[Illustration taken from 'Pathan : Path of a Prophet' (a standalone written by mappi - 2017)]
About 500 years ago ...
The Company
The British East India Company arrived in India in 1612. They traded with the territories that were divided into Empires - the Kingdoms of Gwalior, Indore, Bhopal, Dewas, Amjhera, Ratlam, Sailana, Sitamau, Narshingarh, Jaora, Udaipur, Jhalawar, Kota, Tonk, Baroda. They, then, settled as Rulers by conquering each individual empire and annexing them all into one nation between 1612 and 1947 trying to create a Perfect Society. During the Company's, India, name given the Greek several centuries ago, was commonly called as British India in sea trade routes controlled by The Company and was officially known as Colonial India.
During the Company’s reign, the Imperial names changed several times according to the expansion of Colonial India : East India Company (1612–1757), Company rule in India (1757–1858), British Raj (1858–1947), Princely States (1721–1949) and finally as India after the Partition that happened in 1947.
The main business of the company was forcing the land owners to work for them on the lands owned by them. It decided whom to pay and how much to pay. The owners of the lands worked as salves on their own land. The Company introduced Kangani system that allowed labor migration, thus, the people lost all the records of owning any lands and became permanent workers of The Company.
Exploiting the already present division in the society, The Company started to use it for its own interest. The workers were mercilessly trashed to the sewers of the society making thier life miserable while the other three colours profited from what the blacks produced. Several white turbans joined hands with The Company and using the green shirts to exploit the lands and the red uniforms (British soldiers) abducted the lands by force. They made immense profit. When a worker was not willing to part with his land, he was tied outside his village and beaten to death. His corpse hung for several days on the pole and none, even his family members, were not allowed to approach it. Thus, they terrorised the true owners of the land.
Another main business of The Company was smuggling Opium into the neighbouring country China, disguising it as spice and tea trade. Once produced by farmers under a tiny scale was rapidly converted into a full fledge industry when The Company started to acquire all the lands by force from the farmers. The farmers then worked as salves for the Company to produce Opium. As the business was blooming rapidly, The Company using the Kangani system made the people from the south, notably the Tamils to migrate towards the north to work in the opium fields. To make things easier for them to control the workers, the Company hired a mercenary group from Afghanistan belonging to the Pashtun tribes. They were addressed as Pathans.
Khalilullah Pathan was a ruthless trader. He had no pity, just pride. His whip did the talking. He migrated to India from Afghanistan in 1839 and took care of the entire operation for The Company from Madras Presidency to Calcutta. He also took care of operation along with Masthan Bhai who operated from the Bombay Port and smuggled Malwa Opium and Turkish opium by land route to Calcutta. In Calcutta, the Company auctioned Opium for the rest of the world.
Pathan was very proud of his tribe, thinking how his forefathers had defeated the mighty East India Company. He walked with pride in his green kurta among the British soldiers. His knowledge about his ancestors was vast. He believed that his tribe occupied the northern valley of India. He spoke about his fore fathers who founded Delhi Sultanate to his children - How his they wanted to rule the entire India as a challenge to the defeated of Alexandre the Great. Pathan too wished to become the ruler of these lands. But he also understood that they were defeated during the war on religion and the British were his only chance to quench his thirst by walking over the lands once ruled by his ancestors. He used the same technic as his fore fathers to subdue the people living in India - he terrorised the locals. Pathan was the shadow of fear casted over India.
The Comapny found it difficult to administer a complex land like India. Even after uniting the states, India stuck on to diversity. The same diversity that it used to conquer the entire land, threatened the harmony of the British Raj. The Company found that even when there are identified religions in India, the mass population did not follow any particular religion. The Company invented Hinduism, a name that it gave to the majority of the population following a specific set of principles. The creation of Hinduism did not favour The Company. The Hindu majority started to weigh over the other minorities, notably the Religion of the Church. To divert their uprising, The Company plotted the Hindus against the Muslims.
Events pushed Khalilullah Pathan into a personal turmoil. The questions he never thought before wandered in his mind. On one of his journeys, Khalilullah Pathan came across land grabbing done by The Company. While assisting the British, he observed a dark skinned farmer; the actual owner of the land, been tied up and tortured to make the other land owners to give away their land. The Bristish soldiers supported by the Indian traders and landlords stood and watched the torture show.
Unable to take it anymore, Khalilullah Pathan shed the first tear of the first cry for Independent India.
Hundred Fifty years later, in 1947, India obtained its independence. Following several violent revolutions, a man emerged from the crowd who had united them all to acheive their freedom. Karamchand made them realise that The Company was the stranger in their land, and not vice-versa. He brought a people's movement that threatened The Company’s rule. The highlight of his movement was Ashimsa – avoidance of violence. He said, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blinded", thus leading peaceful protests until The Company closed its shop in India. He took measures to establish equality and to render the lands to its owners.
The lands which were unified under The Company became independent. The first house was gathered and Bhimji walked the stairs of the parliament house when he was questioned by a reporter at the foot of the steps, "Sir, what shall be the prime principle of the new born India?"
"Equality", said Bhimji without thinking, "especially in status, rights, or opportunities. Partiality shall be overridden by egalitarianism. All shall own this land, but none shall be its ruler."
"Do you believe in a Perfect Society", shot another reporter.
"The Company has left now", Bhimji said with a smile, "it’s up to us to be what we want to be. To start with, we have to abolish the class stuggle and establish unity. That can only be achieved through equality. I believe in Navayana, its neither birth nor karma, but means the isolated group have the same respect and status, including civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights and equal access to all social goods and services declared legal by the government."
"What shall be the first step towards equlity?", asked a reported looking at the fat book that Bhimji held in his hand.
"You will know that when I speak my first sentence before the first legislative body of India", saying so Bhimji climbed the stairs and entered the parliament house.
Bhimji stood up upon the invitation of the President of India to read the newly constructed constitution of India. Bhimji looked at everyone present inside the room and spoke in a commanding voice that echoed all over the nation, "Article One: India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States."
Last edited by mappi; 9th July 2018 at 03:28 AM.
Reason: editorial sweep
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