So they are, and we may counter their moves by at least diligently studying what they (the Government) have written so that we may then rewrite our own narrative as we feel is the right account of our history, by way of effective rebuttal to their dubious designs.
The children are saved (just kidding) because most of them are allergic to studying history books in school!
So, let us ourselves devote to the study of available material instead of worrying too much about the children. They will take care of themselves better if we do our job of study well. No, we have not en masse behaved as such, and it is time we started doing so by apprising ourselves with whatever knowledge we may glean about the freedom struggle --- even if such knowledge be not wholly accurate --- so that we may feel the inspiration to do something worthwhile for our country in our limited and humble capacities, nonetheless.
For all the members of this very important conversation group, let me reiterate that the primary objective of this group is to do collective work of study on the history and development of the freedom struggle of India in the period 1857-1947 with special emphasis on the role of armed resistance and revolution in bringing freedom to our motherland. The canvas is quite broad and you all are free to contribute to the painting of the true history of the freedom movement on the basis of references from original books and documents that may be pertinent to the period. You may also freely express your considered views on the subject and must only take care not to convert this conversation into a zone of frivolity by passing fruitless comments having no basis in textual reference of any sort. This is no injunction that I as administrator impose but I merely make my stance clear as to the scope and intent of this conversation that is graced by students, scholars, researchers and men of eminence along with common folks like me who yearn to learn more from your deliberations. I welcome you all once more to this group and request all to make it your home in intellectual thinking and emotional endearment with reference to the freedom struggle whose fruits we all enjoy today and bear an equal responsibility and duty to uphold and preserve so that posterity my be the legatees of the same. May all feel free here to discuss, debate and deliberate, for freedom is the core content of this conversation and, as Swamiji so beautifully put it, 'is the song of the soul'. God bless you all! Jai Hind!
Thanks for the clarification, @Saswati Bhattacharya, and for supporting the cause. The sign mentioned is apparent but must have happened due to some technical reason. As for the furthering of the cause we need maximum support base right from the grass roots to the very highest echelons of society. We are here merely making a feeble effort but not insignificant at that, for others taking the cue from it may do yeoman's service to the cause. Moreover, there are some eminent personalities here in this group who are men of commitment and are already doing a wonderful job in creating public awareness and exercising pressure on the government to act in the direction this movement is geared to. And they have achieved a fair bit of success already. If we can combine forces, we can do wonders, I say, and that is our fondest hope here. I look forward to everybody's effective participation in making our mission a success. Our very first programme will be commemorate on a grand scale the 75th anniversary of the formation of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind or the Provisional Government of Free India that had been set up on 21 Oct, 1943 by Netaji to govern the landmasses and populations of occupied India that would be liberated by the marching Indian National Army.
Our blood spilled in the two World Wars brought them (the British) freedom and us bondage. This, alas, is the sad saga of the two hundred years of British rule in undivided India. A pity that much of it was effected by soliciting and obtaining the support of some very prominent Indian politicians of the day who played a double game of clamouring for freedom and doing everything by way of doctrinaire dogmatism to prevent it, even if unwittingly. It is here that eventually Netaji, as the climactic development of the armed revolutionaries through decades of struggle, came in with his INA and the Provisional Government of Free India to deal the death-blow to the Empire and started the Domino Effect of consequential events which compelled the British to beat a hasty retreat to homeland.
Of course, you are, for these (Aurobindo Ghosh, Nivedita etc.) were the seminal personalities who built up armed resistance in the first two decades of the twentieth century that evolved into the massive armed revolution of the INA in the climactic phase of the freedom movement.
Please feel free to write your observations, @Debaprasad Babu. We look forward to it.
The Transfer of Power details that I could glean from your blog completely rattled me and I am on the lookout for greater deal of material on it, @Jacob Michael M G. Please keep us posted on fresh material as you lay your hands on them.
While the present predicaments are pertinent, perhaps, and need detailed deliberation for the polity to awake to the invidious reality that abounds and threatens us with its malefic consequences, it is still a request to all members to stick to the core content of this conversation which is the study and discussion of the freedom movement between 1857 and 1947 with especial emphasis on the tradition and evolution of armed resistance leading to the climactic assault by the INA on British India that catalysed the eviction of the British from India and helped end British colonialism throughout the world. The thrust of the discussions should be this and we must not stray into other areas for that would be counter-productive for this conversation. I appreciate your participation and sincerely request all to keep the focus of conversation limited to this almost unlimited realm of discussion on the Indian Revolution.
A concerted effort is needed to drive home the essential features of the real revolution that liberated our motherland. Right now, sporadic attempts are being made, a la Revolt of 1857 type. This will fail to deliver the message to the masses effectively. I invite all of you, whosoever wishes, that is, to join me in this crusade for the establishment of the true narrative of the freedom struggle. For my own part, I can at present but contribute only through the pen on facebook mightily. Therefore, my invitation is restricted to propagation through this medium alone, that is, for the while, when I am held up at home by familial conditions. However, this is a very potent medium and can bring about not an inconsiderable amount of dissemination of the truth. So, I reiterate, do join me in this crusade for the restoration of the correct narrative of the history of the freedom struggle of India.
P.S. A clarification is being offered here. None should misinterpret my allusion to the sporadic nature of the Revolt of 1857. It failed because of that --- the lack of philosophical clarity, absence of a post-independence programme of national reconstruction (ref. Gandhi's similar predicament and Subhas Chandra's horror and indignation at it in his very first meeting with the leader in 1920 at Bombay upon homecoming from ICS resignation in England) and absence of unity of leadership and its consequent cohesion of revolutionary programme. The reference I have made is purely in innocent highlighting of an idea in historical terms and nothing derogatory whatsoever, for even in my dreams I can never belittle the magnificent sacrifices the revolutionaries of this First War of Indian Independence made for the unshackling of colonial fetters whose reward in defeat was to be blown off the mouths of cannons by their 'civilised' and 'civilising' colonial masters. Hence, my apologies in case the reference seems far-fetched and unwarranted.
Inquilab zindabad! Azad Hind zindabad! (Long live revolution! Long live Free India!)
Let us start a veritable crusade for the resurrection of the true history of the freedom struggle and the restoration of the pride of the armed revolutionaries who sacrificed the most for it, far more than the votaries of 'non-violence' who were cowards covering their weakness under pretentious epithets and were most violent towards their own countrymen. It is here that at this distant date from the rumblings of the first thunder that had shaken the Empire that we, their successors, unworthy in valorous terms, perhaps, but not unworthy in our hearts' ardour and in sympathetic vibration to theirs, come in and offer our ploughshare to the cultivation of our national culture, the unearthing of history, buried no more in minuscule capsule underground (courtesy, Indira Gandhi) but in decaying files in governmental secret vaults. We must set to work in unison, drowning the ego and self-interest in the copious waters of the oceans, to pilfer from a Vivekananda quote, and systematically flood the world with the message of the real messiahs of freedom and the saga of their suffering in revolutionary work to bring to future generations the bliss of liberty which they never enjoyed during their lifetime. This is our mission, this our life's work which we will achieve and bequeath to posterity even as our glorious ancestors in arms had bequeathed unto us the priceless gift of freedom. Jai Hind!
Then mere stating will not do. Please substantiate with corroborative facts.
That may be written about here for it is pertinent to our discussion.
But care must always be taken to keep this conversation politically neutral, yet, historically pertinent. The sanctity of the page demands it. Our reverence to the martyrs. Jai Hind!
1857-1947 allowed but not post-independence unless it is pertinent to the aforesaid period by reference or lingering effect or consequential occurrence.
I can give a rebuttal to each and every point made by some so-called Gandhians against Netaji's contributions or in favour of Gandhi's machinations against him, as if to do justice to the Indian cause of freedom and future security against the inroads of fascism. But I refuse to answer on my own always as it is very taxing the whole day to keep giving umpteen responses to the twisted queries of stubborn people having neither openness of mind nor the willingness to learn and who, to quote Bertrand Russell, read 'not for information but for confirmation of their own prejudices and biases'. I also expect others in this conversation to take up cudgels for the establishment of the true historical narrative of our freedom movement. For this, it is not good enough to merely subscribe to emotional effusions in the name of Netaji and the revolutionaries but also to do in-depth study of their life and times. Then we must have comprehensive discussions on the focal points of political divergence between the votaries of non-violence and those of the armed struggle for freedom. Thus shall clarity come in due course and each of us will be rationally ready to take on whatever intellectual challenges our adversaries may throw at us. Then will the cause come to partial fruition and not before. We must be thorough in our research and must leave no stone unturned to prepare ourselves in a fool-proof way. To kill oneself, Sri Ramakrishna was wont to saying, one needs a nail-cutter but to kill others one needs shield and sword. In a like manner, to be self-satisfied with one's own understanding of the freedom movement, one need not exert oneself much and may merely opt to have faith in any narrative that gives one comfort, but to battle it out in the public domain against contrary opinion, evidence and arguments, one needs to be well-armed in both intellectual arsenal and a stock-pile of data to furnish reinforcement whenever the call comes. It is, thus, exhorted of all members to exert themselves far more to the discovery of truth through detailed investigation and study of the historical material already available on the freedom movement, for the recovery of our lost heritage of ideas and images that may, as yet, set the direction of our nation right. Jai Hind!
Of course, you are, for these (Aurobindo Ghosh, Nivedita etc.) were the seminal personalities who built up armed resistance in the first two decades of the twentieth century that evolved into the massive armed revolution of the INA in the climactic phase of the freedom movement.
Please feel free to write your observations, @Debaprasad Babu. We look forward to it.
The Transfer of Power details that I could glean from your blog completely rattled me and I am on the lookout for greater deal of material on it, @Jacob Michael M G. Please keep us posted on fresh material as you lay your hands on them.
While the present predicaments are pertinent, perhaps, and need detailed deliberation for the polity to awake to the invidious reality that abounds and threatens us with its malefic consequences, it is still a request to all members to stick to the core content of this conversation which is the study and discussion of the freedom movement between 1857 and 1947 with especial emphasis on the tradition and evolution of armed resistance leading to the climactic assault by the INA on British India that catalysed the eviction of the British from India and helped end British colonialism throughout the world. The thrust of the discussions should be this and we must not stray into other areas for that would be counter-productive for this conversation. I appreciate your participation and sincerely request all to keep the focus of conversation limited to this almost unlimited realm of discussion on the Indian Revolution.
A concerted effort is needed to drive home the essential features of the real revolution that liberated our motherland. Right now, sporadic attempts are being made, a la Revolt of 1857 type. This will fail to deliver the message to the masses effectively. I invite all of you, whosoever wishes, that is, to join me in this crusade for the establishment of the true narrative of the freedom struggle. For my own part, I can at present but contribute only through the pen on facebook mightily. Therefore, my invitation is restricted to propagation through this medium alone, that is, for the while, when I am held up at home by familial conditions. However, this is a very potent medium and can bring about not an inconsiderable amount of dissemination of the truth. So, I reiterate, do join me in this crusade for the restoration of the correct narrative of the history of the freedom struggle of India.
P.S. A clarification is being offered here. None should misinterpret my allusion to the sporadic nature of the Revolt of 1857. It failed because of that --- the lack of philosophical clarity, absence of a post-independence programme of national reconstruction (ref. Gandhi's similar predicament and Subhas Chandra's horror and indignation at it in his very first meeting with the leader in 1920 at Bombay upon homecoming from ICS resignation in England) and absence of unity of leadership and its consequent cohesion of revolutionary programme. The reference I have made is purely in innocent highlighting of an idea in historical terms and nothing derogatory whatsoever, for even in my dreams I can never belittle the magnificent sacrifices the revolutionaries of this First War of Indian Independence made for the unshackling of colonial fetters whose reward in defeat was to be blown off the mouths of cannons by their 'civilised' and 'civilising' colonial masters. Hence, my apologies in case the reference seems far-fetched and unwarranted.
Inquilab zindabad! Azad Hind zindabad! (Long live revolution! Long live Free India!)
Let us start a veritable crusade for the resurrection of the true history of the freedom struggle and the restoration of the pride of the armed revolutionaries who sacrificed the most for it, far more than the votaries of 'non-violence' who were cowards covering their weakness under pretentious epithets and were most violent towards their own countrymen. It is here that at this distant date from the rumblings of the first thunder that had shaken the Empire that we, their successors, unworthy in valorous terms, perhaps, but not unworthy in our hearts' ardour and in sympathetic vibration to theirs, come in and offer our ploughshare to the cultivation of our national culture, the unearthing of history, buried no more in minuscule capsule underground (courtesy, Indira Gandhi) but in decaying files in governmental secret vaults. We must set to work in unison, drowning the ego and self-interest in the copious waters of the oceans, to pilfer from a Vivekananda quote, and systematically flood the world with the message of the real messiahs of freedom and the saga of their suffering in revolutionary work to bring to future generations the bliss of liberty which they never enjoyed during their lifetime. This is our mission, this our life's work which we will achieve and bequeath to posterity even as our glorious ancestors in arms had bequeathed unto us the priceless gift of freedom. Jai Hind!
Then mere stating will not do. Please substantiate with corroborative facts.
That may be written about here for it is pertinent to our discussion.
But care must always be taken to keep this conversation politically neutral, yet, historically pertinent. The sanctity of the page demands it. Our reverence to the martyrs. Jai Hind!
1857-1947 allowed but not post-independence unless it is pertinent to the aforesaid period by reference or lingering effect or consequential occurrence.
I can give a rebuttal to each and every point made by some so-called Gandhians against Netaji's contributions or in favour of Gandhi's machinations against him, as if to do justice to the Indian cause of freedom and future security against the inroads of fascism. But I refuse to answer on my own always as it is very taxing the whole day to keep giving umpteen responses to the twisted queries of stubborn people having neither openness of mind nor the willingness to learn and who, to quote Bertrand Russell, read 'not for information but for confirmation of their own prejudices and biases'. I also expect others in this conversation to take up cudgels for the establishment of the true historical narrative of our freedom movement. For this, it is not good enough to merely subscribe to emotional effusions in the name of Netaji and the revolutionaries but also to do in-depth study of their life and times. Then we must have comprehensive discussions on the focal points of political divergence between the votaries of non-violence and those of the armed struggle for freedom. Thus shall clarity come in due course and each of us will be rationally ready to take on whatever intellectual challenges our adversaries may throw at us. Then will the cause come to partial fruition and not before. We must be thorough in our research and must leave no stone unturned to prepare ourselves in a fool-proof way. To kill oneself, Sri Ramakrishna was wont to saying, one needs a nail-cutter but to kill others one needs shield and sword. In a like manner, to be self-satisfied with one's own understanding of the freedom movement, one need not exert oneself much and may merely opt to have faith in any narrative that gives one comfort, but to battle it out in the public domain against contrary opinion, evidence and arguments, one needs to be well-armed in both intellectual arsenal and a stock-pile of data to furnish reinforcement whenever the call comes. It is, thus, exhorted of all members to exert themselves far more to the discovery of truth through detailed investigation and study of the historical material already available on the freedom movement, for the recovery of our lost heritage of ideas and images that may, as yet, set the direction of our nation right. Jai Hind!
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