Happy Independence day ?
Yet another independence day comes and I already see the Indian tricolour as profile pictures and DPs on social media. I appreciate my compatriots' patriotism (or whatever they believe it is), but I can't help but wonder how many of these people know their history. Let's straighten out a few things about our crooked and biased history.
Contrary to popular belief, the revolt of 1857 is NOT India's first war of independence:
The Rebellion was nothing but a dogfight between different religions, castes and races. It was a time when:
- Hindu and Muslim soldiers feared mass conversion to Christianity.
- The "so-called" lower and upper castes fought each other for dominance.
- Indian officers fumed over East India company's negligence of seniority and discrimination based on race when it came to offering ranks.
Not to mention the part cows and pigs played in the uprising.
In fact, this dogfight was not even the first unrest against the pillaging East India company. In 1806, fifty-one years before the rebellion, soldiers broke into a mutiny at Vellore almost for the same reasons. They were forbidden from wearing any religious symbols when on duty.
Though we would like to believe that Mangal Pandey was a freedom fighter, he was not:
Then who was he? A devout Hindu, a mindless fundamentalist and a disobedient servant. That's what he was.
Before him, tens of South-Indian chieftains fought the English East India company when it unlawfully claimed sovereignty over their territory and imposed taxes. Puli Thevan was the first man to oppose the British in 1755. After Puli Thevan, many chieftains including Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Marudhu Pandiyar, Velu Nachiar, Dheeran Chinnamalai, and a few kings including Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali stood unyielding. However, they have all been written out of history because the idiotic historians were either simply blind or racialists.
Indian National Congress' objective was not independence. It was power:
INC was merely an organisation founded by the then "Educated Indians" to fight for their right to appear in civil services exam. Briefly, under the leadership of some selfless men, it acted as a political organisation that opposed British rule. But once Gandhi and Nehru took control of it, it turned into a power-greedy-political-dynasty that it is today.
Gandhi did not get us freedom. He simply benefited by staying alive. If someone must be given credit for India's independence, its Hitler:
Men came, they fought and they died. Thousands of our country men were slain. Gandhi saw the Jallianwala Bagh massacre happen, he let Chauri Chaura happen, and he let the bifurcation happen. In return, all he did was fast.
I believe that it is his notion of non-violence that turned us Indians cowards. Instead of instilling courage into our hearts, it has instead instilled negligence. We(with I before you) are culpable for the sad state of our country for we stand up against the wrong no more. Protests and hunger-strikes drain the common man, but not the corrupt's wallet.
He showed the way and we turned timid. And now, it is our way of life.
Gandhi was compassionate, but father of the nation? That's something even he wouldn't agree with.
We are not free. We were a British colony. then we became an Italian colony. Now we are an American colony, trying to impersonate their way of life. We have always been a monarchy and never a democracy.
Yet after knowing the truth, if I wish you a happy Independence day, it could only be because I hope that it will bring back the fond memories of going to school on a holiday, hoisting the flag, singing the song and grabbing the candy !
To me, the independence day will simply be another holiday till every last Indian becomes free.
Contrary to popular belief, the revolt of 1857 is NOT India's first war of independence:
The Rebellion was nothing but a dogfight between different religions, castes and races. It was a time when:
- Hindu and Muslim soldiers feared mass conversion to Christianity.
- The "so-called" lower and upper castes fought each other for dominance.
- Indian officers fumed over East India company's negligence of seniority and discrimination based on race when it came to offering ranks.
Not to mention the part cows and pigs played in the uprising.
In fact, this dogfight was not even the first unrest against the pillaging East India company. In 1806, fifty-one years before the rebellion, soldiers broke into a mutiny at Vellore almost for the same reasons. They were forbidden from wearing any religious symbols when on duty.
Though we would like to believe that Mangal Pandey was a freedom fighter, he was not:
Then who was he? A devout Hindu, a mindless fundamentalist and a disobedient servant. That's what he was.
Before him, tens of South-Indian chieftains fought the English East India company when it unlawfully claimed sovereignty over their territory and imposed taxes. Puli Thevan was the first man to oppose the British in 1755. After Puli Thevan, many chieftains including Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Marudhu Pandiyar, Velu Nachiar, Dheeran Chinnamalai, and a few kings including Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali stood unyielding. However, they have all been written out of history because the idiotic historians were either simply blind or racialists.
Indian National Congress' objective was not independence. It was power:
INC was merely an organisation founded by the then "Educated Indians" to fight for their right to appear in civil services exam. Briefly, under the leadership of some selfless men, it acted as a political organisation that opposed British rule. But once Gandhi and Nehru took control of it, it turned into a power-greedy-political-dynasty that it is today.
Gandhi did not get us freedom. He simply benefited by staying alive. If someone must be given credit for India's independence, its Hitler:
Men came, they fought and they died. Thousands of our country men were slain. Gandhi saw the Jallianwala Bagh massacre happen, he let Chauri Chaura happen, and he let the bifurcation happen. In return, all he did was fast.
I believe that it is his notion of non-violence that turned us Indians cowards. Instead of instilling courage into our hearts, it has instead instilled negligence. We(with I before you) are culpable for the sad state of our country for we stand up against the wrong no more. Protests and hunger-strikes drain the common man, but not the corrupt's wallet.
He showed the way and we turned timid. And now, it is our way of life.
Gandhi was compassionate, but father of the nation? That's something even he wouldn't agree with.
We are not free. We were a British colony. then we became an Italian colony. Now we are an American colony, trying to impersonate their way of life. We have always been a monarchy and never a democracy.
Yet after knowing the truth, if I wish you a happy Independence day, it could only be because I hope that it will bring back the fond memories of going to school on a holiday, hoisting the flag, singing the song and grabbing the candy !
To me, the independence day will simply be another holiday till every last Indian becomes free.
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