Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday raised questions about the form in which Pakistan will exist in the future, while putting the spotlight on India’s rise on the back of transformative policy reforms and how the country was poised to cross key economic milestones in the coming years, including becoming the world’s third largest economy by 2030.
“If you look at the situation in some South Asian countries, you will understand the stability with which India is moving ahead. Considering Pakistan’s current state, only God knows what will happen to it in the future,” Singh said.
His comments came during the launch of former union minister MJ Akbar’s latest book After me, Chaos: Astrology in the Mughal Empire. Akbar’s 12th book was launched jointly by Singh, minister for communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bihar governor Arif Mohammed Khan, national security adviser Ajit Doval and Prime Minister’s Museum and Library chairperson Nripendra Misra.
The book chronicles the deep faith of Mughal kings in astrology and how it was then an intrinsic part of statecraft.
“Currently, India is the world’s fourth largest economy and is on the path to becoming the third largest economy with an estimated GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030. To understand India’s current rise, we must look at our 11 years of work. If all this has been possible, it is only because of transformative policy reforms…Akbar Sahib wrote in one of his books about Pakistan being a jelly state (unstable but not collapsing). Today, the world is also understanding this fact,” Singh said.
Speaking at the launch, Scindia praised Akbar’s conversational style of writing that makes history breathe again and the dedicated research that goes into his books. “He is a maker of narratives who has opened locked rooms in our collective memory,” Scindia said, adding that astrology sits on the uneasy border of precise calculation and human faith.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking at the launch, Scindia praised Akbar’s conversational style of writing that makes history breathe again and the dedicated research that goes into his books. “He is a maker of narratives who has opened locked rooms in our collective memory,” Scindia said, adding that astrology sits on the uneasy border of precise calculation and human faith.
{{/usCountry}}The book talks about how even Aurangzeb put aside his religiosity when it came to astrologers who fixed the time of his two coronations. It also sheds light on how Humayun wore clothes of different colours each day as prescribed by planetary positions, Jahangir issued coins with a zodiac theme, and every Mughal prince consulted astrologers to fix the auspicious time for the day’s appointments.
Doval said Akbar’s book gives insights into how important decisions were made in the Mughal times. The emperors of the time, he said, were “suffering from a deep sense of insecurity” and such people tend to find solutions for that, referring to the influence of astrology on their lives.
Misra said Akbar’s new book was based on a theme that had not been explored earlier. “He doesn’t hold a formal degree in history but is the foremost historian of our times,” he added, recounting how Mughal emperor Akbar’s birth was delayed by two hours because an astrologer said the most auspicious hour had not arrived.