Book Review [104] : The Story Of The Integration Of Indian States

There were about 562 Princely states in India before British started packing their bags. Some of these states were as big as France while others were as small as a small city. Out of these 562 states, 554 states merged with India while remaining states merged with Pakistan. 

'The Story Of The Integration Of Indian States' is the account of this mammoth task of nation building taken by the newly formed States Department headed by Sardar Patel with V. P. Menon as his secretary. Written in a lucid style, this book is a mine of information surrounding this very important process of integration. Patel was a modern incarnation of Chanakya and with his perseverance and ingenuity he made sure that all states acceded to India before his death. The festering problem of Kashmir is not his legacy as this accession was made conditional by Mountbatten and Pt. Nehru. 

Though stories of the merger of all states are equally interesting but the cases of Baroda, Junagadh, Jodhpur, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir are very intriguing. 

Though Baroda was one of the first states to accede to India but later its ruler HH Pratap Singh started showing tantrums and he was eventually de-recognized as the ruler of Baroda state by the President of India in 1951. Junagadh was the only state within the boundary of India that acceded to Pakistan. India had to play a patient game of statesmanship integrate this state with India. Hyderabad was the largest Princely state of India and Nizam Mohsin Khan Asaf Jah tried all out to exploit its humongous size. He even went to UN to internationalize the issue but the Police action in Sept 1948 (code name - Operation Polo) commanded by Major General J. N. Chaudhury liberated the people of Hyderabad from the tyranny of Razakars of Qasim Rizwi. 

India could not make the integration of Jammu and Kashmir smooth though we played a fair game. There were five major reasons behind this - its border with Pakistan, its demography, its ruler, the tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir sponsored by Pakistan and Indian diplomacy. Due to delay caused by the reluctance of Mountbatten to aid Jammu and Kashmir against Pakistan before Maharaja signing Instrument of Accession, we lost about 40% of Jammu and Kashmir territory. The story of Kashmir is a saga of betrayal (Muslim soldiers of J&K regiment stationed at Muzaffarabad betrayed and killed their officers and fellow soldiers), unprecedented bravery (Brigadier Rajinder Singh with his 150 odd soldiers halted the advance of marauders for full three days) and botched diplomacy (with Nehru taking this case to UN). When the promise of plebiscite was not given to any other state why it was given to this state; even now this remains a weak point in our defence of Kashmir.

A must read book and thank you V. P. Menon for writing this; Sardar and you are the true architects of India.

Highly Recommended (10/10)

Book Review [103] : Troubled Periphery - The Crisis Of India's North East

Things fall apart, the centre can not hold - This has been the story of India's North East since Independence. A region with about 8% of India's landmass and 4% of India's population, connected with "main-land" by just 22 km wide chicken's neck (silliguri corridor) is a micro cosmos of India. It is perhaps more diverse than the rest of India. It has more than 400 dialects and about 200 major tribes sharing the hills and the plains. Since time immemorial India's middle east has been the melting pot of various tribes, culture, religion and languages. Almost all major world religions are represented here including the lost tribe of Jews - Bnei Menashe. 

'Troubled Periphery - The Crisis of India's North East' is a brilliantly researched book by Subir Bhaumik. The author has gone into the history of north east with great precision and has written with a fair detail about various insurgent groups. 

Out of 7 North Eastern states, four states are completely dominated by tribal people - Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya (Christianized by Baptist missionaries in late 19th century) while Arunachal Pradesh has so far been able to maintain its indigenous religion. Tripura and Assam have been demographically transformed in last 50 years or so, Manipur has been observing insurgency since the Naga days and it is the only state that perceives itself to be surrounded by hostile tribes and people from all sides.

Tripura was dominated by the tribal people before its accession to India but since its accession the Bengali flood has changed its demography and the tribal people lost their power and stakes. They retreated in the hills. The terrorist groups like NLFT, ATTF etc have been carrying on insurgency in this state for about 30 years. NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura proclaimed objective is to "Expel all Bengalis from Tripura and to establish a Christian state in Tripura". It has killed many Hindu priests and banned worship of Hindu deities in the forests. 

Mizoram has largely been peaceful since the 1986 accord signed by rebel leader Lal Denga and government of India but even in its peace the lesser tribes like Hmars and Bru have suffered. 

Manipur has suffered a lot at the hand of rebels of all kinds - Meities, Nagas, Kukis, Muslims etc. The demand of greater Nagalim is like an eternal thorn to its existence.

The illegal migration from Burma and Bangladesh (East Pakistan) and migration from India is one of the most important reasons behind all this turmoil in North East. The genesis of almost all the insurgent groups lie in this monumental problem. The case of Assam is poignant. I was really aghast to read about about the number of insurgent groups active in North East. To underscore the problem the non-exhaustive list is given:

NSCN (IM), NSCN (K), NDFB(S), ULFA, PLA, NLF, NLFT, ATTF, Achik Group, Kuki group, MULTA, Dimasa group  and many more. 

The book also sheds some light on the dark history of 1960s and 1970s when competitive patronage to insurgent groups were given by all countries. India gave to Chakma tribals in 1970s,  to Kachin Independence Army in 1980s. Pakistan gave to NNC, MNF etc in 1950s, 1960s and Bangladesh in 1970s. China gave to NNC, MNF, NSCN, PLA in 1960s, 1970s. 

Highly Recommended(9/10)

Book Review [102] : The Kaoboys Of R&AW

'Aankhen' is one of the first and one of the finest Indian movies made on espionage as a theme; who ever has seen this movie, must have pondered about existence of such spy agency in India. The very year Aankhen was released (1968), 'Research and Analysis Wing' came into existence as a result of the bifurcation of Intelligence Bureau (IB) into IB( for counter intelligence) and R&AW (for external intelligence). 

'The Kaoboys of R&AW' is a beautifully written memoirs cum history of this premier agency by former spy master B. Raman. He had worked in R&AW for about 26 years and played a key role in almost all the success and failure stories of Indian intelligence. He continued his contribution by writing consistently on India's security and defence till his death in 2013. 

R. N. Kao was the founder and first chief of R&AW and he literally created this institution from scratch. The R&AW never looked back and played a key role in 1971 liberation of Bangladesh. It has had its successes and it has had its failures. While successes are supposed to be hidden in the files but the failures are destined to be magnified a million times. The dismantling of Mizo separatists groups and Naga (to a large extent) could not have been done without R&AW, similarly it played a key role in suppressing the Khalistan movement and Kashmir insurgency. He does not throw much light on inchoate Israel-India build up against Pakistan nuclear program. The failures of R&AW are also momentous - Operation Blue Star, assassination of Indira Gandhi,  assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Bombay blast of 1993, IC 814 hijacking, 26/11 etc. 
The mutual bickering and jealousies of IB, R&AW and MEA are legendary; some officers compromised their integrity by becoming slaves of their political masters while some were bought over by inter departmental rivalries and scramble for limelight. The current infrastructure has more than 7 or 8 intelligence agencies and co-ordination and pooling of resources are major challenges. 

It is a must read book if you want to know about this secret institution and the challenges it faces from circumstances, politics, jealousies and lack of coherent strategy.  

Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [101] : The Struggle For Pakistan

For an Indian, Pakistan remains a condemned state; a hostile and estranged sibling who severed sacred mother to forge an independent state but as last Prime Minister of India said with sagely wisdom that we can choose our friends but not our neighbours so we can hate Pakistan but we can not ignore it.

The 'Struggle For Pakistan' is a well written book on the history of Pakistan from the Lahore Resolution to last democratic elections of 2013. Historian Ayesha Jalal contends but rather unconvincingly that Jinnah did not want to create an Independent state for Muslims but he was simple using bug bear of Pakistan as the counter of bargaining and he failed to use it that way and thus Pakistan was created. She did not blame Jinnah for the partition, she blames the politics of that period. She claims that Jinnah wanted to create a Pakistan as a Muslim state with Parliamentary democracy respecting individual rights but his early demise in late 1948 sealed the fate of Pakistan.

From 1948 Pakistan has seen a large number of assassinations, genocide, military coup, judicial coup, terrorism, wars, sectarian violence and what not. The first PM of Pakistan 'Liaqat Ali Khan' was assassinated in 1951 in Rawalpindi by a Pathan followed by a botched investigation. General Ayub Khan executed the first coup in 1958 followed by Martial Law in Pakistan, the debacle of 1965 caused his downfall but this was not the downfall of military rule, one Dictator was followed by another more brutal Yahya Khan in 1969.The first genuinely popular leader Muzibur Rehman was imprisoned when he proposed genuine devolution of power to the provinces against an ever centralizing state followed by genocide of Bengalis (mainly Hindus), the Indian intervention cut down Pakistan in two Independent states with Pakistan losing majority of its population to Bangladesh. This cataclysmic event aroused a wide feeling of national resentment which was exploited by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but he fell to the greed of power and delusion of invincibility. He was hanged by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1979 (in Rawalpindi). Zia-ul-Haq encouraged Islamist parties and exploited the USSR intervention in Afghanistan to the fullest, the Jihadis was nurtured and factories were built with full support from USA. An act of God killed him in Air crash (as described by Benazir Bhutto). Democracy returned in 1988 only to be scuttled by Pervez Musharraf in 1999 followed by yet another intervention in Afghanistan. Popular discontent led to his downfall and democracy was restored in Pakistan but not before the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Dec 2007 (again in Rawalpindi). Since 2008 democracy has been functioning in Pakistan but not without consistent threat of Military intervention. 

Ayesha Jalal contends that factors like cold war geopolitics, fear of India and volatile middle east played a major role in shaping the history and the future of Pakistan. She gives unconvincing benefit of doubt to the people of Pakistan and admits her faith in the people of Pakistan. 

This book is a benign take on the history of Pakistan and the good part is that the book is not anti-India and the writer has not blamed India for wars of 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. She squarely blames Bhutto and Ayub Khan for 1965 debacle, Yahya Khan for 1971 and Musharraf for 1999 debacle. 

Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [100] : Creating a New Medina

'Indian Partition' was the most important event of last century after Second World War. More than a million people were killed, more than hundred thousands women were abducted and raped and more than 10 million people were violently uprooted from their homelands. Even now the baggage of partition influences the relations of India and Pakistan, and these countries have fought 4 full fledged wars and numerous skirmishes. The conflict of Kashmir is also a product of that violent upheaval of 1947. 

Numerous books have been written on this subject, some blame Muslim League and Jinnah for partition while others blame Congress and Britishers for partition. 'Creating a New Medina' by Venkat Dhulipala is a brilliantly researched book that counters Pakistani historian Ayesha Jalal contention that Jinnah did not want an independent Pakistan, he was simply using it as a counter for bargaining some concessions for Muslim community from the Congress. This book exposes this very assertion of Jalal and proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the concept of Pakistan was not vague or not without any foundation. It was debated, evaluated, discussed, refuted and defended vigorously by the elite as well as the other classes of Muslims. The Urdu press was one such effective medium for popularizing the notion of Pakistan and spreading the slogan of 'Lekar rahenge Pakistan' (We will take Pakistan). Muslim League was not a major player in Indian politics before 1940, not even in Muslim majority provinces of India. After 1937 elections, Krishak Praja Party ruled Bengal while Unionist Party ruled Punjab. The failure of Congress and Muslim League to share power in United Provinces led Jinnah to gradually adopt the slogan of an Independent Muslim Country (Pakistan). And he did not look back even once since the failure of 1937, first celebrated Deliverance Day in Dec 1939 (he claimed that Muslims were delivered from the tyrannical rule of Congress governments after their resignations in the wake of the beginning of World War II) and he sealed the direction of Muslim politics by adopting Lahore Declaration on 23rd March 1940. 

The book also underscored the role played by leading Ulemas of United Provinces, most of the Ulemas from 'Darul Uloom Deoband' led by Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madani sided with Congress but a powerful faction led by Maulana Usmani (who later became Shaikhul Islam of Pakistan) supported Muslim League wholeheartedly. Jamiatul Ulema Hind (JUH) supported Congress while Jamiatul Ulema Islam (JUI) supported League; JUH endorsed composite nationalism of Nehru wile JUI supported two nation theory of Muslim League. The book also provides prescient insight of Dr, B. R. Ambedkar on the Pakistan subject. His seminal work - Pakistan or Partition of India influenced the likes of both Jinnah as well as Gandhiji. 

Highly Recommended (9/10)