Response Papers.doc
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Seminar on The Lesser Known Aspects of the Indian National Movement
Response Papers
Arvind Srinivas
1555, 5th Year,
National Law School of India University Bangalore
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Article I
Chaman Lal, Revolutionary Legacy of Bhagat Singh1
Relevance Today
The author starts of by saying that Bhagat Sighs story is one which needs to be retold to inspire
people in the face of neo-imperialism by the US today. The relevance of Bhagat Singh's quotes and
actions in todays world are brought out in the first part of the article.
Bhagat Singh's Legacy
The author deals with the development of Bhagat Singh into the revolutionary that he was. He deals
with the work of Bhagat Singh for the Naujawan Bharat Sabha. However, according to the author,the most famous part of the legacy of Indias struggle against imperialism that Bhagat Singh has left
behind is his act of throwing non lethal bombs in the Parliament to make the deaf hear. The
Famous slogans of Inquilaab Zindabad and Down with Imperialism accompaning this act show
a change from the earlier Bande Mataram. This change was not merely linguistic in nature but
marked the rise of a higher consciousness of the Indian freedom struggle.
Belief in Socialism and Communism
Bhagat Singh believed that the key to uprooting slavery was to understand the system of
exploitation in the world over. He adopted the marxist version of liberation. Bhagat Singh worked
for the Hindustan Republican Association, which was later changed to the HSRA on his insistence,
the S standing for Socialist, marking a changed ideology and not merely a semantic one. The author
extols the writings of Bhagat Singh on these topics.
The Central Legislative Assembly Bombing
This incident find a prominent pace in the article.Lal deals with the propoganda that Bhagat Singh
carried out through the bombing. It needs an explosion to make the deaf hear". This was the
opening line of the pamphlets that were distributed by Bhagat Singh and B K Dutt in the central
assembly the had thrown harmless bombs in vacant places with the two main aims of exposing
British colonialism and British brutalities on the other.
Unfulfilled Movement
The Revolutionaries wanted to focus on organizing peasants, workers and the youth which would
1 C. Lal , Revolutionary Legacy of Bhagat Singh,Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 37 (Sep. 15 - 21,2007), pp. 3714.
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require an open struggle However due to their revolutionary activities, the members of the HSRA
found themselves in a tight spot. Combined with the Central Legislative bombing, the Saunders
murder case drove them underground. The Revolutionaries bravely continued their propaganda by
deed while in prison via their hunger strike and in the proceedings in court.
What the Revolutionaries Achieved
There were two main contributions that the Revolutionaries made, according to Chaman Lal. One
was that they exposed the ugly face of British colonialism before the masses of India. Secondly,
Bhagat Singh was deeply involved in his own ideological development and thus made a
breakthrough in revolutionary ideology in India. The author lauds the fact that even while going to
the gallows, Bhagat Singh was deeply immersed in a serious study of world revolutionary history
and was bent on spreading his message of anti-imperialism loud and clear. Bhagat Singh's story isset out as an example for people to follow in todays world and is set out as an inspiration to fight
the latent forces of colonialism that exist.
A Critique of the Article
Chaman Lal begins with the premise that neo imperialism can be fought by following Bhagat
Singh's story. Unfortunately, he doesnt follow up on this premise. What begins as an interesting
parallel ends u p being a routine description of Bhagat Singh's life. One wishes that the parallel had
been extended to every incident in Bhagat Singh's life as they are actually relevant to current
circumstances. For example the need for a socialist movement is as necessary today as it was at that
time. The British were driven out only to be replaced by their Indian counterparts. It would have
been better if the author would have developed this point. Of course, the author does a stellar job of
fitting the whole of Bhagat Singh's life into eight pages and as a description, the article is highly
informative. A final problem with the article is the almost worshipful tone that the author adopts
while describing Bhagat Singh and the last part of the article sounds too close to preaching the path
of revolution. What started as an article that was very promising in its premise ends up being an
informative, yet disappointing narration of events.
Article II
Atis Dasgupta. Centenary of Martyrdom of Four Militant Nationalists of Bengal 2
Focus of the Article
2 A. Dasgupta, Centenary of Martyrdom of Four Militant Nationalists of Bengal, Social Scientist, Vol. 38, No. 1/2(Jan. - Feb., 2010), pp. 77-87
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The focus of the article is on the events involving four early revolutionaries who operated in the
Bengal region. Prafulla Chaki, Khudiram Bose, Kanailal Dutta, and Satyendranath Bose laid down
their lives in 1908 in their struggle against British imperialism. Having acquired a distaste for the
wordy politics of the moderate leaders of the Indian National Congress, the struggle for swaraj
became a militant struggle and subsequently the British unleashed a reign of terror.
Charges Against the Revolutionaries
Khudiram, Kanailal, and Satyendranath went to the gallows bravely inside the prison of the colonial
rulers. Broadly accused fortreason orwaging waragainst the British Government and arrested for
the Muraripukur bomb case, Muzaffarpur assassination case, Medinipur conspiracy case, and the
Alipore bomb case, they also faced another charge which was of killing another inmate a member
of Kanialals party who acted as an approver in their trial.
Confessions of Two Kinds
A common tactic of the militants was to give confessions for the militant activities carried out in the
geographical region from where they were arrested. The British however soon learnt about this
tactic. Often there were disagreements among party leadership about whether to give confessions or
not and to what extent. But despite these disagreements they did not react to the path adopted by the
other. However, the case of Narendranath Gossain was different and he was assassinated for his
second confession to the British whereby he turned approver.
The Assassination of Narendranath
Narendranath Gossain, who was arrested with others subsequently joined forces with the British
authorities and became an approver. In his second confession to the police, he revealed a substantial
amount of organizational details of the militant secret societies. Pursuant to this he was lodged with
the European prisoners. Kanailal and Satyendranath planned the killing of Narendranath and with
Aurobindo Ghosh's support they acquired two pistols. Kanailal faked illness and while he was taken
to the prison hospital along with Satyendranath, they killed Narendranath. This incident had two
purposes. First, the purpose was to kill Narendranath before he divulged more information about the
organisation and its activities and secondly to send a chill through the British regime that a crime of
such measure could happen under their very nose. The acts of these revolutionaries gained them
widespread mass support to the extent where the British refused to hand over the ashes of the
executed revolutionaries, fearing that they would be sold and would lead to further mobilisation of
the masses.
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Importance of the Article
When we think about the revolutionary element of the Indian National Movement, the first people
who come to mind are Bhagat singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. What people tend to forget is that, as
famous as these incidents were, they were part of a much larger tradition of revolution. This article
discusses four such revolutionaries whose stories are largely forgotten and have been drowned in
the larger narrative that is the freedom struggle and the Indian National Congress. Even when
discussing the Bengal revolutionaries, the Chittagong group led by Surya Sen dominate the
discussion due to the scale of activity, advanced planning and most of all due to their depiction in
popular culture as revolutionaries of note. This article shows us that the early revolutionaries were
no less astute in their planning and no less courageous in their actions. To slip in weapons into a
British prison and then assassinate a highly protected turncoat obviously needs an unimaginable
degree of planning and courage. The impact that they had in terms of shaking the belief of theBritish in their invincibility was no less than the impact that the more popular revolutionaries had.
The article is one of the few attempts to get lesser known stories of the freedom struggle out into the
public domain and it reinforces the fact that every story and every contribution, however small,
deserves to be told and appreciated. It does not matter that the article is merely a description of
events with minimal analysis of aspects such as the ideology and beliefs of the revolutionaries being
discussed. The first step to understanding these aspects would be to know about the events
themselves and that purpose is well served by the article.
Article III
Irfan Habib, The Left and the National Movement3
Marx and Indian Liberation
The Left as understood in the National Movement is essentially the sum total of all those elements
at that time which owed allegiance to the socialist outlook. Marx according to Habib, inspite of
prioritizing issues relating to capitalism and class struggle took a keen interest in Indias Liberation
Movement. Both Marx and Engels criticized the British bourgeoisie approach in India. Habib also
clarifies that the Indian National Congress did not exactly have any connections with the working
class movement which was sweeping Europe and America.
Soviet Revolution and Communist International
3 I. Habib, The Left and the National Movement, Social Scientist, Vol. 26, No.5/6 (May June, 1998),pp.3-33.
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Habib comments on how until the Soviet revolution the national liberation movement did not have a
socialist component. The October revolution was the turning point. Over a period of time the
socialist movement began to be considered a distinct part of the National Movement. Despite this
Lenin recognised that essentially every nationalist movement in the enslaved countries had to be a
bourgeois democratic movement. He realised that a majority of the population was too poor or
backward to care or actually do something tangible. Habib also points out a strange situation which
existed in these countries. MN Roy travelled to Tashkent, answering the call for need to form
communist organisations.
Emergence of Socialist and Left Ideals in India
This emergence can be attributed to the early writing by Dadabhai Naoroji concentrating on the
poverty of Indians and subsequent mobilization of the masses by Gandhi. Habib points out themanner in which Gandhi carefully moved towards the mobilizing opinion against the land owners.
There were scattered protests against the land holding patterns all over the country. Even the
Congress had realised that their struggle needed to translate into a movement involving workers and
peasants.
Meerut, the Suppression of Communists and the Evolution of the Left
Communists were persecuted heavily by the Government in the Cawnpore and Peshawar
Conspiracy cases. The heaviest blow was dealt in the Meerut Conspiracy case which proved to be a
turning point in the career of the Left in India. The Left really got going only after the Meerut
accused were released from prison, which was in 1933. In a period of a mere fourteen years this
group of young men set up mass organisations of workers, peasants and students, on an impressive
scale. This set the intellectual agenda for the entire National Movement on a whole range of issues.
The Left achieved all this despite severe repression, including long years of incarceration.
The major part of the article deals with the evolution of the left into the National Front and then into
the Communist Party, which was the only part of the National Front to negotiate successfully with
the British to stop the persecution of the Communists. It also outlines the role that the Communists
played in dealing with the communal violence during partition.
Importance of the Article
The history of the Communist Movement in India is a story of incredible sacrifice, courage and
dedication. Facing constant persecution by the British and also opposition from the Indian elite, the
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Communists worked tirelessly for the masses. M.N. Roy and his comrades took up organisation at
the grassroots and even though in the larger picture the impact was middling at best, as is evidenced
by their limited popularity post Independence, they were the true mass oriented element of the
National Movement. As Bhagat Singh puts it the masses might not be for the Revolution but the
Revolution is for the masses.
Further the Communists were one of the few elements in the freedom movement who ascribed to a
concrete set of ideas. They were the first significant Party to oppose communalism and generally
reduced the ideological vacuum that the National Movement ultimately became. For this alone, no
discussion of the National Movement would be complete without a tribute, such as is paid by Habib
at the end of the paper, to the Left in the National Movement.
Article IV
Amit Kumar Gupta, Defying Death: Nationalist Revolutionism in India, 1897-19384
There are three phases of revolutionary activity discussed in this article which are as follows:
Activity in the First Phase (1897-1910)
With indirect help from Tilak, the assassination of Rand, the British Plague Commissioner, on June
22nd 1897 by the Chapekar brothers heralded the beginning of planned revolutionary activity in
India. The first phase ends with with the persecution of the Abhinav Bharat group in the Nasik
Conspiracy Case including life imprisonment for Ganesh Savarkar. The Revolutionaries retaliated
with the assassination of Sir Curzon Wyllie and the back and forth continued as the British hanged
Madan Lal Dhingra and Khudiram Bose. Aurobindo Ghosh seems to be the driving force in this
phase and activity came to a halt with him leaving for Pondicherry.
In the first phase the methods of the Revolutionaries resemble those of the European anarchists in
the use of political dacoities for funds, though there is no idelogical similarity between the two
groups. Though the Revolutionaries developed a vague relationship with British socialist, H.M.
Hyndman; the French socialists, Jean Jaures and Jean Longuet; the Russian social democrat,
4
Amit Kumar Gupta, Defying Death: Nationalist Revolutionism in India, 1897-1938, Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No.9/10 (Sep. - Oct., 1997), pp. 3-27
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Michael Pavlovich, and the Russian anarchist, Nicholas Sofronski, Hindu mysticism was dominant
among them. This proved to be a hindrance as other communities could not relate to the Hindu
symbols being used. The impact they had was in inspiring later revolutionaries, such as Bhagat
Singh, in their fearless approach towards death
The Second Phase of Revolution (1911-1918)
Activity in the second phase had its origins outside the country. tTe Ghadar Movement, was created
by Sohan Singh Bhakna. in British Columbia and the Pacific Coast states of the United States of
America. Other movements included the Free Hindustan movement set up by Taraknath Das in
Vancouver, Canada. The revolutionaries abroad had maintained links with their home lan and
during WWI saw an opportunity to overthrow the British. Some similarity can be found here
between the Indians and the Irish although no proof of any connections between the two exists. TheGhadar Movement planned to procure arms from enemies of the British, such as Germany, transport
them to India and train an army to fight the British. Arms were procured but the transportation was
bungled and they never reached India. The masses also did not join the movement in large numbers
and the organisation, apart from that of some competent leaders like Rash Behari Ghosh, was weak
and ultimately failed. The Ghadar was explicitly secular and shunned the use of Hindu mysticism.
However the approach to death remained in the mould of Dhingra and Khudiram Bose.
The Third Phase (1919 - 1938)
The withdrawal of the Non Cooperation Movement in 1922 and prevailing social circumstances of
extreme poverty and oppression were the driving forces for the beginning of the third phase of
revolution. A third driving force was the upsurge of communism, socialism and the Russian
Revolution.
The revolutionary groups realized that the emancipation of the people, being dependent on the
building up of an egalitarian society, needed to be a prominent part of their propaganda. It was the
first concerted effort by these groups to create a ideological discourse around their activities. This
was especially true of the Indian Republican Army and the Hindustan Republican Association,
which later transformed into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. The ideological trend of the
H.R.A. progressed further in the socialistic direction and in due course took the shape of a
Marxism-oriented revolutionary political ideology under its successor organisation, the Hindustan
Socialist Republican Army.
The HSRA through Bhagt Singh and his comrades and the Indian Republican Army led by Surya
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Sen carried out significant revolutionary activity simultaneously. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt
bombed the Central Legislative Assembly and for this Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were
hanged. Surya Sen led a group including many women revolutionaries, another characteristic of the
third phase, in a raid on the chittagong Armoury and on the railway and telegraph lines in Bengal.
Ultimately this group too was eliminated by the British after three years of fighting. The impact that
these revolutionaries had was tremendous. The author says that at the time of his death Bhagat
Singh was as popular as Gandhi. Surya Sen also achieved fame to a lesser degree.
After the exit of Bhagat Singh and his comrades and that of Surya Sen the nationalist revolution in
India reached a saturation point, wherefrom it could go further ahead only by becoming drastically
more innovative than all its past advances. This was not easy to do by remaining purely
nationalistic, and by practicing revolutionism wholly through the secret societies. Consequently, somany demonstrations of individual heroics, and acts of startling reprisals in Punjab, Bihar, Tripura
and other places, between 1932 and 1935, could not really produce any breakthrough.
Importance of the Article
The article looks at revolution in the national movement as happening in three distinct phases but as
being one continuing process on the whole. Generally the links drawn between the three phases is
tenuous, but the author displays the common threads running through the phases extremely well.
For example the attitude towards death taken up by the Revolutionaries across the phases remained
the same fearless one.
The second important contribution of the article is that it shows us the evolution of the revolution. It
shows the transition from the Hindu mysticism of the first phase to the ideologically mature
revolutionaries of the third phase. Further the author discusses the transition from the revolution
being admired from a distance in the first phase to the intense adoration that Bhagat Singh acquired
through his actions. Another aspect of this evolution is the ending of male dominance in
revolutionary activities especially in Bengal with the immense acts performed by Pritilata
Waddedar, Shanti Ghosh and numerous other women. One thing remained constant however and
that was the desire of the revolutionaries to embrace death so that the revolution itself would be
deathless.