1857's 150 years anniversary in Manchester by 1857 committee 

Thanks for being here today to mark 150^th anniversary of the events of 1857 in the sub-continent.

Some of us who have been involved in struggles against racism, colonialism and imperialism originating from the sub-continent were prompted by the current events like the Iraq war and the occupation of Afghanistan etc to come together to look at the significance of 1857.

THE coming year marks the 150th Anniversary of India’s first war of Independence. Wehear that the Government has a lavish 150 crore Budget to celebrate this event. On the eve of the 150th Anniversary of 1857 and the Birth Centenary of Bhagat Singh, we are witness to the Central Industries Minister declaring that he would “ideally” like to see the whole of India turned into an SEZ; to the swelling ranks of farmers’ suicides and starvation deaths; to snatching away of land from tribals and peasants to hand over to corporate capital; to an unprecedented degree of ‘strategic’ slavishness towards the US; towards a US shadow over everything from agrarian policy to security secrets to military plans. It is well known that a ruling class that is a broker of imperialism needs to mask itself in nationalist garb. On the other hand, an alternative tradition of nationalism is just as badly needed by those who dream of a second war of independence in this age of breakneck neo-colonialism. It is in this context that the tussle over defining nationalism and history becomes relevant and urgent. 

2007 marks the 150 years since the events of 1857 referred to as the first war of independence by the peoples of the sub-continent. In Britain, a committee was formed earlier in 2006 to commemorate 150 years of resistance to imperialism and for national liberation.

150^th Anniversary of the national liberation struggles (1857) in the Indian Sub-continent.

2007 will be the 150^th anniversary of first war of independence in the Indian sub-continent. In 1757 British East India Company defeated Siraj-ud-Daula at Plessey and established the Bengal Presidency. The following hundred years were a particularly brutal period of colonial exploitation that resulted in several famines in Bengal and other areas in the sub-continent administered by the British causing millions of deaths.