71 years ago on this date, Udham Singh was hanged to death in Pentonville Prison in UK.
He was hanged for the assasination of Michael O’Dwyer, ex Governer of Punjab and the man Udham Singh held responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre..
It is said that the mass killing in Jallianwala Bagh deeply affected Udham Singh “…and proved a turning point in his life” After a bath in the sacred sarovar at Golden Temple,”Udham Singh took a silent vow and solemn pledge in front of the Golden Temple to wreak a …

Thanks to Jay for the link to this talk by Tarek Fatah. In this 15-odd minutes video, he talks of Islamism, the truth that dares not speaks its name & how it starts with the Jews…
As Jay mentioned in his email, this is
A really thought-provoking analysis of Islamic terrorism by  a Canadian of Indian origin, who also happens to have been born as a Muslim.. A self-proclaimed and critical Marxist.
His honesty and sincerity about the religion of his birth are something that Indian Marxists should try and emulate. What we have …

Micro-post of the week, in which I wonder why the “Popular Book Shop”, located inside the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum had a loud “Mulberry Bush” nursery rhyme playing in the background, “..This is the way we go to Church, go to Church, go to Church…”.
And find it odd (and saddening) that Acharya  J C Bose barely finds a small mention…(not to forget Sir C V Raman).  No photograph of Wing Cmdr Rakesh Sharma either. And no trace or mention of our own achievements in Science and Technology from ancient …

Dear Friends, on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, it is my great pleasure to formally release “Saluting Our Heroes: The Param Virs of Bharat”
In India, you can order the book via Pothi.com by clicking on this link
All proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards supporting my various political initiatives, including outreach events, workshops and meetings (all expenses and funds will be publicly declared; as an example, pl see some details here).
Outside India, I would suggest you order a pdf copy by making a modest contribution here (The …

A question that came up during the “Saluting Our Heroes” pre-launch meet-up y’day was “Should India consider conscription?”

Would it be practical considering the size of our population?
Would it help foster a sense of national pride?
Would it help strengthen our national identity?
Would it help bring down the walls between rural/urban India, the states, the regions and the communities?

Would it help manage the worrying shortage of officers in the Indian Army (almost 25%)? Should it be limited to certain groups of people (e.g. civil servants)?
Would it lower the standards and quality …

While reading Shekhar Gupta’s thought-provoking edit, “Our Singapore fantasy” earlier last month, I stumbled on these lines (highlighted for emphasis):
Yes, there are problems with our politics and governance and both need reform.
That reform…needs imagination, patience and persistence. It needs better education for the voter, not contempt for the voting classes.
As some of you would remember, this is eerily similar to what Sri Sri Ravishankar said recently (to Shekhar Gupta, actually) and for all I know, SG may well have been inspired by Sri Sri while writing this…Regardless, the lines resonated …