By Nitya Chakraborty
Dr. Rudrangshu Mukherjee, presently Chancellor and Professor of History at Ashoka University, is a well-known Indian historian who has done commendable work on different areas of the country’s history. His scholarship on the First War of Independence/Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, as also his sensitive understanding of the complex relationship between Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, have been valuable contributions to the domain of Indian history writing. His latest book, published early this year, titled ‘A New History of India’ is a jointly-written work, co-authored with ShobitaPunja, an expert in museums and ancient Indian monuments, and Toby Sinclair, a London-born Scot who has been working in India engaged in the production of wildlife, history and cultural documentaries.
The 425-page book is the culmination of the idea of giving shape to Indian history, from prehistoric times to the present, incorporating state-of-the-art photographs, maps and illustrations in order to make “history come alive, without being superficial or inauthentic”. Who are the targeted readers? The three authors themselves say that the ideal reader of this book is someone with an interest in India’s past, who is also eager to carry forward on her own what she has learnt from the book. As the authors see it, this book tries to both stoke curiosity as well as encourage debate and discussion.
Since it has not been mentioned who was responsible for which part, it can be safely assumed that Mukherjee was the main writer of the book, especially the modern part, while the other two co-writers took major responsibility of the ancient history portion, as well as for choosing the images and selection of the monuments and museums referenced in the book. The work is an excellent handbook for a common reader with some sense of history, since in such a concise volume, one gets a full picture of the Indian past all the way from its prehistoric days, illustrated with key photographs for a visual understanding. Further, the timeline given should help readers to know millennia of Indian history in capsule form.
However, I have found upon close reading that the last five chapters relating to the modern India segment, that is chapters 20 to 24, to be quite disappointing. These chapters are titled: ‘Coming of Indian Nationalism’, ‘National Movement under Gandhi’, ‘Movements outside the Gandhian Fold’, ‘Independence and Partition’, and finally the last chapter, ‘Independent India’. These five chapters comprise only 60 pages, but more importantly, even in these 60 pages, many developments crucial for the concerned period, have been given a miss, while more than necessary space has been accorded to few other less important happenings, which could have been avoided.
The most glaring gaps are found in chapter 22, ‘Movements outside the Gandhian Fold.’ The book mentions V D Savarkar and his work, ‘The Indian War of Independence’, written in London in 1907, but fails to mention the founding of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925. Similarly, while references have been made to the workers struggles, especially, the textile mills in the pre-independence period, there is nothing about the foundation of the first national trade union in the country, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), which was founded in 1920.
But the most astounding gap is the absence of any mention about the martyr Bhagat Singh and his comrades in this chapter. The Chittagong Armoury Raid has been rightly mentioned. On this attack dated April 18, 1930, the authors say: “What is worth noting is that even though the methods of the Chittagong revolutionaries were far from Gandhian, when the armoury was seized, the cry that went up with the revolutionaries was ‘Gandhiji’s raj has come’. Surya Sen, called Masterda, was hanged by the British on January 12, 1934.”
Less than a year after Chittagong Armoury Raid in April 1930, on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh and two other revolutionaries, Rajguru and Sukhdev, were hanged by the British in Lahore Jail. The Hindustan Socialist Republican Party of Bhagat Singh talked of establishing a socialist state as the main objective. The hanging not only had a staggering impact on the country’s anti-British population, but also among the Indian revolutionaries acting from abroad. How can an Indian historian complete his ‘Movements Outside the Gandhi Fold’ without mentioning the role of the HSRP and Bhagat Singh in anti-British movement in that period? Similarly, the role of Ghadar Party in Punjab and also amongst the Indian activists overseas, found no mention in the book.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) was founded in 1925, the same year as RSS. The idea of socialism was spread by the early communists in the national movement. This had its impact on the Indian National Congress also. But no mention has been made of the activities of the CPI and the other left elements, including the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) during this 1915-1947 period, which has been covered in this chapter. Lala Lajpat Rai, Balgangadhar Tilak and Bepin Chandra Pal — the Lal-Bal-Pal trio of the Indian national movement — is absent in this ‘New’ history of India. Apart , in Independent India part, the founding of the CPI(M) in 1964 was not mentioned. This split in the communist movement in India should have been taken note of in view of its significance in 1960s in the wake of the India-China war in 1962.
Another serious gap is the non-mention of the Bengal famine of 1943. Also, a lot of space has been given to the Bengal School on art and KamaladebiChattopadhyay, but the founding of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) in 1943, which singlehandedly transformed the cultural landscape of the nation and imparted nationalistic ethos and pro-people idealism to the cultural movement, has been ignored. IPTA and its programmes in 1940’s were intricately linked with the politico-cultural movement of that period before 1947.
On the other hand, commendably enough, in chapter 24 on Independent India covering 1947-2022, Mukherjee’s analysis of the role of Jayaprakash Narain in the months preceding the Emergency declared in June 1975, is revealing. Most of the mainstream historians as also journalists have ignored the role of the RSS in influencing JP to follow their course during this period. Mukherjee, that way has been quite bold in stating that “the JP movement enjoyed an almost natural synergy with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Sangh Parivar (the broader umbrella of Hindu right-wing organisations).
According to the book, “JP conveniently abandoned his socialist path and rhetoric to embrace the RSS. He even declared publicly that if the RSS was fascist, so was he”. This categorical exposure of JP’s total identification with the RSS is to be appreciated. RSS has reached its prime position now under nine years of Narendra Modi’s rule. The Sangh Parivar is working on their dream project: the conversion of the secular Indian nation to a Hindu Rashtra. Researchers on JP and Emergency can do follow-up work on the basis of the significant and frank observations made by Professor Rudrangshu Mukherjee. That will bring to focus many of the under-analysed chapters of that decade.
However, there is a serious mistake, perhaps a printing error. The book mentions the Allahabad High Court judgment of June 12, 1974: it was June 12, 1975. Such bloopers should not have happened in such a prestigious publication. While talking of the post-Emergency years, the book has made no mention of the coming of the VP Singh government in 1989 and the significant Mandal movement. No political history of independent India is complete without mentioning this tumultuous period. The fight between Mandal and Kamandal began in full force during the tenure of VP Singh’s Janata Dal government, which was supported by the BJP and the Left simultaneously from outside.
This was the beginning of the forward journey of the BJP which made full use of the VP Singh administration, to induct its own ideologically-oriented supporters in the administration. That the Left could not anticipate the coming danger from the BJP and RSS, could be said to be a stupendous misjudgement of its political understanding at that time, which helped the BJP to expand fast. The book has discussed in detail the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, exposing the role of the Hindu fundamentalists and also the failure of the administration. The writers’ position in the book is firmly against Hindutva.
Despite the relative lapses and unwitting errors, it has been a pleasure reading the book. Since Mukherjee had set a very high standard in his earlier publications, expectations were immense. Unfortunately, the modern India part falls short of Mukherjee’s usual benchmark. In his concluding para of the short epilogue at the end of the book, ‘Challenges Ahead For Contemporary India’, the authors write: “Under Modi, there is a pronounced propensity towards majoritarian dominance and intolerance towards minorities and dissent, and this majoritarian turn is serving to polarise societies along sectarian lines”.
Then the book says, “All these suggest that deep and fundamental currents of change and churn are pulling India towards a new tryst with destiny, in which, one hopes, all Indians, irrespective of their caste and creed, will be involved.” Fair enough, but Mr. Historian, you are a visionary, you know well the present and have your insight into the future. It will be a delight to get a real New History of India, if the authors update their publication in the second edition with more insight. (IPA Service)
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