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Friday, February 14, 2025

Feb. 14, mourning lost soldiers of Pulwama and people of Coimbatore

Today  Feb. 14th ~ is to be remembered as a Black Day – not a day to celebrate !!  ~ we mourn those heroes who were martyred in a dastardly attack  this day on 2019. 

 


When it commenced it voyage, sure none would have ever dreamt of the quagmire that the vessel was to encounter…. It was the tanker MV EnricaLexie  on voyage from Singapore to Egypt with a crew of 34 including 19 Indians ~ it had somebody special – the six Italian marines from the San Marco Regiment guarding the vessel.It entered to its way of notoriety when the Marines fired at a fishing trawler named St. Antony that  had left Neendakara in Keralawith a crew of 11 to fish for tuna.  On that fateful day of 15th Feb 2012,  the shooting and killing of Indian fishermen occurred closer to shores of Kerala and soon there were different versions on the incident and the place of occurrence. It was sad death for Ajesh Pink and Valentine aka Gelastine, natives of Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively,  shot dead by Italian marines of the Reggimento San Marco, Marina Militare. 

With mushrooming of Corporate MNCs, there is globalisation and lot to learn from what happens around the globe.  In the past few years lot has been done to promote 14th Feb – as many ensure pushing their sales. Globally, there are lot of apps on the market for young folks in search of love: Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid, to name a few- all aiming at potential mates judge one another based on looks  

 


Captain James Cook FRS (1728 - 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.  In three voyages, Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and on a scale not previously achieved. Cook was attacked and killed in 1779 during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific while attempting to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu, a Hawaiian chief.  He left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge which influenced his successors well into the 20th century, and numerous memorials worldwide have been dedicated to him.  In 1779, his attempted kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief of the island of Hawaii and the decision to hold him in exchange for a stolen long boat (lifeboat) was the fatal error of Cook's final voyage, and ultimately led to his death.Cook's arrival in Hawaii was followed by mass migrations of Europeans and Americans to the islands that ended with the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the aboriginal monarchy of the islands. 

Over 246  years ago, on the morning of 14.2.1779,   Cook and his men launched from Resolution along with a company of armed marines. They went directly to the ruling chief's enclosure where Kalaniʻōpuʻu was still sleeping, and tried kidnapping him.  Cook's men and the British Marines were confronted on the beach and was killed in the melee.  That occurred on Feb 14, not known as Valentine’s Day at that time.

 

It was on this day, Feb 14, 1998 that Coimbatore was subjected to the most devastating attack of terrorist bombings Tamil Nadu has ever witnessed. On Saturday, February 14, going by the official accounts,  58 people were killed and over 200 injured in the 12 bomb attacks in 11 places, all within a 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) radius. Several bombs that failed to detonate were defused by the bomb disposal squads of the Army, the National Security Guards and the Tamil Nadu Commando School. An abandoned car laden with a horrifying 70 kg of explosives, discovered on East Lokamanya Street in R.S. Puram, close to the BJP meeting venue, gave cause for much anxiety for days until the complicated device was dismantled. 

Within hours of the blasts, the then  Tamil Nadu Government banned Al-Umma and the Jihad Committee. Al-Umma founder-president S.A. Basha and 12 other members of the organisation were arrested in Chennai; explosive materials and weapons were seized from his house in Triplicane, Chennai. A judicial committee formed  in Apr 2000 under Justice P.R. Gokulakrishnan to probe the case confirmed that Al Ummah was responsible for the attacks.  Hundreds of innocents lost their lives, thousands lost their livelihood – and this day continues to haunt them all.  .. .. sadly,  when he passed away political parties in TN reacted wrongly !!!

 

Utpala dynasty, a Kashmiri Hindu kingdom, ruled over the Kashmir region from 8th to 10th century CE. The kingdom was established by Avanti Varman, ending the rule of Karkota dynasty in 855 CE.  The cities of Avantipur and Suyapur were founded during the reign and many Hindu temples dedicated to both Vishnu and Shiva and Buddhist monasteries were built, notable of which is the Avantiswara and Avantiswami temples.  King Avantivarman  who founded the dynasty ruled between  855 to 883 CE.

 

Pulwama (known as Panwangam in antiquity] is a town and a notified area committee in Pulwama districtin Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is around 40 km (25 mi) from the summer capital of Srinagar. Pulwama is often called the "Anand of Kashmir" or "Dudha-Kul of Kashmir"  on account of its high milk production.  Pulwama being a part of the beautiful valley is bounded by Srinagar in the North by Budgam and Poonch Districts the west and by Anantnag Districts in the South and East. The District was formed in 1979 by separation of Tehsils Pulwama, Shopian and Tral of District Anantnag. The total area of the district is 1090 Sq Kms as per Census 2011, the district consists of 331 villages including 08 un-inhabitated. 

The district is famous for Archeological monuments especially those left by Raja Avantivarman.   The climate in the district is temperate with mercury going 30o C in summer and below freezing point in winter.  The district is reported to be one of the pretty spots on the earth, because of its congenial climate, innumerable springs streams, water falls, fragrant flowers, delicious fruits and other natural sceneries.  

 


Pulwama will ever be remembered for all wrong reasons ~ for on 14th Feb 2019  more than 58  army men were  killed. .. ..    CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosive-laden car into the bus they were travelling in on Thursday afternoon. JeM  claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as a local militant. In a telephonic call to a local news agency, Jaish has identified the suicide bomber at Adil Ahmad, a resident of Gundi bagh in Pulwama. The bus was part of an army convoy coming from Jammu to Srinagar.   

Terming the attack as despicable, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the sacrifices of security personnel will not go in vain. He also spoke with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other top officials in the wake of the attack. The Centre dispatched teams of NIA and NSG with forensic experts to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of the crime.   It remains in deed a very sad day for the Nation.

 



If at all the name of Valentin crops up – it should be Valentin Friedland (born this day in 1490)    a German scholar and educationist of the Reformation.  His fame as a teacher was an attraction of Goldberg in Silesia, where he taught pupils from far and near.  Friedland became a distinguished student at the University of Leipzig, learned Ciceronian Latin from Peter Mosellanus and Greek from Richard Croke, and after graduation was appointed assistant master in the school at Görlitz in 1515. There he also taught the rector and other teachers. When Martin Luther began his attack on indulgences, Trotzendorff resigned his position and went to study under Luther and Melanchthon at Wittenberg, supporting himself by private tuition. After Friedland's school, his library, his assets, and the greater part of Goldberg were destroyed by a fire in 1554, he moved again to Liegnitz at the invitation of the duke there.  

 

With grief ..  S Sampathkumar

14th Feb 2025.

  

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