Hari Singh Nalwa was an accomplished military commander who expanded the territorial boundary of the Sikh Kingdom taking it into the very heart of the Kingdom of Kabul, modern day Afghanistan. He dexterously employed strategy and military preparedness in his various campaigns, at the same time infusing zeal and fervour in his soldiers by always leading the command. His moral commitment to his duty as the Governor of Greater Hazara and Peshawar (today, the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan) was exemplary because of his administrative acumen, which rested in his ability to uphold the values of integrity and justice in governance. His governorship equally protected the rights of disparate communities in fair measure.
In Defence is an endeavour of the Hari Singh Nalwa Foundation Trust to bring into focus issues which affect the security of nations and its people at both the domestic and international level. These issues range from conventional military and nuclear threats to non-traditional security challenges confronting humanity which require informed intervention for their resolution. The importance and effectiveness of participation of civil society in bringing about change is an acknowledged fact.
To create more awareness and to facilitate understanding of some of the important issues, the Hari Singh Nalwa Foundation Trust will post analytical commentaries, short articles, opinions and clippings of important news.
Monday- May 2, 2011
The Incident At Abbottabad, District Of Hazara, Pakistan
The initiator of the jihad against the Americans, and the symbol of early twenty-first century Islamic fundamentalism, Osama bin Laden, was unceremoniously killed and consigned to the sea incognito on May 2, 2011. President Obama announced the death of Osama with the words that “Justice has been done” to the families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror and to those who lost lives on 9/11. The month of May is significant in this region for in 1831, a historic landmark was attained against another Islamic fundamentalist when Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi was killed, north of Abbottabad, in Mansehra.
Though separated by almost two centuries, the similarities between the two incidents are worth examining. On the receipt of the news of the death of Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi, the then British Governor-General, William Bentinck, sent a rather cryptic message to his friend C.T. Metcalfe informing him of the death of the Sayyid. “I do not know to what your Lordship alludes in mentioning the ‘Sayyid’s death’” replied Metcalfe, “if Sayyid Ahmad be dead it is good riddance, for in my belief there was greatly more danger to our empire in India from that fellow than from the Russians”. Metcalfe was right. Many years later, the Wahhabis, then resident at Sitana, were to cause the British grief. Metcalfe’s response was in no way contradictory to the suspicion that the British, directly or indirectly, instigated the Wahhabis to attack the Sikhs. History had repeatedly shown that violence promoted under any guise, be it ever so righteous, invariably returned to haunt its original promoters.
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Sunday- July 11, 2010
Opinion
Those vulnerable to manipulation are, more often, the ones devoid of an opinion. Formulating an opinion is the first step towards believing in something and opting for a choice. Choice is that prerequisite for action which if credulously generated for the universally accepted norms of well-being for humanity, transforms into the potent indubitable power of the individual and collectively unleashes an unstoppable energy which affects change.
Preeti Nalwa, M.Phil., Ph.D. scholar
Quote
“Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance”.
Bertrand Russell
FEATURE
Kumi Naidoo, the executive director of Greenpeace International contributes his opinion to International Herald Tribune, July 9, 2010.
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He says:
“History tells us that whatever injustice we face — whether it was apartheid in South Africa, civil rights in the United States, a woman’s right to choose — it was only when determined men and women were willing to stand up and say, “Enough is enough, I am prepared to peacefully break the law and even go to prison to get our message across”, that change finally happened.
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