Chapter 5   Pakistan - an artificial unit   We shall now look at the history of Pakistan. The so-called nation of Pakistan, which was created in 1947, claimed to be a homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent. The Muslims were supposed to be a different nation with the religion of Islam as the psychological binding factor. All proponents of Pakistan have claimed that Pakistan is bound by Islam and was in fact, created to bring the Muslims of the subcontinent together into a strong and viable Islamic group; in other words, the claim is that Islam was the cementing factor of Pakistan. It can be shown that this is not true and is actually, a falsehood and fraud, which the

Chapter 9   The Hindu-Muslim problem and its solution   But with the advent and conquest of India by the Muslims, there came a rift both in the religious and social fields and consequently in the political field. We shall not go in detail into this aspect, since it has already been discussed in the first part of the book; but what is of importance and relevance to the present situation is to find out how this rift can be removed and a sound unity established. It has to be clearly understood and stressed that most of the problems of modern India - whether it be the creation of Pakistan and the subsequent tensions in our relationship, the Kashmir problem, the Ayodhya p

Chapter 5   Civilian rule in Pakistan and the role of the Army   After the death of Zia, there was civilian rule for 11 years. This period was one of the most corrupt in Pakistan's history as the two leading politicians, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, vied with each other for political control and were twice elected to office. Benazir doled out political franchises to the minor thug-rulers, including convicted murderers. She sanctioned corruption by refusing to act against, or even investigate, senior ministers and allies accused of stealing from the state. During his second tenure, Sharif was in power with an absolute majority in the National Assembly. He successfully f

Chapter 2   The advent of the Muslims   Later, however, sometime in the middle of the eighth century when the empires in India had grown weak, the regional spirit reawoke in separatist movements, disintegrating the unity or breaking down its large extension over most of the North. It left behind a certain number of great kingdoms in the east, south and centre and a more confused mass of peoples in the northwest. This was the weak point at which the Muslims broke in and rebuilt within a brief period another empire in the north of India; but this empire was not of the Indian type, it was an empire of the Central Asiatic type.   This was the beginning of the second p

The First Revolts - Part 2   From 1844 onwards, the resistance to British supremacy manifested in the South in Madras Presidency at the political as well as social and religious levels. Of course this resistance was fitful. It was also moderate. Nevertheless, it was present. Newspapers and organizations like The Crescent, the Madras Native Association, The Hindu and the Madras Mahajana Sabha played a seminal role in rousing public consciousness among the commercial and professional elite of the Presidency even in the 19th century. Their founders were the pioneers of nationalism in South India.   The Crescent was a journal founded in 1844 by the Hindu lea

VEERAPANDYA KATTABOMMAN   It is often believed that the National Movement was more subdued in the South than in other parts of India. However, this mildness and moderation cannot belie the fact that the seeds of the National Movement first sprouted on the soil of the South. The Indian resistance to the advent of the British as a political power on the soil of India starts well before the Indian Mutiny (1857), by more than half a century: Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Poligar of Panchalankurichi (in Tinnevelly), was the first Indian hero to reject the British claims of suzerainty in India, refuse to pay tribute to them, defy their injunctions, confront them on

The First Revolts - Part I   India's struggle for freedom has been a long-drawn-out battle. Though it actually began in the second half of the 19th century, isolated attempts were made in various parts of the country to bring the British rule in India to an end about a century earlier. The real power in northern India passed into the hands of the British in 1757. The loss of independence provided the motive force for the struggle for freedom and Indians in different parts of the country began their efforts to throw off the yoke of the alien rulers. It took over 100 years for the struggle to gain full momentum. Very seldom, however, during this period (1757-1857)

The Lessons of the Freedom Movement   This book has presented some of the salient and important contributions of South India to the Freedom Movement. It does not claim to be a comprehensive and detailed narration of the events and personalities involved in the Freedom Movement; yet it gives an overall picture of the role of the South. However, it must always be remembered that this kind of regional approach - though very useful in its own way - must always be seen within the larger national framework, for no event or personal contribution can be seen in isolation. They all form part of the larger panorama. And that is because man is not an isolated being se

The Sepoy Mutiny and South India   The Background   For more than 150 years the East India Company (John Company) had raised its own armed forces. The three administrative areas of India, the Presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Bengal, each maintained their own army with its own commander-in-chief. The commander-in-Chief of Bengal was regarded as the senior officer of the three. These armies were paid for entirely out of the Company's Indian revenues and together were larger than the British Army itself. All the officers were British and trained at the Company's military academy in England. There were a few regiments of European infantry but t

Introduction   This book presents the story of the freedom struggle that developed in South India and the ideals that inspired the national struggle for freedom in South India.   The presentation has two aspects; one, dealing with the events and incidents in which the freedom fighters were involved and two, the ideals and values that inspired the freedom fighters. The first represents the external side of the movement and the second the inner and deeper part.   It is evident that the inner part is more important as it portrays the lasting and abiding values and ideals that led and inspired this movement.   We shall therefore first trace a