How British Media Reported Tipu Sultan

 

How British Media Reported Tipu Sultan

Syed Ali Mujtaba

Perhaps no other ruler of India has been covered by the British media as Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu a.k.a Tipu Sultan born at Devanhalli in 1750 and died at Seringapatam on May 4, 1799.  

Tipu was the most feared Indian in Britain and his activities were widely reported in British media. The people in England hungrily awaited reports of the latest outrage of Tipu Sultan during the four Anglo-Mysore Wars.

 Tipu sultan was at the forefront of the British public’s consciousness and his terrifying tales of attacks on the British forces and threats to trading settlements in Madras presidency appeared at regular intervals in the British newspapers.

The return of British prisoners of war, some of whom were held captive in Mysore for several years, led to the writing of books that told harrowing stories of hardship and torture at the hand of this Indian ruler. Many of these accounts were self-serving and those  who followed Tipu Sultan's activities closely were unnerved reading his tales of defiance.  

Tipu Sultan was possibly the most famous Indian in the whole of the United Kingdom. When he died at the hands of General Harris’s troops, that besieged his island capital Seringapatam in 1799, there were celebrations in Britain. The authors, playwrights, and painters created works to celebrate his demise and the crown’s victor over the Tiger of Mysore.

 The news of Tipu’s death was so powerful event that it fuelled much creativity throughout England. Not only authors and playwrights but also artists and painters used canvas to glorify the end of a dreaded Indian ruler who defied the British might.

Tipu Sultan extensively used tiger imagery to convey a sense of his awesome power. Tiger images emblazoned his golden throne, his textiles, coins, swords, and his soldier’s uniforms.

 It is no coincidence that the Seringapatam medal, awarded to those who had taken part in the siege depicts a rampaging lion mauling a supine tiger, suggesting that the Tiger of Mysore was mauled by the lion i.e. the British empire. 

Tipu Sultan held sway in the public mind of the English people well into the nineteenth century. As late as 1868, Wilkie Collins chose the siege of Srirangapattana and its subsequent looting as the setting for the opening of his bestselling novel ‘The Moonstone.’

The ‘South Asia Gallery’ at the British Museum has provided a space for the legendary Indian ruler Tipu Sultan. It displays his sword, ring, and perfume box. The descriptions of his objects by the British Museum are following:

“From 1766, the greatest threat to the East India Company came from the ruler of Mysore. In 1782 Tipu Sultan became the ruler of the province. His military and administrative skill made him a legend during his lifetime. He was feared and respected both by the English and his countrymen. England sent its best troops to try and defeat him and kidnapped his sons in 1792. He was finally killed in 1799, during a battle in which the British successfully gained control of the city Sarirangapatnam.  Tipu’s possessions (‘everything that power could command or money could purchase’) were taken by victors and are now in collections all over the world. This sword, decorated with his emblem, the tiger is from his treasury, but the gold ring is said to have been taken from his finger after the battle by Arthur Henry Cole, the resident of Mysore.” 

The description of Tipu Sultanat at the London Museum suggests that how important the ruler of Mysore was for the British government. 

It needs to be reminded that Tipu Sultan was secular to the core. His chief minister Purnaiya was a Hindu, and so were several other prominent nobles at his court.

Tipu Sultan was a generous patron of several Hindu temples. This included the Sri Ranganatha temple near his main palace at Srirangapattana. He respected the Swami of the Sringeri Math and called him Jagadguru.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai, can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com .

 

Afghanistan- Modi has distanced India from Taliban

 

Afghanistan- Modi has distanced India from the Taliban  

Syed Ali Mujtaba

In India, it's being fiercely debated that why the BJP government did reach out to the Taliban when every other stakeholder was talking to them for quite some time?  US, Russia, China, and Iran is in a much better position to deal with the Taliban and address their concerns, whereas the Modi government’s domestic agenda has tied India’s hand to reach out to the Taliban.

Sometimes after 2014, the US and other prominent countries changed their perception towards the Taliban. They realized that the center of gravity rests on these Pashtun guerrillas and so they started talking with the Taliban so that they can exit from Afghanistan.  However, the BJP government’s myopic view of the situation in Afghanistan kept them opposing the Taliban. India continued supporting the puppet government in Afghanistan without having plan ‘B’ in place, in case, if the current government falls down.   

Indian response to the developments in Afghanistan has exposed the chinks in the Modi government’s foreign policy. His arrogance in statecraft is singularly responsible for putting India into the most disadvantaged situation in Afghanistan.

What does the BJP government’s opposition to the Taliban has done to India?  The first and foremost is the threat to India’s investments made in Afghanistan. India has invested over 3 billion USD in Afghanistan. It's close to two decades now that India has been a partner in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. It has built infrastructures in education, medical, agriculture, power generation fields. India has constructed a new Parliament building in Kabul. It engaged in constructing the Shahtoot Dam on the Kabul River. India has also built roads, schools, universities, hospitals, and sports stadiums in different parts of Afghanistan. All these were with good intention to develop Afghanistan. 

However, the question remains, why India did not make any plan to protect its interests if the US and the planted government leave the scene. India was relying on these two fragile sources of strength, hoping US cover will remain forever and the puppet government will serve its interests. Both, these pillars that India thought were its strength have been blown away by the winds of change sweeping across Afghanistan, leaving India in no man’s land.       

The Modi government’s ill-conceived foreign policy towards Afghanistan has numerous impacts on India. The first price for not negotiating with the Taliban is likely to make India forfeit all its investments made in Afghanistan.

The second harm the BJP government did by stonewalling the Taliban is it has put the lives of many Indians at risk in Afghanistan. Recently, the Taliban had displayed its anti-Indian intentions clear, killing an Indian photojournalist in a cold blood manner. India has little option than to pull out its national from Afghanistan. It has been organizing operation ‘Airlift’ to take out its citizen from Afghanistan.

The most interesting question that arises here is; whether the BJP government gives shelter/ asylum/citizenship to people who were in the Afghan government, with whom India had been engaging for 20 years or so while doing the reconstruction work in Afghanistan. If India does not protect them then it will bring a bad name to the country and in case if India welcomes such persecuted Muslims how will they bypass the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA). If that happens, will the BJP lose the sheen of its religious nationalism project?  

The third fall out of the Taliban’s hold on Afghanistan will be on India’s internal security. India cannot stop the mushrooming of the terror groups in Afghanistan who are furious at the anti-Islam- anti-Muslim agenda being pursued in India. In such a case, new factions of terror groups will emerge in Afghanistan on which           India will have no control. Many may be infiltrating inside India and it’s likely that terror activities in Kashmir may increase. 

The fourth fall out of   Taliban control of Afghanistan will be that they will make India a transit route to smuggle their drugs to foreign destinations. Taliban are bound to increase the production of drugs to generate more revenue to run the government and with the golden triangle being heavily guarded, it’s Indian waters that may become a conduit route for the Afghan drugs to move to the foreign countries. A treaty with the Taliban could have addressed such issues, but the BJP government’s arrogance has doomed all such national concerns.

 The fifth fall out of India’s ill-conceived foreign policy towards the Taliban is losing all the partners that may have facilitated India to play a role in the Afghan peace process. Now India cannot cut much ice, vis-à-vis Pakistan or China, because of the given relationship with the BJP government with these two countries. A troika has been made with Russia, China Iran, and Pakistan leaving out India. India going into the American camp has lost both Russia and China. Even the US has sidestepped India and has made a deal with Central Asian republics, Afghanistan and Pakistan to keep its interest afloat in that region, where India has no role to play.      

Now, when the US-backed Afghan government has fallen, India is scrambling for reconciliation with the Taliban but all such overtures have been so far unanswered. It needs to be remembered that the Taliban had reached out to the Indian diplomats in 2018 in Russia to make friends but India did not give any weightage.

The former chief of the Taliban’s Doha office; Syed Akbar Agha has publicly stated that the Taliban are not keen to reconcile with India. The Taliban leader said; “In fact, we had earlier sent messages of peace and friendship but India had rebuffed them and now it’s late.”

Another spokesperson for the Taliban in Doha Suhail Shaheen has commented that after their spectacular victories on the battlefield, India is changing its colors. Shaheen alleged that India was arming the Afghan government all along so, “how it’s possible to talk with them when they were arming the puppet regime? This is contradictory as they with our enemies and not with us. If they stick to their policy of supporting a government-imposed on Afghans, then maybe they should be worried about us and not the Taliban.”

It’s no secret that India has provided military equipment like helicopters, artillery field pieces, small arms, radar, ammunition, amongst others, to the Afghan government to fight the Taliban. In such a case, how India can prove its neutrality to the Taliban.

Taliban’s recent statement reaffirms that they are not happy with India.  They have blamed India for not having an impartial attitude towards them and with the Indian government taking sides supporting Afghanistan, they have doomed their prospects in dealing with the Taliban.

As the drama is unfolding drama in Afghanistan and of Taliban’s victory is keenly watched all over the world, the debate is raging in India as to who has shot our motherland on its foot.

The responsibility for creating a threat to India squarely rests on the current government which has put the country in such a situation that cannot be reversed. After Pakistan and China, the Modi government has made Afghanistan a new headache for India. The narrative of post-truth India making of the brand new republic is solely responsible for creating the threats from Afghanistan. The Modi government’s squinted foreign policy towards Afghanistan has shot India on its foot. It has made the country limp to search for a vantage position from where it can deal with a country that has otherwise been friends with India for long. 

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

India Searching for Space in Afghan Peace Process

 India Searching for Space in Afghan Peace Process

Syed Ali Mujtaba

India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishanker was in Iran, apparently searching space for India in the peace process in Afghanistan. Well it’s the magnanimity of Iranian leadership to meet India’s Foreign Minister, as New Delhi is on the list of non-friends, if not enemies. The reason being, India voting against Iran in the United Nations. India’s desperation over the developments in Afghanistan is evident because knowing well the facts on the ground, the PMO has sent the External Affairs Minister to go to Tehran and make friends with Iranians.   

Why was Iran India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishanker destination, why not Moscow or Riyadh or UAE? Well, India has lost Moscow’s cover, since it stopped buying defence equipment from Russia. India has also distanced from Moscow since it abandoned the socialist path and has been following the capitalist path, making anti-working-class laws. India’s domestic compulsions that have been pushing for making India a Hindu religious state further distances Russia, as the two countries are not on the same ideological plane.

India’s open preferences for anti- Islam anti-Muslim agenda at home do not placate the Wahabis and Salafis brand of Islam of the Mid-East as well. This leaves India with the option to court Shiite Iran.I think our Minister has forgotten the Iranian fatwa on the Satanic Verses. In his learned vision, Shiite Iran will tolerate Hindus' slurs on Islam and anti-Muslim campaign in India. 

Notwithstanding the facts, the fact remains that India wants to take Iran’s help to protect its interests in Afghanistan. How far Iran will serve India’s wishful interest in Afghanistan remains to be seen, none the less India’s External Affairs Minister had gone to Tehran to break the ice, searching for space in the Afghan peace process. 

There is no denying the fact that the US's exit from Afghanistan has brought instability to the entire region. The geopolitical situation in that region is in flux. The military vacuum created by the US retreat has moved regional powers to move into Afghanistan.  The idea of a regional solution to Afghanistan has always had a political appeal, but the divergent regional strategic vision has limited the peace prospects in Afghanistan.

Even as a sustainable regional consensus remains elusive in Afganistan, Russia, Pakistan and China have formed a troika to deal with the situation developing in Afghanistan. They have left India out in the Afghan peace deal, and this has made ‘Viswa-Guru’ running to Iran, searching for space in the peace process in Afghanistan.

Who are the regional players in the Afghan peace process?  

Pakistan - The first and foremost regional actor is India's arch-rival Pakistan. It was frontline state for the US from 1979 to 1990 and helped the US build the military machine called ‘Mujahedeen’ to oust the Soviet invaders. It was at the behest of the US; Pakistan created the backup force called the Taliban to replace the Mujahedeen at a later stage. After the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan in 1994, Pakistan played a key role in placing the Taliban on the hot seat of power in Kabul.  1994-2001, Taliban rule in Afghanistan, saw Afghanistan becoming heaven of Anti – American forces, leading to an attack on Twin Tower in New York on September 11, 2001. This triggered a direct invasion of the US into Afghanistan. Pakistan was once again made a frontline state by the US in its war against terror. The US was successful in ousting the Taliban and physically supported an Afghan regime that the US placed in Kabul for the next twenty years. However, having failed to bring stability to Afghanistan, the US bought peace with the Taliban and made an exit from the place it desired to bring enduring freedom.  This has made Pakistan is once again relevant in the Afghan peace deal because it has been handling the Mujahedeen and the Taliban for from last forty years or so.

Iran – Iran is another neighbor that has close involvement with Afghanistan.  This is because Persian being the court language and well understood and spoken in Afghanistan all over and second, a large Shia population living in Northern provinces of Afghanistan.  Iran has been traditionally protecting the interests of its population and most of the ruling elite in Afghanistan are of the Shia sect. Iran can’t forfeit the historical role it has played in the political stability in Afghanistan.

Tajikistan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan etc. – These central Asian republics share borders with Afghanistan. They too have their ethnic population residing in Afghanistan. These multiethnic groups in Afganistan have a support base in central Asian republics. As a result, Tajikstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan have a decisive role in the future political settlement in Afghanistan.  

Russia – Even though Russia is an extra-regional power since 1979 it's been playing a huge role in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After the 1990s, Russia has been on the Taliban side to oust the US  occupation of Afghanistan. It is well known that Russia has been providing military assistance to the Taliban to sustain its anti-US military campaign. Therefore, Russia has a huge interest in shaping the peace process in Afghanistan.    

China – China has emerged as a new player in the peace process in Afghanistan. It wants to enter into the power vacuum left behind by the US. China shares a border with Afghanistan and there are unconfirmed reports that say that it has been training the Taliban, providing them arms and ammunition to fight against American occupation forces. China offers the Taliban the recognition of its alternative vision of governance that does not conform to the Western model. China is willing to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan. Just like Myanmar, China is ready to protect the Taliban regime against any western sanctions. China is aware of its role as a regional player and has a huge stake in bringing stability to Afghanistan. China's main interest is to make its belt and road policy run into central Asian republics. It wants China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to be extended beyond Pakistan and through Afghanistan enter into the central Asian Republics. Besides, China is keen on mining activity, that’s in abundance in Afghanistan and remains unexplored. All these grand designs of China are quite palatable to the Taliban. They are  receptive to the Chinese investments in Afghanistan as this may bring all-around development to their country. So, China has a huge stake in peace and stability in Afghanistan.  

India- All these factors have been increasingly pushing India into a geopolitical tight spot in Afghanistan. This is because the era of prolonged peace in Afghanistan secured by the US military presence has come to an end. It means new constraints on India’s ability to operate inside Afghanistan. As such India’s lack of direct physical access to Afghanistan and that underlines the importance of having effective regional partners for playing peacemakers. 

But who could be India’s regional partners? Certainly Pakistan and China is ruled out because the current political dispensation in Delhi sees the two countries as enemies of India. As a result, New Delhi is intensifying its engagement with Iran. In fact, India had made great preparation to hold Afghanistan through Iran, committing to build Chabhar port. However, India voted against Iran at the United Nations giving weightage to the US over Iran and that has turned to be its undoing. Now, it remains to be seen how much weightage Iran gives to India to meddle into Afghanistan.

India has invested billions of dollars after the US invasion of Afghanistan.  It has constructed a new Parliament building in Kabul. India has also built dams, roads, schools, universities, hospitals, and sports stadiums in different parts of Afghanistan. This means India has to gate crash into Afghanistan to safeguard its interests. That is the reason the current leadership in Delhi is courting Iran, expecting it to facilitate India's entry into Afghanistan. However,  this is subjected to numerous ifs and buts.

So, will India lose all its investments in Afghanistan, which run into billions of rupees? Certainly not! India has some history of engaging Taliban. Indian officials had first direct contact with the Taliban in 2013, when they issued a visa to senior Taliban leader Abdul Salam Zaeef for attending a conference in Delhi. Further in 2018, some senior Taliban leaders met with Indian representatives in Moscow. Indian officials and Taliban leaders held a meeting in Doha in June 2021.  It was reported that the Taliban leader Mullah Baradar was in contact with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who was pushing Russia, Iran and India to start a dialogue with the Taliban. Taliban group was aware that India was providing military support to the US-backed Afghan government and it had warned Delhi to remain impartial. The Taliban leadership had made it clear that they would not interfere in Kashmir to suit India’s interests. 

As a result, India has to rethink its stand on dealing with the Taliban if it likes to protect its interest in Afghanistan.  Since India is in no position to dictate terms to the Taliban it has to evolve a new policy that is different from the current policy of supporting the US-backed Afghan regime. India's new policy should not be based on Pakistan and China’s moves in Afganistan. India has to acknowledge the fact that it cannot match the reach and depth of Pakistan and China that has land boundaries with Afghanistan. 

The good thing is, Taliban has signaled that it will not be a proxy for anyone and will pursue its independent policies. This gives India the opportunity to deal exclusively with the Taliban. Taliban has already given assurance that it will not support Pakistan-backed anti-India terrorist groups from its soil. It remains to be seen that India gives an assurance to refrain from Muslim bashing that's currently going on to build a new relationship with the Taliban. 

There is no denying the fact Taliban remains a major force to reckon with in Afghanistan. There cannot be any peace in Afghanistan without Taliban playing a central role in the Afghan peace process. At the same time, Taliban cannot rule the whole of Afghanistan without accommodating the interests of other groups in that country. 

If India has to protect its investments in Afghanistan, it has to directly deal with the Taliban. India has to remain active and patient watching the evolving situation in Afghanistan.  There may be many opportunities for India that may bacon it from the front door in the Afghan peace process, and this need not be through Iran. Certainly for this, India has to bottle up its own Taliban!  

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com