book Review those whose languages will not even be economic policies pursued, albeit with because they own the whole country recognised as Indian by most of the good several contradictions dictated by oppor- m a y be a good witticism, but utterly people of Karnataka, are far less advanta- tunism rather than principled differences, wrong politically. geously placed than the Kannada- and the grievances accumulated thereof Indeed, the disturbing aspect of Kan- speaking people in terms of every social over several decades of misrule nationally, nada exclusivism is that unlike in other and economic variable. Living through have been central to the increasing insu- states where militant local nationalisms traumatic and violent social upheavals, larity of almost of every language group. are to some extent marginalised even some of these also face grave uncertain- Karnataka is a relative latecomer to such while the ruling parties seek tactical ties and perils about their very being. And exclusivism. Only the disdainfully viewed accommodation with them (the Shiv Sena yet, these smaller nationalities are far “north Indians”, the “bhayyas”, a truly in Maharashtra is a classic example of less noisy and far more equanimous about pan-Indian working class despised by the such complicity and collaboration), in their predicament than the Kannada sophisticated everywhere, seem to be free Karnataka, the KRV has been very much people who seem to nurse a sense of from such insularity. It is not accidental part of the political establishment. Its being specially chosen for victimisation that while sub-nationalist assertions are colours and standard are now accepted that is getting entrenched into the in one way or the other present in all non- almost across the board as Karnataka’s Kannada psyche. Hindi speaking states, and in many cases “national” colours and “national” flag, and has been appropriated and absorbed by are flaunted ceremoniously on public Exclusivism Almost Everywhere the so-called mainstream political parties occasions. This symbolic practice could More than globalisation which is undoubt- of the centre and the right (Amra Bangali well become a truly novel way of keeping edly creating in India a state of several has miserably failed in West Bengal and faith with the mother tongue (more appro- nations, rather perfunctorily touched Tripura), such exclusivist assertions are priately, home language) since it has upon in the essays on Bangalore and its IT singularly absent in the Hindi-speaking already gained legitimacy in the state. culture that is loftily indifferent to every- states. To say that the Hindi-speaking thing else except profits, the political and states do not need such mobilisations Email: [email protected]
positions and to affirm their gains in a Portuguese India, the Politics of new modernity.
Print and a Questionable Modernity Freedom from Borrowed Models In the acknowledgements in the book we are told that the research was conducted Teotónio R de Souza at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) (London), and was funded his book is a result of research Between Empires: Print and Politics in Goa by various UK trusts. The result is pre- undertaken for a PhD. Publishers by Rochelle Pinto; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, sented in this book by the Oxford Univer- Thowever, usually impose restric- 2007; pp 209, Rs 645. sity Press (OUP), New Delhi. Such privi- tions of space and in such situations the leged associations have their financial author is often forced to make difficult identified with the Catholic elite, and that and marketing benefits, but for truly choices and bear the responsibility of fac- is where it stops in most histories of Goa. dedicated researchers on subalterns, they ing the consequences of those choices. Pinto admits that her study too remains imply some unpleasant costs, starting Rochelle Pinto tells us that she seeks to very far from an exhaustive representa- with the need to pepper the beginnings explore print production in Goa, locating tion of the responses to colonialism in and the ends of every chapter with a it within similar studies of print produc- 19th century Goa. She also makes a sub- range of “authorities” drawn pre tion in colonial India. Contrary to her stantial listing of “omissions from what ferentially from the catalogues of own expectations, the evidence she gath- would be a more complete or adequate OUP publications or other western ered seemed to point to dissimilar proc- picture of politics or (sic) print”. Whatever denizens. It is the same old 19th century esses in Goa and in colonial India. What the acknowledged shortcomings (and orientalist trend whereby SOAS and their could explain the difference? Her answer other not acknowledged ones) of this western partners and third world coun- is: The different nature and guiding prin- study, Pinto has cast her print-net pretty terparts or “peers” train their young ciples of the two colonial systems and the wide and brilliantly, focusing upon the researchers to step into their shoes! Post- relations between the colonial states and 19th century print as a tool used in Goa by structuralism (and/as after-orientalism) their colonial elites. the state, by the traditional Catholic is presented here as a new form of vali- The two colonialisms are seen as his- elites, and by the non-elites (particularly dating research with conceptualisations/ torically and conceptually different. Print non-brahmin Catholics and Hindus) in contextualisations borrowed from a production in Goa had been generally Goa and Bombay to mark their respective B enedict, a Haber m a s , a Bourdieu or a
Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 16, 2008 31 book Review Columbia-based Vishwanathan. Please Devanagari script. It was a boon for the Rochelle, and all young scholars, by all freedom struggle. means acknowledge all the fountain- MANOHAR heads of western scholarship and register Modernity and the Colonial Elite PARTITION them reverentially in the footnotes, One basic issue that pervades the whole UNITED PROVINCES POLITICS, observing thereby the rules of ethics and study is about defining modernity. It is 1936-1937 metholodogical requirements. But it is believed that propagation of print gave a Formation of the Ministries and time creative scholars freed themselves major impetus to modernity, even though Start of Congress Government Governors’ Fortnightly Reports and from borrowed models and academic the press in many countries today is not other Key Documents verbosity, even if that means risking proof of modernity. In the present study, a Lionel Carter (ed) being excluded from the “peer club” in distinction is borrowed from Anthony 81-7304-790-1, 2008, 417p. Rs. 1045 the ever powerful world of neoliberal Pagden about the nature of Iberian academia. Western scholarship often modernity (shared by the Portuguese PUNJAB POLITICS, tries to compensate with theories its little colonial empire) vis-à-vis the British 1936-14 AUGUST 1947 Governor’s Fortnightly Reports and grasp of the distant reality. Goan scholar- colonial modernity. The Goa case is other Key Documents ship can definitely benefit from a wide framed as a case of Christian universal- Lionel Carter (ed) exposure to theoretical models from out- ism, wherein the Goan Catholics were the 5 Vols. Rs. 4,400 side, but such a benefit needs to be a intended subjects of the colonial rule, long-term gain, and for that to become a while pragmatic adjustments were made IMPACT OF PARTITION reality scholars-authors need to fight for towards the Hindus as unassimilated REFUGEES IN PAKISTAN open access to print, and not fall prey to subjects of the empire. That seems to fit Struggle for Empowerment and State’s Response financial allurements of the distribution into Pagden’s model of Romanist con RCSS Policy Studies 37 barons like JSTOR (Journal Storage) and ception of empire. We are also told, Amtul Hassan some others. quoting Miguel Vale de Almeida, that 81-7304-698-0, 2006, 139p. Rs. 260 As Pinto rightly points out, the 19th modern Portuguese colonialism only century of extended printing services, began in 1910 by lifting the discrimina- REPORTING THE PARTITION OF implying larger production of documen- tions against the Hindus. We cannot con- PUNJAB 1947 Press, Public and other Opinions tation, is the century that is least clude from this that the previous 80 years Reghuvendra Tanwar present in Goan historiography. The of the printing press in Goa had not 81-7304-674-3, 2006, 622p. Rs. 1195 reasons cited refer to the over importance helped the process of modernity, pro given by the colonial historiography to viding a weapon for the colonial elite, POLITICS OF SHARING POWER initial centuries of its glories, and by the caste-based native Catholic elite and the The Punjab Unionist Party 1923-1947 native historiography to the closing Hindu elite to contest each other in the Raghuvendra Tanwar 81-7304-272-1, 1999, 215p. Rs. 425 century of its successful victory of changing political, economic and social liberation. As a result the intervening scenario that had emerged from the dom- PATHWAY TO INDIA’S PARTITION 18th and 19th centuries remained largely inant and unrivalled British colonial Bimal Prasad ignored, or at least comparatively less presence and the growing economic Vol. I: The Foundations of Muslim scrutinised. This could also be the result dependence of Goa upon it. Unfortu- Nationalism of the limited capacity of the colonial nately, the present study does not cor 81-7304-248-9, 1999, 319p. Rs.600 state machinery to trace, control and relate sufficiently the Portuguese Vol. II: A Nation within a Nation 1877-1937 analyse locally, or even to make available republican modernity with the deve 81-7304-249-7, 2000, 469p. Rs.800 to home government, all the print lopments on the ground in Portuguese 81-7304-248-9 (Set) information produced locally or in India in the context of the Anglo- neighbouring colonial India. It tried Portuguese treaty, the railway link, the PANGS OF PARTITION doing it with limited success in the final telegraph link and the educational, judi- S. Settar and Indira Beptista Gupta phase of the native struggle for libera- cial, social and political changes that (eds) Vol. I: The Parting of Ways tion. From what was revealed by some were put in place in the wake of the 1857 81-7304-306-X, 2002, 368p. Rs.700 participants on the occasion of a oral his- rebellion in British India. Vol. II: The Human Dimension tory seminar organised by me at the Portuguese India was not immune to 81-7304-307-8, 2002, 358p. Rs.700 Xavier Centre of Historical Research these factors. How far did print reflect the 81-7304-305-1 (Set) (Porvorim, Goa) with most veteran free- changing reality and how far was it its for our complete catalogue please write to us at: dom fighters of varying hues still alive in cause? Rochelle could read in one of the MANOHAR PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS 1986, to mark the silver jubilee of Goa’s early Goa-related novels in Portuguese, 4753/23, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-2 liberation, the Portuguese intelligence Beatriz (Lisboa, 1885), the description of Phones: 2328 4848, 2328 9100, 2327 5162 agencies had great difficulties in fol a dance party organised in Panjim to Fax: (011) 2326 5162 email: [email protected] Website: www.manoharbooks.com lowing the clandestine press in the welcome the royal prince D Augusto of
32 august 16, 2008 EPW Economic & Political Weekly book Review Portugal: As damas nativas eram ainda as the Achiles’ heel of this study. It is con- possible within the space limitations of inferiores em número às descendentes, e se sequently presumed that a great majority this present review. Forced to conclude, I não poderam vencer estas em elegancia e of the poor Goan Catholic migrants living shall refer back to the “omissions” that coquettismo, deslumbraram-nas na riqueza in Bombay clubs (kudd) were non-brah- were so honestly admitted by the author dos toilettes confeccionados em Bombaim min or non-Chardo Catholics. There is no in the preface. One major omission is the com o maximo esmero e riqueza (“The evidence adduced to identify who were ‘padroado’ (the privilege of patronage native ladies were inferior in number to the producers and major clients of the extended by the Pope to the king of Portu- the white descendants and did not excel newspapers, novels, or cook books pro- guese over three episcopal jurisdictions in them in elegance and coquetry, but sur- duced in Bombay and listed in this study. India) issue. If it was a conscious omission passed them in quality and wealth of their No amount of high falutin’ conceptual it deserved a justification, because it is make-up acquired in Bombay”, p 156). It models and theorisations that character- central to the Portuguese empire which should not be forgotten that the Portu- ise many west-imitating scholarship can has been classified in the study, by adopt- guese Republic of 1910 was a direct conse- compensate for the lack of a painstaking ing Pagden’s Romanist model of empire, quence of the British ultimatum of 1890 to checking of historical evidence. as characterised by Christian universal- Portuguese pretensions to thwart British ism. Even after Portugal handed over plans in Africa by linking Angola and Pros and Cons Bombay to the English East India Company Mozambique internally. Political moder- We came across some questionable state- in 1661-65, the strong link of Portuguese nity was forced upon Portugal, just as ments: On p 11 it is stated that Christian Christianity continued, for a couple of England had forced the start of a cultural priests were tried, persecuted and “killed”, centuries before the Goan emigration and constitutional modernity by pressing or on p 122 that “No printing press was enhanced its church connection to that for the closure of the inquisition and the allowed to function in Goa” (during 1754- region. In the absence of its political influ- introduction of a constitutional monarchy 1821). I have yet to know of any priest ence, the Portuguese tried to sustain its at the end of its occupation of Portugal killed by the Portuguese administration in cultural presence through padroado in during Napoleonic invasions. Goa, unless they were Hindu priests. British India, in an attempt to hang on to The concept of “subalterns”, made There were also many decrees issued by its Romanist model of empire within the fashionable through OUP since the not-so- the Marquis of Pombal, but hardly any British colonial empire. If much print was recent past, is brought in as a key concept were really enforced, excepting one expel- involved in the 19th century in Goa- to emphasise the role that print played in ling the Jesuits. Is there any proof that an related issues, it was in the war of pam- giving voice to the Hindus as well as the order of 1754 about the printing press was phleteering for and against padroado, non-elite (non-brahmin and non-Chardó) really enforced? Particularly after 1759, before and after the papal brief Multa castes among Goan Catholics. Pinto points when there were no Jesuits in Goa who Praeclara of 1838, involving Goan elites out to the relatively limited extent of the could be feared for using it? Is Pinto’s and non-elites from Goa and Bombay in press impact in the 19th century outside statement drawn from A K Priolkar with- acrimonious debates till about the Con the capital and major towns of Goa, point- out any critical checking? cordat of 1950. Beneath the cover of eccle- ing to disparities of client markets and Between Empires: Print and Politics in siastical jurisdiction the real issues were printing costs in Goa and Bombay. Two Goa is one book where a reader can gulp of a cultural-political nature. It is a com- incidents that have been analysed at in a wealth of information about the vari- plex and challenging issue of 19th century greater length to claim the impact of the ous genres of print production by Goans in print and politics related to Goa, and press upon the rural and non-elite groups, Portuguese, Konkani and Marathi. It Goans beyond Goa, drawing in castes, both Hindu and Catholic, are related to a includes a detailed analysis of a couple classes and nationalities, elites and non- rebellion of native soldiers of Satari in of novels in Portuguese (Os Brahmanes elites. On that and on the ‘East Indians’ 1895 and a clash between brahmin and and Jacob e Dulce) and one in Konkani (also a silenced group in Rochelle’s shudra ‘ganvkars’ (villagers) in Aldona. In (Battcara), revealing the impact of the “omissions”) we could look forward to both cases, the point sought to be made is print as an aid to self-representation and further treats from Rochelle Pinto in the that literacy was no longer an elite pre- social contestation by different social very near future. serve, and non-elites had learnt to link groups. The author is a promising scholar and manipulate documentation as legal of her generation in Goa, writing both in Email: [email protected] evidence. In these cases, as well as the mainstream press and academic jour- elsewhere in this book, there is much that nals. No criticism in this review, however remains to be documented, such as the harsh it may sound, takes away any merit NEW chains of subalternities and their interde- from this young scholar who has shown EPW Index 2006 pendence or mutual exploitation, and the extraordinary ability to absorb so much Readers can download the complete author need to provide statistics and identifica- in so many languages in such a short and article index (PDF files) for 2006 from the EPW web site. tion of the so-called non-elites that are span of time. The index for 2005 is also available on the said to be the great winners in the print The book would need a much more same page. age, be it in Goa or in Bombay. This I see detailed commentary than it has been
Economic & Political Weekly EPW august 16, 2008 33