hum hain
Rukh hawaaon ka jidhar ka hai udhar ke hum hain...
Pehle har cheez thi apni magar ab lagta hai
Apne hi ghar mein kisi doosre ghar ke hum hain
Waqt ke saath mitti ka safar sadiyon se
Kisko maaloom kahan ke hain kidhar ke hum hain
Chalte rehte hain ke chalnaa hai musaafir ka naseeb
Sochte rehte hain kis raah guzar ke hum hain
Nida fazli
Apne hi ghar mein kisi doosre ghar ke hum hain
Waqt ke saath mitti ka safar sadiyon se
Kisko maaloom kahan ke hain kidhar ke hum hain
Chalte rehte hain ke chalnaa hai musaafir ka naseeb
Sochte rehte hain kis raah guzar ke hum hain
Nida fazli
Hear for eg.,this beautiful ghazal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiCL5KXwlcI.
Friday, 12 February 2016
Well , I was thinking what to put on this space of mine ...
I decided to share a piece on great Humanism of Irene Sendler . For many especially for the many lives that she saved from sure and certain death at the hands of the fascists and also for me she was a living God
Nothing is more precious than a human life and especially the life of a young child
and the people who risk their safety and lives to save others for no private gain
are the ones who we have to bow down to --- and one such was Irene Sendler.
- Paper published in Neelambara Vol 52 , 2014 N. Delhi ( Copyright reserved with the author )
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The 'female Schindler' who saved 2500 Jewish children died wishing she'd rescued more
-
Dr.
Subhendu Ranjan Raj -
Sr.
Asso. Professor , Dept. of Political Science
PGDAVE College
(In Memoriam :Irene Sendler (1910 – 2008)
You may remember Schindler's
List - a profoundly shocking,
unsparing, fact-based epic of the
nightmarish Holocaust of Nazi monstrosity on Jews which remains Steven Spielberg's most accomplished award-winning masterpiece.
The classic film was about Oskar Schlindler who was able to save the lives of 1,200 Jews by employing them in his enamelware
and ammunitions
factories, which were in Poland and the Czech Republic.
For me personally , an unforgettable image from this film is of a little girl in a red coat and candles burning
with orange flames (the only scene in colour as the entire film in-between is
shot in crisp black and white) walking
down a path where everyone has been killed by Nazis … and sure enough this
small girl was also destined to meet the same fate …tugs the heart of the
viewers and has everyone hoping against
hope wishing that at least the child should somehow
escape the fate…
There
was somebody who in that day and age who thought similarly, and who undertook
the maximum of pain and risk to her life
to save some of such children – children who unwittingly were put in
concentration camps along with their parents to be gassed and killed. There was indeed a greater human than even the benevolent Oskar
Schindler … and she was not rich ,influential, powerfully connected and close to the Nazis… She was Irene Sendler. A simple lady with
super human commitment to humanity . She did what no one was able to do – she largely
single- handedly ( she had a few confidantes ) indefatigably saved the lives of
2500 Jewish children who had been
condemned to die in a Nazi
concentration camp in Warsaw . By
any measure, Irena Sendler was one of the most remarkable and noble figures to
have emerged from the horrors of World War II. But, until recently, her
extraordinary compassion and heroism went largely unrecorded.
| Some children saved by Irene |
Some of the children whom
Irene was able to save from sure death.
On 12 May 2008, Irena Sendlerowa (commonly known
as Irena Sendler)
passed away of pneumonia at the age of 98 in Warsaw.
Irena has often been referred to as "the female Oskar Schindler" in
her native Poland for her daring and ingenuity in saving the lives of more than
2500 Jews ( most of them children) in
German-occupied Poland during World War II. Unlike Oskar Schindler, whose story
was the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1993 film Schindler's
List, Irena Sendler was a relatively
unknown figure to the world at large until 1999, when four Kansas high school
students wrote and performed "Life in a
Jar,"aplay about Irena's life-saving
efforts in the Warsaw Ghetto.
A Los Angeles Times newspaper obituary
for Irena described how Irena, a Polish social worker, passed herself off as a
nurse to sneak supplies and aid into (and children out of) the Warsaw Ghetto,
and the punishment she endured when she was finally caught by the Nazis .
Irene Sendler : Great Humanism , Extreme
Courage
Irene
at the age of 29.
Irene
studied at Warsaw University and was a social worker in Warsaw when the German
occupation of Poland began in 1939. In 1940, after the Nazis herded Jews into
the ghetto and built a wall separating it from the rest of the city, where disease,
especially typhoid, ran rampant. Social workers were not allowed inside the
ghetto, but Sendler, imagining "the horror of life behind the walls,"
obtained fake identification and passed herself off as a nurse, allowed to
bring in food, clothes and medicine.
By 1942, when the deadly intentions of the Nazis had become clear, that they wanted to exterminate Jews from the earth, Sendler joined a Polish underground organization, Zegota. She recruited 10 close friends — a group that would eventually grow to 25, all but one of them women — and began rescuing Jewish children.
By 1942, when the deadly intentions of the Nazis had become clear, that they wanted to exterminate Jews from the earth, Sendler joined a Polish underground organization, Zegota. She recruited 10 close friends — a group that would eventually grow to 25, all but one of them women — and began rescuing Jewish children.
During World War II, Irene, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto.
She had an ulterior motive... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews.
Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried, and she
carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had
a dog in the back, that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in,
and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the
dog, and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. During her time and
course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She
was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, and arms, and beat her
severely. Irena kept a record of the
names of all the kids she smuggled out, and kept them in a glass jar, buried under
a tree in her back yard. After the war,
she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it, and reunited the
family. Most of course had been gassed at the concentration camps.
Those
kids she helped got placed into foster family homes, or adopted. She and her
friends smuggled the children out in boxes, suitcases, sacks and coffins,
sedating babies to quiet their cries. Some were spirited away through a network
of basements and secret passages. Operations were timed to the second. One of
Sendler's children told of waiting by a gate in darkness as a German soldier
patrolled nearby. When the soldier passed, the boy counted to 30, then made a
mad dash to the middle of the street, where a manhole cover opened and he was
taken down into the sewers and eventually to safety.
Most of the
children who left with Sendler's group were taken into Roman Catholic convents,
orphanages and homes and given non-Jewish aliases. Sendler recorded their true
names on thin rolls of paper in the hope that she could reunite them with their
families later. She preserved the precious scraps in jars and buried them in a
friend's garden.
Goodness in the Time of Holocaust
Goodness in the Time of Holocaust
In 1943, she was captured by the Nazis and tortured but refused to
tell her captors who her co-conspirators were or where the bottles were buried.
She also resisted in other ways. According to Felt, when Sendler worked in the
prison laundry, she and her co-workers made holes in the German soldiers'
underwear. When the officers discovered what they had done, they lined up all
the women and shot every other one. It was just one of many close calls for
Sendler. During one particularly brutal torture session, her captors broke her
feet and legs, and she passed out. When she awoke, a Gestapo officer told her
he had accepted a bribe from her comrades in the resistance to help her escape.
The officer added her name to a list of executed prisoners. Sendler went into
hiding but continued her rescue efforts.
Sendler had begun her rescue operation before she joined the organized resistance and helped a number of adults escape, including the man she later married. "We think she saved about 500 people before she joined Zegota," Felt said, which would mean that Sendler ultimately helped rescue about 3,000 Polish Jews. When the war ended, Sendler unearthed the jars and began trying to return the children to their families. For the vast majority, there was no family left. Many of the children were adopted by Polish families; others were sent to Israel.
On
20 October 1943, Sendler was arrested. She managed to stash away incriminating
evidence such as the coded addresses of children in care of Zegota and large
sums of money to pay to those who helped Jews. She was sentenced to death and
sent to the infamous Pawiak prison, but underground activists managed
to bribe officials to release her. Her close encounter with death did not deter
her from continuing her activity. After her release in February 1944, even
though she knew that the authorities were keeping an eye on her, Sendler
continued her underground activities. Because of the danger she had to go into
hiding. The necessities of her
clandestine life prevented her from attending her mother's funeral.
She smuggled out the children in
suitcases, ambulances, coffins, sewer pipes, rucksacks and, on one occasion,
even a tool box. Those old enough to ask knew their saviour only by her
codename "Jolanta". But she kept hidden a meticulous record of all
their real names and new identities - created to protect the Jewish youngsters
from the pursuing Nazis - so they might later be re-united with their families.
In almost all cases this could never happen – as the parents of the children ,
even their close kith and kin were killed by Nazis.
When the Germans finally
caught her, the Roman Catholic social worker had managed to save 2,500 Jewish
babies and toddlers from deportation to the concentration camps. She had
spirited them out of the heavily-guarded Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, and hidden
their identities in two glass jars buried under an apple tree in her
neighbour's garden.
Never
received fullsome Honour
One
aspect of Sendler few talk about, was this that in post war period not many
gave credit to her for the great humanitarian work she had done.“In postwar
communist Poland her heroic deeds went unpublished and were even officially
frowned upon by the regime, which was not sympathetic towards Jews.”In fact, in
1968, when the Polish Soviet Puppet Communist government expelled most of
Poland’s remaining Jews in an anti-Zionist campaign, such was the commitment
that Sendler had towards saving
innocent lives that she told the
authorities that she would once again shelter Jews from the authorities.
Irene passed away on May 12, 2008, in Warsaw,
Poland. She was 98 years old. At the
time of her death , she was heartbroken that she could have had save some more
children from death from the Fascists.
Such was her philosophy and her
commitment .
On 14 March 2007, Sendler was honored by the Polish Senate. Aged 97, she was unable to leave her nursing home to receive the honor, but she sent a statement through Elżbieta Ficowska, whom Sendler had helped to save as an infant. Polish President Lech Kaczyński stated she "can justly be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize." Also in 2007 the Polish government presented her as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. This initiative was officially supported by the State of Israel through its prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Organization of Holocaust Survivors in Israel residents. The authorities of Oświęcim (Auschwitz in German) expressed support for this nomination, because Irena Sendler was considered one of the last living heroes of her generation, and demonstrated a strength, conviction and extraordinary values against an evil of an extraordinary nature. She was passed over that year for the Nobel Peace Prize, which was given to Al Gore, and to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Yes, the truest honour however was never conferred on
her, something that was the least that should have been conferred on her. When Irene was nominated for the Nobel
Peace Prize at long last (something that should have been bestowed on her
earlier ).... that honor was not awarded to her. She LOST to a politician . US Vice President Al Gore won, for a slide
show on Global Warming. Yes, only for a slide show. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change and former U.S. Vice-President Albert Arnold (Al) Gore
Jr. "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about
man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are
needed to counteract such change."
Irene Sendler with the survivors of the
Holocaust – children whom she had saved, now adults
So here it was . A true
apostle of universal humanitarianism, an exemplary angel of substance who moved heaven and hell in the
most dangerous of times , who risked her well being , life and reputation for
saving innocent human beings in the most heinous of regimes with the greatest of fear, risk and
tension was ignored .
The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) expressed its disappointment that Irena Sendler had not yet been
honored with a Nobel Prize of 2007. IFSW said it was deeply saddened that the life
work of Nobel nominee Irena Sendler, social worker, did not receive formal
recognition', said David N. Jones, IFSW President. 'Irena Sendler and her
helpers took personal risks day after day to prevent the destruction of
individual lives — the lives of the children of the Warsaw ghetto. This work
was done very quietly, without many words and at the risk of their lives. This
is so typical of social work, an activity which changes and saves lives but is
done out of the glare of publicity and often at personal risk. IFSW recognises
her again and at the same time celebrates the commitment and dedication of
thousands of social workers around the world who also bring hope and care to
people often living on the edge of despair.'
More than anything , Irene
Sendler deserved recognition universally for a work which is rare. Her
personal philosophy in life
namely that “ Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on earth ,
and not a title to glory “ is self explanatory
and is incredibly modest and supremely sublime. We in India, would have
immediately called her a ‘ living god’. Why ?
Because Irene Sendler was able to bestow through her never say die attitude and efforts the supreme of all gifts – THE GIFT OF LIFE.
In India we treat this at par with god’s will and benediction. If the world
runs still , it is because of such people like Irene Sendler who are self
sacrificing , honest and committed to saving human life in the midst of so much
hatred , violence and mindless egotism. As history shows time and again, people
tend to remember the good work done by
the likes of Irene Sendler , Mother Teresa rather than Hitler, Mussolini or Stalin. Long Live Irene
Sendler !
Irene , just before her bereavement.
References :-
·
Irene Tomaszewski & Tecia Werblowski, Zegota:
The Council to Aid Jews in Occupied Poland 1942-1945,
Price-Patterson,London
·
Anna Mieszkowska, IRENA SENDLER Mother of
the Holocaust Children Publisher: Praeger; Tra edition (18 November 2010)
·
Mordecai Paldiel, The Path of the
Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust, Ktav Publishing
House (January 1993)
·
Yitta Halberstam & Judith Leventhal, Small
Miracles of the Holocaust,The Lyons Press; 1st edition (13 August 2008)
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