History Archive

That there is today an India to think and talk about - wrote President Rajendra Prasad in his diary 'is very largely due to Sardar Patel's statesmanship and firm administration.

The Muslim League Council proclaimed 16th August 1946 as ‘Direct Action Day’ in order to accentuate their demand for a separate Muslim homeland after the British left the Indian subcontinent. Their main aim was to attain a different country with a Muslim majority.

When was the Direct Action Day: 16th August 1946
Who presided over Direct Action Day: It was initiated by Muslim League and led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
What was the purpose of Direct Action Day: When the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946 failed to find middle ground between INC and Muslim League for a united India as the league wanted a separate homeland for Muslims, Muslim League called for the Direct Action Day

It is believed that after the incident, the dead Hindus were ruthlessly loaded in trucks and transported in the dark of night to the ridge area outside Delhi. Without even checking that some of them may be alive, they were burnt.

Perpetrator: Indian National Congress

Date: 7 November, 1966

Number: Estimated 5000 Hindus massacred

What we are witnessing today is the spectacle of Kerala being turned into a graveyard of historical facts. Distorted and dubious historical narratives—manufactured in a bid to build an even more toxic narrative —are being reinforced and celebrated with scant regard for historical facts and events. The most disturbing and insensitive aspect of the whole exercise is the role played by so-called historians in pushing the fabricated narratives on a people who were hapless victims of one of the worst communal pogroms recorded in the annals of Indian history.

Perpetrator: Islamic militants in (West) Pakistan, Pakistan Military
Year/ Period: 1941-1951
Number: 4.75 Million Hindus (7 Million including Sikhs) killed, forcibly converted to Islam or forced to flee

People of India were disheartened and disillusioned with the way ‘Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’ aka ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ had accepted partition and allowed it to take place in 1947, combined with riots, destruction and unspeakable amount of bloodbath. But, soon after he was shot at by Nathuram Godse at 5:17 PM in the compound of Birla House in New Delhi on 30 January 1948, he was projected as demigod.

Hermann Kallenbach (1871–1945) was a South African architect who was best known for his close association with Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi’s name was Mohandas – Mahatma is an honorific title). Kallenbach was a German-Jewish bodybuilder who moved to South Africa in 1896. He met Gandhi (who was then working as a lawyer in South Africa) in 1904 in a vegetarian restaurant and soon thereafter became the love of his life. In fact, Gandhi left his wife for Kallenbach in 1908.

India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru breathed his last on May 27, 1964. In these 57 years, much has been written and spoken about Nehru’s legacies, ideologies, contributions towards making India a modern and thriving nation, etc. However, there were many controversies surrounding the Congress leader’s political as well as personal life, which have been far less spoken about.

13 अप्रैल, 1919 (वैसाखी के दिन) अमृतसर के जलियांवाला बाग में एक सार्वजनिक सभा की घोषणा हुई। यह स्थान चारों ओर मकानों से घिरा हुआ है और भीतर जाने के लिए केवल एक ही मार्ग है । उस दिन उस सभा में कोई बीस हजार से भी अधिक स्त्री-पुरुष, बच्चे एकत्र हुए थे कि अचानक पंजाब के temporary ब्रिगेडियर जनरल रेजिनल्ड एडवर्ड हैरी डायर ने वहां प्रवेश किया। उसके साथ सौ सशस्त्र हिन्दुस्तानी सिपाही थे और पचास अंग्रेज।

Jawaharlal Nehru may well go down in the history of the country as one of the ablest leaders and endearing personalities. From the demands of Purna Swaraj to spearheading the Indian leadership pre-and post-Independence, his contributions to the Indian cause are legion.