For a working journalist it is nearly impossible to ignore the elections even if one is not that much interested in stereotypical politics. Barring a few politicians most have little new to offer in their speeches and ideas.
To delve into something different from what was learnt in past elections, one thought of listening to some prominent lady politicians more this time. However, in general, observing the prominent lady politicians from different parties in the so called Mahagathbandhan and a few others in the other party was by and large disappointing.
Not that they were any worse than the male politicians in general, but it was all the more disappointing to hear election speeches of the politician campaigning for her brother and party.
The speeches comprised either of ill-timed smiles and giggles while the translator rendered her dialogues in the local language in South India or of the usual amateurish and even false statements that seem far from convincing to most level-headed citizens.
Then there is the apparently fiery lady from West Bengal, whose statements in the media and rallies would have been quite comical had the intention and reality behind them been so simple to explain.
Having had enough of this, instead of observing the other stalwarts, one was reminded of some real women of substance here in Uttarakhand.
There are many women and also men with impressive characters, who have done great deeds here when the times were much more challenging than they are now. One was reminded of a queen of Garhwal who was famous for taking stern decisions, defeating the Mughal army and also developing parts of the kingdom including what is now Dehradun.
From historical records, one learns that after the death of Garhwal king Mahipati Shah in 1631, his wife Karnavati took over administration of the kingdom on behalf of the seven-year old prince who was ceremoniously anointed king. Rajmata Karnavati got roads built in various parts and facilitated irrigation to boost farming as in villages located between Dehradun and Rajpur which at that time were not as conveniently connected as they are now.
Karnpur, which is now a locality in Dehradun is also stated to have been established by her. She also reorganised and improved the Garhwali army under its chief general Madhosingh Bhandari. Among her advisers was Dostbeig Mughal who was made a captain in the Garhwali army earlier and probably on his suggestion, she started handing out stern punishments to dissenters and criminals like cutting off the noses of those violating the State’s order.
While this led to her also being referred to as Nak-Katti Rani, it is also believed that dacoity and other crimes were nearly eradicated in the kingdom.
Historians state that when Shah Jahan ruled the Mughal empire, the sixth Sikh guru Hargobind Singh after fighting three battles against the Mughals between 1628 and 1634 decided to visit Srinagar, Garhwal to rest.
At that time, Samarth Ramdas- later the guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji- who was on a pilgrimage to Badrinath, met Guru Hargobind at Srinagar in 1634.
It is said that Karnavati had assured Ramdas at that time that the Garhwal army will protect this sacred land from Mughal invaders.
Later, when the Mughals invaded this region in 1635 they took over various locations in the Doon valley and had crossed Haridwar. They were planning to move towards the capital Srinagar which was said to be about 55 miles from their location.
There are different version- some crediting the strategy of the queen, others crediting a combination of rains, courage and tactics of the queen’s generals but eventually the invaders were repelled. Karnavati handed over reins of the kingdom fully to her son after he reached 18 years of age.
The second lady one recalled is the wealthy widow of the 19th century, Jasuli Saukyani. It is said that in dejection following the death of her only son at a young age, the wealthy widow started to throw her large quantities of silver coins and other valuables into the Ramganga river. When the then commissioner of Kumaon, Henry Ramsay saw her dumping sacks of silver coins in the Ramganga, he was able to convince her to use her wealth to benefit the
people in stead of throwing it away.
She then got more than 100 roadside Dharmshalas or caravansaries built along the trade/pilgrimage route to Tibet (Kailash Mansarovar) from Haldwani to the Johar valley in the high Himalayas of Pithoragarh district during British rule. It is another thing that the ruins of these Dharmshalas remain mostly ignored now, despite being part of the State’s valuable heritage.
However, reading about these women turned out to be a much better use of time than listening to the politicians going overboard in the heat of election campaign.