KALPA –The Hindu TIME Element

Om! Gam! Ganapathaye! Namaha!

Om! Sri Raghavendraya Namaha!

Om! Namo! Bhagavathe! Vasudevaya!

Om! Ham! Hanumathe! Sri Rama Doothaya Namaha!

KALPA –THE HINDU TIME ELEMENT

Having understood the concept of Ugadi (Yuga + Aadi) as a time element let us now try to understand the arithmetic of Hindu time element and certain related terminologies that will help us in understanding the time element called Kalpa Para that refers to the life span of the Universe and Lord Brahma. Reference to Hindu time element is said to have been scripted in many Vishnu related puranas like Maha Bhagavatha, Matsya Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Mahabharatha and Bhagavath Geetha.

Hindu sages describe time as cyclic and an endless process of creation, preservation and dissolution. The Universe is cyclically created and destroyed. Hindu religion and philosophy which strongly believes in Vedas has clearly spelled out the time element of the universe at different levels. Understanding of time element in Hinduism is as old as the Hinduism itself. Several pouranic texts have mentioned about the time element in Hinduism.

It is said that before commencement of Creation (Srushti) there was only water every where and Lord SriManNarayana the primordial person (Aadi Purusha) only was present in deep meditation. Desired (Sankalpa) to start the creation, He first created the Universe and Omkara from where the Vedas got originated. It is also said that Vedas are (swayambhu) Lord SriManNarayana himself. He then created Lord Brahma from his navel to take further the process of Creation.

A Kalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning an aeon (immeasurably long period of time) in Hindu cosmology. In Hindu philosophy a Kalpa is equal to 432 crores of years. It is a day in the life of Lord Brahma. It is equal to 1000 Mahayugas measuring the duration of the world. Each Kalpa is divided into 14 Manvantharas each one lasting 306,720,000 years. Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Lord Brahma.

A Kalpa is also called as Vedanga, the hand of VedaPurusha. Kalpa is also referred to as the Sasthra that involves one to carry out the injunctions of Kalpa. Various kinds of spiritual rituals to be performed come under the province of Kalpa. Kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga.

YUGA

Yuga is a period or an Era in which we live. As per Kalpa Pramana there are four Yugas viz. Krita Yuga known as Sathya Yuga which is also called as the Golden age an era of total virtue, Thretha Yuga called as the Silver age an era of 3/4^th virtue, Dwapara Yuga called as bronze age with half virtue and half sin in its era, and Kali Yuga called as iron age (Black age) with 1/4^th virtue and 3/4^th sin in its era.

Life span of these Yugas will not be equal. The Yugas get progressively worse from morality point of view as one proceeds from one Yuga to another. As a result each Yuga is of shorter duration than its previous one. It is as follows,

Krita Yuga (Sathya Yuga) 1728000 years

Thretha Yuga 1296000 years

Dwapara Yuga 864000 years

Kali Yuga 432000 years

Total 43, 20,000 years

MAHA YUGA

One cycle of four Yugas (Krita, Thretha, Dwapara and Kali) is called as Maha Yuga (Chatur Yuga); its life span will be 43, 20,000 years. It is also called as a Divine Yuga.

MANVANTHARA

During every Kalpa Lord Brahma creates 14 Manus one after the other, who in turn manifest and regulate the world. Manvanthara is Manu’s cycle the one who gives birth and govern the human race. Manvanthara is reckoned with the age or period of Manu. The period of each Manvanthara consists of 71 Mahayugas (Chaturyugas) that is 71 x 4320000 = 306.720 million human years. After each Manvanthara there follows a Sandhi Kala of the duration of Krita Yuga years. (1728000). It is said that at the end of each Manvanthara it is followed by a Pralaya during the Sandhikala.

There are 14 generations of Manus they are, Swayambhuva, Swarochisha, Outtama, Tamasa, Raivatha, Chakshuva, Vaivaswatha, Savarni, Daksha Savarni, Brahma Savarni, Dharma Savarni, Rudra Savarni, Deva Savarni, and Indra Savarni. At end of the 14^th Manu, the cycle repeats again and Brahma creates fourteen additional Manus. Each Manvanthara will have a set of seven sages called Saptha Rishis who will live through out the Manvanthara period.

KALPA

A Kalpa is a day (12 hours) in the life of Lord Brahma. Each Kalpa is ruled by a succession of 14 Manus and the period of reign is called Manvanthara. A Kalpa (day period of Brahma) consists of a period of 17,28,000 years called Aadi Sandhi followed by 14 Manvantharas and Sandhi kalas that will be equal to 1000 Maha Yugas.

One day (Kalpa) of Brahma is also divided into 10000 parts called charanas equivalent to 1000 Maha Yugas of 10 charanas each. Each Maha Yuga consists of 10 charanas (Krita Yuga 4, Thretha Yuga 3, Dwapara Yuga 2 and Kali Yuga 1 charana).

A day of Brahma (Kalpa) is equal to 14 (Manvantharas) x 71(Maha Yugas) = 994 Maha Yugas + Sandhi kalas (equal to 6 Maha Yugas) = 1000 Maha Yugas. Sandhi kala is arrived at as follows; For 14 Manvanthara 14 sandhikala periods equal to the age of 14 Krita Yugas = 1728000 x 14 = 24192000 + 1728000 (Aadi Sandhi period) = 2,59,20,000 /43,20,000 years = 6 Maha Yugas. In terms of number of years, a Kalpa will be of 1000 Maha Yugas x 4320000 = 432 crores of years. A night of Brahma is of equal duration of another 1000 Maha Yugas = 432 crores years. Thus a full day (day + night) of Brahma is the period of Two Kalpas equal to 2000 Maha Yugas (864 crores years)

At the end of Brahma’s day time there will be a deluge (Pralaya) when the Universe will temporarily get dissolved by way of a Naimittika Pralaya. Then that will be the night time of Lord Brahma which will be equal to another Kalpa. During this time Lord Maha Vishnu reclines into meditative pose (Yoganidra) before Brahma starts recreation in the new Kalpa that will be the beginning of a new day for Lord Brahma. Thus in a full day’s cycle of Lord Brahma there will be creation during day time and destruction during night time.

There are 30 Kalpas as per Matsya Purana which gets repeated cyclically. They are Swetha, Neelalohita, Vamadeva, Rathanthara, Rourava, Deva, Bruhath, Kandarpa, Sadhya, Eesana, Tamah, Saraswatha, Udaana, Garuda, Kaurma, Narasimha, Samana, Agneya, Soma, Maanava, Tathpuman, Vaikunta, Lakshmi, Savithri, Aghora, Vaaraah, Vairaja, Gouri, Maheswara, and Pithru Kalpa. It is said that Vayu Purana gives a different list of Kalpas which are 28 in number.

Reckoning of time for Lord Brahma:

In Bhagavath Geetha a day of Lord Brahma has been defined as 1000 Maha Yugas (Sahasra Yuga paryantham ahar-yad brahmano vidhuh meaning a day of Brahma is of 1000 Mahayugas). According to Mahabharatha 12 months of Brahma is equal to 360 days that constitute his year and 100 such years is his life time and that is the life cycle of the Universe.

Fifty years of Brahma are supposed to have been elapsed and we are now in the 51^st year of Lord Brahma in Swetha Varaha Kalpa. At the end of the Kalpa, Brahma rests for one night that is equal to the day during which time the world is annihilated (destroyed) that is called as Pralaya.

As per Vedamana the life span of Lord Brahma is said to be 100 years called as Brahma Kalpa. Though Brahma Kalpa had started from the day of his origin, first half of his life (50 years) was spent in knowing and understanding the tatva of Lord SriManNarayana.

As per the directions of supreme Lord Sri Maha Vishnu, Brahma started creation in his 51^st year that is the current year in the life of Lord Brahma. Life span of Lord Brahma is reckoned as follows in terms of human years

· 1000 Maha Yugas = 1 Kalpa = 1 day (12 hours) of Lord Brahma = 432 crores of years

· 2000 Maha Yugas = 2 Kalpas = 1 day (24 hours) of Lord Brahma = 864 crores of years

· 30 such days of Brahma = 30 x 864 crores of years = 259.2 billions years = 60 Kalpas

· 12 such months (one year or 360 days) of Brahma = 12 x 259.2 billions years = 3.1104 trillions years = 720 (360+360) Kalpas

· 50 such years = 1 Paraarddha = 50 x 3.1104 trillion years = 155.52 trillions years = 36000 Kalpas

· 2 such Paraardhas = 100 years of Brahma = 311.04 trillions years = 72000 Kalpas

As per the above arithmetic life span of Lord Brahma will be 311.04 trillions years.

Reckoning for the Current Date:

(The time elapsed since the current Brahma has taken over the task of creation)

Some of the words in Sankalpa sloka that we recite daily during Sandhyavandana or before commencement of any divine prayer or ritual contain the time element viz. Aaadhya Brahmana, Dwiteeya Parardhe, Swetha Varaha Kalpe, Vaivaswatha Manwanthare, Kaliyuge, Prathama Pade, Salivahana Sakhe. In these words there is reckoning of the current date as per Vedamana since the birth of Lord Brahma.

Aaadhya Brahmana Dwiteeya Parardhe:

That means first half of the life time of Lord Brahma is over and we are in the 2^nd half called Dwiteeya Parardhe in the 51^st year of Lord Brahma (50 years of Lord Brahma is equal to 155.52 trillions human years)

Swetha Varaha Kalpe:

That means we are in the first day (only day) called Swetha Varaha Kalpa in the 51^st year of Lord Brahma. In Swetha Varaha Kalpa (first day of Lord Brahma) after passing through 6 Manvantharas out of 14 we are currently in the 7^th Manvanthara called Vaivaswatha Manvanthara. In terms of number of years after taking into account the sandhi kalas we have passed through 185.2416 crores human years (4320000 x 71 x 6) + (17,28,000 x 7) in the current Kalpa (during the previous six Manvantharas)

Vaivaswatha Manvanthare:

And in the current Manvanthara (Vaivasvatha) we have passed through 27 Maha Yugas out of 71 and we are currently in the 28^th Maha Yuga. That means in this Manvanthara we have passed through 11.6644 crores human years during the last 27 Maha Yugas.

Kali Yuge:

In the 28^th Maha Yuga after passing through the three periods viz. Krita, Thretha, and Dwapara Yugas comprising of 38,88,000 human years we are currently in the 4^th Yuga that is Kali Yuga, in which we have already passed through 5110 human years out of the Kali Yuga span of 4,32,000 years. As per scripts it is said that Kali Yuga had begun 3102 years BC.

Counting from beginning of the Kalpa it is (185.24 + 11.67 + 0.39 + 0.005) =197.30 crores human years since commencement of creation by Lord Brahma. That also means out of 432 crores years in the current Kalpa we have already passed through 197.30 crores of years and still 234.70 crores of years have to pass through before end of the Kalpa.

Salivahana Sakhe:

Further reckoning down based on the concept of Sakha, after passing through the Yudhistira and Vikrama Sakhas we are currently in the Salivahana Sakha 1931 years since its beginning in 78 AD.

Tabulating the above it is reckoned as (taking the year 2009 as the base)

· 311.04 Trillions human years is the life span of current Brahma (100 Brahma years)

· 157.49 Trillions human years since the origin of current Brahma (153.55 trillion years still left)

· 197.30 Crores years since the beginning of the Swetha Varaha Kalpa, the time since creation started (234.70 crores years still left in the present Kalpa)

· 12.06 Crores years since the beginning of Vaivaswatha Manvanthara (18.61 crores years still left in the current Manvanthara)

· 38.88 lakhs years since the beginning of this 28^th Maha Yuga (4.27 lakhs years till left in this Maha Yuga)

· 5110 years since the beginning of the present Kali Yuga (4,26,890 years still left in the current Yuga)

· 1931 years since the beginning of Salivahana Sakha

It is said that after the life span of Lord Brahma it will take another 100 Brahma years before a new Brahma is born. It is also said and believed that Lord Hanuman is going to be the future Brahma after the expiry of the life span of the current Brahma.

We would have heard or come across statements or news items like the world is coming to end, Pralaya is coming, it is going to be a dooms day, soon the world is going to disintegrate etc., Latest of such statements is that the year 2012 is going to be an end of the world. Behind all its realities, such statements are definitely going to create lot of confusion, chaos, scare, anxiety among the world population. While most of the non Hindu cultures base their cosmologies on familiar units such as few hundreds or thousands of years, Hindu concept of time element based on Vedic scripts believes on immeasurable period of time lasting billions and trillions of years.

Universal repositioning takes place whenever celestial splendors like Eclipses occur. Astronomically lot of changes do takes place in the universe and all such may not and need not lead to a dooms day. Above arithmetic shows that still 18.61 crores human years have to pass through before end of the present Manvanthara when it is expected to be a deluge (Pralaya). So as per this study one can be assured that cyclical end of the Universe is far away and it is a long way to go for a dooms day.

One should always remember the fact that nothing is permanent in this world even the Universe, or even Lord Brahma (Creator). The only permanent entity is the Primordial Person Lord SriManNarayana the creator of Brahma. In Phalastuthi of Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Sthothram, Lord Brahma describes Lord Maha Vishnu as

! Namostvananthaya Sahasramuurthaye! SahasraPaadaakshi Sirorubaahave!

! Sahasranaamne Purushaya Saswathe! SahasraKoti Yugadhaarine Namah!!

Salutations to the Infinite, one who has manifested as innumerable number of forms, who has innumerable feet, eyes, heads, arms, one who has innumerable number of names, who is an eternal person, and who holds thousands of crores of Yugas which are uncountable.

NB: One billion = 1000 million = 100 crores - One trillion = 1000 billion = 100000 crores

Annexure

Sakha Karthas of Kali Yuga:

The legends says that in Kali Yuga six Kings will create new eras (Sakhas) which will be named after them. They are,

· Yudhistira Sakha (Dharmaraja): His calendar started in the year 3102 BC continued for 3044 years.

· Vikrama Sakha: His calendar started in 57 BC continued for 135 years

· Salivahana Sakha (current period): His calendar started in 78 AD and will continue for 18000 years.

· Vijayabhinandana Sakha (future coming): His calendar will start in 18078 AD and will continue for 10000 years.

· Nagarjuna Sakha (future coming): His calendar will start in 28078 AD and will continue for 4, 00,000 years.

· Kalki Sakha (future coming): His calendar will start at the end of Kali Yuga 4, 28,078 AD and will run for 821 years when the Kali Yuga will come to an end.

Time Element for other Entities

For Devathas:

One day for Devathas = One human year comprising of two half years.

Brighter half of the day is called as Uttarayana

Darker half of the day is called as Dakshinayana.

12000 years for Devathas is equal to one Maha Yuga (Chatur Yuga) for human beings.

For Pithrus (Ancestors)

1 day of Pitru = One human month (comprising of two fortnights).

Brighter fortnight (sukla paksha) is day time for Pitrus.

Darker fortnight (Krishna paksha) is night time for Pitrus.

Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu

bhargavasarma

SUPPRESSING TRUE INDIAN HISTORY - Can it keep Harmony ? Does it stop terrorism?

by FRANCOIS GAUTIER

The anniversary of Ayodhya has come and passed. Once more, many of India’s intelligentsia felt that the destruction of the mosque has signalled the end of a certain tolerant India, for which secularism was the unifying factor and has planted a dangerous seed of Hindu “nationalism” in India’s psyche. Yet, one should remember that the Hindu ‘fundamentalists’ did not kill a single soul in Ayodhya, whereas the bombs planted a while later in revenge by Indian Muslims with the help of Pakistan, killed more than 350 innocent human beings. In fact, during its long history, Hinduism has been one of the most peaceful creeds in the world, accepting the reality of different beliefs, never trying to convert -even in a non-violent manner, like the Buddhists did in Asia - and submitting itself rather meekly, except for a Shivaji, a Guru Gobind or a Rani of Jhansi, to numerous invasions. The same thing cannot be said about Islam, whatever N. Ram says in Frontline. Many historians, amongst them Will Durant, Louis Frederick, or Alain Danielou, have remarked that the Muslim invaders were so certain that they were doing their holy duty by razing temples and killing Hindus, that they had recorded down carefully and proudly their deeds in their own archives.

Mahmud of Ghazni, for instance, who patronised art and literature, would recite a verse of the Koran every night after having razed temples and killed his quota of unbelievers. Firuz Shah Tughlak, personally confirms that the destruction of Pagan temples was done out of piety and writes: "on the day of a Hindu festival, I went there myself, ordered the executions of all the leaders and practionners of his abomination; I destroyed their idols temples and built mosques in their places". Aurangzeb did not just build an isolated mosque on a razed temple, as Romila Thapar would like us to believe, he ordered all temples destroyed, among them the Kashi Vishvanath, one of the most sacred places of Hinduism and had mosques built on a number of cleared temples sites. All other Hindu sacred places within his reach equally suffered destruction, with mosques built on them. A few examples: Krishna's birth temple in Mathura, the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujurat, the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya. The number of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in 4, if not 5 figures. This is a small excerpt of his own official court chronicles: "Aurangzeb ordered all provincial governors to destroy all schools and temples of the Pagans and to make a complete end to all pagan teachings and practices". Or:: "Hasan Ali Khan came and said that 172 temples in the area had been destroyed... His majesty went to Chittor and 63 temples were destroyed. Abu Tarab, appointed to destroy the idol-temples of Amber, reported that 66 temples had been razed to the ground".. Aurangzeb did not stop at destroying temples, their users were also wiped-out; even his own brother, Dara Shikoh, was executed for taking an interest in Hindu religion and the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded because he objected to Aurangzeb's forced conversions. As we can see Romila Thapar and Percival Spear's statement of a benevolent Aurangzeb is a flagrant attempt at negationism (the negation of historical crimes). Even the respectable Encyclopedia Brittannica in its entry on India, does not mention in its chapter on the Sultanate period any persecutions of Hindus by Muslims, except "that Firuz Shah Tughlaq made largely unsuccessful attempts at converting his Hindu subjects and sometime persecuted them".

Indian school books seem to have taken their cue from the Encyclopedia Brittannica , as there is hardly any mention of this dark aspect of India’s past. But why does India negate its history? We know that Nehru and Gandhi wanted to keep Pakistan within India and wished to avoid the splintering away of Muslim groups. But was it a good enough reason to suppress information about Muslim atrocities during ten centuries of bloody invasions and the massive destruction of Hindu temples ? On the contrary this has only created more terrorism. Denying and suppressing the history cannot keep the harmony. In its place, truth and reconciliation are necessary. Hiding the truth denies sympathy to the victim, civilization and culture. A nation unless, it is ready to face its own history - the Good and the Bad, the Courageous and the Cowardly - can never bloom into its full plenitude. Hidden aspects of its own history sooner or later will surface and bring with them the guilt, anger, regret, which are the necessary ingredients to wipe-off that particular black karma. In Germany, for instance, Germans have been reminded again and again about the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II, and that has brought a sense of guilt, which has acted as a deterrent to future atrocities

The Jews have constantly tried, since the Nazi genocide, to keep alive the remembrance of their six million martyrs. This has got nothing to do with vengeance. Do the Jews of today want to retaliate upon contemporary Germany? No. It is only a matter of making sure that history does not repeat its mistakes, as alas it is doing today in India : witness the persecution of Hindus in Kashmir, whose 250.000 Pandits have fled their 5000 year old homeland, or the oppression of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan. To remember, is to be able to look at today with the wisdom of yesterday. No collective memory should be erased for appeasing a particular community. Hiding the facts and justifying past Muslim crimes has led to terrorism in the Indian sub-continent. Muslims were never held accountable. One of the first steps to curb violence is to make one aware of past mistakes. Guilt in the culprit and forgiveness in the victim can put an end to self-righteousness and the kind of terrorism we see today in Kashmir, in spite of India’s peace overtures.

Sonia Gandhi and Congress Secret Billions Exposed

What was Rajiv Gandhi’s fatal error in politics? It does not need a seer to say that it was his claim to honesty — branding himself as ‘Mr Clean’ — that proved fatal to him. Indira Gandhi was his contrast. Asked about corruption in her government, she said nonchalantly, ‘it was a global phenomenon’. This was in 1983. An honest Delhi High Court judge even lamented how could corruption be controlled when someone holding such a high position had almost rationalised it. The result, no one could ever charge Indira Gandhi with corruption, because she never claimed to be clean. But, ambitious to look ideal, Rajiv proclaimed honesty and so provoked scrutiny; in contrast, Indira, opting to be practical, immunised herself against scrutiny. Eventually, Rajiv’s claim to honesty became the very cross on which he was crucified in the 1989 elections when the Bofors gun shot the Congress out of power. The lesson to the political class was: don’t claim to be honest, if you really are not so. The hard lesson seems forgotten now by the Gandhi family itself. Sonia Gandhi, instead of following Indira’s safe path, is wrongly caught on Rajiv’s risky steps. The consequences seem to be ominous. Will the politics of 1987 to 1989 repeat?

Following Rajiv and forgetting Indira, Sonia Gandhi proclaimed ‘zero tolerance’ to corruption at a party rally in Allahabad in November 2010. She repeated it at the Congress plenary in Delhi weeks later. Asking the cadre to take the corrupt head on, she said that her party was ‘prompt’ in acting against the corrupt; ‘never spared the corrupt’ because corruption impedes development’. This was almost how Rajiv Gandhi spoke in the Congress centenary in Mumbai 25 years ago. Two crucial differences marked Rajiv away from Sonia. First, when Rajiv claimed to be ‘Mr Clean’, he had no scams to defend against. But, Sonia claims to be honest amidst huge and continuing scams — CWG, Adarsh, 2G Spectrum allocation scam…. Next, Rajiv had a clean slate to begin with, with no known skeletons in his cupboard till the Bofors scam smashed his ‘Mr Clean’ image. In contrast, Sonia’s slate is full of credible exposures of bribes and pay-offs in billions of dollars secreted in Swiss bank accounts, not counting Quattrocchi’s millions from Bofors. To make it worse, for almost two decades now, she has not dared to deny the exposures or sue the famous Swiss magazine or the Russian investigative journalist who had put out evidence of bribe against the Sonia family. Seen against this background, Sonia’s vow to act against the corrupt seems like a suspect hooting ‘catch the thief’ and scooting away. This is the main story that unfolds here.

$2.2 billions to 11 billions!

A stunning exposure on Sonia Gandhi’s secret billions in Swiss banks came, surprisingly, from Switzerland itself, where the world’s corrupt stash away their booty. In its issue of November 19, 1991, Schweizer Illustrierte, the most popular magazine of Switzerland, did an exposé of over a dozen politicians of the third world, including Rajiv Gandhi, who had stashed away their bribe monies in Swiss banks. Schweizer Illustrierte, not a rag, sells some 2,15,000 copies and has a readership of 9,17,000 — almost a sixth of Swiss adult population. Citing the newly opened KGB records, the magazine reported ‘that Sonia Gandhi the widow of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was controlling secret account with 2.5 billion Swiss Francs (equal to $2.2 billion) in her minor son’s name’. The $2.2 billion account must have existed from before June 1988 when Rahul Gandhi attained majority. The loot in today’s rupee value equals almost Rs 10,000 crore. Swiss banks invest and multiply the clients’ monies, not keep them buried. Had it been invested in safe long-term securities, the $.2.2 billion bribe would have multiplied to $9.41 billion (Rs 42,345 crore) by 2009. If it had been put in US stocks, it would have swelled to $12.97 billion (Rs 58,365 crore). If, as most likely, it were invested in long-term bonds and stocks as 50:50, it would have grown to $11.19 billion (Rs 50,355 crore). Before the global financial meltdown in 2008, the $2.2 billion bribes in stocks would have peaked at $18.66 billion (Rs 83,900 crore). By any calculation the present size of the $2.2 billion secret funds of the family in Swiss banks seems huge — anywhere between Rs 43,000 plus to some Rs 84,000 crore!

KGB papers

The second exposé, emanating from the archives of the Russian spy outfit KGB, is far more serious. It says that the Gandhi family has accepted political pay-offs from the KGB — a clear case of treason besides bribe. In her book The State Within a State: The KGB and its Hold on Russia-Past, Present, and Future, Yevgenia Albats, an acclaimed investigative journalist, says: “A letter signed by Victor Chebrikov, who replaced Andropov as the KGB head in 1982 noted: ‘the USSR KGB maintains contact with the son of the Premier Minister Rajiv Gandhi (of India). R Gandhi expresses deep gratitude for the benefits accruing to the Prime Minister’s family from the commercial dealings of the firm he controls in co-operation with the Soviet foreign trade organisations. R Gandhi reports confidentially that a substantial portion of the funds obtained through this channel are used to support the party of R Gandhi’.” (p.223). Albats has also disclosed that, in December 2005, KGB chief Victor Chebrikov had asked for authorisation from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, “to make payments in US dollars to the family members of Rajiv Gandhi, namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Ms Paola Maino, mother of Sonia Gandhi.” And even before Albats’ book came out the Russian media had leaked out the details of the pay-offs. Based on the leaks, on July 4, 1992, The Hindu had reported: “the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service admits the possibility that the KGB could have been involved in arranging profitable Soviet contract for the company controlled by Rajiv Gandhi family”.

Indian media

Rajiv Gandhi’s sad demise delayed the Swiss and Russian exposé on Sonia being picked up here. But Indian media’s interest in it actually coincided with Sonia Gandhi assuming leadership of the Congress. A G Noorani, a well-known columnist, had reported on both Schweizer Illustrierte and Albats’ exposés in Statesman (December 31, 1988). Subramanian Swamy had put out the photocopies of the pages of Schweizer Illustrierte and Albats’ book in his website along with the mail of the Swiss magazine dated February 23, 2002 confirming that in its article of November 1991 it had named Rajiv Gandhi with a total of Swiss Franc 2.5 billion ($2.2 billion) in secret account; it had also offered to supply a original copy of the magazine to Swamy. (See: http://www.janataparty.org/annexures/ann10p43.html) These facts were again recalled in my article in The New Indian Express (April 29, 2009) written in response to Sonia Gandhi speech at Mangalore (April 27, 2009) declaring that, “the Congress was taking steps to address the issue of untaxed Indian money in Swiss banks”. The article had questioned her about her family’s corrupt wealth in Swiss banks in the context of her vow to bring back the monies stashed away abroad. Rajinder Puri, a reputed journalist, has also earlier written on the KGB disclosures in his column on August 15, 2006. Recently, in India Today (December 27, 2010) the redoubtable Ram Jethmalani has referred to the Swiss exposé, asking where is that money now? So the Indian media too has repeatedly published the details of the secret billions of the Gandhi family investigated by the Swiss and Russian journalists. Amal Datta (CPI(M)) had raised the $2.2 billion issue in Parliament on December 7, 1991, but Speaker Shivraj Patil expunged the Gandhi name from the proceedings!

Self-incriminating

But, what has been the response of Sonia or Rahul, major after June 1988, to the investigation by Schweizer Illustrierte and Albats and to the Indian media’s repeated references to their investigation? It can be summed up in one word: Silence. Thus, apart from the exposés, the deafening silence of the Gandhis itself constitutes the most damaging and self-incriminating evidence of the family’s guilt. When Schweizer Illustrierte alleged that Sonia had held Rajiv Gandhi’s bribes in Rahul’s name in Swiss banks, neither she nor the son, protested, or sued the magazine, then or later; nor did they sue A G Noorani or Statesman when they repeated it in 1998, or later; nor would they sue Subramanian Swamy when he put it on his website in 2002; neither did they sue me, or the Express when the article was carried in April 2009. When major papers, The Hindu and The Times of India included, had carried the expose on KGB payments in the year 1992 itself adding that the Russian government was embarrassed by the disclosures, neither of the Gandhis challenged or sued them; nor did they sue Yevgenia Albats when she wrote about KGB payments to Rajiv Gandhi in 1994. Neither did they act against Swamy when he put Albats’ book pages on his website or when Rajinder Puri, a well-known journalist, wrote about it in his column on August 15, 2006. However, a feeble but proxy suit was filed by Sonia loyalists to defend her reputation when Albats’ exposé was made part of the full-page advertisement in The New York Times in 2007 issued by some NRIs to ‘unmask’ Sonia to the US audience, as they claimed. The suit was promptly dismissed by a US court because Sonia herself did not dare file the suit. Shockingly even that suit did not challenge the $2.2 billion Swiss account at all!

Imagine that the report in Schweizer Illustrierte or in Albats book was false and Sonia Gandhi did not have those billions in secret accounts in Rahul Gandhi’s name or the family was not paid for its service to the KGB as alleged. How would they, as honest and outraged people, have reacted? Like how Morarji Desai, then retired and old at 87, responded in anger when, Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, had mentioned in his book that Morarji Desai was a ‘paid’ CIA mole in the Indian Cabinet. Morarji Desai forthwith filed a libel suit. Commenting in The American Spectator, Rael Jean Isaac wrote in 2004, five years after Morarji Desai had passed away, that Hersh habitually indulged in character assassination; and in his attempt to do down Henry Kissinger, Morarji Desai became the victim. Isaac added that Desai, 87, calling it a “sheer mad story”, reacted in outrage with a libel suit seeking $50 million in damages. When the suit came up, as Desai, 93, was too ill to travel to US, Kissinger testified on Desai’s behalf, flatly contradicted Hersh’s charge and stated that Desai had no connection to the CIA. That is how even retired and old persons, honest and so offended and outraged, would act. But see the self-incriminating contrast, the complete absence of such outrage, in Sonia, who is reigning as the chairperson of the UPA now, neither retired or tired like the nonagenarian Morarji Desai, being just 41 when the story broke out in Schweizer Illustrierte. Imagine, not Sonia or Rahul, but Advani or Modi had figured in the exposés of Schweizer Illustrierte or Albats. What would the media not have done to nail them? What would the government of Sonia not have done to fix them?

Rs 20.80 lakh-crore loot

The billions of the Gandhi family being both bribes and monies stashed away in Swiss banks, they are inextricably linked to the larger issue of bringing back the huge national wealth stashed abroad. All world nations, except India, are mad after their black wealth secreted in Swiss and like banks. But India has shown little enthusiasm to track the illicit funds of Indians in Swiss and other banks. Why such reticence?

When during the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leader L K Advani promised to bringing back, if voted to power, Indian monies estimated between $500 billion and $1.4 trillion stashed abroad, the Congress first denied that there was such Indian money outside. But when the issue began gathering momentum, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi had to do damage control and promise that the Congress too would bring back the national wealth secreted abroad. Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a non-profit institution working against global black funds, has recently estimated that the Indian wealth secreted away is about $462 billion, approximately equal to Rs 20.80 lakh-crore. The GFI says that more than two-thirds of it was looted away under the liberalisation regime. This is what the GFI says about the character of the loot: “From 1948 through 2008, India lost a total of $213 billion in illicit financial flows (or illegal capital flight)” through “tax evasion, corruption, bribery and kickbacks, and criminal activities”. Does one need a seer to say under what head would the $2.2 billion in Sonia family’s secret account (which would have grown to $9 to $13 billion by now) fall? But accretions, if any, from the loot in 2G and CWG where the numbers are even bigger are not still accounted. Now comes the more critical, yet practical issue. When the Sonia Gandhi family is among the suspects who have secreted away monies abroad, how will it affect the efforts to bring back the wealth stashed away by others?

Looters safe

Just a couple of examples will demonstrate how the government is unwilling to go after Indian money secreted abroad. As early as February 2008 the German authorities had collected information about illegal money kept by citizens of different countries in Lichtenstein bank. The German finance minister offered to provide the names of the account holders to any government interested in the names of its citizens. There were media reports that some 250 Indian names were found in the Lichtenstein Bank list. Yet, despite the open offer from Germany to provide the details, the UPA-II government has never showed interest in the Indian accounts in Lichtenstein Bank. The Times of India reported that “the ministry of finance and PMO have, however, not shown much interest in finding out about those who have their lockers on the secret banks of Liechtenstein which prides itself in its banking system”. But under mounting pressure the Indian government asked for details not under the open offer but strategically under India’s tax treaty with Germany. What is the difference? Under the tax treaty the information received would have to be kept confidential; but, if it were received openly, it can be disclosed to the public. Is any further evidence needed to prove that the government is keen to see that the names of Indians who had secreted monies abroad are not disclosed?

The second is the sensational case of Hasan Ali, the alleged horse-breeder of Pune, who was found to have operated Swiss accounts involving over Rs 1.5 lakh-crore. The income tax department has levied a tax of Rs 71,848 crore on him for concealing Indian income secreted in Swiss accounts. This case is being buried now. The request sent to the Swiss government was deliberately made faulty to ensure that the Swiss would not provide details. Some big names in the ruling circles are reportedly linked to Hasan Ali. That explains why the government would not deepen the probe. It is Hasan Alis and the like who transport through hawala the bribes of the corrupt from India. If Hasan Ali is exposed, the corrupt will stand naked. This is how the hawala trader and the corrupt in India are mixed-up.

Is it too much to conclude that thanks to Sonia family’s suspected billions in Swiss accounts the system cannot freely probe the $462 billion looted from India at all? Tail-pieces: The total wealth of both Gandhis, as per their election returns, is just Rs 363 lakh, Sonia owning no car. Sonia lamented on November 19, 2010, that graft and greed are on the rise in India!! Rahul said on December 19, 2010, that severe punishment should be given to the corrupt!!! Amen.

Source : http://www.iretireearly.com/sonia-gandhi-and-congress-secret-billions-exposed.html