DOCSLIB.ORG

The Performativity of Nonviolent Protest in South Asia (1918–1948) Sruti Bala

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Performativity of Nonviolent Protest in South Asia (1918–1948) Sruti Bala The Performativity of Nonviolent Protest in South Asia (1918–1948) Sruti Bala Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde vom Fachbereich 05 (Philosophie und Philologie) der Johannes Gutenberg- Universität Mainz im Jahr 2007 als Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) angenommen. The Performativity of Nonviolent Protest in South Asia (1918–1948) 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 4 2 THEORISING NONVIOLENCE .................................................................... 10 2.1 Principled and pragmatic nonviolence..........................................................12 2.2 Misconceptions and boundary areas.............................................................18 2.2.1 "Nonviolent action is inaction": the boundary to action................................ 20 2.2.2 "Nonviolence is the absence of violence": the boundary to violence............. 25 2.2.3 "Nonviolence rarely works": the boundary to the opponent in conflict ......... 30 2.2.4 "Nonviolence is spiritual": the boundary to the body.................................... 40 3 THEORISING PERFORMATIVITY IN THE STUDY OF NONVIOLENCE............................................................................................. 46 3.1 Four shades of the performative ...................................................................49 3.1.1 To test – to achieve...................................................................................... 52 3.1.2 To speak – to do........................................................................................... 54 3.1.3 To play – to display ..................................................................................... 56 3.1.4 To become – to take on form........................................................................ 60 3.2 Re-articulating the performative in nonviolent action.................................63 3.2.1 Performing refusal: theorising action ........................................................... 64 3.2.2 Paradox of performance: theorising response to violence ............................. 67 3.2.3 The necessity of the opponent: theorising the other in conflict ..................... 69 3.2.4 Intercorporeality: theorising the body in conflict.......................................... 71 4 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN SOUTH ASIA (1918-1948) ............................... 74 4.1 Fasting as a weapon of nonviolence: the case of Gandhi..............................78 4.1.1 Cultural context of the fast........................................................................... 79 4.1.2 Typology of fasts as a political tool.............................................................. 83 4.1.3 Political dramaturgy of the fast .................................................................... 91 4.1.4 Responses to the fast.................................................................................. 104 4.1.5 Significance of the body............................................................................. 112 4.1.6 Gendering nonviolence through the fast ..................................................... 123 4.1.7 Authenticity and authority in nonviolent action.......................................... 129 4.1.8 Theatricality of the fast .............................................................................. 136 2 4.2 Unarmed soldiers in a nonviolent army: The Khudai Khidmatgar movement.....................................................................................................140 4.2.1 Historical background................................................................................ 142 4.2.2 Review of research..................................................................................... 146 4.2.3 Syncretism of the Khudai Khidmatgar ....................................................... 151 4.2.4 Pashtun socio-political history at the turn of the twentieth century ............. 158 4.2.5 Negotiating the image of the nonviolent Pashtun........................................ 160 4.2.6 The oath of the Khudai Khidmatgar ........................................................... 167 4.2.7 Militancy of an unarmed army ................................................................... 172 4.2.8 Mode of fighting........................................................................................ 184 4.2.9 Authenticity and mimicry in nonviolent action........................................... 192 4.2.10 Acts of juxtaposition: the figure of the hyphen........................................... 199 5 CONCLUSIONS: PERFORMATIVE POLITICS........................................ 206 5.1 Gandhi vs. Khan ..........................................................................................207 5.2 Form vs. content ..........................................................................................211 5.2.1 Action – inaction – restraint ....................................................................... 212 5.2.2 Violence – its rejection – its recurrence...................................................... 216 5.2.3 Conflict – consent – opposition.................................................................. 219 5.2.4 Body– soul – intercorporeality ................................................................... 222 GLOSSARY OF TERMS....................................................................................... 226 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 227 3 The Performativity of Nonviolent Protest 1 Introduction "The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organisation of nonviolence has been the organisation of violence." 1 This study seeks to address a gap in the study of nonviolent action. The gap relates to the question of the form , as opposed to the content of nonviolent politics. Nonviolent protest and resistance have been the focus of studies in the fields of sociology, political science, anthro- pology and peace and conflict studies. These studies ask important questions about the difficulties encountered in nonviolent protest, as well as investigate its outcomes. They focus on resources, grievances, strategies, intentions, motivations and consequences of protest ac- tions or events. Yet they are often sceptical of references to concepts that are not objective, which address perceptions of protest, its cul- tural context, its dramaturgy, or its underlying view on conflict and human agency. 2 Nonviolent action is a form of waging conflict, not of seeking its reso- lution. What does this form of engagement in political conflict consist of, over and above the absence of or rejection of violence? How can nonviolence be explored as a form of action, rather than as a political or ethical stance? What constitutes a nonviolent act, how is it prac- ticed, performed, enacted and organised? Instead of asking what is accomplished through nonviolent action, this study asks how to speak about nonviolence, how to find a mode to address the subject, in order to understand it differently. Of primary concern is the man- ner or form of action, and what bearing this has on the content of the act. I ask these questions as a scholar and student in the field of per- formance studies, using concepts, modes of analysis and tropes of 1 Joan Baez, "What Would You Do If?" Class of Nonviolence, Lesson 7, ed. Colman McCarthy (Washington D.C., undated), 8. 2 James Jasper addresses this scepticism in the study of protest in his introduction to The Art of Moral Protest. Culture, Biography and Creativity in Social Movements (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1997), xi. 4 Introduction thinking from this discipline. Particularly through the notion of per- formativity, performance studies has become increasingly concerned with understanding and re-articulating human agency, ways of doing, ways of being and becoming, of acquiring and assuming particular identities or inhabiting worlds. This study evolved out of a shift in perspective, by approaching the history of nonviolent protest through the lens of performance studies. Such a shift allows for concepts such as performativity to be tested in terms of their applicability and relevance to contemporary political and philosophical questions. It also allows for a different perspective on the historiography of non- violent protest. As Herbert Blau has pointed out, "the writing of his- tory occurs through the questions asked about it." 3 In the first two sections of this study, I will set out the parameters of the key terms of my dissertation: nonviolence and performativity, by tracing their genealogies and legacies as terms. I will then locate these histories as an intersection in the founding of the nonviolent and offer a reading of the history of nonviolence, especially in its tra- jectories within movements and events in the twentieth century. The focus of my analysis will be two examples of nonviolent protest from the history of civil disobedience in the anti-colonial struggle in South Asia. These are: fasting as a method in Gandhi's political arsenal, and the army of nonviolent soldiers in the North-West Frontier Province, known as the Khudai Khidmatgar . In Section 2, I will provide an overview of current theorisations of nonviolence. I approach the subject through a set of commonly held misconceptions about nonviolent action, such as its supposed pas- sivity, the absence of violence, its ineffectiveness and its spiritual ba-
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Complete List of Books in Library Acc No Author Title of Book Subject Publisher Year R.No
    Complete List of Books in Library Acc No Author Title of book Subject Publisher Year R.No. 1 Satkari Mookerjee The Jaina Philosophy of PHIL Bharat Jaina Parisat 8/A1 Non-Absolutism 3 Swami Nikilananda Ramakrishna PER/BIO Rider & Co. 17/B2 4 Selwyn Gurney Champion Readings From World ECO `Watts & Co., London 14/B2 & Dorothy Short Religion 6 Bhupendra Datta Swami Vivekananda PER/BIO Nababharat Pub., 17/A3 Calcutta 7 H.D. Lewis The Principal Upanisads PHIL George Allen & Unwin 8/A1 14 Jawaherlal Nehru Buddhist Texts PHIL Bruno Cassirer 8/A1 15 Bhagwat Saran Women In Rgveda PHIL Nada Kishore & Bros., 8/A1 Benares. 15 Bhagwat Saran Upadhya Women in Rgveda LIT 9/B1 16 A.P. Karmarkar The Religions of India PHIL Mira Publishing Lonavla 8/A1 House 17 Shri Krishna Menon Atma-Darshan PHIL Sri Vidya Samiti 8/A1 Atmananda 20 Henri de Lubac S.J. Aspects of Budhism PHIL sheed & ward 8/A1 21 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad Bhagabatam PHIL Dhirendra Nath Bose 8/A2 22 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 Bhagabatam VolI 23 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 Bhagabatam Vo.l III 24 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad Bhagabatam PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 25 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 Bhagabatam Vol.V 26 Mahadev Desai The Gospel of Selfless G/REL Navijvan Press 14/B2 Action 28 Shankar Shankar's Children Art FIC/NOV Yamuna Shankar 2/A2 Number Volume 28 29 Nil The Adyar Library Bulletin LIT The Adyar Library and 9/B2 Research Centre 30 Fraser & Edwards Life And Teaching of PER/BIO Christian Literature 17/A3 Tukaram Society for India 40 Monier Williams Hinduism PHIL Susil Gupta (India) Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • Gandhi Warrior of Non-Violence P
    SATYAGRAHA IN ACTION Indians who had spent nearly all their lives in South Africi Gandhi was able to get assistance for them from South India an appeal was made to the Supreme Court and the deportation system was ruled illegal. Meantime, the satyagraha movement continued, although more slowly as a result of government prosecution of the Indians and the animosity of white people to whom Indian merchants owed money. They demanded immediate payment of the entire sum due. The Indians could not, of course, meet their demands. Freed from jail once again in 1909, Gandhi decided that he must go to England to get more help for the Indians in Africa. He hoped to see English leaders and to place the problems before them, but the visit did little beyond acquainting those leaders with the difficulties Indians faced in Africa. In his nearly half year in Britain Gandhi himself, however, became a little more aware of India’s own position. On his way back to South Africa he wrote his first book. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Written in Gujarati and later translated by himself into English, he wrote it on board the steamer Kildonan Castle. Instead of taking part in the usual shipboard life he used a packet of ship’s stationery and wrote the manuscript in less than ten days, writing with his left hand when his right tired. Hind Swaraj appeared in Indian Opinion in instalments first; the manuscript then was kept by a member of the family. Later, when its value was realized more clearly, it was reproduced in facsimile form.
    [Show full text]
  • Gandhi Sites in Durban Paul Tichmann 8 9 Gandhi Sites in Durban Gandhi Sites in Durban
    local history museums gandhi sites in durban paul tichmann 8 9 gandhi sites in durban gandhi sites in durban introduction gandhi sites in durban The young London-trained barrister, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 1. Dada Abdullah and Company set sail for Durban from Bombay on 19 April 1893 and arrived in (427 Dr Pixley kaSeme Street) Durban on Tuesday 23 May 1893. Gandhi spent some twenty years in South Africa, returning to India in 1914. The period he spent in South Africa has often been described as his political and spiritual Sheth Abdul Karim Adam Jhaveri, a partner of Dada Abdullah and apprenticeship. Indeed, it was within the context of South Africa’s Co., a firm in Porbandar, wrote to Gandhi’s brother, informing him political and social milieu that Gandhi developed his philosophy and that a branch of the firm in South Africa was involved in a court practice of Satyagraha. Between 1893 and 1903 Gandhi spent periods case with a claim for 40 000 pounds. He suggested that Gandhi of time staying and working in Durban. Even after he had moved to be sent there to assist in the case. Gandhi’s brother introduced the Transvaal, he kept contact with friends in Durban and with the him to Sheth Abdul Karim Jhaveri, who assured him that the job Indian community of the City in general. He also often returned to would not be a difficult one, that he would not be required for spend time at Phoenix Settlement, the communitarian settlement he more than a year and that the company would pay “a first class established in Inanda, just outside Durban.
    [Show full text]
  • War Prevention Works 50 Stories of People Resolving Conflict by Dylan Mathews War Prevention OXFORD • RESEARCH • Groupworks 50 Stories of People Resolving Conflict
    OXFORD • RESEARCH • GROUP war prevention works 50 stories of people resolving conflict by Dylan Mathews war prevention works OXFORD • RESEARCH • GROUP 50 stories of people resolving conflict Oxford Research Group is a small independent team of Oxford Research Group was Written and researched by researchers and support staff concentrating on nuclear established in 1982. It is a public Dylan Mathews company limited by guarantee with weapons decision-making and the prevention of war. Produced by charitable status, governed by a We aim to assist in the building of a more secure world Scilla Elworthy Board of Directors and supported with Robin McAfee without nuclear weapons and to promote non-violent by a Council of Advisers. The and Simone Schaupp solutions to conflict. Group enjoys a strong reputation Design and illustrations by for objective and effective Paul V Vernon Our work involves: We bring policy-makers – senior research, and attracts the support • Researching how policy government officials, the military, of foundations, charities and The front and back cover features the painting ‘Lightness in Dark’ scientists, weapons designers and private individuals, many of decisions are made and who from a series of nine paintings by makes them. strategists – together with Quaker origin, in Britain, Gabrielle Rifkind • Promoting accountability independent experts Europe and the and transparency. to develop ways In this United States. It • Providing information on current past the new millennium, has no political OXFORD • RESEARCH • GROUP decisions so that public debate obstacles to human beings are faced with affiliations. can take place. nuclear challenges of planetary survival 51 Plantation Road, • Fostering dialogue between disarmament.
    [Show full text]
  • Radical Pacifism, Civil Rights, and the Journey of Reconciliation
    09-Mollin 12/2/03 3:26 PM Page 113 The Limits of Egalitarianism: Radical Pacifism, Civil Rights, and the Journey of Reconciliation Marian Mollin In April 1947, a group of young men posed for a photograph outside of civil rights attorney Spottswood Robinson’s office in Richmond, Virginia. Dressed in suits and ties, their arms held overcoats and overnight bags while their faces carried an air of eager anticipation. They seemed, from the camera’s perspective, ready to embark on an exciting adventure. Certainly, in a nation still divided by race, this visibly interracial group of black and white men would have caused people to stop and take notice. But it was the less visible motivations behind this trip that most notably set these men apart. All of the group’s key organizers and most of its members came from the emerging radical pacifist movement. Opposed to violence in all forms, many had spent much of World War II behind prison walls as conscientious objectors and resisters to war. Committed to social justice, they saw the struggle for peace and the fight for racial equality as inextricably linked. Ardent egalitarians, they tried to live according to what they called the brotherhood principle of equality and mutual respect. As pacifists and as militant activists, they believed that nonviolent action offered the best hope for achieving fundamental social change. Now, in the wake of the Second World War, these men were prepared to embark on a new political jour- ney and to become, as they inscribed in the scrapbook that chronicled their traveling adventures, “courageous” makers of history.1 Radical History Review Issue 88 (winter 2004): 113–38 Copyright 2004 by MARHO: The Radical Historians’ Organization, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Friends of Gandhi
    FRIENDS OF GANDHI Correspondence of Mahatma Gandhi with Esther Færing (Menon), Anne Marie Petersen and Ellen Hørup Edited by E.S. Reddy and Holger Terp Gandhi-Informations-Zentrum, Berlin The Danish Peace Academy, Copenhagen Copyright 2006 by Gandhi-Informations-Zentrum, Berlin, and The Danish Peace Academy, Copenhagen. Copyright for all Mahatma Gandhi texts: Navajivan Trust, Ahmedabad, India (with gratitude to Mr. Jitendra Desai). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transacted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. Gandhi-Informations-Zentrum: http://home.snafu.de/mkgandhi The Danish Peace Academy: http://www.fredsakademiet.dk Friends of Gandhi : Correspondence of Mahatma Gandhi with Esther Færing (Menon), Anne Marie Petersen and Ellen Hørup / Editors: E.S.Reddy and Holger Terp. Publishers: Gandhi-Informations-Zentrum, Berlin, and the Danish Peace Academy, Copenhagen. 1st edition, 1st printing, copyright 2006 Printed in India. - ISBN 87-91085-02-0 - ISSN 1600-9649 Fred I Danmark. Det Danske Fredsakademis Skriftserie Nr. 3 EAN number / strejkode 9788791085024 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ESTHER FAERING (MENON)1 Biographical note Correspondence with Gandhi2 Gandhi to Miss Faering, January 11, 1917 Gandhi to Miss Faering, January 15, 1917 Gandhi to Miss Faering, March 20, 1917 Gandhi to Miss Faering, March 31,1917 Gandhi to Miss Faering, April 15, 1917 Gandhi to Miss Faering,
    [Show full text]
  • Global Constitutionalism and Japan's Constitutional Pacifism
    Global Constitutionalism and Japan’s Constitutional Pacifism（Kimijima） Article Global Constitutionalism and Japan’s Constitutional Pacifism Akihiko Kimijima Abstract The essence of constitutionalism is to regulate the exercise of power and in so doing to constitute liberty. The most critical of these powers to be regulated, and the focus of this article, is military power. The author traces the history of global constitutional thought throughout the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries including the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also covered are successful practices of regulating and replacing military power by civil society in the 1990s and the 2000s. The article also discusses Article 9, the “pacifist” clause of the 1946 Constitution of Japan, as a notable example of the regulation of military power; its trajectory is full of contention, compromise, and undeveloped possibilities. Finally this article emphasizes that Article 9 has been̶and will continue to be̶quoted by the counter-hegemonic global civil society in its efforts to regulate military power. INTRODUCTION 1) It is noteworthy that discussions of global constitutionalism have become very active in recent years. The Japanese academia is no exception (Urata 2005; Mogami 2007; Kimijima 2009). Caution is required, however, because various authors use the term and concept differently. There are several different kinds of global constitutionalism. My own understanding will be discussed further later in this article, but perhaps it is helpful to mention some of its elements here. I use the terms “constitution” and “constitutionalism” in a broader sense. Constitution is a set of fundamental principles for regulating power in a given political community, and constitutionalism is a project to regulate the exercise of power by rules, laws, and institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Examining Unarmed Civilian Protection in the UN Context: a Complement and Contribution to POC
    Examining Unarmed Civilian Protection in the UN Context: A Complement and Contribution to POC Consultation for Member States: 10 – 11 May 2019, Tarrytown, New York On 10-11 May 2019, the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Australia, Senegal and Uruguay along with the NGO Nonviolent Peaceforce hosted a retreat for representatives of member states, the UN Secretariat and several NGOs to examine unarmed civilian protection (UCP) methods and possible contributions to the UN’s work on the protection of civilians. Over the course of 1.5 days, participants were introduced to the concept of UCP and discussed the practical work of Nonviolent Peaceforce in different countries and settings, as well as various related topics: UCP with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); community engagement in peacekeeping: integrating local protection and self-protection approaches; UCP and DPO field missions; UCP and the role of UN Member States; and integrating high-level and local approaches to negotiation and mediation. Civilians have increasingly become victims of the wars and violent conflicts that plague so many parts of the world today. The methods and philosophy of unarmed civilian protection can help break these cycles of violence and contribute to the spectrum of tools used by the international community to protect civilians and prevent violence. 1 Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) and at least 40 other NGOs1 prevent violence, protect civilians and promote peace through unarmed civilian protection (UCP). UCP represents a philosophical change in POC that emphasizes protection from the bottom up, community ownership and deep, sustained engagement with the communities served. UCP is a comprehensive approach that offers a unique combination of methods that have been shown to protect civilians in violent conflicts.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WHERE LIQUOR IS BEING SERVED? a Gentleman Asks in Sorrow:1 I Am Not Aware of Liquor Having Been Served at the Garden Party
    1. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WHERE LIQUOR IS BEING SERVED? A gentleman asks in sorrow:1 I am not aware of liquor having been served at the garden party. However, I would have attended it even if I had known it. A banquet was held on the same day. I attended it even though liquor was served there. I was not going to eat anything at either of these two functions. At the dinner a lady was sitting on one side and a gentleman on the other side of me. After the lady had helped herself with the bottle it would come to me. It would have to pass me in order to reach the gentleman. It was my duty to pass it on to the latter. I deliberately performed my duty. I could have easily refused to pass it saying that I would not touch a bottle of liquor. This, however, I considered to be improper. Two questions arise now. Is it proper for persons like me to go where drinks are served ? If the answer is in the affirmative, is it proper to pass a bottle of liquor from one person to another? So far as I am concerned the answer to both the questions is in the affirmative. It could be otherwise in the case of others. In such matters, I know of no royal road and, if there were any, it would be that one should altogether shun such parties and dinners. If we impose any restrictions with regard to liquor, why not impose them with regard to meat, etc.? If we do so with the latter, why not with regard to other items which we regard as unfeatable? Hence if we look upon attending such parties as harmful in certain circumstances, the best way seems to give up going to all such parties.
    [Show full text]
  • Prophet of Pacifism by Nilesh Nathwani
    Prophet of Pacifism. By Nilesh Nathwani Revolutionary thinkers believe in incessant revolution. They see constant change as a way of life. Initially, Mahatma Gandhi was concerned about creating an environment hospitable to change within a relatively stable political system of colonialism. He wanted a political system in which healthy unrest would work for continuous renewal. Freedom would be continually enlarged and extended, resulting in the upward evolution of a society towards a higher and different power as he described it. This process would start when a political system is created, where people respect minorities. The sense of freedom would then become a national and individual pride. Freedom is gained by vigilance and struggle; it can, however, be lost if society remains indifferent and supine. One has to fight for freedom with the right weapons, though not with guns. The sense of freedom should be from within and not brought about by an outer force. However controversial it sounds, Gandhiji demonstrated this principle in his lifetime. He went behind bars to gain that freedom. He preferred to be behind walls than to suppress his struggle for freedom. When jailed for refusing to pay the salt tax at the end of the Dandi March, he observed that even behind walls of stone and mortar he was freer than those who had jailed him. Gandhiji practised the struggle with his soul spirit and gave the world the principle of Satyagraha. The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes Satyagraha as truth force. I would call it soul force. It is a principle that encourages you not to submit to wrong or to co-operate with it in any way.
    [Show full text]
  • GW 131 Spring 2017
    The Gandhi Way Tavistock Square, London 30 January 2017 (Photo by John Rowley) Newsletter of the Gandhi Foundation No.131 Spring 2017 ISSN 1462-9674 £2 1 Gandhi Foundation Summer Gathering 2017 Theme: Inspired by Gandhi 22 July - 29 July 2017 St Christopher School, Barrington Road, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire SG6 3JZ Further details: Summer Gathering, 2 Vale Court, Weybridge KT13 9NN or Telephone: 01932 841135; [email protected] Gandhi Foundation Annual Lecture 2017 to be given by Satish Kumar Saturday 30 September Venue in London to be announced later An International Conference on Mahatma Gandhi in the 21st century: Gandhian Themes and Values Friday 28 April 2017 at the Wellcome Trust Conference Centre, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE Organised by Narinder Kapur & Caroline Selai, University College London Further details on page 23 Contents Climate Change – A Burning Issue Jane Sill An Experiment in Love: Maria Popova Martin Luther KIng on the Six Pillars of Nonviolent Resistance Mahatma Gandhi and Shrimad Rajchandraji Reviews: Pax Gandhiana (Anthony Parel) William Rhind Selected Works of C Rajagopalachari II Antony Copley Obituaries: Arya Bhardwaj Gerd Ledermann 2 Climate Change – A Burning Issue Jane Sill This was the title of this year's annual multifaith gathering which took place on 28th January at Kingsley Hall where Gandhi Ji had stayed in 1931 while attending the Round Table Conference. The title had been chosen some time ago but, in view of the drastic change in US policy, it could not have been a more fitting subject. Often pushed aside in the light of apparently more pressing issues, this is a subject which unfortunately is bound to come into higher profile as the results of global warming become more evident – unless of course there are serious policy changes worldwide.
    [Show full text]
  • Intellectuals and the Maoists
    Intellectuals and the Maoists Uddipan Mukherjee∗ A revolution, insurgency or for that matter, even a rebellion rests on a pedestal of ideology. The ‘ideology’ could be a contested one – either from the so-called leftist or the rightist perspective. As ideology is of paramount importance, so are ‘intellectuals’. This paper delves into the concept of ‘intellectuals’. Thereafter, the role of the intellectuals in India’s Maoist insurgency is brought out. The issue turns out to be extremely topical considering the current discourse of ‘urban Naxals/ Maoists’. A few questions that need to be addressed in the discourse on who the Maoist intellectuals are: * Dr. Uddipan Mukherjee is a Civil Service officer and presently Joint Director at Ordnance Factory Board, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. He earned his PhD from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Department of Atomic Energy. He was part of a national Task Force on Left Wing Extremism set up by the think tank VIF. A television commentator on Maoist insurgency, he has published widely in national and international journals/think-tanks/books on counterinsurgency, physics, history and foreign policy. He is the author of the book ‘Modern World History' for Civil Services. Views expressed in this paper are his own. Uddipan Mukherjee Are the intellectuals always anti-state? Can they bring about a revolution or social change? What did Gramsci, Lenin or Mao opine about intellectuals? Is the ongoing Left- wing Extremism aka Maoist insurgency in India guided by intellectuals? Do academics,
    [Show full text]