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It's the Pluralistic Vision that made Our Unlikely Union Possible
It's the Pluralistic Vision that made Our Unlikely Union Possible

New Indian Express

time3 days ago

  • Politics
  • New Indian Express

It's the Pluralistic Vision that made Our Unlikely Union Possible

When we speak of Indian unity, we often drift into the comfortable realm of mythology rather than historical fact. The Mauryan Empire, at its zenith under Ashoka, stretched across much of northern India, yet failed to penetrate deep into the Tamil kingdoms of the south. The mighty Guptas barely extended their direct control beyond the Vindhyas, while the Deccan remained under independent rulers. The Cholas dominated the seas and expanded into Southeast Asia, but their control rarely extended beyond the Vindhyas, except for Bengal and Odisha. The Pandyas remained confined to the southern tip of the peninsula. Even the Vijayanagara Empire never ventured successfully beyond the Deccan plateau. The Mughals, often cited as unifiers, reached their greatest extent under Aurangzeb. Yet, the Ahoms of Assam remained independent, and the Travancore kingdom maintained its sovereignty. The Marathas exercised more of a tribute-collecting authority rather than direct administrative control over much of their claimed territory and many parts of India remained outside their influence. This is a crucial reminder that India's current political unity is unprecedented. When we chest-thump about '5,000 years of Indian civilisation,' we conveniently forget that this civilisation flourished precisely because of its diversity, not despite it. Our modern nation-state is a British construct, and many parts of India are together only because of the historical accident of British rule.

Auctioneer says publicity & stigma attached to Gupta properties may have deterred potential buyers
Auctioneer says publicity & stigma attached to Gupta properties may have deterred potential buyers

Eyewitness News

time24-07-2025

  • Business
  • Eyewitness News

Auctioneer says publicity & stigma attached to Gupta properties may have deterred potential buyers

JOHANNESBURG - The auctioneers behind the sale of the infamous Gupta compound said the publicity around the properties may have acted as a deterrent to potential bidders. The state is looking to recoup millions from the Saxonwold properties, which were owned by the Guptas. Only one of the three properties was successfully actioned on Thursday for R3.3 million. The two more luxurious properties, one with 17 en-suite bedrooms, remained unsold. Head of disposal at Park Village Auctions, Graham van Niekerk, said the sale of the more modest property was expected. "The property that did sell is the easier property and the more attractive property for somebody who wanted to take a home and possibly create something from what was there or to start from scratch. The other properties won't be so easy – they are humungous buildings, they're both in a pretty bad state." He said he believes there was a stigma attached to the properties. "I still do believe that there is a stigma attached to the properties and that stigma people do not really want to carry with them into the purchase of a property. I think eventually we will get the properties sold, but I think it will be a lot quieter in the process."

Kumkum Roy, professor of Ancient History, recollects her days as an MA student at JNU, Delhi
Kumkum Roy, professor of Ancient History, recollects her days as an MA student at JNU, Delhi

Scroll.in

time10-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Scroll.in

Kumkum Roy, professor of Ancient History, recollects her days as an MA student at JNU, Delhi

By January 1977, I made what seemed to be a more or less permanent move to Delhi. My parents had shifted into a large, spacious house with a garden in Safdarjung Enclave, very different from our home in Kolkata. There were strong feelings in the air about the Emergency and hopes that the election would bring it to an end. I realised from conversations at home that the Emergency had changed Delhi and people's lives drastically – demolitions and displacement in the name of 'improvement', sterilisations to enforce 'family planning', censorship, and more. Somehow, all this seemed far more immediate and oppressive in Delhi than it had been in Kolkata. Friends and relatives, rather different from those in Kolkata, were part of my parents' social world. These included bureaucrats who were keenly interested in what I should or should not have been doing. So, while there were neighbours and friends who taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University ( JNU) and thought it would be the ideal place for me, there were those who felt I needed to join the bureaucracy, which they thought would be far more exciting than becoming an academic. I duly took the entrance tests for the MA programmes at the Centre for Historical Studies (CHS) and the School of International Studies (SIS), the latter being considered ideal for would-be bureaucrats (I had reluctantly decided to keep my options open). I cleared both the tests and appeared for both the interviews. I do not remember what I did or said at the SIS interview, but the one at CHS seemed to me to have been an unmitigated disaster – I boldly declared that I wanted to study ancient history in order to decipher the Harappan script and that I wanted to study at JNU simply because it was close to where my family lived at the time. It was perhaps out of appreciation for my naivete that the faculty decided to give me a chance. When I joined JNU, the academic sections of the university were located in what was affectionately referred to as the 'down campus' in contrast to the 'up campus', which seemed rather remote and was located in what was then barren, rocky terrain. The more appropriate titles – 'old campus' and 'new campus' – were used sparingly, if at all. Smaller classes were held in the offices of the teachers, and as CHS was on the fifth floor of the southernmost building in the old campus, one could gaze out on a vast expanse of the campus. The view was pristine, or seemed so to me, anyway. However, opportunities to gaze out of the windows during class were fleeting and momentary. The history we were being introduced to was very different from what we had learnt in college. Even dynastic history appeared in a new, almost unrecognisable avatar, as we learnt to evaluate and assess both the Mauryas and Guptas in terms not simply of battles won and lost but also of complex socio-economic and cultural contexts. We learnt the rudiments of Sanskrit, epigraphy, and archaeology. We also got to explore religious histories, histories of the economy and society, political ideas and institutions. Equally challenging and demanding were the 'core courses', which provided insights into broad global developments through lectures and readings that were remarkable for their breadth and depth. Then there were the 'non-Indian' history courses, and we also had the option of taking courses in other centres. These had to be chosen in consultation with the faculty. So, while I chose to do a course on Bronze Age Mesopotamia, which was fascinating, I was advised, rather sternly and firmly, to do one on the Russian Revolution as well. I was petrified, but discovered, once I overcame my initial fear of the massive reading list, that the course had far more to offer than I had imagined. Also, doing a course on anthropological theories was particularly enriching, and, although I was and remain wary of abstruse theory, the course opened windows into new possibilities that perhaps informed my later interests. It seemed as if we were thrown into an immense ocean of books, talks, and more – we could sink, swim, or drift along. I am not sure whether I consciously thought through my choice of specialisation – 'Ancient History' – at this stage. Perhaps it was the pursuit of origins. It may also have had to do with the passion of my teacher in college, which was infectious. But once I exercised the option, I had no regrets. It turned out to be an almost lifelong obsession. Our Ancient History class was small and fairly close-knit but markedly different from what I had been used to in Presidency College. I was the only Bengali, and we were three women in a class of 12. The men were from very diverse backgrounds, as indeed were the women. But what for me was particularly exciting was that virtually the entire faculty, with the notable exception of the quiet, uncompromising scholar Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya, consisted of women, and rather formidable women at that. All of them were doyennes in their fields – R Champakalakshmi for her pioneering work in early Tamil history, K Meenakshi for her remarkable studies on Tamil and Sanskrit grammar, Romila Thapar for challenging the earlier understanding of Mauryan history, Shereen Ratnagar for opening up a fresh perspective on the Harappan civilisation, and Suvira Jaiswal for her revisionist religious history. I am not sure whether they saw themselves as mentors and role models, but for many of us, it was wonderful to have a cluster of women around, women who were very different from one another in terms of their lifestyles and styles of teaching. Passionate about their research, most of them were unsparing towards their students. As a result, almost before I realised it, I began to think that I was meant to become a researcher, as that seemed to be all that mattered. The past beckoned. I do not think any of these women would have explicitly identified themselves as feminists. And yet, their very presence made a difference to the environment both within the classroom and beyond it. In retrospect, it does seem that the decades following 1947 were marked by the creation of spaces through debate and discussion and the building of new institutions. Our teachers were part of a generation that both benefited from these spaces and shaped them creatively and constructively. A fruitful conjuncture. Not surprisingly, the faculty had put in place a demanding tutorial and semester system. We were expected to produce a tutorial of about 2,000 words every fortnight, according to what seemed to be a punishing timetable, and then present our work for discussion in groups of threes and fours. Our tutorial scripts were often returned with copious markings and comments along the margins – no shortcuts! Invariably, we were nervous and stressed out, but soon enough, we began to look forward to these ordeals, learning to hold our own, acknowledging what we had missed out or not understood, and working our way through sharing our ideas with others. The formal discussions would often continue as informal chats over countless cups of tea, sipped either in the canteen or, more commonly, sitting on the floors of corridors around the library. Some of those conversations, fortunately, still continue, even as the venues have shifted over the years. The sense that we were discovering and sharing new ways of thinking was a heady experience, to say the least. And the tutorial system, which accounted for 50 per cent of the evaluation, also meant that the pressure of the end-of-semester examination was considerably reduced.

Mabuza remembered as humble leader who resisted capture
Mabuza remembered as humble leader who resisted capture

The Citizen

time08-07-2025

  • Politics
  • The Citizen

Mabuza remembered as humble leader who resisted capture

David Mabuza is celebrated for his integrity, refusal to support the Guptas, and service to South Africa and Mpumalanga. Tributes continue to pour in for former deputy president David Mabuza, whom many see as the man who stopped a second takeover by Jacob Zuma through his proxies. Although he was initially on the Zuma faction slate before the ANC national conference election in 2017, Mabuza's last-minute withdrawal from supporting then presidential candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was regarded as a betrayal by Zuma supporters. He joined the Ramaphosa camp, helping it to secure victory as he brought all of his massive Mpumalanga support base to back him against Dlamini-Zuma. Mabuza's switch from Dlamini-Zuma to Ramaphosa seen as turning point This was regarded as a wise move by many who believed Dlamini-Zuma's presidency would have ensured the continuation of the Zuma status quo, which was unpopular with voters. Dlamini-Zuma was loyal to the former president and the Gupta brothers, who were fingered for the corporate capture of the state, adored her. They selected Dlamini-Zuma as The New Age Newsmaker of the Year and she was one of the movers and shakers they believed in, along with Zuma himself. ALSO READ: David Mabuza's funeral date confirmed as Mokonyane dismisses ANC criticism claims The Guptas captured some provinces and offered their premiers extra publicity on the pages of The New Age and ANN7 TV channel. Gauteng under Nomvula Mokonyane, Ace Magashule's Free State, Northern Cape which was then led by Sylvia Lucas and North West under Supra Mahumapelo received special treatments on the Gupta publication and channel. While other premiers were eating from the Guptas' hand and, in turn, dishing out state advertisements to The New Age to keep it afloat after commercial advertisers boycotted it, Mabuza refused to cooperate or be captured by the Guptas. Blacklisted by Guptas He pulled out adverts from the Mpumalanga administration at the last moment after learning that the ads were earmarked to be published in The New Age. This caused Mabuza and then Western Cape premier, Helen Zille to be blacklisted by the Guptas. Zille's sin was to stop participating in the business breakfast shows organised by New Age, after discovering that it was a conduit to syphon off state funds. Zille called for transparency and accountability from the stateowned enterprises that were funding The New Age. ALSO READ: Remembering Mabuza: The man who 'dashed' the potential Zuma dynasty In its tribute to Mabuza, Cosatu said Mabuza, at 64 years of age, had led a full life: 'Comrade DD dedicated his time on earth in service of the people, not only in his home communities and the broader Mpumalanga province, but the entire nation.' The federation's parliamentary coordinator, Matthew Parks, praised Mabuza for the role he played as a student during the darkest days of apartheid in the 1970s and 1980s and as a teacher activist. Cosatu said Mabuza's experience as a teacher and principal made him a fitting choice as the first MEC for education in Mpumalanga after the democratic breakthrough of 1994. Raised profile of Mpumalanga Mabuza, alongside stalwarts Mathews Phosa, Thabang Makwetla and January 'Che' Masilela, raised the profile of Mpumalanga from the quiet Eastern Transvaal, to the land of the rising sun. It is a sign of how far South Africa has come that a young man born in poverty-stricken Phola, eMalahleni, can rise to be an MEC, a premier and a deputy president. History will remember 'DD', as he is affectionately known, as a humble leader, one who was not afraid to lead. NOW READ: Ramaphosa pays tribute to former deputy David Mabuza

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