Gargi #Decolonization 🇮🇳 Profile picture
May 7, 2023 8 tweets 4 min read Read on X
We are planning to visit the Shakti Peethas in #HimachalPradesh and then a short, relaxing, laid back stay somewhere in the mountains!

While exploring, I came across this beautiful place McLeod Ganj.

As always, I got distracted and started researching history of this name - Image
It is named after Sir Donald Freill McLeod who fell in love with this place. Ganj means neighborhood in Farsi.

More about McLeod: He was such a great Christian that a native gentleman gave him a “compliment” that “If all Christians were like Sir Donald McLeod, there would be no Image
Hindus or Mahommedans.”

He devoted his life to civilize the heathens of India, who were in idolatrous darkness! ImageImage
He understood the importance of India to the English with her great wealth, and created awareness of the need of increasing missionary activities in India so that it is possible for a handful ppl to rule India, whose ppl can do little by themselves. Image
He ensured that the Government does not depart from its secular character.

Grants of money in aid of “secular education” carried in schools established and conducted by Christian missionaries, might be made by Govt without any risks of giving rise to “evils”. ImageImage
While he encouraged mingling with the natives and educating them in the robust mental habits, and imbued with enlightened views of the West, which inevitably they will imbibe, he alluded to allowing but little, if any, real share in management of their own social and municipal ImageImage
affairs, which they feel is a great indignity and injustice. But this was a blessing to them as they could do very little by themselves.

Point is - I still haven’t decided where to vacation in Himachal because I read this horrible person’s biography after whom we still have… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Another name we should change in Himachal is Dalhousie!

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More from @gargivach

Jan 3
1/ Understanding Sanatana Dharma through a Comparative Lens
Western scholars have long tried to interpret Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) through their own religious frameworks. The result? Profound misunderstandings. Here’s why the Western lens fails and how we can approach it differently.Image
2/ Western Religions: A Belief-Centric Model

Christianity and Islam rely on:
•Centralised authority (Church, Quran).
•Doctrinal belief systems (Trinity, Tawheed).
•Universal morality (divine commandments).

This rigid model shapes how Western scholars view Sanatana Dharma.
3/ Misinterpreting Sanatana Dharma

Sanatana Dharma is not belief-driven. It thrives on:
•Plurality of paths (Bhakti, Jnana, Karma).
•Decentralised practices.
Jessica Frazier once described it as a “pan of lasagna”—a metaphor that reveals more about Western confusion than Hinduism itself.
Read 12 tweets
Dec 31, 2024
Lets end 2024 with The Timeless Saga of Baji Prabhu Deshpande

1/ In 1660, amidst the turbulent struggle for Swaraj, Shivaji Maharaj was trapped in Panhala Fort by Siddi Johar’s massive Bijapur forces. Cut off and outnumbered, Shivaji's survival seemed impossible.Image
2/ The dream of Maratha independence hung by a thread. With no choice but to escape, Shivaji devised a daring plan: a midnight retreat to Vishalgad, a fort 70 km away. It would be a race against death. Image
3/ But the Bijapur army wasn’t far behind. To ensure Shivaji’s safe escape, Baji Prabhu Deshpande, a commander of unshakable loyalty, stepped forward with a bold promise: "I will hold the enemy until you are safe." Image
Read 10 tweets
Dec 23, 2024
British Terror in India (Source: British Terror in India, Gadar Party, 1920)
1/ British Terror in India by the Hindustan Gadar Party, 1920. This is a detailed account of British atrocities in India during their imperial rule. The brutal truth needs to be told. (Link to text added in last tweet).Image
2/ General Dyer, known as the butcher of Jallianwala Bagh, led 90 soldiers into an unarmed gathering and ordered them to open fire. Over 1,000 died in cold blood. His justification? "I didn't want to be laughed at." This was not governance; it was a massacre. Image
Image
3/ Mrs. Ratan Devi spent the night amidst corpses, guarding her husband’s dead body. British authorities enforced a curfew, preventing families from retrieving or tending to their loved ones. Such acts were designed to crush human dignity. Image
Read 15 tweets
Dec 23, 2024
1/7
Did history teach you that today, December 23, Swami Shraddhananda was murdered by Abdul Rashid in 1926? The same Rashid whom Gandhi called “my brother” and defended in Young India. Gandhi even sought mercy for the assassin, ignoring Shraddhananda’s monumental contributions. Image
2/7
Swami Shraddhananda was no ordinary man. A leader of the Arya Samaj and a Congress stalwart, he fought tirelessly for Hindu reform, education, and unity. His campaigns for reconversion (Shuddhi movement) sought to reverse the forcible religious conversions that were eroding Hindu society.
3/7
Savarkar recognized Shraddhananda’s sacrifices, calling him a “great soul” who gave his life for the survival of Hindutva. His fearless pursuit of Hindu resurgence made him a revered figure, but also a target of communal fanaticism.
Read 7 tweets
Dec 18, 2024
Dr. BR Ambedkar: “When the Prime Minister made me the offer, I told him that besides being a lawyer by my education and experience, I was competent to run any administrative Department… The Prime Minister agreed and said he would give me in addition to Law the Planning Department which, he said, was intending to create. Unfortunately, the Planning Department came very late in the day and when it did come, I was left out.”

Source: Resignation speech from Nehru’s Cabinet, 1951.Image
Dr BR Ambedkar: “The method of achieving socialism through Parliamentary democracy is the most difficult. Mr. Nehru has no idea of the problem of the Scheduled Castes. He has no sympathy for them.”

Source: “States and Minorities,” in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 381.
Dr BR Ambedkar: “The Congress is not a democratic body. It is a close corporation in which the power is concentrated in the hands of a few individuals.”

Source: “Evidence before the Southborough Committee,” in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 254.
Read 12 tweets
Dec 17, 2024
1/ Lord Dalhousie arrived in India with a single, ruthless ambition: “To level Hindusthan.” He wasn’t just a man; he was the embodiment of British greed, cunning, and treachery—unleashing policies designed to dismantle Indian states, heritage, and pride​. Image
Image
2/ Dalhousie’s weapon of choice was the Doctrine of Lapse—a cunning betrayal that struck at the heart of India’s traditions. Under Hindu law, kingdoms passed to adopted heirs, preserving dynasties and their sacred sovereignty. Dalhousie, with callous dishonesty, declared these successions “invalid” and seized the thrones of Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur, and countless others​.Image
3/ Treaties were broken with imperial arrogance. Jhansi, bound by a treaty ensuring succession, was stabbed in the back. When Rani Lakshmibai adopted a son after her husband's death, Dalhousie rejected the heir, declaring, “The state will lapse to the Company.” The ink of agreements meant nothing to the British when their greed came calling​.Image
Read 10 tweets

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