DOCSLIB.ORG

Quakers, Conciliation, and Gandhi

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Quakers, Conciliation, and Gandhi Geoffrey Carnall. Gandhi's Interpreter: A Life of Horace Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010. xxi + 314 pp. $115.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-7486-4045-4. Reviewed by Surendra Bhana Published on H-Asia (May, 2012) Commissioned by Sumit Guha (The University of Texas at Austin) The Quaker connection with the Indian sub‐ War shocked him. The liberal ideology at Cam‐ continent goes back to the seventeenth century. bridge, where he was a student, also shaped his The frst Quaker came to India in 1657. Geoffrey ideas on internationalism. All of this would help Carnall, an honorary fellow at the University of him to develop a program on international rela‐ Edinburgh, has written a detailed account of one tions when he started teaching in 1919 at Wood‐ such individual, Horace Alexander (1889-1989), brooke, a Quaker college in Birmingham. who was deeply committed to peace and liberty in One of Alexander’s central ideas is encapsu‐ the twentieth century. The author makes copious lated in his 1920 statement, “Always our frst im‐ use of Alexander’s papers, his writings, and rele‐ pulse should be, not to destroy those whose ac‐ vant secondary literature. His many references to tions or opinions we disapprove, but to under‐ people, places, and events require careful track‐ stand their motives and their justification” (p. 44). ing of the chronology. Conciliation was the only way to reach permanent Born of Quaker stock on both sides of his fam‐ settlements. The League of Nations and later the ily, Alexander was deeply influenced by his fa‐ United Nations Organization were instruments to ther, who had been actively opposed to slavery achieve peace in the view of Alexander and other and the opium trade. From early on in his life, he Quakers. They showed concern with the violence began to develop interest in strategies that could inherent in Nazism, and never ceased to work for prevent violence. Robert Walpole’s art of secret peace, even after the Second World War began in diplomacy to end wars impressed him; and he 1939. In the 1960s and beyond, Alexander focused agreed with Norman Angell’s The Great Illusion on nuclear disarmament, the war in Vietnam, and (1909), which argued that wars made no rational other hot-spot issues. It is, however, his engage‐ sense in modern society, and were therefore less likely to happen. The outbreak of the First World H-Net Reviews ment with India in the 1920s through the 1950s his enormous popularity. Under these circum‐ that is the central focus of the book. stances, the British welcomed Alexander’s in‐ A tour of India in 1927 began a lifelong inter‐ sights although they did not always trust him. In‐ est in India. In the next two decades, Alexander deed, India Office officials disliked Quaker initia‐ would meet major leaders in the nationalist tives since they regarded people like Alexander as movement, including Mohandas K. Gandhi pro-Indian meddlers. (1869-1948), Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), Ra‐ The role that Alexander and his associates bindranath Tagore (1861-1941), and others. His played in India’s negotiations was significant, es‐ earlier doubts about self-rule for the Indians dis‐ pecially during periods of crisis. Alexander usual‐ appeared, especially when he saw that many ly acquainted himself fully with details that British officials felt no obligation to work for their would help to move the talks along. When Gandhi welfare. Alexander would serve as mediator be‐ came to London for the Round Table Conference tween British officials (including the viceroy) in in 1933, Alexander helped with the press releases India and the nationalist leadership. The net‐ and the Friends’ House served as a venue for works he and other Quakers developed gave him Gandhi’s reception. The Quakers formed the India ready access to these individuals. Friends and ac‐ Conciliation Group (ICG) to help Indians with ur‐ quaintances from his university days were of gent social needs over a ten-year period from the great help. But Alexander’s own personality had a 1930s to the early 1940s. There was a serious po‐ lot to do with his influence. People trusted him, litical stalemate in 1942. Indians wanted indepen‐ and trusted what he brought to his role as a medi‐ dence immediately, but wartime prime minister ator. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) promised merely Gandhi liked the Quakers because they did to consider the issue after the war. Alexander saw not proselytize, and valued religious diversity. He Gandhi’s conciliatory side, and hoped that British was impressed by Alexander and his associate officials would take advantage of it. But they were Agatha Harrison (1885-1954), who, like him, be‐ determined to shut Gandhi out as long as he con‐ lieved that small steps could lead to major break‐ tinued to support the “Quit India” campaign dur‐ throughs. The meeting of minds between oppo‐ ing the war. The level of distrust between Indian nents was central to the tenets of Gandhi’s satya‐ leaders and the government of India prevented graha (truth force). Gandhi was personally warm joint endeavors when they were urgently needed, to Alexander. In one of his letters, he addressed as for example during the 1943 Bengal Famine. him as “my dear Horace” and ended with “love, The Friends Ambulance Unit was pleased, howev‐ bapu.” Alexander benefited from his association er, to work with local Indian leaders in the civil with Gandhi because the latter served as a role defense against threatened Japanese air raids. model. Gandhi, the author says towards the end of Alexander secured the help of H. S. Suhrawardy the book, inspired him to maintain his resolve (1892-1963), the powerful head of the Muslim even in bleak moments in “the creation of a League in Bengal. peaceful and ... sustainable world order” (p. 258). Prime Minister Clement Atlee (1883-1967) an‐ Gandhi accepted Alexander’s friendship. He rec‐ nounced on February 19, 1946 his willingness to ognized that Quakers like Alexander helped to ex‐ grant India independence. When the Simla negoti‐ plain India’s position to the British people since ations for India’s independence began, Alexander high-ranking Raj officials did not always under‐ and Harrison were present to counsel the British stand him or the nationalist movement. They un‐ about how to read Indian motives without being derestimated his resolve and were dismissive of cynical. They went back and forth to make points 2 H-Net Reviews informally, even if the atmosphere was compro‐ person who relaxed periodically by engaging in mised by severe political differences. Alexander his passionate hobby, bird-watching. advised “endless tact, patience, imagination, and The author refers to events and incidents courage” to Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the new sec‐ without providing their full historical context. If, retary of state for India (p. 191). The Muslim for example, the Quakers were expected to League insisted on the partition of British India. present a truer picture of the independence Its call for direct action sparked communal vio‐ movement, what was it that prevented a fairer as‐ lence between Hindus and Muslims in 1946, and sessment of Indian developments in the British the large-scale migration of people at partition press? There are references to events, major and was accompanied by horrific carnage. Victories minor, that needed fuller exploration of their sig‐ sometimes come in small doses, however. In Octo‐ nificance and how they impacted negotiations be‐ ber 1946, Gandhi went to Noakhali to end vio‐ tween the British and the Indians. What were the lence there. Alexander and Suhrawardy stayed parameters of the 1933 Round Table Conference with Gandhi in a Muslim home, and succeeded in and why did it fail? Events such as the declaration bringing a semblance of calm to the area. Alexan‐ of independence in January 1930, the 1930 Salt der remained in India until July 1951 at the Quak‐ March, the 1935 Government of India Act, or the er Center in New Delhi, and returned to Britain in Indian National Congress’s launch of the Quit In‐ 1953. dia movement had direct relevance to the course During the last years of his stay, Alexander in‐ of negotiations so central to Alexander’s endeav‐ terested himself in improving the lot of the ethnic ors. When Gandhi was released from prison in Nagas, relations between India and Pakistan, and May 1944, Alexander was irritated that he had other issues. He supported Prime Minister adopted a politically motivated stance rather than Nehru’s policy of nonalignment; and throughout focusing on alleviating poverty. The author should the 1950s and much of 1960s, remained active in have explained the context here. For one thing, London Yearly Meeting and the Meeting of Suffer‐ Gandhi’s entire "constructive program" was about ing. He wrote letters to the press regularly and eradicating poverty, and for another, it raises the published books. His last visit to India was in No‐ question of why a principled man would take vember 1971, when Bangladesh broke away from such a stand. In addition, Gandhi’s philosophy as Pakistan to become a new nation. The Indian gov‐ it related to brahmacharya (celibacy) and fasting ernment awarded him the Padma Bhushan Medal are two areas that require further analysis since in 1984, an honor reserved for people who had they are mentioned by the author. More recent distinguished themselves in the service of India. scholarship provides fresh insights on such issues. This is a detailed biography. Its focus on his If Alexander’s books and articles reflected a frm work, however, does not allow us to see the per‐ grasp of India and Gandhi’s ideas, this does not al‐ sonal side of Alexander’s life.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The President of India, Rajendra Prasad, Bade Horace Alexander Farewell at A
    FEBRUARY-MARCH 1952 The annual regional meeting for the AFSC will be held in three cities to allow maximum participation by members of the widespread Regional Committee and all other interested persons. Sessions in Dallas, Houston, and Austin will follow the same general program. Attenders ,./! are invited not only from these cities but from the vicinity. Of widest appeal will probably be the 8 p.m. meeting, offering "A Look at Europe and a Look at Asia." Olcutt The President of India, RaJendra Prasad, Sanders will report on his recent six bade Horace Alexander farewell at a spe­ months of visiting Quaker centers in cial reception in :ryew Delhi a few months Europe. Horace Alexander, for many ago. years director of the Quaker center in Delhi, India, will analyze the situation in Asia. A 6 p.m. supper meeting invites dis­ Horace Alexander, an English Friend cussion of developments in youth proj­ with long experience in India, will speak ects, employment on merit, and :peace at the annual regional AFSC meetings in education. More formal reports of nomi­ Dallas, Houston, and Austin. He will also nating, personnel, and finance committees speak at Corpus Christi at the Oak Park will come at 5 p.m. Methodist Church Sunday morning~ Feb­ ruary 24~ His address will be broadcasto DALLAS: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 5 p.m. report meeting and 6 p.m. pot­ · He lectured in international relations luck supper at the new AFSC office, 2515 at Woodbrook College from 1919 to 1944. McKinney; phone Sterling 4691 for sug­ During visits to India in 1927 and 1930 he gestions of what you might bring.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Internationalism and African and Caribbean
    BLACK INTERNATIONALISM AND AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN INTELLECTUALS IN LONDON, 1919-1950 By MARC MATERA A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History Written under the direction of Professor Bonnie G. Smith And approved by _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May 2008 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Black Internationalism and African and Caribbean Intellectuals in London, 1919-1950 By MARC MATERA Dissertation Director: Bonnie G. Smith During the three decades between the end of World War I and 1950, African and West Indian scholars, professionals, university students, artists, and political activists in London forged new conceptions of community, reshaped public debates about the nature and goals of British colonialism, and prepared the way for a revolutionary and self-consciously modern African culture. Black intellectuals formed organizations that became homes away from home and centers of cultural mixture and intellectual debate, and launched publications that served as new means of voicing social commentary and political dissent. These black associations developed within an atmosphere characterized by a variety of internationalisms, including pan-ethnic movements, feminism, communism, and the socialist internationalism ascendant within the British Left after World War I. The intellectual and political context of London and the types of sociability that these groups fostered gave rise to a range of black internationalist activity and new regional imaginaries in the form of a West Indian Federation and a United West Africa that shaped the goals of anticolonialism before 1950.
    [Show full text]
  • School of Oriental and African Studies)
    BRITISH ATTITUDES T 0 INDIAN NATIONALISM 1922-1935 by Pillarisetti Sudhir (School of Oriental and African Studies) A thesis submitted to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1984 ProQuest Number: 11010472 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010472 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 2 ABSTRACT This thesis is essentially an analysis of British attitudes towards Indian nationalism between 1922 and 1935. It rests upon the argument that attitudes created paradigms of perception which condi­ tioned responses to events and situations and thus helped to shape the contours of British policy in India. Although resistant to change, attitudes could be and were altered and the consequent para­ digm shift facilitated political change. Books, pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, private papers of individuals, official records, and the records of some interest groups have been examined to re-create, as far as possible, the structure of beliefs and opinions that existed in Britain with re­ gard to Indian nationalism and its more concrete manifestations, and to discover the social, political, economic and intellectual roots of the beliefs and opinions.
    [Show full text]
  • Hungry Bengal: War, Famine, Riots, and the End of Empire 1939-1946
    Hungry Bengal: War, Famine, Riots, and the End of Empire 1939-1946 By Janam Mukherjee A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology and History) In the University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor Barbara D. Metcalf, Chair Emeritus Professor David W. Cohen Associate Professor Stuart Kirsch Associate Professor Christi Merrill 1 "Unknown to me the wounds of the famine of 1943, the barbarities of war, the horror of the communal riots of 1946 were impinging on my style and engraving themselves on it, till there came a time when whatever I did, whether it was chiseling a piece of wood, or burning metal with acid to create a gaping hole, or cutting and tearing with no premeditated design, it would throw up innumerable wounds, bodying forth a single theme - the figures of the deprived, the destitute and the abandoned converging on us from all directions. The first chalk marks of famine that had passed from the fingers to engrave themselves on the heart persist indelibly." 2 Somnath Hore 1 Somnath Hore. "The Holocaust." Sculpture. Indian Writing, October 3, 2006. Web (http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2006/10/03/somnath-hore/) accessed 04/19/2011. 2 Quoted in N. Sarkar, p. 32 © Janam S. Mukherjee 2011 To my father ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank first and foremost my father, Dr. Kalinath Mukherjee, without whom this work would not have been written. This project began, in fact, as a collaborative effort, which is how it also comes to conclusion. His always gentle, thoughtful and brilliant spirit has been guiding this work since his death in May of 2002 - and this is still our work.
    [Show full text]
  • Alexander Cowan Wilson 1866-1955
    Alexander Cowan Wilson 1866-1955 his finances and his causes By STEPHEN WILSON FRIENDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY FRIENDS HOUSE, EUSTON ROAD, LONDON NWi 2BJ 1974 This paper was delivered as a Presidential Address to the Friends Historical Society at a meeting held at Friends House on 2 November 1973. Friends Historical Society is grateful for a special contribution which has enabled the paper to be published. Supplement No. 35 to the Journal of the Friends Historical Society © Friends Historical Society 1974 Obtainable from Friends Book Centre, Friends House, Euston Road, London NWi 2BJ, and Friends Book Store, 302 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa 19106, USA PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY HEADLEY BROTHERS LTD IO9 KINGSWAY LONDON WC2B 6PX AND ASHFORD KENT s-.. - , ^Wff^m^:^:ty-is V --*;• '< •*••«^< >v3?'V '- . •. 7 •*,.!, J^J .1 v^-.'--•• . i" ^.;;^ •• . ^ ;->@^^?f^-.!C1::- & ALEXANDER C. WILSON (1866-1055) aged about 55 ALEXANDER COWAN WILSON 1866-1955: HIS FINANCES AND HIS CAUSES. 1! initial explanation should be given for selecting my subject—some account of the life of my father, to whom A I shall refer as ACW, and his wife EJW. Primarily it is a subject with which I had an intimate acquaintance over a period of fifty years, and which therefore has involved a minimum of original research. But apart from this it may I think be useful to record a few of the circumstances in which he grew up two and three generations ago, and to mention some of those concerns and interests which he and various of his contemporaries regarded as important, which frequently interlocked with Quaker traditions and activities, and which collectively formed part of the dissenting and radical streams of thought and outlook which influence society.
    [Show full text]
  • Socialism, Internationalism and Zionism: the Independent Labour Party and Palestine, C.1917–1939
    Northumbria Research Link Citation: Simpson, Paul (2020) Socialism, internationalism and Zionism: the independent Labour Party and Palestine, c.1917–1939. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/44090/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html SOCIALISM, INTERNATIONALISM AND ZIONISM: THE INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY AND PALESTINE, C. 1917–1939 P.T. SIMPSON PhD 2020 0 Socialism, Internationalism and Zionism: The Independent Labour Party and Palestine, c. 1917–1939 Paul T. Simpson Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research Undertaken in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences May 2020 1 Abstract Using the Independent Labour Party (ILP) as its case study, this thesis examines the relationship between the labour movement’s interpretations of internationalism and its attitudes towards Zionism during the interwar years.
    [Show full text]
  • Repor T Resumes
    REPOR TRESUMES ED 017 908 48 AL 000 990 CHAPTERS IN INDIAN CIVILIZATION--A HANDBOOK OF READINGS TO ACCOMPANY THE CIVILIZATION OF INDIA SYLLABUS. VOLUME II, BRITISH AND MODERN INDIA. BY- ELDER, JOSEPH W., ED. WISCONSIN UNIV., MADISON, DEPT. OF INDIAN STUDIES REPORT NUMBER BR-6-2512 PUB DATE JUN 67 CONTRACT OEC-3-6-062512-1744 EDRS PRICE MF-$1.25 HC-$12.04 299P. DESCRIPTORS- *INDIANS, *CULTURE, *AREA STUDIES, MASS MEDIA, *LANGUAGE AND AREA CENTERS, LITERATURE, LANGUAGE CLASSIFICATION, INDO EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, DRAMA, MUSIC, SOCIOCULTURAL PATTERNS, INDIA, THIS VOLUME IS THE COMPANION TO "VOLUME II CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL INDIA," AND IS DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY COURSES DEALING WITH INDIA, PARTICULARLY THOSE COURSES USING THE "CIVILIZATION OF INDIA SYLLABUS"(BY THE SAME AUTHOR AND PUBLISHERS, 1965). VOLUME II CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING SELECTIONS--(/) "INDIA AND WESTERN INTELLECTUALS," BY JOSEPH W. ELDER,(2) "DEVELOPMENT AND REACH OF MASS MEDIA," BY K.E. EAPEN, (3) "DANCE, DANCE-DRAMA, AND MUSIC," BY CLIFF R. JONES AND ROBERT E. BROWN,(4) "MODERN INDIAN LITERATURE," BY M.G. KRISHNAMURTHI, (5) "LANGUAGE IDENTITY--AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIA'S LANGUAGE PROBLEMS," BY WILLIAM C. MCCORMACK, (6) "THE STUDY OF CIVILIZATIONS," BY JOSEPH W. ELDER, AND(7) "THE PEOPLES OF INDIA," BY ROBERT J. AND BEATRICE D. MILLER. THESE MATERIALS ARE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH AND ARE PUBLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON, WISCONSIN 53706. (AMM) 11116ro., F Bk.--. G 2S12 Ye- CHAPTERS IN INDIAN CIVILIZATION JOSEPH W ELDER Editor VOLUME I I BRITISH AND MODERN PERIOD U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume Ninety-Seven : (Sep 27, 1947
    1. HINDUSTANI 1 Shri Kakasaheb Kalelkar writes: If the Muslims of the Indian Union affirm their loyalty to the Union, will they accept Hindustani as the national language and learn the Urdu and Nagari scripts? Unless you give your clear opinion on this, the work of the Hindustani Prachar Sabha will become very difficult. Cannot Maulana Azad give his clear opinion on the subject? Kakasaheb says nothing new in his letter. But the subject has acquired added importance at the present juncture. If the Muslims in India owe loyalty to India and have chosen to make it their home of their own free will, it is their duty to learn the two scripts. It is said that the Hindus have no place in Pakistan. So they migrate to the Indian Union. In the event of a war between the Union and Pakistan, the Muslims of the Indian Union should be prepared to fight against Pakistan. It is true that there should be no war between the two dominions. They have to live as friends or die as such. The two will have to work in close co-operation. In spite of being independent of each other, they will have many things in common. If they are enemies, they can have nothing in common. If there is genuine friendship, the people of both the States can be loyal to both. They are both members of the same Commonwealth of nations. How can they become enemies of each other? But that discussion is unnecessary here. The Union must have a common inter provincial speech.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gandhi Foundation Multifaith Celebration Contents
    The Gandhi Foundation Multifaith Celebration Afternoon of Sunday 30 January or 6 February 2011 Date and time to be confirmed at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace 78 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG (Near Liverpool Street Rail Station, closest underground Aldgate) Theme: Religious Perspectives on the Environment Please confirm details nearer the time from General Inquiries or website as given on back cover of this newsletter Contents A Non-Tourist Indian Experience Denise Moll An Hour with Bapu Keshwar Jahan Hope in Israel-Palestine Trevor Lewis Peace – A Teenager’s View Safia Ahmed The Tolstoy-Gandhi Connection George Paxton Letter: Meeting Gandhi’s closest surviving friend (Felix Padel) Book Reviews: Gandhi’s Interpreter: A Life of Horace Alexander (Geoffrey Carnall) Choice, Liberty and Love: Consciousness in Action (Sheikh Aly N’Daw) Gandhi Foundation News 1 A Non-Tourist Indian Experience Leh, Ladakh & Dehra Dun Denise Moll Heading back for India, after a 3-year gap, I was unexpectedly filled with dread – wasn’t I now too old for this kind of lark?? Then, equally unexpectedly, and with great thankfulness, a calm descended two days before flying …. and remained with me throughout the entire 2 weeks ….. I remained healthy, happy and enabled to live every moment in a way which made me feel very much alive. I was conscious, too, of the great privilege to share in other cultures, religions and be treated as ‘one of the family’. I could only be deeply thankful to the One behind it all. Leh, 11,000 ft high, had suffered a dreadful calamity on 5th August, when, following the worst torrential rain, thunder and lightening ever experienced or remembered in Ladakhi memory, a cloudburst hit the area, with water so violent and ferocious that it swept away everything in its wake ….
    [Show full text]
  • Riots, Refugees and Rehabilitation: a Case Study of Punjab 1946-56
    Riots, Refugees and Rehabilitation: A Case Study of Punjab 1946-56 A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF THE PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY Supervised by: Submitted by: DR. S.M. VERMA KANWALJIT KAUR Professor Department of History Punjabi University, Patiala February 2010 Dedicated to Almighty and Loving Parents ‘Who invested their present for my future’ Preface The national movement in 1940s presented a contrast of interests. On one side there was a popular nationalist movement, unique in the annals of world history for ousting the British Imperialist through non-violent means, on the other side, there was a counter movement of the partition marked by violence, cruelty, bloodshed and massacres. If one was the course of celebrations the other caused deep anguish, anger and indignation. If one was the assertion of the nation's independence the other was, dividing of the continent on religious lines. Historical problems generated over generations do not get solved in a jiffy. There are no short-term or instant solutions to such problems. The introduction of separate electorates in 1909 and their subsequent continuation prepared a fertile ground for rivalries and antagonism between the two communities i.e. Hindus and Muslims. This divide was apparent in Moplahs revolt in Malabar (1921) where Hindu Landlords were attacked by Muslim landless ‘Kashtkars’. Although these bitterness remained subdued for intermittent periods during Lucknow Pact and non-cooperation movement yet the divide was never bridged. The Khilafats alleged Congress of betrayal with the withdrawal of non-cooperation movement by Gandhi.
    [Show full text]
  • Conferencing the International at the World Pacifist Meeting in India, 1949
    Article published online April 15, 2015 in Political Geography: doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2015.03.002 ---------- Conferencing the International at the World Pacifist Meeting in India, 1949 Jake Hodder, University of Nottingham Introduction On the first of December 1949 ninety-three pacifists, from thirty-one countries, met in the small town of Santiniketan, India, 160km north of Calcutta. After a week the delegates split into small groups, travelled around India along prepared itineraries, and visited sites associated with the life and work of Mohandas Gandhi. They reconvened two weeks later, over 1000km away, among the gently rolling hills of the Central Provinces at Gandhi’s home village of Sevagram. It “was certainly an unusual gathering,” wrote the organising committee chairman Horace Alexander (1949: 1), “I’ve attended a good many international conferences, Western variety. These usually consist of numbers of Europeans and Americans, with a small scattering of Westernized Indians, Chinese, Africans and others… international conferences are always influenced by their environment. If you meet in Washington or Paris or Geneva the world looks quite a different place from the picture you get in Santiniketan.” This essay considers how the practice of international conferencing was central to imagining, negotiating and contesting the broader construction of post-war internationalism. It shows how, like the conference, internationalism was also in Alexander’s words ‘always influenced by its environment’. It is a transformative and world-making pursuit who’s universalist claims are invariably, “partial, multiple and fractured; they are never finished or fully formed, but rather can be generated or articulated in different ways.” (Featherstone 2012: 38) An 1 © 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Coversheet for Thesis in Sussex Research Online
    A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details A Moral Business: British Quaker work with Refugees from Fascism, 1933-39 Rose Holmes Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex December 2013 i I hereby declare that this thesis has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: ii University of Sussex Rose Holmes PhD Thesis A Moral Business: British Quaker work with Refugees from Fascism, 1933-39 Summary This thesis details the previously under-acknowledged work of British Quakers with refugees from fascism in the period leading up to the Second World War. This work can be characterised as distinctly Quaker in origin, complex in organisation and grassroots in implementation. The first chapter establishes how interwar British Quakers were able to mobilise existing networks and values of humanitarian intervention to respond rapidly to the European humanitarian crisis presented by fascism. The Spanish Civil War saw the lines between legal social work and illegal resistance become blurred, forcing British Quaker workers to question their own and their country’s official neutrality in the face of fascism.
    [Show full text]