First War of Independence/ Sepoy Mutiny of 1857: Capture of Delhi

The First War of Independence, which began on 10 May 1857 in the garrison town of Meerut quickly picks up steam as the sepoys reach Delhi and proclaim Bahadur Shah Zafar as the Emperor of Hindustan on 11 May. With the capture of Delhi, rebellion against the British East India Company broke out in different parts of India. British forces, supported by troops provided by over 20 Indian princely states, reacted harshly to the insurrection with fighting breaking out in different parts of the subcontinent that would last until November 1858. While the British troops prevailed, the East India Company was abolished by the British government and the Government of India Act 1858 was passed, leading to the establishment of the British Raj that would control the Indian subcontinent for another 100 years.

India launches Operation Shakti and conducts three atomic bomb tests in Pokhran

India Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee oversees three underground atomic tests at the Indian Army’s Pokhran test range on 11 May, 1998. Codename Operation Shakti (Power), the three tests represented Vajpayee’s desire to adopt a stern policy towards Pakistan and project himself as a strong man in domestic politics. Early in 1998, he declared that India would “take back that part of Kashmir that is under Pakistan’s occupation,” that his government would “re-evaluate the nuclear policy and exercise the option to induct nuclear weapons”.

With tensions between India and Pakistan running high, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan offered “an agreement with India for an equal and mutual restraint in conventional, missile and nuclear fields,” despite the fact that both countries had recently tested the Prithvi and Ghauri missiles accompanied by bellicose rhetoric.

On 11 May, India declared itself a Nuclear weapons state.

“Today, at 15:45 hours, India conducted three underground nuclear tests in the Pokhran range. The tests conducted today were with a fission device, a low yield device and a thermonuclear device. The measured yields are in line with expected values. Measurements have also confirmed that there was no release of radioactivity into the atmosphere. These were contained explosions like the experiment conducted in May 1974. I warmly congratulate the scientists and engineers who have carried out these successful tests,” said Vajpayee at a press conference soon after the tests.

The tests provoked a strong reaction in Pakistan, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowing to conduct a tit-for-tat nuclear test. “Pakistan is prepared to match India, we have the capability…. We in Pakistan will maintain a balance with India in all fields,” said the Pakistani FM. Indian leadership “have gone berserk [sic] and was acting in a totally unrestrained way,” he added.

With tensions reaching their peak since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the US and other world powers initiated diplomatic efforts in order to prevent Pakistan from responding in a like manner.
In Pakistan, however, civilian and military leadership readied plans to conduct its own nuclear weapons tests.

Mossad agents capture Adolf Eichmann in Argentina

Adolf Eichmann is captured by Israeli Mossad agents on 11 May, 1960 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eichman was a lieutenant colonel in the Nazi SS and was one of the most important figures behind the holocaust that killed approximately 6 million Jews under Adolf Hitler’s oversight. Eichmann escaped to Austria and then to Argentina under false papers after Germany’s defeat in 1945. He was eventually tracked down by the Israeli intelligence agency which sent a team of eight Shin Bet agents headed by a Mossad operative to Argentina in April, 1960. After a confirmation of Eichmann’s identity, he was flown to Israel and put to trial that lasted close to two years. He was hanged to death on 1 June 1962.

Hannah Arendt, who was present during the trial authored “Eichmann in Jerusalem” expressing the phrase ‘Banality of Evil’ in reference to Eichmann.

Saadat Hasan Manto is born

Saadat Hasan Manto is born in Punjab on 11 May, 1912.

Author of a number of short stories, plays and essays, Manto became a leading literary figure in the Indian subcontinent during the 20th century. Manto’s writings explored themes and topics deemed taboo during the time – he was charged with obscenity six times over the course of his career, three times in British India and three times in Pakistan, where he moved after partition in 1947.

“If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth.”

His most famous works such as Toba Tek Singh, Bu, Thanda Gosht and Kaali Shalwar dealt with topics ranging from Sexuality, Religion, Gender and Politics. Through his works, he sought to discuss and explore the human psyche and its place in society. He also asked pointed questions throughout his works.

“If a man has to make a woman the centre of his love, why should he integrate animality into this sacred human emotion?... Is love incomplete without it?.. Is love the name of physical exercise ?” 

“To tell you the truth, the world seemed full of sad people – those who slept on the uncovered stoops of shops as well as those who lived in high-rise mansions. The man who walks about on foot worries that he doesn’t have decent shoes to wear. The man who rides the automobile frets that he doesn’t have the latest model car. Every man’s complaint is valid in its own way. Every man’s wish is legitimate in its own right.”

Saadat Hasan Manto died in Lahore on 18 January, 1955. He was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 2012.

Bob Marley passes away

Robert Nesta Marley passes away on 11 May, 1981. Over the course of his life, Bob Marley became a global cultural icon and his music found admiration across the world.

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

A Rastafarian, Pan-Africanist and a supporter of Cannabis legalisation, Bob Marley added strong spiritual and personal elements in his music. He also became one of the best-selling artists of all time, selling over 75 million records.

Exodus and Legend are among his most famous albums.

Salvador Dali is born

Salvador Dalí is born on 11 May, 1904 in the Spanish town of Figueres.

Known for his surrealist paintings, the eccentric Spaniard would eventually go on to become one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His deeply symbolic paintings became an inspiration for modern artists and those part of the surrealist tradition.

Dali’s iconic moustache, brilliant artwork and eccentric behaviour immortalised him as a cultural icon.

Richard Feynman is born

The American theoretical physicist Richard Phillips Feynman is born on 11 may, 1918 in the city of New York.

“Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”

Known for his work on Quantum electrodynamics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Julian Schwinger and Shin’ichirō Tomonaga in 1965.

Helping in the development of the first atomic bomb, Feynman also played a crucial part in the investigation of the Challenger Disaster in 1986 and wrote a number of books that helped popularise Physics across the world.

“We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.” 

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