Chapter 6   The advent of Gandhi   In the next phase, it was Gandhi who dominated the scene. From the time that Gandhi entered politics, the Congress was only an expression and mouthpiece of the ideas and principles of Gandhi.   This period is of great importance in the history of India as it gave a new direction to Indian politics; whether this direction was the right one is debatable and the battle regarding this is still going on. What is needed now is clarity of vision and understanding that will help in putting the right values in the right perspective of the Indian background and thus prepare for the future evolution of India. But before we come to that sta

Chapter 3   Brief history of the unification of Germany   After the Second World War, the German nation was broken up into two parts, East Germany and West Germany. The eastern part was under the Communist influence of the Soviet Union and the western part was under the influence of the Western world. But despite these ideological differences and the Cold War, the internal oneness that was the foundation of the German nation always remained and finally proved stronger. The Berlin Wall was pulled down and the German nation once again became united.   Upon its surrender to the allied forces on May 8, 1945, the U.S., Britain, F

Chapter 4   Military Rule in Pakistan   Recurrent Military Rule   The task of presiding over the destruction of his country was left to Yahya. Interestingly, at Pakistan's birth in 1947, General Yahya Khan, then a Major, had commented that the day of independence "should be a day of mourning. As a united country, India and Pakistan could have been a strong and powerful nation". But in 1969, it was a different Yayha Khan; now, he justified the military takeover. He declared, "strikes and violence have become a daily routine and the country has been driven to the edge of an abyss. The nation has to be pulled back to safety and normal conditions

Chapter 13   Summary and Conclusion   Before we close, let us make a recapitulation of the points discussed in the book.   First, India has been culturally and spiritually a nation from the most ancient times; the Vedic Rishis made it one their fundamental tasks to create this spiritual unity. However, despite the cultural and spiritual unity, political unity was not attained for a sufficiently durable time despite many heroic attempts. We have analyzed the reasons for this failure and come to the following conclusions. The chief reason of the failure was the excess of the centralizing tendency, which came inevitably with the formation of empires. It subconsc

Book 2   The Solution   Chapter 1   Introduction   In this part of the book, we shall try to suggest some lines along which a solution to the problem of Indian political unity may be brought about. It has to be clearly understood that when we speak of the political unity of India, we mean the unity of the whole subcontinent and not just the unity of India and Pakistan. The question whether the unity will take the form of a federation or a confederation depends on circumstances and is not of paramount importance. But the creation of this unity is of great importance not only for India, but also for the whole world. In fact, one might go so

Chapter 5   The British policy of divide and rule   Let us see how the British viewed the situation after 1857.   The British realized that if the Hindus and Muslims came together as they did in the Sepoy Mutiny, it would be difficult for them to continue to rule India. There was a reversal of British policy.   The policy of divide and rule was initiated. The first step in this process was the propping up of Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who in his early life was a liberal, had a broad-minded approach to communal relations. He even remarked: "Hindus and Muslims are the two eyes of India. Injure the one and you injure the other". But soon he change

Chapter 8   Factors leading to unity in the subcontinent   In this part of the book, we shall identify the factors that lead to unity in the subcontinent. Many indeed are the elements that have fostered the unity of India. These may be enumerated as: geography, economy, culture, religion and spirituality.   However in order to create a durable unity, we must find out not only the points which help in uniting the people but also those that obstruct unity. In other words, we have to identify the centripetal and the centrifugal forces that are at work in the nation. Before we come to that, let us try to observe and understand the general principles that Natur

Chapter 12   The Armed Forces in India   We have today in India a fine and living example of this national and secular approach in the Armed Forces. It will, therefore, not be out of place to make a study of their working. For indeed, they represent a fine example of unity in diversity, secularism and patriotism. Not only have they a magnificent record of bravery, valour and selfless service but also and, far more important, they have been one of the chief instruments in keeping the unity and integrity of the country intact. What are the factors that have made such a record possible? We shall bring out some of the significant ones.   • The jawan and the of

Manekshaw interview on Kashmir   Sam Manekshaw, the first field marshal in the Indian army, was at the ringside of events when Independent India was being formed. Then a colonel, he was chosen to accompany V P Menon on his historic mission to Kashmir. This is his version of that journey and its aftermath, as recorded in an interview with Prem Shankar Jha.   At about 2.30 in the afternoon, General Sir Roy Bucher walked into my room and said, 'Eh, you, go and pick up your toothbrush. You are going to Srinagar with V P Menon. The flight will take off at about 4 o'clock'. I said, 'why me, sir?'   'Because we are worried about the military

Chapter 3   The Islamic Invasion of India   As stated earlier, Islam, soon after its birth in Mecca and Medina, began to conquer the nations in Africa and the Western part of Asia; and quite inevitably, it was then the turn of India and the invasions began in the eighth century. In the eighth century A.D., there began a series of invasions, which had a profound and lasting effect on India. These were the invasions of the Muslims, first through the Arabian Sea into Sind and later, by the Turks through the passes on the northwest of India. These invasions came through the northwestern passes, the Khyber Pass and the Bolan Pass. This was the beginning of the Mohammedan conque