While the landing of fighter jets on highways might seem like a recent phenomenon, planes of the Royal Air Force (RAF) landed and took off from the Red Road in Calcutta almost 80 years ago, during the peak of World War II. This is the same road in Kolkata next to the Army's Eastern Command HQ that was in the news over Eid namaaz.
For a treaty hailed globally as a triumph of water diplomacy, India paid not just in rivers, but in rupees, following the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan of 1960. Behind the Indus treaty lies the lesser-known story of how India bankrolled Pakistan's water infrastructure, only to be repaid with hostility.
During the 1965 India-Pakistan War, Flight Lieutenant KC Cariappa's plane was shot down, and he was held captive by the Pakistani army. His father, General KM Cariappa (later a Field Marshal), turned down an offer from Pakistan's military dictator Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who served under him earlier, to release his son. This story from 70 years ago also highlights the contrast between the two Field Marshals.
The 1965 Indo-Pak War saw the biggest tank battle since World War II. Indian Army Havildar Abdul Hamid drove around in a jeep, mounted with a recoilless gun, through sugarcane fields, destroying Pakistan's US-made Patton tanks. Hamid destroyed up to 12 tanks and laid his life in the line of duty. He was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest wartime gallantry award.
The Pakistan military and the ISI hatched a plot for months to use mujahideen and disguised army regulars to snatch Kashmir from India. Its Operation Gibraltar hinged on the belief that Kashmiris would side with them and revolt against India. Leave alone revolt, Kashmiris gave away critical information that helped the Indian Army defeat the Pakistanis. It was Operation Gibraltar that led to the 1965 War.
Srinagar was making its international cricket debut with an India-West Indies ODI in the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium. It was October 1983, and India, led by Kapil Dev, had recently won the World Cup. The Pakistan-backed terrorists chanted anti-India slogans, dug up the pitch during the break, and attacked Kapil's Devils with stones and bottles. The match became more than a footnote in the chapter on terrorism in Kashmir.
In the winter of 1986-1987, India rolled out tanks and troops on a scale not seen in peacetime since World War II. India's Operation Brasstacks stunned Pakistan and made it scramble its military resources and reveal it had nuclear capability. As tensions soar after the Pahalgam massacre, here's a look at the India-Pakistan war that never was.
Sixty years before pop star Katy Perry's 10-minute spaceflight, a factory worker from the Soviet Union created history, becoming the first woman in space. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova, who worked in textile and tyre factories, went into space on a solo mission that lasted three days. Tereshkova's secret hobby helped her land back safely after orbiting the earth 48 times.
India's first extradition battle to get custody of Khalistani separatist Ranjit Singh 'Kuki' Gill lasted 12 years. Gill was among the three who killed Congress MP Lalit Maken, his wife and bodyguard in Delhi in 1985. Gill, extradited in 2000, walked free in 2009, after their daughter, Avantika Maken, forgave him for the murders.
The Hagia Sophia is at the centre of Turkey's Byzantine, Ottoman and secular history. How did the sixth-century cathedral become a Waqf property, get converted to a museum, and again a mosque? Tracing the history of the Hagia Sophia amid the Waqf Bill debate in India.
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb got his brother Dara Shikoh beheaded in Delhi and presented his head to their father, Shah Jahan, whom he had imprisoned in Agra. Experts believe India's history would have been different had a scholarly and secular Dara become the emperor. Amid the controversy over Aurangzeb's tomb, a look at the life of Dara, who translated the Upanishads into Persian, and the mystery around his grave.
Chhatrapati Shivaji's son Sambhaji was tortured and executed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. But Sambhaji's son, Shahu I, visited Aurangzeb's grave. The visit by Shahuji, who was kept captive for 18 years in a Mughal camp, has to be seen in the correct historical and political context, and his battle with Maratha queen Tarabai Bhosle.
