Maharana Pratap: The Greatest Rajput Warrior


Rima Hooja - 2018
    More than 400 years after his death, Maharana Pratap is still revered as the supreme symbol of Rajput valour, the indomitable warrior who refused to bow to Mughal emperor Akbar as he fought alone and unaided to preserve his kingdom’s independence.In this stirring retelling of his life, replete with tales of incredible heroism and sacrifice as well as vicious intrigue and murder, renowned historian of Rajasthan Rima Hooja also examines the questions that still engage popular imagination: Who actually won the Battle of Haldighati? How did Maharana Pratap manage to elude capture by the mighty Mughal army for so long? And why did he stubbornly continue to fight on, suffering years of great hardship as he refused to negotiate peace with Akbar? Based on historical sources and contemporary court chronicles but also drawing on Mewari ballads, folklore and legends, this deeply researched yet accessibly written biography of Maharana Pratap is a compelling read.

Blood on My Hands: Confessions of Staged Encounters


Kishalay Bhattacharjee - 2015
    Speaking to investigative journalist and conflict specialist Kishalay Bhattacharjee, the confessor tells of the toll this brutality has taken on him. An essay by Bhattacharjee and a postscript that analyses the hidden policy of extra-judicial killings and how it threatens India's democracy contextualize this searing confession. An explosive document on institutionalized human rights abuse.

Hello, Bastar - The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement


Rahul Pandita - 2011
    It traces the circumstances due to which the Maoist movement entrenched itself in about 10 states of India, carrying out deadly attacks against the Indian establishment in the name of the poor and the marginalised. It offers rare insight into the lives of Maoist guerillas and of the Adivasi tribals living in the Red zone.Based on extensive on-ground reportage and exhaustive interviews with Maoist leaders, including their supreme commander, Ganapathi; Kobad Ghandy; and others who are jailed or have been killed in police encounters, this book is a combination of firsthand storytelling and intrepid analysis.Hello, Bastar is the story of:How the idea of creating a guerilla base in Bastar came upWhat the rebels who entered Dandakaranya had to deal withThe Jagtial movement that created the ground for the Maoist movementThe first squad member who died for revolutionHow Maoists and their guerilla squads functionTheir goals, recruitment, party structure and fundingTheir 'urban agenda' for cities like Delhi, Mumbai and ChennaiTheir relationships with people and peoples' movementsMaoist supremo Ganapathi and other top leadersAnuradha Ghandy's journey from Bombay to Bastar

When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath


Manoj Mitta - 2007
    We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shakes a little." — Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 19 November 1984"I have no hesitation in apologizing not only to the Sikh community but the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood, as enshrined in our Constitution. On behalf of our government, on behalf of the entire people of this country. I bow my head in shame that such a thing took place." — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 11 August 2005It stands out even in a country inured to mass violence - 3000 members of a minority community slaughtered over three days in 1984, right in India's capital. Twenty-three years on, neither the organizers of the massacre nor the state players who facilitated it have been punished, despite prolonged inquiries and trials. This massacre of Silks in the wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination has turned out to be a reality check on India's much touted institutions of the rule of law.The book seeks to uncover the truth on the basis of the evidence that came to light during the proceedings of the latest judicial inquiry conducted by the Nanavati Commission. Authors Manoj Mitta and H.S. Phoolka, perhaps the most knowledgeable voices on the subject, present an unsparing account, abounding with insights and revelations, on the 1984 carnage and its aftermath.

Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha


Rahul Roushan - 2021
    Back then he was seen just as a founder-editor of the news satire website with no special interest in politics or ideology.The first time Rahul Roushan was called a Sanghi, he felt deeply offended. After all, he held a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Patna University, a post-graduate diploma in journalism from IIMC in New Delhi, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and was a self-made media entrepreneur.Sanghi literally means someone who is a member of the right-wing RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) or its affiliates, but the ‘liberals’ use the term liberally to deride those who differ with their political and ideological stand, or those who wear Hinduism on their sleeves. This book analyses why Hindutva as an ideology is no longer anathema and what brought about this change. Why did a country that was ruled for decades by people espousing Nehruvian secularism suddenly began to align with the ‘communal politics’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)?The book is the story of this transformation. This is not an autobiography, though it could read like one in parts. It is not even a collection of intellectual essays, though it could read like one in parts. It is the retelling of some historical events and how those events impacted the journey of Rahul Roushan and countless people like him. The book looks at factors like education, media, technology and obviously, electoral politics, which played a key role in this transformation. The book also touches upon some of the personal experiences of the author, both as a media entrepreneur and a journalist.In author's words, ‘This book will be of special interest to readers who just want to badmouth me and the book, but I really hope the same people make an earnest effort to also understand what changed India and all those Sanghis who never went to any shakha.’

Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines


Rajiv Malhotra - 2011
    This book focuses on the third: the role of U.S. and European churches, academics, think-tanks, foundations, government and human rights groups in fostering separation of the identities of Dravidian and Dalit communities from the rest of India. The book is the result of five years of research, and uses information obtained in the West about foreign funding of these Indian-based activities. The research tracked the money trails that start out claiming to be for "education," "human rights," "empowerment training," and "leadership training," but end up in programs designed to produce angry youths who feel disenfranchised from Indian identity. The book reveals how outdated racial theories continue to provide academic frameworks and fuel the rhetoric that can trigger civil wars and genocides in developing countries. The Dravidian movement's 200-year history has such origins. Its latest manifestation is the "Dravidian Christianity" movement that fabricates a political and cultural history to exploit old faultlines. The book explicitly names individuals and institutions, including prominent Western ones and their Indian affiliates. Its goal is to spark an honest debate on the extent to which human rights and other "empowerment" projects are cover-ups for these nefarious activities. For more information, or to view videos about this book, visit www.breakingindia.com

The Man Who Saved India


Hindol Sengupta - 2018
    He illuminated Indian politics with pragmatic and sensible ideas of nation-building at a time when his contemporaries were unable or unwilling to shed the romantic lens. The very shape of India that we recognize today was stitched together by Patel, the Iron Man of India. The Man Who Saved India unravels the personality of one of the greatest men in Indian contemporary history.

Operation X: The Untold Story of India's Covert Naval War in Bangladesh


M.N.R. Samant - 2019
    Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in East Pakistan has just won an electoral mandate to become the prime minister of Pakistan. Accustomed to treating the eastern wing of the country as a colony, the ruling disposition in West Pakistan is not pleased, and launches a genocide against the residents of East Pakistan, flooding India with lakhs of refugees. With the violence in East Pakistan reaching a crescendo, the Indian government is faced with a difficult option: remain a mute spectator to the savagery on its eastern borders, or take action and go to war against its western neighbour. Thus was born Naval Commando Operation (X) - comprising Indian navy officers and divers, eight deserters from a Pakistani submarine and a ragtag bunch of Bengali youth fleeing the genocide - one of India's largest clandestine operations, meant to destabilize the West Pakistani efforts to bring East Pakistan to its knees. Revealed for the very first time, here is the explosive authentic account of the guerrilla operation that went for the maritime jugular of Pakistan, and facilitated the birth of Bangladesh.

Ready To Fire: How India and I Survived the ISRO Spy Case


Nambi Narayanan - 2018
    A police inspector's misadventure with a Maldivian woman results in a fabricated espionage case. A faction within a political party capitalises on the case to bring down a government. An intelligence agency obligingly plays into the hands of vested interests to slow down India's space programme. And a complex investigation finally proves the allegations untrue.In this riveting book, Isro scientist S Nambi Narayanan - who was falsely accused of espionage in ISRO spy case of the 1990s - and senior journalist Arun Ram meticulously unpick the ISRO spy case, revisit old material and discover new details to expose the international plot that delayed India's development of a cryogenic engine by at least a decade.It took four years for the CBI to exonerate Nambi, but his fight for justice to ensure action against the officers who faked the case and tortured him in custody continues.This book is as much a history of the early days of India's ambitious space programme as it is a record of one of the most sensational cases that enthralled the nation long before the era of online updates and 24-hour news cycles.

Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story


Monika Arora - 2020
    The bloodbath that followed over the next three days left at least 53 people dead and scores of homes looted, shops and schools ransacked and burnt to the grounds.The worst communal violence in India's capital in three decades was widely reported both by the Indian and global media. Numerous debates in newspapers and television talked about the violence, the role of the police and the government.Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story provides an explosive revelation of the plot behind the riots, how they were planned and executed, how weapons were procured and stockpiled, and exactly what happened. The book also takes a close look at the background to the carnage-CAA (The Citizen Amendment Act,2019), the unrest and violence in universities and the dharna at Shaheen Bagh and other sites in Delhi.

RAYA : Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara


Srinivas Reddy - 2020
    The empire he inherited was weak from two messy dynastic succession, and ambitious enemy kings loomed large on all sides – a haughty king of Orissa in the east, five upstart Deccan Sultans to the North, revolting Tamil rajas in the South and enterprising Portuguese soldiers from the West. But Krishnadevaraya quickly rose to the challenge, and in the course of his remarkable twenty-year reign, he changed history forever. He won every single battle he fought and unified the whole of South India under his banner. Krishnadevaraya is remembered today as one of India’s greatest kings, not only because of his successes on the battlefield or the dazzling splendour of his empire, but because he was India’s first truly global leader. He had to confront very modern problems, such as building international alliances and negotiating overseas trade deals, while grappling with the challenges of globalism and multiculturalism. The Deccan of his time was a cosmopolitan place where Hindus and Muslims, North Indians and South Indians, Persians and Portuguese, all intermingled as they made their lives and fortunes. This cultural dynamism also inspired Krishnadevaraya to look back at India’s past and reflect on her histories and traditions. As a philosopher-king who was also a celebrated poet in his own right, he presided over an Indian Renaissance, when ancient texts and traditions were reinvigorated and infused with a fresh and modern vitality. Five hundred years after krishnadevaraya’s death, he is still remembered and loved as a compassionate and wise king, one who is immortalised in films and folk tales, poems and Ballads. This fascinating and riveting book is meticulously researched and beautifully written. Based on Portuguese and Persian chronicles, as well as many overlooked Telugu literary sources, Raya is the definitive biography of one of the world’s greatest leaders.

The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi


Neena Gopal - 2016
    Moments later, Rajiv Gandhi was dead, blown up by suicide bomber Dhanu, irrevocably changing the course of Indian politics, as Neena Gopal, just yards behind him, watched in horror. In this gripping, definitive book, Gopal reconstructs the chain of events in India and at the LTTE�s headquarters in Sri Lanka where the assassination plot was hatched, and follows the trail of investigation that led to the assassins being brought to justice. Drawing on extensive interviews, research and her own vast experience as a journalist, she deftly establishes the background�the shortsightedness of India�s Sri Lanka policy; the friction between the intelligence agencies and between the agencies and the external affairs ministry; the many warnings that went unheeded; and the implacable hatred that LTTE supremo Prabhakaran felt for Rajiv Gandhi. Bringing all these complex threads together, Gopal takes us step by step to Sriperumbudur as Rajiv Gandhi walked inexorably to his death on that tragic May evening twenty-five years ago.

The Sarasvati Civilization


G.D. Bakshi - 2019
    60–80 % of the so-called Indus Valley Civilisation sites which have been discovered are not on the banks of the Indus but on the course of the Sarasvati. The drying-out of the river is the most significant factor in the history and migrations of the ancient Indians. With new evidence, the time has come for a significant paradigm shift in Indology. This book breaks new ground to lay the foundation for an authentic Indian history.

Conundrum


Anuj Dhar - 2019
    Sitting in a dilapidated house in a remote part of India, a six-year-old man started narrating in his deep baritone the layout of Jessore Cantonment in East Pakistan to his handful of followers. They got the import only a few weeks later when Jessore fell to the advancing Indian Army. This was in December 1971, and Subhas Chandra Bose was officially dead for 25 years. Ever since Netaji was pronounced dead following a plane crash in August 1945, Indians across the world have wondered whether the claim was true. The government, however, decided to accept the story based on circumstantial evidence. For the first time, it is now conclusively shown that Netaji lived on. Having spent over 15 years in procuring and scouring through thousands of records from across the world, interacting with eyewitnesses and consulting experts, the authors come to a history-bending conclusion that a mostly unseen, unnamed man who lived in various parts of up from the 1950s to 1985 was indeed Subhas Chandra Bose. From a "living" Netaji's throwbacks about his contemporaries, his views on constitutional issues and India's foreign policy, to his forays into the world of paranormal and top-secret covert missions across the borders to first-ever sensational Disclosure why he could not emerge in public -- no other book is as bold and vast in its scope and implications. National award-winning director srijit mukherji's upcoming movie "gumnaami" Is based on conundrum.

The Accidental Prime Minister (The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh)


Sanjaya Baru - 2014
    Singh and Baru had been close and Baru, a great admirer of the technocrat who had ushered in the 1991 reforms, saw this as an opportunity to help a man he admired lead India down a new path. As Singh’s ‘eyes and ears’ and self-appointed ‘conscience-keeper’, Baru saw the transformation of Manmohan Singh from technocrat to politician. In his account, he tells his story of what it was like to ‘manage’ public opinion for Singh and how their relationship unraveled, while giving us a riveting look at Indian politics as it happened behind the scenes. Capturing the heady early days of UPA-1 to the high noon of the nuclear deal, The Accidental Prime Minister is one of the most important and intimate accounts of the prime minister and UPA-1.