Most of the countries of South Asia have faced the barbaric problem of violence targeted against religious minorities. The form of this may have been different, but the outcome has been similar, the brutality against religious minorities, violence against innocent human beings. The current times (Mid 2013) may be one of the worst when in the spate of short span of we are witness to violence in Pakistan, Bangla Desh, India and Myanmar, more or less running parallel. Many a times when talk about violence involving Muslims has been under discussion, some propagandists have tried to associate Islam with violence and so the strife. Similarly some others may say that Hinduism permits violence as in Gita or so and so is the problem. In popular perception Buddhism is the religion of peace. The truth is that while the religious precepts are for morality, the part of religion invoked for violence has more to do with contemporary political issues, which are given the garb of religion. While Lord Gautama Buddha is surely the major apostle of peace, one has seen violence by Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, Thailand and now overtly in Myanmar (March 2013).

Troops are keeping a vigil, martial law has been declared to stop the communal rage which has lasted for three days in Meikhatila in Myanmar. This violence has involved the Buddhists and Muslims.  Here the official toll stands at 31 dead, while the unofficial figures are higher.  A state of emergency has been declared in this state. As usual a trivial incident involving the argument between the Buddhist couple and a Muslim owner of gold shop resulted in the triggering of simmering dislikes and discord between these two communities resulting in violence. While one Buddhist monk has also been killed the major victims of the violence are Muslims. This bring to our memory the communal clash of June -July (2012) in Rakhine State in western Myanmar. In that violence officially 110 people were killed and it left 120,000 people homeless. Those killed and left homeless were mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims.

Interestingly the communal strife was under the wraps during the preceding dictatorial regime. With the efforts to bring in democracy in some form these strife’s are coming to surface due to the diverse and plural nature of Myanmar society, which is majority Buddhist but has substantial number of Muslim minorities. Rohingiya Muslims are probably the most persecuted minority in the world. Being a substantial number in Myanmar, they are from Indo-Aryan group, who settled in this part over a period of last couple of centuries, during the British rule, primarily. While the majority Buddhists are of Sino-Tibetan stock.  Muslims live in the Western state of Rakhine state on country’s Western border.  They have been adversely affected by the 1982 citizenship law, which has deprived them of the citizenship; there is a total violation of their human rights due to this unjust law. They are subjected to forced labour and have to work for the Government without any pay.  The UNHCR has noted that since 1991 their freedom of movement is restricted. They are treated like second class citizens. Facing this adverse situation of gross violation of their rights many of them are trying to flee to Thailand, Malaysia and other places amongst others.

In 2012, June-July the violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims was triggered by the rumour of rape of a Buddhist girl. As such it was a case of Muslim boy and Buddhist girl falling in love and eloping to get married. The boy was murdered and two of his friends who helped him to elope are facing death sentence.

Overall this reflects the unsolved problem of secularization and democracy in the region. The common factor in whole of South Asia is the migration of people for economic reasons, and with independence coming many of the dominating communities wanted to associate citizenship rights based on religion. Due to this some communities got deprived of citizenship formally or informally. Some were relegated to second class citizenship in practice. In Sri Lanka, the large number of Tamils who had gone there as plantation labour was denied equal rights and denied equality leading the extreme reaction in the form of formation of Liberation Tiger of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

In Myanmar 5% of the people are Muslims. Many of them had been the residents of this region from centuries. Denying them full citizenship defies all the logic of a modern democratic state. During the regime of military junta, which ruled the country for decades, a wrong precedent has been set, that of linking citizenship with religion. It requires deeper investigation as to why many a monks have an anti Islamic attitude. One knows similarly many a monks had played anti-Tamil role in Sri Lanka. There must be deeper societal processes which are at work and are usurping the democratic norms of equality of religions. One knows that democracy is coming up in Myanmar after long decades after long battles, but still the remnants of the communal divide are dogging this nascent democracy. In a way this is also the colonial legacy which subtly promoted the divisiveness in the society.

With this violence in Myanmar coming to the fore the whole South Asia has to wake up and come to the grips of the legacy of the colonial past, a legacy perpetuated due to economic and political policies of rulers, rulers who have in a short-sighted manner resorted to abuse of religious identity for their political goals. Some political tendencies have thrived on the identity of religions and spread the ‘Hate’ about ‘other’ community. It is retarding the process of development in each of South Asian countries and also putting strong brakes on the same. South Asia should have been striving towards the process of formation of South Asian Federation, which can expedite the processes leading to peace in the sub continent. Regional peace in turn is a prerequisite for development of the regions. We need to look beyond the narrow religious identities and promote the freedom of religion, equality of religions and dignity and honour for people of all the faiths for a better environment in those countries and a more congenial atmosphere for enhancement of human rights of weaker sections of society.

Issues in Secular Politics, I April 2013

www.pluralindia.com

Before I talk on Proscribed Gujarati Books, let me begin by some general observations. From strictly legal view point, books or periodicals were not banned or proscribed by the British Government, but their copies were forfeited to the Government. Legal basis and frame work for doing so was provided by Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (Act No. V of 1898), Section 99B.The act empowered the British Government  to forfeit copies of  any news paper, book, or any other document,  if in the opinion of the Government, it violated certain provisions of the Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860). Under the Act, the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, stating the grounds of its opinion, declare every copy of the issue of the newspaper containing such matter, words or visible representations, and every copy of such book or other document to be forfeited to Government, and thereupon any police-officer may seize the same wherever found in India and any Magistrate may by warrant authorize any police-officer not below the rank of sub-inspector to enter upon and search for the same in any premises where any copy of such issue or any such book or other document may be or may be reasonably suspected to be. It should also be added that this act, with certain modifications, has been retained by governments of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Copies of materials forfeited by the British Government are difficult to find even in major libraries in our country.  However, four major collections of such forfeited materials are preserved, two each in United Kingdom and India. In England these two collections are found at India Office Library administered by the British Library and at the British Museum. According to the information available from India Office Library, 49 Gujarati items and 58 Gujarati books (total of 107) were forfeited by the British Government. In India, two collections are to be found at the Home (Political) Proceedings housed in the National Archives and another, in the Library of National Archives of India. According to the information provided by National Archives of India, total of 61 items (books and issues of periodicals) in Gujarati were banned by the British Government. It is interesting to note that the United Kingdom collection is much larger than the one in India.

Another interesting fact should also be noted. Gandhi influenced Gujarati language and literature to such an extent that the period between 1920 and 1950 is usually referred to as the Gandhian Period of Gujarati literature. So, one would expect Gujarati books and periodicals to lead the tally of banned books in India.  But the number of forfeited Gujarati books is considerably less compared to some other languages. As per figures provided by the National Archives of India, largest number of such items (402) belongs to Hindi. Urdu comes second with 126 items, and Punjabi third with 114 items. These are followed by English (89 items), Marathi (88 items), Gujarati (61 items), and Bengali (48 items).

The earliest a Gujarati book was proscribed was in 1907. This was a book entitled Swadesh Kirtan Part 1. This 32 page booklet was published by Swadesh Mitra Mandal, Ahmedabad, and was printed by Chandra Prakash Press. The last one to be proscribed was a 94 page biography of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, written by Labhuben Mehta and published in 1941 by Bharati Sahitya Sangh, Ahmedabad. Labhuben is the only woman to appear in the list of authors of books proscribed by the British Government.

Swadesh kirtan, an anthology of patriotic songs, was first published in 1906, but somehow it seems to have escaped being noticed by the British Government. This was preceded by another anthology named Deshbhakti. That too was not proscribed. But second edition of Swadesh kirtan, published in 1907 was proscribed. The title page of this book does not mention any one as its editor. But the preface mentions the name of Ramanbhai Neelkanth (1868-1928), a leading Gujarati litterateur, as its editor. A possible reason for this is that the second edition had many more songs compared to the first edition. Second edition contains 83 songs. Some of the additions may have been found to be objectionable.    

Narayan Vasanji Thakkur (1884-1938) was a prolific writer. He published more than 100 books.  One of his social novels Aajkaalno Sudharo ke Ramaneey Bhayankarta published in 1911 was also proscribed. Even with a close reading, one cannot find anything against the  Government in this 352 page novel. Then why would the Government ban it? This was perhaps because the book is out and out against social reforms. And in the process of denigrating the movement for social reforms, it also criticizes, even ridicules, everything British – their social, educational, and legal systems, their penchant for alcohol and non-vegetarian food, etc. Ever since the social reform movement began in Gujarat in the second quarter of the 19th century, a small but vociferous group opposed everything modern, everything western.  Thakkur belonged to this group. 

It was intriguing for me to find an album of Gandhiji’s photographs in the list of proscribed books. But when I saw the book, the reason for doing so was apparent. All photographs in the book relate to the 1930 Dandi March and the accompanying text, written by Rasiklal Parikh (1897-1982) is highly critical of the Government’s handling of the March. He has also quoted extensively from Gandhiji’s articles and speeches. 

Even after considerable efforts, I have not been able to find any biographical details for ‘Blind Poet Hansrajbhai.’ But he was one of the most popular songsters during the period of our freedom movement. Rashtreey Rangeeto is an 18 page booklet, but almost every page has dynamite laid on it for the British Government. One of the songs opens thus:

ક્યાં સુધી સામ્રાજ્ય સત્તા, ચંદરોજ
ક્યાં સુધી એની મહત્તા, ચંદરોજ.

It can be loosely translated as:
How long would the Empire last? Few days, indeed.
How long would its glory last? Few days, indeed.

Another song describes British Courts as temples of injustice.  But perhaps the most popular song was
પરદેશી ભૂખ્યાં ટોપીવાળાનાં ટોળાં ઉતર્યાં.

How the hoards of hungry vultures that have descended on our Motherland from abroad have ruined and ransacked our rich treasures – that is the theme of this longish song. During my childhood I heard this song being sung by my elder brother who was a staunch Gandhian and who participated in the freedom movement.

Traditionally, we refer to Gujarati literature produced between 1920 and 1950 as literature of the Gandhian Period (Gandhi Yug). But surprisingly, not many books written by leading lights of this period appear in the list of banned books.  Two exceptions are Zaverchand Meghani and Manubhai Pancholi, alias ‘Darshak.’  Zaverchand Meghani earned the title of ‘the National Poet’ from a person no less than Gandhiji. Most of the poets and poems related to our freedom movement are almost forgotten today, but Meghani and his poems are an exception. His Sindhoodo, a 30 page booklet containing only 16 songs, is perhaps the most celebrated of books proscribed by the British Government. It was first published on April 6, 1930, the first day of the Civil Disobedience Movement. By the time the British Government proscribed it, most of its ten thousand copies were already sold. Unnerved by its popularity, the British Government charged Meghani with making a seditious speech and the Court at Dhandhuka (a town in Saurashtra region of Gujarat) sentenced him to imprisonment for two years. After the magistrate delivered his judgment, with his permission, Meghani recited one of the poems contained in Sindhoodo.

હજારો વર્ષની જૂની અમારી વેદનાઓ,
કલેજાં ચીરતી કંપાવતી અમ ભયકથાઓ

A report published in the weekly ‘Saurashtra’ of May 3, 1930 says that when Meghani recited this poem, everyone in the jam packed court room was in tears, including Judge Isani. The book was issued in hand written and mimeographed edition exactly after two years of its first publication, that is on April 6, 1932, and five thousand copies were sold out in no time. Subsequently, the book has been reprinted several times, the last enlarged edition being in 2011. 

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s speeches made during the 1930 movement were collected in two volumes under the title Veerni Hakal. The first edition of ten thousand copies of the first volume was sold out within no time. Second volume was published within a few months. However, the British Government proscribed both volumes. Preface to the first volume was written by Mahadev Desai, personal secretary to Gandhi, while awaiting arrest in a police station.

Kalyanji Mehta, a veteran freedom fighter from Surat collected some songs popular during the freedom struggle under the title Swarajyana Geeto. The first volume containing some 155 songs by various poets was published in 1931 to mark Gandhiji’s birth day, and was soon proscribed.  The second edition, containing 157 songs, was published in 1938 to mark the 51st Session of the Congress held at Haripura. By this time, the then Bombay State had a Congress Government, and its Home Minister Dr. Kanaiyalal Munshi had revoked the ban imposed earlier.  

Krantine Marge, (On the Road to Revolution) was written in 1930 but was published in 1932. Author Prabhakar Biharilal wanted Kaka Kalelkar to write its preface and so gave him the manuscript. Kalelkar put it in his travel bag so that he can read it while traveling. But the bag was stolen during one of his train journeys. Kalelkar issued press advertisements requesting the thief to return at least the manuscript. But he did not. Luckily, the author had another copy of the book and Kalelkar ultimately wrote preface to the book, hence the delay in its publication. But the book was proscribed soon after its publication.

Manubhai Pancholi, ‘Darshak,’ a leading Gandhian freedom fighter and Gujarati litterateur, published two plays in quick succession. Jaliyavaalaa was published in 1934 and 1857 in 1935. Both were proscribed by the Government. The reason is obvious. Both works, as plays, are poorly written. Raghuveer Chaudhari, a leading critic has described them as rough drafts of plays that Darshak wished to write. Later on Darshak wrote a novel, Bandhan ane Mukti, dealing with the 1857 events. The novel is much more satisfactory than the play. What is more remarkable is the preface to ‘1857,’ written by Amritlal Sheth, a leading journalist and freedom fighter.  In his preface he obviously disagrees with British historians who dubbed what happened in 1857 as ‘Sepoy Mutiny.’ But he also disagrees with Sawarkar and his followers who described the events of 1857 as ‘War of Independence.’ Sheth argues that the rulers were interested in getting back their lost power from the British Government. None of them was fighting for the power to the people. Sheth also believes that as a result of the 1857, the princely states became stronger, because they were spared the hanging sword of the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ followed by Lord Dalhousie. Sheth argues that had 1857 not happened, most of the territories would have come under the British Rule, and this would have united the country. One may or may not agree with Sheth, but one must appreciate his frankness and boldness.   

Prasthan Karyalaya, founded by Ramnarayan V. Pathak (1887-1955) has the distinction of having largest number of its publications getting proscribed. Pathak initially started Prasthan, a monthly. Later on he entered into book publishing and got seven of his books proscribed. Pathak, a staunch Gandhian, had joined Gujarat Vidyapeeth, founded by Mahatma Gandhi. While serving as a teacher of Gujarati language and literature, he started his monthly, off course with the knowledge and permission of the Vidyapeeth. However, when Kaka Kalelkar took over as its Chancellor (Kulapati) he insisted that Pathak should not publish anything against Gandhian ideals and ideas in his monthly. Pathak disagreed saying this would amount to curtailing freedom of thought and speech. All he can do is publish a rejoinder, if and when sent by Vidyapeeth. But Kalelkar stood firm, and so Pathak resigned his job and devoted all his time and energy to his monthly. Thus, he suffered at the hands of both, Gandhian Gujarat Vidyapeeth as well as the British Government. 

To sum up, most of the books that were highly popular during our freedom movement, and were proscribed by the British Government, are almost forgotten today. They were topical, and catered to the immediate need of instilling ‘deshbhakti.’ However, they form an important part of our literature, culture, and history. Hence they should be made easily available to those who wish to read them. For doing so, we need not reprint all these books. But National Archives or some other agency can easily scan them and load them on a website. This would save these books not only from physical disintegration, but also from getting dumped in the back yard of our collective memory. *

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*Paper presented at a State-level Seminar on ‘Proscribed Literature in India, 1757-1947’ hosted by the Department of History, S.N.D.T. Women’s University at Mumbai, on March 21 and 22, 2013

e.mail : deepakbmehta@gmail.com

During recent years farmers in India have been under great distress. The background to this is the governments’ neglect of investment in agriculture, which has decreased productivity, lead to a fall in farmers’ incomes and a burden of debts. Many farmers have had to borrow money from local lenders with annual interest charges of about 25 percent. These problems have plagued even the previously prosperous farming states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Punjab.

Punjab’s problem is of particular concern as that state was once the granary of India. The state used to produce more than one-fifth of the country’s wheat and about one-tenth of its’ rice. Today, however, Punjab’s farming scenario is a far cry from the earlier years of the Green Revolution. The State of the Environment report, 2007, notes that the varieties of wheat, rice and other crops produced have been markedly reduced. And yet, with the neglect of government investment, farmers’ expenditures on chemical fertilizers and other production inputs have increased and they are faced with high debts.

The debt burden has recently been analyzed by the Institute of Development and Communication. In the decade up to 2008 the burden had increased five-fold and had reached about 80 percent of farmers’ annual incomes.

The use of chemical fertilizers has lead to widespread contamination in communal ground water and has caused cancer and other health problems. Greenpeace has reported very high levels of contamination. The contamination caused by one farmer can cause health problems to its’ neighbors.

The health problems often require medical treatment. With the declining role of the public health sector, many farmers have had to turn to the high-cost private sector and this, in turn, has aggravated the burden of debt. A study reported in the Economic and Political Weekly estimates that health debts are the highest single component of the overall burden.

Many farmers are not able to repay all of their debts. This is mainly because of the high interest charges but also because some farmers’ health problems have reduced their capacity for arduous work. In the worst-case scenario these problems could result in an increase in the level of debt.

The debt burden could even lead to inter-generational problems. Children’s schooling may be at risk. A reputable daily newspaper, The Hindu, has reported that some parents who were not able to repay their debts have had to take the children out of school and put them to work. A detailed study undertaken at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, has found that financial constraints have been a major reason why children have had to drop out of school.

Recently these bleak prospects have been recognized even by the state and central governments. The Planning Commission has approved loans for the state governments to help pay off farmers’ debts. The impact of this has, however, yet to be seen. There could well be bureaucratic hold ups in the transfer of the monies to the farmers..

In the long run there is also a need for other measures to help enhance farmers’ incomes and reduce the risks to their health. Fortunately there are encouraging signs that farmers are adopting the methods organic farming. This will help reduce the dependence on chemical fertilizers.

Currently there are about 300 thousand organic farms in India. Although this is only a small proportion of the total the experience so far has been encouraging. The use of organic fertilizers has helped provide more income, per unit costs, and reduced the risks of cancer and other health problems.

But could organic farming be a panacea for all, or most, of the distressed farmers? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘No’. The increased incomes and saving in health expenditures may not be sufficient to repay the outstanding debts and allow the children to continue at school. There would still be need for some other policy measures. One such measure, that could have significant long run benefits, is the provision of free school education, or school vouchers to be given to those that attend school.

Homi Katrak

Visiting Professor 1998 – 2012

University of Surrey