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Showing posts from December, 2015

Dandi : Salt March

Dandi : Salt March E arly in 1930, Gandhi, Nehru, and the Congress were to make a call for purna swaraj , or complete independence from British rule in India. Coming out of what might be termed a political retirement, Gandhi searched his mind for some action that might ignite the nation and serve as the expression of the will of the general community. The course of action that Gandhi decided to undertake is revealed by a remarkable letter that he addressed to Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, a letter most unusual in the annals of political discourse. "Dear Friend", he wrote to his political adversary on March 2, "I cannot intentionally hurt anything that lives, much less fellow human beings, even though they may do the greatest wrong to me and mine. Whilst, therefore, I hold the British rule to be a curse, I do not intend harm to a single Englishman or to any legit

'Quit India' Movement

'Quit India' Movement A t the outbreak of war in 1939 between Britain and Germany, India was also declared to be at war with Germany as it constituted part of the British empire. The Congress took the view that while it opposed fascism, it could render no support to the British either: there was little to choose between the totalitarianism of the Nazis and the colonialism of the British. It was not with the consent of the Indian people that India was dragged into the war, nor was this India's war; moreover, the Congress expected, but could not procure, an unconditional offer of British withdrawal from India as a condition of its support. Consequently, neutrality was the official policy of the Congress. In an effort to bring the British to the negotiating table, Gandhi launched his 'Quit India' movement in August 1942, and issued from a large meeting ground in Bombay (s

Chennai flood

  On the only train the Railways operated between Bengaluru and Chennai on Thursday, a sizeable number were people whose flights to Chennai, from different cities in the country, had been cancelled in the last two days after heavy rain submerged much of the city. Stranded in Mumbai where he had gone to attend a wedding, cargo businessman Vijay Bhaskar was trying to get back to his wife and family through a route he heard was operating despite the downpour and the shutdown of Chennai. For many like Bhaskar, the only way home is the train from Bengaluru to Katpady, some 180 km from Chennai, and then a road run into the city via Vellore and the Poonamallee High Road. From around the industrial hub at Sriperumbudur, some 30 km from Chennai, the signs of rain-ravage start to appear. Small groups of people stand by the roadside, watching the waters surge in drains and lakes. A few anglers are out with fishing rods. The Tiruvekad bridge on the Poonamallee High Road has taken the brunt of the