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Tag: history

Words Do Matter- A History of the Preamble from Conception to Completion

Posted on by Penguin India

Universally regarded as the chief architect of the Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s specific role as chairman of the Drafting Committee and his undeniable authorship of the Preamble became blurred in the haze of conflicting theories about how the Preamble came into being. Formally adopted on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India has been a subject of interest to many but in Ambedkar’s Preamble, Aakash Singh Rathore establishes the presence of Dr. Ambedkar’s thoughts and beliefs in the intellectual origins of the Preamble and its most central concepts.

Rathore writes ‘Stated succinctly, the Preamble trumpets our collective aspirations as a republic; indeed, it articulates the principles that precondition the possibility for our unity as a nation.’

Read on for a peek into the history of how the Preamble acquired its meaning –

 

                   When securing justice implied removal of injustice

Throughout the writings and speeches of Dr. Ambedkar there has been an emphasis on the urgent implementation of policies to instate social justice even more than economic and political justice. When the Preamble was in its nascent stages, many voices raised the need to flesh out the justice clause and debated the inclusion of Nehru’s tripartite formulation of ‘Justice- social, economic and political’, which finally appeared in the Preamble as it was. However, there were no amendments suggested by Dr. Ambedkar to the justice clause even though there was an important underlying difference in his understanding of the concept-

 

‘In an effort to frame the Objectives Resolution, Dr Ambedkar had put forth his own ‘Proposed Preamble’, which although following Nehru in the tripartite division of social, economic and political, gave substantive meaning to the term ‘justice’ by speaking of the removal of inequalities. That is, where Nehru’s text spoke of securing justice, social, economic and political, Dr Ambedkar’s text interpreted ‘securing justice’ to mean removing social, political and economic inequalities.’

 

       When political liberties nudged social freedoms out of the Preamble

While debates swirled around the subject of freedom and liberty, there was a battle for terms to occupy place of pride in the Preamble. Positive freedoms such as thought, expression, belief, faith, worship which featured on Nehru’s list were pitched against other terms of value on Dr. Ambedkar’s list such as speech, religion and the freedom from want and fear. The final list that made its way into the Preamble established the distinction between fundamental rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.

 

‘The main components of economic justice, and many of social justice, were relegated to the Directive Principles as they were considered too controversial for inclusion into other binding sections of the Constitution. Similarly, the more robust, labour related freedoms were dropped from their privileged place in the Preamble. Thankfully, however, most of the terms found a place within the body of the Constitution itself, with some eventually being included as fundamental rights.’

 

                          When the inequality clause was flipped over

The rather concise equality clause remains unchanged from the way it was drafted and added to the Preamble. However, the clause ‘EQUALITY of status and of opportunity…’ is the briefer version of what was proposed in Nehru’s Objectives Resolution. Another turn in the history of this clause was that Dr. Ambedkar had, in fact, proposed an ‘inequality’ clause!

 

‘It may come as some surprise, however, that in Dr Ambedkar’s ‘Proposed Preamble’ from States and Minorities (March 1947), there was not really an ‘equality’ clause at all, at least not a positive one. Instead, there was an ‘inequality’ clause:

(iii) To remove social, political and economic inequality by providing better opportunities to the submerged classes.’

 

When the term ‘fraternity’ brought Gandhian ideas into the constitutional draft

One of the main pillars on which our Preamble stands upright is the ‘fraternity clause’. However, this clause did not feature in any of the preliminary drafts to the Preamble and Constitution of India. Added by Dr. Ambedkar, this clause went on to become the only universally applauded clause in the Constituent Assembly for its inclusion of an aspect of morality amongst mostly legal and constitutional principles.

 

‘On 6 February 1948, the clause first read: Fraternity, assuring the dignity of every individual without distinction of caste or creed.

This is purely the Ambedkarian formulation of fraternity, quite in line with the history of Dr Ambedkar’s articulation of the concept in his own writings, dating back to the 1930s… It drew upon fraternity as a resource for upholding individual dignity, which remains perpetually degraded due to the distinctions of caste.’

The terms ‘JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY, Dignity and Nation’ contain layers of meaning and form the basis of the progressive and liberal values espoused by the Preamble.

‘It is these six words that allow us to hack into the DNA of Dr Ambedkar’s preamble, gaining access to many of its secrets.’  establishes Rathore as he takes us back into the intense debates and discussions within the Constituent Assembly and the Drafting Committee that decided the final inclusions in the Preamble.

To know more about the journey of the soul of India’s Constitution, read Ambedkar’s Preamble!

 

Who are the Janamsakhis?

Posted on by Penguin India

History is telling and re-telling of stories by one generation to the next in the form of illustrations, written texts and verbal narrations. Janamsakhis are the birth (janam) and life stories (sakhis) of First Sikh – Guru Nanak. While the earliest of the existing Janamsakhi – Bala, (dated 1658) is a compilation of 29 illustrations, the B-40 Janamsakhi (dated 1733) is considered to be the most significant for its nuanced and detailed depiction through 56 illustrations.

The narratives in all Janamsakhis are linearly portrayed from birth till death but vary across time, region, and artist. Through detailed study of Janamsakhis, the author of The First Sikh attempts to convey the central meaning of these stories, that is that, “the First Sikh reaching out to people across religions, cultures, professions and societal hegemonies, and embracing them in his profound spirituality”.

Here are the most important lessons that we gain to learn five and a half centuries hence.

*
Greatness lies in our deeds

The portrayal of the First Sikh in the form of an ordinary human being, without a halo, validates his temporal and historical presence in our world. The Janamsakhis present a natural progression of the First Guru as a baby boy to a bearded middle-aged man into a grey bearded old man.

“Rather than any exaggeration of external features and spacing, what spectacularly emerges is the Guru’s inner power and spirituality. In the early illustrations he is not depicted with even a halo. Yet, the First Sikh’s simple pose, whether standing, sitting or lying down, and his gentle gestures addressing people from various strata of society and personal orientation spell out his greatness.”

*
Imbibing a pluralist approach

Various illustrations in Janamsakhis indicate the First Guru’s acceptance of beliefs and practices of different culture, both in his gestures and physical appearance.

“The illustrator of the early B-40 Janamsakhi accomplishes it by utilizing disparate motifs of the tilak and the seli: Guru Nanak almost always has a vertical red tilak mark on his forehead, just as he has a woollen cord, seli, slung across his left shoulder coming down to his right waist.” … “Evidently, the bright red line between the Guru’s dark eyes or the dark semicircle sinuously clinging his yellow robe go beyond art for art’s sake attractiveness: the tilak is saturated with the holiness of the Vaishnava Hindus; the seli with the devotion of the Muslim Sufis.”

“In almost all of his adult images Guru Nanak in the B-40 has in his hand a simple circle of beads on a string, ending in a tassel…” “Thought to have originated in Hindu practice, the ‘rosary’ is a widespread and enduring article used for meditation and prayer by Buddhists, Muslims and Christians alike.”

*
Rejecting divisive cultural and political beliefs

The Janamsakhis elucidate the First Guru’s firm belief in equality and dismantling cultural practices that divide the community on the basis of caste, religion, and profession. A sharp and effective rendition of one those incidents is when young Nanak refuses to “participate in the upanyana ceremony, reserved for upper-caste Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya boys” and questions the priest who proceeds towards him with a sacred thread (janaeu). He retorts,

“‘Such a thread,’ continues Nanak, ‘will neither snap nor soil, neither get burnt nor lost.’ His biography and verse are thus blended together by the Janamsakhi authors to illustrate his rejection of an exclusive rite of passage antithetical to the natural growth of boys from all backgrounds alike. A young Nanak interrupts a smooth ceremony in front of a large gathering in his father’s house so that his contemporaries would envision a different type of ‘thread’, a different ritual, a whole different ideal than the rebirth of upper-caste Hindu boys into the patriarchal world of knowledge. That everyone treat one another equally every day is the subtext.”

*
Living a truthful life

The Janamsakhis vividly and repeatedly portray the quintessential message of taking responsibility of our actions and performing our worldly duties in the society.

“Coming across some Pandits offering waters to the rising sun, the Guru begins to sprinkle palmfuls of water in the westward direction. When asked about his contradictory act, he simply responds that he is watering his fields down the road. This tiny story raises a loaded question: Is taking care of crops and other honest work any less than feeding distant dead ancestors? He draws the attention of his contemporaries to matters of living a collective responsible moral life. Whatever the setting, he conveys the futility of rituals and highlights truthful living midst family and society on a daily basis.”

*
Engaging in community service

After his spiritual transition, when Guru Nanak reappears in river Bein after 3 days of immersion, he travels far and wide with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana to disseminate the importance of community service.

“As he reincorporates into society, ‘antistructure’ becomes the mode of existence. The earliest Sikh community that developed with Guru Nanak at Kartarpur fits in with the cultural anthropologist Victor Turner’s description of ‘antistructure’ because the neat horizontal divisions and vertical hierarchies of society were broken down.” … “The three important socio-religious institutions of Sikhism: seva (voluntary service), langar (community meal) and sangat (congregation) evolve in which men and women formerly from different castes, classes and religions take equal part.”

*
Nurturing our body and participating in the natural, social and cosmic process

The Janamsakhis depict the extensive dialogue between Guru Nanak and the various ascetics. It comprehensively displays the conflict between Nanak’s belief in accepting and nurturing our body and the Naths’ ideals of “smearing ash on their bodies as a symbol of their renunciation”. Artist Alam presents an incident in B-40 Janamsakhi where,

“We see Guru Nanak climbing up a mountain where a conclave of Nath yogis is sitting (#20 in the B-40). The artist paints them with their backs against the world. Some have smeared. Their shaved heads, lengthened earlobes and long earrings (kan-phat, ‘ear split’) signal their rigorous hatha yoga practices and ascetic ideals.” … “Guru Nanak’s pictures with the various ascetic groups resonate with scriptural verses: rather than ‘smear the bodies with ashes, renounce clothes and go naked—tani bhasam lagai bastar chodhi tani naganu bhaia’ (GGS: 1127), we must ‘wear the outfit of divine honour and never go naked—painana rakhi pati parmesur phir nage nahi thivana’ (GGS: 1019).”

Pick your copy of The First Sikh to learn how the Janamsakhis gather meaningful incidences that are essential for the unity and continuity of the Sikh community.

7 Things you Did Not Know About Nain Singh Rawat

Posted on by Penguin India

Indian history is rich with men and women trailblazers, without whose contributions we would not know the world as it is today. Learning about these important historic figures is as important in our childhood as it is when we are adults. Deepa Agarwal, in her latest book Journey to the Forbidden City, brings to the forefront one such figure of Indian history – Nain Singh Rawat.

If you are wondering who Nain Singh Rawat is look no further than this book – and here are 7 things you may not know about him to accompany your reading:

 He was a trailblazing Indian Explorer

Nain Singh Rawat was one of the first 19th century Indian explorers who explored the Himalayan region, and most importantly that of rigorously guarded Tibet. His accolades consist of putting Lhasa on the map, and accurately locating the source of the Brahmaputra river.

‘All the geographical facts he gathered over his missions were by calculating distance through the steps he had walked – a formidable and burdensome task. Apart form other significant discoveries, he put Lhasa accurately on the world map, which had never been done earlier. All in all, an impressive list of achievements, accomplished at great risk to his life.’

 

He was a charming and effective conversationalist

‘The Pundit had one very useful quality that was to stand him in good stead through his challenging journeys. He was a good conversationalist and possessed the ability to charm people into seeing his way’

He took risks for his work

Getting to Tibet was no easy feat, and Nain Singh faced many obstacles and dangerous situations on his way there. He knew the risks and was willing to take them in order to do his best

‘Nain Singh insisted on travelling by land. After all, he had to measure the distance by foot, take readings of the altitude and plot the location of the various geographical features. He knew well that he was taking a chance and exposing himself to danger by joining the smaller group. But what  choice did he have? His mission demanded these risks.’

 

He was a skilled cartographer 

Nain Singh covered 1200 miles, almost all on foot, over a multitude of terrains, in order to correctly map the locations he visited.

‘Nain Singh Rawat’s name is permanently engraved in the annals of Indian exploration. He features in every volume that records the mapping of Tibet and his incredible expeditions have been the subject of films and television programmes.’

 

He was a school teacher at heart 

Before taking on his role as a legendary hero, Nain Singh was a school teacher before a school inspector saw his intelligence and suggested he train to become an explorer.

‘Stratchey helped Nain to find employment as a schoolteacher when a new school was set up in Milam. But he soon realised that his meagre salary of Rs 15 per month would never be enough to clear his debts. Fortunately, the school inspector Major Smyth, who had noticed that Nain Singh was far more intelligent than the average schoolmaster, suggested that he enroll for training as an explorer’

 

He combined both his pursuits

After his last expedition, Nain Singh combined his teaching skills with  the skills he picked up while exploring the vast expanse and went on to train a new generation of explorers.

‘Nain Singh spent many years grooming a new generation of explorers. After he retired, he spent summers at his native villages of Milam and Madkote and winters at the jagir the government had granted him in the plains.’

 

He was honoured and commemorated round the world

His contributions and findings were recognised by instituitions like the Royal Geographical Society and the Paris Geographical Society. In 1877 he was awarded a jagir in Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh.

Based on his actual diaries, Journey to the Forbidden City is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of this fascinating man. Filled with rare details about his travels to uncharted territories, this book is a must read for both children and their parents who are interested in learning about one of the great figures in Indian history.

What is the Human Impact of War?

Posted on by Penguin India

Vanni is a powerfully illustrated story of war, survival and trauma suffered by countless Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. A story that is crucial to unbury and remember, the graphic novel format makes it accessible to an even wider range of audience.

Here are some heartrending ways in which Vanni makes a statement on the brutal human impact of war and trauma:

Becoming an Orphan

On 22nd January 2009, as Selvi and Prem get caught in a gunfire that sfinds them witnessing the brutal death of a mother with an infant boy. They take the boy with them, who has now lost his mother and become an orphan.

Mass Casualties

Loss of life on a large scale is always a by-product of war. “In August 2006, Sri Lankan Army (SLA) shelling killed 61 children.”

Displacement

War uproots homes. Not only do the people have their security and safety taken away from them, they are also displaced from their own homes. “Entire villages and communities took to the road with all they could carry. On the main arteries between jungle, fields, and lagoons, they came together in vast crowds – a mass of weary, desperate people in search of a safe haven.”

Fear

“With shells flashing across the lagoon and falling like rain behind them, Indran and his family had fled their home in Pooneryn. […] Indran had dug their bunker on the first day. […]When he heard explosions, they would scramble for the bunker. In seconds, they would be under the ground. Sometimes they stayed there for hours, listening for gunfire or shelling.”

Safety

A sentiment that consumes civilians during war is a perpetual desperation for safety.

“On 21st January 2009, a ‘safe zone’ was announced. The government declared that an area of 35 Square kilometres – within territory still nominally held by the Tigers – would not be shelled.

Desperate civilians hurried to follow the government’s instructions.”

Emotional Numbing

Consumed and driven by a basic need for day-to-day survival, war also concurrently breeds an arguable numbness to sights of pain and suffering, since they become so commonplace. “The weeks dragged past. It became unremarkable to see people shuffling past with horrible injuries. Despite their fears, the Ramachandrans were often bored. In the same dense jungle around them, the battle pounded on.”

Forced Labour

Forced recruitment is also commonplace within ranks of the army, since war needs as many people as possible to fight on the battlefields. Civilians fall victim to this in large numbers. “Some Tiger soldiers used coercion, threats (and some were even alleged to have shot at civilians) to prevent [the civilians’ leaving the conflict zone and fleeing to the Army. Civilians were also used for forced labour, building military defences and children were forced into the dwindling LTTE ranks.”

Estrangement

Towards the end of the narrative, we see the main character, Antoni, forced to leave behind his wife Rajini and daughter Theepa in Chennai, India – in an arrangement he hoped was temporary – to go to London with the help of a people-smuggler in an effort to seek permanent asylum for his family. Familial separation is a painful reality in the aftermath of war, driven by a desperation to find a new home and start life afresh. “We [Rajini, Theepa and I] talked, we cried a lot. I didn’t want to leave them ever again but –

What choice did we have?

There was no other way.”

These instances give just a glimpse into the life-long horrors and human impact of war through the ordeal of The Ramachandrans in the 2009 war in Sri Lanka. Join them in an emotionally impactful narrative in Vanni.

Who is Sir Salar Jung I? Meet ‘The Magnificent Diwan’

Posted on by Penguin India

The Magnificent Diwan’s author, Bhakhtiar K Dadabhoy’s ode to the spectacular Diwan of Hyderabad, Sir Salar Jung  I. He was eloquent about Salar Jung’s ideals, diplomacy and westernized governance in Hyderabad. He gives the reader a before and after account of the state of affairs in Hyderabad, during his rule.

Get a glimpse into Sir Salar Jung I’s life-

    • Salar Jung I exercised commanding influence over the destiny of Hyderabad, for a generation. A man with a broad and enlightened mind and a strong will, he applied his  energies to the improvement of Hyderabad and the amelioration of the condition of its people.

 

    • His long and illustrious career was also distinguished by his efforts to promote friendly relations between the nizam and the British government. The unexampled prosperity of Hyderabad since it fell under the administration of Salar Jung was a subject of much comment.

 

    • He was by far the most distinguished representative of his family. Salar Jung I had an enviable command of English and an intimate acquaintance with English ideas and with Western statesmanship. He did much to bring together the European and the Oriental in friendly social intercourse.

 

    • Salar devoted his life to making Hyderabad a model state and lived long enough to see it prosper. The idea of an organized system of government in Hyderabad owed its birth to the vision of Salar Jung I. He reduced Hyderabad to order and settled government, restored its prosperity and developed its resources to such an extent that the nizam’s dominions were as orderly as any other part of India.

 

    • Jung was a vision and an inspiration for native princes. The native princes, inspired by Salar Jung I’s example, showed themselves ready to promote the well-being of their subjects and foster prosperity so as to make their states no different from British-administered province.

 

  • Salar’s strong individuality, firmness and caution gave him an ascendancy in Hyderabad which no previous diwan had attained. In spite of opposition of a capricious nizam, Afzal-Ud-Daula, Jung never left- a fact which makes his administrative reforms still more remarkable. 

To read more about Jung, his life and how he tremendously transformed the state of Hyderabad, read The Magnificent Diwan as he is reintroduced by Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy to a new generation.

The Generous Nawab- An Excerpt from ‘Bahawalpur’

Posted on by Penguin India

In the seventy or so years since Independence, much less has been written about the Princely States which acceded to Pakistan than those that remained in India. The name of the once great State of Bahawalpur is no longer remembered among its well-mapped peers over the border in Rajasthan.

Bahwalpur by Anabel Loyd is a record of the conversations between the author and Salahuddin Abbasi who reminisces about his family and sheds light to stories of Bahawalpur’s princes from old records, letters, and the accounts of British travellers and civil servants. The following is an intriguing excerpt from the book:

—

Nawab Bahawal Khan had ruled for long enough to see his enemies fail, fall or die off. He had avoided confrontation with Ranjit Singh through judicious advice to the Sikh leader during his siege of Multan, being rewarded with gifts of an elephant and a shawl, added to several instalments of ‘friendly messages’.

 

Bahawal Khan’s most inveterate enemy, the makhdoom of Uch, died and was succeeded by his son, Makhdoom Shams ud-din and his brother who was recognized by the nawab when he rode to Uch in person to perform the ceremony of placing the ‘Turban of Recognition’ on his head. In 1808, Mountstuart Elphinstone came to Bahawalpur en route to Kabul on the exploratory journey he described  in An Account of The Kingdom of Caubul and Its Dependencies in Persia, Tartary and India.

The Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I had raised, for the first time, the fear of overland invasion of India by Russia in alliance with the French bogeyman, and the governor general, Lord Minto, sent Elphinstone to Afghanistan, with other envoys to Persia and to Ranjit Singh, to gain promises of cooperation in the event of French incursions.

It is unsurprising that Elphinstone was impressed by Bahawal Khan. He must have been impressive to have successfully maneuvered a path through the hurdles, both of the tribal enmities of his times and greater invading powers. Before ‘we enter on the narrative of the passage of an embassy from the British Government’, it is too irresistible not to digress to Shahamet Ali’s rose-tinted description of England, where the roads of London are ‘paved with stones of various colours’, the town always kept in ‘clean order’ while the suburbs ‘are said to be covered with delightful gardens and noble buildings’ and ‘it is a fixed rule with every citizen, rich or poor, to whitewash his dwelling once a year’. That cloudless image might have surprised those breathing in the Great Stink and living through the cholera pandemic of the time.

Elphinstone described Bahawal Khan when he first met him on 1 December 1808 as a ‘plain, open, pleasant man, about forty-five or fifty years of age, he had on white tunic, with small gold buttons, over which was a white mantle of a very rich and beautiful gold brocade and over it a loongee. About six of his attendants sat; the rest stood round and were all well dressed and respectable’. The following day, ‘the Khan received us in a handsome room with attic windows and ‘conversed freely on all subjects’. He ‘praised the King of Caubul’ but had never seen him and ‘please God he never would’. He was a ‘desert dweller and feared the snows of Caubul’. Instead, ‘he could live in his desert, hunt his deer, and he had no desire to follow courts’. The nawab then demonstrated the skills of his people with a ‘curious clock’ made in Bahawalpur and gave Elphinstone parting gifts of greyhounds, two horses, ‘one with gold and one with enameled trappings’ and a very beautiful matchlock ‘with a powder flask in the English fashion’.

Elphinstone added, the nawab ‘has been liberal and kind to us without over-civility or ceremony’, with ‘an appearance of sincerity in everything he said’ and had shown ‘a spirit of kindness and hospitality which could not be surpassed’. Elphinstone was astonished that, unlike other princes he had encountered, they did not have to ‘struggle against the rapacity of the Nawab’, who, on the contrary, ‘would take nothing without negotiation’ and was himself almost embarrassingly generous in his gifts, sending a profusion of sweetmeats, flour, nuts and raisins, ‘a vast number of baskets of oranges’ and, most difficult to accept, five bags of rupees to be divided amongst the servants. 

It appears the ambassador and the nawab were pleased with each other—certainly this meeting and the first treaty of friendship between Bahawalpur and the British was the start of a remarkably close friendship.

Anyone with a penchant for history and politics would definitely consider the book, Bahawalpur an insightful read, shedding light on the troubled history of Pakistan which has clouded a clear picture of it and shrouded its component parts. Give it a read tell us what you think!

 

A Diwan with Foresight- An Excerpt from ‘The Magnificent Diwan’

Posted on by Penguin India

The Magnificent Diwan by Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy waxes eloquent about Hyderabad’s truly magnificent Diwan, Sir Salar Jung I. A Diwan with a foresight who was one of the firsts to establish an organized system of government in Hyderabad, Jung restored its prosperity and developed its resources to such an extent that the nizam’s dominions were as orderly as any other part of India. 

Reintroduced to a generation that doesn’t have an inkling about him, Dadabhoy in the introduction of the book writes –

To understand Salar Jung, we must understand that his most dominant sentiment was devotion to the nizam. He did not hesitate to oppose the nobles of the court, and to reform every department of the disorganized administration, because he realized that the strength of the ruler lay in the firmness of the administration. His loyal attitude during the Mutiny was but a part of this well-considered policy. Throughout his career, the mainspring of his policy was the interest of his master, the nizam. His loyalty to the British, notwithstanding his childhood influences, sprang from a deliberate conviction that the maintenance of British authority was the best pledge of safety to the dynasty he served so faithfully. At the risk of his own popularity, and often at the risk of his own life, he refused to align with fanatics. For the nizam’s sake, he bore the humiliation he received from the British which resulted from his persistence on the restoration of Berar. He bore with meekness the frequent indignities to which he was exposed in the palace, and waged a constant and unequal battle against fanatics and other malcontents. Till Afzal-ud-Daula’s death, Salar Jung had never left Hyderabad, a fact which makes his administrative reforms still more remarkable, since they were accomplished in spite of the opposition of a capricious nizam, and hostile nobility. His strong individuality, firmness and caution gave him an ascendancy in Hyderabad which no previous diwan had attained.

The difficulties he faced, unusually trying and complicated in themselves, were compounded by the fact that he was never able to rely on the support of the court because he was identified with a policy of reform which threatened vested interests. Imbued with a liberal education and outlook thanks to the English influence in his formative years, Salar Jung honestly believed in the superiority of British administration. He adopted the fundamentals of British principles of administration in his reforms which covered almost every sphere of activity: land revenue, police, judiciary, administration and education. Sir Richard Temple, who was resident in 1867, believed that Salar Jung, as a man of business and in matters of finance, had no rival among Indian ministers. European influences had greatly moulded his thinking, and Temple recognized that he was a great imitator. Whatever improvement the British government introduced, he would sooner or later adopt, to good effect.

It is no surprise that British influence preponderated, since apart from his own predilections, he was encouraged and advised by successive residents who wanted to foster good government, not only in Britain’s own interest, but for a principle as well. Carrying ‘civilization’ to India was both an imperial necessity and a mission of pride in the nineteenth century.

To read more about Sir Salar Jung I’s reign, check out his biography, The Magnificent Diwan. We’d love to know what you think!

A Narrative of Three Nations- An Excerpt from ‘1971’

Posted on by Penguin India

The year 1971 is etched into the minds of the billions that call the subcontinent their home. Post partition, the third Indo-Pak war cleaved through the land to make way for another nation to come into its own. For East Pakistani’s, it was a battle that led to liberation and the birth of Bangladesh. For Pakistan, it was the dismemberment that left behind a sense of loss. For India, 1971 was the war that established it as a nation of humanitarian sensibility and military power.

But what does 1971 mean for the victims and survivors of the war?

Anam Zakaria writes, ‘The war is not just a historical event or a story of gallantry or loss, the war is personal and intimate, the trauma as haunting even forty-eight years later.’   Turning the spotlight away from the state orchestrated narratives of victory and defeat, In 1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, Zakaria draws attention to the festering wounds that victims of the bloodbath bear even today, giving those tormented by terrible memories of heartrending violence a space to voice their experiences.

Read on for a glimpse-

 

Three men, an officer and two sepoys barged in from the back door, pushing our maid to the side, demanding: “Professor Sahib kahan hai? (Where is the professor)?” When my mother asked why, the officer said, “Unko le jayega (We have come to take him).” My mother asked, “Kahan le jayega (Where will you take him?).” He repeated, “Bus le jayega (We will take him).”’

It was the night of 25 March, when Meghna, then only fifteen years old, had been woken up by her father, a provost at Jagannath Hall, a non-Muslim residence hall at Dhaka University. It was the night Operation Searchlight was launched, the Pakistan Army’s action to crush the secessionist movement in East Pakistan. Dhaka University, whose students were actively engaged in the resistance movement against Pakistan, would be one of the primary targets. The operation would unfold into a long, bloody war, first between East and West Pakistan and then between India and Pakistan, finally culminating in Pakistan’s surrender on 16 December 1971, and the birth of Bangladesh.

‘There was a lot of firing that night, but we assumed that it was the Dhaka University students, excited and eager to show their spirit to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was in town. By then, the firing had become a regular occurrence,’ Meghna told me. ‘Our flat was opposite Jagannath Hall, overlooking the Shahid Minar, the monument for the martyrs of the language movement of 1952. In fact, we were at the centre of all the things that were going on,’ she said, referring to how Dhaka University was one of the major centres of political activity, right from when the language movement started to the 1970s. ‘We even went to see Bangabandhu’s speech of 7 March (held at Ramna Race Course, now called Suhrawardy Udyan) and I remember, my father kept saying, “I don’t see any mediation. I don’t know what will happen.” He feared that the army would clamp down because there was no way they would let things continue as they were . . . The radios were broadcasting their own programmes in Bangla, there were marches happening, there was an active civil disobedience movement. But even then, my father thought the army clampdown would just involve forcing students to stop protesting and return to university, or at most translate into the arrest of teachers (who, the state thought, were instigating trouble). We could never have imagined what happened.’

On 7 March 1971, at the speech that Meghna attended with her father, Sheikh Mujib addressed lakhs of people. By now, Yahya Khan had postponed the opening session of the new parliament. As a result, ‘widespread violence erupted in East Pakistan . . . Mujib was under intense pressure from two sides. Leftist politicians and activists in East Pakistan demanded that he declare independence right away, while Pakistan’s military leaders flew in troops to make sure he would abstain from such a pronouncement.’ Against this backdrop, on 7 March, Sheikh Mujib delivered a historic speech, trying to steer a ‘strategic middle ground’ by emphasizing that until the regime met his conditions, all offices, courts and schools would be closed, and there would no cooperation with the government. Before ending the speech, he also declared, ‘This struggle is for emancipation! This struggle is for independence.’

In her third book 1971, winner of the 2017 KLF German Peace Prize Anam Zakaria takes a closer look at the conflicting narratives on the war of 1971 through the oral histories of various Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indians.

 

5 tips to emerge as a winner using strategies from Chanakya’s Art of War

Posted on by Penguin India

We are constantly at war.

After a point, everyone realizes that they cannot walk away from such wars. Everyone has to fight—some win, some lose. This is where the difference in our attitude towards the war becomes known. We either accept defeat, or fight on to emerge a winner.

In Chanakya and the Art of War, Radhakrishnan Pillai takes us on a journey. The journey of Chanakya’s life experiences and challenges. We go back to his era and time. We draw inspiration and learn from his wisdom.

Here are five tips that you can follow to emerge as a winner:

Never fight a battle alone; take along a friend (mitra)

Chanakya’s solution for stress is as simple as talking to a friend. When we have a friend with whom we can share and express our problems, it makes a significant difference.

Listen to the wise (vriddha-sanyogah)

In the daily battles of life, senior citizens can be very helpful. The biggest advantage of senior citizens is that they have time and experience to offer. The younger generation has neither of the two. So, in reality, the two could fit together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. It can be synergetic.

When dealing with the powerful, keep in touch with a higher power

Think through the situation and find out what makes the boss a boss after all.  The boss has more decision-making power than the employee. Now, what we need to remember is to learn how to crack the power of the boss.

Advisors can make you or break you

Gathering too much information is not good. We need to be selective in what we read and watch. We get into discussions that really do not matter to us. It’s ok to add our bit to some social updates happening around. But it is not worth thinking too much about such matters.

Know the strength and weakness of the opponent

Having a strategic mindset is an important skill one should be able to develop. A smart person is one who is able to accurately judge others. He is constantly studying and analysing, trying to understand what is going on in the mind of the person in front of him.

Chanakya and the Art of War draws upon lessons from the great teacher, philosopher and strategist Chanakya’s masterpiece, Arthashastra, which can help us overcome those speed breakers to become innovative and influential and realize our true potential.

Five Reasons You Should Read ‘Siyasi Muslims’

Posted on by Penguin India

Hilal Ahmed’s new book, Siyasi Muslims does not aim at defining Muslim politics in India. Instead, it looks at the ways in which Muslim politics as a template is used to describe statements, actions and processes. In other words, it studies Muslim politics as a political discourse—an intellectual mode through which certain specific notions of Muslim identity in contemporary India are produced and sustained.

This listicle highlights the reasons why one should read this book:

Number Game

‘Siyasi Muslims’ traces the story of the census that transformed Muslims into a numerical entity. It also identifies the paradoxes of modern Indian Muslim identity and tries to answer a very basic question—how to address the highly diversified Indian Muslim community in intellectual terms.

Muslims of Hindutva

The book makes an attempt to understand the historically constituted anti-Muslim rhetoric of different forms of Hindutva. It also underlines the genealogy of a few questions that are asked to evaluate the loyalty and patriotism of Muslims.

Minoritization of Muslims

The narrative unravels the structure of the concept of Siyasi Muslims by looking at the legal–constitutional technicalities to understand the much talked about status of Muslims as an official minority.

Beyond Talaq-Talaq-Talaq

A very close attention is also paid to the triple talaq debate. Instead of suggesting what Muslim men do, it looks at the complex argument made by the Muslim women’s groups.

Muslim elites

It is an effort to make a serious attempt to reveal the class structure among Muslims in India. Using the official data of the Government of India and seminal works on Muslim classes, it offers a contemporary conceptualization of the idea of the Muslim elite.

 

Examining the everydayness of Muslims in contemporary India, Hilal Ahmed in Siyasi Muslims offers an evocative story of politics and Islam in India, which goes beyond the given narratives of Muslim victimhood and Islamic separation.

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