G.C. Shekhar April 02, 2021 00:00 IST Sharp End Of A Poll Spear outlookindia.com 2021-04-03T15:15:03+05:30
With its ‘vel yatra’, the BJP had done its bit to put the DMK on the defensive, forcing the Dravidian party to tone down its perceived anti-Hindu image. Even M.K. Stalin was seen holding a vel (spear, associated with Lord Murugan), which was flaunted as a triumph of the BJP’s campaign against the “anti-Hindu propaganda” hitherto encouraged by the DMK and its cohorts. The DMK also included the following promises in its manifesto a Rs 1,000-crore fund for renovation of temples, rope cars for all hill temples (mostly Murugan temples), Rs 25,000 for one lakh pilgrims to famous Hindu temples in the country, financial support for performing artistes of village temples and establishment of an international centre at Vadalur, home of saint Vallalar, which attracts lakhs of devotees every year.
outlookindia.com 2021-04-03T15:17:07+05:30
In Assam’s history, the Mughals find reference mainly as the invading enemy pushed back 18 times, culminating in the 1671 Battle of Saraighat when the invaders were dealt the final humiliating defeat by the Ahom empire. The hero was Ahom general Lachit Barphukan, whose legend straddles history and folklore. Another soldier stood out in that victory Barphukan’s lieutenant Bagh Hazarika aka Ismail Siddique, an Assamese Muslim who commanded 1,000 men. It was them and more before them who made certain that Mughal footprints on Assam were hardly any and for very brief periods. And that is the reason many in the state were left bemused when chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal claimed recently that “attacks of Mughals on Assam continues” to this day.