05-11-2007, 04:34 AM
Moron Singh did it again.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>PM remembers Marx, forgets Mangal</b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Recounting the significance of the 1857 uprising, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid glowing tribute to Karl Marx and Benjamin Disraeli. But he forgot Mangal Pandey, the hero of the rebellion that rocked India 150 years ago.
"Both Karl Marx and Benjamin Disraeli, watching the events from London - and from two very different ideological perspectives - conceded that the uprising was nothing short of a national revolt," Singh said in his address at a special function organised in Central Hall of Parliament to mark the 150th anniversary of the event.
Singh did recall that "150 years ago, in the late afternoon of May 10, 1857, sepoys in Meerut mutinied and attacked the symbols of British imperial power - the Telegraph office, the jail, the record room and, the bungalows in which the sahibs lived."
But while remembering how Marx and Disraeli had seen it from distant London, he did not mention any of the martyrs like Mangal Pandey and Rani Jhansi whose valour and sacrifice are legendary.
While the omission of these 1857 heroes rankled many in Central Hall, the manner in which <b>Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal protested about the celebrations left almost every one stunned.</b>
Backed by three MPs -- Rattan Singh Ajnala, Virendra Singh Bajwa (both Akali Dal) and Tarlochan Singh (Independent), <b>Atwal argued that projection of 1857 as the First War of Independence was a 'misnomer'. According to him, the 1845 Anglo-Sikh War should be treated as the First War of Independence</b>.
Atwal's protest came midway through the function, when Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat rose to address the gathering. Earlier, when Speaker Somnath Chatterjee started his address, three other members created a flutter by staging a protest which caught the gathering unawares.
Tarlochan Singh and Veerendra Singh said the protest was against attempts to rewrite history.
None of the two mainstream national parties-the BJP and the Congress-seemed to cherish Atwal's protest.
BJP spokesman Prakash Jawadekar said it was 'unfortunate' that an attempt was being made to stir a controversy despite the historic fact that the 1857 uprising was the First War of Independence.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, "There is no question of agreeing with his view. It was an expression of a personal opinion." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>PM remembers Marx, forgets Mangal</b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Recounting the significance of the 1857 uprising, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid glowing tribute to Karl Marx and Benjamin Disraeli. But he forgot Mangal Pandey, the hero of the rebellion that rocked India 150 years ago.
"Both Karl Marx and Benjamin Disraeli, watching the events from London - and from two very different ideological perspectives - conceded that the uprising was nothing short of a national revolt," Singh said in his address at a special function organised in Central Hall of Parliament to mark the 150th anniversary of the event.
Singh did recall that "150 years ago, in the late afternoon of May 10, 1857, sepoys in Meerut mutinied and attacked the symbols of British imperial power - the Telegraph office, the jail, the record room and, the bungalows in which the sahibs lived."
But while remembering how Marx and Disraeli had seen it from distant London, he did not mention any of the martyrs like Mangal Pandey and Rani Jhansi whose valour and sacrifice are legendary.
While the omission of these 1857 heroes rankled many in Central Hall, the manner in which <b>Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal protested about the celebrations left almost every one stunned.</b>
Backed by three MPs -- Rattan Singh Ajnala, Virendra Singh Bajwa (both Akali Dal) and Tarlochan Singh (Independent), <b>Atwal argued that projection of 1857 as the First War of Independence was a 'misnomer'. According to him, the 1845 Anglo-Sikh War should be treated as the First War of Independence</b>.
Atwal's protest came midway through the function, when Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat rose to address the gathering. Earlier, when Speaker Somnath Chatterjee started his address, three other members created a flutter by staging a protest which caught the gathering unawares.
Tarlochan Singh and Veerendra Singh said the protest was against attempts to rewrite history.
None of the two mainstream national parties-the BJP and the Congress-seemed to cherish Atwal's protest.
BJP spokesman Prakash Jawadekar said it was 'unfortunate' that an attempt was being made to stir a controversy despite the historic fact that the 1857 uprising was the First War of Independence.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, "There is no question of agreeing with his view. It was an expression of a personal opinion." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->