Sunday, 14 September 2014

Army picks up pieces as J&K government disappears

ABHIMANYU SINGH Srinagar | 13th Sep 2014

Army personnel rescue of flood victims in Srinagar on Friday. PTI

he road from paradise to hell has been short for Kashmir and the descent rather swift. The valley has now been flooded for more or less a week. That is all it took for the National Conference-Congress government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to disappear completely, leaving the Kashmiris on the mercy of their own enterprise, and crucially, the Indian Army's help. The one fact everyone this newspaper spoke to in the valley agreed upon was that there was no government in Kashmir anymore, since the floods began.

This newspaper observed long lines of civilians, Kashmiris and Bihari migrant labourers, among others, waiting patiently to take their place in one of the rescue boats at Iqbal Park on Friday after waters began to recede. Army men operating the boats went about their task, seemingly unperturbed by the furore their humanitarian intervention has caused in the valley and the country.

Arshid Ahmad Bhat, 38, a businessman, waited to take one of the Army boats, standing in the queue with his wife. "My in-laws were trapped here. They have now been rescued," he said. They live in another part of the city and had come to visit them. "We are going back to our house now. My son and daughter are still there. We hope they are safe," he added.

Md. Khalid, 46, a lab technician, waited at the same spot for a private vehicle to take them to their destination, along with seven of his family members, including three women, one of them carrying a young child in her arms. "The Army gave us fruits, biscuits and water," he said. They were rescued after seven days, he added. However, a male relative in his group immediately objected. "The Army hardly gave us anything," he protested. This is a pattern that would repeat itself during this correspondent's two-day stay: any praise for the Army quickly countered by dissenting voices.

Tariq Ahmad, 40, a local businessman dealing in kitchenware was on his way to check on his shop in the main city, walking through thigh-high water in Iqbalpura when this newspaper caught up with him. Ahmad and his companion and fellow businessman Riyaz Khan, 40, said that the Army, especially the Air Force rescued at least 150 people in Gogji Bagh, including 18 of his family members. "The rescue operations were conducted from the roof of my house. The Army also sent a neighbour who needed regular dialysis for her diabetes to a hospital in Delhi via air at midnight," said Ahmad. Khan said, "The Army gave us food, water, medicines and milk for infants." Even as Ahmed and Khan spoke to this correspondent, a group of young men passing by confronted them, having eavesdropped. "They did nothing except leaving us to die here," said one of them even as the two groups started to argue loudly in Kashmiri, while others made their way towards the main city and some survivors looked on from their rooftops, the lower part of their houses completely submerged. Some had started to open their shops to inspect the wares. A few intrepid ones could be seen sipping on their kahwas, sitting on their rooftops.

Considering the fact that the Indian Army is not looked upon as a benign presence in the valley, the rescue operations mounted by them seem to have divided the Kashmiris.

During its trips to those parts of Srinagar where the waters had begun to recede — which meant it came only around the knees or thighs — this newspaper was told contradictory versions of the role played by the Army in the rescue operations. Often, the young tended to dismiss the Army's role completely while the elderly and middle-aged expressed approval, though grudging, regarding its efforts.

Near Pantha Chowk, close to the local bus stand, young men claimed that the Army had not played a major role in their area. And this in spite of the fact that the road that led to Pantha Chowk, where the Srinagar bus stand is located, was full of medical and relief camps being run by the Army and local organisations. Colonies on both sides of the road were completely under water, giving the impression that it was flanked by two lakes.

Sitting hunched atop an overturned car, with flood waters swirling all around us and people making their way out, carrying luggage and sometimes infants, a bearded young man claimed on the condition of anonymity that the Army did not start any rescue operations until Monday in their area. "It was the locals who saved an Army vehicle stuck here in the floods with 22 people. Their main focus was on rescuing tourists and high-profile visitors," he alleged. This is a persistent rumour that is doing the rounds of Srinagar. Within minutes, we are surrounded by others who allege the same. However, they added that there had not been too many deaths in the area, which counts around 40,000 people as inhabitants.

Only half a kilometre down, Ghulam Qazi Sufi, 65, a shopkeeper, said that the "Army helped. They did what they could." It was only on Friday, seven days after the floods, that he was able to open his shop and inspect the damages caused by the floodwater. "I have had to throw goods worth at least over Rs 1 lakh," he said. He demanded that the government should at least give more rations than officially mandated to the people for the next couple on months, till the compensation is paid.

However, Md. Mumtaz, 30, a Bihari labourer, told this newspaper that their lot was the worst. "We work here as masons. Many of our people are still trapped. We have not received any help from any quarter. The Army is preferring to help the Kashmiris," he alleged. A large number of Bihari labourers are presently living in camps near the Srinagar airport from where they are being airlifted, with private airlines also chipping in.

Locals are also sharing the burden of relief and rescue along with the Army. Gurudwaras and mosques have set up committees for the purpose, providing accommodation, food, and other required items like medicines.

In Hyderpora, the relief camp at the Jamia Masjid is feeding at least 4,000 people per day while 2,000 are staying there till alternate arrangements can be made, said locals.

Individuals are also pitching in. Sagar Kaul, who came to Srinagar to locate his mother, has set up a relief camp in Baghat-Barzulla at the International School, he told this newspaper. He has spoken to his mother who has been rescued and put up in a hotel with other survivors, briefly over telephone but he cannot meet her yet. "It is better to do this than waste my time. People are willing to contribute but we are running short of diesel and petrol, so transportation is a challenge," he said. Long lines of vehicles could be seen at the lone petrol pump selling fuel on the NH1 on Friday.

A senior official of Save the Children, an NGO working on the ground, said that it could take at least "ten to fifteen" days for everyone to be rescued. "Only around one lakh people yet have been rescued in eight days. Another five lakh still await rescue. The administration is nowhere to be seen. Everything has been left to the Army," said the official, a resident of Srinagar.

Xi to Abe, $35 billion is peanuts !!

Xi to Abe, $35 billion is peanuts

The total investment slated to be approved during the 17-19 September visit will exceed $200 billion, thereby dwarfing Japan’s commitment of $35 billion spread over five years.

MADHAV NALAPAT New Delhi | 13th Sep 2014

President Xi Jinping of China

ringing with him as many as eight ministers and 130 top businesspersons from both the public as well as the private sectors, President Xi Jinping of China expects to build on the rapport established with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS summit in Brazil to create a new paradigm for the Sino-Indian relationship, according to senior officials contacted on telephone and in person. President Xi touches down in Ahmedabad on 17 September after lightning visits to Maldives and Sri Lanka, and is expected to be welcomed by Prime Minister Modi himself, in the same way as the PM was welcomed in Kyoto by Japan's PM Shinzo Abe. "President Xi is very keen on seeing for himself the way in which Modi has transformed Gujarat, which is why he was particular to begin his visit in that state", a top official revealed, adding that "both Xi as well as Modi have a shared interest in unlocking the potential in cooperative relations between China and India".

According to a senior official, the total investment in the projects which are slated to be approved during the 17-19 September visit will exceed $200 billion, thereby dwarfing Japan's commitment of $35 billion spread over five years, made during the just-concluded Modi visit to Asia's second-biggest economy.

Senior officials mentioned some of the big ticket items that are on track for initiation during the Xi visit, which will be the most high-profile ever by a Chinese head of state to India. "Agreements for two China-specific industrial parks, each around 5 square kilometres in area, are to be signed", an official pointed out. The facility near Gandhinagar will involve an investment of around $5 billion for setup, entirely financed by Chinese banks, and will involve companies active in power transmission and conversion. The one near Pune will comprise auto ancillary plants designed for export, and will have about the same land area and dollar cost of setup. "More than 10,000 Indian workers will get jobs in each park", a Chinese official pointed out, adding that it is expected that "a total of ten such parks will get initiated over the next five years, thereby making India a manufacturing location equal to that created by Chinese companies in the US".

A major item under discussion is a plan to involve Chinese companies in dredging more than 600 canals and reservoirs in six states across the country, so as to enhance their water storage capacity. This is expected to boost water supply to farms in these states, and is estimated to cost $18 billion, funded by Chinese financial institutions. An agreement on this is expected to be arrived at before 19 September.

Another mega deal will involve (a) the doubling of speeds on existing railway tracks in the country through use of technology developed and tested in China for the purpose; and (b) partnering in the construction of "fast trains" reaching speeds of 160 kilometres per hour. These would shrink travel time considerably while being much cheaper than the "bullet trains" to be developed in cooperation with Japan, an official claimed. No figures were proffered as project cost, although these sources said that around $35 billion will get spent on power and highway projects which involve Chinese companies.

"We are aware that certain circles are unhappy at the way in which President Xi and Prime Minister Modi are for the first time creating a new and mutually beneficial relationship between the two sides", a senior official said, but added that "on both sides, the leaders are popular and decisive and capable of implementing what they decide to get accomplished".

Among the agreements expected to be signed is the facilitation of an exponentially increased tourist flow between both countries, as well as agreements designed to enable more students from either side to study in the other country Another agreement likely to get signed between the two sides is the entry of Chinese banks as major lenders to Indian industry, with Bank of China expected to set up a branch in India after a lapse of half a century. "Even without operating in India, Bank of China has already lent $5 billion to Indian companies. This will rise manifold once the bank begins large-scale operations in India", a senior official said. He added that part of the blueprint for mutually beneficial economic relations between Delhi and Beijing is that "Chinese banks will lend money to Indian corporates, which secure guarantees of Indian banks for such loans". As Chinese banks have much lower interest rates and far longer repayment schedules than banks in India, such activity is expected to ensure a return to health of several units and projects now stalled for lack of finance or high cost of finance. As such a role may conflict with the interest of US and EU banking institutions in retaining the lead role in financial transactions in India, it remains to be seen if the Reserve Bank of India (which in the view of some seems to have its gaze firmly fixed on Wall Street) will permit such a quantum jump in lending by the banks of a country challenging the status of the dollar and the euro as the prime reserve currencies of the globe. "Such obstruction (from individuals and entities with a focus on Wall Street) may persist despite the benefits of cheap and abundant financing by Chinese companies of projects in India with a long gestation period, such as in infrastructure", an official warned, although later expressing confidence that the Modi government is strong enough to override such obstacles.

"The Chinese side is hopeful that Prime Minister Modi will shake off the biases of previous governments and act solely in the interests of India by ensuring that the best deal for India (rather than for Wall Street or the City of London) gets consummated", an official said. Another said that the Prime Minister's decisions over the past three months "indicate a leader who acts in a manner entirely independent of outside pressure", and that "in this, he is on the same page as (President) Xi Jinping". A senior official calculated the likely total loans by PRC-based banking institutions to industry in India as "being in excess of $75 billion over the next five years".

The fact that President Xi found the time for a substantive conversation in Zhongnanhai with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on the latter's first visit in his new role to China, indicates, according to an official, that President Xi is on board with Prime Minister Modi on the need to expedite the process of negotiating a final border agreement between the two sides, thereby removing a key irritant in relations. According to him, such an agreement is feasible "within the term in office of PM Modi and General Secretary Xi".

Another issue expected to be discussed is the possibility of both countries coordinating their views and actions on Afghanistan, a stance unlikely to be popular with the Pakistan Army.

However, "China believes that an expanded UN Security Council should include only developing countries and not developed countries as new members", thereby hinting that as long as India remains in the "Gang of Four" (India, Brazil, Germany and Japan) and asks for seats for all four, Beijing will not give it the nod. However, "as individual countries, India, Brazil and South Africa would be welcome in an expanded Security Council", a senior official revealed. It is improbable that Delhi would end the four-country alliance decided upon by the UPA, in view of the importance of Germany and Japan in the economic and strategic calculus of the new government. However, an official claimed that "in case Delhi has ended a joint quest for the UNSC seat and is instead going on its own, the Chinese side will not disappoint our Indian friends".

While the actual results of the 17-19 September Xi Jinping visit are still to reveal themselves, it seems clear that the Chinese side recognises (in the words of a senior official) that a "New India has stood up in 2014 now that Prime Minister Modi has taken over", and that President Xi is therefore looking to "establish a new partnership paradigm jointly with him" in a relationship which till now has shown scant actualisation of the economic and strategic potential inherent in better ties.

Saturday, 13 September 2014

These 8 Indian laws are so old that they still mention 'Her Majesty' and the 'East India Company' !!

These 8 Indian laws are so old that they still mention 'Her Majesty' and the 'East India Company'

All cattle must stay off public roads, as per The Cattle-Trespass Act, 1871 – except cows.

Shruti Chakraborty, qz.com · Yesterday · 08:00 am

Photo Credit: Frontierofficial via Fickr

The Narendra Modi government wants to identify and repeal archaic laws, many that are centuries old, as a part of its reform process.

On Friday, a committee submitted a report on repealing 72 outdated legislations that make little, or no, sense in modern India. The Law Ministry, meanwhile, lists about 203 laws that were enacted a 100 years ago. Some of these have been repealed, but many continue to be around complete with mentions of the East India Company and “Her Majesty”.

Here are some specimens.

Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878If you come across any “treasure” or basically anything that is more valuable than Rs 10, you can be jailed if you do not report it to a revenue officer. As the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) explains it, the law was designed to “protect and preserve treasure found accidentally but had archaeological and historical value” and was “enacted to protect and preserve such treasures and their lawful disposal.”

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 497)Only men, this law rules, can be punished for adultery – and women go free. But there’s more.

If a married man has sex outside marriage with an unmarried woman, a divorcee or a widow, it will not be treated as adultery under this section of Indian law. In case a man has sex with a married woman and has her husband’s consent that, too, will not be treated as adultery. Effectively, this means that it is legal for a man to have an extramarital affair as long as it’s with a single woman or a married woman whose husband consents to it.

Ganges Tolls Act, 1867Enacted for “improving and facilitating the navigation of the Ganges” between Allahabad and Dinapur (near Patna), steamers and boats plying on the stretch had to pay a toll of 12 annas. A single (now defunct) anna was equal to a 1/16 of a rupee. The Act requires that the toll shall “not exceed 12 annas per hundred maunds (a unit of mass),” and was applied to vessels typically carrying 200 maunds and upwards.

The Cattle-Trespass Act, 1871Much before India’s highways became a free-for-all, this law was enacted with the intention of keeping cattle off public roads. Cattle also had to stay away from “pleasure-grounds, plantations, canals, drainage-works, embankments and the like”, otherwise they would be seized and locked away in a pound. Owners can subsequently reclaim them by paying a fine, or risk having them auctioned after seven days.

Cows, however, are exempt from any such restrictions. But elephants, camel, buffaloes, horses, mare, geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs and goats aren’t.

Glanders and Farcy Act of 1899Glanders (or farcy) is a disease that affects horses, and can be passed on to humans. Under this act horses with the disease can be culled and the owner gets a compensation for the loss of livelihood. Inspectors also have the power to “enter and search any field, building, or other place for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is therein any horse which is diseased.” As recently as 2011, this law was used to pay a compensation of Rs 50 to the owners of a horse affected by glanders. The horse cost the owners Rs 35,000 and helped them earn Rs 250 a day.

The Bengal Bonded Warehouse Association Act, 1838This act helped form a corporate body for the warehousing of goods, known as the Bengal Bonded Warehouse Association, with a capital stock of Rs 10,000 and six directors, all residents of “Bengal Presidency.” The act stipulates that only residents of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal can be its directors. The East India Company has the first right on any property the Association wishes to sell. The original East India Company was dissolved in 1874.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898India’s massive courier industry is mostly illegal as a result of this law. That’s because, as per this act, the government retains the exclusive privilege “of conveying by post, from one place to another” most letters. Courier companies can, however, send letters by calling them “documents.”

Indian Sarais Act, 1887If you get ill while living at a hotel in India, the establishment has to report it to a police station under the Sarais Act. The innkeepers are also required to “to remove all noxious vegetation on or near the sarai (hotel), and all trees and branches of trees capable of affording to thieves means of entering or leaving” the premises.

This post originally appeared on Qz.com.

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Dear Manmohanji, your silence means an admission of guilt....

Dear Manmohanji, your silence means an admission of guilt

Silence is golden, but not always. When it drags on, it threatens to devour the person.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who was often ridiculed as Man “maunmohan” Singh for not using his voice box despite the fussilade of charges against him with regard to high ticket corruption in his government, now needs to break his silence.

But he has so far stayed true to form, his mouth firmly shut no matter what the provocation. The latest assault has come from former Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai who, in an interview with Times Now, indicted the former prime minister by alleging that Singh was fully aware of the 2G and the coal block allocation scams in his government, but had turned a blind eye to it, choosing to do nothing when he could have changed the course of things by putting his foot down.

Former PM Manmohan Singh. PTI image

There is no word from Singh to the disclosures that bust his claim of not knowing the sordid saga that was enacted in his government. But as things stand today, Singh finds himself pushed into a corner where speaking out would be as damaging as not speaking -- both to him and whatever is left of his image, as well as to the Congress and party chief Sonia Gandhi, without whose direct or indirect knowledge he could not have proceeded or closed his eyes to whatever was happening in his government.

Why Singh may not speak

Curiously, the entire phalanx of the Congress party has sprung up, not so much to defend the former prime minister but to rubbish Rai’s statements. This is due to the unstated attempt to prevent the fires that are closing in on the former prime minister from spreading to 10 Janpath -- a synonym for Sonia -- who too could not but have been aware of what was happening in the corridors of power. The first and preeminent article in the Congressman’s behaviour is to protect the fountainhead in the party--in this case, Sonia—because on its existence depends their own survival.

This is perhaps one of the three major reasons why Singh may continue with his Sphinx-like silence. Cynics would interpret this as his way of saying `thank you’ to the Congress president for making him the prime minister for 10 years. Never mind the fact that he stepped into South Bloc in 2004 as an icon of the middle classes, and went out in 2014 as a failed leader, his personal integrity severely compromised by his failure to prevent corruption that bled the exchequer and debilitated the government. The Congress, like Sonia, had to pay a heavy political price for failing to intervene.

The second reason is that anything he says now would be compared with his initial remarks on the scams in Parliament where he had rebutted the CAG’s findings. With the coal ministry directly under his charge for some time, Singh had particularly rubbished the CAG report on coalgate charging the oversight body of proceeding on flawed premises, selective reading of opinions given by the Department of Legal Affairs and ignoring practical realities of policy implementation. He also faulted the methodology used to estimate the ‘loss’ of revenue to the exchequer.

It has been a similar story with regard to 2G, with Singh flip-flopping on it on whether or how much he knew about the way in which the controversial allocations were made. He offered to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to place the facts of the case before the panel, but when the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the matter demanded his appearance, he rejected it.

The third reason for why he may not break his silence is the one leaders usually offer when confronted with allegedly harsh truths: that they will come out with their own version of events. In short, it’s a case of a book for a book. Remember Sonia’s retort of writing her own book to bring out the real facts as a counter to Natwar Singh’s revelations in his autobiography 'One Life is Not Enough'?

Singh is likely to fall back on a similar one liner if pushed to respond.

After all, he entombed himself into a sepulchral silence when the first of an impending torrent of tomes began that either put him in the dock or showed him in poor light -- there’s Sanjaya Baru’s ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’, former Coal Secretary PC Parakh’s ‘Crusader or Conspirator’, and now it’s Rai’s damaging interview ahead of the release of his book `Not Just an Accountant’.

Why Singh must speak out

But for every reason on why Singh may not want to break his silence there are equally compelling reasons why he should, and must.

For one, he will have to fight this battle alone.

Barring a couple of exceptions like PC Chacko, no one in the party has come out in his defence following Rai’s revelations.

While indicting the former prime minister, Rai had also accused Congress leaders including Sanjay Nirupam, Sandip Dikshit and former Law minister Ashwani Kumar, of putting pressure on him to somehow keep his name out of the report, which was already in the public domain.

One by one, these leaders have debunked the charge they had wanted the report laundered. Nirupam even hinted that he could sue Rai for it -- a threat that if followed on would inevitably drag not just Singh but other bigwigs into the legal tangle, something which Sonia may not want considering that she, Rahul and some of her senior aides are already trying to fight their way out of the National Herald case.

Dikshit too denied any role, claiming that there was no time machine to turn back the clock when the report was already in circulation. Spokesman Abhishek Singhvi rubbished Rai’s charges as a "marketing gimmick" for his book much like the party had done with Natwar Singh’s.

But the biggest setback to Singh was Kamal Nath’s endorsement of Rai’s disclosure that as Commerce minister he had flagged the concerns over 2G with the prime minister. But then Kamal Nath couldn’t have said anything different since the letter he wrote to Singh was in the public domain. Nath has been quoted saying: "I wrote to the PM I’m hearing all sorts of things are going on in 2G allocation. The PM chose to do nothing. I do feel if he had intervened, things would have been different."

Two, silence means an admission of guilt. Seen to be indicted, Singh, as a former prime minister, owes it to the nation to speak up, whether or not what he says carries conviction or not with the people. Time and again, while speaking either on the telecom scam or the coal scandal, he spoke on how he wanted transparency built into the allocation process. He may have failed in doing that in government, while allowing speculation to fester that he was hampered by coalition politics and the diktats of 10 Janpath. But now that he is no longer prime minister, he needs to show that transparency and forthrightness in his reaction to all that is being said about him. It is perhaps his last chance to make himself heard.

The third, and perhaps, the most important reason on why Singh needs to speak out is linked to the press conference he held earlier this year and the third in his 10 years as Prime Minister. Reacting to a question, he had expressed the hope that history would be kinder to him than the contemporary media or for that matter the opposition parties in Parliament have been. It would now seem that even history may not extend him that favour unless he steps out of the wall of silence he has built around himself.

Heart-rending letters of Indian soldiers who fought in World War I

A scholar has spent close to a decade trying to recover the lost experiences of Indian soldiers who fought in the Great War.

Shweta Desai · Today · 04:27 am

Photo Credit: Courtesy: Professor Prabhjot Parmar

“On the 19th of November I began writing a letter and found that the ink was frozen in the inkstand. I broke the ink-pot, took out the ink, melted it over the fire, and wrote the letter to you with the melted ink.” – December 8, 1915

Over a century ago, the first battalions of the Indian Expeditionary Force left Indian shores for Europe. Fourteen months later, in a letter written by Signaller Natha Singh to Dafadar Wazir Singh from somewhere in France, two things resonate sharply: the isolation of being in a foreign land, and the overwhelming need many of these soldiers felt to communicate with fellow countrymen. The First World War was in full swing. One-and-a-half million Indian troops travelled to countries like France and Belgium, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), Turkey and parts of British East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zanzibar), China, Hong Kong and off the coast of South and North America.

The contribution of Indian soldiers to the Allied effort in WWI has stayed largely in the shadows, though the country provided more manpower to the conflict than any other nation. Dr Prabhjot Parmar, professor at the University of the Fraser Valley in Canada, has embarked on a project to recover the lost experiences of Indian soldiers who fought in this war, through letters, literature, photography, documentary, and architecture.

Indian cavalry in France (photo published in a paper in 1915).[Courtesy Prabhjot Parmar]

Parmar was in Delhi some months ago to track down descendants of WWI soldiers’ families, travelling to villages in Punjab that sent a great number of men to the war. During a lecture she gave in the Capital recently, Parmar, who has spent a good deal of time reading the archive of the extracts of censored and translated letters, said, “These letters are akin to forgotten voices. They have become testimonials of lived experience, of impressions related to the military life of the Indian soldiers and the social milieu in which they were placed.”

She says that exploring these letters of soldiers is of real importance because they provide understanding of the human side of the war. “They also give us a glimpse of who these soldiers were, where they came from, why they went to war, what sociological conditions persisted at that time in India. They tell us what the journey to the war front was like, and of what happened to these men in the war.”

An injured Indian soldier narrating a letter to a scribe.[Courtesy Prabhjot Parmar]

Letters from soldiers

Many young recruits had never left their villages or towns, so travelling by ship to cross the Black Sea was both exciting and disturbing. A number of letters betray the cluelessness of many of these recruits. They were not told – or did not understand – where they were going or where the front was. “The only way they could express their anxieties about the horrors of war, exposure to the West, the experiences of living in a foreign country, and so on was through letters,” Parmar said.

Parmar has tracked the role of the Indian soldier in WW1 from before the first shipload of soldiers left. In her research she came across the mass drives for recruitment that took place across India, when volunteers from small towns and remote rural villages lined up enthusiastically. The province of Punjab, which then stretched from Delhi to Rawalpindi, became the main centre for recruitment.

Indian Expeditionary Forces

“Most of the soldiers were from highly impoverished families,” Parmar said. “Conditions in rural India were deplorable at the time. Many families sent men for war so they could earn some money. There was no rain that year, which meant no farming.”

Remuneration for fighting was fixed at Rs 11 per month – and Rs 7 for the lower ranks. Some families considered this lucrative and did not hesitate in sending all the adult male members in the house to the war. 800,000 troops, including infantry, cavalrymen, laundrymen, cooks, horsemen and lettermen were gathered under the banner of the Indian Expeditionary Forces.

Sikh soldiers singing hymns in a camp.[from Sikhnet.com]

Most of these Indian soldiers were illiterate, coming from agricultural communities. They would narrate their feelings, observations and experiences in Gurumukhi, Hindi or Urdu to the scribes. But not all these emotions were transferred to the written letter. Cautious of any sensitive information being leaked, the British army heavily censored their letters, checking especially for references to combat, blackening objectionable words, deleting lines and sometimes even holding back the letters in entirety. Parmar says, apart from battlefield information, “details on white women or sexuality were promptly deleted, along with any accounts of suffering or death, which could perhaps have given rise to political instability back home.’’

In France

When the first battalion of Indian troops marched through the streets of Marseille on September 26, 1914, French men and women lined up to celebrate, ecstatic such a large contingent from distant shores had travelled to fight in their country.

“This was a new experience for Indian men, who were used to being the subjects of whites,” said Parmar. There is evidence in some letters of the love and affection received by Indian soldiers when they stayed in the villages and houses of the French,’’ she said. In one letter, a soldier writes that as he was leaving the old woman of the house began to cry, crying more than when she lost her own sons in the war.

Sikh Red Cross orderly carrying a wounded soldier at Fauquissart France[from Sikhnet.com]

As the war went on, soldiers were exposed to an utterly new mode of life. The cold weather, verdant landscape, white women, and lack of poverty are recurring themes in many letters. Exhilarated by the beauty of France and the life of its people, some even began to wish that the war would not end.

“The country is exceedingly pleasant. In it India is forgotten. I do not wish the war to end soon. I should like to die in this country and I have no intention of returning to India. If you want anything, write to me. May the Holy Guru save me from India?’’ Sowar Natha Singh wrote to Sapuran Singh (Lyallpur District, Punjab), in Urdu, from FPO 19, France, on January 4, 1916.

Dominant narratives

Coming home was a common theme of these letters. War was the second-dominant narrative, with talk of loyalty, fighting for the honour of their kaum (community), family and regiment. Soldiers wrote poignantly about their friends being killed, death, martyrdom and the deplorable conditions. Some drew an analogy with Indian religion.

“Do not think that this is war. This is not war. It is the ending of the world. This is just such a war as was related in the Mahabharata about our forefathers,” wrote a wounded Indian soldier from a hospital in England on January 29, 1915.

Around 74,000 Indian soldiers died in WWI, with Mesopotamia alone recording more than 24,000 Indian deaths. Soldiers were made prisoners-of-war and suffered terribly in war camps.

Parmar has been studying the letters written by Indian soldiers since 2006. She says they have made a deep emotional impact, but also leave her physically jolted. “Many of these letters now exist only in small extracts,” she said. “But even then the poignancy and the raw emotions of some of the letters bring tears to my eyes.’’

Indian soldiers being greeted with flowers in London on St. George’s Day during WW1.[from Sikhnet.com]

Parmar is a descendant of a family that has served in the Indian armed forces for seven consecutive generations. She first encountered the military history of WWI as childhood fables narrated by her grandfather. “Babajee was a very old man when I was a child,” she said. “He had a long, floating beard which gave us an impression of him being a very wise and learned man, who would tell us these fascinating stories from France. We didn’t know what Paris and Marseille was!’’

Though no record of her grandfather’s involvement in WWI has been found yet, Parmar reckons that her great-grandfather might have fought in the war. “When we tried to find the records and ask other people from family, hardly anyone knew of their involvement in the war," she said. "There is a lot of ignorance amongst people about the contribution of their ancestors in this war.”

Parmar is currently finishing the manuscript of Dark-Skinned Warriors: Cultural Representations of Indian Soldiers in the Great War. She says of the participant countries India has the least information or records about its men. The state and the national archive department have over the years lost invaluable records due to ill maintenance and apathy.

“The descendants of many of these soldiers remain unaware of the contributions made by their ancestors, as there are no records available for most of the soldiers," she said. "With no surviving soldiers to narrate their experiences, a treasure trove of information has been lost.’’

As nations around the world remember their fallen, it seems the only way to remember the Indian soldiers who fought is through their own words, found in long-lost letters.

A sticker of an Indian soldier issued in 1919.[from Sikhnet.com]

All quotations and information on WWI soldiers in this copy has been shared by Professor Prabhjot Parmar based on her research, lectures and conversations withScroll.

We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.

Bye Bye Nanu....

I have been away from my blog for a very long time....a sad time. I lost a very dear friend....my father-in-law.

We shared a very good bond and to reminisce over those wonderful moments, I have penned an ode to him.....Nanu...as we all lovingly addressed him.

May Waheguru grant eternal peace to his soul ! Amen.

Bye Bye Nanu

On the 21st day of August this year, deep in his sleep, my father-in-law left this world just as he arrived into it...peaceful. Concerned friends and relatives, dutifully tried to console me. I was inconsolable because my mindless heart could not stop crying. I was unduly brave because my heartless mind refused to let me grieve and cause pain to all my relatives around me. Collecting his ashes, my mind refused to accept that the man who was an inspiration to me for more than 18 years was now no more with us…..! Carrying his ashes in the front seat of the car, I watched with disbelief as he embarked on his final journey. Spreading his ashes in the River Yamuna and watching him on his final journey was even more difficult since those were the only mortal remains that were left of Sardar Mahender Pal Singhji. (As an innocent request, my son (10 years old), wanted us to get a small urn of ashes, but customs of our society prevented it from happening.)

Some said it was an auspicious day to die and that it was good for him that he suffered no more. How can any day be a good day to lose someone you love so much, I ask ?

Brilliant, hardworking, witty, simple and charming, my father-in-law, Sardar Mahender Pal Singhji (1939 -2014) was an extraordinary man, fighter and a teacher. Even in his passing on from this world he continued to provide valuable lessons to all around him. People who were related to him and even those who had been with for a few days. His life is full of stories of people he helped get a job and become bread-winners for the family. He was always a ‘giver’ never a ‘taker’. From his humble beginnings, thanks to his hard-work, sincerity and the Almighty’s blessings, he carved a very comfortable world for his loved ones. His three daughters were always his most precious assets. He taught them the rough and tough of life and how to face every situation with a determined smile on the faces.

His best friend and companion, my mother-in-law, (Nani as we fondly call her) is the toughest woman I know ! She has been with there with Nanu through thick and thin. She brought up the children in the best possible way, while Nanu worked hard focusing on his job. They travelled the world and always had their children uppermost in their minds. She has been his strength and secret to success and now it is our privilege to give her what she has given all of us…our time, support and understanding.

Nanu (as we all fondly called him, young or old) had a life which was akin to a very long roller coaster ride, achieving great heights and many precipitous falls. Yet the spirit of such people always remains strong. They are warriors fighting against great odds and overcoming challenges. 'Never give up', was his motto. Having been denied his due in his service, he fought valiantly over a decade and his hard-work paid off when he won the case against the Govt of India and was restored his honour and due ! Yet when this life's journey's end is near, the good soul knows when to give in to His will.

Nanu had been bidding farewell gently, from the past eight years. Multiple myeloma was dimming his medical parameters but not his will to fight. The last decade saw him fighting the dreaded disease and its effects in different forms. Inspite of undergoing so much agony and pain, he was ever-smiling and had a solution for every problem that anyone faced around him. He continued giving even when the pain grew and each day became more difficult than the previous. His strength and stamina, till the very last day were awe-inspiring.

We spent many evenings together and I learnt much by being with him. The past 18 years I had the pleasure being close to him, I learned some very valuable lessons in life. He was more than a father-in-law, he was like a friend and guide to me. Personal finance, pitfalls of a Govt job, how to handle official issues and more, he was ALWAYS there to ensure that all my problems vanished in just one meeting or over a phone-call. I will miss his “all the best” calls before an important presentation of mine, his “all will be well” sermons that soothed my nerves whenever I was facing a tough situation. He always showered affection and it was a pleasure when he used to visit us in our new station of posting. He used to enjoy the Army cantonments, as the greenery reminded him of his younger days and he used to love nature. He used to explain my children about the plants, trees, herbs and birds. He knew so much and there was always a smile when he was in touch with nature. To my children, he was the Super Engineer! There was not a device in the world that he could not repair…..my son watched him use his precious ‘tools’ in awe and and make everything unworkable……WORK again !

It was hard to see him suffer in the hospital in the last few months. Pipes, tubes, dialysis, numerous medicines, choked voice and weakening body, was a sight I was just not prepared for. I tried making him smile and he did, like always, making my jokes always seem funny. But when he occasionally opened his eyes and looked at me, I could see them telling me, that “Inder this battle seems to be the toughest yet for me”. He wanted to live on, see his children and grandchildren grow and prosper, yet Waheguru had other plans for him. Before leaving back for duty, I got an opportunity to express my feelings to him, thanked him for all that he did for me as a friend, philosopher and guide. Kissed his forehead, touched his feet and reluctantly left….Army life is as such…doesn’t allow you time with your loved ones when you need it. I still remember him lying there with a peaceful look on his face and saying bye bye Inder….

His life has been a lesson and I want to share this learning with you. He never wanted anything for himself, the man lived a Saint’s life! He had more than plenty, yet wanted nothing but the simplest pen, smallest car and the simplest of wearables, just so that his children could be comfortable. He had no ego and that is why I call him a Saint more than a mere human being.

In spite of having much to be sad, angry and resentful about, Nanu’s heart was surprisingly at peace. Filled with humility, love and compassion he kept blessing one and all wishing them well and asking for forgiveness for any hurt he may have caused. Nanu meditated and prayed a lot and God answered his prayers by taking away all anger, ego and greed from him. It was a blessing, for Nanu stopped judging people and events. He saw only goodness and wonder in everyone and everything.

Failings Nanu had few, drive and intelligence he had plenty. Kindness and compassion he possessed beyond belief. Nanu was an enigma. Come to think of it, most children can never understand their parents. All that lucky children can get, is the opportunity to appreciate and take advantage of the bounty of love and learning that they get showered with by their parents.

The soul always knows what is right, but rarely do we listen to it, because the mind will not be still. This is what prayer and then mediation is all about, the ability to listen to the soul. Therefore the search for truth and understanding is never an outward journey but an inward journey. A journey to the core of our existence which is possible only by meditating. The soul is like a Hans (Swan) which wants to soar to the heavens and reunite with God but it is shackled to this material world by our lust, greed, attachments, anger and ego.

God has been kind to my father in the past several years by unshackling him almost completely from all these normal human traits. I pray that Waheguru will receive and accept my father-in-law Sardar Mahender Pal Singh ji and grant his soul eternal peace.

With a loving Sat Sri Akal

-Inder