Agra is home to Balochi families, many of whose elders arrived after 1947. Though they consider themselves lucky to escape persecution, yearning of freedom from Pakistan remains.
Modi likes to paint his political rivals as meat-and-fish-gobbling quasi-Muslims who present 'Muslim' manifestos, appease Muslims, and can’t hope to represent India.
Historian Neha Vermani spoke about the role of food in Aurangzeb's court. Mughals were also selective vegetarians, she says. It was a Sufi method of 'soul purification'
New York-based PEN America criticises curriculum revision by NCERT for school textbooks that include changes to sections on Mahatma Gandhi’s death & trimming of Mughal history.
Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, noted for building the Jantar Mantars, was described as a ‘servant’ of the Mughal palace on a descriptive board outside the Samarkand Observatory.
In most standard textbooks, the story of the Delhi Sultanate is accorded primacy as the ‘main’ narrative while parallel empires in the south and east are categorised as ‘regional’ kingdoms.
The Ahmeds have taken care of the tomb of Aurangzeb — who ordered execution of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s son Sambhaji & is thus a polarising figure in Maharashtra — for six generations.
Not all bulldozers will get the same TV treatment. JCB in Delhi gets the best carpet coverage. But if you want to be an overnight TV star, pick a religious angle.
India and Bangladesh should remain alert and remember that Turkey’s increasing role in Dhaka’s defence capabilities goes against India’s security and strategic interests.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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