Perspectives on Indian National Movement

 There is Debate regarding the political activities on INM which is regarded as largest mass movement by Vipin Chandra.. On the post modernist lines, Diff Groups looked at National Movement from diff perspectives.

Why Gandhi Approved violence in QIM?
Bipin Chandra  Indian national movement was the most spectacular mass movement whose warmth can still be felt at present times  Gramscian movement  War of position  War of manoeuvre	Francis Hutchins Gandhi was a politician  Non-violence to bring more people into the national movement and remove their fears Once that goal was achieved —>  non-violent not so imp

Cambridge school of history

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Subscribed to the views of Colonial administrators.

• Dufferin - INC as microscopic minority
• Jhon seelay - in "Expansion of england"- India as a nation is vulgar error which political scholars should aim at eradicating
• Churchil called Gandhi and Nehru as 'Men of straw' (having no integrity) and was against transferring power to them.

Scholars-

• Perscival Spear, Anil Seal, John Gallaghar  (SealSeelay shuru hue hi the per Science ki value Gai Ghar --Science+Ghar- british supporter)

 India is not a nation hence no nationalism in India. India is just a geographical expression. It was not national movement but a communal movement. No national leader just communal leaders, guided by animal instinct. were fighting less with British more among themselves. competing to gain patronage of British. Creation of pak was logical end to the communal politics.

• Herbert Risley- Conducted caste census.
• Gellner- Nationalism is derivative discourse- not original, just anti British.

Criticism-

• Conquest of mind. To justify colonial administrators. They wanted to build ideological hegemony.
• Partha  chatarjee- Ethnocentrism. Every nation has unique renaissance.

Response of nationalists- two types

•  early nationalist- nation in making (SN Banarjee)
• young leaders like Aurobindo - India was a nation, is a nation and will always be a nation.

Note- Western scholars predicted that by 1960s, experiment of India will be over. However history has proved them wrong as India is standing still and thriving.

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Legacy of British Raj 

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Marxists like Immanuel Wallerstein Colonialism concept by Marxists  Core and peripheries  Relationship of  Uneven exchange and unequal development  Development of Underdevelopment

Rabindranath Tagore  When the British will leave the country, they will leave behind so much filth that even generations of Indians will not be able to clean the mess

Conclusion  Colonial legacy is such that Indian neighbourhood is tumultuous and preventing the Asian century from ushering in

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Marxist 

Benedict Anderson  Nationalism is Invented tradition	Karl Marx Colonialism as a source modernisation for India  Revolt of 1857: rebellion by feudal class	MN Roy  (radical humanist perspective) India in Transition  Leadership of Congress as bourgeoisie  Rejected that Gandhi was working in the interest of masses  INC will join hands with imperialists.

Marxist Historians  RP Dutt (india Today) and AR Desai (Rip datt - marxists - conspiracy) Indian Movement was bourgeoise movement - RP Dutt says - gandhi was mascot of bourgeoisie INC not working in favour of masses	Sumit Sarkar  Cautioned Marxist scholars for taking a casual approach  INC - not any benefit to masses but incorrect to say that it was a well planned conspiracy against the masses. Indians were not so sharply divided that they could not be constituted as a nation	Bipin Chandra  More sympathetic beige  Movement led by INC was national movement  Largest mass movement  Most spectacular mass movement ;warmth is still felt in present times

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Subaltern perspective

(Write the same in peasant movement ) - 

(Ranjeet valia paan bhikh me maang rha tha, lekin hiran kha gya -- all became anti elite).

Ranjeet Guha	Gyanendra Pandey	Bhikhu Parekh	Hiren Mukharjee	Sahid Amim
calls nationalist narrative as 'Blinkered view of history' . It looks like spiritual biography of elites	No concrete contribution of Gandhi towards masses	Gandhi looked himself as 'Yug Purush'	Gandhi although not a conscious tool of bourgeoisie yet he never wanted that masses should come out of his influence	Gandhi wanted masses to worship him

Include Gramsci and dalit perspective.

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Socialist perspective

(perspective of Congress socialist party)

Two stream 

• First of MN roy- 1stage revolution- challenged the leadership of Gandhi
• 2nd of Leninist- 2 stage revolution - accommodated with Gandhi

People involved-

• Bose, Lala lajpat roy. Nehru.

Aim-

• Land reform. No use of religion. Anti imperialism.
• Against sectarian approach of CPI

JP Narayan	Acharya Narendra Dev
in his book 'Why socialism" criticised Gandhian approach as utopia. "Gandhi doesn't understand the class contradiction of indian society." However later accepted many ideas of him (sarvoday, party-less democracy)	book- "Socialism and national revolution" , found Gandhi overtly religious,

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Dalit Perspective 

• Debate regarding the political activities
• Diff Groups looked at National Movement from diff perspectives
• Dalit perspective is the subaltern perspective in Gramscian terms 
• Perspective is the critique of the movement led by Congress.

(Per Yar Phul gye Bed pe  - Daal gir gyi thi)

Jyotiba Phule  book - gulamgiri INM, Brahmanistic movement British raj is better than Peshwa Raj  Praised British for Rule of Law and EBL	Ambedkar What Congress and  Gandhi have done to untouchable Rejected India as nation  India a community of different warring camps- "India is large community of many segmented communities" Critical of INC and Gandhi - Supression of dalits by local tyrants Advised dalits not to join  Jinnahs 2 nation  Separate Electorates  JSM Gaikwad - "BRA's approach was realistic. his criticism forced INC to become more responsive towards Dalits"	Periyar Socrates of India  INC - party of Brahmanism Justice party Self respect movement - as a counter of INM. Jinnah 2 nation  Dravid nadu

Worshipping false gods- Arun shouries

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Nationalist perspective - (Foucault's knowledge power connection)

• Vipin chandra - largest mass movement.
• RC majumdar
• The History and Culture of the Indian People (1977)
• Dr Tarachandra.
•  History of the Freedom Movement in India (1967)

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Indian Constitution as General Will 

Indian Constitution as first and foremost a social document.(Description of the constitution)

• Aim of freedom movement was not just to achieve political freedom but give a life of dignity to the millions
  IC - revolutionary document - Extremely traditional society was to be converted into a modern society
• Rightly called as the cornerstone of the nation(by Graneville austin)
• Can be given credit for holding the nation together
• Wisdom and foresightedness of members of the Const Assly
• Indian Judiciary which has ensured that it remains a living document
• One of the best works on Const - Graneville Austin - Pol rev was over — S&E was to start
• Constitutions are Power Maps 
• But IC is unique as it makes a commitment to achieve JLEF 
• Social Aims -
• Preamble 
• FRs 
• DPSPs 
• Show that it is first and foremost a social document.

Granville Austin  Constitution as the Cornerstone of the nation  One party assly in a one party state  Congress was india, Indian was congress	Pratap Bhanu Mehta What is Constitutional Morality  There as not been a serious or deep historiography ( Study of written history  ) associated with the constitution to put the constitution in the right context	Aditya Nigam  Calls the constitution as A text without author.

SC If anyone understands the nature the composition of Constituent Assly they would not challenge its representativeness	National Commission for review of Constitution by NDA -  No fundamental change	Bipin Chandra  GOI Act influence on Constitution Indian consti was not a complete break from the past. A colonial legacy is continuing India did not start with a clean slate like China