Today, I would like to share with all of you an incredible story of valour and bravery demonstrated by CQMH Abdul Hamid – a “Param Veer” – during the war with Pakistan in 1965. From the Indian Army website:

The Param Vir Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.

*** Saluting our …

Most of you reading this may have never heard of Deganga before…It is a small town on the banks of Bidyadhari (Vidhyadhari) river in Barasat Lok Sabha constituency. Courtesy Wikipedia, I learnt that the river was a major navigation route in earlier times and had a major port along its banks from the Mauryan era.  However, history is not the reason I am writing this post about Deganga. Over the last two days, I got various emails on “looting and clashes between two communities” in this town which prompted me …

Continuing the series on Jammu & Kashmir, today, a little bit about Syed Ali Geelani – in my view, the single biggest road-block to any lasting peace in Kashmir valley.
First, some background. This excerpt is from a news-report dated 2008. I had filed this under “stories that don’t make it as a lead-item”. From Praveen Swami’s An Islamist’s resurrection in Kashmir (emphasis added):
In his pronouncements in recent weeks, the Islamist patriarch himself has left the world in little doubt of his ideological agenda. Speaking to the …

In the second part of spotlight on Jammu & Kashmir, some figures and statistics that reveal just how dependent is the state on financial support from the Union and why it is high time we called for a stop on the financial profligacy in Kashmir…Read on (emphasis mine, throughout).
Start with this snippet from a recent report by Subodh Varma, “J&K’s dependency on Centre alarming“:
In 2009-10, J&K received Rs 13,252 crore as grants from the Centre, which constitutes nearly 60% of the state’s total expenditure. In fact, for the past …

This weekend, I will be focusing on Kashmir…To set the tone, here is a small selection of some great background articles on Kashmir…Pl do read through all of them. Some reiterate points made by other commentators; others raise fresh issues. All are thought-provoking.  Read on:
First, excerpts from A ‘moth-eaten’ India? by Chandan Mitra (Feb ’10; emphasis added):
A small but influential section of public opinion in India has been pleading for “flexibility” in the Government’s approach to the Kashmir issue. Some important opinion makers have, in fact, gone on record to …

On this auspicious day of “ashtami“, recall one of the most well-known verses from the Bhagawad-Geet – in the melodious voice of the late Mahendra Kapoor…
यदा यदा ही धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत, अभ्युथानम् अधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् |
परित्राणाय साधुनाम विनाशाय च: दुष्कृताम, धर्मं संस्थापनार्थाय सम्भावामी युगे युगे ||
Approximate translation:
Whenever there is decline of Dharma (righteousness)..and rise of Adharma (unrighteousness);
To protect the virtuous..to destroy the wicked and to re-establish Dharma,
I manifest myself, through the ages.

|| Shubh Shri Krishna JanmAshtami ||
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Related Posts: Reading the Bhagavad Gita…
A Search for the Historical Krishna