Rumours of Spring by Farah Bashir

 

    How does it feel to grow up as a girl in an environment riddled with curfews, crackdowns, blackouts, sounds of explosions, and bullets firing; it has been beautifully narrated by Sarah Bashir in her memoir Rumours of Spring. Farah Bashir is a photo journalist and a communications consultant. The book starts with the death of her Grandmother called Bobeh and her spirit continues to appear in the book till the end. There are many characters who touch Farah's life and each one's life is affected by insurgency in Kashmir. 

Turmoil inPunjab by Ramesh Inder Singh

     Excellent book. Worth a read. It gives a very comprehensive account of Operation Bluestar, events after that,  historical background, and the genesis of the problems faced by Punjabis. 

Tiger of Drass

 

Biography of Capt Anuj Nayyar, MVC by his mother Meena Nayyar. 

The biography is well written with inputs from officers who served with Capt Anuj Nayyar, his friends & relatives. 

Breaking Trough by Isher Judge Ahluwalia

    Breaking through is the autobiography of Isher Judge Ahluwalia. Married to a great technocrat and economist, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, she too was an economist in her own stride. 

     The book is the life story of Isher, a leading economist of her generation. Born in a modest, lower-middle-class Sikh family, she did well in academics, graduated from Presidency College, Kolkata, and did her post graduation from Delhi School of Economics where her professors were Amritya Sen and Jagdish Bhagvati. She did her Ph. D from MIT, USA and got a job with IMF. In the USA she met Montek Singh Ahluwalia, working with IMF, and they married. 

    Isher returned to India, where she authored two books on the slow Economic Growth of India where she advocated liberal economic policies and the opening of the economy to the world.  She was a professor at the Centre for Policy Research and director and later Chairperson of ICIER, an institution, conceptualized and developed by IG Patel. She further developed ICIER into a leading global think tank. She also served as Chair of the Board of International Food Policy Research Institute and Chair of the High Powered Committee on Urban Infrastructure Services set up by Govt of India in 2008. 

     Her life story is narrated in candor and from the heart and also portrays a career woman balancing here work and family and also trying to be close to her roots. She was deeply religious and caring for her family of two sons. She died  soon after the book was published in 2020. 

Nehru, Tibet and China

 

    Nehru, Tibet, and China written by AS Bhasin, and published in the year 2021 is a well-researched book and can be easily termed as an authority on the subject. Avtar Singh Bhasin served in the Ministry of External Affairs for thirty years. He retired as head of the Historical Division. He has written several books on India's relations with its neighbors, including a five-volume study on India's relations. This book can be called an abridged version of that study.  

    In this book, the author takes the period from 1949 to 1962 and gives a detailed account of events culminating in the 1962 war with China. Putting a Historical perspective, Tibet was a free country. China was a weak country. British had independent relations with China and Tibet. Tibet had ups and downs in relations with China. As China flexed its muscles with encouragement from the British, they inducted a large force under a General in Tibet in 1909. Dalai Lama fled to India in 1910. In 1911 Chinese troops were thrown out by Tibetians and Dalai Lama returned to Tibet. in 1914 a conference of Tibet, China, and British India was held in Shimla to mark the borders of India vs Tibet and China. Henry McMohan prepared the draft. Two copies of maps were made, one retained by McMohan and one given to Tibetians. China did not agree to the borders marked by McMohan and they protested. They did not sign and were not given any copy of the maps. Thus the legacy of the borders continues since then. 

    After the fall of the Kuomintang Govt in 1949, Communists took over China and started asking for areas 'illegally taken over by India'. In 1950 China occupied Tibet. India did not protest. There was a curious mix of the word Suzerainty and Soveraigninty regarding the status of Tibet under China. Subsequently, China invaded Tibet and usurped it. India did not protest. Dalai Lama sought refuge in India and was granted the same. This was not liked by China.

     After independence India took its borders for granted and never tried to strengthen these by citing posts on borders as laid down by the British. Nehru, much against his advice to the Burmese President, was also shy of discussing borders with Chinese counterparts, lest the Chinese are mistaken that India is not sure of its borders. China never treated India as equal. They ran propaganda to brand India as a friend of Imperialist countries. China built a road through Aksai Chin in 1956. India did not protest. After Chinese activities increased further and things got escalated by 1959, India protested and cited Aksai Chin Road as an example of encroachment into Indian territory. However, China noted India's silence, when the road was being made, as tacit approval of Aksai Chin as lying with China. 

    The Incident of Kongka La happened in 1956 when 10 Indian border policemen, on patrol,  were killed by the Chinese. The Indian Government was caught napping. Nehru had to face irate parliamentarians. He tried justifying it perceptional differences in line of border between India and China. (Almost the same thing happened after the Galwan clashes in June 2020).  Zhu Enlai visited India in 1960 and offered to discuss border issues. He assured to treat the McMohan line as a permanent border provided complete Aksi Chin is given to China as per their claims. Nehru did not agree with that. Subsequently, China escalated its activities culminating in the 1962 war. 

    The book is highly readable dotted with detailed notes on the events at the diplomatic and Government level. The book is very well laid out with various chapters taking on events one by one simultaneously at the National as well as international levels. It has 316 pages and can be easily read over a few days. Overall worth a read especially in the present context of tensions on Indo-China borders. One can easily find many similarities between the mistakes committed by Nehru as well as the present Government. Seems that we have never learned lessons from our History.  

 

 

Death Script

     Death Script by Ashutosh Bharadwaj is a journalist's journey in Maoist / Naxal affected areas of India. Ashutosh Bharadwaj is a well known journalist and fiction writer. He worked for nine years from 2011 to 2019 in Naxal affected areas. During the journey he has met men and women from both sides of the conflict.

    He has travelled through Bastar, Abhujhmadh Dandkarnya and adjoining areas of Maharashtra, Telengana, Madhya Pardesh and Odissa. He spent about four weeks with Maoists travelling and living in their camps.  He bring out the pain of common citizens very vividly for sufferings caused to them from security forces, Maoists and encroachment of their jungles by big industrial houses. Encounter killings of civilians in crossfire, through mistaken identity, punishment for being alleged police informers by Maoists have been brought out very poignantly.   

        Ashutosh Bharadwaj, being a fiction writer as well, has written this book in a unique style. He has met Naxals, Maoists, Salva Jadum leader Mahendra Karma and his family (after his killing by Maoists), police officers, Army officers (Brig Pawar) , alleged Maoist leaders living in cities, Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife, both Ramon Magsaysay award winners and of course common men ie tribals living in insurgency affected areas. As per the data till 2020, a total of 4337 people have been killed in this violence; bulk of them 1669 being civilians and Maoists and security forces in equal proportion. That brings about the stark fact that biggest sufferers are commoners who have been widely covered in the book. The author has travelled in inaccessible areas, on foot, on cycle , motorcycle and lived in the far flung villages to get to the truth. 

The areas covered by the author 

       The Maoists hardly use letest communication devices . Their communication, surprisingly, takes place through letters that are hand delivered by messengers. The Maoists follow strict disciplinarian code. Women cadre undergo vasectomy. Police informers and surrendered cadres are given death punishments though Kangaroo courts. There many such facets of insurgents that come out in the book. Death stares in  almost each chapter of the book. Thus the name “Death Script” . 

        His reporting  in those years got him prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for Journalism for consecutive four years from 2012 to 2015. That speaks volumes of his work . Overall it is a very interesting book and should be read by those who mant to get first hand knowledge of the Maoist problem.

The Battle of Belonging

     The Battle of Belonging written by acclaimed author Shashi Tharoor is a book that is relevant to India's current political and social environment. It is 408 pages long and covers wide-ranging issues of Nationalism, Patriotism, Religion, and related subjects. 

    The book is divided into six sections. Each section has chapters dealing with the theme topics of the section. There are 38 chapters. In the first section, Shashi Tharoor discusses the idea of Nationalism and defines it in greater detail by giving thoughts of various thinkers on Nationalism vs Patriotism. In the next section, he tries to fit the template of Nationalism into the idea of India. In the third chapter, he discusses Hindutva idea of India and explains the faultlines of the same. In the Fourth Chapter the 'ongoing battle of belonging' is discussed in the context of incidents like polarisation, jingoism, the assertion of right-wing ideology, etiolation of Democratic Institutions, Assertion of Hindi, NCR and CAA, Bigotry, and mandir in Ayodhya. The next chapter deals with the Nationhood with the reaffirmation of Civic Nationism and Patriotism. In the last chapter, he outlines action to reclaim the soul of India. 

    The book is dotted with many live examples of dilemmas of Nationalism. Shashi Tharoor was born in England and had all the right to get settled in England as a born British subject. Yet he chose to live in India despite working for many years abroad. He preferred to continue to hold on Indian Passport whereas he could have easily obtained a British Passport. The dilemma of Danish Kaneria of Pakistan not being considered a true Muslim; Omar Bakhat of UNO, born in Eritrea, moved to Sweden did not appear to be Swedish; the dilemma of Serbians ; Ansar Hussain Khan who was born in a Muslim family in Calcutta, moved in 1948 to Pakistan and while working for Pakistan in UNO applied for Indian Citizenship and got it, but he became an outcast for friends in Pakistan and died as a broken man in Geneva. Discussing the difference between Patriotism and Nationalism he quotes French leader Charles De Gaulle, "Patriotism is when the love of your country comes first; nationalism, when hate for people others than your own country comes first". 

    He describes his own Nationalism as ' Civic Nationalism' which is a hybrid of good Nationalism and patriotism that rests on the institutional and constitutional pillars. Talking about the dilemma of Nationalism he gives an example of Talitha Kohona, born in Sri Lanka, who migrated to Australia, and worked in the UN for Australia but while watching a cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia could not help to cheer for Sri Lanka. He later reverse-migrated to Sri Lanka and again got posted at the UN as permanent representative of Sri Lanka. Such support for various sports teams is common in the case of NRIs who cheer for India rather than the country where they mad migrated to. UK politician Norman Tebbit questioned the 'Patriotism' of such NRIs. 

    Words of Lala Lajpat Rai are worth reading where debating Nationalism he says, "Honest differences, controversial discussions, and criticism of public men by public men, are absolutely necessary for healthy growth of nationality. It is wrong to suppose that idea of Nationism requires complete freedom from sectarian quarrels or disputes."

    The author devotes the latter part of the book to the present atmosphere of surcharged jingoism, Islamophobia, and increasing polarisation in the society on religion and caste lines. He warns against tempering with constitution and subversion of democratic institutions, declining ethos and media standards, and pliant judiciary, and misuse of social media platforms to spread misinformation. In the last section, he gives out action plan to counter ethnic nationalism propagated by BJP Government of Narender Modi rather Modi-fication of India. He looks up to India which respects all religions, faiths, beliefs, regions, castes, and classes of all individual citizens. He says that this idea of India is under threat from those who seek not just to rule but to change India's very heart and soul into something it was never meant to be. Our patriotism must be anchored in unity, promote inclusion, and upliftment of the downtrodden. It must celebrate a sense of belonging and not hostility towards others. It should be Nationalism of hope,  not fear. He gives the example of an Australian Dr. David Baker who taught in St Stephens College, Delhi, and fought hard to get Indian Citizenship. 

    The book must be read by all citizens who love our country. The book is well researched and draws heavily from various sources that are quoted to prove the point.