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‘Abid Hasan Safrani: Netaji ‘s Comrade-in-arms’ (ORIENT BLACK SWAN; Rs.895; 2023 ) is a slim volume put together by Ismat Mehdi and Shehbaz Safrani, presenting a crisp and engaging narration of the illustrious personality who is immortalised by the slogan “Jai Hind”. 

The Importance of Being Abid Hasan Safrani

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A Native Mahatma of Communication

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Sainath_part_2_1_770x470_b6a5fb52cb.jpg" alt="Sainath-part-2-1-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Sainath_part_2_1_770x470_b6a5fb52cb.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Sainath_part_2_1_770x470_b6a5fb52cb.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Sainath_part_2_1_770x470_b6a5fb52cb.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">This is the second part of the edited transcript of renowned writer and journalist P. Sainath’s inaugural speech at the Panchajanyam film festival at Chittoor, Palakkad, Kerala. The event took place on February 4, 2024. (For Video, Click <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/p-sainath-speaking-at-the-panchajanyam-film-festival-in-palakkad/"><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Here</a><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">)&nbsp;We are seeing genocide and are unable to condemn it. We are seeing genocide in Palestine. We are seeing genocide televised live. Yet, it doesn’t move us to action.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">One of the things that I am proud of, and I want to tell you about rediscovering remembrance. Remembrance is resistance, and there is no resistance without remembrance. One of the things that I first remember most proudly about my country is the first passport that I owned, in the first half of the eighties. And, it said: “All countries except the Republic of South Africa and Israel.”<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Do you know that Indian passports had a ban on South Africa even before we became independent. A poor country emerging from famine, from hundreds of millions of deaths, South Africa was boycotted by all countries. That country lost 5% of its external trade because we had a huge trade surplus with it. And, we did that on morality. Ours was a moral position. We may not have been a great nuclear power, but we were a great moral power. Mahatma Gandhi in the 1930s was already condemning what was happening in Palestine. Every single Indian national leader worth his salt was condemning what was happening in Palestine because they knew what British imperialism did.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:600px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26394" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26394"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/6222_cd293dec1b.jpg" alt="6222.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_6222_cd293dec1b.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_6222_cd293dec1b.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26394">Gandhi arriving in Britain in 1931</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">I have been to over 45 colleges and universities in the last more than one-and-a-half years with my book “The Last Heroes – Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom” based on the life story of living freedom fighters. Incidentally, it is also published in Malayalam. You know, when you have completely erased history to this extent, Naturam Godse resurfaces as a freedom fighter, as a hero. Savarkar resurfaces as a hero.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Now, I will tell you two things, one about myself and the other about Savarkar. I was not trained as a journalist. I was trained as a historian, and my guide was K.N. Panikkar. My teachers were Romila Thaper, K.N. Panikkar, Bipan Chandra, S. Bhattacharya, and S. Gopal. I dropped out of my M.Phil and P.hD and went into journalism. Now, let me share my understanding of Mr. Savarkar. You know, Vinayak Damodar Savakar was a genuine revolutionary till 1911. Let us not indulge in the erasure of the past. He was a genuine bonafide revolutionary till 1911. That is when he was thrown into the Andamans, and all his revolutionary zeal vanished.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:800px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_17626" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-17626"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/savarkar_e7fc110e15.jpg" alt="savarkar.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_savarkar_e7fc110e15.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_savarkar_e7fc110e15.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_savarkar_e7fc110e15.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-17626">Vinayak Damodar Savakar</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">There were hundreds of others who were sent to the Andamans, but he was the only one who wrote seven begging mercy petitions to the British Raj, saying: “Spare me. I will be your advocate.” There were others who wrote letters seeking remission of sentence in various prisons in India, but the Andaman prisoners did not write mercy petitions except Savarkar. Leaders of the old Ghadar party in Punjab would write letters from prisons. Gurmit Singh, founder of the Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall in Jalandhar, would write letters citing domestic issues, and within a week of being released on compassionate grounds he was bombing the British barracks in Hoshiarpur railway station. These were your revolutionaries, and none of them offered to collaborate with the British.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:850px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26395" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26395"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Work_party_of_Andaman_Island_Penal_Colony_prisoners_being_fed_by_the_sea_shore_circa_5248d56209.jpg" alt="Work-party-of-Andaman-Island-Penal-Colony-prisoners-being-fed-by-the-sea-shore-circa.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Work_party_of_Andaman_Island_Penal_Colony_prisoners_being_fed_by_the_sea_shore_circa_5248d56209.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Work_party_of_Andaman_Island_Penal_Colony_prisoners_being_fed_by_the_sea_shore_circa_5248d56209.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Work_party_of_Andaman_Island_Penal_Colony_prisoners_being_fed_by_the_sea_shore_circa_5248d56209.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26395">Andaman Island Penal Colony/ Photo from collection presented to India Record Office by Sir Richard C. Temple in 1922.</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">I suggest you read Mr. Savarkar’s letters. A.G. Noorani’s seminal book contains five of the seven petitions. They are in the National Archives. The point is that after spending time writing Mercy petitions to the British, he was released. He was confined to Ratnagiri district. He was not under house arrest, but he could not leave the district. In 1926, a book titled “The Life of Barrister Savarkar” was released. The book was written by the pseudonym Chitra Gupta (Chitra Gupta was, as per mythology, the scribe and book-keeper of Lord Yama). In the 18th and 19th centuries, a lot of people used the pseudonym ‘Chitra Gupta’ because it had some authority. The book was a terrible hagiography. It was, in fact, such a eulogy of Savarkar that it gives hagiography a bad name. The book was proscribed in 1926 by the British, but it was published again in 1942 and a discussion of sorts about the book began in some quarters.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The discussion again was over who Chitra Gupta was. The book was published once again in 1986, and the publisher proudly revealed that Chitra Gupta was none other than Savarkar himself. Interestingly, the source for this information was none other than Savarkar’s younger brother. So, Savarkar had written his autobiography and presented it to the world as a biography. I went back and read it again, and I had to conclude that Mr. Savarkar had a very high opinion of Mr. Savarkar. I wanted to tell you that remembrance is necessary. For a nation that does not know where it came from and has no clue about where it is going.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">You don’t know about the freedom struggle if you don’t know about the incredible fights of the freedom struggle. How many people in this country sacrificed for 190 years, and history tells us about how it all began in 1857, ninety years before the first shot was fired in the North.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:800px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26396" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26396"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_45_8815fd2b16.jpeg" alt="images-45.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_45_8815fd2b16.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_45_8815fd2b16.jpeg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_images_45_8815fd2b16.jpeg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26396">Battle of Plassey (Artists Rendition)</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">It started with the Battle of Plassey, and the Adivasis and Dalits of the Jungle Mahal region resisting the British for 40 years in what was wrongly known as the Chuar rebellion. In the eighties and nineties, 60 years before a single shot was fired in the North (India), Tipu Sultan, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, and the Maruda brothers led a struggle. The Marud Brothers and Kattabomman actually came closest to bringing down the East India Company totally. This is your history. Please know it and remember it. It was not happening in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">To be continued in Part 3.

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This is the second part of the edited transcript of renowned writer and journalist P. Sainath’s inaugural speech at the Panchajanyam film festival at Chittoor, Palakkad, Kerala. The event took place on February 4, 2024. (For Video, Click Here)

Remembering History is Important: One should Know that Savarkar Wrote his own Biography to Glorify Himself

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Ae_watan_01_1_770x470_88e39b006e.jpg" alt="Ae-watan-01-1-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Ae_watan_01_1_770x470_88e39b006e.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Ae_watan_01_1_770x470_88e39b006e.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Ae_watan_01_1_770x470_88e39b006e.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">I normally do not write on films. But “Ae Watan Mere Watan” is such a special movie that it deserves some extraordinary interventions and appeals. The film has been released on Amazon Prime Video. It has been written by Darab Farooqui, a close friend and associate in the realm of ideas and ideological preferences. Kanan Iyer is the director of the movie.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LIq144fT4c4" title="Ae Watan Mere Watan - Official Trailer | Prime Video India" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>The film is inspired by the story of “Congress Radio” of 1942 and the struggle of Usha Mehta in setting it up and sustaining it. In this film, Ram Manohar Lohia appears in a very important role on screen for the first time in the history of Indian cinema. The film is indeed historical, but this is a very important film for our times too! This film gives us the words and ideas to address our contemporary challenges. But more than that it gives us hope and self-confidence.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:690px;" id="attachment_27179" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27179"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/usha_mehta_sixteen_nine_3_cf7a67c6ab.jpg" alt="usha_mehta-sixteen_nine-_3.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_usha_mehta_sixteen_nine_3_cf7a67c6ab.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_usha_mehta_sixteen_nine_3_cf7a67c6ab.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27179">Usha Mehta and Sara Ali Khan playing as Usha Mehta in the movie</figcaption></figure>Many scenes of the film are mirrors of today’s world. You will feel as if you are watching today’s film and not that of 1942. The situation the country is going through today is indeed similar to the one that existed during the British era. The very same dictatorship, cruelty and inhumanity.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:300px;" id="attachment_27189" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27189"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_49_e814c502d6.jpeg" alt="images-49.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_49_e814c502d6.jpeg 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27189">Ram Manohar Lohia</figcaption></figure>Make sure that not only you but your entire family watches this movie. In this time marked by false and malicious propaganda, this film will impart in you courage, energy and patience in many ways. This is our film. It is a film of our thinking, a film of our hopes, a film of our struggle, a film of our ideology. It is our responsibility to take its message across India and the globe.</div></div>

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“Ae Watan Mere Watan” – A Brief Introduction to the film by Yogendra Yadav

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Renowned writer and journalist P Sainath presents an extensive narration of Indian history and underscores the importance of remembering a country’s past truthfully and drawing the correct lessons from such remembrance. He points out that rampant and aggressive attempts are on from the Narendra Modi regime to erase heroic chapters from India’s freedom struggle in order to manipulate the narratives of the present. “A country that does not know its past does not know where it is going too”. He points out in this inaugural speech made at the Panchajanyam Film Festival at Chittoor, Palakkad on 4 February 2024.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“സ്വന്തം ഭൂതകാലത്തെ പറ്റി ഒന്നുമറിയാത്ത ഒരു രാജ്യത്തിന് അത് നാളെ എങ്ങോട്ടാണ് പോകുന്നത് എന്നും അറിയില്ല” – ഇന്ത്യൻ ചരിത്രത്തിൻ്റെ ഒരു സമഗ്ര പരിപ്രേക്ഷ്യം അവതരിപ്പിച്ചുകൊണ്ടാണ് പ്രശസ്ത പത്രപ്രവർത്തകനും എഴുത്തുകാരനുമായ പി സായ്നാഥ് ചിറ്റൂർ പാഞ്ചജന്യം ഫിലിം സൊസൈറ്റിയുടെ ചലച്ചിത്രോത്സവം ഫെബ്രുവരി നാലിന് ഉദ്ഘാടനം ചെയ്തത്. സ്വന്തം ഭൂതകാലത്തെ സത്യസന്ധമായി ഓർത്തുകൊണ്ടും അതിൽ നിന്ന് ശരിയായ പാഠങ്ങൾ പഠിച്ചും മാത്രമേ ഏത് രാജ്യത്തിനും ജനതയ്ക്കും മുന്നോട്ടുപോകാൻ ആവൂ എന്ന് സായ്നാഥ് ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടി. നരേന്ദ്ര മോദിയുടെ ഭരണം നടക്കുന്ന സമകാലിക ഇന്ത്യയിൽ നമ്മുടെ സ്വാതന്ത്രസമര ചരിത്രത്തെ വികൃതമാക്കാനും വികലമായി അവതരിപ്പിക്കാനുമുള്ള ഭ്രാന്തവും സംഘടിതവുമായ ശ്രമങ്ങൾ നടന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ് എന്നും സായ്നാഥ് പറഞ്ഞു. പ്രസംഗത്തിന്റെ പൂർണ്ണരൂപം ഇവിടെ കാണാം.

Rediscovering India in the Times of Manipulation of History

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How NCERT Cripples the Idea of India

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240717_WA_0030_770x470_d6b15a67b8.jpg" alt="IMG-20240717-WA0030-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240717_WA_0030_770x470_d6b15a67b8.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240717_WA_0030_770x470_d6b15a67b8.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240717_WA_0030_770x470_d6b15a67b8.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, holds profound significance due to the tragic events of Karbala that unfolded in 680 CE. The martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, along with his family and supporters, marked a pivotal moment in Islamic history. The battle of Karbala, a tale of resistance against tyranny and the struggle for justice, transcends religious boundaries and has resonated deeply within various socio-political contexts, including India. This essay explores how the message of Muharram has influenced and continues to shape socio-political structures in India.&nbsp;<h2 style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:25px;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Historical Context and Cultural Integration</h2>India, with its rich tapestry of religious and cultural diversity, has a unique relationship with Muharram. The observance of Muharram, especially the Day of Ashura, has been an integral part of India’s cultural fabric for centuries. The commemoration of Imam Hussain’s martyrdom through processions, lamentations, and reenactments (known as “tazias”) is not confined to the Muslim community alone. Various sects and even non-Muslim communities partake in these observances, symbolizing a broader cultural integration.The message of Karbala—resistance against oppression and the quest for justice—finds a particular resonance in India’s historical struggles against colonial rule and internal social injustices. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi drew inspiration from the sacrifices of Karbala, emphasizing non-violence and steadfastness in the face of tyranny. Gandhi’s analogy of Imam Hussain’s martyrdom as a symbol of non-violent resistance underscores the deep-rooted influence of Muharram’s message on India’s socio-political movements.&nbsp;<h2 style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:25px;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Social Justice and Reform</h2>The narrative of Karbala emphasizes the principles of justice, equality, and standing up against oppression. These principles have profoundly influenced social reform movements in India. For instance, the fight against caste-based discrimination and untouchability has parallels with the stand taken by Imam Hussain against the unjust rule of Yazid. Social reformers in India, like B.R Ambedkar, echoed similar sentiments, advocating for the rights of the marginalized and oppressed communities.The essence of Karbala has also been instrumental in promoting communal harmony and unity. The shared commemoration of Muharram by diverse religious groups fosters a sense of solidarity and mutual respect. This unity is crucial in a pluralistic society like India, where communal tensions can be a significant socio-political challenge. The inclusive spirit of Muharram serves as a reminder of the common human values that bind different communities together.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:480px;" id="attachment_28964" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28964"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240717_WA_0026_972dd38a31.jpg" alt="IMG-20240717-WA0026.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240717_WA_0026_972dd38a31.jpg 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-28964">The mass of followers outside Asafi Imambada, in traditional black attire, paying homage to the martyrs of Karbala.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<h2 style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:25px;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Political Activism and Resistance</h2>The story of Karbala is inherently political, rooted in the defiance against a tyrannical regime. This aspect of Muharram has inspired political activism and resistance movements across India. The struggle for independence from British rule saw many parallels drawn with Karbala, where freedom fighters viewed their struggle as a continuation of Imam Hussain’s fight for justice.In contemporary times, the message of Muharram continues to inspire political movements against corruption, authoritarianism, and human rights abuses. Activists and leaders invoke the spirit of Karbala to mobilize people and galvanize support for causes that aim to uphold justice and fight against systemic oppression. The enduring relevance of Karbala’s message is evident in various protests and movements, where slogans and symbols from Muharram are prominently displayed.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:480px;" id="attachment_28965" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28965"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240717_WA_0027_3dd7c70d50.jpg" alt="IMG-20240717-WA0027.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240717_WA_0027_3dd7c70d50.jpg 234w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-28965">The traditional Alam Fatah-e-Furat (Flag of the victor of Euphrates) is a procession marking 8th day of Moharram. It is in commemoration to martyrdom of Husain’s brother Abbas, who was martyred at the banks of Euphrates in the battle of Karbala.</figcaption></figure>The socio-political significance of Muharram, particularly in the Indian context, is a testament to the timeless relevance of the events of Karbala. The principles of justice, resistance against tyranny, and the pursuit of equality that define Muharram have permeated India’s historical and contemporary socio-political landscape. From inspiring leaders and social reformers to fostering communal harmony and mobilizing political activism, the message of Karbala continues to shape and influence the ethos of Indian society. As India navigates its complex socio-political challenges, the legacy of Muharram remains a powerful beacon of hope, guiding the nation towards a more just and equitable future.</div></div>

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From Karbala to Modern Times: Muharram's Socio-Political Significance

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240720_WA_0012_770x470_970911e623.jpg" alt="IMG-20240720-WA0012-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240720_WA_0012_770x470_970911e623.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240720_WA_0012_770x470_970911e623.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240720_WA_0012_770x470_970911e623.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">R. Rajagopal, the Editor at Large of The Telegraph, continues his close observation and analysis of the Indian media space and the manner in which mainstream newspapers covered serious developments such as the tragic fate of Rahim Ali, a resident of Kashimpur village in Assam’s Nalbari district, whose Indian citizenship was recently reinstated by the Supreme Court without knowing that he had died in his village two and a half years ago, in December 2021 at the age of 58. Ali was branded a foreigner and his citizenship was revoked by the Foreigners Tribunal in the State in 2012. In this analysis, Rajagopal also pays a tribute to EP Unny, Chief Political Cartoonist of The Indian Express (IE), highlighting the cartoon he drew on this issue. The IE editorial too is specially mentioned in this important media critique written by one of the tallest newspaper editors of the country. The AIDEM has sourced this from R Rajagopal’s social media posts.<hr>Ruthlessness is the irreplaceable sidearm of cartooning. But every once in a while, the merciless craft drops the snub-nosed weapon and picks up the feather to offer a healing touch. EP Unny does so in The Indian Express, making Calvin pay graceful tribute to Rahim Ali, whose first name means compassion, something that was denied to him in life.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:329px;" id="attachment_29032" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29032"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_07_20_T173700_4832_300x243_d936ec5b72.jpeg" alt="images-2024-07-20T173700.4832-300x243.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_07_20_T173700_4832_300x243_d936ec5b72.jpeg 193w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-29032">Rahim Ali</figcaption></figure>But Unny does not forget to wield the scalpel, referring to the risk that can be faced by those who, unwittingly or otherwise, showed compassion to Ali. The Express has a strong editorial also. I leave it you to find out which other newspapers followed up one of the most important stories after the general election.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:25.2%;"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240720_WA_0005_195x300_71211f9358.jpg" alt="IMG-20240720-WA0005-195x300.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240720_WA_0005_195x300_71211f9358.jpg 101w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure>The other day, I had told a sceptical friend that this is too big a story to be ignored by the rest of the media. I think I have largely been proved wrong. Calvin’s compassion reminds me of the farewell cartoon to Nehru by Rajinder Puri (which I am attaching below from Unny’s Twitter account). Puri was kind enough to treat me to coffee and scones (I heard the word first from him) and his vision of journalism at the Embassy Hotel (or was it the Ambassador? Delhi overdoses on diplomatic jargon) in Connaught Place when I gatecrashed his idyllic haunt when I was a student.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240720_WA_0008_768x851_3162e7e51a.jpg" alt="IMG-20240720-WA0008-768x851.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240720_WA_0008_768x851_3162e7e51a.jpg 141w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240720_WA_0008_768x851_3162e7e51a.jpg 451w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240720_WA_0008_768x851_3162e7e51a.jpg 677w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure>Unny unfailingly pays tribute with his craft to many people when they pass away or cross milestones. I am particularly touched by his tributes to artist Namboodiri and actor Irrfan Khan. I also recall now a cartoon that made me cry when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Ungratefully, I cannot recall where I saw it or who drew it. Was it on Sunday magazine? It was a full-page cartoon showing Rajiv, who was a pilot, steering a flight to the skies, with the immortal words of Shakespeare: “Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”If my friend Sumit, who was with Sunday, confirms and clarifies whose cartoon it was, I will let you know. 33 years later, Unny’s cartoon has done to me what I felt in 1991 when the cartoonist I cannot recall borrowed from Hamlet and Horatio. “Good night, Sweet Prince” would also have been the most apt headline I could not think up when Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi died.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240720_WA_0007_768x805_41aca38d07.jpg" alt="IMG-20240720-WA0007-768x805.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240720_WA_0007_768x805_41aca38d07.jpg 149w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240720_WA_0007_768x805_41aca38d07.jpg 477w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240720_WA_0007_768x805_41aca38d07.jpg 716w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure>Deepayan Chatterjee, the wizard with words who passed the baton to me, told Sumit about that unwritten headline later. I was deeply affected by Pataudi’s death although I have been merciless when he was arrested in the hunting case. Technically, only technically, he was my colleague for three years because he was the editor of Sportsworld which was owned by the same management I worked for and located a floor below the newspaper I was with then although I have never met him.The coverage of Pataudi’s death was also one of the first instances that informed my mentors that something is wrong with me — a reckless gene that runs amok once in a while — in the sense that I can get carried away by news events, unlike poker-faced editors who revel in affecting the inscrutable visage.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:361px;" id="attachment_29033" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29033"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_07_20_T174125_041_5399f7bca3.jpeg" alt="images-2024-07-20T174125.041.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_07_20_T174125_041_5399f7bca3.jpeg 104w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_2024_07_20_T174125_041_5399f7bca3.jpeg 334w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-29033">Rajinder Puri</figcaption></figure>Shocked by the display, a journalist I respect the most told me the next day, poker-faced of course and the upper lip as stiff as Modi at that rare media conference: “I thought the Prime Minister died.” It was his polite way of suggesting I went overboard. I leave you with some of the farewell cartoons of Puri and Unny. I still harbour the hope that other newspapers will follow up the Ali story until the executive and judicial leadership takes note and puts in place checks and balances.</div></div>

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Calvin Cares, But Others...

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Revisiting Quit India Movement and Gandhi’s Idea of Inclusive India

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg" alt="images-9.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">The following article is part of the Trailblazing Women of India series. A series presented by The AIDEM, exploring the lives and ideas of women who played a decisive role in shaping India’s social, political, and intellectual history.The AIDEM underscores the enduring contemporary relevance of revisiting the lives of these women leaders and the ideas they championed. Click <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/G_sxvcXO0tg">here</a> to watch the video.<hr>Picture this: It’s 1930. A 27-year-old woman stands before Mahatma Gandhi, telling him he’s making a historic mistake.Gandhi is planning the Salt March. His vision? Men march and women stand on street corners selling salt and singing songs.Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay says: No.“Women have stood shoulder to shoulder with men, building the Congress party. They deserve to march,” she insists.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:654px;" id="attachment_42087" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42087"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-Chattopadhyaya-Leading-a-Congress-march-in-the-early-1930s.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 102w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 327w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 491w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42087">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya leading a Congress march in the early 1930s</figcaption></figure>Gandhi concedes. But she’s not finished. “Issue a formal call to action.”“Why?” Gandhi asks. “Don’t you know your sisters?”Her response? Pure political genius: “Because history will record that YOU called them to participate.”&nbsp;History did record it. Women marched beside Gandhi, breaking salt laws. Kamaladevi became one of the first women arrested for civil disobedience. She auctioned “freedom salt” at the Bombay Stock Exchange for Rs. 501. On January 26, 1930, she clung to the Indian tricolour during a scuffle with authorities, refusing to let go.Who was this woman bold enough to challenge Gandhi?Born in 1903 in Mangalore, married at fourteen, widowed at sixteen. She remarried—scandalous. She divorced—one of India’s first civil divorces. In 1926, encouraged by Margaret Cousins, she became the first woman to contest a legislative office, losing by just 55 votes. In 1927, she founded the All India Women’s Conference as its organizing secretary.In 1936, she became a founding member of the Congress Socialist Party, working alongside Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. Yet when we celebrate Indian socialism, we remember only the men.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:300px;" id="attachment_42084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42084"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyay_aa0f5dde3b.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-Chattopadhyay.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyay_aa0f5dde3b.jpg 113w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42084">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay</figcaption></figure>Her ideas were revolutionary. She connected capitalism, imperialism, and women’s subjection: “This imperial capitalist system encourages endless wars and expects women to produce children who become soldiers.” She challenged glorified motherhood itself.In the 1930s—decades before global women’s liberation—she championed bodily autonomy and birth control. Not for population control, but for women’s choice. She traveled to America, worked with Margaret Sanger, and in 1951 established India’s first family planning commission centered on women’s autonomy.She championed what we now refer as feminist economics, preceding the Feminist Care Ethics Debate by decades. She documented sexual division of labor, wage discrimination, and systematic underpayment of women workers in industrial and agricultural sectors—when labor movements barely acknowledged women as workers.Interestingly, she refused the label “feminist,” understanding that in her hostile patriarchal environment, strategic pragmatism mattered. But her ideas? Profoundly feminist.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-4.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">After Partition, heartbroken, she resettled 50,000 refugees from the North-West Frontier Province, helping create Faridabad—independent India’s crucial early industrial township. In 1948, she founded and led the Indian Cooperative Union for the rehabilitation of the refugees.Her greatest legacy? Reviving India’s dying crafts as economic empowerment. As chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board for twenty years, she understood that handicrafts meant livelihoods for millions, grassroots democratic participation, and India’s answer to exploitative industrialization.Her institutions still stand: Indian National Theatre established in 1944, which later became National School of Drama, All India Handicrafts Board established in 1952, Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1953, Crafts Council of India in 1964, and Delhi’s Crafts Museum in 1967. She made Indian handicrafts a major export, serving as an Advisor to the World Craft Council and first President for the Asia-Pacific Region.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:555px;" id="attachment_42085" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42085"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg" alt="Leading-Their-Imperial-Highnesses-to-the-dias.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42085">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya leading their Imperial Highnesses to the dias</figcaption></figure>From UNESCO Awards to the Padma Vibhushan, her legacy endures in every artisan earning a dignified living today.Kamaladevi died in 1988, but her question echoes: What does freedom mean without bodily autonomy, economic independence, and cultural sovereignty?As you explore her work—and I hope you will—ask yourself: What would Kamaladevi be fighting for today?<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_sxvcXO0tg" title="Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and the Idea of Cultural Sovereignty by Priyanka Jha | New Series | EP 02 " frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div>

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Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: The Woman who taught Gandhi a Lesson

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<div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">Shuruart Foundation has been using art to make education more joyful and effective since 2017. Does your child often draw the same thing again and again? Should parents be worried if this happens? In this episode of Child and Art: Myths &amp; Facts, we talk about why children repeat drawings and what it really tells us about their confidence and emotional growth. Learn how your positive feedback and encouragement can help your child express freely, think creatively, and build genuine self-confidence. Watch the video to learn more.</div></div>

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Same drawing again? Is that good or bad for your child’s growth?

<div class="post-featured-image" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 50px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png" alt="Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><div class="post-featured-image" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 50px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As advocates, our lives are consumed by briefs and arguments, leaving little room for leisure. For me, the finest pastime is research and writing, a legacy I proudly inherit from my late grandfather, Shri S.A.A. Rizvi, IAS (Retd.). He was a gold medallist and a remarkable scholar of his times. His example instilled in me the conviction that the pursuit of knowledge is not merely an adornment, but a discipline that enriches both profession and personality.</div><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">It was in this spirit that a casual exchange with my colleague Nadeem Murtaza at the High Court rekindled this passion. His query, whether I had ever heard of “Douglas” or “Kinnaird Hospital” of Lucknow was not a passing remark, but a spark that illuminated a forgotten chapter of Lucknow’s medical heritage. His mother, Zahida Auntie, had often spoken of it, pointing to the site near today’s Lari Cardiology Centre, where the geriatric and mental health departments of KGMU (King George Medical University) now stand. That conversation became the bridge between my inherited love for inquiry and the living memory of our city, compelling me to delve into archives and dissertations, and to uncover the remarkable story of a hospital that once stood shoulder to shoulder with Queen Mary and Lady Dufferin Hospitals in Lucknow.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:426px;" id="attachment_41918" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41918"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png" alt="Kinnaird-Memorial-Hospital-1-1-1024x666.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 240w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41918">Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital</figcaption></figure>The story begins in 1875, when Elizabeth Bielby, a nurse sent by the Zenana Mission Society, began her medical mission near Lucknow. Though beset by tragedy, her sister Alice died soon after arrival, and Bielby herself fell gravely ill, the mission still endured. By 1891, through the efforts of Dr. Grace Mackinnon, the Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital was established on government-granted land, named after Lady Kinnaird. She was a devout Presbyterian philanthropist remembered for founding the YWCA.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:416px;" id="attachment_41915" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41915"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007_cropped1_7b434dba61.jpg" alt="CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007-cropped1.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007_cropped1_7b434dba61.jpg 244w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41915">England Zenana Missionary Society</figcaption></figure>In 1910, Dr. Ethel Douglas took charge, and for the next 36 years she transformed the institution, expanding facilities, raising standards, and establishing training protocols that led to the North India Board of Examiners and State Registration Councils. Her dedication earned her the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal in Gold in 1927, and government grants that enabled new wards and modern equipment. As Beth Bullock Spencer’s dissertation records, Douglas’s “extraordinary influence” kept the Lucknow hospital “overflowing,” even as she grappled with challenges ranging from reluctant purdah patients to the infamous monkey menace.“Even the veteran doctor Ethel Douglas struggled to find a solution to the monkey problem, for some of the local people regarded the monkeys as sacred; harming the monkeys was out of question. Douglas resorted to shouting and shaking her rifle at the monkeys, but with little effect.”Snakes, too, were a recurring hazard, and cultural beliefs often complicated medical practice. Patients observing purdah resisted operations, some postponed surgeries at the last minute deeming the hour “inauspicious,” while others consulted village elders who determinedhe hospital became a sanctuary for women’s health, normalizing dental extractions, eye surgeries, and maternity care in a city where traditional practices often prevailed.The British contribution to Lucknow’s health system was profound. Alongside Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital, the Lady Dufferin Hospital was established in 1889 under the Countess of Dufferin Fund to provide safe maternity care. Later, the Queen Mary’s Hospital arose in the early 20th century as a centre for women’s medical education. Together, these institutions marked the colonial effort to embed Western medicine into the city’s fabric, particularly for women and children. They were not merely hospitals but symbols of reform, philanthropy, and the gradual acceptance of modern medical practices in a society negotiating tradition and change.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:396px;" id="attachment_41916" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41916"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg" alt="Lady_Dufferin_Hospital-_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing-768x432.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41916">Lady Dufferin Hospital, Lucknow</figcaption></figure>By 1965, however, Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital succumbed to financial constraints and closed its doors. In 1971, the site was absorbed into King George Medical College, now popularly known as KGMU, housing its neurosurgical and mental health departments. Today, its memory lingers only in archives and recollections, overshadowed by its contemporaries. Yet, its legacy remains unique – a Christian missionary hospital that combined philanthropy, medical progress, and social reform. A place where doctors braved not only disease but monkeys, snakes, and cultural resistance to bring care to the women of Lucknow. An institution that has produced some of the world’s finest medical professionals, researchers and administrators. The pictures of these alumni are featured below.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:276px;" id="attachment_41910" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41910"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/download_4_26ce212e58.png" alt="download-4.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_download_4_26ce212e58.png 235w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41910">Dr. BM Hedge – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:293px;" id="attachment_41911" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41911"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/download_5_c239ac1c62.png" alt="download-5.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_download_5_c239ac1c62.png 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41911">Dr. Sanduk Ruit – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:300px;" id="attachment_41912" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41912"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_d076bb83d3.png" alt="images-1.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_d076bb83d3.png 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41912">Dr. Naresh Trehan – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure><figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:211px;" id="attachment_41913" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41913"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_1_300x300_b57c8c7015.png" alt="images-1-1-300x300.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_1_300x300_b57c8c7015.png 156w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41913">Dr. Anil Kohli – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>As I reflect upon this heritage, I am convinced that Lucknow’s medical history is incomplete without acknowledging the forgotten jewel that was Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital. Its story is not merely of bricks and mortar, but of pioneering women doctors, missionary zeal, and the evolution of healthcare in colonial and post-colonial India. Remembering it is essential to preserving the dignity of our city’s cultural and medical legacy.</div></div>

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