Date: January 10th 2007

Posted by: "katarian@aol.com"; katarian@aol.com

Date: Mon Jan 1, 2007 2:32 pm ((PST))
INDIAN AMERICAN INTELLECTUALS FORUM

41-67 Judge Street, Suite 5P

Elmhurst, New York 11373

(718) 478-5735

_Katarian@aol.com_ (mailto:Katarian@aol.com)

December 29, 2006


Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

President of India

Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi, India

RESTORATION OF THE PHRASE SATYAMEVA JAYATE UNDERNEATH THE NATIONAL

EMBLEM ON GOVERNMENT WEBSITES/DOCUMENTS

Honorable President Abdul Kalam:


We wish to bring to your notice either the deliberate or a careless depiction of the Indian State emblem on a variety of Government of India stationery, web sites, and pronouncements. As you are most certainly aware, Sir, our State emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of one of our greatest kings, Maharaj Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Expertly carved out of a huge single block of polished sandstone, the capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).

In the State emblem, adopted by the Government of India on 26th of January 1950, only the three lions are visible, the fourth one being hidden from the view. The wheel appears in relief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left and the outlines of other wheels on extreme right and left. The bell-shaped lotus was omitted in the adoption. But the words Satyameva Jayate from the Mundaka Upanishad, meaning The Truth Alone Triumphs, were inscribed underneath the abacus in the Devanagari script. In this connection, the Research Wing of our organization headed by Mr. Ramesh Gathoria has carried out a great amount of spade work. We have identified more than 150 important official documents (some of them listed below) on which the words Satyameva Jayate from the government seal have been omitted,

either unintentionally or by design. Whatever the reasons or explanations for this serious and sensitive omission, it is a serious matter. The Indian people take the National Emblem to be a very important sacred symbol that represents our countrys great past and its glorious heritage. It is indeed a basic responsibility of the countrys government to safeguard the sanctity and sacredness of such national symbols and ensure that these are never violated ever, even inadvertently. · Pravasi Bharatiya Issue No. 8, Volume 1 of 2006 Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs

· Embassy of India Paris (_http://www.amb-inde.fr/_

(http://www.amb-inde.fr/) )

· Circulars issued by the office of the President/Vice President and

Prime Minister of India

· India Digest - Vol. 4, Issue 20 of October 15, 2006

· Circulars issued by the Department of Atomic Energy and Indian

Space Research Centre (ISRO)

· Circulars issued by the Finance Commission, Ministry of Finance,

Govt. of India

· Circulars issued by the Embassy of India, the Hague

(_http://www.indianembassy.nl/_ (http://www.indianembassy.nl/) )

· Circulars issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

(_http://www.mpa.nic.in/_ (http://www.mpa.nic.in/) )

Our Research Chief, Mr. Gathoria, will be visiting India shortly when he will attempt to contact the appropriate government officials to discuss this matter in a greater detail. We had brought this issue to the attention of the Ministry of Culture also some time ago but to no avail. Truncated national symbols purveyed by various government offices are both an affront to the original intent and meaning of the symbols as well as a reminder of the lack of care and attention to details that are the hallmark of unethical and lazy nations.

As the Head of the State, we urge you to take this matter up with all related government ministries and help the people of Indian origin reclaim their respect and dignity damaged by the cavalier attitude of uncaring and/or mischievous officials.

With best regards.

Respectfully yours,

Narain Kataria




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