My Musings

 Musings....... Gupkar Decleration - Hope  The decleration passed at an all - party meeting on August 4th 2019, at Farook Abdullah’s Gupkar residence, said the parties were united in their resolve to protect the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.  Recently the Gupkar residence is again in news for the Gupkar Decleration 2.0 which reiterated the earlier resolve, of protecting the special status of J&K.   The Decleration read -  “ That modification, abrogation of Articles 35A and 370, unconstitutional delimitation or trifurcation of the state would be an aggression against the people of J&K and Ladakh.”  The signatories to the Decleration, as you would have guessed include the rest of the political parties excluding the ruling party at the Centre.  It was last year on August 5th that Article 370 and Article 35A were abrogated without debate in the Indian Parliament.  Since then the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have been living in vi...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters- Part 15  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru -  (The Architect of Modern India)  Born 1889 in Allahabad, his father Motilal Nehru was a self made wealthy barrister from Kashmiri Pandit community. Motilal Nehru previously served as the President of Indian National Congress twice in 1919 and 1928.  His elder sister, Vijayalakshmi Pandit was the first female president of the UN General Assembly. His Youngest sister Krishna was a writer and has written many notable books on her brother.  Nehru himself described his childhood as “ sheltered and uneventful one”.  He became a strong Nationalist in his youth.  Nehru was influenced by the Boer war and the Russo- Japanese war. Nehru graduated from the Trinity college, Cambridge in 1907.  Nehru completed his law degree from the Inner Temple inn, London in 1912.  In 1916 Nehru joined both the Home rule leagues- the ones led by Annie Besant and by Bal Gangadhar Tilak.  The ...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters- Part 14  Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - The Mahatma  Father of our Nation  At this point of time what more can be said about this great "Yugpurush" that hasn't already been said or that is not known ! Born October 2nd, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. His father was a diwan of Porbandar.   At the age of 9, he went to study in Rajkot, however had to discontinue his studies owing to his marriage to Kasturba Gandhi at the age of 13 years.  Later he joined Sayamal Das College in Bhavnagar in 1888.  Gandhi got the chance of studying law in London and joined the Inner Temple -one of the four London Law Colleges where he studied and practiced law.  Here Gandhi joined the Vegetarian society, was introduced by friends to the Bhagavat Gita which played a prominent part throughout his life. Gandhi was also influenced at this time by the philosophies of Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin and Henry David Thoreau.  Upon returning to India ...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 13  Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel  Born 31st October 1875, Vallabhai Jhaverbhai Patel was born in Nadiad, Gujarat. He belonged to the Patidar community of Central Gujarat.  Even at a young age he was known for his ethical character.  He hailed from a farmers family where Vallabhbhai Patel was considered an unambitious man destined for a commonplace job. He however, passed the law examination, studying by himself often with borrowed books.  By 1909 he was an established Barrister in Ahmedabad.  Patel ran for the post of Sanitation commissioner of Ahmedabad in 1917 and won. He however had no political ambitions.  A chance meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in 1917 changed the life of Sardar Patel and led him to join the Indian independence struggle.   On Gandhijis wishes Patel became the President of the Gujarat Sabha that became the Gujarat wing of the Indian National Congress later.  On Mahatma Gandhi’s call P...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 12  Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya  Born in 1861, in Prayagraj ( Allahabad ) in a Brahmin family, Madan Mohan Malaviya completed his degree from the Calcutta University. He studied with a scholarship as his family was facing financial hardships. In 1884 he took up a teaching job in Allahabad.  In 1886 he gave a speech on the issue of representation in councils, at the 2nd Indian National Congress session in Calcutta.  The speech impressed Dadabhai Naoroji.  He was entrusted with the job of Editor of a nationalist weekly “Hindustan” in 1887 by a Congressman and he left his teaching job.  After obtaining a law degree he practiced in Allahabad High court by 1893.  Malaviya rose in rank within the Congress and was a moderate leader opposed to seperate electorates for Muslims under the Lucknow pact of 1916. He was the President of the Indian National Congress for 4 times- in 1909( Lahore), 1918 (Delhi), 1930(Delhi) ...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters- Part 11  Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar  Babasaheb Ambedkar was Born 1891 in Mhow Military Cantonment in Central Provinces ( now Madhya Pradesh), into a family with Marathi background. He was born a low caste Mahar who were treated as untouchables and subjected to socio- economic discrimination.  Ambedkar was the first untouchable to enrol in Elephinstone College in Bombay University. The irony of then times was that his Mahar community celebrated him passing English fourth standard examinations. According to them he had reached “ great heights”. Such was the condition of the lower castes in those times.  By 1912 Ambedkar got his degree from Bombay University and moved to the United States in 1913 under a scholarship of Baroda State Scholarship Scheme of 11.5 Pounds Sterling per month for three years. He did his postgraduate studies at the Columbia University.  In 1916 he presented a paper “ Castes in India - Their Mechanism, Genes...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 10  Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose  Born in Cuttack, then in Bengal Province in 1897 into an affluent family, Bose was educated in Calcutta and attained a degree in philosophy.   Bose was influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa after reading their works at the age of 16 years.  Subhash Chandra Bose came fourth in the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination in 1921,  which he wrote as his father wanted him to,  but did not join as he did not want to work under the alien British Government. The same year he returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress (INC). He started the newspaper "Swaraj". His mentor in Congress was Chittaranjan Das who was Bengal provincial Congress president.  In 1923, Bose was elected President of All India Youth Congress and Secretary of Bengal Congress. It was during this time in 1927 that Bose was deported to Mandalay for a short period by...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 9  Sarojini Naidu  Born in Hyderabad, Sarojini Naidu was educated in Chennai, London and Cambridge and was working in London when she was attracted to the Indian National Congress movement for Indian Independence from Colonial rule.  As a young child Sarojini Naidu used to write poems. She was prolific in 5 languages - Hindi, English, Persian, Urdu, Telugu and Bengali.  Her poem collections ‘The Golden Threshold’, ‘ The Bird of Time’ and The Broken Wings’ were published at her young age.   Later after her death, her daughter Padmaja published yet another poem collection ‘ The Feather of the Dawn’.   For her work as a poet she earned the title “ Nightingale of India” from Mahatma Gandhi.  Role in Women’s Rights Movement in India  Sarojini Naidu played an important role in women’s rights struggle in India. She helped forming the Women’s Indian Association in 1917 with Annie Besant and others. The associat...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters- Part 8  Bhagat Singh  Bhagat Singh was born into a Sikh family in 1907 in Lyallpur district of Punjab Province in present day Pakistan.   In 1919, while only 12 years old Bhagat Singh visited the site of Jallianwala Bagh massacre hours after thousands of unarmed people gathered at a public meeting had been killed.   In 1923, Bhagat Singh joined the National College in Lahore, where he founded the Indian socialist youth organisation Naujawan Bharat Sabha - in 1926 inspired by Young Italy movement of Giuseppe Mazzini.  Bhagat Singh joined the Hindustan Republican Association ( HRA ) which had prominent leaders like Chandrasekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqallah Khan.  To avoid an arranged marriage he ran away from his hometown. In a letter he left behind he said -  “ My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters- Part 7  Chandrasekhar Azad  Born Chandrasekhar Tiwari in Alirajpur District of present day Madhya Pradesh in 1906, Azad was sent to study by his parents at the Kashi Vidyapeeth.  It was here in Benaras that Azad joined the non- cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi against the Briitish government.  He was subsequently arrested because of his participation in the movement. When produced in court he proudly proclaimed his name as ‘Azad’, his fathers name as ‘Swatantrata’ and his place of dwelling as ‘Jail’.   From then on he was known as Chandrasekhar Azad.  After the suspension of non- cooperation movement by Gandhiji, Azad became restless and more revolutionary.  He met with Ram Prasad Bismil who had formed the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a revolutionary organisation.  HRA was established in 1924 in East Bengal by Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Narendra Mohan Sen and Pratul Ganguly as a offshoot...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 6  Lala Lajpat Rai  Born in Dhudike near Ludhiana in Punjab in 1865, Lala Lajpat Rai became a follower of Dayanand Saraswati- the founder of Arya Samaj in his early days. He went on to become one of the society’s leaders.  In 1885, Lajpat Rai established the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore and remained a committed educationist throughout his life.  He was also the founding members of the Punjab National Bank and established the Lakshmi Insurance Company in 1894.  In 1881, Lajpat Rai joined the Indian National Congress at the young age of 16 years.  As early as 1897, Lala Lajpat Rai founded the Hindu Relief Movement to provide help to the famine stricken people.  Though an advocate of aggressive Hindu politics, Lajpat Rai’s vision of Hindu politics was very different from the present Hindutva divisive politics, and he stood for Unity in Diversity.   Having initially been supportive of the Two Natio...

Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 5  Rani Gaidinliu - The Freedom Fighter we Forgot  Gaidinliu, Born in 1915, in present day Tamenglong District of Manipur.  She belonged to the Rongmei Naga tribe ( also known as Kabui).  In 1927 at the young age of 13, Gaidinliu joined the Heraka movement of her cousin Haipou Jadonang.  Heraka movement was a revival of the Naga Tribal religion. It also aimed to end the British rule and establish self rule of the Nagas. It attracted a number of followers from the Zeliangrong tribes ( the Zeme, Liangmai, and Rongmei).  After Jadonang was arrested and hanged by the British in 1931, Gaidinliu emerged as his spiritual and political heir.  With the arrival of guns from Cachar, the movement turned to armed rebellion against British policies of forced labour and ruthless oppression.  She openly rebelled against the British and prevented the Zeliangrong people from paying taxes.  Gaidinliu was arrested by the Br...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 4  Maulana Abul Kalam Azad  Born Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad, he was commonly known as Maulana Azad.  Maulana is a word meaning ‘Our Master’ and he adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name.   Maulana Azad Born in 1888 was a scholar, Islamic theologian, and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress during India’s Independence Movement.  As a young man Maulana Azad wrote poems in Urdu. He rose to prominence through his work as a journalist, publisher who wrote criticising the British Raj and supporting the Nationalistic cause.  Maulana Azad became the leader of the Khilafat Movement when he became close to Mahatma Gandhi. He became a supporter of Gandhijis non violent civil disobedience and worked to organise the Non cooperation movement (NCM) in protest of Rowlatt Act in 1919.  He was committed to promoting Swadeshi products and for the cause of Swaraj (Self Rule) for I...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 3  Dadabhai Naoroji  It will be great injustice if I do not mention one of the first leaders who stirred national consciousness in the country.  Born in 1825 into a priestly Parsi family in present day Gujarat, Dadabhai Naoroji was a prominent nationalist leader with progressive views.  He belonged to the school of moderates, and was a great believer in constitutional methods.  Dadabhai Naoroji was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress along with AO Hume and Dinshaw Wacha in 1885.  Even before that he served as the first Indian member of the British Parliament.  In 1865, Naoroji launched the London Indian Society with the intention of discussing Indian political, social, and literary subjects.  In 1867, Naoroji helped establish the East India Association, which was a predecessor to the Indian National Congress with the aim of putting across the Indian point of view before the Briti...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 2  Gopal Krishna Gokhale  If my first article on Freedom Fighters was on Bal Gangadhar Tilak, it would be wrong if my next is not about the great Gopal Krishna Gokhale.  In many ways both of these people had parallel careers.  Both were Chitpavan Brahmins, both attended Elephinstone College, both became mathematics professors, and both held important roles in the Deccan Education Society.  The similarities however ended here as Gokhale was the leader of the Moderate group within the Indian National Congress while Tilak was the leader of the Extremist faction within Congress.  Born in 1866 in Maharashtra, Gokhale joined the Indian National Congress in 1889 as a protégé of social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade.  Together with Ranade, he worked in the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha where he held the position of Secratary.  He founded a parallel Deccan Sabha in 1896.  At only 20 years of age, he delivered a pu...

 Musings....... Freedom Fighters - Part 1  Bal Gangadhar Tilak  When I decided to write about one freedom fighter every day until Independence Day, little did I need to think before deciding who to write on first.  That it is ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s 100th death anniversary was a curious surprise.   Tilak was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. Mahatma Gandhi called him ‘The Maker of Modern India’.  He is known for his famous quote in Marathi which translates into ‘Swarajya is my birthright and I shall have it’.   Along with Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai he formed a triumvirate.  Tilak was a devout Hindu and used Hindu scriptures to rouse people to fight oppression. He always stressed on the need for ‘Swarajya’- Self Rule and believed that without Swarajya, no progress was possible.  Tilak emphasised the importance of cultural and religious revival to go with the political movements. He popularised the Ganesh...