I came across this fascinating piece of research a while ago but almost forgot to post it here.  From The Colonial Legacy – Myths and Popular Beliefs, some thought-provoking excerpts:
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While few educated South Asians would deny that British Colonial rule was detrimental to the interests of the common people of the sub-continent – several harbor an illusion that the British weren’t all bad. Didn’t they, perhaps, educate us – build us modern cities, build us irrigation canals – protect our ancient monuments – etc. etc. And then, …

From a Sify report on a seminar held last Friday at IIC on ’1914 Shimla Convention Agreement and Consequences’ (emphasis mine):
The fact that the Chinese refused to ink the 1914 Shimla Convention agreement between India and Tibet puts question mark over the legality or morality of China’s claim of sovereignty over Tibet, a group of India’s top jurists, scholars and security experts feel.
…The participants – who included senior Supreme Court Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, Arunachal MP Khiren Rijuju, Lt Gen. (Rtd.) F.R. J. Jacob, veteran diplomat Dalip Mehta, and writer Dr …

Some thought-provoking excerpts from: Does Europe have a Civilising mission in India?�by�Jakob De Roover*, published on 16 June 2008 – Issue : 786.
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Recently, the European Parliament hosted a meeting on �caste discrimination in South Asia�. At the meeting, participants stated that �India is being ruled by castes not by laws� and that they demanded justice, because there �is one incredible India and one untouchable India.� The EU was urged to come out with a policy statement on the subject. One MEP, referring to the caste system, said …

In my previous post, I has asked the question: What could be the reason(s) for the Government’s continued silence on the matter of Netaji’s disappearance?
It would be tempting to blame this on partisan politics but actually it is not just the Congress that has failed us in this regard.  As Anuj Dhar mentions: “The BJP seems to be in unison with the Congress over the Subhas Bose death case. That’s why you haven’t heard anything on this matter from their senior leaders, with the notable exception of Dr Murli Manohar …

Like many of you, I have often wondered how India’s present would have looked if Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had lived (and led) an independent India.
Last week I was alerted to this site dedicated to finding the truth behind Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s tragic disappearance from the national freedom struggle in 1945 (Thanks a lot, Mohan). Specifically it deals with the Mukherjee Commission (which was the third official proble into Netaji’s disappearance) and what came out of it.
The site mentions how the government tried hard to stall the work of …

Please watch this short video and spare a moment to remember the brave souls who laid down their lives so that we may breath free
To share the video, �pl. forward the link:
http://satyameva-jayate.org/2008/05/08/naman-1857/�
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
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Amidst all the recent brouhaha around Bharat Ratna nominations, someone conveniently forgot the “truth” about some of our nominees. I am thinking of Bahadur Shah Zafar who was proposed for the award as a champion of India’s freedom and someone who actively opposed the British.
The demand was made by Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker Shoaib Iqbal…(who reportedly said that)…it was unfortunate that Emperor Bahadur Shah II, also known as Zafar, whose martyrdom and national stature rank among the highest in India’s freedom struggle, had not so far been conferred with the …

Several weeks ago, I came across this piece by Dr Dipak Basu (Professor in International Economics in Nagasaki University, Japan)�examining the role of Satyagraha in the national freedom movement.
Until I read the article, I used to believe that Satyagraha as a�tactic was effective to at least some extent in the fight for freedom. Now I am beginning to have some doubts. I would be very interested to hear from other readers on this topic.
But before that, excerpts from “Satyagraha and India”s freedom Movement” in which Dr Base analyses Gandhi-ji’s three�major …

Varnam posted this great entry on “The Benevolent Empire” earlier this week which mentions how British rule ended up with an impoverished India (emphasis mine):
When Clive of India came to Bengal, he described it  in a way all visitors of the time did – as “extensive, populous and as rich as the city of London.” It was a place of such “richness and abundance” that “neither war, pestilence nor oppression could destroy” it.
But within a century of British occupation, the population of its largest city, Calcutta, fell from 150,000 to …

Many of you must have come across this “famous quote” of Macaulay in which he appears to be praising the wealth, cultural and spiritual heritage of India:
I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her …