Volume 1, Issue 14
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Young Moves The Magazine For GAME CHANGERS Volume 1, Issue 14 The Right History... They Died for Us... AUGUST 2020 The Story of Partition 1947 YOUNG MOVES AugustAugust 20202019 Issue14Volume 1 A magazine for Future Leaders, World Peace, Culture and Development INSPIRATION EDITORIAL ADVISOR Dr Pawan Sinha Guruji Dr Kavita Asthana EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Palak Aggarwal PHOTOGRAPHERS GRAPHICS ILLUSTRATOR Mayank Vij Abhishek Sharma Navita Ahuja Kripi Singh NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Young Moves Magazine or its parent organisation. Any content provided by our authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything. Content 02 Editorial The Right History... 03 Ignited Pens They Died for Us... 09 Ignited Pens Unsung Heroes of the Nationalist Movement 11 Ignited Pens Kashi & The Nationalist Movement 16 Reader’s Section Abrogation of Article 370; Decline of Terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir 18 Core Issues The Story of Partition 1947 23 Debating Narratives Akbar; the Great or the Demon The Right History... Editorial While all of us celebrate Independence day and the long history of the Freedom Struggle, there are several stories and people who have remained nameless and hidden in the pages of history. Their contributions, though equally important, have either been ignored or neglected. This edition of Young Moves Magazine tries to bring some such stories in the limelight through the articles, ‘Unsung heroes of the nationalist movement’, ‘Kashi & The Nationalist Movement’ and ‘They Died for Us.’ It is essential to read the right history in order to know our country and the article on Sanyasi Movement focuses on the same by showing the long-neglected contribution of the saints, sadhus and sanyasis of India who have always been the backbone of the country, be it spiritually or strategically. These sadhus and sanyasis have not only prayed for India and contributed spiritually, but a lot of them also sacrificed their lives for the country, fighting against the British. Their contribution, which was feared by the British, was thus left out of mainstream history. Similarly, a lot is said and written about the Partition of 1947, but whether the facts are right or are written under any propaganda is a question of importance. The same is explored by the 5th episode of Core Issues which is included in this edition and brings out not only the history of partition but also focuses upon questions like could partition have been stopped, the radical transformation of Allama Iqbal who first wrote Tarana-E-Hindi and then later, Tarana-E-Milli. Continuing further on the path of history, the edition also questions on the “Greatness” of Akbar in the context of India. The 2nd episode of Debating Narratives analyses facts related to Akbar and if he was really as great as shown in history and mainstream media. Our readers’ section includes an analysis of the situation of Kashmir, exactly a year after the abrogation of article 370 by a reader of the magazine. The magazine thus tries to bring forward a holistic approach towards history, especially in the times when distortion of history under certain agendas is rapidly spreading. We, at Young Moves, want to create a just way of looking at history because it is then that we’ll create a glorious future of India. With hope, Palak Aggarwal Editorial Coordinator Come forward and mail us your pieces at [email protected] +917428522756 (WhatsApp) Illustration by Kripi. ens They Died for Us... Article By. Ignited P Dinesh Nishad First of all a very happy independence day to Visiting Faculty all our fellow countrymen. On Independence Mumbai, India and Republic Day, we remember those people our sages, saints, gurus and sanyasis were at the who sacrificed everything for our beloved forefront to protect our motherland. nation. But, most of us know only those revolutionaries about whom we have read in our Ancient India history textbooks. But history is surely beyond In ancient times, we witnessed various school books. Most of us do not know that invasions of Huns, Shakas, Greeks and other whenever our nation faced any severe crisis then foreign powers. Every time, our sadhus and Cover Image; The Fierce Battle... Illustration by Kripi Singh 03 WhatsApp: +91 7428522756 sanyasis played a crucial role in defending our to come together and take initiative to save the nation. With tilak on the forehead, rudraksha Hindu civilization. This incident is mentioned in around the neck, ashes smeared on the body and the book "Soldier Monks and Militant Sadhus" holding weapons in the hands; these sadhu- by "William R. Pinch." It was Madhusudan sanyasis fought and won many battles. Even in Saraswati who reorganized the warrior sanyasis ancient India, many sects of sanyasis existed. in the medieval period. Thousands of sadhus- The credit for bringing all of them under one sanyasis gathered in the holy land of Varanasi umbrella goes to Adi Shankaracharya. Adi and took an oath to defend the Hindu faith and Shankaracharya organized the sanyasis and laid culture. the foundation of the Dashnami sect. He established four math (monasteries) in the four After that, these warrior saints fought many corners of our country. This system initiated by battles to protect our civilization. One such Adi Shankara kept our country, strong and example can be found in the era of Aurangzeb. united for many centuries to come. In 1664, Aurangzeb attacked the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. The brave Medieval India sadhu-sanyasis confronted the enormous In the medieval period (circa 16th century), Mughal army of Aurangzeb. Soon the war cry of the Mughal Empire was expanding in India "Har-Har Mahadev...Har-Har Mahadev" was under the leadership of Emperor Akbar. The echoing in the streets of Varanasi. The Mughal Mughals were foreigners in India. For them, A Naga Sadhu Indian culture of temples, idol worship, gurukul system, roaming sadhu-sanyasis and so on were against their Islamic beliefs. Thus these radical Mughals demolished many of our temples, destroyed the idols worshipped in temples, forcibly converted Hindus and killed many sadhu-sanyasis. Madhusudan Saraswati was a contemporary of Akbar. He lived in Bengal and was a scholar of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Seeing the atrocities on indigenous faith, he decided to meet Emperor Akbar. Madhusudan Saraswati travelled from Bengal to Agra to meet Akbar and raise his concerns in the Mughal court. But this meeting was not fruitful. After this experience, Madhusudan Saraswati realized that it is futile to hold any talks with the tyrant Mughals. He became convinced that Hindus themselves need Illustration by Kripi Singh 04 [email protected] army started quivering in fear when they saw Modern India: naked Naga sanyasi with a trident and sword in In the modern era, even the British faced the their hands. In this battle, the sadhu-sanyasi wrath of our sadhu-sanyasis. We all know that wreaked such havoc on Aurangzeb's army after winning the Battle of Plassey (1757) and which they could never imagine. The battle the Battle of Buxar (1764), the British were able lasted only for a few hours (From sunrise to to consolidate their power in the province of sunset), but the trauma of the defeat in the Bengal. But very few people know that Naga memories of the Mughal was long-lasting. After Sadhus also fought against the British in the this defeat, Aurangzeb (The most powerful king Battle of Buxar. The Naga regiment was led by of that period) was so devastated that he didn’t Anup Giri (aka Himmat Bahadur) and his even set his foot on the land of Varanasi for the brother Umrao Giri. It was the first time that the next 5 years. We find a detailed description of supreme British forces were challenged by this battle in James G. Lochtefeld's book "The skyclad monks on the battlefield. The British Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism-Volume won the battle of Buxar but even after the battle, 1" and Sir Jadunath Sarkar's book "A History of there were continuous skirmishes between the Dasnami Naga Sanyasis." British and the sanyasis. Gradually, after acquiring power in Bengal, the British did two It was not just Naga sadhus posing a threat to things. First, they imposed a systematic Aurangzeb. The Sikh sect also fought many restriction on sadhu-sanyasis. And second, the fierce battles against the Mughals. In 1699, economic exploitation of ordinary Indians. It is Guru Gobind Singh Ji (The 10th Guru of Sikh rightly said that misfortunes seldom come sect) initiated the ‘Khalsa Panth’ (a group of singly. Along with British oppression, Bengal spiritual warriors) and gave them the goal of witnessed a severe famine in the period of 1769- fighting against the tyrannical Mughals. Our 1773. This famine further worsened the brave Sikh brothers defeated the Mughals in situation of the natives. In history, it is known as many battles. In Western India, Chhatrapati the "Great Bengal famine of 1770." But this was Shivaji Maharaj was also fighting Aurangzeb. not a natural disaster. Nobel laureate economist Samarth Ramdas was the guru of Shivaji Amartya Sen, called it "man-made famine." Maharaj. Samarth Ramdas built many temples Historian William Dalrymple held that the of Hanuman (Hindu deity renowned for strength deindustrialisation of Bengal and the British and valour) at various places in Maharashtra. He policies were the reasons for the mass famine encouraged the common people to become and widespread atrocities. The outcome of brave and strong like Hanuman; so that they can exploitative policies of the British and the join Shivaji Maharaj's army and fight against the drought was mass starvation.