Babur as Valentine

[ashdoc]

The Uzbek government has declared it a day of national celebration, not of love, but of the birthday of the 16th century Mughal emperor Babur.

Uzbekistan appears to have found its national hero almost 500 years after his death. While nobody is complaining — some have said that they have always celebrated the Timurid ruler's birthday — lovers aren't very amused with this new decree. Last year, a big V-Day concert was called off by the government at the eleventh hour in its bid to promote the study and appreciation of Babur. The million-dollar question is: why now?

The answer might lie in neighbouring Afghanistan, where, too, Babur is emerging as a national icon.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/parthian-shot/entry/babur-as-valentine

 

[Armand2REP]

Why should India celebrate it, should France celebrate Caeser's conquest of Gaul?

 

[nrj]

It needs to be seen if India would accept the founder of the Mughal Empire as a symbol of love.

Duh! Uzbeks have declared Valentines as Babur day, not Indians.

Why would Indians consider him as symbol of love?

 

[ashdoc]

Duh! Uzbeks have declared Valentines as Babur day, not Indians.

interestingly , these same uzbeks drove out babur from central asia towards afghanistan and eventually india

 

[Virendra]

Why would Indians consider him as symbol of love?

Because we Indians are perpetual morons doomed to lap up every oppressor who disrobed and slapped us.
We glorify aything that comes from outside and dominates us by force, be it Mughals or British.
It has become a character defect of this nation now and baffles me to no limits.
Even when the author accepts that Babur is not known as someone loving in nature, he has the gaul to ask if we'll take Babur as a symbol of live.
What kind of madness is this ? And it finds place at TOI ??

 

[ashdoc]

Because we Indians are perpetual morons doomed to lap up every oppressor who disrobed and slapped us.

vegetarians are like that only :thumb:

 

[nrj]

Because we Indians are perpetual morons doomed to lap up every oppressor who disrobed and slapped us.
We glorify aything that comes from outside and dominates us by force, be it Mughals or British.
It has become a character defect of this nation now and baffles me to no limits.
Even when the author accepts that Babur is not known as someone loving in nature, he has the gaul to ask if we'll take Babur as a symbol of live.
What kind of madness is this ? And it finds place at TOI ??

Who in India is considering him symbol of love?

 

[nrupatunga]

Timur is a bigger hero for uzbeks than babur will ever be. Even uzbek president (dictator??) islam karimov styles himself as a spiritual descendent of timur.

 

[civfanatic]

Why should India celebrate it, should France celebrate Caeser's conquest of Gaul?

Did you read the article? At least the first line of it? I mean come on, it's not very long.

 

[LordOfTheUnderworlds]

It seems appropriate. Babur was a romantic man. In his book Babarnama, apparently he has written about his love and passion for a beautiful adolescent boy called Baburi.

 

[Armand2REP]

Did you read the article? At least the first line of it? I mean come on, it's not very long.

Did you read the part where the author asks if India will celebrate his birthday? I mean come on, its a retarded concept. Babur had no respect for India...

Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work, there is no form or symmetry, method or quality. There are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, nor bread or cooked food in bazaars; no hamams, no colleges, no torches or candlesticks," he wrote in theTuzuk-i-Baburi.

 

[civfanatic]

Did you read the part where the author asks if India will celebrate his birthday? I mean come on, its a retarded concept. Babur had no respect for India...

The author obviously thinks its a retarded concept, which was why that excerpt was included in the first place.

Now where exactly does the author ask if India will celebrate his birthday?

 

[Armand2REP]

The author obviously thinks its a retarded concept, which was why that excerpt was included in the first place.

Now where exactly does the author ask if India will celebrate his birthday?

The author asks the question in closing...

"It needs to be seen if India would accept the founder of the Mughal Empire as a symbol of love."

in reference to...

Historian Ninad Bedekar thinks this may be possible. "Foreign concepts don't take much time to gain currency in India. So, it's not impossible to have Babur's birthday celebrations in India in future.

Now how exactly is he NOT entertaining the notion?

 

[civfanatic]

The author asks the question in closing...

"It needs to be seen if India would accept the founder of the Mughal Empire as a symbol of love."

in reference to...

Historian Ninad Bedekar thinks this may be possible. "Foreign concepts don't take much time to gain currency in India. So, it's not impossible to have Babur's birthday celebrations in India in future.

Now how exactly is he NOT entertaining the notion?

Try reading the article in whole rather than quoting excerpts out of context. It helps.

This is what the paragraph containing the quote by historian Ninad Bedekar, says:

Babur was neither a symbol of love nor pacifism. Yet Uzbekistan is proud of their export to India. The moot point is: will India accord Babur this status for the conquests he made here? Historian Ninad Bedekar thinks this may be possible. "Foreign concepts don't take much time to gain currency in India. So, it's not impossible to have Babur's birthday celebrations in India in future. But those of us who have read and understood history need to ask if Babur really deserves to be treated as an Indian hero," he says.

In the article's penultimate paragraph, he quoted Babur himself expressing his dislike of India and its people:

Even though Babur had immense respect for the Rajputs and other sturdy Indian fighters, he had a low opinion of India and her people. "Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work, there is no form or symmetry, method or quality. There are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, nor bread or cooked food in bazaars; no hamams, no colleges, no torches or candlesticks," he wrote in theTuzuk-i-Baburi.

The author's last sentence in the article, which directly followed the above quote by Babur, was:

It needs to be seen if India would accept the founder of the Mughal Empire as a symbol of love.

The irony of the concluding sentence with regards to the penultimate paragraph is self-evident. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together and figure out what the author is trying to say, though it seems the majority of people missed it due to their preconceived notions.

 

[Yusuf]

Who in India is considering him symbol of love?

Love guru Rajneesh I guess

 

[Armand2REP]

The irony of the concluding sentence with regards to the penultimate paragraph is self-evident. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together and figure out what the author is trying to say, though it seems the majority of people missed it due to their preconceived notions.

The irony is you don't see the obvious question posed here. Should India celebrate Babur...

 

[KS]

... And it finds place at TOI ??

That is why it found place in ToI.

 

[KS]

Did you read the article? At least the first line of it? I mean come on, it's not very long.

What was even the point of these lines ?

The moot point is: will India accord Babur this status for the conquests he made here? Historian Ninad Bedekar thinks this may be possible.

It needs to be seen if India would accept the founder of the Mughal Empire as a symbol of love

.

 

[KS]

Try reading the article in whole rather than quoting excerpts out of context. It helps.

This is what the paragraph containing the quote by historian Ninad Bedekar, says:


In the article's penultimate paragraph, he quoted Babur himself expressing his dislike of India and its people:


The author's last sentence in the article was, which directly followed the above quote by Babur, was:



The irony of the concluding sentence with regards to the penultimate paragraph is self-evident. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together and figure out what the author is trying to say, though it seems the majority of people missed it due to their preconceived notions.

I read the article and it was straight forward.

The authors says four things.

--> That Uzbekistan is celebrating its new found love for Babur

--> That Babur is not a symbol of love or pacifism

--> He asks a historian whether in future India can celebrate him as a symbol of love to which the historian says, its quite possible

--> So the author ends with the statement, that it is a question to be pondered if Babur will be regarded as a symbol of love.

The author might say the personally wont celebrate Babur as a symbol of love and pacifism for so and so reasons as mentioned in the penultimate para but also conceded that others might just do that, which is a sentiment echoed by that historian too.

Plus you would be lying to yourself if you thought a significant portion of the Indian population already doesn't celebrate him.

 

[KS]

The irony is you don't see the obvious question posed here. Should India celebrate Babur...

Maybe he saw it. Let's not insult civ's intelligence but chose not to say it.