Viceroy's Heart and not House!

I watched Viceroy's House, a movie about India-Pak partition. Some of the details shared in the movie wasn't part of our history text books, but convinces you of the capitalistic intent for the partition. Yes, history is written by victors.

We rarely hear good things about Viceroy Mountbatten and his wife Lady Edwina, but movie shows them in a completely different light. Yes, movie showed the Viceroy's Heart more than his house.

Mountbatten is forced to implement a divisive solution and engages in a showdown with Radcliffe, whose line is supposed to have partitioned the two nations. While Lady Edwina ensured people in refugee camps were fed and medical services were provided to elderly and children. 

In all a million people died and it is the largest migration (14million) in the history of mankind. 70 years have gone by, the wound is far from healed and we continue to inflict more on each other. Just a loud thought, what would have happened had Jinnah been assassinated instead of Gandhi? Could we have avoided the partition? Did you know the they Hindu-Muslim conflict was planned to keep India's Soviet leanings under check. Watch the movie to find out by whom and for what.

The New-age Tughlaqs

We’ve all heard history repeats, but do we know imbeciles are also reborn? Before I talk about the current crop of imbeciles, let me remind you of one of India’s famous emperor (pun intended!) Muhammad Bin Tughlaq who ruled Northern part and Deccan region from 1325 to 1351 AD.

 

Now let’s come to the new-age Sultans who are presently governing the USA and India and bear an uncanny resemblance to each other and the famous Tughlaq. 

1. Both Trump and Modi belong to the far right parties who are conservatives, who treat their wives like slaves, impose sanctions on abortions, oppose LGBT community and incite violence along caste (Hindu-Muslim) and racial lines (White Supremascist-Blacks).
2. One says Make in India and the other says Make America Great Again!
3. Rather than building on the foundation laid by their predecessors, Modi disbanded Planning Commission, while Trump took down global warming related content from EPA website and also pulled out of Paris Climate accord.
4. Both of carry a long list of controversial appointments and sacking of those who disagreed with them. Modi started with State Governors to RBI Governor, Vice Chancellor (Nalanda University), Foreign Secretary, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief, TRAI Chairperson and Supreme Court Judges. While Trump on the other side made controversial appointments including his son, daughter and son-in-law; CEOs in his manufacturing council quit and a never ending list of those who were asked to step down including Surgeon General, FBI Director, White House Press Secretary.
5. Both these egomaniacs started their election campaign on Twitter and continue to be hyperactive on it. Modi on one hand wishes world leaders on their birthdays and condemn tragedies, but fails to speak up when there is lynching and caste related violence at home. Trump on the other hand openly trolls journalist, celebrities and also announces his policy decisions on Twitter without consulting his team of advisers.
6. Modi’s demonetization and draconian Aadhar and Trump’s ending of Obamacare and visa ban created national panic and widespread wretchedness.
7. Modi spends most of his time visiting countries, while Trump squanders his time at golf courses
8. Finally, Modi’s bear hugs are an amusement to world leaders, while Trump handshakes are national embarrassment.

Now that you’ve seen uncanny resemblance of these new-age Tughlaq’s to one another, let’s remind ourselves of the misery brought about by twenty-five years of Tughlaq’s rule to people and the nation. History remembers Tughlaq a crazy Sultan who killed millions by shifting the capital back and forth from Delhi to Daulatabad, levying agricultural tax in the year of famine and replacing gold and silver coins with copper and crashed flourishing trade and so on.

Don't you know how history will remember these two jokers?