ओमान चा दादा

इतकी वर्ष उलटली तरी आठवते आणि सगळं डोळ्यासमोर काल परवाच झाल्यासारखे वाटते ते मी मस्कत ला गेलो तेव्हाचा आईचा चिंताक्रांत झालेला चेहरा,आईबाबा दोघेही मला विमानतळावर सोडायला आलेले.बाबा होते खमके पण त्यांच्या पण मनात असणारच हा प्रश्न की माझे कसे होईल. मी तसं फार कधी मान्य नाही करत पण घरात शेंडेफळ असल्याकारणाने माझे नेहमीच लाड व्हायचे आई, आजी,बाबा,दादा मग सायली आल्यावर ती पण त्या पंगतीत समाविष्ट.त्यामुळे सगळ्यांची चिंता ही की माझं कसं होणार?

पहिली नोकरी आणि त्यात ती ओमान सारख्या मुस्लिम देशात सगळेच नवीन अनुभव आणि त्याला जोडून असलेली धर्मांतराची भिती. आमच्या घरातील वातावरण तसं पुढारलेलं माझी आजी तर स्वतःच आमच्या बरोबरीने अंडी खाणारी, पण खाणं एकवेळ समजू शकतो पण धर्मांतरण हे माझ्या घरी देखील खपवून घेतलं नसतं कोणी. ही  सगळी चिंता दूर करणारा माझा "ओमान चा दादा - अब्दुल". माझी आणि अब्दुल ची मैत्री तशी कामानिमित्त झाली आणि मग ती वाढत गेली इतकी की मी त्यांच्या घरातील एक सदस्य होऊन गेलो. मी त्याला ओमान चा दादा हे नाव ठेवलेलं फक्त घरीच माहिती आहे, हे त्याला देखील कधी सांगितले नाही. 

अब्दुल मूळचा पाकिस्तानी पण जन्माने ओमानी आहे याचे कारण, एकोणाविसशेसाठच्या दशकाच्या अखेरीस अब्दुलच्या वडिलांची नेमणूक ओमानच्या सुलतानचे प्रमुख सल्लागार म्हणून झाली, आणि काही वर्षांनी ही सगळी लाहोरची पंजाबी बसरा मंडळी ओमानी झाली. सुलतानचे सल्लागार म्हणून देशात नावलौकिक होताच आणि अनेक मोठ्या माणसांशी ओळखी होत्या. (हल्लीच्या भाषेत सांगायचे तर वट होती त्यांची.) हे सगळे असूनदेखील कधीही त्या गोष्टीची घमेंड दिसली नाही, त्या ओळखीचा कधी गैरवापर केलेला माझ्यातरी पाहण्यात नाही. आता कित्येक वर्ष ओमान मध्ये वास्तव्य असून देखील त्यांची सगळ्यांचीच पाकिस्तानशी नाळ जोडलेली आहे, आपल्या संस्कृतीचेच ते वेगळेपण आहे की माणूस कितीही दूर गेला तरी भारतीयता त्याच्यातून जात नाही. काळानुसार थोडे बदल झाले आहेत पण तरी भाषा, रिती, पद्धती या सगळ्या पटकन नाही बदलत. लाहोरशी अजूनही सगळ्याच बसरा मंडळींचा संबंध आहे आणि हा अजून दृढ व्हावा या हेतूने असावे अब्दुलच्या वडिलांनी त्याला लाहोर ला शिकायला ठेवले होते. कॉम्पुटर ग्राफिक्स शिकलेला अब्दुल आणि ज्याला कॉम्पुटर वापरता तर येतो पण त्यातल्या टेक्निकल गोष्टी यत्किंचितही कळत नसलेला असा मी कसे मित्र झालो याचे कारण कळत नाही. 

आमची पहिली भेट Shell च्या कॅन्टीन मधली, टिपिकल ओमानी डिशडाशा घातलेला उंच पंजाबी बांधा असलेला एक माणूस डोळ्याला चष्मा आणि डोक्यावर ओमानी टोपी घातलेला चक्क हिंदीत बोलतोय हे बघून आश्चर्यच वाटले. तसं ओमानी हिंदी बोलतात हे मला नवीन नव्हतं कारण मी रुवीमध्ये (मस्कत मधील एक भाग जिथे माझे वास्तव्य होते) सगळीकडे हिंदीच ऐकले होते, पण ऑफिस मध्ये अजूनतरी  ऐकलं नव्हतं काही ठराविक भारतीय आणि पाकिस्तानी होते पण त्यापलीकडे हिंदी नाही. तसा अब्दुल मला नवीन नव्हता. कामासाठी आमचे बोलणे व्हायचे पण ते इंग्लिश मध्ये, Shell च्या ऑफिस मध्ये ओमानी डिशडाशा आणि हिंदी हे जरा अजब कॉम्बिनेशन वाटलं. इंग्लिश शाळेतून शिकलेला मी पण हिंदी, मराठी म्हणजे कंफर्ट झोन त्यामुळे का कुणास ठाऊक मी त्या अब्दुल वाल्या लंच ग्रुप मध्ये शिरलो. बाकी फरक कितीही असले तरी दोन आवडी एक सारख्या होत्या एक म्हणजे फुटबॉल (टीव्ही समोर पाय पसरून मॅच बघणे) आणि सिनेमा आणि या दोन्ही गोष्टींमध्ये पंजाबी दिलदार पणा खूप अनुभवला. बाकी कशात रस न घेणारा अब्दुल फूटबॉलची मॅच म्हणलं की कधीही तयार मग ते कितीही वाजता, आत्ता कशाला, फर्स्ट हाफ बघू मग मला झोपायचे आहे, ही असली मिळमिळीत कारणं कधीच नाही.

असाच एकदा फूटबॉलची मॅच बघायला गेलेलो असता माझी काकुंची आणि सादिया भाभिंची भेट झाली, त्याआधी अब्दूलने काकूंना माझ्याबद्दल सांगितले होतोच, कारण त्या माझ्यासाठी घरचं जेवण पाठवायच्या. असे लाड नातेवाईक पण करणार नाहीत असे न भेटलेल्या माझ्यासारख्या एका मुलाचे होत होते. पहिल्यांदा भेटल्यावरच काकूंना नमस्कार केला आणि त्यांना म्हणालो की आंटी आपने खाना भेजा था उसकेलिये thankyou तर एकदम त्यांना भरूनच आले. मला म्हणाल्या अब्दुल का दोस्त है तू तो तू भी मेरे बेटे जैसा है. त्या भेटी नंतर माझे त्यांच्याकडे बऱ्याचदा जाणं झालं. नेहमी गेलो की काकूंनी काहीतरी भन्नाट बनवलेलं खायला मी असायचोच. अब्दुलपेक्षा माझेच लाड जास्ती होतायत असे वाटू लागायचे. २०१७ साली जेव्हा आई, बाबा, दादा, सायली आणि स्पृहा मस्कत ला आले होते तेव्हा तर अब्दुलने आणि बाकी बसरा मंडळींनी केलेले आदरातिथ्य सगळ्यांना एक सुखद धक्का देऊन गेलं. घरी सगळ्यांना माहिती होतीच बसरा फॅमिलीची पण स्वतः अनुभव घेतला सगळ्यांनी, काकूंना पण खूप आनंद झाला होता तो सगळा उत्साह आणि आनंद त्यांच्या व्यवहारात दिसत होता. 

माझे लग्न ठरल्याचे कळवले आणि पत्रिका देण्यासाठी म्हणून जेव्हा काकूंना भेटलो तेव्हा तर त्यांचा हिरमोड झाला कारण लग्नाला यायची कितीही ईच्छा असली तरी देखील येता येऊ  शकत नव्हत्या,विसा(visa) मिळणार नाही हे नक्की होते कारण ओमानी असून देखील मूळ पाकिस्तान,अशक्य नसलं तरी खूप खटाटोप असतो त्या सगळ्याचा आणि एकदा का तुम्ही भारतात गेला आहात हे पासपोर्ट वर दिसलं की पाकिस्तान ला जायचे वांदे होणार हे काही नवीन सांगायला नको. एप्रिल २०१८ साली परत यायच्या आधी आम्ही बरेच फिरलो ज्या गोष्टी बघायच्या राहून गेल्या होत्या त्या सगळ्या नाही झाल्या पण जेवढा वेळ होता त्यात समाधान मानले आम्ही. परत यायच्या दिवशी मस्कत विमानतळावर हा माझा ओमान चा दादा मला सोडायला आला होता. खूप दिलं या बसरा फॅमिलीने, न मागता एक दादा मिळाला, खूप लाड करणाऱ्या काकू मिळाल्या, एक वाहिनी मिळाली आणि तिकडे देखील छोटीशी स्पृहा होतीच तिचे नाव हिबा.  

या सगळ्यांची परत भेट कधी होईल का नाही या विचारतच मी आणि नमिता मे २०१८ ला चेन्नईला स्थायीक झालो, आणि माझे भाग्य म्हणून पुन्हा एकदा ओमान ला जायची संधी मिळाली. या वेळी मात्र हे वास्तव्य फक्त १५ दिवसांचे होते. आम्ही ६ ऑक्टोबर २०१९ ला  पोचलो तेव्हा पुन्हा अब्दुल आम्हाला मस्कत विमानतळावर न्यायला आला होता आणि या वेळी काकूंना नमिता पण भेटणार होती.

Separation of Military and State

Every common Indian who reads or watches television very well knows the troubled politics of our western neighbor and its sham democracy. Most of us even know how the puppet governments get created out of thin air and are completely controlled by the Military (primarily the Army). India too has its share of corruption, political turmoil, wars, irresponsible governments, and power-hungry politicians, however, these experiences are nowhere close to what our neighbors have gone through. Now, I am not saying that we need to be sympathetic towards Pakistan, I am just conveying that the situation there is significantly different and the Pakistani public has been witness to such events post 1947 that we as Indians cannot even imagine. I am no expert on Pakistan affairs so I am open for corrections and views that you can share via comments.

14 August 1947 the day when Pakistan was created from Bharat and what was left with us was India. The two arms of Bharat Mata cut off and the creation was called Pakistan. A political compromise (a malicious plan of the Allied Powers) which will be remembered as one of the biggest mistakes of the 20th Century. The way I see it is, the leaders of Pakistan in those days and probably even now perceive Pakistan as "Not India" and somehow infested a deep sense of insecurity in the minds of its people, thereby making way for the Military to attain the role of guardian of the state.

Post partition India got itself a Constitution in under 3 years and declared itself a Republic, however, our western neighbor was devoid of a constitution for 9 long years up until the year 1956. The primary reason for this long wait was a political tussle between the West and East Pakistan aristocrats who fortunately or unfortunately could not think beyond their personal agenda. They kept on exchanging the positions of Prime Minister and Governor-General between themselves. From 1947 to 1958 in 11 years, Pakistan had seven prime ministers and eight cabinets. One important name among these aristocrats was Iskandar Ali Mirza. Mirza started his career with the British Indian Army and later his abilities brought him to prominence and resulted in him getting appointed by the British Indian Government as the Joint Defence Secretary of India in 1946 (remember this was pre-partition era). In this position, he was responsible for dividing the British Indian Army into the future armies of  India and Pakistan. Around this time, he became closer to Liaquat Ali Khan (the first Prime Minister of Pakistan) and began forming relations with the politicians of the Muslim League. He was appointed as first Defence Secretary by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and as Defence Secretary, he oversaw the military efforts in the first India-Pakistan war. In 1950, Mirza was promoted to two-star rank, having skipped the one-star promotion as Brigadier, and upgraded his rank as Major-General in the Pakistan Army by the promotion papers approved Liaquat Ali Khan himself. Likewise, with his strong influence he was successful in getting Ayub Khan appointed as the Army Chief in the year 1951 a controversial promotion over several senior officers. Political influence was the key to reach the top for Mirza and he perfected the task, later in the year 1955 became the Governor-General of Pakistan. With all the doings or misdoings of Iskandar Mirza there was a new powerhouse getting created in the background named Ayub Khan who was later going to be the reason for Mirza's exile. In 1956, when the country got its constitution with all his political might Mirza got himself elected as the first President of Pakistan which did not last long, soon he committed the biggest blunder of his life of declaring martial law. He ordered the mass mobilization of the military and imposed emergency in the country after declaring the martial law against his own party's administration which was led by Prime Minister Feroze Khan Noon by abrogating the writ of the Constitution and dissolving the national and provisional assemblies on 7th October 1958. He then appointed the Army Chief Ayub Khan as the Chief Martial Law Administrator, thinking that Ayub was his own man whom he can rely on. The two-man political regime as it was known had two different points of view and Mirza's fate did not last long. On the midnight of 27th October 1958 Ayub Khan dispatched the military unit to enter the presidential palace and placed Mirza in an airplane to exile in the UK. This was the end of Mirza's political career and the start of the direct Army dominance on the Pakistan politics.

With Mirza out of the political scene, Ayub had a free hand to manage the country at his will and it lasted from 1958 to 1969. The Military dominance in the earlier years before the martial law imposition was significant mainly in the fields of defense and foreign policy, which later increased in all the areas of governance. Post-partition Pakistan maintained a strong affiliation towards the United States which helped it to improve its Military capabilities and stranglehold of the army over the country grew stronger. The martial law imposed in the year 1958 stayed on for the next 4 years when in 1962 Ayub Khan introduced a second constitution. Even with all this dominance of the Army, it did not push for total control and partnered with the civil bureaucracy to run the government. (Ayesha Siddiqa in her book The Military Inc. calls this phase 'guided democracy' where the Military was to teach people how to democratize.) The introduction of the new constitution in 1962 was a move from parliamentary democracy to more of a presidential system where Ayub Khan became indirectly elected President. During his time he even favored inducting the military officers into civil service which helped him grow his control over the politics. He was also instrumental in helping the Military build for itself an economic empire. Howsoever, strong a military dictator is, there is always an end to his rule, with Ayub Khan it was the Military's need for protecting its public image which resulted in him getting replaced by Yahya Khan. Yahya Khan's stepping up to power can be called a coup in a coup. Another very important reason for Yahya replacing Ayub Khan was the disconnect between Ayub Khan and the various ranks in the military after he designated himself the Field Marshall (this was similar to Pt. Nehru awarding himself with the Bharat Ratna.)

It was the start of the '70s when Yahya Khan got on to the seat of the President. For him becoming the President was easy, however, keeping it was way tougher as the situation in the country had changed a lot with the civilian politicians gathering public support. Yahya decided to hold elections in 1970 expecting a favorable civilian regime. The most unexpected outcome of the '70's elections was that a party led by the East Pakistan politician (later Bangladesh) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called the Awami League won by a massive majority. Awami League winning the elections with the majority it has was a sign of explosion of long-suppressed Bengali nationalism. It can be considered as a referendum in favor of a political autonomy for East Pakistan and help stop the partial treatment of the eastern citizens of Pakistan. The then President Yahya Khan succumbed to political pressure by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's PPP (Pakistan People's Party) of not allowing a majority eastern wing party Awami League to form a government. The tussle between the two sides led to the uprising in the Eastern wing of Pakistan with the demand for a separate Bangladesh. The army atrocities on its eastern wing subjects were so extreme that it resulted in millions of people migrating to India to seek refuge. (To know more about the suffering of the Bengali people please read the book by Gary J. Bass The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide). Indian army helped the Bengali Mukti Bahini which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani army and this was the end of Yahya Khan as the President. He had to step down as the loss was considered a failure of the army and Yahya Khan had to make the sacrifice as an act of face-saving for the army. For the first time in its existence as a country Pakistan came under the rule of a civilian government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto with an exception of the initial few years when it did not have a constitution. In 1973 a third constitution was introduced and Pakistan was back to parliamentary democracy with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto taking oath as the Prime Minister. With all his efforts of holding on to power, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto could not avoid his fate, and on 4/5 of July 1977 Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq executed a coup and declared himself as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. The third martial law in the history of Pakistan in three decades, which showed the stronghold of the army. One important reason apart from the political situation for the execution of the coup was again the public image of the Military and the economic interests of the Armed forces. It is said that Zia-ul-Haq was instrumental in Islamization of the Pakistan as a whole and in particular its Military. Zia introduced religious education into military training and instructed all commanders to ensure that prayers were offered by the officers and soldiers. The army under Zia used the intelligence agencies to manipulate the political parties, kept revising the constitutional framework, and thereby created a political vacuum which favored the army dominance contributing to the economic progress of the Armed forces. Zia used Islam as a shield in seeking public support for his continuation of power and till his death in 1988 in a mysterious plane crash remained the serving Army General and the President of Pakistan. 

The strong groundwork by all these people led to the domination of Military in the Pakistani politics whereby it reaps the benefits in economic terms. We can even say that, the main aim of the Pakistani Military is not to protect its borders but, to protect its economic empire and any politician who comes and challenges this economic empire is sure to pay the price. Below I have listed down the various army organizations which are big corporations under the guise of Military welfare. 

1.    Fauji Foundation (FF) - established 1954 (Foundation Gas, Fauji Corn Complex, Fauji Security Services, Fauji Sugar Mills, Overseas Employment Services, Fauji Cement Company Ltd, Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Ltd, Foundation Securities Pvt Ltd, Fauji Oil Terminal & Distribution Company Ltd, Foundation University)

2. Army Welfare Trust (AWT) - established in 1971. This was created with the reason for focusing on army specific welfare as under the Fauji Foundation all the Military services have their share. (Askari Stud Farms, Askari Farms, Askari Welfare Rice Mill, Askari Welfare Sugar Mill, Askari Fish Farm, Askari Cement, Askari Welfare Pharmaceutical Project, Magnesite Refineries Limited, Army Welfare Shoe Project, Army Welfare Woollen Mill, Army Welfare Hosiery Unit, Travel agencies, AWT commercial plaza, Army Welfare Shops, Army Welfare Commercial Projects, Askari Commercial Bank, Askari Leasing Ltd, Askari General Insurance Company, Askari Welfare Saving Scheme, Askari Associate Ltd, Askari Information Service, Askari Guards Ltd, Askari Power Ltd, Askari Commercial Enterprises, Askari Housing Scheme.)

3. Shaheen Foundation (SF) - established in 1977. This was created with reason similar to AWT for focusing on the welfare of Pakistan Air Force. (Shaheen Air International, Shaheen Air Cargo, Shaheen Airport Services, Shaheen Aerotraders, Shaheen Insurance, Shaheen Travel, Shaheen Complex, Shaheen Pay TV, FM-100 (Radio channel), Shaheen System (Information Technology), Shaheen Knitwear.)

4. Bahria Foundation - established in 1982 Pakistan Navy was only left in having its own welfare foundation and hence in the year 1982 Bahria Foundation was established. (Falah Trading Agency, Bahria Construction, Bahria Travel & Recruiting Agency, Bahria Paints, Bahria Deep Sea Fishing, Bahria Complexes, Bahria Town & Housing Schemes, Bahria Dredging, Bahria Bakery, Bahria University, Bahria Shipping, Bahria Coastal Services, Bahria Security & System Services, Bahria Catering & Decoration Services, Bahria Farming, Bahria Holding, Bahria Harbor Services, Bahria Ship Breaking, Bahria Diving & Salvage International.)

By just going through the above list we get to know the expanse of the economic empire of the Military and can surely be compared with a regular private corporation. Some of these areas of business may be areas of expertise for the respective wings of the Military, however, when you start to see names like Cement, Pharmaceuticals, FM radio, Sugar Mills, Catering, Hosiery, Construction, Farms etc it highlights the opportunism of the Military, where it is ready to do whatever it takes to make money. Even in the case where these commercial ventures were helping the general public at large, I can agree that it is worth having this kind of corporate style expansion by Military, however, the fact is these ventures are there to fill in the pockets of the Military Generals and top officers. It is kind of a vicious circle where the Military has a mighty economic empire to protect, so it controls the politics through which it controls the country, and when enjoying its position it keeps expanding its commercial ventures, getting back on the need to protect it. 

In the year 1648 the Treaty of Westphalia resulted in the separation of church and state and it is said that this is the basis on which the modern concept of Nation-state is based on. I think today's Pakistan is in dire need for separation of Military and State, the control of religion on Pakistan I guess its not that big a problem when compared to its Military. Out of 73 years of its existence the majority of the period the country was controlled by the Military either directly or indirectly. 70 plus years is a long time for people to realize that Military dominance is no solution for their own well being.

लॉकडाऊन उपक्रम

या सर्व गोष्टी आपली भारतीय संस्कृतीचं वेगळेपण दाखवणाऱ्या आहेत। आपल्यातला कृतज्ञ भाव, एकात्मता, सामाजिक जाणिवा या सगळ्या आणि इतर अजून बरच काही या काळात लोकांनी विसरू नये म्हणून हे सगळे कार्यक्रम। घरी बसुन बसुन एक प्रकारचं नैराश्य आलेले आपल्यात सगळेच आहेत असे नाही, पण हे उपक्रम करून आपण थोडा काळ तरी या सगळ्या पासून दूर होऊ शकतो एक वेगळा विचार करू शकतो। थाळी बजाओ मध्ये मी पण सहभागी होतो, आधी वाटलं होतं की काय कोण हे सगळं करेल, पण खरच सांगतो की पहिल्यांदाच आपला पूर्ण देश एक आहे असे वाटले (याचे कारण म्हणजे मागील 2 वर्षांत चेन्नईची विचारसरणी पाहिली असल्या कारणाने मला कधीच वाटलं नव्हतं असं काही होईल ते ही इथे)। 

दिवे लावणे या गोष्टीला सध्या जरी एक वेगळा अर्थ प्राप्त झाला असला तरी माझ्यासाठी त्यात अजून माझ्या लहानपणीच्या आठवणी आहेत (आपले संस्कार ज्यात मिसळलेले आहेत)। संध्याकाळ झाली की देवासमोर कमितकमी 10 मिनिटे बसून आजी आणि आईने शिकवलेले श्लोक म्हणायचे नुसते श्लोकांचे उच्चारण न करता त्याचा अर्थ समजून घेणे याला महत्व होते। हे करण्यामागे मोठ्या माणसांना मजा वाटते म्हणून नाही करायला सांगत त्या मागे पण एक मोठा विचार आहे, मी त्याला virus scanning किंवा system upgrade म्हणेन। virus scanning अर्थातच दिवसभरात ऐकेल्या वाईट गोष्टींचे, आणि system upgrade अशासाठी की पुन्हा नव्या उमेदीने नव्या जोशाने नवीन गोष्टी शिकायला बाहेर पडू यासाठी तयार होणे। हे मी जे सगळं म्हणालो ते थोड्याफार फरकाने सगळेच आईवडील मुलांना शिकवत असतात आणि basic purpose हाच असतो असे मी मानतो। आता मोदींनी जे दिवे लावायला सांगीतले ते आपल्यातला सकारात्मक विचाराची ज्योत तेवत ठवण्यासाठी आहे ज्याचे प्रतिकात्मक रूप म्हणजे हा 9 वाजताच उपक्रम, यातला मतितार्थ सगळ्यांना कळेलच असे नाही म्हणून एक काम। जे करताना नकळतपणे आपल्यातली सकारात्मकता वाढेल।

आपल्या देशात naysayers आहेत ते सगळीचकडे आहेत म्हणून हे असे virus scans आणि system upgrade गरजेचे असतात।

Gilgit Agency

With the recent changes to Article 370 by making it ineffective and all the political debates around it have made us all more aware of the various regions in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. We also now have a fair idea on where is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) located and also can easily figure out the strategic importance of the region. POK is not just Kashmir but, comprises of Gilgit-Baltistan and certain parts of Kashmir valley. If we plan to write the history of this whole region, which we should but then, it will be an uphill task for which I don't consider myself ready as yet. For today, I will restrict my sharing to an episode in history which clearly brings to light the British duplicity when dealing with Kashmir. 

We have to first start by knowing the geography of the region which the British called the Gilgit Agency and understand its strategic importance thereby, we get to know as to why British did what they did.  

As we see in the above map the Gilgit area which comprises of the north-west region of Jammu and Kashmir which is the area above Kargil. Through this area India shares borders with Afghanistan in the north adjoining the Wakhan corridor (Though under Pakistani occupation it is the Indian border shared with Afghanistan). To the east it shares borders with China's province of Xinjiang (known in the past decades as East Turkestan Republic). To the south-east it is bordering Pakistan which unfortunately is also an illegal occupier of the area. To the south of this region we have the Kashmir valley part of which is also under illegal occupation of Pakistan. Such is the strategic importance of the Gilgit region that without it the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) becomes impossible. 

Gilgit-Baltistan area was named as Gilgit Agency by the British in the year 1935 when the Kashmir state leased this area to the British mainly to protect it from the fear of the expanding USSR. This lease was for 60 years and was supposed to end in 1995 however, had to be abruptly called off and was returned back to Kashmir State, when the British Raj abrogated all treaties with the princely states on 1st August 1947 with the passing of the Indian Independence Act which included lapse of paramountcy. For the transfer formalities, Kashmir State sent Brigadier Ghansara Singh to take charge from the British forces however, to his surprise the British forces (Gilgit Scouts) did not withdraw fully which later resulted in execution of their sinister plan. Major William Brown and Captain A S Mathieson remained in command of Gilgit Scouts and the two owed allegiance to their former British Commander Lieutenant Colonel Roger Bacon who was transferred to Khyber (part of Pakistan) after the lapse of paramountcy. So, instead of Maharaja or Kashmir State the Gilgit Scouts under command of these two took orders from Lieutenant Colonel Bacon.

In the backdrop of all this when Pakistan Army in the guise of tribal army invaded Kashmir on 10 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh who had earlier decided to remain independent signed the Instrument of Accession to India on 27 October 1947 which was accepted and signed by Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten. Here, the duplicity of the British is clearly evident on one hand Mountbatten showed that he was a friend of India by supporting the accession of Kashmir and on the other through Lieutenant Colonel Bacon they were going to execute their plan of cutting off the north-west Kashmir from Indian control. 

In just four days after the accession of Kashmir on 31 October 1947 the British officers commanding the Gilgit Agency Major Brown and Captain Mathieson completed a coup in Gilgit. After accession the two of them had opted to serve for Pakistan and should have left Gilgit, still remained there and took orders from Bacon who was in Khyber which became part of Pakistan. Brown got his scout troops surround the Gilgit residency during the night of 31 October 1947 and capture it after a short gun battle in which he lost one scout and later imprisoned the Governor Brigadier Ghansara Singh. Without any authority Brown informed Peshawar of the accession of Gilgit Agency to Pakistan and on 2 November 1947 the Pakistan flag was raised over the headquarters of Gilgit Scouts. Major Brown received the Order of British Empire (OBE) in the new years honors list as his reward for the successful military coup in Kashmir's Gilgit. This confirms that it was not just one or two rogue officers helping Pakistan to capture Gilgit it was a well thought out plan by the British Empire to make sure India does not get a land route connect to the Central Asian Countries (yesteryear USSR) through a small Afghan strip of the Wakhan Corridor and in turn keep it away from the strategic location of Gilgit-Baltistan which is rightfully an integral part of India. Nehru also accepted this coup quietly and never raised this globally and the whole story around POK or accession of Kashmir remains focussed on the Pakistani Army invasion. Where we rarely hear about the British role in creating POK, they were equally guilty by joining hands with Pakistan. This could have been even treated as an invasion by a retreating colonial ruler trying to grab parts of its own colony. 

Seven decades have passed and this region which was once known for its beautiful mountainous areas of Swat & Chitral has now become unfortunate dens of Islamic terrorism and we still rarely talk about this. The sequence of events makes me wonder what if this never happened. The domination of China in the region would have been very difficult. Our dependency on Chabahar Port for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia would not have been so important because through Wakhan Corridor we could have got road and rail connectivity right up to Russia. Also the situation in Afghanistan would have been different had the coup not taken place.   

ना. ब. लेले (उर्फ बापूराव लेले) - बापू आजोबा

जगासाठी जरी ते बापूरावजी लेले होते पण माझ्यासाठी ते माझे बापू आजोबा। आता म्हणाल हे कुठले तुझे आजोबा, तर हे माझ्या आईचे मोठे काका। माझा आणि बापू आजोबांचा सहवास फारच थोडका आहे याची महत्वाची कारणे म्हणजे आमच्या वयातील अंतर आणि त्यांचे नाशिक हुन बरेच लांब असलेले दिल्लीतील वास्तव्य। आता सारखे, मनात आलं की विमान पकडून पोचलो अशी त्यावेळची परिस्थिती नव्हती मला हे बोलताना खूप मोठं झाल्यासारखं वाटतंय, पण खरच माझं बालपण हे खूप वेगळ्या काळात होतं असं नेहमी वाटतं। 

बापू आजोबा आज आपल्यात असते तर गमतीने सांगायचे तर पंचवीस वर्षांचे झाले असते, कारण त्यांचा जन्म हा 29 फेब्रुवारीचा त्यामुळे 4 वर्षातून एकदा वाढदिवस। माझ्यासाठी या वर्षीचा फेब्रुवारी महिना हा बऱ्याच छोट्या छोट्या आठवणी जाग्या करणारा आहे। म्हणूनच मी आणि नमिताने चेन्नई हुन दिल्ली दर्शन करण्यासाठी हा आठवडा ठरवला। आता आपल्यातील सुजाण नागरिकांना माहिती असेलच की दिल्ली मधली परिस्थिती बरीच चिंताजनक आहे। आणि त्यामुळे मनात विचार आला होताच की या सगळ्या गोंधळात आमची दिल्ली वारी चुकते की काय। पण तसे काही झाले नाही आणि आम्ही दोघे येथे सुखरूप पोहोचलो। 

आधी म्हणलं तसं माझ्या आणि त्यांच्या वयात जवळपास 70 वर्षांचं अंतर त्यामुळे त्यांची पत्रकारिता किंवा त्याचे प्रचारक म्हणून केलेले कार्य हे दोन्ही मी कधीच जवळून पाहिले नाही। माझ्यासाठी ते माझे आजोबा होते, मला हे पण म्हणता येईल की मी त्यांचा लाडका होतो। मला आठवतं की आम्ही 15 ते 20 जणं हरिद्वार - ऋषीकेश ला गेलो होतो तेव्हा आजोबांकडे उतरलो होतो आणि मला भेंडीची भाजी आवडते हे माहिती असल्याने त्यांनी ती त्यांच्या परिचरिकेला सांगून करून ठेवली होती। एव्हढा विचार एखादा गृहस्थाश्रमी पण नाही करणार पण तो बापू आजोबांनी केला, म्हणजे मी 6-7 वर्षांचा होतो त्यावेळी। आता त्यांच्यातला हा गुण मला उमगला, पण त्या तिसरीतल्या परीक्षितला हे आपले आजोबा लाड करतायत असच वाटलं होतं। कळायला लागल्यावरची ही पहिली आठवण बापू आजोबांची।

दुसरी भेट होती ती 1999 साली, माझ्या उन्हाळी सुटीत आई बाबा आणि मी असे तिघे बापू आजोबां बरोबर 2 आठवडे राहिलो। त्या वेळी त्यांना खूप त्रास होत होता उन्हाळ्याचा आणि वया प्रमाणे आलेल्या थकव्याचा। त्यांना डायबेटीस होता आणि त्यामुळे खाण्यात पथ्य, पण गोड तर खूप आवडीचं। तर बापू आजोबांना स्वतःला खायचे नाही म्हणून ते मला रोज आईस्क्रिमची आठवण करून देणार। पुन्हा नातवाला खाताना पाहून सुखावलेले आजोबा आता डोळ्यासमोर येतात, तेव्हा न कळलेले आजोबा आता कळतायत। 

तिसरी भेट ही तशी लगेच झाली आणि ती बापू आजोबांच्या कार्याची पावतीच म्हणायला हवी। या वेळी दिल्लीला येण्याचे कारण  होते बापुरावलेले यांच्या सत्कार समारंभाला हजेरी लावण्यासाठी। तो सत्कार होता बापूराव लेल्यांचा माझ्या बापू आजोबांचा नाही। हे असे मी म्हणतोय कारण या कार्यक्रमात मला पत्रकार बापूराव लेले यांचे दर्शन झाले आणि तेही पहिल्यादा। हा सत्कार होता त्या वेळचे आपले पंतप्रधान अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी यांच्या हस्ते आणि प्रमुख अतिथी म्हणून आले होते लाल कृष्ण अडवाणी। आजोबांचा जनसंपर्क या कार्यक्रमामुळे आम्हा नातवंडांना कळला। या कार्यक्रमात जवळपास सगळे त्या वेळचे मंत्री हजर होते। ही माझ्यासाठी खूप मोठी गोष्ट असली तरी बापू आजोबांना या सगळ्यात फारसा रस नसावा असे मला वाटते कारण निस्वार्थीपणे पूर्ण आयुष्य ज्यांनी देशाला दिलं ते एका सत्काराला महत्त्व देतील असे मला वाटत नाही।

2020 हे बापू आजोबांच शतक पुर्ती वर्ष आहे आणि 29 फेब्रुवारी हा त्यांचा वाढदिवस, आज ठरवल्या प्रमाणे आम्ही दिल्लीत आहोत। D62, काका नगर, डॉ झाकीर हुसेन मार्ग जिथे त्यांच अनेक वर्ष वास्तव्य होतं तिथे आज आम्ही जाऊन आलो। सुदैवाने आम्हाला त्याच घरात राहात असलेल्या बाईंनी आतून घर बघण्याची परवानगी दिली। आम्ही त्यांना भेटून सगळं सांगितल्यावर त्यांना खूप आश्चर्य वाटलं कारण सध्याच्या धावपळीच्या युगात बालपणीच्या आठवणी पुन्हा अनुभवायला जमत नाही, त्यांना देखील त्यांची एक आठवण सांगावीशी वाटली। आज पुन्हा लहान झाल्यासारखे वाटले।

CAA NRC NPR

I too like the majority, am usually indifferent in what all goes on in the country. However, today I feel like I must vent out my frustration on the foolishness going on.

Anti CAA / NRC / NPR protest is what I would be putting up my thoughts about. Now, this may sound a bit repetitive and we keep on seeing a lot of posts on the issue still I will be posting this.

1. After 70+ years of independence, we as a country don't follow the basic traffic rules some of them even don't know what they are.

2. Again after 70+ years of Independence, we need our Prime Minister to tell us the importance of sanitation till then, we were happy to make a mess by open defecation. So, in short we even don't know where to poop.

3. Our literacy rate is just in the range of approx. 70-75 percent and I am not talking about basic graduation I am just talking about people who can "read and write" we still have another 25 percent people to cover before we reach 100 percent.

 

I have just highlighted a few points to convey the facts that the majority of us do not understand the law of the land, lack basic civic sense and a significant population is still incapable of reading or writing and I haven't said anything about understanding what you read. With all the above, I want to point out the fact that we are not perfect and quite frankly we don't understand the nitty-gritty of governance. Probably that is one of the prime reasons why our Constitution builders selected democracy for "India that is Bharat". 

When we start having all decisions done on road by protests and processions the basic idea of democracy itself goes for a toss.

People protesting have all the right to put up their voice through the option of voting the party which leads their preferred thoughts, but then, that option is available at the time of election and not one fine day when you feel you don't want this government you just come on the road and create a mess of the public infrastructure.

We see rounds of messages getting shared on social media about the state of minority in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. How it's percentage came down from 20's to a meagre single-digit number. I have personally heard the stories of how minorities are treated in these countries and what they have to do to keep their families safe from the hostile environment around them. 

So let's keep the governance with the chosen people and not unnecessarily poke our noses in matters which are best rested with the government of the day.

PS: If people spend time reading this and I hope some of them do, there will be some voices which will say you are supporting this only because you are a "Bhakt". Be that as it may, the focus here is only one thing CAA is brought in for a good cause and I don't think me thinking anyway differently about the present government is going to take away that fact from the amendment.

Swatantryaveer Savarkar

Swatantryaveer Savarkar

For the better part of my school life I never thought I would ever have slightest of interest in history. The reason being, history as a subject was taught through school textbooks which were written with the sole purpose of spreading hatred towards the subject, except a few summary mentions of glorious kingdoms and freedom fighters. After approximately sixteen years of disconnect from school, I skimmed through the Balbharati textbooks on history for class six to class ten and to no surprise that except a few structural changes the content still stays the same.

Nowadays, with public awareness and rise of social media the revolutionary narrative of Indian freedom movement has been a point of discussion online as well as offline. And I am not saying that there was total ignorance to the contribution of revolutionaries, however, the focus of the public discourse was always the non-violent contributions of the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The autobiographies written by these revolutionary legends act as a counter to the one sided narrative of the freedom struggle, a few examples are, The Tale of My Exile by Barin Ghosh, My Transportation for Life by Veer Savarkar, Twelve Years of Prison Life by Ullaskar Dutt, Bandi Jeevan by Sachindranath Sanyal. In addition there were some authors and film makers who tried to bring up the revolutionary efforts to the mainstream discourse, the examples which I know of are books by Dhananjay Keer on Veer Savarkar and Lokmanya Tilak, book by N C Kelkar on Lokmanya Tilak, book by B D Yadav on M.P.T. Acharya, books by Anuj Dhar and Vishwas Patil on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and some movies like Sudhir Phadke's Veer Savarkar and Rajkumar Santoshi's The Legend of Bhagat Singh. With all the above, still I feel that we did not do enough to keep their memories alive in the minds of the people. Today, when we get asked by the children about who were these freedom fighters, majority of us have to take help of Wikipedia / Google to search for answers. In such cases where the child is going to get a story from the Wikipedia every time, he is sure not to come to you and me for answers after probably two or three similar experiences. So, instead of complaining about how we failed to pay our respects to the legends in history and knowing well that my contribution will be just a drop in the ocean still I am making my attempt to write about Swatantryaveer Savarkar.

Out of all the revolutionaries I revere Swatantryaveer Savarkar the most, that is mainly due to the fact that we share the same place of birth and I am sure that most of the Nashikkars will share more or less the same feeling.

As every cloud has a silver lining, the year 1857 saw a ray of hope for all the Indians a hope of freedom from the British stranglehold however, it was short lived as the initial successes of the Indian War of  Independence could not be sustained and eventually in 1858 there was handover of the power from the British East India Company to the British Crown. (Had it not been for Veer Savarkar we would still be referring the Indian War of Independence of 1857 as the "so-called" Sepoy Mutiny.) In times like these when the word freedom had no meaning, on 28th May 1883 a legend was born in a small village named Bhagur near Nashik who was to change the course of history his name was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The young Vinayak began his education at the local government school when he was six. An avid reader, his natural genius was further nurtured and honed by his father who used to summon his entire family after dinner and then followed an intense reading of scriptures, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and several other historical texts in Marathi as well as Sanskrit. These readings instilled a deep understanding of history and religiosity on the minds of Savarkar siblings. This would be followed by long and intense discussions in which Vinayak's mother Radhabai and his siblings were encouraged to participate and share their views. Despite being from the Chitpawan Brahmin community and a landlord himself, right from childhood Vinayak found the caste system reprehensible and had friends from all strata of society. It did not just remain a dormant idea but, he put it in practice and lived by as an example. Vinayak's habit of reading newspapers allowed him to witness the turbulent events in Maharashtra and country which sowed the seeds of the revolutionary movement by the name Abhinav Bharat and Mitra Mela.

Vinayak lost his mother at a very young age, however, this void was filled up in the year 1896 when his elder brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar (Babarao) was married at the age of seventeen. Yesu vahini (Yashoda) as her younger brothers-in-law called her she stepped up to be a mother to them and a best friend for Vinayak. Lokmanya Tilak as a leader was an inspiration to many and through his writings (mainly in Kesari) and his work deeply impacted the young Vinayak. Following his hero Lokmanya Tilak, Vinayak along with his friends organized the first Shivaji Jayanti festival at Bhagur, where Vinayak's keynote speech left everyone including Damodarpant, spellbound. These were the budding  years of prolific orator which Vinayak came to be known for. After completing his primary school, he moved to Nashik for his further education. Early on Vinayak showed signs of being mature than his age and leading from the front in all the activities which also made him the favorite student of all his teachers at school. The year 1899 saw an outbreak of plague at Nashik and hence to protect his two sons Damodarpant forced Babarao and Vinayak to leave Nashik for Bhagur. However, by the time the two came back, the plague had spread Bhagur as well. Being a compassionate person that he was, Damodarpant got involved in relief operations, but as luck would have it, due to frequent contact with the afflicted he himself contracted plague and passed away leaving an orphaned Vinayak. After the demise of Damodarpant, the whole family left the land of his parents and ancestors moved to Tilbhandeshwar lane at Nashik. Though Nashik in those days was among the more backward towns of Maharashtra, however, for Vinayak the place never mattered as his aim was clear and compared to Bhagur Nashik gave Vinayak the much needed public support for the work that he was about to begin.

Vidhyarti Sangh an organization of students was setup by Trimbak Rao Mhaskar and Raoji Krishna Paage both of whom were involved in organizing small public agitations and influenced by Lokmanya Tilak, where they assumed public mobilizations and mass activism is the only way to national liberation. Both Trimbak Rao Mhaskar and Raoji Krishna Paage in their thirties had the idea of armed revolution but lacked the clarity of thought and vision on how to get there. Vinayak came to the rescue and expressed his thoughts and ideas to Mhaskar and Paage and revealed the desire to create a underground student organization. However, the Chapekar brothers incident had instilled fear in them and remained sceptic for a while. Later in November 1899 the three of them formed the Rashtrabhakta Samuha under the stewardship of under sixteen year old Vinayak. With the need to to have a dual organization model where the front-end entity will organize the peaceful activities like festivals and melas, which could lead to a wider outreach for the organization. Thus, on 1 January 1900 came into existence the Mitra Mela the Group of Friends which acted as a front-end for the Rashtrabhakta Samuha. Many ideas and methods were borrowed from Thomas Frost's work Secret Societies of the European Revolution, 1776-1876. The activities of Mitra Mela saw Vinayak in his role of a prolific orator where as part of meetings on Saturdays and Sundays, one speaker would be selected and detailed discussions would follow the lecture. Whatever, be the topic the stress by Vinayak would always be on the need for armed struggle. After the initial meetings at Paage or Mhaskar's house the Mitra Mela got its permanent venue in Tibhandeshwar Lane at Aabaa Darekar's house. The Shivaji Festival in Nashik which used to be a dull affair until the arrival of the year 1900 when Mitra Mela through the youth mobilization made it a grand celebration. During this occasion, Vinayak delivered a stirring speech, where he highlighted on the demand for total and complete freedom and urged the people to work for the same by deriving inspiration from the god of revolution Shivaji Maharaj. The speech became the talk of the town an Mitra Mela suddenly created quite an impression on the people of Nashik. The Ganapati festival soon followed where Vinayak's talks drew huge audiences. The slogan coined by Vinayak, "Swatantrya Lakshmi ki Jay" reverberated the streets of Nashik.

After Damodarpant's death the responsibility of managing the house came on to Babarao. There were debts to be cleared and Babarao decided to take up a government job where he needed to produce two security bonds of Rs 500 each. This was hard to get for a long time, but eventually he succeeded and got a job as a cashier in famine relief department, later he was dismissed due to refusing to be a party to departmental corruption. To pay of the debts Yesu vahini sold all her jewelry, later even sold her traditional nose ring which was gifted to her by her mother to pay for Vinayak's education. With all the hardships and sufferings the two Babarao and Yesu vahini ensured that these did not reach their younger brothers.

Vinayak never restricted himself to a specific genre of literature but history was at the core of his readings and it was these books which helped him construct his world view. This passion for reading helped him to speak eloquently on diverse topics such as dynasties of Iran, the Moors of Spain, the Dutch revolt, the Italian revolutionaries Mazzini and Garibaldi and all this to an audience who barely knew anything out of Maharashtra. The focus of Mitra Mela was not just gathering and sloganeering  on festive occasions but creating the spirit of freedom in the minds of the youth and with that objective in mind Vinayak made a list of nearly twenty to thirty books that all members had to read which consisted of books about Napoleon, Mazzini, Vivekanand and others. In addition, they also had to read the weekly named Kaal (काळ)  by Shivram Mahadev Paranjape which had sections 'Tarun Italy' and 'Kheti Kissani' related to the revolutionaries in Europe. Along with the intellectual enrichment with the books exercise and physical fitness were a compulsory part Mitra Mela members. The focus on physical fitness was to be ready for the struggles in captivity and making the body and mind ready for such contingencies.

With sudden and untimely death of Trimbak Rao Mhaskar due to Plague and Raoji Krishna Paage distancing himself from the Mitra Mela activities, it was left to Vinayak to manage the whole scheme of things. Without losing hope Vinayak found new companions to continue the work of Mitra Mela one among them was Vishnu Mahadev Bhat (maternal cousins of Savarkars) who became one of his closest associates. Other members who joined Mitra Mela were, Aabaa Darekar, Sakharam Dadaji Gore, Khade brothers, Sarode, Shankar Gir Gosavi, Dhanappa Chiwdewala, Devsinh Pardeshi, Khushal Singh, Ganapati Magar, Mayadev, Ghanshyam Chiplunkar and others all whom considered Vinayak as their mentor and guru.  As mentioned earlier Vinayak since childhood never followed any caste barriers and the members of Mitra Mela came from all strata of society.

In the year 1901 Vinayak's maternal uncle fixed his marriage which was a usual in those times when elders in the family took this responsibility and decided the things for their loved ones. However, in Vinayak's case the he felt that marriage would come in the way of his revolutionary activities and ruin the life of the girl if he were to get arrested or hanged. At the same time, he worried about his brother still financing his education. In this the girl's father Ramachandra Trimbak Chiplunkar (Bhaurao) came up with an assurance of financially supporting the college education for Vinayak for which Vinayak was deeply grateful. Following this assurance Vinayak married Yamuna, the eldest daughter of Bhaurao Chiplunkar in 1901 when Yamuna was only thirteen. After passing the final matriculation examinations in flying colors and answering the skeptics who feared that his revolutionary activities will impact his studies, with the support from his father-in-law Vinayak was all set to pursue higher education. By then, he had emerged as a powerful orator, a master debater, a prolific writer and poet and a leader of a  revolutionary secret society that was slowly spreading its wings.

To be continued.....

Scramble for Oil

For the majority of the first half of the 20th century, Asia was under direct or indirect domination of the European powers. The US was soon becoming a distant giant which had an option of choosing sides and also having its share of colonialism in the form of Cuba, Philippines, etc. With oil becoming an influential contributor to the industrial revolution US along with countries like Russia, The Netherlands and Britain got into a scramble for oil sources by the 19th century and early 20th century. I won't get into the details but plan to share some facts.

Standard Oil became the biggest brand in the US which roughly covered 90% of refining in the US in the early 20th century was founded by John Rockefeller, he with his shrewd business practices was able to create a huge impact in the oil industry history. Even at present three out of the five oil giants are direct descendants of Standard Oil.

Current day oil major Royal Dutch Shell is actually a merger of two oil companies one being Shell Transport and Trading a company established by son of a shell trader in London the company he named in honor of his father's profession. The other one was by the name Royal Dutch Company which had a solid presence in South East Asia. The merger took place mainly to put up strong competition against the US major Standard Oil. Even before the merger the Royal Dutch and Shell came together to form a joint organization which was called Asiatic Petroleum Company which grew rapidly in Sumatra (the island in present-day Indonesia), Borneo, Brunei and other parts of British occupation on South East Asia.

A lesser known country that formed part of the yesteryear USSR state of Azerbaijan's capital Baku was a significant source of Oil for Tsarist Russia. Oil flares had been common in Azerbaijan from ancient times with the Zoroastrian 'eternal flame' known to have been lighted by oil that gushed from the ground. Traditionally, part of Persia and hence it's linked with Zoroastrian faith (in India we call them Parsi). In and around the 1870s there were many small refineries set up and Baku was open for private exploration. However, later when Russia lost to Japan in the Russo-Japanese wars of 1904 and 1905 Tsarist Russia lost control over these areas. 

Burmah Oil a Glasgow based company started exploration in Assam and Burma around the year 1885 and later in 1901 they also built a refinery in Assam in Digboi. This same company was even involved in oil exploration in Persia (present-day Iran). Fun fact is the engineer who was heading the oil exploration struck a massive gusher of oil in the nick of time when he was about to receive a cable from the owners to wind up the project. So, with this newfound oil, the owners decided to list the Persian venture in the name of Anglo Persian Oil Company (APOC). Later, at the outbreak of the great war, the British government took over controlling interest of 51% in this company by investing £2.2 million. APOC was later named BP (British Petroleum) and they continued in Persia till the year 1951.

To conclude in Curzon's words, the Allies 'floated to victory on a wave of oil'.