Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism: Essays in Modern Indian History 0195643135, 9780195643138

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Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism

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NATIONALISM, TERROR~SM,

COMMUNALISM Essays in Modern Indian History

Peter1ieehs

DELHI

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS CALCUTTA CHENNAI MUMBAI

1998

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.·. Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto and associates in

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© Oxford University Press 1998

ISBN 019564313 5

Typeset by SAARL. Pondicherry printed in India at Wadhwa lnter11alional, New Delhi 110 020 and published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001

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Contents ..

Preface

Vil

1

1

Introduction: Terrorism and the National Movement

2

The Maniktala Secret Society: An Early Bengali Terrorist Group

14

3

Aurobindo Ghose and Revolutionary Terrorism

42

4

Foreign Influences on Bengali Revolutionary Terrorism 68

5

Bengali Religious Nationalism and Communalism

6

Indian Communalism: A Survey of Historical and Social-Scientific Approaches

124

Appendix: Myth, History and Theory

143

Index

169

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Preface IFTY YEARS after achieving statehood, the Indian nation still

F

is in process of formation. A hundred years ago it did not exist. The movement that brought freedom from Britain created a sense of national unity - fragmented by comrriunalism into three separate countries. At the end of the nineteenth century nationhood .was looked on as an unmixed blessing, a condition that all civilized peoples enjoyed or to which they aspired. At the end of the twentieth century nationalism is regarded as the cause of much of the unprecedented violence that has defined the era. Yet few long for a return to the colonial order. At the turn of the century, colonizers and most of the colonized thought that order to be inevitable and even beneficial. Before a decade had elapsed, this notion had been successfully challenged in India. By 1930 most people in the country believed it should be independent. The ideal of independence was first publicly put forward by the advanced nationalists of Bengal in 1906. Their politics, and that of their moderate rivals, have been dealt with in a number of books and articles. In the essays published here I examine two related topics that have received insufficient attention: the links between the nationalist movement and the terrorist movement that arose around the same time, and the relationship between nationalism and communalism. The perceived success of the Gandhian technique of nonviolent non-cooperation in achieving the goals of the movement has obscured the role played by violent revolutionaries. In my first essay I examine the effect of terrorism and militancy on the course of the freedom movement. Going beyond the public stances of the British government and the Indian National Congress, I show that Gandhi derived much of his bargaining

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viii • Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism power from the unspoken threat of the violence he personally was opposed to. The second essay is a case study of a Bengali terrorist group, the 'secret society' whose headquaners was located in the Calcutta suburb of Maniktala. This was the first organization in India to engage in revolutionary activity with a clear political motive. After considering its aim and ideology, I look at its structure, its relation to other groups, and its activities, and close with a discussion of the reasons for its failure. The Maniktala society grew out of an organization founded by Aurobindo Ghose. Much confusion exists over the nature of his connection with the terrorist movement. My third essay is an examination of the sometimes contradictory evidence bearing on this question. I show that he was intimately connected with the Maniktala group and cognizant of its activities. While not a believer in the effectiveness of terrorism (as opposed to organized militancy), he at least tacitly approved of the society's attempts at assassination and robbery. Terrorism emerged as a means of bringing about political and social change in nineteenth-century Europe. When bombs . began going off in Bengal, European observers sought to discredit the Indian terrorist movement by claiming it was nothing but an imitative response to European 'anarchism'. My fourth essay is a study of the foreign influences on Bengali terrorism. I show that Bengali revolutionaries did read some 'anarchist' literature and make use of European technology. But there is nothing inherently European about the desire for freedom or the use of violent means to achieve it. Indian terrorism w&s a natural and indigenous response to European imperialism. .Many critics, noting the religious terminology and symbolism of turn-of-the-century nationalists and terrorists, have concluded that their ' religious nationalism' contributed directly to the rise of communalism. In my fifth essay I examine the discourse of Aurobin