Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship Between India and Pakistan

A decision can make or break life. Then, consider the enormity of crucial strategic decisions on the body politic of a nation. In these politically charged times, motives can be attributed to dissecting the monumental influence of the leadership decisions taken at the time of independence and later. But wisdom lies in an objective analysis to find solutions for the nagging issues. Even after seven decades of India’s partition, Pakistan continued to occupy the mind spaces of our political dispensation. The difficult relationship with Pakistan sapped India’s vital energy which could otherwise been invested in progressive developmental activities.

The pompous illusionary baichara and underserving Aman ki Asha further validated the futility of one-sided friendly neighbourly relations with Pakistan. No amount of diplomatic capital, friendly initiatives and back channel outreach could alter the nefarious agenda of Pakistan which considers India an existential threat. Even after the four conventional wars and over four decades-long proxy asymmetric wars, Pakistan has refused to change its way. Pakistan’s pathological obsession for Kashmir, ensured that Kashmir alone remained the main agenda of bilateral ties for many decades. Even discussions on bilateral trade are regarded as a ploy to distract attention from the Kashmir issue.

Characterised by cycles of hostility interspersed with a rare window of peace, the troubled relationship dominated the geopolitics of South Asia. The high points of diplomacy have essentially been an intermission between dastardly cross-border terror attacks. The dwindling economic progress of Pakistan in recent decades has further reduced the appetite for bilateral engagement. Instead, the deep state is getting seduced towards proxy wars to seek a recourse. The fascination of the Western neighbour, whose umbilical cord had been severed through a brutal partition had occupied a special place in the mind space of Indians. Separated by borders, carved on the basis of religion at the instance of the fundamentalist elements, even after Pakistan became a sovereign republic, a wider section of Indians longed for a longstanding intimacy with it.

Objectively recording the relations between India and the newly formed nation of Pakistan from the day of its existence as an independent nation till his expulsion, India’s former High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria details the bilateral ties in his book- “Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship Between India and Pakistan”. The book is a window to a diplomat’s perspective of the India-Pakistan relations. Elegantly structured, the book is laid into eight different sections enumerating the trajectory of the bilateral ties in each decade. Each section has several chapters and sub-sections. Coming from the pen of a seasoned diplomat, characteristically devoid of any overtones, the book is a compendium that ambitiously attempts to chronicle the events spanning close to eight decades of bilateral ties.

The tumultuous relations that weathered four conventional wars and the unceasing terror attacks hit rock bottom with the abrogation of Article 370. Surprised, embittered and enraged, the Imran Khan government at the helm expelled the Indian High Commissioner on August 7, 2019, and downgraded the ties. Intuitively, the title of the book is rather playful for the serious discussion that abounds it is perhaps an attempt to underscore the overreaction and anger of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Bursting with mistrust and a distinctive intransigent approach, India and Pakistan relations, despite some agreements were rocked by several unresolved issues- majorly Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek etc. Ties were further mired by Pakistan’s repeated violations and backtracking on its own pledges. The interminable proxy war and the patronisation of non-state actors with a flourish have aggravated the hostilities.

India’s approach to Pakistan is further complicated by the two power centres and the dichotomy between the civil and military wings of the country. With the overarching power vested in the hands of the military, the customary engagement between the elected leaders of democracies is ineffectual. Dominated by the army, the regular bloodless coups of the military leadership in the formative years of Pakistan have stalled all diplomatic progress made by the civilian leadership. The thoughtful peace initiatives like the Lahore Bus, and the ceasefire announcement during the Ramzan made in good spirit of trust as confidence-building measures were repeatedly violated by the non-state actors working at the behest of the deep state.

The rich tapestry of the intertwined historical, cultural, religious, trade and people-to-people connections that could have been effectively utilised in building a long-lasting durable friendship has been impetuously squandered by Pakistan in its quest for an identity. This monumental blunder has irrevocably changed the course of the new nations that were birthed after centuries of British colonisation. Frittering away opportunities of restoring lasting peace, Pakistan has outdone itself in sullying the relations for its imaginary pursuit of parity. Exhausting the repeated offers of friendship, Pakistan has foreclosed the chances of envisioning the France and Germany kind of reconciliation between the neighbouring countries.

Replete with copious details of the trajectory of the India-Pakistan relationship, the author expertly walks the reader through the roller coaster of India-Pakistan bilateral ties. Embarking on the crusade of reimaging and redefining itself from the date of its birth, having taken refuge in religious or ideological nationalism, Pakistan has set a different course for itself from its inception. Together the congenital distrust for India has further roiled the relationship.

Against the popular belief that foreign policy would remain the same, irrespective of the leadership at the helm, the book dispassionately enumerates the decisions made by each Indian Prime Minister during their tenure. Peace with Pakistan has been a legacy issue for Indian leaders. Accordingly, leaders walked an extra step to make a mark for themselves in the diplomatic chronicles. On the contrary, Pakistan’s India policy kicked off with Operation Gulmarg led by Colonel Akbar Khan within 70 days of partition. Even as the Kashmir issue was dragged to the UN, India invited Pakistan as the guest of honour in 1955.  

Putting the Kashmir issue on the backburner, Governor General Ghulam Mohammed of the Dominion of Pakistan at the state banquet said, “I think this dark period of strain has now lasted too long and the time has now come to end it completely…. Let us put an end to our disputes. We owe this as a duty to posterity not to leave them a legacy of misunderstandings and bitterness”. The talks subsequently resumed in all earnest as Pakistan Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Bogra reached Delhi to explore the new approach of “implicitly giving up on the old idea of a plebiscite in Kashmir”. Prime Minister Nehru later revealed that he had offered his Pakistani counterpart a permanent and formal division of the state along the 1949 ceasefire line. 

Commenting on these fresh diplomatic initiatives the New York Times said, “Both Pakistan and India were talking about plans which would be variations of the status quo of a divided state and would not involve a plebiscite in the entire state”.  Bogra suggested that “either a referendum or elections would be as acceptable as a plebiscite to Pakistan in ascertaining the wishes of the people of Kashmir”. But upon his return to Pakistan, facing a blistering attack from media, Bogra was forced to take back his words and was forced to clarify that, “Kashmir has not been withdrawn from the UN”.

Right from the fledgling days of Pakistan’s formation, even if the civilian government was favourably disposed to resolve the smouldering issues, the deep state and its hawkish media extension were reluctant to any common understanding. The book is replete with instances galore spanning every decade, encapsulating the approach of Pakistan towards India.

Though India and Pakistan amicably settled water issue through the Indus Water Treaty, in 1960, Pakistan orchestrated unrest in Kashmir after the mysterious disappearance of the Prophet’s relic from the Hazratbal Shrine and sealed a deal with China by gifting Shaksgam Valley in 1963. But still, India extended an invitation to Pakistan President Ayub Khan as the Chief Guest for the 1965 Republic Day. Busy consolidating power, Ayub Khan ducked the invitation and sent his agriculture minister instead. Soon, he visited China and the Soviet Union to foster alliances in March and April respectively and within days of return testing India’s readiness stirred skirmishes in the Kutch. The issue was settled in June 1965 after the UK stepped in.

But soon drawing inspiration from the tribal invasion of 1947, Ayub Khan launched “Operation Gibraltar” whereby 2000 armed men on August 8, stealthily entered India from Muzaffarabad. This spiralled into a full-blown war. A highly confident Pakistan suffered a shock defeat with India’s strong counteroffensive on Lahore agreed to a ceasefire on September 23. A peek into Pakistan’s history and its present stance towards India provides ample evidence of its perfidy, double speak and subterfuge that has no parallels except for its all-weather friend, China. Post humiliating defeat in the 1971 Bangladesh War, pledging bilateralisation of the Kashmir issue, Z A Bhutto tricked India into peace with the 1972 Shimla Agreement.

India believed that the war would have a cathartic effect on Pakistan. But, on the contrary, Bhutto started talking of waging a 1000-year war against India by 1973. His successor, who snatched power in a military coup, Zia-ul-Haq stitched a military-mullah alliance by 1977 and activated the K2 policy to destabilise India. The trajectory of the India-Pakistan ties has been lined with deception, treachery and backstabbing. The same pattern continued into the 1990s and 2000s as well. Lahore Bus Journey has meted out with a Kargil War. Frustrated by India’s battle superiority, Pakistan then unleashed a series of terror attacks. Having tasted success with the 26/11 and being allowed to get away without paying any price, Pakistan tried to replicate the tried and tested template even under the Modi regime.

But by this time, India’s tolerance for terrorism has dipped, unhesitant to retribution, the anectodal “ghar mein ghus kar marenge” has become India’s latest mantra for Pakistan. With the abrogation of article 370, India has firmed up J&K’s integration and made the touted K issue as its internal matter.

The author Ajay Bisaria, born in Srinagar, and raised in Uttar Pradesh with ancestral links to Pakistan admits that he is disinclined to be known as the last Indian High Commissioner of Pakistan and optimistically bats for a restoration of normal diplomatic ties with Pakistan. The last segment of the book- “History’s Ambiguous Lessons”, sums up the thoughts of the practitioners of diplomacy and a broad message to determine the future course. The author optimistically signs off- “The diplomacy would need to move from anger management to interest management, to bring prosperity to 2 billion inhabitants of a common South Asian homeland”.

A candid presentation of facts makes this book an essential read for strategic analysts and foreign policy enthusiasts to understand the nuances of bilateral engagements and appreciate the art of diplomacy, a war by other means.

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The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World

Knowingly or unknowingly, the secular trope of “all religions are the same” was accepted by Indian society. Perhaps, beleaguered by centuries of invasions and infiltrations by foreigners, beguiling Bharatvarsha, forfeiting hard thinking, unwittingly began validating the sameness of the religion. Fed on the diet of pseudo-secularism to ensure religious harmony, the inherent differences between the Indic religions and Abrahamic religions were consciously overlooked.

The charade of harmony built on the foundation of faux secularism is posing a threat to the civilisational values of the indigenous populace now. The constant clash is becoming more real and apparent. Even years of accommodation by the natives have failed to bring about anticipated communal cohesion. With pluralism, the bedrock of the native civilisation suffering collateral damage, it becomes incumbent on Bharatiyas to understand and internalise the foundational doctrines of the Abrahamic religions.  As opposed to the Indic religions which are experiential, the faith-based, monotheistic religions hold a binary worldview with the instructions flowing down to them from a book.

Bharat has recently witnessed a massive civilisation reclamation. The consecration of Ayodhya Ram Mandir is a testimony to the tumultuous civilisational struggle of five centuries. This marked the onset of a civilisational resurrection that instilled a new awakening to protect our dharma from lurking dangers. As a first step in this direction, Bharatiyas must shed the wilful blindness and nonsensical validation of the sameness of religions. To comprehend the modus operandi of the monolatrous religions, one can turn to the classical example of the devastating fall of the Roman Empire with the emphatic rise of Christianity.

Catherine Nixey in her book “The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World” unabashedly brings to the fore the fanatical zealotry that has obliterated a pagan civilisation that marked an end to a specific thought process that was effectively inclusive.

Laid out in sixteen crisp chapters with an apt quote summarising the central theme, each chapter explores various facets of Christianity. The book begins with a melancholy and the trail of the destruction left behind by a “marauding band of bearded, black-robed zealots” who reduced the centuries-old Palmyra’s temple of Athena into a pile of rubble in AD 329. The swarms of thuggish men defaced tombs, pulled down the roofs, tore down the temple, and mutilated statues that stood haughtily echoing the artistic workmanship of the Graeco-Roman culture.

The imperial infrastructures which evoked admiration and amazement for the sophistry of turning hard marble into a tender human frame failed to deter the zealots from wielding a weapon to capitate them in a single stroke. In fact, not satisfied with decapitation, the attackers, smashed the statues into pieces, sliced them off arms and shoulders, fell them off from the pedestal, melted them and jeered at the non-believers. The wanton destruction of idols, temples, and statues signalled the triumph of a new religion, Christianity.

Before the advent of Christianity, the broad spectrum of cults who inhabited the planet were animists and believed in spirits and worshipped nature. They were never referred to by a specific name. With the ascendency of Christians, the idol worshippers were called Pagans and since then the slur of Paganism stuck with them.

In sermons, Christian preachers used to remind that the Pagan religion was demonically inspired. Augustine roared, “All pagans were under the power of demons. Temples were built to demons, altars were set up to demons, priests ordained for the service of demons…” Romans whom the Christians derisively deemed as pagans were religious but they weren’t dogmatic and unbending. Their Pantheon expanded to include foreign gods. Diverse worship existed together. Egyptians worshipped Zeus and Dionysus, in Arabia Ourania and Dionysus were worshipped. Other important gods in Egypt were Osiris and Isis. Pagans revelled in plurality and multiple gods existed together without discord. On the other hand, Christians worshipped just one god but splintered into countless warring factions.

Describing the destruction of the temple of Serapis in Alexandria in great detail, the author notes that one of the witnesses, Greek writer Eunapis recorded that the only ancient treasure that was left unlooted from the temple was the floor. Christians would even enter common baths, community areas and sometimes private houses to loot anything and everything related to pagan worship. They would then break the statues, mutilate them and burn them in jubilation. They believed that statues were seats of demons and hence were subjected to attacks.

Indeed, a Jewish treatise Avod Zarah even provided detailed instructions on how to mistreat a statue. Indeed, after completely destroying the temple of Artemis and temple of Apollo, Theophilus built a Church housing the relics of St. John Baptist to insult pagan gods and their architecture.

Guided by tenets that exhorted, “good Christians had a duty to vandalise false gods”, East Pediment, the temple of Zeus at Apamea and the Dendera Temple complex at the Nile were destroyed. Theodosius in 391 AD passed laws preventing the worship of ‘(false) gods and Christian treatises like Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Old Testament, stated that ‘person indulging in idolatry to be stoned to death’. Musical instruments were smashed and the famous theatres of the Romans were banned and ordered to close down. They considered music perilous saying it “might take away men’s senses and mesmerise them by whipping them into frenzy of lust and ungodliness”.

 Even the literary works weren’t spared. Alexandria known for a staggering collection of books running into thousands of volumes sheltering unique treatises from across the world on various subjects was completely lost.  Believed to be burnt, never to reappear, a scholar Luciano Canfora observed, “the burning of books was part of the advent of imposition of Christianity”.

Christians attacked temples and libraries to obliterate all traces of Paganism. An attack against a temple was an attack on the library as books were often stored in the temple for safekeeping. What ensued was near total destruction of the classical literature and scholarly works.  In Alexandria, Antioch and Rome bonfires of books were set ablaze as they considered intellectuals heretical. They defended the acts saying books that oppose Christian doctrine have no place in Christian society.

Debate, discussion, and argumentation were anathema to the Christians who believed in the canons of the god. They censored the Epicurean philosophy that countered the Christian version of creation happened on October 23^rd,4004 BC. The works that dismissed the divine power were destroyed. The lone survivor, Democritus's atomist theory, which was contained in Lucretius's great poem in a single volume held in a German library. This work on the creation sparked great interest and influenced Newton, Galileo and Einstein.

Christianity simply lacked intellectual rigour. As Celsus notes early Christians celebrated their ignorance. He states, “Christians were able to convince only the foolish, dishonourable and stupid and only slaves, women and little children”.  The works of Arius, Porphyry, Galen, who accused Christianity of unreasonable faith were destroyed. Hypatia the gifted mathematician and philosopher was brutally lynched and killed.

The exclusivity, bigotry and intransigent nature of Christianity, striking disparate from the argumentative, observational and democratic Roman Civilisation initially caused a dissonance.  Indeed, the first encounter between the Romans and Christians was not a clash of religion but it was about a law and order situation. The Romans reluctant to inflict any punishment on Christians for disobedience and causing disorder would proffer financial incentives and persuade the Christians to sacrifice to the gods which is agreeable to them. But the defiant Christians in their lunacy for martyrdom which was meted with the greatest honour and respect would spit in the face of the Romans to covet torturous punishments. In one such instance, when a Roman officer threatened “If you do not respect the imperial decrees and offer sacrifice, I am going to cut your head off”. Julius, a Christian who was tried rather ungraciously replies that “to live with you would be death for me”. Driven by lunacy for martyrdom, Christians insolently provoked the authorities to announce harsh sentences.

Nero was the first king who persecuted Christians. A novel on the story of Christian martyrs put to death by Nero written by Henryk Sienkiewicz was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. But contrary to the popular discourse of thousands of Christians being hunted and hounded, a Christian author Origen admitted, “the number of martyrs was few enough to be easily countable and Christians had died for their faith only ‘Occasionally’”. The so called “satanically inspired emperors panting for blood of faith is Christian myth”.

Christian histories are replete with martyrdom literature  used conveniently to perpetrate a victimhood narrative. The Romans were invariably portrayed by the Christians as the oppressors with them being at the receiving end even as the imperial policy of Romans was to ignore them and that they must not be hounded. Undoubtedly, in the first few centuries of the emergence of Christian religion, religious persecutions have occurred to allow the narrative to dominate is a “gross misinterpretation” says the author.

Ironically, the so called religion of love adopted a moralising tone and hectored non-Christians to embrace their faith. This rigorously researched academic work challenges the chronicles of history written by winners. The gripping and heart-wrenching details of the book are no different from the countless tales of sufferings inflicted by the Goan Inquisition back home. The rise of a faith-based monotheistic religion in Western Asia caused the obliteration of centuries-old civilisation in the region. Centuries later, the emergence of another Abrahamic religion has emasculated even the traces of thriving Pagan culture in patches across the world.

Bharat has endured episodes of zealotry and religious fanaticism of not one but two Abrahamic religions. But unfortunately, the left Commentariat continues to portray the indigenous civilisation of Bharat as the Oppressor. With Bharatiyas making a hard push to reclaim their civilisation they must banish muddled mindset and cultivate intellectual awareness, towards the foundational concepts and end goals of monotheistic religions.

Catherine Nixey daughter of an ex-nun and an ex-monk and brought up as a Catholic for her fond respect towards pagan culture brings out this polemic which exposes the militant nature of early Christianity. This searingly passionate book written unorthodoxly and backed by rigorous research should be a must-read by every duty-bound dharmic individual. This deeply engaging and erudite book can be the best antidote for minds clogged by decadent, “sarva dharma samabhava”.

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The Hindus of Hindustan: A Civilisational Journey

Brewing rivalries, conflicts, and more significantly the recent terror attacks have brought with world to a bind. Samuel Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilisations”, is no longer an event of a distant past. It is happening now and the threat is imminent. People, especially, Indians who are lulled into complacency are suddenly jolted. This new reality has further stoked the latent surge of a Hindu awakening. Battling to fight the war of narratives that continue to undermine the antiquity and most importantly the continuity of Bharatiya civilization, a conscionable attempt to decolonise the discourse has picked up pace.

More than ever, there has been a new interest in getting connected to the roots and deciphering the antiquities of the civilisational values that they hold dear. Catering to the dharmic quest for unvarnished facts Padma Shri Meenakshi Jain through her prominent scholarly works- Rama and Ayodhya, The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya, Sati: Evangelists, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse, Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples: Episodes from History; Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura have broken the stranglehold of partisan historiographies which not only dominated the academics but the discourse. Through her latest book- “The Hindus of Hindustan: A Civilizational Journey”, Dr. Jain did a splendid job of providing clarity to the much-debated concept of national unity.

Setting the context, The Preface of the book starts off by saying- “During British rule, Colonial administrator/ scholars, confronted with the vastness and diversity of the country, declared “there is not, and never was an India or even any country of India possessing, according to European ideas, any sort of unity, physical, political, social, or religious; no Indian nation, no ‘people of India,’ of which we hear so much”” (Strachey, 1911;5).

Ironically for eons though Indians continued to pay an ode to the antiquity and geography of Bharat through the customary chanting of the Sankalpa and the purification mantra- “Gange cha Yamunechaiva Godavari Saraswati Naramade Sindhu Kaveri jalesmin sannidhin kuru” every day, the trusted Indian cultural sepoys of the colonial masters who were driven out close to eight decades ago prattle the whimsical Winston Churchill’s remarks of “India is merely a geographical expression”.

 As has been her wont, Dr. Jain who has clinically dismantled the concocted myth of Rama Janmabhoomi in her current work, shreds the deliberate propaganda of “India is a geographical construct” with undisputable facts. Tracing the references to India, Dr. Jain cites the 63 verses of Prithvi Sukta, the first national song of veneration in Atharva Veda, Panini, Katyayan, Patanjali, the Mahagovinda suttanta, the oldest section of Tripitikas where Bharat was described as Maha Prithvi. The shape of Bharat was likened to a bullock cart- rectangular in the north and conical in the south.

The Indian epics-Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas have an immense wealth of information about the geography of the country like rivers, mountains, forests deserts, etc. The Puranas also talk about the division of India into nine portions (Nava Khanda), an idea that was adopted by ancient astronomer Parasara. Varahamihira’s Brihat Samhita actually provides topographical details of these divisions. The 10th-century work, Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara divides India into five divisions- Madhyadesa, Udicya, Pracya, Dakhsinapatha, and Aparanta these are identical to the Bhuvanakosa chapters of some Puranas. In fact, the “Five Indies” concept of Chinese can be traced to this division of India. Even Kalidasa’s Kumarsambhavam and Meghaduta are replete with geographical descriptions of India.

A common comprehensive term of ‘Jambudvipa’ is found across all these venerated sources-used for the territory extending from the Himalayas in the north to the sea in the south. Alexander’s historians who chronicled his confrontation with King Porus note that ancient Indians had precise information about the size and shape of their land. These observations are preserved in the writings of Eratosthenes (276 BCE-194 BCE), Strabo (64 BCE- 21 BCE) and Arrian (86 BCE-160CE). Two thousand years later, Alexander Cunningham concurring with Greek historians wrote, “they (ancient Indians) had a very accurate knowledge of the form and extent of their native land”.

The timeless Bharat civilisation has been extensively referred to in Vayu Purana, Markandeya Purana, Vishnu Purana, and Matysa Purana and the first inscription with the word Bharadhvarsha was traced to the 2^nd century BCE in Hathigumpha.  Hence, the mischievous and ill-conceived propaganda of Bharatvarsha being a ‘physical reference’ is totally misplaced and holds no ground.

The book also excellently encapsulates another astounding feature of Indian civilisation which is the continuity of cultural practices- worship of Shiva, mother goddess, trees, fire altars, the use of earthen ladles for yagnas, construction of ritual tanks adjacent to Hindu temples, worship of pillar or Skambha and certain yogic postures. This Vedic Skambha which is the cosmic pillar and Yupa or sacrificial place has extended to become Chakra Stamba, Garudu Stamba, and later into venerated Stupas of Buddhism and Jainism as well. Gradually the co-existence of different faiths became the defining feature of Indian civilisation.

This continuity is more pronounced in agricultural practices like the plantation of mustard in the North-South direction alongside horse gram in the East-West direction, the method of pounding grain, household chores, the use of carts and the curved beam of plough share, an iconic feature of Harappan times. 

With kings extending benefactions to all faiths, the sacred structures of various faiths existed and blossomed across the vast expanse of the country. Udayagiri, Deogarh, Badami Caves, Ellora Caves, Khajuraho etc. stand as a testament to peerless syncretism. There was no trace of any imposition of foreign faith on the indigenous populace. The foreign rulers embraced the native faiths and became an integral part of Indian society. 

The Ancient Indian lawgivers have facilitated the Indianization of immigrants. The admittance of immigrants and their communities into Indian society was illustrated in Nyaya Sutras of Gotama Aksapada (dated between 6^th BCE and 2CE), Vatsyayana’s Nyaya Darsana and Gargi Samhita. Interestingly, the assimilation is subject to “the acknowledgment of the accomplishments of foreign groups in various branches of science”.

Bharat is traditionally known to be a land where people have been connoisseurs of knowledge. Instructively, expertise in specific fields of knowledge or science becoming the basis for admittance of foreign rulers speaks volumes of the progressive outlook of ancient Indian society, its rare scientific temper that bestowed the highest emphasis on knowledge acquisition. This singularly destroys the warped Nehru-Marxist narrative of Indian society being orthodox, inflexible and xenophobic.

The foreigners which included Greeks (Yavanas), ancient Iranians, Kushans, Sakas (Scythians and Parthians), and the Huns embraced Indian faiths and their cultural and spiritual practices completely. But things changed dramatically with Islamic invasions in the 8^th century. Repugnance towards foreigners increased with the desecration of temples, forced imposition of alien faith, killing of priests, and breaking of idols. The Arab and Turkish invasions ruined the prosperity and people were forced to flee to safer regions.  

The book laid out in 19 chapters has two major sections titled – The Making of Early India and The Advent of Islam. Each of the chapters is standalone making the book an easy read. What certainly stands out are chapters 18 and 19 which shed light on why early foreigners became part of Indian society and not the later ones. These break into smithereens the carefully constructed discourse of extolling the Muslim invaders and the ignominious depiction of India as an uncultured society.

Replete with generous doses of primary and secondary sources of authentic references, the book can be an important starter for any enthusiastic dharmic reader genuinely interested in the time travel of Indian Civilisation. What sets the book apart is the continuity and connection between the Harappan and Vedic civilisations which it brings to the fore. Packing together several important milestones, etched with stories of Hindu resistance and the valiant efforts of the Hindu confederacy to repel the marauding Muslim invaders to the heavy influence of dharma sastras on Kurral, the book is a treat for history buffs.

This scholarly treatise expertly rebuts the jaundiced narratives and coloured perspectives that systematically denied the ancient Hindu civilization its due place.

 

Published by: Aryan Books International, 2023

Pages: 318, Price: Rs 995

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Sivasya Kulam: Decoding Caste, Untouchability & The White Man's Burden

Caste has been the most misunderstood word. The inconsistencies surrounding it are slowly becoming global. On May 23, 2023, California State Senate voted in favour of a bill, SB 403, 34-1 to make Caste a protected category in the state’s anti-discriminatory laws. The connotation of caste with discrimination and coming in the back of the lawsuit against Cisco System employer for allegedly blocking the career prospects of ‘low caste’ employees have brought to the fore the urgent need for deciphering the existing Caste System in India and its origins. Caste in the real world has become an enigma of sorts.

Caste has become an institutionalized system in India with a mandatory disclosure column in all almost government filings for jobs, college and school admissions, and entrance examinations. The reservation system and the allied legislations like the SC/ST atrocities act etc have only bolstered this kind of caste-specific identity in Indian society. The weaponisation of caste for electoral appeasement has become a deeply entrenched malaise in democratic India. Indeed, taking it to the next level, the Bihar government launched its Rs 500 crore pet project of the caste-based survey in the state in January. But Patna High Court threw a spanner in the works and temporarily halted this survey. This kind of emphasis lent to the Caste as an identity necessarily needs a better understanding given the European origins of the word.

Centuries of invasion, conquests and colonization inflicted a death blow to the socio, economic and religious fabric of India. Caste in its current form, as it exists, has pushed to antiquity the terms like varna, jati and kulam that were integral to Hindu society. Redefined, morphed and sometimes mischievously interpreted, the European word Caste has attempted to subsume all the existing terms of the Hindu society and bestowed them with a hierarchical system akin to pre-French revolutionary European society notwithstanding the incongruities. Given the mounting disingenuous and malicious interpretations of the Indian Caste System by vested interests, it is incumbent on the Hindus to dig for unvarnished facts in the scriptures to annihilate the warped discourse.

To put things in perspective, MVNL Sudha Mohan an Aero Engineer by profession after four years of painstaking research authored a meticulously researched book titled- “Sivasya Kulam: Decoding Caste, Untouchability & The White Man Burden”. Piecing information from various sources including primary data, various scriptures, local sources, the author has presented the various facets of the Hindu society. Caste which has roots to the Portuguese word Casta is about classes and lineage based on blood purity. This blood purity is alien to Hindus and the basis for Hindu castes has been religious sauca or practices.

 Martin Farek clearly states that the blood purity concept is European hinged on the struggle for identity basically among the Old Christians and the new converts from Islam and Judaism since converts were considered outcasts, economically expendable and socially untouchable. The European caste system was civil in nature and hierarchical with no mobility and replete with servitude. Racial purity was the cornerstone of the European system. Whereas the Kula is a group of people irrespective of race having the same spiritual pursuits.

It is imminent at this juncture to know that Hindu society has two broader divisions- Vaidikam (Vedic) and Tantrikam (Tantric). Sanskrit Nighantu describes Veda as Nigama and Tantra as Agama. Those following the Vedic standards of sauca is Sauchachara or Sadachara or Sistachara and those adhering to Tantric standard is Vamachara or Kaulachara.

These two had different perspectives and different paths to tread to attain the ultimate spiritual end goals of life. At different points in time, different groups were held in reverence when Tantrism peaked, Brahmins were looked down and vice-versa. Hindu society never had a graded hierarchy.  But every kula had its own set of code of conduct or inviolable rules. Anyone who breached the rules or brought disrepute to the group was expelled or excommunicated. This was the common punishment. Indeed, the fear of ex-communication forced people to strictly follow the rules of the kula.

It is through a change of Achara, kula moved up or down. Moving close to Vaidikam is accompanied by a gain of respect while it is the opposite if they move to Tantrikam. Kings had the power to raise or lower the ranks of the Kula after consulting a council comprising Brahmins and non-Brahmins. After colonization, the Britishers and the Missionary cabal donned this role.

Hence, Kula in short is not only about the type of Achara, the decision of the king, public opinion, and political power played a key role in deciding a kula. Elaborating on this facet, the author states that Saraswat Brahmins couldn’t successfully prove their claims of Brahmanship in Peshwa court as public opinion was against them. The majority of the Brahmins subscribed to Vaidikam and followed the standards of keeping the blood or race clean as they believed that an inner and outer purity i.e., bahya and abhyantara sauca would augur well for performing yoga and meditation stably.

Another notable aspect of Hindu society was the absence of universal reference for measuring social respect as every region had different types of Acharas. Surmising Brahminical services as the Universal reference to measure the Hindu society, the British tampered with the social system of Hindus and institutionalised the same by unveiling the Indian British Caste System in 1901. By setting Brahminical standards, the Missionary and Colonial intellectuals presented a unidimensional perspective of the society and consciously omitted and attached a kind of stigma to the Tantric aspects.

Colonial intellectuals and the missionary cabal together erased all attributes of the Vamachara deliberately. They have portrayed everything in binaries Vedic, Agamic (Tantric) as Clean and Unclean undermining the fluidity of the system. From this stemmed the narrative of projecting the Brahmins (Dvijas) as Aryans and the rest of the castes as Dravidians. This is in sharp contrast to the basic doctrines of the Tantric group which doesn’t differentiate between sauca and asauca (pure and impure) and they considered everything pure except agnana (ignorance).

The British Indian Caste System stalled the mobility of groups from one kula to another and also destroyed the inherent checks and balances in the system that ensured that people strictly comply certain rules and regulations. This has permanently stratified the society which inadvertently propped up the idea of belonging to one caste by birth that even eventually made intermarrying between different groups difficult. This is contradictory to the Anuloma and Pratiloma relations that existed in Hindu society.

Anuloma where men of high yogic order married Hindu women of less yogic order and Pratiloma is a converse of it where men of bhoga marga married females of yoga marga. By posting Brahmins as the first name in the Varna scale, Britishers have successfully created a permanent inferiority complex among the Sudras. With this, the seamless interdependence of varnas suffered, creating fissures. Deeming the Dvijas as the higher castes, besides creating hatred the British planted the idea of the “oppressor” and the “oppressed”.

Decoding the Hindu society and presenting various layers of outstanding Hindu civilization, the author meticulously laid out the book into two parts- Part A on Kula or Kulam and Part B dedicated to The Saga of Dravidianism. The Caste System given to India by the British was essentially an attempt to fit the Hindu society which is far more vibrant and diverse into the narrow precincts of the European society encumbered by racial hierarchy where clergy was the top tier and the lowermost tier comprised the gypsies. It is grossly influenced by the Christian ideology of the whole world should follow one path. Hinduism doesn’t subscribe to “one size fits all”.

On the contrary, the divisions in kula could be based on the different forms of goddesses or different Agamas or Tantra. In other words, the castes in Hindu society are mere spiritual divisions and logically “Christianity and Islam are to be considered as castes too” says the author. During the time of the British regime, Shakti worship was very common and the so-called ‘lower castes’ used to worship them based on Tantra Achara.

The British were particularly intolerant towards these rituals and practices of the Grama Devatas. Out of this disdain, Britishers intentionally denied Tantrism in South India which is considered by some as the fifth Veda and an integral part of Hinduism.  In their abomination for the members who followed Tantric practices, the British categorized them as criminals by birth with the 1871 British Criminal Tribes Act. Subsequently, the British started equating Tantrism to Dravidianism. Bishop Robert Caldwell laid the foundation for Dravidianism and linked it with the language-based-race theory. Accordingly, anything Sanskrit in Aryan and anything Tamil is Dravidianism.

By equating Tantrism to Dravidianism, Britishers have been brutally dishonest, since such practices weren’t confined to the Shanar community of Tirunelveli region of Tamilnadu. Similar practices were observed by people in Andhra Pradesh, the West Coast, the Himalayan region, Ceylon and Burma. So, how is it possible that people speaking different languages spread out in different places had similar rituals? The British Dravidianism fails on many counts. Hindu society has been extremely fluid, never stratified, diverse, and allowed people to pursue Acharas that best suited their intellectual faculties. They were free to choose the yoga marga or the bhoga marga for their sadhana.

Some of the Vamachara practices include deification of the dead, bhuta worship, and demonalatory which are interconnected with the grama devata worship. These grama devatas were mostly Sakti or mother goddesses and Bhairava puja. These Bhairava worshippers, mostly Siddhas have traditionally been keepers of Siddha Vaidyam which includes Mantra Vidya and Bhuta Vidya. Bhuta Vidya which especially deals with mental health is one of the important aspects of Ayurveda.

Through constant vilification of such practices, the Britishers have effectively alienated the so-called lower castes from these rituals and these people subsequently became more amenable to conversion. Steady propaganda led the people to slowly disown and give up the grama devata worship. With the destruction of the grama devata worship the spiritual, cultural and medicinal importance was also lost.

Similarly, the mutual untouchability which has been an offshoot of Adhikara Bheda between Dakshinachara and Vamachara was conveniently misinterpreted alleging the mutual untouchability followed by Brahmins alone as discrimination. This meta-narrative effectively strengthened the already existing “oppressor” epithet bestowed on Brahmins. Indeed, while Brahmins or the Vedic ideology disapproved of the Tantric practices, they never destroyed them, unlike the British. By building on these fabricated discrimination and oppression narratives, the British fostered the Temple entry movements that undermined the underlying native convictions, beliefs and ideological meanings.

By villainizing the Vedic system, the British created a permanent rift between the two acharas. Tantrics started Brahmins as ‘enemies’, this created permanent schisms in Hindu society, spawned permanent insecurity and destroyed their self-respect.  By distorting and twisting the basic doctrines and the prevailing practices, the British gave birth to neo-Hinduism, comprising only select aspects. Interestingly, Hinduism in its current form is essentially left with aspects that can be easily appropriated or colonised. The author rightly says, that this part was declared as “scientific” whereas the rest are “condemned as superstitions”.

Disclaiming their intention of wishing to interfere with the religious rites and ceremonies of Hindus, the colonial authority, missionaries with the express consent and approval of the British Monarchy have distorted Hinduism. Though the British discontinued tabulation of the Caste data in 1941, the secular keepers and the Brown sepoys continued to hang on to the colonial interpretations and widened the existing dissensions the colonials wilfully perpetrated.

In the concluding chapters, the author suggests a way forward and the need to reclaim, decode and encourage scholarship in comprehending the Siva and Sakti sampradaya which are facing oblivion. The book has been a real eye-opener for me and should be a compulsory read for anyone who wants to develop an indigenous understanding of Sanatana Dharma. The new crop of Indic intellectual warriors in their individual capacities is making every effort to resurrect the knowledge system of Sanatana Dharma which is in tatters. By exposing the intellectual fraud of the colonial intellectuals, the author has indirectly alerted the Sanatanis of this perpetual bigotry and motivated attacks that continue to humiliate the Hindus.

Finally, the book will serve as a clarion call to Hindus to come out of the bubble of ignorance and cultivate a holistic perspective towards the dharma of the land and its civilisational values.

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Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India won its Freedom

The saga of India’s quest for independence and freedom from centuries of foreign rule has many heroes. Each of them had a different approach and religiously adhered to a certain frame of thought to work towards this pursuit of freedom from colonial powers. So, the freedom struggle was never a straight-jacketed approach nor did a specific ideology or a value system had made this dream of being independent a reality. The freedom struggle was replete with the selfless sacrifices of numerous leaders and visionaries from every nook and corner of the land.

Ideally, India’s contemporary history should have been etched with the extraordinary feats of the ordinary heroes who made the freedom struggle a mass movement. Instead, slyly scrubbed off the legendary acts of several unsung heroes a dominant monochromatic view of the independence movement has become the most coveted narration even after over seven decades of becoming a free nation. The heroes of the freedom struggle never received their due. They were never credited for their sacrifices and courage.

Of late, to counter this chicanery and abject whitewashing of the different strands of thought, historians, and intellectuals are steadily bringing out to the fore the legendary acts of several lesser-known freedom fighters. The contributions of these legends have generated new interest and set a platform to explore a hidden side of the freedom struggle that was deliberately side-lined.

Several strands of thoughts were brought to light by these works.  But it needed master craftsmen to join these links or join the dots to effectively discern a spectrum of thought that relentlessly strove and worked for the liberation of the motherland from the foreign shackles. Piecing together these disparate strands is Sanjeev Sanyal’s book “Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Independence”. Know for his immaculate style of writing, Sanyal who is hugely popular for his books on history that sparked new interest among gen-X, in his present work has put things in perspective and shaped a narrative.

Indian freedom struggle is invariably identified with the non-violent doctrine of M. K. Gandhi. While the lesser-known deterrent and the real force majeure that advanced the exit of the colonial masters have been the armed resistance and peerless acts of courage and dare. Often dubbed as random events, these fierce acts of patriotic fervour had a story to them which were unrecognised and underappreciated. Sanyal’s new book fills the gap in the general understanding of people about the role of armed resistance in India’s independence.

Indeed, the impact of armed resistance on the independent struggle remained understated with bits and parts of the heroic acts often appropriated to certain ideologies. Giving a perspective to this disjointed understanding, Sanyal has done a brilliant job of connecting these dots and lending credence to the revolutionary network that wasn’t just confined to different parts of the country but had established nodes in far-off lands like the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Russia and Ireland.

Other than the 1857 revolution or the first war of Indian independence that has been the dominant influence, Irish nationalism, Hindu revivalist leaders like Swami Vivekananda, and Japanese pan-Asianism were among the major intellectual influences of the revolutionaries. Ironically, the book also shreds the prevalent dogmatic view about revolutionaries. The majority of the revolutionaries in the early 19^th century were unapologetic Hindus and followers of Shakta tradition who took a solemn oath on Bhagavad Gita to dedicate their entire lives to the cause of independence. They were deeply religious and the personification of India as Bharat Mata is an extension of this view. But they weren’t bigoted and worked with varied groups of people including pan-Islamists, Japanese imperialists and communist-leaning cadres. They were pragmatists, open to new approaches, soaked in ideas from similar fights against oppression and actively collaborated with like-minded people to liberate India.

Indeed, the broad group of revolutionaries by the 1940s comprised Anushilan Marxists, Royists (followers of MN Roy founder of CPI), and the Congress Socialist Party led by Jaya Prakash Narayan. Despite the ideological differences, they worked together as a group towards the mission of ending foreign rule. On the contrary, issuing a press statement Jawaharlal Nehru said, “I do believe that the choice before the world today is one between some form of Communism and some form of Fascism, and I am all for the former, that is Communism”. Instead of taking sides, Subhash Chandra Bose opinioned, “unless we are at the end of the process of evolution or unless we deny evolution altogether, there is no reason to hold that our choice is restricted to two alternatives”. (p-224)

The book also exposes the double-speak and fawning hypocrisy of the mainstream narrative and its approval of the ‘alliance of convenience’ of President Roosevelt being colonial sympathiser siding with imperialist Churchill and despot Stalin but demonised Subhash Chandra Bose for allying with Axis powers. This is the narrative that relentlessly derided the installation of the Netaji’s statue at the Kartavya Marg by PM Modi.

Sadly, even now the luminaries who ignited and sustained the spark of devotion towards the nation among successive generations of revolutionaries have failed to get their due. They are unfortunately relegated to the footnotes of history.

A continuum of thought spans the entire expanse of the book laid out in eight chapters. Chronologically, the book starts off with the leading lights of this armed resistance in India- Aurobindo Ghosh, Veer Savarkar, Sachindranath Sanyal and characteristically ends with the declaration of India’s freedom. But the thread extends into the epilogue that talks about -some of the revolutionaries in the post-Independence era, the rise and accommodation of the ‘collaborator class’ in the political spectrum, the punitive downplaying of the armed resistance in freedom movement and the emergence of RSS as an influential religio-cultural organisation.

Suffused with acts of defiance against the colonial rule carried out by young, patriotic revolutionaries a sense of awe certainly overwhelms the readers. With an ambitious task of presenting the resistance saga of revolutionaries spanning over five decades, Sanyal expertly packs and duly hails the bold acts of revolutionaries like Chapekar brothers, Prafulla Chaki, Khudiram Bose, Madanlal Dhingra, Udham Singh, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, Bina Das, Surya Sen, Rashbehari Bose, Ghadarites, Padurang Sadashiv Khankoje and several others.

Resisting the temptation of cramming more information, Sanyal limits the introductions of revolutionaries to cursory details and constructs the narrative by highlighting pathbreaking events and people associated with them. Peppered with numerous anecdotes and the personal tragedies, the book feels like a roller coaster ride with few hits and several misses with men of undaunting courage unshaken by the vagaries of life and degeneration of the movement, making every attempt to resurrect it.

Sanyal underscores the seminal efforts of Sachindranath Sanyal, his great grand uncle who was the only person sent to Cellular Jail in reviving and reaching out to the people all over again just an hour after his release. The violent acts of revolutionaries are not just isolated acts or sporadic heroism but they were part of an organised network with a defined objective and mission. Instrumental in installation of the Provisional Government of Free India, the revolutionaries have partly succeeded in accomplishing their mission.

Neatly packing a wealth of information that was systematically erased from public memory and the invaluable gist of the armed resistance in 352 pages, Sanyal has done a brilliant job of providing a perfect overview of the revolutionary movement, the backbone of India’s resistance.

The book also highlights the British tactics of frustrating the revolutionary heists at regular intervals, infiltrating Gurudwaras and excoriating Sikhs of Hindu identity, deliberately introducing and encouraging the political prisoners to the Marxist ideology and even hand-holding them into starting indoctrinating centres in India to create rift. Wielding the Divine and Rule Policy, the British ruled by pitting Indians against each other.

The meat of the book is clearly the epilogue that fleetingly rushes through post-independence era bundling together the partition woes including death, rape, betrayal and neglect endured by revolutionaries, minority appeasement, opportunistic politicking, Brahmin pogram etc. Without getting into details, this chapter enlists the British legacy interventions which has turned into perennial problems -Khalistani separatist movement, the Rohingya conflict a consequence of arming the local Muslim-Buddhist rivalry, official patronisation of loyalists or the ‘collaborator class’ which orchestrates and sets the discourse, emergence of a cult of westernised ‘brown sahibs’, secularisation of akhadas, proliferation of communist ideology, etc.

Drifting through various aspects that continue to afflict the independent India, Sanyal recounting the real inheritor of the Indian revolutionary movement, points to RSS that has grown by leaps and bounds with Sakhas or the youth clubs even in foreign countries. The apolitical Sakhas, akin to social network of akhadas of ancient India, where youth practice physical skills managed by pracharaks (usually bachelors) have uncanny similarities to the Bhawani Mandir concept envisioned by Aurobindo Gosh. The effort to draw parallels is certainly not lost on the readers.

Given his own family connect with the revolutionary movement, Sanyal even takes us along to the places of consequences by narrating its importance and its present condition as well. This nuanced narrative building of Sanyal really sets this book apart and makes it an essential read for everyone who wishes to discern the Indian resistance to foreign domination.

Pages: 352

Publisher: Harper Collins

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Bharat: India 2.0

A good book should plant a new idea, and propose a new theory that can make a reader think. Precisely, this is what the book, “Bharat: India 2.0” authored by Prof Gautam Desiraju has successfully accomplished. Prof Desiraju, a world leader in crystallography with several scientific contributions to his name has always advocated for Indianness. While it would be rather unconventional to begin the review of the book based on the professional training of the author. The copious amounts of footprints, replete with scientific terminology and atypical definitions of terms like nation-state and civilisation state in a refreshingly new perspective assert the same.

As a concerned citizen, marshaling his attributes as a researcher, the author embarks on a quest to identify the incongruities, fractures and divides in the body politic of the nation and gets convinced of the root cause of these maladies to the Constitution. Indeed, over 105 amendments to the constitution over seven decades of independence have further strengthened this conviction. Meticulously delving into the antecedents of the Constitution, the author rightly identifies the ominous shadow of the partition on its promulgation. In this book, Prof Desiraju lists out seven major concerns and notably, he raises a flag over – “the fact that our 5000-year civilisation and more pointedly Sanatana Dharma is not within the warp and woof of the document with only fleeting, even token, acknowledgments, say through the well-known illustrations by Nandalal Bose for the page borders” (p-101).

Sanatana Dharma is the defining feature of India and is built on the foundation of Dharma. Dharma coded in the shastras is the Sanatana Dharma which Westerners call Hinduism. Deploying his domain expertise says, “Dharma is fundamental to our existence as is its converse in the physical world, the second law of thermodynamics which governs the progression of things from order to randomness. Like the second law, there will be many definitions of dharma”. (p-98)

Spanning over 340 pages, the book is divided into five chapters. Aflush with logical thinking, the free-wheeling discussion style of writing, generously peppered with major European historical events and with appropriate references from Upanishadic excerpts -Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Shukraneeti, Lalithasahasranamam (dharmadhara-dhandkyaksha-dhanadhanavivardhini) the book makes for a delightful read.

Among the inherent flaws, Prof Desiraju rues framers’ overarching importance to the constitution than the future of the country and the absence of any vision. Unfortunately, the Constitution, which should be a document reflecting the aspirations, anxieties and offering governing solutions in the Indian way, has been a “patchwork quilt” of Western frameworks.

Among the many inherent maladies of the constitution, the book makes an interesting mention of Nehru’s reply to JB Kriplani who chides the former for his strident attack on Hindu communalism and soft-peddling of Muslim communalism.

During the passage of the Hindu Code Bill (1955), Nehru defends his stance terming, “because majority communalism is far more dangerous since it could easily pass off as Indian nationalism”. This political preference dominated and continues to dominate the Indian political landscape fervidly buttressed under the façade of secularism even now. This penchant eventually paved way for the sly insertion of secularism in the preamble two decades later by his daughter.

Distilling the Constitution into an easily understandable format, devoid of critical legal jargon, Prof Desiraju has succinctly brought to the fore various flaws that are to be remedied. In chapter 4, he describes the causes of illness that afflicted the body politic of India, the symptoms and nature of the disease, offers a medication and suggests a cure, instinctive of a seasoned researcher.

Expounding “our civilization is a powerful glue”, Prof Desiraju proposes that attempt must be made to “link civilization with the overwhelmingly rich diversity”. To reinforce how critically diversity can be captured to foster the feeling of one whole, he broaches about revolutionary painting technique Pointillism or impressionism pioneered by Georges Seurat. Also called Divisionism, this modern art form involves the use of small and sharper dots to create aesthetic paintings.

India can adopt the Pointillist approach of creating 75 small states based on a common ethnicity, language, and culture that enhances self-worth, linguistic pride and self-development. Redrawing of the states should be carried out in a way to prevent the political control from falling into the hands of regional satraps, facilitate easy administration and also pave way for healthy interaction with the Centre. Centre-state at loggerheads and states arm-twisting the centre marauded the federal nature of the constitution. Hence small states with optimal population size and diversity besides augmenting the country’s potential can promote true federalism.

Practically giving shape to his idea, the book puts forth a map containing states with names mentioned in the Mahabharata- Hastinapur, Braj, Panchal, Awadh, Kasi, Magadh, Avanti, Vidharba. This attempt to connect the ancient with the modern is the true essence of Santana Dharma, which is timeless, ancient and eternal.

Prof Desiraju says “civilisation is hard power” and for India to evolve as a major power, the country must consciously make an attempt to decolonise and positively affirm our civilisational identity. At 75, India is on a cusp of a new change. Notwithstanding the fractures and fissures within, aspirational India is pregnant with a new hope. It is heartening that his new change is kindled by a body of scholarly works authored by a tribe of passionate thinkers, scholars, change-makers and intellectuals from various walks of life. This book is a wonderful addition to this existing body of new genres of scholarship that is unequivocally catalysing a new churn and a latent renaissance to reassert our identity and civilisational values.

Postulating a need for coherence and cohesion through a hybrid of Bharatiya and Anglosphere, Bharat: India 2.0 puts forth a new framework “for re-establishment of dharma in this ancient land as a means for its exponential rise as a nation in years to come”. Prof Desiraju summarises- “in the context of this book, two laws have been invoked, the second law of thermodynamics from the physical world and the Law of Dharma from the metaphysical one. The first takes a system from order to dissipation. The second, its converse, takes a system from disorder to a perfect organisation. The equilibrium between these two laws literally controls the deconstruction and integration of the entire universe” (p-339).

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Yuganta: The Advent of Kali Yuga

In response to a petition in 2007, defending the Setusamudram project, the UPA government told the Supreme Court, “the contents of the Valmiki Ramayana, the Ramcharitamanas by Tulsidas and other mythological texts, which admittedly form an important part of ancient Indian literature… cannot be said to be a historical record to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters, or the occurrence of the events, depicted therein”. A vast section of the so-called opinion-makers and a cabal of historians perpetrated a narrative stating, “History requires concrete evidence in the form of coins, inscriptions, etc to prove the existence of a character. Even if we take into account the places mentioned in the Ramayana like Chitrakoot, and Ayodhya which still exist, the fact is that Ramayana is not a historical text. So, from that perspective, there is no historical evidence of Ram. Having said that, we still cannot negate Ram’s presence easily, since he has been part of our collective consciousness for a long time”².

The dubious narrative notwithstanding the traditional categorization of the Ramayana and Mahabharata as ‘Itihasas’ meaning “thus verily happened” is a compilation of the history that has truly happened, reflects the pervasive intellectual illiteracy of court historians and leftist academicians. These texts of Sanatana Dharma have recorded events of history in meticulous detail. But still, these are verily and summarily labeled as “Mythological texts” to deny the Sanatanis their heritage.

Time and again the veracity of Bhagwan Rama is questioned and the contentious debates reached a crescendo during the Ayodhya Rama Janmabhoomi verdict case. Written in epic format, as slokas, for easy memorization and learning, for millennia people preserved this history. Indeed, much to the consternation of the leftist secularists who continued to dominate the academic landscape with their distorted representation of ‘Itihasas’ as ‘Mythology’, an organic movement for reclaiming Sanatani history started gaining new momentum. Contesting the ‘myth of mythology’, Indologists have embarked on Chronology studies of ‘Itihasas’ to legitimately debunk the pernicious campaign against Sanatani history.

These chronology studies have generated tremendous interest among the younger generation toward our Itihasas. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, a new tribe of Indologists is conclusively and convincingly establishing the events of history recorded in the ‘Itihasas’. Adding a fresh perspective, young debutant author and researcher, Jeevan Rao has attempted to solve a baffling puzzle through his book- “Yuganta: The Advent of Kaliyuga”.

Working out directly to solve the dilemma of a few millenniums, the book outlines the research objective of finding the precise year of the advent of Kaliyuga. The cosmic timeline is divided into four yugas (caturyugas)- Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yuga respectively. The other units are- Mahayuga, Manvantara and Kalpa. One Kalpa, a day of Brahma is equal to 14 Manvantaras. One Manvantara is 71 Mahayugas. The caturyugas are collectively called Mahayugas. One Kalpa lasts for 4.32 billion years. Yuga is thus, the smallest unit of the cosmic timeline.

Popular belief has been that arrival of Kaliyuga and the Mahabharata story are closely linked. Various Chronology researchers of Mahabharata made multiple claims regarding the first day of the Kali Yuga attributing it to different incidents. Steering clear from the maze of claims and counterclaims, the author expertly digs deep into Mahabharata to find the answers to Kali Yuga beginning.

To make the book very interesting, the author attempts to explain in detail every new verbatim, not part of the regular discourse starting from the yuga definitions. He then slowly introduces the four different categories of Yuga definitions: theoretical, philosophical, practical and Chronological. With a focus on the Chronology aspect, the author subsequently delves into the Puranic accounts of the Yuga definition and more specifically about Kali Yuga. But Puranas being a collation of all aspects of human life that existed at the time of their compilation and updating had some pointers insufficient to determine the Chronology marker of Kali Yuga.

Whereas the epic narration of Mahabharata that recorded the events in explicit detail offered clear hints about Yuganta. Diligently looking for references to yuganta in the Mahabharata, the author classified over 100 references from the text into three categories- descriptive, comparative and informative categories to precisely arrive at the right timeline for Yuganta. Among the 70 references spread across the entire text, the majority of them concentrated in the yuddha parvas ( Udyoga, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Shalya, Sauptika, Stri) turned out to be vital for locating the commencement of Kali Yuga.

Though arduous for general reading, the author enlisted all 70 references with their English translations in the fourth chapter of the book. This stepwise analysis essentially helped in arriving at a timeframe for Yuganta. After substantially establishing the Chronology evidence, the author narrowed down the precise time through astronomical evidence. Running the observations through “the logic of stepwise regression” and corroborating with the shabda pramana or the oral evidence, the author arrived at a definitive answer for the astronomical evidence as well.

Decimating the apriori assumptions by interpreters and researchers, and applying sensitivity analysis the author meticulously arrives at the timeline of the advent of Kaliyuga. As a final litmus test, the author validated his claims through Karl Poppers Truthlikeness Score (TS). The book is refreshingly new and unique. Instead of attempting to fit the facts to prove a hypothesis, the author painstakingly filters the references from a panoply of sources.

Relying entirely on the primary sources to establish his claims, the author made a breakthrough in nailing the commencement of Kali Yuga. The appendix of the book loaded with rare snippets of information from illustrious Sanatana texts is a must-read. Any perceptive reader can decipher how truth becomes a casualty due to a lazy interpretation of Sanatana Texts/ primary sources.

Refraining from divulging the time of commencement of Kali Yuga that forms the kernel of the book and anticipating the reader to explore, I would like to commend the author for his research acumen and methodical approach.  This book is indeed a bold attempt for a debutant author of 23 years who began his research when he was 20.

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India, Bharat and Pakistan: The Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilisation

The 21^st century Bharat has two unique facets to it. First, to its credit, Bharat has extraordinary acclaim for being the oldest thriving indigenous civilization. Second, after surviving the two waves of colonization- Middle Eastern and European, Bharat is still grappling with the third, the Marxist colonization. Incidentally, while another Asian giant, China continually brags of a “Century of Humiliation” and seeks to rejuvenate, centuries of colonization have mellowed down the indigeneity of Bharat. Coloniality, interminably, inextricably etched into the body politic of Bharat, has invariably brought it to a pass when a resurgence of Middle Eastern coloniality is beginning to bare its ugly fangs once again with religious issues dominating its realms.

Having introduced the concept of colonialism and its etymological sisters in his best-selling predecessor India That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation and Constitution, J. Sai Deepak’s second book, in his trilogy titled- India, Bharat and Pakistan: The Constitutional Journey of A Sandwiched Civilisation, already topping the best-selling books chart delves on the influence of the expansionist colonialities- Middle Eastern and European on India from 1740 to 1924. Known for his extreme clarity, meticulous understanding and sharp articulation based on hard facts from original sources, the book written in exacting detail keeps the reader stirred up.

Encapsulating the foundational events that paved the formation of Pakistan, the book is divided into three sections in a chronological continuum. As opposed to the popular attribution of the partition of Bengal seeding the idea of Pakistan, the first chapter explores the role of a spurt of Islamic reformist movements in setting the stage for an idea of a special Islamic nation.

Ostensibly, distressed by the fall of the tottering Mughal Empire, Imams spearheaded Islamic revivalism movements. Tracing the decline of the Mughal rule to the corrosion of Islam, pioneering the reformation to its pristine form, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi exhorted Indian Muslims to see themselves as a part of the global ummah and his conception of Islam was- “The reason which prompted Allah to create the Islamic community originally was…, mainly a political one”. His teachings triggered later Islamic movements in Bharat invariably sowing the seeds for the creation of an Islamic nation.

Ingeminating –“jihad is the cornerstone of socio-political equilibrium” and through a fatwa declaring Bharat “Dar al Harb” or house of war, successive Islamic reformists systematically reignited the Middle Eastern Consciousness by eternalizing the long memory both temporal and territorial through their preachings and writings. What makes this section really interesting is the tact of Islamic reformists in mainstreaming this pervasive ideology by making society their stakeholder under different names and ingeniously escaping the seditious laws of the British. To the detriment of Indic consciousness, political Hinduism or Hindu nationalism still in its infancy had to contend with the vigorous and relentless Islamic revivalist movements that rekindled Middle Eastern consciousness that dominate the discourse as rejuvenating force even now.

Prominent among these movements was the Aligarh movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed. While Syed Ahmed is credited for the genesis of Pakistan, another Islamic ideologist, Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani advocating pan-Islamism laid the template for Khilafat and Pakistan movements. Deploying the western framework, favouring a covert jihad, and espousing collaboration between the Christian and Muslim communities, Syed Ahmed strived for Indian Muslim welfare. On the contrary, though Afghani supported Western Education he proposed that Indian Muslims performing hijrat should move to Pakistan, Dar-al-Islam and launch jihad against Bharat, Dar-al-Harb.

These two Islamic ideologists and reformists contributed to the simultaneous growth of Pan-Islamism and Muslim Nationalism. Aflush with these reformists while Indian Muslims had a blueprint and an operating module, the natives abjectly lacked any foresight for Bharat, the successor of Indic civilization.

The second section discusses the burgeoning Muslim consciousness culminating in the partition of Bengal in detail. Comprising three chapters spanning the events from 1899-1909, this section focuses on the colonial origins of the Indian National Congress, the existence of two wings of Congress- the Moderates and the Extremists, and the stark differences in their consciousness, goals and methods. Moderates/ Liberals subscribed to the method of petition and persuasion as opposed to the Passive resistance of Extremists. The different perspectives of these factions within the Congress, and their end goals aren’t strictly etched in stone. Labeled as staunch Nationalists, some leaders over course of time sublimely slid into the Moderate faction advocating a different approach altogether. 

Seldom dealt with in detail in history books, the reins to the Indian National Movement were held by the British who co-opted the moderate faction of the Congress that believed Bharat’s destiny to be tied with the British fortunes. Indeed, Subramanian Iyer spoke of making, “our beloved Aryavrata the beloved jewel of the imperial crown”.  

Cognizant of India’s enthusiasm to embrace Western education, the British cultivated the Hindu elites who fit the bill of- “Indians in blood and colour but English enough in taste, opinions in morals and in intellect” to neutralize the surging Nationalistic movement led by leaders with Indic consciousness and revolutionaries who accepted nothing less than “Swarajya”. The dominance of the severely colonized moderates, who moved away from the roots led to the promulgation of the Constitution which largely turned out to be a deracinated document.

Vivisection of Bengal is popularly ascribed to the British’s famed ‘Divide and Rule’. In reality, the British took advantage of the pre-existing religious, linguistic, civilizational and political divide to vivisect the region into a Hindu minority province to curtail the veritable surge nationalistic aspirations in Bengal. In response to the unprecedented backlash in the aftermath of the Bengal partition, the British brought out The Indian Councils Act 1909 terming it as a “safety valve”.

Not being grounded in ancestral theology and traditions Hindu elites having internalised the European education compromised on Indic consciousness and embraced secular values. This psychological and cultural colonisation hardly equipped them to deal with colonial establishments. As a result, the Indian National Congress, a hub of Hindu elites willingly genuflected to the British and even accommodated the Muslim interests.

In sharp contrast, prioritizing Muslim welfare, Muslim League persisted in their demand for demographic electorates and sought greater political representation through Simla Deputation. Succumbing to colonization while Hindu elites abandoned the learning of the Indian Knowledge Systems and moved away from their roots, the Muslims on the other hand strengthened their Old Islam.

The last section brings together all the aspects undergirding the pretentious “ganga jamuni tahzeeb” credited for the boom of the Khilafat movement, the annulment of the Bengal partition, the World War I, the flimsy courtship of the Indian National Congress and Muslim League, 1916 Lucknow Pact the Home Rule Movement, the rise of Gandhi as national leader, non-cooperation, Malegaon, Khorat, Gulbarga and Malabar riots.

Aside from the debates within the Congress over India’s support to the British during WWI, this section forms essential reading for comprehending the Muslim supremacism and Muslim exceptionalism that stoked the Muslim consciousness rooted in the Middle Eastern Coloniality. A surge of this consciousness and the driving force of pan-Islamism laid the foundation for the Khilafat Movement impelling the Indian Muslims to opportunistically woo Hindus and pressurize the British to preserve the authority of the Ottoman sultan.

The astute powerplay of Indian Muslims in the prelude to the Khilafat movement exposed their duplicitous transactionalism. Muslims demanded a communal electorate, and communal veto over religious issues and expected Hindus to accommodate their interests while they would barely nudge from their stated positions. Consequently, the precarious Hindu-Muslim unity thrived on the untenable unilateral sacrifices by the Hindus and their disavowal of customs, rituals and heroes. This of Hindu-Muslim solidarity ended with the stabilization of the Ottoman Empire stabilized.

In short, Muslims played every trick in their book to safeguard their interests and their astute prevarication vouches for the same. After Jazirut-al-Arab (Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Arabia were freed from non-Muslim interference, the Indian Muslims quickly shifted their loyalty to the British and proclaimed Muslim exceptionalism. Adducing the majority-minority divide, Muslims sought special treatment and requisitioned more than a proportionate political representation in the Imperial Council for being the former rulers of Bharat. Shifting their camps and allegiances with ease, unceremoniously parting ways with the Hindus, to contain the Hindu majority the Indian Muslims invoked the popular trope of “people of book” and an implicit brotherhood and pledged their loyalty to the British.

Unsurprisingly, the line of defense and unrepentant justification employed by the Muslim elite in the wake of the brutal and barbaric riots then was no different from so-called secular debates of the present times. The remorseless excuse of Ajmal Khan, the follower of Gandhi for Malabar riots was “stray incidents as acts of few misguided individuals and that the rest of the Moplahs are as ready and strong in condemning them. Still, I shouldn’t like the fair name of Islam to be tarnished in the slightest degree”. This is similar to the common lament routinely mouthed by liberals without batting an eyelid even now. The “continuity of thought”, long memory of their bygone superiority laced with ingrained pride embodied in the thought process of the Indian Muslims conspicuously contrasts the phenomenal careless abandon of the Hindu elite and their overenthusiasm to demonstrate secular bonafides.

The similarities and divergent approaches adopted by Muslim and Hindu elites back then are no different from the contemporary times. The endless parallels like- the marginalization of the voices that sought spiritual, cultural, and political decolonization by moderates and leftists during the national movement by branding them as “extremists” is a rampant practice now.  For centuries colonialists have employed a strategy/ software to subjugate colonies. Subjected to waves of colonization, the entrenched colonized Bharatiya minds helplessly succumbed to these tacts of colonialities.

Sai Deepak in his brilliantly researched book lays out bare the strategies employed by the Colonialists and the mind-boggling inability and guileless naivety of the Hindu elite in deciphering the colonialist strategies. He brings to bear his enviable experience in Constitutional Law in establishing with evidence, the template unleashed by Colonialities on Bharatiyas.

Replete with facts, mined from diverse sources, the book elucidates the extent of the inextricable colonization that inundated the mind gates of Bharatiyas. Akin to the Q&A session where Sai Deepak pointedly answers the questions and never wastes a word, his style of writing is an extension of his characteristic clarity and brevity. The rather pithy conclusions at the end of the chapters embody some critical observations that fire up the reader’s thought process. Extensive research and a humongous scale of research enrich the book. Embellished with excerpts from primary sources, the reader is bestowed with the luxury of making his own observations. Teeming with useful references often embedded within the body of the text, for important themes, this book can serve as a reference guide for any inquisitive reader and specifically for scholars on decolonization studies.

Supplementing his invigorating lectures with his books on colonization, Sai Deepak has implacably created a new churn in the psyche of receptive Bharatiyas. This book besides furthering the non-existent or rather fledgling decolonial studies in India will enkindle Bharatiyas living in a la la land who continue to deny even a smidgeon of threat to Indian civilisation from outside and within.   Towards the end of the book, any serious reader would feel betrayed and cheated by the successive Indian leaderships that ordained generations of Bharatiyas to study contorted whitewashed history. This is a must-read book for every Bharatiya who aspires to reignite and revive indigeneity.

India is going through a phase that portends the advent of another Khilafat movement (the author conjectured during the book launch). On the face of it, it might look like an overstretch but a deep dive into the book shall awaken Bharatiyas from a spectacular slumber induced by colonization.

 

Published by Bloomsbury India.

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