From Plassey To Partition by Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

                                              One of the most interesting and readable book on our past. It covers about 200 years of socioeconomic, military conditions prevalent at that time. The book is an insight account about important developments without boring the reader . If the reader has vague idea about our past history, than this book gives you new perspective, numerous dots plaguing ones mind are connected, also, some very new important events that one might have missed makes it refreshing. For first timers, well , its more like a novel covering vast unknown tracts of our history, engrossing ones thoughts.

                                            The writer is unbiased and has the courage to strongly put forth his views and gave credit to facts. He took us on a journey, from decline of Mughals to independence and partition with ingeniously apprising readers about Social reformers struggle, Aryan invasion myths, Tribal inclusion in mainstream, Opportunistic leaders etc. Author unbiased articulation of facts bursts several myths around haloness of leaders, promoting readers to conclude, there is no black and white in politics and in life, every thing has an element of Gray.

                                       

                                      One of the meticulously written, very well drafted, book by Historian Sekhar Bandyopadhyay. It brilliantly trespasses the complicated terrain of history showcasing sunset of two alien empires while formation and then emergence of India as nation.

 

Rise Of Nazi Erdogan

                                                 Not many instances in world history, one witnesses, a civilian, orchestrates a dramatic coup on armed forces, only to dislodge them from vantage position. Welcome to Turkey, away from our thoughts, a person in this case President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, successfully dramatizes a perfect coup to dislodge and disarm his foes and strengthen his hold on power. The timing of this drama couldn't be better when ISIS has wrecked havoc in neighboring Syria and geographical location of Turkey gave it the leverage to silence critics in the west.

                                  As Reichstag fire in 1933 gave Hitler opportunity to usurp power, the failed coup is being milked by Erdogan to chase away his political rivals and demean army who had been a fiercely secular organization in that troubled part of the world. It comes as no surprise then, in his bid of assuming total power for himself , Erdogan doesn't shy away from taking inspiration from Nazi Germany , acknowledging , as he publicly quoted in defense of legitimizing his rise as " “There are already examples in the world. You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany”.

                                Ankara's march towards religious authoritative regime started, when alliance was forged between (Erdogan's) AKP party and Sunni Wahhabi Gulenists. The marriage between radicals and supremacists in Turkey, resulted in re-emphasising religion in public discourse and weaning away of secular fabric . The introduction of religious symbols, primacy of headscarves for women, physical violence during fasting months etc were some of the visible signs, that would have made even Ataturk turn in his grave. The split between the two erstwhile bed partners triggered the recent onslaught and carefully engineered coup.

                                Erdogan lust for power can be gauged from the fact that he shamelessly announced that July 15 failed coup, is a god sent opportunity and he is exploiting it to the hilt. More than 120,000 Turks have been sacked, nearly 90,000 detained, and more than 40,000 have been arrested, scores of them journalists who were castigated for not towing governments dictates. Already 160 media outlets are closed down while conditions deteriorating quickly for others. The farcical coup to dethrone Erdogan government, can be understood when, government that  is a democracy, a member of NATO, and is vigorously pursuing membership of the EU , mischievously, dismantled  in April 2016, The National Human Rights Institution of Turkey, which had access to detention facilities in Turkey to monitor conditions of detenues.

                                              Silencing West with his antics, of failed promises and threats of refugees influx into Europe , Erdogans zeal to usurp unaccountable power and his dream of transforming Turkey as the head of Sunni Islamic power, referring to Ottoman rule is understandable. Even mentioning Armenian genocide is now punishable , downing Russian fighter jet gives innuendoes that unreasonable demands of Erdogan either to silence critics or slaying Kurds or illegal demand of dislodging Assad should be honored or theatrics will continue. The covert support to IS regime and Sunni terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria by Turkey was ignored by world even at the expense of genocides of Kurds, Shias, Christians and Yazidis.

                                 Russian engagement in Syria and the defeat of ISIS (proteges of Turkey , Saudis ), seems to have thwarted attempt by ambitious Erdogan to grab land and undermine Kurdistan movement, is reminiscent of Hitler gobbling of Czechoslovakia before second world war. The international community is conspicuously silent to the blatant abuse of authority by Turkish government on freedom .The time has come for world leaders to speak in one voice against the viscous propaganda unleashed there and catch the bluff of a manic or the fragile and explosive situation in middle east has the potential to draw the world into chaos. The world has paid a heavy price for the antics of one man in history, it would be interesting to see, whether we have learnt anything from our past mistakes, or the world will shun the vulnerable and maintain its deafening silence as it suits selfish interest and for how long ?

Memorial Of A Warrior King

                                        Every time i crisscross India gate, a sense of national pride,patriotism, inspiration, self confidence and self respect seeps in. India gate isn't just a monument for commoners like me, but an inspiration, a place to inculcate selfpride among impressionable minds. Marvelous monuments like these, encompasses the otherwise prevailing divisions in our society and unite us as one, bypassing every fissure. Monuments cultivates pride of our past, stimulates our collective national conscious while making us aware of our glorious past struggles.

                                    Indians aren't immune to wasteful spending, monuments dedicated to political parties,sheepishly trying to seduce people into believing the hallownesss of individuals with mediocre achievements. Our villages ,towns, cities,airports and numerous places are renamed, monuments erected, for creating personality cults. From north to southern edge, our country is riddled with statues, monuments etc. with implicit political vendetta. People as usual maintain their silence, become mute spectators fearing persecution. Being branded anti establishment & silencing opponents is normal in political diaspora. So, the end result being countless irrelevant eyesore landscapes devoid of any reconnect with masses.

                                        The desire of politicians to further their clout, leads to obnoxious indulgence at taxpayers money is notoriously known and is deplorable. This is a worrying trend with no remedy in sight , but recent agitation by vested interests to belittle and oppose construction of the Statue of Shivaji raises doubts about the veracity of concerns outlined by certain quarters. There's no merit in clubbing, monument of esteemed iconic cult figure "Shivaji", whose historic role in transforming our country's past is irrevocable with petty politicians. 

                                   Shivaji's legacy isn't confined to any political party or region but is an emotive issue for millions of nationalists across India. Being an outsider with negligible influence in present political dispensation could be the only reason why such project wasn't envisaged earlier. Shivaji's mammoth contribution in reshaping Indian history can be gauged from the fact, that he established a modern and powerful Hindu kingdom in south-western India from 1642-1680 in present day Maharashtra but is reverend in Tamilnadu, Karnataka to Bundela land alike. Starting from scratch, the Maratha emperor Shivaji is credited for forming first modern Indian state where jobs weren't connected to caste or religion.

                                    Shivaji's accomplishments are rarely acknowledged or appreciated by leftist intellectuals, or politicians who fear offending a section of public, thus his administrative brilliance or his nation building efforts were unnoticed till now. The monument in the eye of storm, is the proposed 192 m statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the highest in the world, in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast. It is touted to be the biggest tourist attraction for national and international visitors. 

                                   Wastage of money, unemployment, lackluster infrastructure are some of the other arguments raised to defunct this project. It is difficult to analyze how a project of national heritage, that binds and honors aspiration of masses to our glorious past can be seen through the prism of economic viability. But, incumbent government is  wiser and well advised ,so, this project has been designed such that jobs creation and environment concerns will outmatch the projected construction cost in due time. Meanwhile it is advisable that these concerned intellectuals and gullible people who were pained by expenditure on monument should pressurize govt in withdrawing security of traitors of Hurriyat, close money guzzling unproductive institutions like FTII etc, saving hard earned taxpayers money. These are some of the measures that can save the draining public wealth.

                                Shivaji with his Muslim soldiers. Painting by Mir Mohammad.

                                            Shivaji is a glaring example of glorious struggle by a military genius against the tyrants, invaders at that time. For long, left leaning intellectuals who dominated our academic landscapes have poisoned the young minds with viscous, fictitious propaganda brushing off stupendous contribution by gigantic personality like Shivaji.  Common taxpayer as we all are, my annoyance about wasteful expenditures undertaken by various government bodies isn't different, but bracketing the expenditure on Shivaji monument with numerous govt black hole projects is unworthy of attention.

                                    Shivaji is a symbol of freedom,pride, justice and courage in the face of adversity. Erecting a statue is an befitting recognition to the achievements of the warrior king, whose contributions are sketched in the hearts and minds of masses across India. Shivaji was a heroic leader,an epitome of nationalism, justice and exemplary achiever and this monument is an apt recognition of his greatness, swelling our heart with pride.