What major historical events do you remember?

Standing on the bank of a pond, unconsciously, I picked up a small, broken flat pot shard and threw it in water. It ricocheted and vanished in the water shortly after. While doing so, it left ripples in the still water of the pond. I kept staring at the moving potsherd on the water’s surface, and ripples, which grew gradually before dying down. The incident was a playful thing, but it resembles closely with the history and its happenings.

Victory of One

Since Aeon, humans have fought wars, some fierce ones, to build supremacy over one another. These wars shaped history in various ways. The lust for more led to expansionist tendencies and, ultimately, imperialism. Growing demand for raw materials and markets to sell the finished goods led to more bloody wars, manoeuvring, treachery and deceit. They did not hesitate to remove their brothers and sisters to grab the throneand jailed their father. The pages of the annals are painted red with the stories of gory acts and wars. Thousands were slain for the “Victory” of one.

Expansion of Empire

Expansion of the empire was mandatory and was viewed with great respect. The newly accented king was to wage wars and annex the boundaries of the vanquished king under their throne. It was done to expand the scope of revenue collection and increase the state coffers.

Ashok The Great

In his quest for the throne, Ashok the Great mercilessly eliminated all his brothers. He forced neighbouring kingdoms into submission. After bringing all kingdoms under his dominion, he waged war against Kalinga, the sole kingdom resisting his rule. The war resulted in a massive loss of life, and although Ashoka emerged victorious, the sight of the carnage profoundly affected him. This led to a transformation of his heart, and he embraced Buddhism, advocating and spreading the message of nonviolence.

Hitler and Nazi

The winners have always had an upper hand over those of subjugated. The sovereignty of the nation is compromised, and for all purposes, the defeated one becomes a slave of Victor. This changes a whole lot of geopolitical scenarios. One such was the rise of the Nazi Party as the only party which emerged as the most powerful organization in Germany with Hitler as its absolute leader.

Holocaust

Hitler had an open hatred against Jews. He ordered the systematic elimination of Jews, and thus, the holocaust of millions of Jews took place. They were killed in cold blood, exposing them to gas chambers in the notorious concentration camps of Auschwitz Birkenow, one of the most dreaded camps. This was the most heinous crime against humanity which went on unabated until the end of WWII.

WWII and India

Situations started changing fast post WWII. In India, things were becoming difficult for British. As the pressure mounted, British decided to free India but after vivisection of the country. India was freed on 15 August 1947 amidst riots, arson, loot and conflagration. Millions of people were uprooted, made to leave their land and property. Akin to holocaust, the mass exodus involved Millions of people. They died of starvation and disease and brutally murdered while transmigration. History has observed many instances of heartless persecution and killing of large number of people.

imposed Wars

1962 and 1965

India, though a peaceful country, was made to suffer a lot by invaders and foreigners. Even after freedom, several wars were forced on the country, the first one was in 1948. The major war was unilaterally imposed by China leading to the Indo-China war of 1962. Hardly two years later another war was imposed on India in 1965 at the end of the war the country had lost its Prime Minister. Lal Bahadur Shastri passed away in Tashkent after the signing of a peace agreement.

1971: Bangladesh Born

Twenty and four years after the British said adieu to the Indian subcontinent, the neighbouring in the eastern part had a heavy upsurge and a civil war started. Refugees poured in and yet another war was imposed by the hostile neighbour in 1971. The war culminated in the creation of a new country, Bangladesh, surrendering a huge contingent of enemy forces, about a lakh in number. These incidents are a landmark in the annals of modern Indian history.

Emergency Imposed

Yet another momentous incident occurred in India at the home front. The election of the then PM, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, was challenged, and the High Court gave its verdict against her. Fearing the loss of power, she declared a state of emergency in 1975, suspending every civic right; opposition members were arrested and imprisoned. During the emergency, the Constitution was vitally amended. Atrocious decisions were taken that caused widespread resentment. One such decision was the forceful mass vasectomy of people who were old and surpassed the active reproductive age.

Mrs Gandhi Defeated

The government’s atrocities had to boomerang, and they did. The elections were declared, and the results were not unexpected. The Congress party lost the battle; even the “Iron Lady”, Mrs Indira Gandhi, lost the elections. The coalition of opposition parties, known as the “Janata Party,” was victorious and established a coalition government at the centre. Jai Prakash Narain played a pivotal role in government formation, by a much-hyped, gaudy process. The poor patchwork government headed by a sluggish and self-obsessed, Morarji Desai as PM proved a poor performer. Infighting among the constituent parties of the government took its toll and it started shaking jerkily. Ultimately, the government collapsed under the weight of infighting and ego clash. The ineffective coalition of the opposition was defeated, paving the way for the resurgence of the Congress party under Mrs. Gandhi’s leadership.

Operation Blue Star

The most momentous historical incident in free India was “Operation Blue Star”, which took place in 1984. The ludicrous power game and clashes of titans resulted in the demeaning of institutions and the emergence of a heinous separatist cult of Sikhs under the leadership of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale. A section of Sikh activists vying for a separate homeland, Khalistan took to violence and gore. Target killing and desecration of the Golden Temple were rampant. The terrorists fortified the Golden Temple and Akal Takhat in a way as if preparing for a full-fledged war. To combat this, the government had to pump tanks and heavily armoured vehicles into the campus of Golden Temple. Significant loss was incurred to the holy shrine hurting the sentiments of Sikhs.

Mrs Gandhi Assassinated

31 October 1984; 09:20 AM.

Mrs Gandhi, accompanied by RK Dhawan, was about to cross the gate between 01 Safdarjung Road to visit 01 Akbar Road, where Peter Ustinov was waiting for her. She was to give an interview for the Irish TV. Soon after she reached the gate, Beant Singh fired at her with his service revolver, followed by Satwant Singh, who pumped several bullets in quick succession with a stun gun. Mrs Gandhi fell. She was rushed to AIIMS where she was operated upon. The chilling news of her death was made official at 02:20 PM. Soon after her death was officially declared, retaliatory anti-Sikh riots spread. Sikhs were subjected to mass killing, inflammation and riots in Delhi and other parts of India.

Treachery

Kargil War 1999

Wanting to have cordial relations with the neighbouring country, India makes a big move. Late PM Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a bus to Pakistan in 1999 to ease the strained relationship between India and Pakistan. It was a great gesture, but Pakistan did not pay in the same token. On one hand, Pakistan was shaking hands with India, it was treacherously attacking India at Kargil in Laddakh. Pak armies in the disguise of Mujahideen trespassed into Indian territory and backstabbed India. After getting a hard blow, Indian forces hit back strongly, wiping out the enemy outposts annihilating their bunker and winning back the area.

At the End

History shapes the future of a country and its subjects. Different incidents of the now become history for tomorrow. The past gives an insight and lesson for tomorrow.

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