The Great Indian Tamasha

I am currently reading "Freedom at Midnight" by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. It is an account of the last days of the "Raj" as viewed by the Last Viceroy of India. The chapter that really moved me to the core was the one where the days leading up to partition is described, especially in the context of Bengal and Punjab. These provinces were the most affected due to partition, with millions of people forced to migrate across both sides of the border, leaving behind their life-long earnings and losing their loved ones at the altar of wanton communal frenzy that gripped these provinces as the date of Independence approached and the boundary award was to be declared. An atmosphere of fear, anxiety and mistrust reigned in the cities of Lahore and Calcutta which along with Delhi signified the imperial dream that was British India. As the date of Independence approached, things began to unravel and the administration was on the verge of collapse. In orde...

Ever since Article 370 was declared null and void in Parliament, the debate on the past, present and future of Kashmir rages on unabated with most of them being ill-informed, jingoistic or hypocritical in nature, be it the Indian Government, the Pakistani establishment or the Kashmiri Leadership. Let us start with India itself and the claim of the current dispensation that Article 370 was the biggest stumbling block in the integration of Kashmir with India and was responsible for all the unrest, hence had to be abolished. Firstly, if Article 370 was such a stumbling block in the process of National integration then article 371 should also be treated similarly. Article 371, also has special provisions for other States, mostly from the Northeast, aimed at preserving their unique culture, much like the logic behind J&K. Why then Article 371 is continuing? Or could it be that national integration is more about integrating people than integrating plots of land...

In most countries across the world, a residence record spanning nearly 50 years, a record of service to the society in various capacities such as being a veteran, regular tax filing for decades, law-abiding behaviour etc. should be more than enough to prove citizenship, NOT in India though. A career soldier , a serving doctor , a mother who is deemed an Indian citizen but her daughters are not , a brother whose real brother is a citizen but he is an illegal immigrant , a sitting member of Legislative Assembly  in Assam excluded and even an ex President's family being omitted are some of the stories emanating from the unending human tragedy that is the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam. Authorities in the northeastern state of Assam have published a citizenship list that aims to identify genuine citizens and seeks to exclude "Bangladeshi immigrants". "Bangladeshi immigrants" are defined as all those who are unable to provide documentary ...