Indira Kanwar and the Road to Ayodhya

Farrukh-siyar receiving Ajit Singh

It is an astonishing fact for historians and sociologists alike, that Hinduism managed to hold on to India, its home, for so long. The historical path was definitely no bed of roses. Religious aggression from abroad that lasted for nearly a millennium, occupation by aliens, gruesome superstitions like sati, and oppressive practices like untouchability and castes – the list is a long one, which could have been proposed, had the religion been rooted out of India. In fact, what is more natural than the abandonment of such an ideology, that clung on to concepts incompatible with modernity? But still, owing a large part to its unorganized character and the flexibility it conferred, coupled with its readiness to assimilation of ideas, especially under duress, helped Hinduism still going strong in its home country, which only Islam could claim among the other major religions.

Muslim sultans who ruled the land in the Medieval period tried all weapons in their arsenal to convert the country into a dar ul Islam (abode of Islam), but failed. Forcible conversions, destruction of temples, imposition of the hated poll-tax jizya, grabbing of women from aristocratic families to harems, preferential tax rates for Muslim traders (2.5%, whereas it was 3.5% for Jews and 5% for Hindus), discrimination in the employment of political power - the clever little stratagems were endless. And yet, Hinduism survived. I think we can pinpoint a moment in time when the Hindu resurgence categorically took root and made a point of no return. However, this is definitely a simplification of the complex processes operating over a large period of time and need not be taken much more seriously than the conventional practice of assigning the beginning of Middle Ages to the Sacking of Rome in 476 and the end of it on the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. This post is my idea of such a moment shortly after the death of Mughal emperor Farrukh-siyar in 1719. There is no denying that this event is related in its inspiration from the successful campaigns of Hindu chieftains who stood up against the Mughals to make their point. The Rana of Mewar and Shivaji comes to mind. But, there was a sense of finality when they were defeated. Shivaji was only subdued, but his descendants got the nerve to go forward only after the incident I am going to narrate.

The Rajputs were handsome, fair and aristocratic. Their princesses were routinely demanded by Mughal emperors as concubines in a kind of tribute after military victory over them. These women were converted to Islam before marriage itself and then not allowed to visit their homes ever again. When such a lady died, the body ended up in a Muslim cemetery. Even Aurangzeb, the most bigoted among them, continued the custom. But the stream of Mughal inventiveness had started drying up during the reign of Aurangzeb himself. After his death in 1707, weak princes carried on the mantle and Farrukh-siyar ascended the throne in 1713, after a fratricidal war of succession.

Meanwhile, the Rajput states were in veiled revolt against the imperial authority for the past 50 years or so. Bahadur Shah, the deceased emperor had been unable to reduce them effectively. Ajit Singh, chief of the Rathore clan of Rajputs and ruling from Jodhpur found the time ideal for some adventures of his choice. He forbade cow killing, stopped the call for prayer (azan) from the Alamgiri mosque, ejected Mughal officers from Jodhpur, destroyed their houses and occupied Ajmer, a holy site for Muslims. Even with severely curtailed power, these things couldn’t be tolerated by the central authority. Farrukh-siyar immediately delegated Sayyid Husain Ali Khan, brother of Sayyid Abdullah Khan, the Wazir, to lead the march against Jodhpur. The king had the secret objective of turning at least one of the Sayyid brothers out of Delhi, as he rightfully suspected intrigue, judging by the power the brothers enjoyed. The army reached Jodhpur in January 1714, but adopting a much used Rajput tactic, Ajit Singh fled.

The commanders called a council of war and put forward two options before the Rajput chief who accepted defeat without even fighting. Either he must be killed and his severed head sent to the emperor or his son surrendered as a hostage and his daughter offered as bride to the emperor. It didn’t take much time or moral compunction for Ajit Singh to choose between the two. His son, Abhai Singh, was to accompany Husain Ali Khan to court and his daughter, Bai Indira Kanwar (Inder Kunwar) was to be offered in marriage to the emperor in the mode styled ‘Dola’ (informal marriage).

The girl was delivered at Delhi in September 1715 and on repetition of the creed, admitted to the Muslim faith. The marriage rites were scheduled on the night a few days later by the chief Qazi of the court. One lakh gold coins were entered in the deed as dowry. The bride temporarily stayed at the residence of her captor and the emperor entered the residence as scheduled and completed the usual ceremonies. At this point, the ulema and the more orthodox-minded of the courtiers witnessed events not to their tastes – for the first time in Mughal history. The rites on this occasion were a mix of Muslim and Hindu traditions. One which caused much remark was the drink offered to the guests – a mix of rose-water, sugar and opium, which horrified the hardliners. But it was pressed on them on the plea that it was the custom of Rajputs. As can be expected on similar occasions even today, many Muslims drank it, but a few objected.

Farrukh-siyar’s reign and life was however short. The tussle between the king and his Wazir (chief minister) grew to serious proportions. Each side plotted secretly against the other, but professed warm relations in public. Farrukh-siyar wanted to depose the Wazir, but lacked the courage and tact to get it implemented. The Wazir, meanwhile, replaced all court officials with persons loyal to him alone. It took only three years for the feud to erupt in public and in 1719, the Wazir imprisoned the king and ruled as a regent. Farrukh-siyar was murdered in cold blood under custody.

Sanguinary succession struggle was the hall mark of Mughal inheritance. The entire drama was re-enacted again at the death of the king. Ajit Singh, the dead king’s father in law, had assumed prominence in court in the meantime. He was assigned to Agra to quell an uprising in the fort. But Singh commenced to make excuses on the ground that, if he left his daughter, Farrukh-siyar’s widow, behind him, she would either poison herself or her name and fame would be assailed. Yielding to these pleas, Abdullah Khan made the lady over to her father – another first in Mughal annals. She performed a ceremony of purification in Hindu fashion and gave up her Muslim attire. With all her dowry collected back, she was sent back to Jodhpur with much fanfare. The Ulema was thunderstruck. The Qazi issued a ruling that the giving back of a convert was entirely opposed to Islamic law. But, in spite of the opposition, Abdullah Khan insisted on conciliating Ajit Singh so as to coerce at least one prince out of his growing horde of enemies. Thus ended the first episode of a woman reverting to the Hindu faith after she had converted and entered the imperial harem. Whenever such issues originated in the past, the ruling came invariably in favor of religious diktats and the administration siding with the qazis.

One thing led to another, and Delhi witnessed riots of a communal nature in the next decade. The ‘shoe-makers’ riot’ in 1729 was one such incident. The Muslims found themselves burdened with the necessity to take the offensive, whereas previously, the royal troops did it with ruthless efficiency at killing, pillaging and raping. Hindu resurgence was making its first faltering step and the stride continued to gather momentum. For a brief time, it expressed itself as the First War of Independence in 1857, then the Nationalist Movement and finally at the devastating incidents at Ayodhya in 1992. Shall we say that the steel which was used to mould the spade that brought down Babiri Masjid was cast on the day of the little incident of Indira Kanwar’s embracing her original faith again?

Greenland’s Allure

I read Jared Diamond’s Collapse – How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. There is a section on Greenland in which the Old Norse society collapsed after 500 years of colonizing the icy sheet land in the North Atlantic Ocean. Diamond says he saw only three colours in Greenland – white, blue and black, with white dominating everywhere. Of course, the white is of the snow, blue of the ocean or occasionally the sky and black is the isolated rocks of sufficient height as to rise above the ice sheets. Green is visible only in very few patches of land. On one such stretch, he simply lay down and had a good sleep among "thick moss and dotted with abundant yellow buttercups, yellow dandelions, blue bluebells, white asters and pink willow herbs". A riot of colours amidst a sea of white, a point of hope among the barren vastness, a touch of comfort amid the sharp needles of immense coldness.

So many flowers out there, that I decided to see how they look like, just out of curiosity. The results are shown below.
 

Asters

Bluebells

Buttercups

Dandelions

Willow-herbs

Antony and Army Takeover

What is happening to our defense minister, A K Antony? Is he losing the sense of propriety at the brink of losing power - for a few years, at least? What else can we deduce from his recent rants about the impossibility of the military taking over power in India? And he is reiterating the remarks at every stage and meeting he gets a chance to open his mouth - which is not too often, we know.

One important consideration the civilian administrators must not forget is that the army should be kept at arm's length always. Keep them pleased, but not overly so. Keep them occupied, but the work should be moderate in times of peace. But Antony is putting unnecessary ideas in the army men's heads. A coup may be impossible, but any revolution would seem to be so, until it is realized in an effortless way. Antony's impossible thing may change to improbable after a few debates, then become implausible, then difficult, then predictable, and on and on.

Indian army is very disciplined and instilled with a sense of civic responsibility. Let's keep them so. Why wake up the monster in peace time?

Indian Navy's Flag

Flag of Indian Navy

Flags are of many types. Every nation has them, and administrative or military wings also possess them, often under the term, ‘ensigns’. Little known to us, India’s armed forces also preserve their honour and commitment to the nation under their own unique flags fluttering in the gentle breeze. Recently, I just happened to search in Google on flags and found the ensigns of India’s armed forces. Looking at that of the Navy, I made a gasp of incredulity. See it on the right side…

Flag of England

What made me gasp? Because I had seen this flag somewhere before, in the football grounds of Europe and where world football is played in all its majesty. Why, it is the flag of England, called St. George’s Cross! See on the right…

So what was going on for all these 67 years since independence? The Navy simply put the tri-colour on the left-top quadrant of England’s cross and was happy with that! If you ask what is there in a flag, except symbolism, the answer is that the symbolism itself is important in a national setup. Perhaps when the dawn breaks when all the inhabitants of this blue planet awakes under a single banner, these considerations will be rated parochial and even stupid. But till that time, there must be some meaning in the official flags. Otherwise, why does the country impose harsh punishments for violation of the national flag? 

Flag of Indian Army

Flag of Indian Air Force

So I checked the ensigns of the Army and Air Force. There is no bone of contention with them. They have thoroughly modified their British outfits to join the national mainstream. The Navy still stands adamantly behind.

Isn’t it high time that the Navy change its flag to a theme of national significance?

At Long Last, ISRO Makes It

GSLV on its launchpad

At last, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) did it in style. The country’s first geo-synchronous satellite GSAT-14, to be carried on an indigenously built rocket reached orbit yesterday, heralding a new era of great potential in the field of communications. Several trials had gone waste earlier, and I too had posted two notices in this blog, piqued by ISRO’s repeated failures when they ought to have done better. Even though it is now a thing of the past, those posts are available as When the Only Tool You Own is a Hammer and GSAT-8 and ISRO's Impossible Dream published in May and July 2011. Whatever is said and done earlier, ISRO’s resounding victory with GSLV Mk II rocket yesterday is indeed a feather in the nation’s cap and the scientist-engineers of ISRO deserve a grand round of applause.

Even though ISRO had been successful in blasting off a probe to Mars, christened Mangal Yaan in November last, I was a bit vary. No doubt the successful launch and the equally successful transfer of orbit to Mars were events of great technological prowess. But, any project involving leaving the earth orbit should be an international affair. Probing the surfaces of moon, mars, titan or europa are questions of pure science that need to be addressed by humanity as a whole. It should be taken up by the combined forces of all interested nations with shared resources and manpower. The results also must be shared with the entire planet. There are no industrial or military secrets to be learned in mars or titan, at least for the time being. So, why can’t it be a joint effort? India and China both fruitfully sent exploratory vessels to the moon, but if they had pooled their resources, wouldn’t it have reached titan, saturn’s satellite which is a promising destination to harbour life. Funding for science is dwindling everywhere and it is irrational for each country to finance a small project than to join forces and pull with a greater objective in mind. The current scenario brings to mind the fable of a man stupid enough to dig at several places in search of water, instead of digging a deep hole at one place. Even those countries now standing apart from space research, because of the cost may be roped in, if they are burdened with only a fraction of the total liability. On the other hand, geo-synchronous orbit is a market place where every country displays its wares for a better price, in the form of cheap launch vehicles and transponders for communication purposes. India stands at the threshold of grabbing a big chunk of the market share with its cheaper launching cost.

At the same time, we must not forget that we have a long way to go. Our GSLV Mk II, with a maximum geo-synchronous payload capacity of 2250 kg is a minnow among the schools of giant machines on offer. Compare GSLV Mk II’s 2250 kg with France’s Ariane 5ECA (10,500 kg), US’ Atlas V 551 (8700 kg), Russia’s Proton (6000 kg) and China’s Long March 3B (5500 kg). Even the upgraded version of GSLV – the Mk III – planned in 2014 is ‘only’ capable of lifting 4500 kg. Bear in mind that our northern neighbour is planning an upgrade to launch Long March 5, with a capacity of 14,000 kg, the world’s biggest, if at all it is completed. Why aren’t we thinking big? Being the best is an economically sound alternative too. The cost of developing a 9000 kg vehicle will always be less than twice the cost of developing a 4500 kg one, as is being planned. Returns from a more powerful rockets will balance the additional cost, as it can carry more satellites on a commercial launch.

Let’s hope the outstanding success of GSLV Mk II yesterday would prompt ISRO to develop more powerful rockets and bring in a new era when the world would flock to Sriharikota to launch their geo-synchronous satellites.

Congratulations to ISRO.

Captain Takes the Team to Finals

And the semi-finals threw up results along expected lines. Congress was decimated in all four states of the Indian heartland. The total rout is sure to shake the foundations of its weak government in the Centre to the core. It is once again clear that dynastic policies are no more relevant in India than some of the burning day-to-day issues. And Rahul Gandhi is not equal to the caliber of his grandmother or great-grandfather, though it may be comparable to his father!

A dangerous trend seen in Delhi is the phenomenal rise of the Aam Admi Party (AAP – Common Man’s Party). Formed barely a year ago, the party cornered 40% of the Assembly seats there, advocating the slogans of transparency and corruption-free polity. Both these concepts are worthy to be enshrined in a society, then why the rise of AAP is construed as dangerous? It seems that being a baby among political parties, AAP is not yet mature enough to chart out a pragmatic course of action. Corruption must be rooted out, but the party’s suggested modus operandi is childish. If you follow it, governance will grind to a halt as you can’t put all the officers under the cloud of suspicion. Also, its militant posture towards increase in commodity tariffs like power that is warranted for the sustainability of the power companies belies the party’s claim to be a responsible partner in the nation’s politics. And it is indeed lucky for them not to have won power this time. If such was the case, people would’ve immediately got disillusioned with them and thrown them out at the next available opportunity. Now that they are sitting in opposition, they may have a better longevity to have a go at the next election. It is easy to sit in opposition and blame the government for all troubles. The toughest thing is to rule and be accountable. Any society gets the government they deserve. Corruption is rampant in India only because people tolerated it since recorded history. Even now, the only grouse most people harbour against corrupt officials is that they themselves are not able to indulge in making some extra bucks. Ask any parent about his plans for their children, and the invariable answer is to make them government officials. What for? Isn’t it naïve to assume that these people strive to enter public service only to ‘diligently’ serve the people? So, in a country where parents are rearing their children to have a share of the booty, corruption is the natural thing. The attitude of the society need to change.

Many people go far too much away from the mainstream to deny Narendra Modi any credit in BJP’s spectacular win. The victory, according to them, rests with the state leadership of the party and not to Modi. Notwithstanding the stature of leaders like Shivrajsingh Chouhan, what kind of reasoning is this? Everybody understood and anticipated this contest to be the semi-final of the final match, which is the General Elections in 2014. Everyone was anxious about the impact Modi could obtain on the populace. The team made a brilliant victory and the critics say the captain had no role in it! Suppose the BJP had lost the elections, would these same critics have trumpeted from their rooftops that the Modi factor failed to take off? This Lose-Lose argument exposes the prejudice of these observers.

But Narendra Modi should not get carried away by the results. True, he had credited teamwork for the success, but should not lose sight of the fact that the finals are yet to come and it would take much stamina to reach all the way to the Lok Sabha. Nobody should overlook the realistic fact that the NDA has not much clout in the three states of Odisha, Seemandhra (when AP is divided) and Tamil Nadu. With a total of 91 seats among them (21 in Odisha, 31 in Seemandhra and 39 in TN) these states may decide who would rule from Delhi in 2014. And all the three states are so winnable for the NDA! Who would doubt that the Congress will be trounced in Seemandhra this time? They may sweep Telengana, but that’s only 11 seats! The BJP doesn’t have any partner in these states, even though the AIADMK, BJD and Telugu Desom may not be averse to have an understanding with them. Chandrababu Naidu may strike the pose of a principled leader who would have no truck with BJP, but having been out of power for more than a decade must have chastised his enthusiasm a bit. Jayalalitha would be friends with anyone who would oppose Karunanidhi. A little nudge may prompt Navin Patnaik to come back to the NDA. There is a very good chance for the BJP to ensure the support of up to 75 – 80 seats in these three states, if it plays its cards right. The party should not overlook this crucial aspect if it is to win the finals.

Non-Stop Till Full Stop

The life expectancy of an Indian had gone up – impressively – from 42 years in 1960 to 66 in 2011. This is a commendable achievement, coming within half a century. Many factors have contributed to this – education, better medical care, increase in level of hygiene, awareness of health issues, and most important of all, increase in the nation’s wealth. India’s per capita GDP leaped from $84 to $1159 over the same period, a rise of 13 times and that too, adjusted for inflation.

This simple statistic is not understood in its true perspective by a lot many people, even influential ones. Today’s average person is much more healthier, happier and prosperous than his grand father was, at his age. Alarmists cite a lot of cases trying to prove otherwise – atmospheric pollution, radiation from mobile phone towers (!), fast food, slow food contaminated with chemical pesticides, occupational hazards and increased incidence of fatal diseases like cancer, cardiac and neurotic cases. Of course, these monsters are with us, but haven’t we learned to live with them? Even with all these meddling issues, we are living longer than the previous generations who lived less, even without any of these modern debilities to trouble their way. Don’t forget even for a moment that most of the deadly illnesses afflict aged people and as the number of the aged rises, the absolute number of sick people definitely goes up, but as a percentage of the total population, they are far fewer than it was 50 years ago. Increased and early detection help to save many lives, even though it contributes to the number of patients shooting up.

This is the background. But do everyone need to faithfully follow every health advice to the letter? Say, you are a middle-aged man and a medical examination shows that you have a cardiac or diabetic complication. Naturally, you are condemned to alter your life style, diet, exercise habits, and the entire way of life. In short, you transform to another person in a vain bid to prolong your life expectancy from say, 66 to 71. What is this really worth? When you change one of your ingrained habits like the diet, the ‘you’ inside you have died at that moment and a totally new person is the one trying to live out a few more years, ready to accept any compromise. Isn’t it better to continue as before, and live life to the full – in your own way – and perhaps surrender to the inevitable when it comes?

Our lives are ruled by a combination of chance and our ability to take risks. The process of birth itself is the result of pure chance alone. We, or at least the brain cells dictating these lines, could have originated in one of the lawless states in the under-privileged part of the world and died an early death fighting enemies or diseases. Or, we could have chosen a riskier profession, like the military, where the life expectancy is shorter than the general population. Any of these factors could’ve cut back our life span, so why fret over a disease that threatens a few years at the fag end of life?

Be yourselves and face the situation with courage.

Or, shall we say, non-stop till full stop?