This is the first of a two-part podcast which presents a comprehensive critique of the 2006 Hindi film, "Rang De Basanti" as a vehicle of Communist propaganda. It follows the familiar communist template of using art, literature, poetry, drama and cinema to propagandise communism among the Indian masses, who are unarguably the world's largest consumer of cinema.

Rang de Basanti was a huge blockbuster when it was released and acquired a semi-cult status especially among the urban Indian youth. However, its commercial success was largely because it drew a historical parallel with five revolutionary Indian fighters: Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaquallah Khan, and Shivram Rajguru and juxtaposed them with five youths of contemporary India. This parallel was achieved by twisting the facts of history and presenting the historical revolutionaries as communist heroes, which they definitely were not. The twisting of history does not stop at this: by drawing this sort of parallel, the film equates the oppressive alien British rule of India with a constitutionally elected government of independent India.

The propaganda in Rang de Basanti thus works at multiple levels all aimed at the same goal: of advocating a violent overthrow of the Indian government.

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Few people have not heard the name Chanakya or Kautilya or Vishnugupta, the most preeminent philosopher statesmen in world history. The author of the acclaimed and timeless Arthashastra, the most comprehensive manual covering almost all aspects of administration, governance, statesmanship, and military strategy, Chanakya continues to enjoy an exalted status throughout the world. It is also appropriate to call him the Rajyashastra pitamaha or the progenitor of statecraft.

Chanakya remains widely studied and quoted and there are almost innumerable books and research papers and essays that continue to be written about him and his contributions. On the other hand, he is also one of the most misunderstood and misquoted stalwarts, largely due to the western precedent of equating him with Machiavelli. Few people know that Chanakya was a monk and a renunciate who lived a life of voluntary penury. The Arthashastra is also a manual of profound philosophy, which acts as an elevated moral, ethical and spiritual guide to the ruler.

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THE 100-Year History of Indian Communism in Half an Hour

In 1917, a radio broadcast in Russia announced that the Tsarist regime had been overthrown and a new Soviet government was formed. This was the first ever victory of Karl Marx's political ideology that had now acquired an entire state for itself: the largest country in the world. Quite obviously, the event was enormously significant throughout the world and there was great excitement among Communists in non-communist countries. One such country was the British colony, India.

This episode traces the nearly century-long history of Communism in India from its founding days by M.N. Roy up to the present time. Founded in 1920 in Tashkent by M.N. Roy, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has had a chequered legacy in India. However, its influence, impact and consequences for India have largely been destructive. This destruction has passed through several key stages but it has unarguably been a force for the worse. Overall, Communism has calculatedly destroyed many important facets of a gentle, ancient culture and civilisation and continues to work for the physical break up of the Indian state by collaborating with the declared enemies of India. Communism has also been mainly responsible for why India was considered a third world country for more than six decades after it attained independence from the British.

Although Communists exist in India as a political force only nominally in the present time, they have managed to infiltrate their ideology by masking it it clever verbiage and have succeeded in a nationwide capture of government and other public institutions.

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In this eye-opening conversation, scholar, columnist, author and an authority on Communism and Marxism, Dr. Shankar Saran takes us on a superb guided tour of the motivations, methods, and impact that Communists have had in India for nearly a century. Dr. Saran speaks about his own journey as a card-carrying Communist initially and narrates his experiences of being a Communist ideologue and teacher. He shares their hypocrisy, their belief system, and the duplicitous role they have played in politics and the Indian national discourse.

Dr. Shankar Saran also provides substantial details on how the Communists infiltrated almost all democratic institutions and the tactics they employed in this ideological takeover. He shares valuable insights into what they label as research and how it has played out in real life.

Of great interest is the manner in which the Communists founded the notorious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has a long history of national subversion using the resources of the Indian state. In particular, Dr. Saran provides shocking details of the JNU’s visceral hatred for Hindu traditions, knowledge systems and institutions. Equally, Dr. Saran reveals appointments to influential academic positions almost all of which are controlled by the Communists.

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This podcast is a conversation about a wide range of topics and issues concerning the Indian Cultural Renaissance that took place at SAFIC, Puducherry. The Dharma Dispatch is grateful to them for the kind courtesies extended. It is an in-depth, serious and highly-focussed discussion offering food for thought and contemplation.

The conversation can be broadly categorised as:

Over the course of this conversation, several meaningful and valuable details are provided relating to our culture, values, ethos and luminaries who contributed to the vibrance of India as a timeless civilisation.

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A deep dive into critically examining the Cult of Mother Teresa all the way from its inception and shines critical light on what Teresa said versus what she did. In the words of Christopher Hitchens, this episode examines Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice.

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The first part of a series documenting the true history of Tipu Sultan, the Tyrant of Mysore by author Sandeep Balakrishna. Tipu Sultan, the fanatical despot of Mysore is another representative of the distortions of Indian History set in motion by a group of Marxist ideologues who labelled themselves as Eminent Historians.

This introductory talk provides information about the native Indian conception of history as Itihasa and traces the various damages that were inflicted upon the study and dissemination of Indian history since India attained Independence in 1947.

This series was hosted by Centre for South Indian Studies, Delhi in October 2018.

To buy Sandeep Balakrishna's book, Tipu Sultan: The Tyrant of Mysore, head over to Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Tipu-Sultan-Tyrant-Mysore-History-ebook/dp/B00H2LWIG4

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Sandeep Balakrishna has a freewheeling conversation on a range of issues, topics, and concepts related to Sanatana Dharma and Hinduism in the backdrop of Shri David Frawley's revised edition of the book, "Arise Arjuna" with the author himself. The conversation was facilitated by Indus University as part of its Indus Samvad series in partnership with Jaipur Dialogues.

The occasion was the third edition of the Jaipur Dialogues held between October 27 - 30, 2018. The Dharma Dispatch is also a partner of the Jaipur Dialogues.

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This is the maiden episode of "Present Tense," part of the Dharma Podcast family.

This episode examines the politics and ideology of the Extreme Left Activist T M Krishna in light of the recent cancellation of his concert scheduled to be held by the Airports Authority of India on 17th and 18th November. The episode delves into the reasons behind the cancellation and traces the origins, rise, career and activism of T M Krishna.