Monday 8 August 2005

Satyagraha


15th August is Independence Day in India and a new Bollywood film about a hero of the First Indian War of Independence is going on general release. It is the story of Magal Pandey, a "sepoy" or native Indian soldier in the army of the East India Company - the company charged with running India. Pandey revolted against his officers because of a new musket which used shot packed in wax derived from animal fat. The drill was to open the shot by biting the packaging open and as Hindus and Muslims the sepoys had religious objections to having the animal fat in their mouths. Pandey was hung in 1857 but is seen as one of the first freedom fighters in a struggle which was to last for 90 years and end on 15th August 1947 when the British Raj came to an end. Of course many people will know at least one of the people engaged in the Indian independence movement - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's non-violent civil disobedience created a model used by many others around the world.

3 careful considerations:

Wendy said...

Pretty interesting history. That movie looks a little cheesy though.

Anonymous said...

(Place fantastic comment here)!

Anoneumouse said...

The great unwashed eh, Traditional bar soaps are made from fats and oils or their fatty acids which are reacted with inorganic water-soluble bases. The main sources of fats are beef, pork and mutton tallow.

Allah Akbar