Indian Independence Day - August 15th

August 15th we're gonna celebrate our independence day. The independence from the British rule of over 200 years. There were two Kings who early on resisted the British rule and fought till their last breath. Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah and Tipu Sultan.

Siraj-Ud-Daulah

The Battle of Plassey (or Palashi) is widely considered the turning point in the history of India, and opened the way to eventual British domination. After Siraj-Ud-Daulah's conquest of Calcutta, the British responded by sending fresh troops from Madras Chennai to recapture the fort and avenge the attack. A retreating Siraj-Ud-Daulah met the British at Plassey, but betrayed by a conspiracy hatched by Jagat Seth, Mir Jafar, Krishna Chandra, Umi Chand etc, he lost the battle and had to escape. He went first to Murshidabad and then to Patna by boat, but was eventually arrested by Mir Jafar's soldiers. Siraj-Ud-Daulah was executed on July 2, 1757 by Mohammad Ali Beg under orders from Mir Jafar.

Tipu Sultan

The Sultans of Mysore, Hyder Ali and Tipu proved much harder nuts to crack. They defied the British and their allies. They fought four valiant wars. In the fourth war British gold effected what British guns had so far failed to accomplish. The ministers betrayed the master. Tipu refused to surrender and died bravely fighting in defence of his fort.

---- Tara Chand, History of the Freedom Movement in India,

revised edn., Delhi, 1965, I, pp.226-27.

Must Watch Video of a movie made on Tipu Sultan

Reaction of British after seeing Tipu dead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2R60xM1lwA (unable to embed, so please click to watch :) )

Taslima Nasreen back to India again

Back again on the diplomatic dilemma of the Indian Foriegn affairs ministry. Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was dramatically bundled out from West Bengal in November 2007, returned to New Delhi on Thursday to seek an extension for her visa, which is ending on August 17. More news here

I have earlier posted about Rebiya Kadeer being denied a visa to enter India.

Dual standards of Indian Diplomacy

Again, it is the story of two women and how different treatment was meted out to them. But this time, it is the Indian diplomats who are in the spotlight.

India has denied a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighur matriarch exiled by China, on the advice of Beijing which accuses the 62-year-old of inciting the recent violence in Xinjiang.

In stark contrast to this, India has been sheltering the controversial author Tasleema Nasreen from the neighboring Bangladesh. India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee assured Nasreen a "shelter" in India, but urged her to "refrain from activities and expressions" that may hurt the sentiments of Muslims in India and harm relations with friendly countries.

It was very well known that India follows a diplomacy of appeasement of the external superpowers. That does not mean that they ignore the internal powers. Muslims are the second largest population in the country and their feelings cannot be fiddled around by sheltering somebody who the community does not see in good light and denying entry to a freedom fighter who is globally well known.

This act has definitely hurt the sentiments of the masses. Not just muslims but all peace loving citizens of the nation.

A mosque desacrated - 3 killed in related violence

An unfortunate incident of desacration of a Mosque resulted in clashes between two communities in the city of Mysore in South India. Three people were killed and According to the police, the victims have been identified as Mubarak (25), Junaid Pasha (15) and Tirupathi (46).

The trouble started following the desecration of a Mosque where a carcass of a slaughtered animal was found. When the news spread, a large number of people gathered outside the school.

Communal frenzy knows no sentiments and relations. In incidents of communal violence, the victims are the innocent people whose only commonality is poverty. Thursday's communal violence in Mysore starkly brought this out.

All the three killed in the violence were poor and innocent. Communal feelings made no sense to them. Whether it was truck driver Mubarak or Tirupathy, they had never imagined they would meet a gory end.

A crestfallen Hasina, mother of Mubarak, 22, says though she urged her son to have breakfast, he told her he would meet his friend and come back. "I waited for him till 12.30 pm, only to learn from my neighbours that he was stabbed to death," she said.

More tragic tale was that of Junaid, 14. When he died, his father, plastic goods hawker, was roaming in the same area, unaware of the tragedy. His mother Munzira Banu, who rushed to the spot on hearing the news of her son's death, initially said he was killed in the police firing. But police denied it saying he was stabbed.

Modi abruptly ends TV interview after being quizzed

Varun Gandhi's venomous speech - What can YOU do?

Folks, you might have seen time and again the venomous speech by Varun Gandhi on various news channels. The only impression that I get after seeing it is that it was a two in one attempt by the BJP.

One, it shot Varun Gandhi out of nowhere into the headlines. Otherwise, he was lost in the oblivion.

Two, BJP tested the hindutva card again.

Fortunate for the Indian Democracy that this was not recieved in good sense at all. The public in general and muslims in specific need not panic about such speeches. They are the short-cuts to fame. Has the nation forgotten the thackreys of Mumbai who have used North-South divide to secure their vote banks.

Look forward to more of such attempts by various leaders from various parties, who would be switching loyalties. If you want to keep the Indian politics clean, do use your vote effectively. Donot vote for such morons.