First Story of the Trip to the Moon by Jules Verne

Compiled by Zaheer uddin Babar

In 1860s A young French writer Jules Verne wrote a novel with title of “From the Earth to the Moon”. Which was published  in 1865.This novel was part of his series of novels called “Extraordinary Voyages “.In his novel, Verne imagines a group of adventurers building a cannon so large that it can shoot a bullet-shaped capsule with three occupants to the moon. the main characters succeed not in landing on the moon, but in orbiting it. Their stories continue in the novel's sequel, Around the Moon   which was published in (1870)., that deals with what happens to the three men in their travel from the Earth to the Moon.

The story of Jules Verne opens some time after the end of the American Civil War. The Baltimore Gun Club, a society dedicated to the design of weapons of all kinds (especially cannons), comes together when Impey Barbicane, its president, calls them to support his latest idea. He's done some calculations, and believes that they could construct a cannon capable of shooting a projectile to the Moon. After receiving the support of his companions, another meeting is held to decide the place from which the projectile will be fired, the dimensions and materials of both the cannon and the projectile, and which kind of powder they are to use.

Stone's Hill in "Tampa Town", Florida is chosen as the site for the cannon's construction. The Gun Club travels there and starts the construction of the Columbiad cannon, which requires the excavation of a 900-foot-deep (270 m) and 60-foot-wide (18 m) circular hole, which is made in the nick of time.

Meanwhile, Barbicane finds the solution to the problem of surviving the incredible acceleration that the explosion would cause. Ardan suggests that Barbicane and Nicholl travel with him in the projectile, and the proposition is accepted.

In the end, the projectile is successfully launched.

Having been fired out of the giant Columbiad space gun, the Baltimore Gun Club's bullet-shaped projectile, along with its three passengers, Barbicane, Nicholl and Michael Ardan, begins the five-day trip to the Moon. A few minutes into the journey, a small, bright asteroid passes within a few hundred yards of them, but does not collide with the projectile. The asteroid had been captured by the Earth's gravity and had become a second moon.

The three travelers undergo a series of adventures and misadventures during the rest of the journey, including disposing of the body of a dog out a window, suffering intoxication by gases, and making calculations leading them, briefly, to believe that they are to fall back to Earth. During the latter part of the voyage, it becomes apparent that the gravitational force of their earlier encounter with the asteroid has caused the projectile to deviate from its course.

The projectile enters lunar orbit, rather than landing on the Moon as originally planned. Barbicane, Ardan and Nicholl begin geographical observations with opera glasses. The projectile then dips over the northern hemisphere of the Moon, into the darkness of its shadow. It is plunged into extreme cold, before emerging into the light and heat again. They then begin to approach the Moon's southern hemisphere. From the safety of their projectile, they gain spectacular views of Tycho, one of the greatest of all craters on the Moon. The three men discuss the possibility of life on the Moon, and conclude that it is barren. The projectile begins to move away from the Moon. Ardan hits upon the idea of using the rockets fixed to the bottom of the projectile (which they were originally going to use to deaden the shock of landing) to propel the projectile towards the Moon and hopefully cause it to fall onto it, thereby achieving their mission.

When the projectile reaches the point of neutral attraction, the rockets are fired, but it is too late. The projectile begins a fall onto the Earth  with the same speed at which it left the mouth of the Columbiad. All hope seems lost for Barbicane, Nicholl and Ardan. Four days later, the crew of a US Navy vessel, Susquehanna, spots a bright meteor fall from the sky into the sea. This turns out to be the returning projectile. A rescue operation is assembled.After several searches the projectile and three men inside are found to be alive and well. They are treated to lavish homecoming celebrations as the first people to leave Earth.

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Hidden Clauses of Shimla Agreement part 3 Final

(part 3) Final 

 

 

 In order to understand what really might have compelled Indira Gandhi to sign, such an imbalanced deal with Pakistan . . . . We have to look closely, the Real Position of India, at the time of agreement .
1st what could have happened with India, if Shimla meetings end in deadlock? . . . . .. . Answer is simple. Both countries were under immense International pressure to end all hostilities and to resolve their disputes peacefully through dialogue. India was trying to avoid mediation. And Shimla meeting was last opportunity for India to discuss its differences with Pakistan without the mediation of 3rd  party. If that meeting would have failed then international pressure could have been so immense that it could force India to accept Mediation. In that case the Indian objective of forcing Pakistan to resolve issues through bilateral negotiations could not have been achieved.
2nd. Until the time of Shimla meetings, not even a single Muslim country had recognized Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s fate was still uncertain and was linked with the Recognition and acceptance from Muslim nations. And Muslim countries were waiting for Pakistan’s decision.
3rd.Indian economy in 70s was very weak  . . . agriculture sector, which was backbone of India’s economy was trembling and was proving insufficient to feed a huge population. India had spent billions and billions on supporting and training terrorists and separatists to create unrest in East Pakistan, and later on war with Pakistan. Although India was succeeded in his efforts but it got nothing from it. East Pakistan did break away from Pakistan but It became another Muslim country that was going to be dependent on India for its survival for a long time.  
4th Pakistan was showing no interest in return of its prisoners. India was bound to treat those POWs according to Geneva’s convention. And they were just causing international pressure and were proving burden on already starving India.
5th After spending a lot of resources on War with Pakistan India’s economy had become so weak that It had to rely on USA and its allies for even the Wheat to feed its people. And in order to achieve this, India first had to end all hostilities with Pakistan that was at that time a major US ally in the region.
6th There was a very strong Public reaction in Pakistan after the fall of Dhaka  . . .where people were getting very emotional and were talking about revenge . . . .And at that time only available leader that could have appease the sentiments of Pakistani people was Z.A Bhutto. And sending him empty handed was obviously not a good message for the people of Pakistan. . . . .
If we consider all the above points in our mind then we may assume that Bhutto must have convinced Indira with such points and must have persuaded her to end Shimla meeting in a successful way.  
But Indira Gandhi was not a child. She might have taken all such things into consideration, and probably because of these reasons she might have decided to allow a final attempt to reach at some breakthrough. But still India needed something substantial in return of what Pakistan was demanding. And Bhutto clearly was not in a position to give anything in return . . .as Pakistan had already lost its Eastern wing.
So what really had been discussed between Indira Gandhi and Bhutto at the final moments of the Shimla meeting . .. . .. . we don’t know for sure .However ,there are  2 possible sources which can provide us some real hints.. One was the accounts of P.N Dhar Indira Gandhi’s principal secretary . . . . .and according to him  …. a ‘tacit understanding’, was reached between the two leaders at Shimla.
2nd source is Benazir Bhutto,  the daughter of Z.A Bhutto. , She accompanied her father at Shimla and Bhutto must have discussed something from that final meeting with her. Although Benazir Bhutto never leaked the information but she somehow shared some information with her husband Asif Ali Zardari.
Zardari had made a sensational claim in the Pakistani Parliament during a debate on the developments in Kashmir after the abrogation of article 370, and making Laddak a Union territory. The former Pakistani president, alleged that ex-Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi had 'negotiated' a land deal with Islamabad (involving large swathes of Pakistani land that had been lost to India) after the war between India and Pakistan in 1971.

 Hidden Clauses of Shimla Agreement 

by Zaheeruddin Babar

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Hidden clauses of Simla or Shimla Agreement part 1

(part 1)  

In March 1972, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, president of West Pakistan, visited the Soviet Union to help normalize formal relations between the two countries. Bhutto engaged in substantive discussions with Soviet leaders in Moscow.

It helped to increase the International pressure and brought India on the table of negotiations with Pakistan in the form of Shimla Agreement.

Negotiating with a country , that has dismembered   Pakistan, was an open-challenge to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.  Before Shimla meeting, Z.A Bhutto and his colleagues did the comprehensive homework as Bhutto had realized that Arabs had still not succeeded in regaining territory lost in the 1967 war with Israel. Therefore, capturing of land does not cry out for international attention the same way as the prisoners do. In Bhutto's point of view, the POW problem was more of a humanitarian problem that could be tackled at any time, but the territorial problem was something that could be integrated in India as time elapses.

India had two primary objectives at Shimla. First, a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue by forcing Pakistan to accept Ceasefire Line in Kashmir as an International border or, failing that, an agreement that would constrain Pakistan from involving third parties in discussions about the future of Kashmir. Second, it was hoped that the Agreement would allow for a new beginning in relations with Pakistan based upon Pakistan’s acceptance of the new balance of power. India had 5000 sq miles of Pakistani territory and 93000 POWs which India was intending to use for forcing Pakistan to agree with the Indian demands.

(29 June 1972) West Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto arrives in Simla for the Indo-Pakistan Summit Conference with Mrs Indira Ghandi, Prime Minister of India.

At Simla Bhutto and Indira were cautious in handling the situation. Both were aware of the people who would question their political prudence in dealing with the problems. While Indira feared a vocal parliament and an unfriendly opposition, Bhutto had to be more careful about the situation at home. On 30th June, in the first stage of the Agreement, Bhutto demanded the control of the territory which surprised and shocked the Indian delegation. Indian Premier Gandhi was stunned and astonished at Bhutto's demand and reacted immediately by refusing Bhutto's demand.

Official level talks were held but no side was prepared to budge; various formats were discussed but without result. In the evening of the first day Mrs Gandhi hosted a dinner but none spoke on the issues. Everybody at Simla appeared depressed.

On July 1, 1972,the 2^nd day, Bhutto and Indira held a meeting with their respective delegations, presumably to find some mechanism or the basis of further talks in a bid to break the ice. At the end, it appeared that no result had been achieved. By now it had become evident that the summit was moving towards a deadlock. Bhutto sensed it immediately and spelled out his intentions clearly: “We are not going to shut it.”

July 2, presumably the last day meant for the summit, was a hectic day as members of both the teams worked hard to draft a declaration denoting the outcome: whether it was to be a deadlock or whether there would be some breakthrough. The main point was preparation of the text of the declaration.

In the evening a dinner had been hosted; as soon as it finished both the leaders set off for a stroll on the breezy lawns of Simla Governor House. It was a one-to-one meeting. After some time, the two leaders returned to the main hall and called the officials. Here too, no one was allowed to join.  

The text of the agreement had been vaguely drafted earlier and now a final touch was to be given. India’s P N Dhar and Pakistan’s Aziz Ahmad sat over the draft. A document was read out to both the leaders and, after making some changes, this was finally accepted and consequently set for signatures. Finally, the rest of the participants were called in to witness the ceremony. The accord was signed at 40 minutes past midnight on the morning of July 3, 1972, (erroneously mentioned in historical documents as July 2).

How did both the leaders agree to reach the agreement in the last moments and what brought such a sudden change in their policy which could not be resolved in three days? This was an intriguing mystery and political observers and analysts mulled over this question for quite some time.

Whatever both Leaders discussed in Private meeting, it was clear that somehow Bhutto had convinced Indira Gandhi to end all hostilities and return all the territories occupied during the conflict immediately and un conditionally. Although both leaders were under pressure to end all hostilities and reach at some kind of settlement but still India had an upper hand. So what could have force Mrs. Gandhi to fulfill the Pakistani demand which she had refused at the very beginning of the conference?   Continue . . .

Hidden clauses of Simla or Shimla Agreement
by Zaheeruddin Babar

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