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India Should Be Grateful to Alauddin Khilji for Thwarting the Mongol Invasions

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India Should Be Grateful to Alauddin Khilji for Thwarting the Mongol Invasions *******************************  At a time when most of the medieval world was laid waste by the brutality of the Mongol armies, Khilji kept India – and its culture and civilisation – safe. What is not well-known, is that Khilji, for all his faults, saved India from the murderous Mongols, who tried to invade the Indian subcontinent six times during his reign as the sultan of Delhi, and failed miserably, thanks to his brilliance as a general, the quality, discipline, and bravery of his army and its commanders, and their superior military tactics. What the Mongol invaders inflicted on Persia, the Caliphate of Baghdad, Russia, and elsewhere is well documented – genocide, the destruction of infrastructure, and the destruction of native culture, literature, and religious institutions. Their habit of leaving conquered countries as wastelands that would not spring back for at least a hundred years, and t
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Leadership in the 21st Century by Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, MC

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Leadership in the 21st Century by Field Marshal  Sam Manekshaw, MC                        {Sam with Joe {Dad} "Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am fully conscious of the honour and privilege which is mine to be invited here to address you this evening. The honour is even greater that you should have invited a soldier when you could have invited any number of VVIPs. General Choudhury, I thank you for the very kind words you spoke about me. You have told us all the good things that Field Marshal Cariappa has done. But one big thing that he did, you haven’t mentioned. He taught the Indian Army to be completely apolitical. Ours is one country, where soldiers have kept out of politics. I think that was the biggest achievement of Field Marshal Cariappa, the greatest service to this country. ...the real problem for all our difficulties, all our shortages, etc. is lack of leadership. Some years ago, I was invited to a Rotary club function at Madras. It was stated that t
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Economic History: Nehru's economic policy : Context & Contribution

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Economic History: Nehru's economic policy : Context & Contribution ************************* { Picture :Nehru switching on the power house of the Bhakra hydro-electric project} The counterfactual & casual narrative in India today has condemned Nehru as an amateur in economic policy. Neoliberal Indian economists in Ivy Leagues and those in India influenced by them claim that the country skipped a big chance to play catch-up to the rich West because of Nehru’s fatal flirtation with socialism. This infatuation, they insist, put clamps on the animal spirits of India's private enterprise, withdrew the country from the benefits of world trade and plagued it with inefficient and corrupt public sector undertakings for decades. Even Nehru’s supporters – while admiring his insistence on a “scientific temper” and industrialisation - tend to claim that he was  focussed on State intervention & role of PSUs at the cost of private initiative . Nehru, writes Ramchandra Gu
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Why it is not easy & wise to remove #Article370 ? Part-1

On 3rd April, 2018 the Supreme Court stated that  Article 370 had acquired permanent status through years of existence, making its abrogation impossible. The observation came from a bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and R F Nariman on a petition by  Kumari Vijayalakshmi Jha who sought a declaration that Article 370 was a temporary provision that lapsed with the dissolution of the J&K Constituent Assembly on January 26, 1957. She had also sought a declaration that the constitution of J&K was void, inoperative and in breach of the Constitution. Justice Nariman  had drawn additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta's attention to the SC's 2017 judgment in State Bank of India vs Santosh Gupta case and stated that the controversy over Article 370 was settled by the court ruling the provision had acquired permanent space in the Constitution and it could no longer be abrogated. The SC has already stated since the Constituent Assembly of the state ceased to exist, the Pre
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Letter of Bhagat Singh to Sukhdev dated 5th April, 1929 : Time to Reflect on his views & introspect

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Letter of Bhagat Singh to Sukhdev dated 5th April, 1929 : Time to Reflect on his views & introspect ************************** On 23rd March ,1931 Bhagat Singh ,Sukhdev & Rajguru were hanged. I share a Letter written by Bhagat Singh to Sukhdev This letter deals with the views of Bhagat Singh on the question of love and sacrifice in the life of a revolutionary. It was written on April 5, 1929 in Sita Ram Bazar House, Delhi. The letter was taken to Lahore by Shri Shiv Verma and handed over to Sukhdev it was recovered from him at the time of his arrest on April 13 and was produced as one of the exhbits in Lahore Conspiracy Case. ------------------------------------------------------------------- DEAR BROTHER By the time you receive this letter I will be gone, going to a far off destination. Let me assure that I am prepared for the voyage inspite of all the sweet memory and inspite of all the charms of my life here. Upto this day one thing pinched in my heart and it
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Mughals celebrated Holi & Akbar's Policy of Sulh-i-Kul(Peaceful Co-existence)

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Mughal Emperors & Holi ************************ The Mughal emperors and other Indian royals celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi Many Mughal emperors, including Akbar and his son Jehangir, can be seen in these miniature paintings celebrating the festival of colour. Participation in Hindu Festivals was linked with the policy of Sulh-i-kul (peaceful coexistence ) of Akbar . Sulh-i kul is an Arabic term literally meaning “peace with all,” “universal peace,” or “absolute peace,” { source;  https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.org/ } drawn from a Sufi mystic principle. As applied by t he third Mughal Emperor of India, Akbar (who r eigned 1556-1605), it described a peaceful and harmonious relationship among different religions. In keeping with efforts to mesh the diverse populations of his realm, Akbar proposed unity and peace among all human beings – sulh-i kul. The concept implies not just tolerance, but also the sorts of balance, civility, respect, and compromise r equ
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Chronology of History of Naxalism and Maoism in India

   Introduction: Lack of understanding of the history of Naxalism and Maoism/Maoists in India has led to the use of  canard  Urban-Naxal in public domain. Media too  seems to be confused and uses the  terms Maoists and Naxalites inter-changeably. It is to be understood that Naxalism/Maoism is  located in rural areas. The focus of Naxalism has been on rural people and so has that of Maoism. The use of term Urban Naxal therefore , is specious , cockeyed & without logic. A fabrication of ignorant minds. The chronology of the history of Naxalism and Maoism given below will give an insight to the reader about the two.   Naxalite movement thrives on the original spirit of Naxalbari and the Maoist struggle is an outcome of the 1967 uprising. Maoists work with an agenda and use weapons to achieve their aims.   The term "Naxal" is derived   from a village called Naxalbari in Darjeeling district of West Bengal . Charu Majumdar launched a peasants' uprising
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