HINDUSTAN TIMES, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 11

Gandhi and

PERSPECTIVE RUDRANGSHU MUKHERJEE PERSPECTIVE ARUPJYOTI SAIKIA ’s four visits to Assam TRAVELOGUE The Mahatma sought to learn the state’s history. He also imparted lessons on political maturity

n Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan, February THE MAHATMA’S 1940. NATIONAL GANDHI MUSEUM BENGAL CONNECTION

hailed him as the Father of the Nation, and PARADOX Bengalis have a complicated response to named one of the regiments of the INA the MK Gandhi. Some hold him responsible for the Partition; Gandhi brigade. Gandhi, in turn, recognised Bose as a great patriot and called him his lost others question his treatment of Subhas Chandra Bose son. The breach between the two was not as wide as and irreconcilable as Bengalis make it to be when they typecast Bose as a hero (which he was) and Gandhi as a scheming vil- n the birth centenary of Gandhi, an lain (which he was not). Assamese anthology on Gandhi’s What is most ironic in the deep antipathy n Mahatma O four trips to Assam was published. that some Bengalis harbour towards Gandhi Gandhi Aptly titled Mahatma in Assam and is that one of the finest moments in the latter’s collecting brilliantly curated by two Gandhians, Omeo By 1946, Gandhi had to handle life took place in Bengal. In 1947, while his lieu- donations Kumar Das and Liladhar Barua, one can Assam’s domestic political mis- K Gandhi chose, because he mobilisation and he knew that he by himself tenants parleyed with the British regarding a for the learn much from it about Gandhi’s tryst with fortunes with political maturity. strongly disapproved of Inde- could not start and sustain a movement. He truncated independence, Gandhi spent his Harijan Fund Assam. Of his four visits, the first and last Assam was unsure about her own pendence that came with Par- needed an organisation and he needed able time among the common people of Bengal, in in Assam, stood out distinctly for their political impor- political future; the air was thick tition, to stay away from the leaders to assist him. Those Congress leaders riot-torn Noakhali in East Bengal and the vio- 1945. tance. Gandhi’s first visit in August 1921 had with communal polarisation celebrations in Delhi on who had previously worked with him in the lence-scarred city of Calcutta, trying to heal NATIONAL an electrifying impact in this frontier prov- M GANDHI MUSEUM August 15, 1947. That day he Non Cooperation and the the wounds of religious violence and restoring ince. Its saga of anti-imperial resistances had was staying in a poor Muslim suburb of Cal- movements — Jawaharlal Nehru, Val- communal harmony. In Calcutta in August not yet caught the imagination of most Indi- unusual subject. Years earlier, in Hind Swa- cutta where all sections of the population con- labhbhai Patel, , Govind Bal- 1947, he fearlessly faced an armed Hindu mob; ans. raj (a book he wrote in 1909) he inadvertently verged — Hindu and Muslim innocents, labh Pant and others — were now eager par- he fasted to persuade goondas of both commu- Even before Gandhi arrived in Assam, his described the Assamese as a wild and savage Hindu and Muslim bigots — to see and to hear ticipants in a negotiated transfer of power that nities to lay down their arms and to work for call for Non Cooperation had created havoc tribe. Gandhi now offered a public apology him. Gandhi declared the day to be one for pivoted on Partition. Gandhi knew his own peace. His courage produced a miracle and for the European tea planters. The life of the for being a poor student of history and for and prayer. Yet it is undeniable that isolation. He described himself in 1947 as a communal violence ceased in the city. tea plantation workers had taken a turn for being so little read about the region. there are large numbers of Bengalis who “back number”. This argument in attacking On the last day of his life, Gandhi practised the worse. The raging movement inspired Gandhi then travelled to several other intensely dislike Gandhi.His relationship Gandhi actually ascribes to him an even writing Bengali. For him, Bengali was not just them to desert their ruthless planters. Some towns. His train journey to Silchar through with Bengal and Bengalis was, and is, a greater importance and role than he actually one more script. It was the language in which tea gardens witnessed massive exodus of the stunning mountainous route was full of fraught one. But he once famously said, “I am enjoyed. Ekla cholo (Rabindranath Tagore’s song) was workers. In southern Assam, things had excitement. He could see the province’s not able to leave Bengal and Bengal will not let The other charge — the one regarding Bose written. The words and the spirit of this song turned violent. While some wonders: its ancient heritage, the magnifi- me go.” Through their dislike of him, Bengal — has more substance. Gandhi did not want sustained Gandhi in the last months of his life workers could escape to their cent Brahmaputra, “blessings” of annual and Bengalis cling to Gandhi. Bose to have a second term as Congress presi- during which in Noakhali, in Calcutta and distant villages, most were floods (as Gandhi put it), monsoon, plants, This paradox is rooted in history or read- dent and when Bose won against Gandhi’s elsewhere he remembered Partition’s hap- unlucky; they were caught and crops, and accounts of opium smoking. Gan- ings of historical events. One is the firm belief chosen candidate, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, less victims, and he sped, alone and in isola- ruthlessly punished by the police. Their dhi was bowled over by Assam’s scenic among Bengalis, especially those who were Gandhi refused to cooperate with Bose in tion, into the embrace of death. pains compelled the politically conscious beauty. That landscape would even inspire the victims of Partition in 1947 and thus lost forming a working committee. This refusal to In remembering this fraught relationship workers of railway and steamer companies , Gandhi’s secretary, to write everything, that Gandhi was responsible for even meet Bose to discuss matters happened on his 150th birth anniversary, it is worth in eastern Bengal to strike in solidarity. poems. He learnt about the varieties of cot- it. The other is the way Gandhi treated Subhas in spite of repeated requests from Nehru that recalling what the greatest Bengali (arguably Though sceptical of such political strikes, ton, silk and dye produced there. The Assam- Chandra Bose in 1938-39. Bose is a revered Gandhi should sort out his differences with the greatest Indian in modern India) wrote of Gandhi carefully wrote his views in Young ese skill of weaving touched him deeply. Of icon of Bengal and the belief is that Gandhi Bose. This situation forced Bose to resign as Gandhi: “Great as he is as a politician, as an India (YI). He reproduced a passage from a the many treasures that were shown to him, acted unfairly towards him. president and eventually leave the Congress organiser, as a leader of men, as a moral speech by CF Andrews about the starving Gandhi was greatly impressed by Hastividy- Both these allegations demand scrutiny. to form his own political party. This entire epi- reformer, he is greater than all these as a man, workers’ refusal to touch “the steaming arnava, a 16th century illustrated elephant The first one is clearly a perception that is not sode, even admirers of Gandhi will admit, because none of these aspects and activities n A vessel cooked rice” provided by the government. treatise. Everywhere he went, he spoke to based on facts. If there was one individual in showed Gandhi in the worst possible light — limits his humanity. They are rather inspired used by Condemning the Bengal government and the Assamese men and women and even the India who steadfastly stood against the divi- as a back-room politician serving sectional and sustained by it.” The words are from the Gandhi, now planters for their brutality, Gandhi saluted Marwari merchants, who had monopoly sion of the country, it was Mohandas Karam- interests and working perhaps at the behest of pen of none other than Rabindranath Tagore. housed in the moral courage of the workers. However, over trade. At Dibrugarh, the centre of chand Gandhi. India was a united country in Patel, who had no love lost for Bose. Bengal and Bengalis, India and Indians Mani he did not endorse the actions of either the Assam’s plantation world, Gandhi met the which people belonging to different faiths, This reading of the Gandhi-Bose relation- should remember Gandhi in these terms. He Bhavan, workers or the planters. One planter retali- planters, the actual rulers of Assam. Garden including Hindus and Muslims, lived side by ship needs to be tempered by later develop- was a Mahatma. ated by writing a long letter to Gandhi, which workers sneaked into the meeting, an other- side — these were crucial elements of Gan- ments which devotees of Bose tend to ignore. HT PHOTO was also published in YI. This planter took wise impossible scenario. dhi’s creed and beliefs. He refused to compro- In Southeast Asia while raising the Indian Rudrangshu Mukherjee is Chancellor of Ashoka Uni- pride in his divine wisdom to alleviate “the Gandhi made another three short trips in mise on them just as he refused to surrender National Army and preparing to invade Brit- versity. A distinguished historian and author, sufferings” of the workers. In a rejoinder, the 1926, 1934 and 1946. Those were more organi- the principle of (non violence). Much ish India, Bose recalled the contribution that his books include ‘The Penguin Gandhi Reader’ and wittier Gandhi reminded the planter that he sational. But by 1946, Gandhi had to handle to his dismay, he discovered that in 1946-47, Gandhi had made to the freedom struggle, ‘Nehru and Bose: Parallel Lives’. was nothing more than a “kind cattle- Assam’s domestic political misfortunes with his chosen lieutenants and disciples were keeper” and that the planters’ ploys were political maturity. Assam was unsure about willing to negotiate a transfer of power the nothing but to keep the worker as a “serf for her own political future; the air was also terms of which included the partition of India. ever”. thick with communal polarisation. When the He saw this as a betrayal of all that he held Gandhi was accompanied by, among oth- British Cabinet Mission plan created a politi- dear and thereafter withdrew from all deliber- ers, Krishna Das whose Seven Months with cal imbroglio, Gandhi sided with Assam and ations. He decided to spend his time among the : Being an Inside View of asked the people to remain steadfast. common people of eastern India who had been the Indian Non Co-operation Movement of Meanwhile, Assam’s Gopinath Bardoloi- devastated by communal violence. It is unfor- 1921-22 (published in 1928) is one of the finest led Congress government created an tunate that Bengalis see the one man who accounts of Gandhi’s first visit to Assam. extraordinary political and humanitarian stood against Partition to be responsible for Gandhi was received on the bank of the Brah- crisis by evicting recent settlers from East Partition. maputra by thousands of cheering people led Bengal. These large-scale evictions had mod- A variant of this argument is the belief that by several eminent Assamese public figures, erate sanctions from Gandhi. On January 22, Gandhi, given his pre-eminent position, could including Nabin Chandra Bardoloi and Tar- 1947, at a prayer meeting in the North-West have, had he so wanted, prevented Partition unram Phukan. They would now have to help Frontier Province, Gandhi was asked about by launching a movement against it. The fact Gandhi to make him familiar with Assam’s these evictions. Holding in mind Gandhi’s of the matter is that by the beginning of 1947, rich natural and literary heritage and also views on Hindu-Muslim unity, that was a Gandhi knew that his voice against Partition with its industrious population. tricky question. Asserting that this was not was akin to a cry in the wilderness. Every sin- For the next two days, Gandhi stayed with a Hindi-Muslim question, Gandhi reiterated gle important Congress leader — with the Tarunram Phukan, a leading Congressman, that he could not endorse any forcible occu- exception of Khan — had the first Assamese barrister, and also a pation of government lands. He admitted accepted Partition almost as a fait accompli. skilled hunter. That evening, Gandhi spoke that his views were based on whatever he Gandhi was an astute organiser of mass to a gathering of no fewer than 25,000 people. had seen in Assam in 1946. However, Gandhi Gandhi’s speech in Hindi was translated into acknowledged that the Assam government Assamese by Phukan. As the end, Gandhi would be “guilty of crime against humanity” In 1947, while his lieutenants parleyed with the British asked the crowd to throw the foreign gar- if it had indeed evicted lawful residents. He regarding a truncated Independence, Gandhi spent his ments that they were wearing into the fire. also expressed his readiness to hear another time among the common people of Bengal, in riot-torn He himself lit one small heap. A frenzy seized perspective so that he could even advise an Noakhali in East Bengal and the violence-scarred city of the entire crowd and they consigned what- impartial commission of enquiry. None of ever they wore to the flames. Das conceded these happened during Gandhi’s lifetime. Calcutta, trying to heal the wounds of religious violence that his “pen fails to portray the fit of divine and restoring communal harmony. enthusiasm that seized the audience”. Arupjyoti Saikia is a professor of history at Indian n Subhas Chandra Bose (foreground, centre) flanked by Gandhi and , 1938. NATIONAL GANDHI MUSEUM Gandhi’s public speech next day had an Institute of Technology, Guwahati