Posts Tagged ‘Panjab’

29
Aug

SikhRI Webinar: The Sikhs and The Panjab

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

I was honoured that on August 15, 8.30 pm IST, I was invited to a panel discussion with Harinder Singh and Tridivesh Singh Maini. This is upon invite from Sikhri – Sikh Research Institute – a premier Sikh organisation in the US.

73 years ago, two nation-states were carved by the British mapmaking: Hindustan and Pakistan. The historical Sikh Homeland in The Panjab was divided by the Radcliffe line. In now truncated Indian Panjab, a proportion of the Sikhs led many campaigns to fight for economic, political, state, human, and religious rights. What’s next to secure the Sikh aspirations and the Panjab’s autonomy?

Please listen to the conversation here …

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29
Jun

PANJAB: Review in Punjab Today

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

Simrita Dhir has very graciously reviewed PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines in Punjab Today. Thank you Smrita and Kanwar Manjit Singh!

Simrita says, ‘Faced with a dwindling economy, imperfect political and judicial systems, cloudy dreams and a horde of runaway aspirations, the land of the brave and home of the plenty calls out loudly for reform, rehabilitation and rectification of wrongs.’

Thank you friends for continuing to engage with the book. Please read review here …

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30
Apr

Desh Sewak: ‘PANJAB’ review by Manmohan Singh

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

I am so glad Manmohan Singh ji, poet, writer, thinker, mentor has reviewed PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines in the Desh Sewak Sunday newspaper.

He calls the book a work of ‘literary journalism’ and introduces the genre to Panjabi readers. I am so touched because Ryszard Kapuciski is one of my favourite writers and I thought of him so often while in the field and while writing the book.

Thank you Sir!

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23
Feb

Punjab Today: DGP Gupta’s Statement Reeks of Bias

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

Thanks to Punjab Today here is a fuller piece on Panjab Police chief DGP Gupta’s statement published yesterday.

‘Gupta’s bias remains and shows how the Sikh aspirations remain an expendable quantity in the national discourse and are abused in the fight for the DGP’s chair in Panjab.’

Read more here …

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Dear Friends,

I love it that St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, is conducting Meta 2020 – a month long series of talks and interviews with writers, poets, editors. This helps students and staff interact with literature in small doses and gives each of us ample time to communicate, hold conversations.

Last evening, I was in conversation with the lovely and razor sharp Arul Mani at the Loyola Hall in the Joseph’s Auditorium Block. It was such a long way from when I used to audit Arul’s sessions on film studies in the late 90s.

Thank you Arul and St Joseph’s. Notice the poster in the background: that is about Jamia students protest against CAA/NRC. Me likes the student solidarity.

 

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Dear Friends,

I am so thankful that today Scroll carries PANJAB’s review by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar.

Manreet, thank you for picking on my ‘owing a debt to a land’ and discharging it through the book. I feel fellow Panjab companion Karthik Venkatesh, the editor of the book, too has done the same with PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines – discharged a debt.

Even if I have to say it, this is perhaps the most comprehensive review of the book and sets it up in the context of current protests against NPR/NRC/CAA.

Please read more here …

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20
Nov

Outlook: Touching the heart, going to the soul

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

I am so glad Sukant Deepak and I met up and spoke about Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines. If you remember, Sukant had earlier interviewed me while I was in the middle of my journeys – in March 2016. I am so glad the interview and book build on the same lines idea/representation vs reality of Panjab.

Thank you Sunil Menon and Outlook India for carrying our conversation without cuts.

Please read here …

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12
Nov

Indian Express Interview on Panjab

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

I am so glad Parul from Indian Express did the first interview with me, the author of Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines.

‘I came to Punjab a quarter-century after militancy had ended, a half-century after the new state was formed, almost three quarters of a century after independence and the Partition, a century after the Gurdwara Reform Movement, birth of SGPC and Akali Dal, a century and a half after the Singh Sabha was created (and Arya Samaj and the Ahmediya movement), and a century and three quarters after the British annexed Punjab. My question was only one: has peace returned? I realised no. Peace has not returned. Peace has never returned. The current Punjab I witnessed is frothing over with disquiet.’

Please read more here ….

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8
Nov

Panjab: Book Alert by Amita Paul

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Dear Friends,

I am glad to share with you a Facebook review of my recent book by much loved and respected Amita Paul.

Friend Amandeep Sandhu’s Book Panjab: Journeys through Fault Lines has finally come out after years of hard work, focused travel, and painstaking research.

It is a treasure trove of information and insights on Punjab, its history and its current situation, not only for the outsider but for the insider as well, and most of all for those who are a bit of both or not quite sure which one they are or how much of each they are.

Who first called Panjab, Panjab? Who are the Jutts? What is the Anandpur Saheb Resolution? How and when did the idea of Khalistan evolve and where does it stand now? What is the real situation on the ground about drug addiction in Punjab? What happened to agriculture in Punjab after the Green Revolution peaked? What is the so called river waters dispute of Punjab with Haryana Delhi and Rajasthan all about? Why are Sikhs called a martial race? Did Sikhism really manage to eradicate caste from Punjab? Where does Punjab stand today? What is the way forward for Punjab?

Amandeep Sandhu does not shy away from any of these questions and many others like these, and though he does not claim to give the final answer on anything, he does take you on a journey or a set of journeys where you may be clearer about what you think the answer might be.

If you are curious about such issues and if you would like to know more about them, do read this book.

Amandeep’s voice is gentle, compassionate, truthful and trustworthy. You may not agree with all he says – I myself differ on many issues – and he could well be mistaken in some of his views but you can rest assured that he would never lie. This is a very honest book.

Panjab : Journeys through Fault Lines

Published by Westland Publishers, Chennai, is available on Amazon as well as in all leading bookstores

I would love to hear from you your reactions once you have read it. I thoroughly recommend it

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5
Oct

The Hindu Review: The Radiance of a Thousand Suns

   Posted by: aman    in Punjab

Here is my short review of Manreet Sodhi Someshwar’s excellent multi-generational epic on Panjab: The Radiance of a Thousand Suns.

Please read more here …

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