Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mughal emperor, the leader of the 1857 insurrection against angrez
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emperor, the leader of their insurrection against the world's mightiest
empire.
The revolt was "expressed unequivocally" as a war of religion as the
rebels -- Muslims and Hindus alike -- believed the British were threatening
their faith, said Dalrymple, who has written a string of best-sellers about
pre-independence India and who makes his home in New Delhi.
Indian 'war of independence' a turning point for subcontinent
AFP, New Delhi
The 17th-century Red Fort in Old Delhi with its pockmarked stonework
and peeling paint betrays only a glimpse of its former splendour as the seat
of the sprawling Mughal Empire.
That world with its blend of Hindu and Muslim influences and poetry
and art was finally brought crashing down with India's bloody 1857 "War of
Independence", whose 150th anniversary the country celebrates on Friday.
"Everything changed after 1857," said British author and historian
William Dalrymple whose latest book, "The Last Mughal: The Fall of a
Dynasty," traces the history of the bloody uprising and its brutal
repression by the British.
"The British East India's Company's rule of the subcontinent ended,
the Mughal emperor was dumped and (British Prime Minister) Benjamin Disraeli
went to Queen Victoria and asked her if she wanted to be empress of India,"
he said.
"It marked the start of the British Raj," Dalrymple told AFP in an
interview.
The revolt, in which Indian soldiers rose up against the East India
Company, the commercial venture of merchants that ruled India, was spurred
by reports that the British were introducing bullets greased with cow and
pig fat -- unacceptable for religious reasons to Hindus and Muslims
respectively.
Hundreds of mutinous foot soldiers, or sepoys, of the East India
Company rode into the great Mughal capital of Delhi, massacring British men,
women and children indiscriminately.
They declared Bahadur Shah Zafar, the frail 82-year-old Mughal
emperor, the leader of their insurrection against the world's mightiest
empire.
The revolt was "expressed unequivocally" as a war of religion as the
rebels -- Muslims and Hindus alike -- believed the British were threatening
their faith, said Dalrymple, who has written a string of best-sellers about
pre-independence India and who makes his home in New Delhi.
nkdat...@bigmailbox.net
> Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mughal emperor, the leader of the 1857 insurrection against angrez
Nawab Siraj-ud-Dowla Weeps In His Grave For Quarter Million Biharis
Holed Up In Bangladesh's Internment Camps For 3 Dozen
Years ..... .....
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/08/05/d608051505125.htm
Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Saturday, August 5, 2006
Agonies of stranded Pakistanis
By Abu Imran
Biharis or the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh have been living a
miserable life in various campus for the last 34 years. Their number
is estimated to be around 3 lakh. Among them the old and the children
suffer the most. But it is unfortunate that their cause has been
ignored. It is true that the onus lies with Pakistan since the prime
reason for their suffering is that they supported the cause of
Pakistan during the liberation war in 1971. And as such it is the
responsibility of Pakistan to take them. Perhaps in the above
consideration over one lakh people were officially repatriated during
1973-74 with the understanding that more people would be taken as
could be understood from observation of ZA Bhutto. The observation
said "If some of them come, say two, three and four hundred thousand,
then that would be better" (Hindustan Standard early 1972 or 1973. I
am sorry, I forgot the exact date).
The spirit and commitment of the above observation was that Bhutto
could take around 4 lakh people. But the persons repatriated were far
short of the above figure. It was just over a lakh only. But Bhutto
ignored his own commitment and stopped the repatriation process
abruptly in 1974. The subsequent leaders like Ziaul Haque, Benazir
Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, all ignored the problem of the stranded
Pakistanis although they deserved the consideration most. It was
possible the leadership mentioned above ignored the problem because of
their Punjabi and Sind origin and hence failed to appreciate the
problem relating to the Biharis.
Now perhaps is the appropriate time because the leadership belongs to
the Mohajirs or the immigrants. President Pervez Musharraf is of
Indian origin, so is the Prime Minister. Besides them there are scores
of parliamentarians belonging to MQM representing the Mohajirs or the
persons of Indian origin like the stranded Pakistanis. On top of the
above, the Sind Home Minister, Mr Rouf Siddiqui and the MQM leader
stationed in London are Mohajirs. It is expected that the cause of the
stranded Pakistanis now could be well served. This is because being
Mohajirs, they would better understand the pangs and sufferings of the
unfortunate stranded Pakistanis better. It is now the duty of the
Mohajir leadership to be active and press upon the Govt. of Pakistan
to arrange for their earliest repatriation.
It is likely that both the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan have
forgotten the issue but not the international community and the human
rights groups. The international community also has the responsibility
to put moral pressure on Govt of Pakistan like what Mr Kuldip Nayar,
the eminent Indian columnist did. In his recent article captioned
"Dhaka is looking up," (The Daily Star dt. 16.07.06), he observed, "In
the meanwhile, Islamabad would do well to repatriate some three lakh
Biharis, the stranded Pakistanis, who have been living in Bangladesh
for the last 34 years in deplorable physical and psychological
conditions."
In line with above, pressure from international community perhaps may
help to cut the ice and the distressed stranded Pakistanis' problem
could be solved.