Rise and Kill First

 Excellent book. Worth a read. Gives out all the major operations undertaken by Israel. It also includes many setbacks suffered by them. 

The Vortex by Scott Carney and Jason Miklian

 

A book worth a read. Candy Rhode and Jon Rhode. Excellent book. Two stories run in parallel. One of Mukti Bahini worker and another of NGO working for refugees and poor of Bangla Desh. 

Punjab : from the perspective of a Punjabi Hindu

Punjab from the perspective of a Punjabi Hindu is written by prominent journalist Vinayak Dutt. I wanted to read this book and was able to lay my hand on the book recently, though it was published in 2023. I thought it was a very interesting book. And the author starts the book very well. The first chapter of the book that got my attention was on the Lahore Darbar, where the contribution of very prominent Hindu generals and luminaries in Durbar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh is amply brought out. Most notable among them were Diwan Dinanath, Diwan Mohkam Chand, Diwan Moti Ram and his sons Misar Diwan Chand,  Misr Beli Ram,  Diwan Savan Mal,  Deewana Mul Raj, Pandit Mahan Singh,  Diwan Gangaram, Diwan Ayodhya Prasad, and Dogra Hindus. Misr Beli Ram was the treasurer and did his job with extreme honesty and integrity. He would not let anyone inspect or have a glance at Toshakhana without the explicit orders of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He famously denied the gifting of the Kohinoor diamond to Jagannath Puri, declaring that the diamond was not the property of the Maharaja but that of the state. 

In the next chapter, on the Building of Modern Punjab, the role of prominent Hindu personalities is very well brought out. Notable among them are Sir Ganga Ram,  Lala Ruchi Ram Sahni,  Pandit Sharda Ram Falouri,  Sir Chhotu Ram,  Sir Manohar Lal,  Lala Hari Krishna Lal,  Sir Gokul Chand Narng,  Bhai Parmanand, Sukhdev Thapar, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Madan Lal Dhingra. Coming to the role of Punjabi Hindus in Punjabi Cinema and Literature, Raj Babbar, Balraj Sahni,  Mehar Mittal, Nandlal Nurpuri,  Lala Dhani Ram Chatrik,  Balwant Gargi, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Satish Gujaral,  Ram Swaroop Ankhi, and  Sant Ram Udasi are only covered. However, there are many more who made significant contributions to the Punjabi culture. 

Subsequent chapters in the book are mere commentary on the Punjab politics up to the AAP Government days. The author could have given the perspective of Punjabi Hindus during the Punjabi Suba Movement and during the days of Operation Blue Star in 1984, and the period of insurgency after that. The role of newspapers and media run by Hindu media groups like Hind Samachar Group and others could have been brought out. He could have covered the role of prominent Hindu Politicians, Industrialists, farmers, Academicians, and many other Hindu personalities in various other walks of life. 

However, the book is good for a person interested in the History and Politics of Punjab. 

An Ordinary Life

 

An Ordinary Life : Portrait of an Indian Generation by Ashok Lavasa is the life story of his father who was an unbelievingly honest and scrupulously honest man. 

The Disputer

 

    The Disrupter: How VP Singh Shook India by Debashish Mukarji is an official autobiography of VP Singh who was PM of India from 2 December 1989 to 10 November 1990. 

Chicken Soup for the Armed Forces Soul

 

    The famous Chicken Soup for the Soul, in partnership with Raksha Bharadia has compiled this book which contains stories by and of Indian Soldiers and their kind. Several heartwarming stories in the book show the humane angle of soldiering. 

Mullah Omar

        Mullah Omar and the Unknown Taliban by Bette Dam, a Dutch journalist, is a very well-researched book. The author has traveled far and wide in Afghanistan to carry out research about the life of Mullah Omar, about whom very little is known. After the downfall of Taliban, post 9/11, Mullah Omar vanished into thin air. 

    Bette Dam is a famous journalist from the Netherlands. She first came to Afghanistan as an embedded journalist from her country. She carried out her assignment while being with the troops from Holland when the Mohammad Karzai Government was installed in Afghanistan. The Taliban were on the run and being hounded by allied troops. 

        She became interested in the Taliban and later on, came to Afghanistan on her own, carried out her task independently with the help of people from Afghanistan. During her first visit to Afghanistan, she stayed with the troops of her country and heard them taking on the Taliban, but, she was not allowed to go out and carry out independent investgation about the situation.  She got fed up and she wanted to get a clear picture, which was not possible while being with the troops from her country. Thereafter she again came back to Afghanistan and  stayed in civil area.  By the time Taliban were gone. She was interested in the top Taliban, Mulla Omar and very little was known about him.  She carried out research about Mulla Omar and started her journey from the village of Mulla Omar, where he was born. Mulla Omar was a normal child. He took to learning the Quran and acquired the title of Mulla. He got bloodied in a fight with Russian troops in Afghanistan and lost his eye when hit with shrapnel during a bombardment on his village mosque. Later, he became a fierce fighter and got the nickname of 'Rockety' because of was good at firing rockets. Post withdrawal of Russia, he got the upper hand when he freed his area from Afghan Warlords who had put up posts to collect taxes from the general public in the area around Kandahar. 

    Later, he became the head of the Taliban but continued to head the country from Kandahar. It appears that he was not in full control. He was wary of Pakistan and also an uninvited guest, Osama Bin Laden. Post 9/11, and after his defeat, he went into hiding. He spent his last years in a place close to an American Base in anonymity and mostly hiding for 12 long years. He was buried in an unmarked grave. 

    It is a very interesting book and gives a rare insight into the lesser-known life of Mullah Omar.