05-11-2005, 06:31 AM
The spirit of 1857
Subramanian Swamy
In a way, 1857 is even more significant for Indian nationhood and history than 1947. The spirit of the "First Indian War of Independence" stood the country in good stead during the freedom struggle. The framework and spirit of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood exemplified by 1857 must be revived.
ON MAY 10, 1857, Indian soldiers of the regiments stationed in Meerut killed their British officers, marched to Delhi, and liberated the city from British control. They proclaimed 82-year-old Bahadur Shah Zafar as the "Emperor of Hindustan." The Emperor then appointed a Hindu, Mukund Ram, as his "Prime Minister" just as Nana Saheb Baji Rao, the adopted son of the Peshawas and partner in the revolt, appointed a Muslim, Azimullah as his "Prime Minister." At the Red Fort, the Bhagwa Dhwaj (saffron flag) was unfurled.
The uprising did not last long. In Delhi it was over by September 1857. The domino effect in the country as a whole was contained by end 1858. But the popular uprising fired the imagination of the nation. From the ashes of the burnt-out revolution, sparks continued to ignite revolt in the country until Mahatma Gandhi led the nation finally to freedom in 1947.
Exactly 148 years later, the whole of India has become oblivious of this historic date and of the event that was the forerunner of India's freedom. No meetings, no discussions over television, no resolutions for this revolutionary day in a country that is ready to celebrate or mourn anything or anybody. We forgot May 10, 1857 because we were programmed for nearly a century to delete it from our collective memory.
In a way, 1857 is more significant for Indian nationhood and history than even the 1947 "tryst with destiny." The British imperialists who understood the significance and import of that uprising ensured that it was ridiculed and downgraded as a "Sepoy mutiny," as a sporadic and limited uprising of soldiers ignited by obscurantist factors such as an aversion to `pig fat' in the cartridges. Marxist thinkers also tended to play it down as a "reaction." In a series of articles published in 1857, Karl Marx termed it as an army revolt, "a military mutiny"but of national proportion only because "the natives' apprehension" that the government might otherwise interfere with their religion. It was only in 1957 that the Marxist writer P.C. Joshi corrected the perspective.
Savarkar's stand
In 1909, Veer Savarkar challenged the diminution and degradation of the 1857 uprising. He wrote his account of 1857 under the title The Indian War of Independence: 1857. It was printed in Holland, nevertheless the British authorities proscribed it. Savarkar re-interpreted 1857 as a war of independence, and his magnum opus served to fire the imagination of youth for years to come. His involvement with those who conspired to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi dimmed the shine of his work. However, in the end, Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister commemorated his memory by issuing a special postal stamp in his honour.
Savarkar saw 1857 as an uprising of the national spirit that aroused "sepoy and civilian, king and pauper, Hindu and Mahomedan" to revolution. In his book he asks: "What, then were the real causes and motives of this revolution? What were they that for them men by the thousand willingly poured their blood year after year? What were they that Maulvis preached them, learned Brahmins blessed them, that for their success prayers went up to Heaven from the mosques of Delhi and the temples of Benares?" His answer: "These great principles were Swadharma [one's duty] and Swaraj [self-government]."
He approvingly quotes the newly installed Emperor of Hindustan's Proclamation: "Hindus and Mohamadans of India! Arise! Brethren arise! Of all the gifts of God, the most gracious is that of Swaraj. God does not wish that you should remain idle. He has inspired in the hearts of Hindus and Mohamedans the desire to turn the English out of our country." He credits Nana Sahib, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Rani of Jhansi, and Khan Bahadur Khan of Rohilkhand along with the priests, Brahmins and Maulvis, with forcefully attempting a national consciousness of Hindustan to liberate the nation from foreigners.
This Hindustan would be "Swadesh" for both Hindus and Muslims. Savarkar explains this adherence to the concept of Hindustan as follows: "As long as the Mohamedans lived in India in the capacity of rulers, so long, to be willing to live with like brothers was to acknowledge national weakness. Hence, it was, up to then, necessary to consider the Mahomedans as foreigners." He then holds that after the heroism of Guru Gobind, Rana Pratap, and the Mahrattas, that grievance was no more valid, and that the original distinction between the Hindus and Muslims "must be laid to eternal rest." Both communities, he adds in his opus, are children of the soil of Hindustan, children of the same Mother India, and of the same blood. He exhorted all to "create a passionate desire in the Hindustan for this ideal, and make all the country to rise simultaneously for the purpose of achieving it."
The 1857 spirit stood us in good stead through the freedom struggle. The framework for Hindu-Muslim brotherhood brilliantly set out in The War of Independence: 1857 needs to be revived. For that we must celebrate May 10, 1857 equally with August 15, 1947.
(The writer is President of the Janata Party.)
Subramanian Swamy
In a way, 1857 is even more significant for Indian nationhood and history than 1947. The spirit of the "First Indian War of Independence" stood the country in good stead during the freedom struggle. The framework and spirit of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood exemplified by 1857 must be revived.
ON MAY 10, 1857, Indian soldiers of the regiments stationed in Meerut killed their British officers, marched to Delhi, and liberated the city from British control. They proclaimed 82-year-old Bahadur Shah Zafar as the "Emperor of Hindustan." The Emperor then appointed a Hindu, Mukund Ram, as his "Prime Minister" just as Nana Saheb Baji Rao, the adopted son of the Peshawas and partner in the revolt, appointed a Muslim, Azimullah as his "Prime Minister." At the Red Fort, the Bhagwa Dhwaj (saffron flag) was unfurled.
The uprising did not last long. In Delhi it was over by September 1857. The domino effect in the country as a whole was contained by end 1858. But the popular uprising fired the imagination of the nation. From the ashes of the burnt-out revolution, sparks continued to ignite revolt in the country until Mahatma Gandhi led the nation finally to freedom in 1947.
Exactly 148 years later, the whole of India has become oblivious of this historic date and of the event that was the forerunner of India's freedom. No meetings, no discussions over television, no resolutions for this revolutionary day in a country that is ready to celebrate or mourn anything or anybody. We forgot May 10, 1857 because we were programmed for nearly a century to delete it from our collective memory.
In a way, 1857 is more significant for Indian nationhood and history than even the 1947 "tryst with destiny." The British imperialists who understood the significance and import of that uprising ensured that it was ridiculed and downgraded as a "Sepoy mutiny," as a sporadic and limited uprising of soldiers ignited by obscurantist factors such as an aversion to `pig fat' in the cartridges. Marxist thinkers also tended to play it down as a "reaction." In a series of articles published in 1857, Karl Marx termed it as an army revolt, "a military mutiny"but of national proportion only because "the natives' apprehension" that the government might otherwise interfere with their religion. It was only in 1957 that the Marxist writer P.C. Joshi corrected the perspective.
Savarkar's stand
In 1909, Veer Savarkar challenged the diminution and degradation of the 1857 uprising. He wrote his account of 1857 under the title The Indian War of Independence: 1857. It was printed in Holland, nevertheless the British authorities proscribed it. Savarkar re-interpreted 1857 as a war of independence, and his magnum opus served to fire the imagination of youth for years to come. His involvement with those who conspired to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi dimmed the shine of his work. However, in the end, Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister commemorated his memory by issuing a special postal stamp in his honour.
Savarkar saw 1857 as an uprising of the national spirit that aroused "sepoy and civilian, king and pauper, Hindu and Mahomedan" to revolution. In his book he asks: "What, then were the real causes and motives of this revolution? What were they that for them men by the thousand willingly poured their blood year after year? What were they that Maulvis preached them, learned Brahmins blessed them, that for their success prayers went up to Heaven from the mosques of Delhi and the temples of Benares?" His answer: "These great principles were Swadharma [one's duty] and Swaraj [self-government]."
He approvingly quotes the newly installed Emperor of Hindustan's Proclamation: "Hindus and Mohamadans of India! Arise! Brethren arise! Of all the gifts of God, the most gracious is that of Swaraj. God does not wish that you should remain idle. He has inspired in the hearts of Hindus and Mohamedans the desire to turn the English out of our country." He credits Nana Sahib, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Rani of Jhansi, and Khan Bahadur Khan of Rohilkhand along with the priests, Brahmins and Maulvis, with forcefully attempting a national consciousness of Hindustan to liberate the nation from foreigners.
This Hindustan would be "Swadesh" for both Hindus and Muslims. Savarkar explains this adherence to the concept of Hindustan as follows: "As long as the Mohamedans lived in India in the capacity of rulers, so long, to be willing to live with like brothers was to acknowledge national weakness. Hence, it was, up to then, necessary to consider the Mahomedans as foreigners." He then holds that after the heroism of Guru Gobind, Rana Pratap, and the Mahrattas, that grievance was no more valid, and that the original distinction between the Hindus and Muslims "must be laid to eternal rest." Both communities, he adds in his opus, are children of the soil of Hindustan, children of the same Mother India, and of the same blood. He exhorted all to "create a passionate desire in the Hindustan for this ideal, and make all the country to rise simultaneously for the purpose of achieving it."
The 1857 spirit stood us in good stead through the freedom struggle. The framework for Hindu-Muslim brotherhood brilliantly set out in The War of Independence: 1857 needs to be revived. For that we must celebrate May 10, 1857 equally with August 15, 1947.
(The writer is President of the Janata Party.)