Relevance of the ideology of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio in modern India

What the proud people of Young India need now more than anytime else is scientific temper, free thinking, to question, and not to accept anything blindly at face value, agnosticism, rationalism and scepticism rather than perverse religious intolerance and fundamentalism, communalism to which India is degenerating and deteriorating under the present dispensation.

In “To India - My Native Land”, Derozio writes of the "past glory" of India and how the

country that was once "worshipped as a deity" has been chained down to the lowest depths. Derozio writes about some of that heritage of the distant past and in return hopes for a "kind wish" from the country and its people.

Compared to "thy day of glory past" our country has now been "chained down at last", and is reduced to "grovelling in the lowly dust".

Derozio's later religious skepticism is sometimes attributed to David Drummond, who was known as a freethinker. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio organized debates where ideas and social norms were freely debated. In 1828, he motivated students to form a literary and debating club called the Academic Association.

Due to backlash from conservative parents who disliked his wide-ranging and open discussion of religious issues, Derozio was dismissed from his post as teacher in English literature and history at the new Hindu College in April 1831, shortly before his death.

The political activities of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio have also been seen as crucially

important to the development of a public sphere in Calcutta during British rule. The public sphere (German: Öffentlichkeit), an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion, influence political action. A “Public” is “of or concerning the people as a whole.” Such a discussion is called public debate and is defined as the expression of views on matters that are of concern to the public—often, but not always, with opposing or diverging views being expressed by participants in the discussion. Public debate takes place mostly through the mass media, but also at meetings or through social media, academic publications, and government policy documents.

For a nation with a long history of Hindu religious atheism, scepticism, agnosticism and rationalism, Bharata the land where scientific atheism originated in the world, people have the right to express their views on issues which concerns and verily affects them, whether the masses approve or like it or not! To me, what ancient India taught was we should never take anything at face value. Always ask questions! Question more. Agnosticism, atheism, rationalism...Hindu religious Philosophies like Samkhya, Charvaka or Lokayata. India was sui generis! India was the greatest nation ever on earth! The world’s 1st atheist nation! What happened to our scientific temper... The absolute and unconditional freedom of speech and expression, the open and unfettered philosophical

debates on atheism without fear or favour...Somewhere along the way, we, our ancient nation, lost our way and sunk into the abyss of oblivion and degeneration!

My homage to Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (18 April 1809 – 26 December 1831) on the occasion of his anniversary of death.

"My country! in thy day of glory past

A beauteous halo circled round thy brow...", Henry Louis Vivian Derozio in "To India - My Native Land". 

The startling claims made by one Mr. Pravin Sawhney

 

One Mr. Pravin Sawhney who is an editor of the Force magazine has recently published a video  titled “Bottom Line with Pravin Sawhney”, “China can change the status quo of Kashmir”, has made some startling claims. He says that The Home Minister allegedly said that, ”Aksai Chin will become part of the Ladakh Union Territory  and the maps were made accordingly”. He says that,   “now on 6^th itself,  China gave a very firm response and rejected this idea of union territory of Ladakh with Aksai Chin in it. On the 11^th  of August External   Affairs Minister Jai Shankar traveled to Beijing to meet up with his counterpart  Foreign Minister Wang Yi and explained to him that while we are showing Aksai Chin in the new maps as part of Ladakh Union Territory,  it will not make any difference to the line of actual control on the ground. The Chinese rejected the suggestion.

Mr.  Pravin Sawhney is just exposing his ignorance. Aksai Chin was part of the princely

state of Jammu and Kashmir when the princely state acceded to the Union of India in its entirety . The territorial extent of the State of Kashmir is as stipulated in Entry 15 in the First Schedule of the Constitution of India. Entry 15 reads, “The territory which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution was comprised in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir”. Even The erstwhile Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, 1956 in Section 4 under Part II under the caption "The State" reads, "The territory of the State shall comprise all the territories which on the fifteenth day of August, 1947, were under the sovereignty or suzerainty of the Ruler of the State". Hence, when the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated, Aksai Chin in its entirety adjoining the Kuen Lun Range in northern Kashmir wherein are the Sanju-la and the Hindu-tash Passes in Ladakh was already a part of Ladakh and after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, Aksai

Chin only remained part of Ladakh  and did not have to be made a part of Ladakh as though Aksai Chin was a new territory being incorporated into Ladakh! China, as an occupier of Tibet, a sovereign and independent country under Chinese military illegal occupation and further in occupation of vast areas of eastern Ladakh and the Cis-Kuen Lun Tract would naturally be apprehensive as when a Union Territory of Ladakh was created, it would naturally quite rightly  mean that it is  the whole of Ladakh in its entirety including Nagari Khorsum, or Shang Shung  which are historically an integral and  inalienable part of Ladakh which  is part of the Union Territory of Ladakh and not just a minor western stump of Ladakh. So, the Chinese were sly and shrewd

enough to understand that when the  Union Territory of Ladakh was created, it would eventually and inevitably cause a domino effect and call into question the issue of the sacred and inalienable territorial integrity of Ladakh in its entirety, and the precursor to the next inevitable step in the chain of events which would inevitably follow and cannot be prevented or curtailed come what may under any circumstances whatsoever is the reiteration of the inviolability of the territorial integrity of Ladakh in its entirety.

 

But it is what Mr. Pravin Sawhney says next which is incredible. His whole demeanor while speaking does not at all inspire confidence.  Either Pravin Sawhney is a chronic pathological or compulsive liar and punitive action has to be taken against him for publishing false mischievous news and disinformation in order to mislead the people of India in collusion with and  at the behest of the regime in China,  or if what he is saying is somehow true, the Government of India including the Minister for External   Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar should immediately resign for compromising the sovereignty  and territorial integrity of India. He in collusion with China  publishes maps in his video channel, Force Magazine which depict Aksai Chin in

Ladakh as allegedly not a part of India and the Government of India should take punitive action against him.    Why should the Minister for External   Affairs,  Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the 11^th  of August travel to Beijing to meet up with his counterpart  Foreign Minister Wang Yi and explain to him that while we are showing Aksai Chin in the new maps as part of Ladakh Union Territory,  it will not make any difference to the line of actual control on the ground?  Aksai Chin is an integral and inalienable part of India and it is none of the business of China and it is our internal affairs regarding which the regime in China has no locus standi whatsoever. How India depicts Aksai Chin in the maps is our internal affairs and the meek and docile  Dr. S. Jaishankar  has no business to travel to China in order to placate and pacify the Chinese regarding the depiction of Aksai Chin as part of Ladakh. His act of subservience and servitude has compromised and endangered the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar should immediately apologise to the India people and immediately resign along with the Government.

 

Mr. Pravin Sawhney further states that Mr.  Xi Jinping had during his visit to Mahabalipuram, India informed Mr.Narendra Modi of the need for  triangular peace between China, India and Pakistan and this was allegedly sure enough reported by the Hindu, The Chinese regime’s mouth piece in India which publishes  maps which depict parts of India as allegedly part of the “China” and engages writers to publish anti India  articles which in collusion with the China are detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India  to sub serve their Chinese Masters. Mr. Pravin Sawhney further says that Mr.  Xi Jinping obviously informed Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi that, “India needs to reconsider its decision of showing Aksai Chin in the new maps of Ladakh Union Territory” which was obviously rejected by the  Modi government. It remains to be seen about how this alleged information came to be known to Mr. Pravin Sawhney. It is absurd that Mr.  Xi Jinping can ask Mr. Narendra Modi to desist from depicting Aksai Chin as part of India. Aksai Chin is not a disputed territory. It is intrinsically and inherently a part of Ladakh and the territory of Aksai Chin is uncompromisable, non-negotiable  and unnegotiable. The Government of India should tell this to the face of the regime in China.

If the Chinese do not unconditionally return all occupied territories on their own,  We have to prepared for a war to take back our sovereign and inalienable territories.