If The History Of India Could Be Changed
India has a rich and colourful history. The history of India is one of the grand epics of world history. The history of India dates back to almost 75,000 years ago. The first major civilization in India, "The Indus Valley Civilization" thrived in the Northwestern part of India from 3300-1300 BCE. From that period to till now India had witnessed innumerable historical events. We know that past events cast its shadows on the present as well as the future. Even today many Indians feel that some of the historical events that had happened in India, changed the present and will change the future of India for the worst. We feel that if some of these historical events had not happened in the first place, then the current position of India would have been far more better than now. If I have the power to alter some Indian historical events, then I would choose the following events:
1. Partition Of India
The partition of India is the most unfortunate event that had ever happened in Indian history. This event trembled the whole foundation of India. More than 66 years had passed since the partition of India but even today there is an atmosphere of mutual hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan. This partition was carried out to feed the ego of one single man named Muhammad Ali Jinnah who wanted a separate country for Muslims. He was suffering from Tuberculosis and he knew that he had only months to live but he secretly guarded this most valuable information from Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, and Mountbatten. If Gandhi had known about the physical condition of Jinnah then he would have definitely avoided this partition. In the end, the ego of Jinnah won but he died within 9 months from the day of partition. If Maulana Azad had been picked by Gandhi as Prime Minister instead of Jawaharlal Nehru, then also the partition of India would not had occurred. If these events had not happened then there would have been no rivalry between India and Pakistan and we would have lived in a peaceful united country without the fear of any terrorist attacks.
2. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
As Prime Minister One of the greatest 'if's' of Indian political history has been, if Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had been chosen as the first Prime Minister of India instead of Jawaharlal Nehru, then what would have been the present condition of India? The entire rank and file of congress looked at Sardar Patel as the most deserving candidate for prime ministership because of his proven track record for being an able administrator and a no-nonsense politician but then why did Gandhi choose Jawaharlal Nehru over Sardar Patel? Gandhi wanted Nehru to become the president of Congress but the Congress committee members nominated Sardar Patel for this post. This result prompted Gandhi to coax Sardar Patel to withdraw his nomination for the presidential post. As Sardar Patel had immense respect for Gandhi, he withdrew his candidature and this event paved the way for Jawaharlal Nehru to become the first Prime Minister of India. If Gandhi had chosen the deserving candidate instead of his personal choice, then today we would have been living in an entirely different and prosperous India.
3. The Murder Of Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India. He died in Tashkent, Russia due to a so called "heart attack" after signing the Tashkent declaration, which was a peace agreement between India and Pakistan after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. The evidences and circumstances clearly point out that Lal Bahadur Shastri was murdered by poisoning. Shastri was regarded as the true hero of the 1965 war and before his trip to Tashkent, he showed no symptoms of being unhealthy. It was officially accepted that no postmortem was done on Shastri's body either in Russia or in India but Shastri's wife Lalitha was troubled by the facts that his body was blue and their were certain cut marks on his body. Shastri's daughter was the last person who talked with him over the phone and his last words were, "I'm going to have a glass of milk and sleep." When she again called after 15 minutes, she received the tragic news that her father had died from heart attack. Shastri's servant, Ram Nath, who was with him on the day of his death was asked to speak the truth about this death before a parliamentary body in 1977. While Ram Nath was on his way to the Parliament, he was hit by a moving vehicle and his legs were crushed and he lost his memory. If we still can't see the truth, then we are too dumb. Why was he murdered?
There are evidences to prove that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was jailed in a prison in Russia and he died in 1976. At that time Nehru was the prime minister of India and Russia wanted to do business with India, so they threatened Nehru by using Netaji. Nehru feared that if Netaji was released, then he will have no place in India. At that time the relation between India and USSR flourished but when Nehru died and Lal Bahadur Shastri became the prime minister, the USSR received a shock because they knew that they can't threaten Shastri by using Netaji. If Shastri knew that Netaji was jailed in Russia then he would have asked the USSR to release him and would have welcomed him to India. USSR wanted somebody in power who can be threatened and utilised so in Tashkent they killed Shastri by poisoning his milk. As a result of this event, Indira Gandhi came into power and thereafter the USSR had good business with India. If Lal Bahadur Shastri had not met with an untimely death, then Indira Gandhi had no chance of becoming the prime minister of India and the innumerable brutal events associated with her would have never happened.
4. Indira Gandhi And The Emergency
The strength of India has always been its democracy but the imposition of Emergency in 1975 by Indira Gandhi shook the whole foundation of democracy in India. The situation of emergency in India lasted for 19 months and this period can be termed as the darkest period in the history of independent India. The foundation to this emergency was laid when the Allahabad High court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices. Jayprakash Narayan, who is also known as the "Gandhi of independent India" demanded the resignation of Indira Gandhi and called for a total revolution in India. During the year 1975, public protests against Indira Gandhi and her government achieved a nationwide status. On 25th June 1975, instead of resigning for the sake of her country, the power hungry Indira Gandhi imposed the emergency on India to safeguard her own political and personal interests. During emergency more than 100,000 people were arrested and detained indefinitely without trial. Each and every section of human life was affected during this state of emergency. The only person who benefited from this unfortunate event was Indira Gandhi's son, Sanjay Gandhi. If Indira Gandhi was never allowed to step into the Indian politics then selfish and brutal events like Emergency and Operation Blue Star would have never happened.
5. Demolition Of Babri Masjid
The demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 is the most unfortunate event which marked the beginning of religion based politics in India. On December 6, 1992, the Sangh Parivar, comprising of BJP, RSS, and VHP destroyed the Babri Majid in Ayodhya. This destruction resulted in the most violent communal riots India had ever seen after the partition in 1947. More than 2000 people were killed. The mastermind behind this destruction was L K Advani, who clearly knew the power of religion in India. This incident shows that religion in India can turn people crazy and fanatic. After this brutal event, the BJP succeeded in creating a Hindu majority party but this event will definitely create more communal riots in the coming years. Events like this proves that, we Indians are mere pawns at the hands of power crazy politicians.
These are the five major events which I would like to erase from the history book of India. Just imagine an India without these unfortunate events and the picture that emerges in your mind will take you to a fairy land.
Image Source: Wikimedia
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.