DOCSLIB.ORG

A Critique of Indian Renaissance Gandhi's

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Critique of Indian Renaissance Gandhi's ISSN No. 0974-035X An Indexed, Refereed & Peer Reviewed Journal of Higher Education Towards Excellence UGC-ACADEMIC STAFF COLLEGE, GUJARAT UNIVERSITY, AHMEDABAD, INDIA A CRITIQUE OF INDIAN RENAISSANCE GANDHI’S CONTRIBUTION Dr. Premnath Mishra ABSTRACT The freedom of India was any single exclusive moment in the history without any background of failure and mistakes which occurred on the 15th August, 1947. Before aspiring for freedom, there was a need, first, to create a formidable India with sound and dignified history, culture, philosophy, and intellectual traditions, and, then, to disseminate that idea called ‘great India’ in each one living in this country. Many scholars of great stature had been trying to do so to rise against the British Raj for many years before as well as during Gandhi’s time. But they failed to rejuvenate the whole of India, to connect, and guide all the people in one direction irrespective of their castes, culture, religions, regions, or commitments. The result was a freedom happening only in tits and bits in different parts of India, castes, and communities. All were striving for their Indias. It was only M K Gandhi who changed the nature of the movement by creating a not individual Indias but by creating a comprehensive, inclusive, and integrated India. The real renaissance was brought by our ‘Father of Nation’ as his caste, religion, community, and region was only the ‘Mother India’. While reading a book on Indian renaissance, I came across many facts which, in the beginning, impressed me a lot, but later on, when I had gone through serious thinking, left me confused and even disillusioned. During Mahatma Gandhi’s time as well as hundred preceding years I found many people who were of great eminence and vision, of marvellous sincerity and patriotism of unmatched stature and personality, such as Swami Vivekanand, Sri Aurobindo Ghose, Bankimchandra, Bipin Chandra Pal, Rabindranath tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayanand Saraswati, Phiroz Shah Mehta,Sardar Patel, Jinnah, S.C.Bose, Nehru and many more. The list is endless. But the thing which puzzled me a lot was why it took so long to bring vitality and energy to the whole of India to stand erect in front of the Empire and the hostile world to claim not only freedom and progress but also a spinal cord of confidence, of self- belief and self- respect which would never allow India- its people, its culture, its spirituality or its anything- to bow down before any real or imagined challenge or threat thrown at it either by its Imperial rulers or even by the providence. The answer lies in dispassionate scrutiny of the causes and the people who were at the helm of the affairs and in whose hands the task of bringing manhood fell. DEC, 2013. VOL.5. ISSUE NO. 1 www.ascgujarat.org Page | 118 Towards Excellence: An Indexed, Refereed & Peer Reviewed Journal of Higher Education /Dr. Premnath Mishra /Page 118-125 A country looks for renaissance generally when its present is too much depleted and the future is even more uninspiring and bleak. This realization of being almost at the verge of extinction or nothingness as a culture, as a religion or as a nation does not come easily and smoothly. It takes a lot of political, cultural, economic, and philosophical pressures in a country to be shaken off of its slumber, of its ignorance, of its sense of nothingness. That is why renaissance is almost always related with nationalism, patriotism, spiritual aspirations, establishment of cultural and philosophical supremacy, and the issues of economic growth. India’s renaissance was not in any way different from this line of thought. Indian renaissance was more intellectual, moral and spiritual than political. That is why during the reign of Mughal emperors there was not so much thinking given to this revivalism, though India’s identity, mainly Hindu culture and religion, was more in danger during their rule. It seems that the British rulers in India contributed a lot in giving the renaissance thought process a sufficient cause by their attitude, their administration, their education and philosophy. Later on, the force was provided by brilliant Indian educationists, philosophers, religious and spiritual leaders, social reformers and towards the end political leaders. Let us begin with the time when this movement really started getting momentum and impetus. In the beginning Indian people failed to identify and adjust with the British rulers, their thoughts and culture. But with the establishment of colleges and universities, the occidental education, literature, thoughts, and philosophy spread like anything. The uneducated India had no voice or they were too orthodox to open their eyes to see anything different or important other than their too localized interests. The Pundits and Acharyas were too insignificant due to their illogical adherence to superstitions and closed thought system and beliefs to feel any external pressure which were knocking at the doors to finish them. It was mainly with the educated Indians in English that the things got activated. These Anglophiles, who highly believed in the supremacy of everything western-civilization, culture, religion, institutions and philosophy, worked as catalyst. They wrote about Indian economic conditions, its exploitation by the British rulers, the colonial attitude about the natives of India. They also tried, for right or wrong reasons, to meddle with some of India’s age long social practices and customs like suttee, child marriage, caste system etc.. These things did two things--- one, people of India realized the damage which was being done to India, and two, they started feeling anger at the attacks which were being exerted against everything Indian---culture, philosophy, religion, institutions, social customs etc., by the British as well as by the new breed of Anglicised Indian youths who were fed with English education and philosophy. Raja Ram Mohan Roy to modern times, the prominent critics or sympathisers of India or British were mainly these Anglophiles. Many of them were great devotees of western civilization and British rule. In 1884, Surendranath Banerjee expressed his confidence in this way,”England is here…to make India once again the home of civilization… to a government with such a purpose…we cannot be unfaithful or disloyal.”1 In the beginning, they used to think that “the British rule in India is one of the most wonderful phenomena the world has ever seen.”2 They saw hope and promise only in British rule and western civilization and culture. They used to grow with a desire to be part of this British system which treated all with rationality and equality. Colonial rulers provided better example of better life and institutions. These youths were eager to make their career in the British institutions like parliament, judiciary, education system, and administrative departments etc. But once they moved a little deeper in the colonial DEC, 2013. VOL.5. ISSUE NO. 1 www.ascgujarat.org Page | 119 Towards Excellence: An Indexed, Refereed & Peer Reviewed Journal of Higher Education /Dr. Premnath Mishra /Page 118-125 world, they found things were drastically different in practice to what was preached in the books. They were the same people who admired the English system and even identified themselves with the western intellectuals so much that they were even ready to convert themselves to Christianity and many did so. They were so much engrossed in the superiority complex that they could not feel comfortable with the native Indians let alone identifying with them. They got frustrated at the realization of the real attitude of the British people to India. They were shocked to realize that they considered the native Indians as” just a lot animals.”3 Under the sense of racial superiority, they thought that the “people of the country were dirt under their feet.”4 They could not digest the equal status given to the natives. Their approach was that “I like the people, I like the masses…but I cannot endure the Baboos.”5 This mind-set disillusioned them to the core. They became the opponents of the system, the people, the institutions, and the philosophy which they once loved and admired so much. They gradually started turning into great devotees and propagandists of everything now Indian. But it was not so much natural as it was reactionary due to the treatment given to them in their jobs and services. Many of them did realise that “we have become hybrids in dress, in thought, in sentiment, and in culture.”6 They started looking towards India to find something great in her to disprove the belief of their rulers that India was just a barbaric, uncivilized, and had nothing of any great importance. Their search led them to ancient India, its ancient literature, its ancient theology and scriptures which helped them to create a new conceit of the superiority of Indian thought and culture to Christian faith and theology. But unfortunately, both the attitudes, earlier of blind adoration of everything western and now of sentimental idealizations of everything Indian, were reactionary. It could not provide them any conviction which comes from spontaneous understanding and urgency of the soul, never from any anger or momentary reactions. Such people could not belong to either world. What was said about Keshub Chandra Sen is equally applicable to many of the so called revolutionaries and nationalists of the time. “Thus Keshub stood at the thresh-hold of his independent career with the shadow of Jesus on the one hand, and the shadow of Chaitanya on the other.”7 Such lot of people can’t lead any revolution to the finishing lines. These are the people who are motivated by the less sense of patriotism and nationalism and more by the sense of immediate gains and losses.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chapter 9. the Programme and Achievements of the Early Nationalist
    Chapter 9. The Programme and Achievements of the Early Nationalist Very Short Questions Question 1: Name the sections into which the Congress was divided from its very inception. Answer: The Moderates and the Assertives. Question 2: During which period did the Moderates dominate the Congress? Answer: The Moderates dominated the Congress from 1885 to 1905. Question 3: Name any three important leaders of the Moderates. Or Name two leaders of the Moderates. Answer: The three important leaders of the moderates were: (i) Dadabhai Naoroji (ii) Surendra Nath Banerjee (iii) Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Question 4: What were the early nationalists called? Answer: They were called the ‘Moderates’. Question 5: Why were the early nationalists called ‘Moderates’? Answer: The early nationalists had full faith in the sense of justice of the British. For this reason their demands as well as there methods help them in winning the title of ‘Moderates’. Question 6: Who were the Moderates ? Answer: They were the early nationalists, who believed that the British always show a sense of justice in all spheres of their Government. Question 7: State any two demands of the Moderates in respect of economic reforms. Answer: (i) Protection of Indian industries. (ii) Reduction of land revenue. Question 8: State any two demands of the Moderates in respect of political reforms. Answer: (i) Expansion of Legislative Councils. (ii) Separation between the Executive and the Judiciary. Question 9: Mention two demands of the Moderates in respect of administrative reforms. Answer: (i) Indianisation of Civil Services. (ii) Repeal of Arms Act. Question 10: What did the Moderates advocate in the field of civil rights? Answer: The Moderates opposed the curbs imposed on freedom of speech, press and association.
    [Show full text]
  • Contributions of Lala Har Dayal As an Intellectual and Revolutionary
    CONTRIBUTIONS OF LALA HAR DAYAL AS AN INTELLECTUAL AND REVOLUTIONARY ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ^ntiat ai pijtl000pi{g IN }^ ^ HISTORY By MATT GAOR CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2007 ,,» '*^d<*'/. ' ABSTRACT India owes to Lala Har Dayal a great debt of gratitude. What he did intotality to his mother country is yet to be acknowledged properly. The paradox ridden Har Dayal - a moody idealist, intellectual, who felt an almost mystical empathy with the masses in India and America. He kept the National Independence flame burning not only in India but outside too. In 1905 he went to England for Academic pursuits. But after few years he had leave England for his revolutionary activities. He stayed in America and other European countries for 25 years and finally returned to England where he wrote three books. Har Dayal's stature was so great that its very difficult to put him under one mould. He was visionary who all through his life devoted to Boddhi sattava doctrine, rational interpretation of religions and sharing his erudite knowledge for the development of self culture. The proposed thesis seeks to examine the purpose of his returning to intellectual pursuits in England. Simultaneously the thesis also analyses the contemporary relevance of his works which had a common thread of humanism, rationalism and scientific temper. Relevance for his ideas is still alive as it was 50 years ago. He was true a patriotic who dreamed independence for his country. He was pioneer for developing science in laymen and scientific temper among youths.
    [Show full text]
  • Bipin Chandra Pal
    Bipin Chandra Pal March 15, 2021 In news : Recently, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (IB) inaugurated a photo-exhibition to showcase the struggles of various freedom fighters Bipin Chandra Pal is one of them A brief History of Bipin Chandra Pal He was an Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement freedom fighter Birth: 7th November 1858, Habiganj Sylhet district, Bangladesh Bipin ji He was one third of the “Lal Bal Pal” triumvirat Education: He studied and taught at the Church Mission Society College (now the St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College), an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta Brahmo Samaj: After his first wife died, he married a widow and joined the Brahmo Samaj He was also associated with Indian National Congress and India House His Contributions: He known as the Father of Revolutionary Thoughts in India and was one of the freedom fighters of India Pal stood against the partition of Bengal by the colonial British government. 1887: He made a strong plea for repeal of the Arms Act which was discriminatory in nature He was one of the main architects of the Swadeshi movement along with Sri Aurobindo. He popularized the concepts of swadeshi (exclusive use of Indian-made goods) and swaraj His programme consisted of Swadeshi, boycott and national education. He preached and encouraged the use of Swadeshi and the boycott of foreign goods to eradicate poverty and unemployment. Bipin wanted to remove social evils from the form and arouse the feelings of nationalism through national criticism. He also set up a school called Anushilan Samiti and began a tour of the country to propagate his philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • Indian National Congress Sessions
    Indian National Congress Sessions INC sessions led the course of many national movements as well as reforms in India. Consequently, the resolutions passed in the INC sessions reflected in the political reforms brought about by the British government in India. Although the INC went through a major split in 1907, its leaders reconciled on their differences soon after to give shape to the emerging face of Independent India. Here is a list of all the Indian National Congress sessions along with important facts about them. This list will help you prepare better for SBI PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS Clerk, IBPS PO, etc. Indian National Congress Sessions During the British rule in India, the Indian National Congress (INC) became a shiny ray of hope for Indians. It instantly overshadowed all the other political associations established prior to it with its very first meeting. Gradually, Indians from all walks of life joined the INC, therefore making it the biggest political organization of its time. Most exam Boards consider the Indian National Congress Sessions extremely noteworthy. This is mainly because these sessions played a great role in laying down the foundational stone of Indian polity. Given below is the list of Indian National Congress Sessions in chronological order. Apart from the locations of various sessions, make sure you also note important facts pertaining to them. Indian National Congress Sessions Post Liberalization Era (1990-2018) Session Place Date President 1 | P a g e 84th AICC Plenary New Delhi Mar. 18-18, Shri Rahul Session 2018 Gandhi Chintan Shivir Jaipur Jan. 18-19, Smt.
    [Show full text]
  • D:\Journals & Copyright\Global\
    Journal Global Values, Vol. IX, No. 1, 2018, ISSN: (P) 0976-9447, (e) 2454-8391 Impact Factor 6.482 (SJIF) UGC Approved Journal No. 63651 Bipin Chandra Pal in The light of New Hindu Movement of Bengal Saumya Bose Asstt. Prof., Deptt. of History, Sri Ramkrishna Sarada Vidya Mahapitha, Kamarpukur, Hooghly, Weest Bengal Absctract British dominion was first established in Bengal. Calcutta Reference to this paper was the heartland of British commercial activities and the first capital of British India. Naturally Western education first introduced in Bengal. should be made as This rationalism, which was the fruit of English education, yielded follows: revolutionary ideas in social and religious sphere and it gradually affected the political consciousness of the educated Bengalis. During the first half of the nineteenth century educated groups of India Saumya Bose particularly in the cities of Bengal started imitating the West. This became a yardstick of ‘modernity, progressiveness and greatness’ to them. But Bipin Chandra Pal in during the second half of the nineteenth century situation began to change. A section among the educated Bengali Bhadralok began to be The light of New disillusioned with the Liberal politics of the Congress and the British Hindu Movement of Constitutional system. As a result a critique against these dual systems Bengal, began to be developed by them. They made their basis the traditional Hinduism and gave it a new shape. Bipin Chandra Pal (1858-1932), an extremist leader of Bengal, lived in the same milieu when these Journal Global Values, changes were taking place. Now the questions come before us are – How Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Surendranath Banerjee
    An Illustrious Life 1 2 Surendranath Banerjee Surendranath Banerjee An Illustrious Life 3 Contents Preface vii 1. An Illustrious Life 1 Introduction • The Profile • Birth and Early Life • Beginning of the Career • Career in Education • Stint in Journalism • First Political Platform • The Demise 2. Many Faceted Personality 7 Great Man in the Making • New Career • Fighting against All Odds • Great Orator • Social and Religious Services • Message Across the Country • Uncrowned King of Bengal • Foremost in Politics • Great Reformer • Educationist and Journalist • The Unsung Hero 3. Political Journey 13 In Political Arena • Journey to Prison • Formation of Congress • President of Congress • As Legislator • Mission to England • End of Political Career 4. Political Thought 17 Traditionalist View • Ethical Politics • Faith in Human Nature • Constitutional Methods • Advocacy of Self-government • Advocacy of Liberty • Championing of National Unity • Social Reforms 4 Surendranath Banerjee • Crusade against Poverty • Negating Students’ Participation in Politics 5. Speeches at Congress Sessions 25 Presidential Address at Poona Session • Presidential Address at Ahmedabad Session • Speech at Bombay Session • Speech at Calcutta Session • Speech at Madras Session • Speech at Ahmedabad Session • Speech at Lucknow Session • Speech at Banaras Session • Speech at Lahore Session • Speech at Calcutta Session • Speech at Special Session at London 6. Addresses to the Imperial Council 145 Press Act • Separation of Judicial and Executive Functions • University and Secondary Education • Calcutta University • Decentralisation Commission • Defence of India Act • In Bengal Legislative Council 7. Lectures in England 199 Indian Press • Situation in India • Meeting in Finsbury • Debate at the Oxford Union • India and English Literature 8. Miscellaneous Speeches 243 Indian Unity • Vernacular Press Act • Appeal to the Mohammedan Community • Government and Municipalities • On Social Reforms • Swadeshism • Dacca Conference 9.
    [Show full text]
  • Faculty of Juridical Sciences Course : B.A.Ll.B
    BRAND GUIDELINE ---------------------------------------------------- Topic Font Name- Candara Bold Font Size- 20 Font Color- White ------------------------ --------------------------- Heading Font Name- Arial (Bold) Font Size- 16 FACULTY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES COURSE : B.A.LL.B. IISemester SUBJ ECT: HISTORY IV SUBJECTCIVIL LAW: CODE: MEANING, BAL DEFINITION-402 & IMPORTANCE NAME OF FACULTY: Dr. SADHNA TRIVEDI BRAND GUIDELINE ---------------------------------------------------- Topic Font Name- Candara Bold Font Size- 20 Font Color- White --------------------------------------------------- Heading Font Name- Arial (Bold) Lecture-26 Font Size- 16 The Moderate phase of Politics Indian nationalism arose in the latter half of the 19th century as a result of various factors like western education, socio-religious reforms, British policies and so on. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was formed which played a significant role in India’s freedom movement. The time period from 1885 to 1905 can be called the ‘Moderate Phase’. The leaders of this phase are called moderates. The Indian National Congress (INC) Formed in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant. Other founding members include Dadabhai Naoroji (Born on September 4, 1825) and Dinshaw Wacha. The first session was held in Bombay under the presidency of Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee in 1885. The first session was attended by 72 delegates from across the country. Viceroy of India at the time was Lord Dufferin who gave his permission to Hume for the first session. The Congress was formed with the intention of discussing problems faced by the people of the country irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language. It was basically a movement of the upper and middle class, western-educated Indians in its moderate phase.
    [Show full text]
  • Gandhi and Bengal Politics 1920
    Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: F Political Science Volume 15 Issue 6 Version 1.0 Year 2015 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-460x & Print ISSN: 0975-587X Gandhi and Bengal Politics 1920 - 1940 By Sudeshna Banerjee University of Burdwan, India Abstract- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi entered nationalist politics in 1920 and changed the character of the national movement completely. Before 1920, Bengal politics was mainly dominated by the activities of the revolutionaries and the politics within Congress. Anushilan Samity and Yugantar were the two main revolutionary groups in Bengal at the beginning of twentieth century. Their main intention was to liberate their motherland through violent struggle. The Congress leaders as well as the revolutionaries of Bengal were not at all ready to accept Gandhi and his doctrine of nonviolence. Gandhi too had no sympathy for the revolutionaries, as their method was against his principle of non-violence. C R Das and Subhas Chandra Bose of Bengal Congress gave stiff opposition to Gandhi. Eventually, the death of C R Das and the imprisonment of Bose at Mandalay prison, Burma saw the emergence of Gandhiites like J M Sengupta through whom gradually the control of Bengal Congress went into the hands of Gandhi. The final showdown between Gandhi and Bose came in 1939 when Bose was compelled to resign as Congress President at Tripuri. Keywords: Swadhinata, Ahimsa, Gandhiites, Anusilan, Yugantar, Bengal provincial congress committee GJHSS-F Classification : FOR Code: 360199 GandhiandBengalPolitics19201940 Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of: © 2015. Sudeshna Banerjee.
    [Show full text]
  • Cbjessss10.Pdf
    Social Science X Sample Paper 10 Solved www.cbse.online CLASS X (2020-21) SOCIAL SCIENCE (CODE 087) SAMPLE PAPER-10 Time : 3 Hours Maximum Marks : 80 General Instructions : (i) Question paper comprises five sections A, B, C, D and E. There are 32 questions in the question paper. All questions are compulsory. (ii) Section–A - Question no. 1 to 16 are Objective Type Questions of 1 mark each. (iii) Section–B - Question no. 17 to 22 are short answer type questions, carrying 3 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 80 words. (iv) Section–C - Question no. 23 to 26 are source based questions, carrying 4 marks each. (v) Section–D – Question no. 27 to 31 are long answer type questions, carrying 5 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 120 words. (vi) Section–E – question no. 32 is map based, carrying 5 marks with two parts, 32.1 from History (2 marks) and 32.2 from Geography (3 marks). (vii) There is no overall choice in the question paper. However, an internal choices has been provided in few questions. Only one of the choices in such questions have to be attempted. (viii) In addition to this, separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. 6. Which two of the following extreme locations are Section-A connected by the east-west corridor? [1] (a) Mumbai and Nagpur Which one of the following countries was not involved 1. (b) Silchar and Porbandar in the Balkan conflict? [1] (a) Germany (b) France (c) Mumbai and Kolkata (c) Russia (d) Austro-Hungary (d) Nagpur and Siligudi (b) Silchar and Porbandar As (b) France As 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Dadabhai Naoroji
    UNIT – IV POLITICAL THINKERS DADABHAI NAOROJI Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917) also known as the "Grand Old Man of India" and "official Ambassador of India" was an Indian Parsi scholar, trader and politician who was a Liberal Party member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons between 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be a British MP, notwithstanding the Anglo- Indian MP David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who was disenfranchised for corruption after nine months. Naoroji was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to the Indian wealth drain into Britain. In it he explained his wealth drain theory. He was also a member of the Second International along with Kautsky and Plekhanov. Dadabhai Naoroji's works in the congress are praiseworthy. In 1886, 1893, and 1906, i.e., thrice was he elected as the president of INC. In 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg inaugurated the Dadabhai Naoroji Awards for services to UK-India relations. India Post depicted Naoroji on stamps in 1963, 1997 and 2017. Contents 1Life and career 2Naoroji's drain theory and poverty 3Views and legacy 4Works Life and career Naoroji was born in Navsari into a Gujarati-speaking Parsi family, and educated at the Elphinstone Institute School.[7] He was patronised by the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad III, and started his career life as Dewan (Minister) to the Maharaja in 1874. Being an Athornan (ordained priest), Naoroji founded the Rahnumai Mazdayasan Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) on 1 August 1851 to restore the Zoroastrian religion to its original purity and simplicity.
    [Show full text]
  • Partition of Bengal, Swadeshi Movement and the Role of Rabindranath Tagore
    Quest Journals Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science Volume 7 ~ Issue 1 (2019)pp.:37-42 ISSN(Online):2321-9467 www.questjournals.org Research Paper Partition of Bengal, Swadeshi Movement and the Role of Rabindranath Tagore Priyanka Mitra Research Scholar, Department of English, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India ABSTRACT: In the history of colonial India an event of crucial importance was the Partition of Bengal in 1905 by the British government. Against this injustice and oppression a furious sedition upsurged among the national people but the government remained impervious to every appeal, plead and protest. The unamenable decision of government escalated the open hostility which culminated into Boycott resolution and the formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement. The great poet-philosopher,Rabindranath Tagore initially joined the movement, delivering lectures and composing patriotic songs. But being an ardent worshipper of humanism and Ahimsa or non-violence, he found it difficult to accept the atrocities perpetrated by the nationalists which gradually turned the blazing fire of protest against partition into embers. So Tagore dissociated himself from the movement which was viewed by many of his critics as an act of betrayal. But his response to such criticism was fictionally articulated in his political novels where he firmly asserted that patriotism should always be centred around humanity. KEYWORDS: boycott, partition, protest, Rabindranath Tagore, swadeshi Received 26 January, 2019; Accepted 09 February, 2019 © the Author(S) 2019. Published With Open Access At www.Questjournals.Org. I. INTRODUCTION From the vantage point of 21st century it is evident that the British Empire was the largest formal empire that invaded, annexed, occupied, divided and colonized various parts of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Communism and Religion in North India, 1920–47
    "To the Masses." Communism and Religion in North India, 1920–47 Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) eingereicht an der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin von Patrick Hesse Präsident der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz Dekanin der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal Gutachter: 1. Michael Mann 2. Dietrich Reetz Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 20. Juli 2015 Abstract Among the eldest of its kind in Asia, the Communist Party of India (CPI) pioneered the spread of Marxist politics beyond the European arena. Influenced by both Soviet revolutionary practice and radical nationalism in British India, it operated under conditions not provided for in Marxist theory—foremost the prominence of religion and community in social and political life. The thesis analyzes, first, the theoretical and organizational ‘overhead’ of the CPI in terms of the position of religion in a party communist hierarchy of emancipation. It will therefore question the works of Marx, Engels, and Lenin on the one hand, and Comintern doctrines on the other. Secondly, it scrutinizes the approaches and strategies of the CPI and individual members, often biographically biased, to come to grips with the subcontinental environment under the primacy of mass politics. Thirdly, I discuss communist vistas on revolution on concrete instances including (but not limited to) the Gandhian non-cooperation movement, the Moplah rebellion, the subcontinental proletariat, the problem of communalism, and assertion of minority identities. I argue that the CPI established a pattern of vacillation between qualified rejection and conditional appropriation of religion that loosely constituted two diverging revolutionary paradigms characterizing communist practice from the Soviet outset: Western and Eastern.
    [Show full text]