First Read of 2022: Shahid Sukh Dev by Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich (2016)

Of the three young men who were hanged by the British Colonial Government on 23rd March 1931, a lot is known about Bhagat Singh (1907-1931) with many books written and films produced on him. The same however cannot be said of his two comrades, Rajguru (1908-1931) and Sukhdev (1907-1931) who died alongside him. https://mobile.twitter.com/sauravk1890/status/1128521900383096832 Professor …

Last Read of 2021: In Andamans: The Indian Bastille by Bejoy Kumar Sinha (1939)

2021 is not ending on a good note and my last read of the year too was pretty grim in places. The Andamans are a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal off the eastern coast of India. Separated from mainland India, they are still home to the indigenous people who have been here …

Review: aapbeeti: Kale Pani ki Karawas Kahani

aapbeeti: Kale Pani ki Karawas Kahani by Bhai ParmanandMy rating: 3 of 5 stars The writer was a Professor of Modern European History at National College, Lahore and thus was a teacher of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev. This was his memoir of his days in captivity at the Andamans. The book was proscribed by the …

Review: Gandhi Benaqaab

Gandhi Benaqaab by Hansraj RahbarMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a brave book since many authors would shy away from exposing the 'Mahatma'. However in doing so Rahbar exposes his own prejudices. Nevertheless, it is a well-researched critique of Gandhi and his politics. First Line: Desh ki shashya shyamla bhumi par Shiv ka …

A Revolutionary’s Life: Bandi Jeewan

Bandi Jeewan by Sachindra Nath SanyalMy rating: 4 of 5 stars The book which according to a British secret report sent "more young men to the jails and gallows than any other book" is a first-hand account of the revolutionary movement in India during the second and third decades of the twentieth century. Sachindranath Sanyal, …

Salutations

23 March 1931

Last (and Best) Read of 2016: Complete Tribunal Proceedings (With Sukhdev’s Remarks)

On 7th September, 1930, the tribunal in the Lahore Conspiracy Case (King-Emperor vs Sukhdev and Others) pronounced varying sentences to the young men who were accused of 'waging war against the King-Emperor'. Of the fifteen men at the end of the trial, the majority got transportation for life, three were acquitted while two got RI …

Challenge Wrap-Up: Back to Classics 2016

I have completed 10 categories out of a total of 12 (which means I get two entries), in the Back to Classics 2016 challenge hosted by Karen K @ Books and Chocolate.Here are the classics read:1.  A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899.THE GREAT TONTINE by HAWLEY SMART (1881)2.  A …

Five Books on Indian History and Critical Thought

The Revolutionary aspect of India's freedom struggle hasn't really received its due. Historians have generally been dismissive of it with the result that in the official historiography of the country, the movement is mentioned only in passing. The Subaltern study group too has not paid any attention to it. It is a sad state of …

Krantiveer Bhagat Singh: ‘Abhyudaya’ aur ‘Bhavishya’ (Ed) Chaman Lal

One of the things that I invariably do while cleaning cupboards etc. is read the newspapers lining the shelves. Of course it tells you how tardy you have been in the cleaning (once I found the newspapers were years old and belonging to the era when newspapers in India were still b&w with no colour …