Utkarsh Mishra writes on politics and current affairs. You can e-mail the author at utkarshm@rediff.co.in
On his 200th birth anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra traces the life, thought, and legacy of Dadabhai Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India.
'Handling or mitigating a rebellion is not a corporate plan with quarterly, half-yearly and annual goals and results but an aggregation of the effort of several years.'
'It is something like traditional Indian families.' 'The family might be run by younger people, but if the patriarch says that you should consider someone for some task, it is very difficult for the others to ignore it.'
'Whenever present-day politics do get involved, history sinks to the level of a morality play, with advocates for this or that cause seeking to praise their heroes or condemn their villains.'
'When I undertook a study of temple desecration in precolonial India, it was not enough simply to document what temples were desecrated, by whom, when, and where.' 'It was also important to explore the total historical context of such incidents, with a view to discovering patterns, which in turn could reveal the reasons why they occurred.'
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
On the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India movement, Utkarsh Mishra recalls the conditions under which the Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi, launched the final struggle for independence.
Vice President V V Giri's resignation in 1969 triggered political upheavals that saw the ruling party defy its own presidential nominee, the expulsion of a sitting prime minister by her party president, and a historic split in the Indian National Congress, recounts Utkarsh Mishra.
Vir Das' comedy amuses even those who didn't expect to be amused in the first place, discovers Utkarsh Mishra.
While India today is vastly different from the India of 1975, the need for vigilance against authoritarianism remains the same, asserts Utkarsh Mishra.
Standing near the noose, he recited a couplet in which he said he wished nothing but to sacrifice his life for the motherland. Utkarsh Mishra remembers Ram Prasad Bismil on the revolutionary leader's 128th birth anniversary.
On Jawaharlal Nehru's 61st death anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra recalls how India's first prime minister cultivated a unique role for the newly independent country on the world stage.
'There's a lot of sense in what Prime Minister Modi did, but the Indian government has to be really prepared for a really sharp escalation spiral.'
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
If you disregard history and are ready to watch Kesari 2 purely as an entertainer, you are definitely going to enjoy it, feels Utkarsh Mishra.
The grilling of Brigadier-General Dyer by Akshay Kumar's Sir C Sankaran Nair, as shown in Kesari 2, is purely an imaginary sequence, proves Utkarsh Mishra.
On the 134th birth anniversary of the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Utkarsh Mishra revisits three incidents from Dr B R Ambedkar's life that lay bare the deeply entrenched nature of caste prejudice.
The latest biopic on Jyotibai Phule has come at a time when the Department of Taking Offence is super-active. Utkarsh Mishra feels it will be interesting to see if it portrays his attack on Brahminism in the same 'no holds barred' manner-- and, if it does, what reaction it provokes.
The Meerut Conspiracy Case was aimed at curbing communist influence in India. However, it fueled nationwide sympathy, shaping the course of leftist politics in the country.
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