When two tribes go to war...

Tehran University students, 1971.
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/xmjn15/
tehran_university_students_iran_1971/

Persia's love affair with the Jews dates back to 593 BCE, when Nebuchadnezzar plundered Jerusalem and took the Jews as slaves to Baghdad. He attacked Jerusalem again ten years later, destroying the First Temple and completing their captivity. After spending seventy years in exile in Baghdad, Cyrus liberated them, allowing their return to their homeland. In gratitude for helping the Babylonians, Cyrus enabled the construction of their Second Temple.

Throughout the generations, as Persia was overrun by various empires, including the Abbasid Islamic Dynasty, the Jews remained part of the Persian diaspora during the glorious days of Islam. The Islamic invasion did cause some Jews and Parsees to flee their homeland to various places, including India. Nevertheless, the Persian-Jewish relationship persisted into modern times. The Islamic Empire would claim that the Jews were very content living under the Empire. However, in reality, it is anybody's guess if the present-day opinion of Muslims about Jews is anything to go by.

Iran opposed the Palestine Mandate that aimed to establish the Jewish state of Israel in 1948. Many Persian Jews migrated to the newly formed country of Israel. Interactions between Iran and Israel remained cordial, though they were mainly transactional. Iran was among the first countries in the world to recognise Israel as a sovereign nation. Israel secured oil and finances from Iran, as maintaining a friendly relationship with Iran made considerable sense. It is important to note that the Israelis' neighbours, all of whom were Arabs, were quite hostile. The Persians have always held a sense of superiority, believing themselves to be one step above the Arabs. Therefore, maintaining a good relationship with a major non-Arab, non-Sunni country was crucial.

In the early 1950s, Iranian Islamists criticised Iran's diplomatic relations with Israel and actively collected donations for the Palestinians. They were unhappy with the Shah's close connections to Israel. The Iranian defence system used Israeli arms and was involved in their wars with Iraq. Both countries were also deeply engaged in developing each other's nuclear facilities. All of this changed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. 

Suddenly, Israel became a 'cancerous tumour' as mentioned by Ayatollah Ali Khameini in 2000 and should be wiped off the surface of the Earth, according to President Ahmadinejad in 2005. Iranian hostility towards Israel grew over the years, mainly via proxies, in Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis. The climax of all these must surely be Hamas's kidnapping of Israelis at a music festival on October 7, 2023. Finally, a full-scale war between Iran and Israel broke out on June 13, 2025, when Israel conducted strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets. The world is once again at risk of a nuclear meltdown.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

History rhymes?

https://www.dailynews.com/2023/08/28/fentanyl-addiction-fuels-u
nderground-shoplifting-economy-in-las-macarthur-park/

If one lives long enough, one will realise that history has an unmistakable tendency to repeat itself. Occasionally, the roles are reversed, with the initial victims now taking on the role of the aggressor. At times, history also rhymes, featuring different players in somewhat altered contexts.

The latest thing that caught my eye is how the USA is raising such a hue and cry over the fentanyl problem that has hit the country. They are creating quite a scene on the international stage, squarely blaming the issue on China. The raw material, allegedly synthesised in China, has found its way into America through agents in Mexico and Canada. Recently, India was also called upon to assist, as it serves as a stopover for the merchandise, or perhaps some of its components are manufactured in India, the capital of pharmaceuticals.

The amusing thing is that it is primarily the USA that is so severely affected by the recreational use of fentanyl. Other Western countries are not as impacted. Interestingly, the potency of fentanyl has increased substantially over the years, leading to even accidental deaths of American paramedics attending to overdosed patients through mere inhalation or skin contact. The US (the West) is crying foul.

Interestingly, over two hundred years ago, such a fiasco dealt a significant blow to one of the two wealthiest nations in the world, China, which took over a hundred years to recover from the consequences.

The Western imperial powers believed they were providing a valuable service by introducing cannabis to China. The East India Company (EIC) viewed the business in which the Portuguese were engaged as notably profitable. The British were willing to spend excessive amounts on Chinese silk, porcelain (which they affectionately referred to as "china"), and tea. As a result, Britain was losing a considerable amount of silver to China, depleting the national coffers.

https://images.app.goo.gl/4LBwmSgZZa4yB9vZ7

Opium was widely available in India, and by the end of the 18th century, the country was under the control of the EIC. It began cultivating opium on an industrial scale. Many farmers were coerced, lacking choices or under compulsion, to grow this highly prized commodity destined for China. Numerous local traders and middlemen benefited from this arrangement. Even the Mughals became involved by cultivating opium in the fields they owned.

 

In China, the limited access imposed on foreigners confined their business dealings to Guangzhou (Canton), Xiamen (Amoy), and Zhoushan. From these ports, smuggled opium was transported to the mainland. Over time, this transformed the once-mighty Middle Kingdom into a land of addicts. At its peak, there were between 10 and 12 million addicts in China.

It culminated in two opium wars, treaties, territorial losses for China, legislation regulating the opium trade, the rights of foreigners to engage in trade, and the permission for Christian missionaries to traverse China. Subsequently, the Qing Dynasty fell. It took nearly a century, marked by numerous coups, upheavals, and shifts in political systems, for normalcy to be restored. That is how long it took for a generation to recover and for the nation to reclaim its dignity.

 

So, the last time a country fell into the clutches of addiction, what did the rest of the world do, and what did the opportunists within the country do? They reaped the benefits that arose from other people's miseries. Nobody truly helped; they simply asked, "What's it for me?"

British faux pas. Pinning poppy flowers at the Hong Kong handover ceremony
in 1997. Reminding the former owners of the real reason why they lost
 Hong Kong in the first place. Or is it their way of giving the middle finger?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Give a miss!

Thug Life (2025)
Director: Mani Ratnam

https://www.justwatch.com/za/movie/thug-life-2025

Following the release of this film, one realises the extent to which external forces are harnessing the power of social media to sway public opinion on various matters. Furthermore, films act as platforms for disseminating the ideologies of political parties.

Even before the film's release in Karnataka, during his promotional tours, Kamal Haasan, the central star of the movie, inadvertently – or perhaps not – provoked a diplomatic row between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In his speech, he stated that the Kannada language is an offshoot of the Tamil language. This was not taken lightly by loyalists and politicians alike, who spoke the Kannada language. 

It is no secret that Kamal Hassan's political party is currently allied with the DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu. The DMK practises divisive politics based on language, ethnicity, and anti-Hindu sentiments. Kamal Hassan is merely announcing his resurgence in Tamil Nadu politics. The State of Karnataka was a latecomer, having been carved out of the Mysore Presidency in 1956 on linguistic grounds, and has faced conflicts with Tamil Nadu over the flow of water from the River Cauvery, the worst of which occurred in 1991. This was when anti-Tamil looting and the burning of vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu number plates escalated after a Tribunal ordered the release of Cauvery water into Tamil Nadu. Although Hassan's statements were not incorrect, the Kannadian fundamentalists are unlikely to accept any of this. It is irrelevant that Tamil is an older language with evidence from ancient tablets, or that both languages may have arisen from a common ancestor, the Proto-Dravidian language.

The row has taken on monumental proportions, with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce collaborating with politicians to ban its screening in the state of Karnataka.

The film itself was not groundbreaking. Movie enthusiasts have encountered numerous films with similar storylines. In fact, Nayagan, which the director made in 1987 with the same star, featured a son avenging his father's death, just as this one does. Narratives of betrayal and rebellion among gangsters are nothing new. Netizens were quick to point out several glaring plot holes. There is an awkward moment when an adopted daughter might have married her brother. In another instance, both father and son could be vying for the same woman in intimate relationships. The characterisation is superficial, and there are far too many characters who do not contribute significantly to the story.

 

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people
/thuggees-002145

I was more interested in the origin of the word 'thug'. It has Indian origins. It was during the time of the British Raj, and the colonisers were eyeing the mineral-rich interior lands, which were home to a tribal group that prayed to a form of Kaali named Thugee. The Thugees naturally wanted to defend their land. Just as the Mau Mau people of Kenya were vilified by the British to create stories of them being cannibals and baby snatchers, the Thugees were described as deadly assassins who moved in groups to identify their prey. Their weapon of choice was a bandana, with which they would strangle their victims and kill them. The Thugs were feared so intensely that they entered the English lexicon.

There is another connection between thugs and the origin of the word 'assassin'. Not all thugs are Hindus; some are Muslims. The Muslim influence can be traced back to the mid-1200s in Persia. There was a group of mercenaries who were compensated with hashish; hence, they were called 'Hashshashins'. The Hashshashins became known as assassins in the English language. They moved about, fighting for and against the Muslim kingdom while opposing the Crusaders. They battled the Mongols quite disastrously, who chased them away to India, where they lived among tribal communities. They mingled with the Thugee worshippers and collaborated with them. The Hashshashins revered Kali but did not worship Her. Of course, all this could merely be a figment of the British Raj's imagination, conjuring a bogeyman out of the Indians.

 

(P.S. A film that is not worth discussing. There are already far too many YouTube channels offering brutal rundowns on this movie.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The philosophical king who never was!

The Emperor Who Never Was
Dara Shukoh in Mughal India
Author: Supriya Gandhi

Genghis Khan (and Timur, who followed suit later) likely established the tradition of not designating a successor. He believed that the issue of ascension should remain open. It was anticipated that the most capable individual, able to vanquish rivals for the throne, would emerge as the strongest ruler and govern the Empire more effectively. It was irrelevant if brothers, stepbrothers, widows, and uncles fought against one another; politics took precedence over emotions. Primogeniture, the right of succession granted to the firstborn, as seen in feudal rule, is noticeably absent in the Mughal Empire.

Naturally, the Mughals, whose ancestry arose from these barbaric races, continued that tradition. After Babur, animosities among siblings to usurp the corridor of power were frequent occurrences. Factions formed, with one parent siding with a particular son or grandson. Moreover, emperors had multiple wives. Shah Jahan, known as Kurram before seizing the throne, faced such a situation. Khusrau, Kurram's elder brother, had a long-standing battle with their father, Jahangir, before Jahangir blinded him. After becoming emperor, one of the actions he took was to execute his stepmother, Nur Jahan, and his half-brother Shahar, among others. Such was the brutal process of succession. During the later part of his reign, Jahangir was half the man he once was. Long-term use of opiates and alcohol had taken a toll on his health. Nur Jahan effectively took over the realm.

We have all read about Aurangzeb and his antics during his lengthy reign as one of the last emperors of the Mughal Dynasty. However, we rarely hear of his elder brother and half-brother, Dara Shikoh.

Dara Shikoh was Shah Jahan's third child and his firstborn son. Jahanara, Shah Jahan's first child, grew up as Dara's confidante, seeking wisdom. She was erudite, never married, and followed the path of spirituality. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal had four sons: Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Baksh.

It is fantastic to read about the childhood these princes had. Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb were caught in Shah Jahan's bizarre mutiny attempt against his father, Jahangir. Jahangir took Dara and Shikoh hostage in a political chess game. Naturally, they matured precociously.

By the age of 19, Dara showed his killer instinct by hunting down and slaying an amok elephant. Following in the footsteps of his father, Shah Jahan, and his grandfather, Jahangir, Dara Shikoh displayed an affinity for exploring spiritualism, Sufism, and other religions prevalent in India at the time. Perhaps, like his great-grandfather, Akbar, who proposed 'Din Illahi', he was moving toward the monotheistic concept of a One God common to all religions. In the tradition of the Mughal courts, Dara was proficient in Farsi, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Arabic. He was favoured and groomed by Shah Jahan as his successor. Dara endeavoured to promote religious tolerance in his philosophical journey in association with the renowned Chisti and Qadiri Sufi Orders, much like Akbar before him. He translated the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita into Persian. Throughout his life, hardships, such as losing two newborn children, illustrated his susceptibility to depression, much like how his father, Shah Jahan, was affected by the loss of Mumtaz, his favourite wife, who died of haemorrhage after her 14th delivery. Perhaps this is why Shah Jahan kept him close, depriving him of the military exposure that proved crucial later on.

Dara Shikoh

To keep Aurangzeb out of the throne's loop, Shah Jahan sent him far away with the army to conquer new lands in Central Asia and Kandahar, ensuring the vassal states towed the line. Aurangzeb received his religious guidance from more hardline orthodox Islamic scholars, who were quick to label Dara Shikoh a heretic. 

One day in 1657, Shah Jahan was afflicted with what is now assumed to be infective prostatitis. Dara Shikoh was designated as the natural successor, being the philosophical ruler who understood the scripture, earned the respect of the masses, and demonstrated courage. He was also Shah Jahan's favourite son. Upon hearing this, the remaining brothers rushed to Agra to assert their place in the Empire. Aurangzeb, the one skilled in military affairs, emerged victorious. He had his father, Shah Jahan, imprisoned and had Dara decapitated. His head was presented on a platter to Shah Jahan while he was having dinner. This exemplifies how much brutality was normalised in the Mughal Empire.

At a time when intolerance masquerading as faith is prevalent, the name Dara Shikoh shines as a beacon of hope that united all of India.

[P.S. Plato's idea of a perfect leader is a philosophical king who possesses profound knowledge and a love of wisdom. These qualities, in Plato's eyes, made them true rulers, not just power-holders, to rule justly in a harmonious society. Obviously, in the real world, increasingly the sword and the wealthy hold the corridors of power at ransom.]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Missed the point!

Emergency (Hindi, 2025)

Story, Direction, Starring: Kangana Ranaut

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21279420/

The first thing my language teacher told me in essay writing class was to stay on topic. Therefore, with a title like 'Emergency,' I expected to learn about the events leading up to the 1975 black mark in Indian democracy. I wanted to understand how the Opposition and civil society responded to Indira Gandhi's iron-fisted rule. Instead, I received a mini biopic of Mother Indira, the so-called Mother of India. The Emergency was rushed through, I thought. It would have been better if the film had started with the events just before 1975 and given some credence to the audience to know a little bit of Indra's background.

I recall that in 1977, my classmates and I, the so-called Backbenchers of the Class, engaged in lengthy, recurring debates about India, Indira, dictatorship, and democracy. Our teenage minds, albeit somewhat precocious, concluded that for a vast and complex country like India, communism was the best solution.

It was euphoric following India's handling of the East Pakistan issue, as they emerged victorious, defeating their troublesome neighbour, Pakistan, in just 14 days. The Indira Wave propelled her to a significant majority, allowing her to outmanoeuvre her political opponents. She believed it was her time to modernise India. Although the 1971 War strained India's economy, the country sought to increase revenue through taxation and nationalisation of projects. She centralised power within the Prime Minister's office. She likely harboured dynastic intentions, as she encouraged her son, Sanjay Gandhi, to engage actively in running the party and government, even making critical decisions. The veteran members at the party were not particularly pleased. Sycophants were rewarded, while the economy experienced sluggishness. Railway workers were on strike, and the press revelled in the chaos. The successful detonation of India's first nuclear test occurred in 1974.

In 1975, the Allahabad High Court disqualified Indira's victory in the 1971 elections due to her misuse of government machinery during the campaign. She was also barred from holding the position of Prime Minister for six years.

JP Narayan

Massive demonstrations ensued, demanding her ousting. Jayaprakash Narayan, a Gandhian at heart, was vocal in his calls for Indira's resignation. Although this did not occur, the President, on Indira's advice, declared a state of Emergency on 25th June 1975 at the stroke of midnight. A widespread power failure was implemented to halt the printing of newspapers, which was then the sole means of news dissemination. Radio was also under control. Thousands of political opponents and activists were apprehended. The Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was invoked, allowing dissidents to be detained without charge, effectively making them disappear. The Emergency period witnessed the banning of trade unionism and significantly curbing media freedom. The people of India received news about their country from foreign correspondents.

There was an ongoing conspiracy theory about Jaya Prakash Narayan's rapidly deteriorating health following his incarceration. Despite the official announcement that he had diabetes, his kidney function declined sharply, leading to speculation about possible foul play. After his release in March 1979, it was mistakenly reported that he had died, resulting in public mourning and the closure of schools, parliament, and radio broadcasts. He ultimately succumbed to his illness only seven months later.

Indira Gandhi continued to govern the country by decree, passing laws and attempting to appease the masses. Sanjay Gandhi, now active in the ruling elite, believed bulldozing squatters was a sure way to modernise Delhi. He was also instrumental in the brutal forced sterilisation of the poor to curb the population explosion. Twenty-two months after its declaration, the Emergency was lifted, and elections were called. Indira lost to the Janata Party, a new political party initiated by Jayaprakash Narayan.

The newly formed coalition government did not last long. It collapsed, prompting fresh elections in 1980, in which Indira Gandhi was re-elected. A few months after her victory, she tragically lost her son in an air crash. Soon afterwards, Indira Gandhi faced unrest in the state of Punjab. Her actions during Operation Blue Star to regain control of the terrorists in the Golden Temple in Amritsar proved to be her coup de grâce.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Riding the wave...

Chhava (Lion Cub, Hindi; 2025)

Director: Laxman Utekar

The debate centres on whether Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was simply a minor chieftain seizing small territories in the Deccan, an opportunist, or a Hindu nationalist. Additionally, the crucial question is whether Aurangzeb was a fair ruler or a religious bigot.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27922706/

Depending on who authors the history book, one will be portrayed as a saviour, while the other will be depicted as an opportunistic villain.

Shivaji's kingdom was once characterised as a vassal territory of the Mughal Empire, and he was even said to have undertaken military campaigns on behalf of the Mughals. In his later years, his father, Shahaji, reportedly had a somewhat complex relationship with him, having formed an alliance with the neighbouring Bijapuri Sultanate against Shivaji.

In the wake of numerous military clashes post-1657, Shivaji's once amicable relations with the Mughals soured. This shift coincided with Aurangzeb's rise to the throne as Emperor. Growing military expenditures and potential corruption drained the Mughal treasury. The Jizya tax was enforced on non-Muslims, resulting in widespread discontent. Shivaji's kingdom is renowned for its multi-ethnic and multi-religious composition. He maintained an army comprising 60,000 Muslim soldiers, many of whom occupied significant positions. His forces included several Muslim officers, and reports suggest that he advocated for gender equality.

 

It is probable that Aurangzeb's father, the illustrious Emperor Shah Jahan, expended considerable resources on Noor Jahan's mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, which subsequently severely depleted the treasury. Consequently, innovative taxation schemes became necessary. The jizya, which had been abolished during Akbar's reign, was reintroduced, inciting anger among Sikhs and Hindus. Jizya is the tax sanctioned by Islam as a protection fee imposed by Islamic rulers on their non-Muslim subjects.

The schism then emerged, with the Sikh gurus supporting his people and the Marathas under Shivaji of the Bhonsle Dynasty coming to the aid of the Hindus. Some scholars even contest the legitimacy of Shivaji's rise to the throne following his father's sudden death. His coronation by Brahmin priests from Kashi (rather than Maharashtra), along with the debate over his possible Shudra lineage, serves as points of contention.

Supporters of Aurangzeb argue that the Emperor was not a religious bigot. They claim he did not destroy temples; rather, he assisted in building and financing them. However, I find it difficult to take this stance seriously, given that it originates from a man who had no qualms about killing his brother, Dara Shikoh, to seize the throne and imprison his father, Shah Jahan, in a dungeon to admire his prized achievement, the Taj Mahal, from afar. Aurangzeb not only destroyed the Kashi-Visvanath temple in Varanasi, but he also constructed a mosque atop it, attempting to obliterate all traces of the temple until the Archaeological Department of India uncovered it.

For so long, the world has been presented with a different narrative of what transpired in the past. Over the last decade or so, Indian history has been re-examined and re-narrated from various perspectives. Meanwhile, leftist historians, who had discredited any Indian achievements, attributing all of India's development to Western colonisation and its failures to an archaic and self-defeating unscientific way of life, are now taken aback. They vehemently dismiss these new discoveries as Hindutva propaganda.

Bollywood has an unenviable reputation for glamorising foreign invaders through its films. In light of the general wave of Hindu consciousness that seems to have permeated the Indian psyche in the 21st century, the industry has begun to adopt a different approach. It is now embracing films that aim to convey the glory of Ancient India. This shift accounts for the surge in 'patriotic' movies such as Panipat (2019), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022), Amaran (2024), and many more.

This movie starts at the time of Sivaji's demise. Aurangzeb, sitting down the knitting, is rejoicing with his henchmen. They thought that was the end of the Maratha empire. Surprise, surprise. Out of nowhere, quite unsuspectedly, his eldest son, Sambhaji, conquered Burhanpur. After that, it was one war after another, mixed with palace politics of betrayal and double-crossing. Bollywood has this warped notion that a story seems more convincing when the screen is filled with a sea of blood, decapitation and maiming scenes. It is quite off-putting, actually.

The filmmakers, political leaders, and Bollywood's elite appear to align with the prevailing majority. They capitalised on the film's launch for their own benefit. During the Maha Kumbh Mela season, many were seen among the Hindu pilgrims, reflecting the increasing sentiment of Hinduness among the people of India.

Some argue that Shivaji and Shambaji were not fighting for Hinduism but were merely defending their territories. Savarkar first proposed the notion of them as Hindu icons at the turn of the 20th century. The Shiv in the Shiv Sena, which plays a pivotal role in Maharashtra politics, refers to Chaturvedi Shivaji Maharaj, not Lord Shiva of the Hindu Trinity.

 

https://www.marathicultureandfestivals.com/sambhaji-mahar

Why do filmmakers choose to make a film about Shambaji rather than Shivaji, who is renowned as the defender of Sanathana Dharma? Consider this: Aurangzeb, who began his reign over the world's wealthiest empire, ultimately witnessed the great empire established by his forefathers diminish in size and riches, ending up interred in an unfinished grave. In contrast, earlier rulers had magnificent mausoleums constructed for them.

Aurangzeb, commanding perhaps the largest army in the world, was pushed to his limits and engaged in numerous fierce battles with Shivaji. Long before Mao Zedong wrote about guerrilla warfare, Shivaji employed guerrilla tactics and mobile strategies. Had it not been for this Maratha-Mughal animosity, the East India Company would not have been able to strengthen its position in the subcontinent.

Shambaji was also a capable ruler who focused his efforts on agricultural development and played a significant role in the expansion of Hindustani and Sanskrit literature. Unlike his father, Shivaji, who either died in a hunting accident or was poisoned by his queen, Shambaji was martyred at the hands of the Mughals after enduring torture, being blinded with hot iron, and ultimately decapitated. This act rendered him a hero among the masses. It is also noted that Shambaji never truly entered the history books, likely due to his stepmother (the same queen who poisoned Shivaji), who defamed him in her desire to position her own son as Shivaji's successor.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

It is a jungle in there

Sorgavaasal (Heaven's Gate, Tamil; 2024)

Director: Siddharth Vishwanath 

Youtube clip

The one thing that man is granted in this life is free will and the freedom to act at his discretion (within the confines of social mores and the boundaries of the law). Therefore, when someone commits a crime that is deemed an affront to society's wellbeing, he is stripped of this privilege. Confined in isolation, it is believed that he will reflect on his waywardness and be spurred to make amends. 

The reality, sadly, is not so clear-cut. We know of many innocent people incarcerated for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, doomed for life for crimes they did not commit. Then there are those who make jail their second home, moving in and out for petty crimes. I suppose imprisonment was no hindrance to the continuation of their daytime trades. Not to mention those who wear their jail sentences like badges of honour and the select few who still exert influence and control over activities outside the confines of their four walls. Who says they are missing the luxuries they left behind after their conviction? They continue receiving the salutations and the honours they were conferred as if they were wrongly convicted. It is as if the entire pillar of law and order is wrong. 

We all know how Charles Sobhraj, the Bikini Killer, wielded significant influence in Tihar Jail in Delhi that he could even hold his birthday party. He arranged for sedative-laced laddus to poison the guards and execute his escape. Closer to home, rumours abound regarding a certain ex-PM receiving special deliveries of Kajang Satay and full access to his Armani suits for his numerous court appearances. The jail sentence does not hinder the man from occasionally updating his Twitter handle. What could be more bizarre than a prisoner masterminding an assassination thousands of miles away, as in the case of Lawrence Bishnoi and the killing of Khalistani supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar? Bishnoi, through his extensive international connections while sitting in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad, is accused by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of colluding with the Indian government to eliminate the Khalistani troublemaker. 

Let's not forget the innumerable small-time crooks who graduate to bigger crimes after receiving invaluable coaching from fellow inmates. Jails seem to be not correctional facilities but rather a conduit for producing more anarchy, like a bacteriophage injecting its wisdom into an empty shell to produce more young, lethal viruses. Taxpayers seem to be paying for all the crooks to be concentrated in one locale so that all the bigwig crooks can streamline their expertise into creating the mother of all mayhems.

The film is loosely based on the 1999 riots at Chennai Central Prison, one of India's oldest prisons, which was built by the British in 1837. The jail was closed in 2006, and its inmates were relocated to Puzhal Central Prison. Notable figures who were imprisoned here include Subhas Chandra Bose, Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers Anna Durai, Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa, and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Boxer Vadivelu

The 1999 riot involved a criminal named Boxer Vadivelu, who had the support of the AAIDMK. He seemingly brought his thuggish behaviour into the prison and instigated a gangland showdown. The riot escalated to such a degree that the riot police were called in. They were forced to respond with violence and live ammunition, resulting in the deaths of ten people, including a prison official. The film begins after the riot, with a solitary member of the enquiry panel attempting to determine the causes that led to the confrontation. Through a series of interviews with various inmates and prison staff, we receive a comprehensive view of the prison dynamics and the events leading up to the riot. Similar to Rashomon's narrative style, we obtain slightly differing and contradictory accounts of what actually transpired from various witnesses. 

https://mywordsnthoughts.com/boxer-vadivelu-the-memorable-real-life-character-siga-in-sorgavaasal/

P.S. A memorable quote:

"There are only two paths in life: either kneel down in Heaven or be the King in Hell."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.