No one who knows and loves India's history, especially the story of the resistance of Mewar, Marwar and Amber to the Mughals, can accept this wanton destruction of the Aravalli Range which formed the core of these martial Rajput kingdoms.
I will be insulting the ancient Philistines of Palestine if I refer these modern environmental predators as "Philistines", for want of a more suitable word.
Have we forgotten Gandhiji's sage observation "The World has enough for everyone's Need, but not for everyone's Greed." ?
And not even the vast resources of marble and limestone in the Aravallis are inexhaustible, when confronted with this insatiable Greed.
Rishabh Chauhan's article recalls the great Sisodias of Mewar .. Rana Kumbha the ancestor ;
Rana Sanga who fought a hundred battles ending with the 1527 loss at Kanwa to Babur;
his grandson Maharana Pratap who confronted Akbar's general Raja Mansingh at Haldighat(1576) and survived (remember "Chetak" his grey horse?) to carry on the fight, helped by Bhil tribals.
Years ago, I was fascinated by LtCol James Tod's 19th century magnum opus "Annals & Antiquities of Rajasthan,"
The story of Jaimal Rathod and Patta Sisodia's defence of Chittor, besieged by Akbar in 1567, related also in the "Akbarnama", and KM Munshi's " Akbar", is among the most fascinating of these tales.
The duo held out for 5 months till a breach was made in the fort's walls by Akbar's powerful cannons in February 1568.
While supervising preparations for the final assault, the Emperor noticed a prominent figure up on the walls, encouraging the defenders who were filling up the breach. Ace marksman Akbar, took him down with a single musket shot. It was Jaimal!
The next day, the breach was stormed and Patta fighting desperately, was trampled by a marauding elephant.
A massacre akin to that perpetrated by Allaudin Khilji (1303) ... remember apocryphal Padmavati story, ....
took place.
But Akbar deeply regretted this. He installed life-size statues of Jaimal & Patta seated on elephants, outside Agra Fort (see AI generated image) and became distinctly more spiritual, .. though his conquests didn't cease.
Qute apart from environmental considerations, how can any real Indian dream of destroying the Aravallis through uncontrolled mining.
Yes, that's what it will really be. The suggested 100 metres is not "above sea level" as is normally computed, but measured from adjacent land!
Did not the Wise Men in the Supreme Court understand the purpose of this obfuscation which g anything rare or strategic.
Thankfully, UK-based Counsel Harish Salve, who normally sides on controversial issues with the Union Government, has laid bare the reality, as have many Youtubers especially the young and .... yes, even, most surprisingly, Arnab Goswami.
Profit yes, but surely not at the cost of People and Planet!
J P Alexander
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