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Launch of IHAR in Odisha

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IHAR Launched its operations in Odisha on December 8th 2023

The Indian History Awareness and Research (IHAR) launched its operations in Odisha . Head quartered in Houston, USA, IHAR is a private think tank established to research Indian history with an Indic-lens. IHAR is an attempt to create an intellectual system taking a uniquely Indic route to Indian History – and all the associated areas. It has on its team eminent historians, doctors, scientists and entrepreneurs from India and abroad.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Surya Sarathi Roy, Director North India Operations said that IHAR believes that a shared sense of history and culture are the constitutive elements of individual and collective identities of citizens in a nation state.

India’s history and civilization have had unbroken continuity, albeit with periodic disruptions that in recent times have led to an understanding of India that is fragmented, incoherent, and incomplete.

Dr. Adyasha Das, the Convener of Odisha Operations stressed on the need to collect, collate, interpret, and integrate new knowledge into India’s history, while being respectfully inclusive of India’s own recorded and oral traditions.

Anil Dhir, Director of IHAR’s Odisha Operations said that the New
Education Policy calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the education system, including its regulations and management, to establish a modern system that aligns with 21st-Century educational goals. The New Policy mandates respecting India’s cultural heritage and values through heritage awareness education across all levels of education. IHAR will soon sign MOU’s with different Institutes and Schools all over the State.

The launch was attended by Dr. Ileana Citaristi, eminent Odissi dance exponent, Dr. Nirmal Chandra Das, Professor Emeritus and Dr. Biswajit Mohanty, Chairman Greenpeace International South Asia among others.

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Indian Museum Kolkata Honors Rash Behari Bose on 139th Birth Anniversary- Lecture by Prasun Roy IHAR WB chapter

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Lecture By

Prasun Roy – Ihar WB

Event Report

Indian Museum, Kolkata paid homage to Biplabi Mahanayak Rash Behari Bose on his 139th Birth Anniversary with a commemorative lecture by noted author, Convenor – IHAR WB Chapter, heritage researcher and biographer, Mr. Prasun Roy.
Through historical insights and personal reflections, Mr. Roy shed light on the revolutionary’s radical beginnings, his role in the Ghadar movement, the Komagata Maru episode, and his enduring legacy through the Azad Hind movement in Japan.
The event was graced by Prof. (Dr.) Suranjan Das, Vice-Chancellor, Adamas University Kolkata, as Guest of Honour. Lt. Col Anant Sinha, Administrator of the Asiatic Society, graced the occasion with his kind presence and great works.
Attended by almost 100 people from various fields, the event was a grand success. Several family members of Shri Rash Behari Bose, martyr Basanta Biswas and Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das attended the event and added a unique colour to the entire event.
This was the first ever event organized by the Ministry of Culture on Shri Rash Behari Bose by the tireless efforts of Smt. Indrani Basu, niece of Shri Rash Behari Bose. Being held at the iconic Indian Museum the event saw a powerful presentation by Mr. Prasun Roy on the life and journey of Shri Rash Behari Bose as he established the point as to why he was a stalwart personality who was primarily responsible for bringing Independence to India through his vision of the Azad Hind Fauj, his collaboration with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and being the founding father of organized armed revolution in India and presenting the country with its first ever organized army.

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Panel Discussion: Heritage of Firebrand Revolutionaries – Bengal The Seedbed of Revolution

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Panelists & Moderators

Panelists : Rabi Ranjan Sen, Prasun Roy and Surya Sarathi Roy

Moderator : Moderator: Reetwika Banerjee

Event Report

The fourth session of the Annual Conference discussed the role of the revolutionaries in undivided Bengal. Bengal was the land of various revolutionary activities. The panelists brought interesting facts and analysis regarding the revolutionary movement. Hundreds of freedom fighters from this region took up arms against the British colonial rule. That period is known as the Agniyug. They suffered imprisonment, were sentenced to transportation for life, and even hanged to death. Still, nothing could demotivate them from serving their motherland.

As per the popular opinion of a section of historians, India became independent because of the non-violent struggle led by Gandhiji. However, we cannot rule out the contribution of the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries created fear in the minds of the ruling class. Swami Vivekananda inspired the revolutionaries. He promoted football and wrestling. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was particularly inspired by him. Vivekananda had said in 1897 that the religion for the next fifty years should be ‘Purna Swaraj’. The revolutionaries followed the speeches and writings of Swamiji.

Apart from that, they were influenced by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Anandmath and the literature of the Carbonaries of Italy and Irish revolutionaries. They engaged in Shakti worship and took oaths in the name of Gods and Goddesses. They studied the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads alongside arms training. Spirituality was an integral part of the revolutionaries’ lives.

Some argue that because of this cultural and religious aspect, Muslims were alienated from the freedom struggle. However, the Muslim community was given many privileges since the 1920s by Gandhiji, Chittaranjan Das, and Netaji. Despite this, it could not stop the Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. The first Partition of Bengal happened in 1905, which was annulled in 1911 after the Swadeshi Movement. However, the British Government moved the capital from Calcutta to Delhi in the wake of the tremendous activities of the revolutionaries.

Prasun Roy has authored a book on Rash Behari Bose, which shifted the discussion to him. Rash Behari Bose was a revolutionary who was an out-of-the-box thinker. He attempted to assassinate the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, in Delhi, though the attempt was unsuccessful. Remarkably, the very next day, he attended the Viceroy’s party in Dehradun. After his cover was blown, he fled to Japan.

The culture of Japan greatly matched that of India. Rash Behari took efforts to create a narrative about India in Japan. He convinced the Japanese to establish an independent army that would fight alongside them in Southeast Asia. The Indian National Army (INA) was formed, and he selflessly handed over the reins of the force to Netaji. Unfortunately, Rash Behari could never return to India and died in Japan before the country attained independence. His contribution to the freedom struggle was immense, yet most people have forgotten him.

Though Bengal played a significant role in the freedom movement, it failed to properly acknowledge his role later on. After the country was partitioned on religious lines in 1947, Bengal lost two-thirds of its land. The apathy of the Bengali intellectuals to give rightful recognition to the revolutionaries after independence is largely responsible for this. As a result, Bengal, which was actively involved in the politics of British India, became an insignificant player in national politics post-independence.

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Podcast – From Shiva to Schrodiinger – Dr. Guha

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Dr. Guha is a Author – Quantum Physicist also an Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies Bengaluru and Assistant Professor at Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham, Delhi NCR. Having completed his doctorate from Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, he has been an institutional postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, a senior postdoctoral researcher at the Indian Institute of Science – Bangalore (funded by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India) and a postdoctoral associate of Nobel Laureate (Physics, 1973) Prof. Brian Josephson at the University of Cambridge. He has been a Trinity Barlow Scholar (2015-2018), Nehru Scholar (2014-2018), INSPIRE Scholar (2011-2014) and TIFR NIUS Fellow (2012-2014).
 

Podcast

In this episode we discussed about his book from shiva to Schodinger in a very detailed manner. Where we spoke about how it is aligned with the Discoveries of modern quantum physics, The concept of fabric of flux , nature of reality in ancient bharatiya traditions , 
Bhartiya gyan parampara about the nature of reality, The Indian knowledge system and quantam perspective, The trika side, Trika truth as attainable through opposites, spanda and what it is all about, Western philosophy vs Indian knowledge system and trika shaiva darshana is discussed in a detailed manner
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