Other Dimensions

Introduction

• The term Dalit was first used by Jyotirao Phule for the oppressed classes or untouchable castes of the Hindu.
• The Dalit movement began as a protest movement, to bring socio-political transformation in the status of Dalits in India.
• The Dalits were isolated, fragmented and oppressed by the hegemony of Upper Caste culture.
• With Maturity of time, the new polity, the postmodern administrative framework, the rational judicial system, the current forms of land tenure and taxation, the new patterns of trade, the liberal education system, and the network of communications emphasized the spirit of liberty, equality and social justice for Dalits.
• So, Dalit movement is basically a social revolution aimed for social change, replacing the age old hierarchical Indian society, and is based on the democratic ideals of liberty, equality and social justice.

Dalit Movements in Pre-Independence India

Introduction

• The women’s movement in India began as a social reform movement in the 19th century.
• During the colonial period, women’s movements in India were born out of the same historical circumstances and social milieu as the earlier 19th century social reform movements, which provoked a new thinking about various social institutions, practices and social reform legislations.

Background

• The advent of the Europeans into India did not change the situation of women.
• Like other Western powers, the primary objective of the British in the earlier days was trade.
• The introduction of English education first started to train Indians for jobs under British administration. This created upper class elites who began to doubt the rationale of many of the existing practices in their society
• The establishment and expansion of the British rule also encouraged British missionaries to enter their colonies and start schools, orphanages and destitute homes especially for widows.
  • They stood against sati, child marriage, purdah and polygamy.
  • The new Indian elite exposed to European liberalism of the 18rh century, through Western education, felt the urgency for reform of their own society.
• These resulted in women movements, which produced tangible results in the subsequent periods.

Women Movement in Colonial Period

• The women’s movements in the colonial period are mainly of two different concerns:
  1. Social reform movements
  2. Nationalist movements

1. Social Reform Movement

• The colonial intervention in the 19th century intruded into the areas of our culture and society and this affected transformation in our social fabric.
• This potential threat was sensed by the Indian intellectual reformers, exposed to western ideas and values.
• At this juncture, the Indian intellectual reformer sensitive to the power of colonial domination and responding to Western ideas of rationalism and liberalism sought ways and means of resisting this colonial hegemony.
• This cultural defense resulted in a paradoxical situation.
  • Spurred by new European ideas of rationalism and progress, the reformers tried to create a new society, modern yet rooted in Indian tradition.
• They began a critical appraisal of Indian society in an attempt to create a new ethos devoid of all overt social aberrations like polytheism, polygamy, casteism, sati, child marriage, illiteracy etc. all of which they believed were impediments to progress of women.
• Also, Women were seen as passive recipients of a more humanitarian treatment to be given by Western educated elite men. There was thus an attempt to reform women rather than reform the social conditions which opposed them.

• Thus the social reformers laid the foundation of the women’s movement in India.
  • Social reform movement was the first attempt to remove the obstacles in the life of women.
  • It created awareness among the people that women must be liberated and be made equal of men.

2. Nationalist Movement

• As a result of the social reform movement of the 19th century, the social evils were eliminated and opportunities were provided to women for their education.
• The expansion of women’s education and their admission to educational institutions had produced a sizable number of English educated middle class women by the late 19th century- and they made their presence felt in political activities
• Till 1919, the national movement was limited to the urban upper class and it was later with Gandhi’s entrance into the national movement, participation of the masses began to take place.
• In this phase, political developments and women’s participation in the National movement went hand in hand.

• Thus, it was primarily due to the efforts of women and their role in the freedom struggle that women got the right to vote and complete equality in the constitution of India.
• However a great gap arose between the theoretical status of women and their rights and what existed in reality

Introduction

• The developments across the world in Print Media, however came much later in 1780, when compared to developments across the world.
• Further, from the beginning of the 19th century, politically conscious Indians had been attracted to modem civil rights, especially the freedom of the Press.
• Sighting the Importance of Press, the struggle for the freedom of the Press became an integral part of the struggle for freedom.
• James Augustus Hickey is considered the father of Indian Press. He started the Bengal Gazette in the year 1780.

Importance of Press in Nationalist Struggle

• The Press was the chief instrument for carrying out this task, that is, for arousing, training, mobilizing and consolidating nationalist public opinion
  • In the period from 1870 to 1918, the national movement had not yet resorted to mass agitation through thousands of small and large Maidan meetings, nor did political work consist of the active mobilization of people in mass struggles.
  • The main political task then, was that of politicization, political propaganda and education and formation and propagation of nationalist ideology.
  • It was at these times, Press came into useful purpose.
• To accomplish the work of National Congress
  • During its inception, the Congress had no organization of its own for carrying on political work.
  • Its resolutions and proceedings had to be propagated through newspapers.
  • Gradually, the influence of the Press extended far beyond its literate subscribers.
    • Nor was it confined to cities and large towns.
    • A newspaper would reach remote villages and would then be read by a reader to tens of others.
  • In fact, most members of Congress were Journalists, as a result of which Powerful newspapers emerged during these years
    • These were the Hindu and Swadesamitran under the editorship of G. Subramaniya Iyer, Kesari and Mahratta under B.G. Tilak, Bengalee under Surendranath Banerjea, Amrita Bazar Patrika under Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh.
  • To conduct the role of Opposition to the British Government
    • Nearly all the major political controversies of the day were conducted through the Press.
    • Almost every act and every policy of the Government was subjected to sharp criticism, in many cases with great care and vast learning backing it up.
  • Press was meant to arouse Political consciousness
    • At that time existed, the Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code according to Which ‘whoever attempts to excite feelings of disaffection to the Government established by law in British India’ was to be punished with transportation for life or for any term or with imprisonment up to three years.
    • At such moment, Indian journalists adopted several clever strategems and evolved a distinctive style of writing to remain outside the reach of the law.
      • Since Section 124A excluded writings of persons whose loyalty to the Government was undoubted, they invariably prefaced their vitriolic writing with effusive sentiments of loyalty to the Government and the Queen.
      • Another strategem was to publish anti-imperialist extracts from London-based socialist and Irish newspapers or letters from radical British citizens knowing that the Indian Government could not discriminate against  Indians by taking action against them without touching the offending Britishers

Reaction of the British

• The British instituted a number of Censorship measures from early 1800s, at least one of which survives today – the sedition clause.
  • One of the most infamous targets of the Sedition clause was the Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who was tried and convicted thrice.
• Later, they introduced the Vernacular Press Act in 1878, aimed squarely at supressing non-English papers from criticising the Raj, as the voice against the colonial rule had risen greatly after the famine in 1876.
• As Nationalist movement, started gathering steam going into the 1900s, after establishment of Indian National Congress, the British began major crackdown of the Press by passing one act after another, like the Prevention of Seditious Meeting Act of 1911, Press Act of 1910, Criminal Law amendment Act of 1908.
  • The most disastrous of the act passed was the Press Act of 1910, which brought over 1000 newspapers under prosecution.
• When Civil Disobedience Movement was well underway, and Salt March was taken, the Press(Emergency Powers) Act was passed in 1931, and further strengthened during Second World War.
  • The act gave provincial governments power to suppress propaganda, for the Disobedience Movement and was later used as weapon to ban all talks of Congress
• Pre-Censorship was still evident in 1943
  • The Bengal Famine was reported by the Amrita Bazar Patrika. But, the British went so far as to ban the press from telling the country, that it was banned from talking about the famine, so that it could be brushed under the rug.

Despite all the opposition, the Press remained an ever-clever entity, as it continued its resistance by using underground papers, radio, art and graffiti. This continued till the British finally abdicated from India, creating the two countries – India and Pakistan.

Introduction

• The Indian National Movement was, in its initial stages during the second half of the nineteenth century, mainly confined to the educated middle classes.

• However, in course of time, it began to expand its social base and gradually other classes and sections of society began to join it.
• Eventually, the Modern Capitalist class began to emerge in India in the second half of the 19th Century.
• Till about World War I, there were few Indian capitalists and the size of their investments was also not substantial
  • Moreover, they were as yet largely dependent on the colonial government’s support.
  • At this stage of development, it was hardly possible for the Indian capitalists as a class to take an open confrontationist position with regard to the colonial state
  • Hence, they stayed away from the Swadeshi Movement (1905-08) and largely opposed the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22).
• Subsequently, however, the Capitalists’ position changed, and there were many Indian Capitalists’ who extended their support to the freedom struggle.

Emergence and Growth of the Capitalist Class in India

• Most early Indian industrialists developed from the merchants who played the role of middlemen and collaborators for British businessmen.
• There was thus a harmonious relationship in the early period between the big Indian businessmen and the British capitalists and the latter served as models for setting up industries in India in the initial period.
• There was steady growth of Indian industries since the mid-nineteenth century.
  • However, by the beginning of 20th Century, the faith in the beneficial effects of the Raj began to dwindle.
• Since the First World War, the Indian capitalists made inroads into many sectors.
  • The processes of import substitution, expansion of domestic market, growth of internal trade and transfer of capital from moneylending and land to industrial investment resulted in increasing control of Indian capital.
• Thus, by 1944, about 62% of larger industrial units and 95% of smaller industrial units were controlled by Indian capital. Industries such as sugar, cement, paper, iron and steel were established almost anew by Indian capitalists

Capitalist Response to National Movement in Early Phase

• Initially, the Indian businessmen kept a political low profile and tended to be on the right side of the rulers for the smooth conduct of their business and industry.
• They maintained close relations with the British:
  • Through the Bombay Association (formed in 1852), some of Bombay’s businesspeople experienced some amount of political activity and acquired some political awareness.
  • Later during the Ilbert Bill controversy, some of prominent businessmen, led by Jamsetji Jejeebhoy, participated in a big public meeting called by some nationalist leaders such as Pherozeshah Mehta, Dadabhai Naoroji and Badruddin Tyabji on 28 April 1883
• Thus, despite the display of political awareness and the realisation that the colonial government gave precedence to the British cotton industry over Indian ones, the Indian industrialists were too weak and too dependent on British technology to support Swadeshi Movement
  • As a result, the big capitalists generally remained opposed to the Swadeshi movement.

Mass Nationalism and the Capitalists

• The responses of the industrialists and the nationalists towards each other can be basically discussed in three phases:
  1. From the Rowlatt Satyagraha to the Simon Commission
  2. During the Civil Disobedience Movement and During the War, and
  3. Finally after the War

1. From Rowlatt Satyagraha to Simon Commission

• The mass and agitational phase of nationalism, began in 1918.
  • During this period, the large business houses did not provide any support to the Congress.
  • In fact, many of them actively opposed the movement and for this received favours from the colonial government, including knighthood.
• Another factor in political inactivity of the industrialists was a series of long labour strikes, particularly in Bombay, led by the Communists.
• The fear of socialism and violent labour unrest pushed the millowners closer to the government.
• During the Rowlatt Satyagraha and the Non-cooperation movement very few capitalists made donations for the Congress, and no industrialist signed the satyagraha pledge against the Rowlatt Bills in 1919.
  • On the other hand, the actual support from the business class came from small traders and shopkeepers who generally supported the movement
• Gandhi was aware that his call for boycott of foreign goods would lead to profiteering by Indian industrialists.
  • But the industrialists did not pay any heed to his appeal.
• Some industrialists such as Purshottamdas Thakurdas, Jamnadas Dwarkadas, Cowasji Jahangir and C. Setalvad openly opposed the movement.
  • They formed an Anti Non-cooperation Society in Bombay
• However, from 1922 onwards, the slump in the industry compelled most industrialists to side with the Congress in its demand for protection for industries.
  • At this time, their strategy was to try to influence the constitutionally-minded nationalist leaders to take a pro-Indian industry stand in the legislatures and to orient the Congress to speak in favour of business interests.
  • It was in this period, that the Indian business community established their central organisation called FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers Commerce and Industry) in 1927.

2. Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement

• Once the depression in the industry set in, the industrialists wanted the government to take strong measures to minimise their losses.
  • The demands of the industrialists included an increase in the duties on imported cotton goods, devaluation of rupee and no preferential treatment for the British cotton industries in Indian markets.
  • But, the colonial government refused to concede any of these demands.
• Also Indian Industrialists began to fear, that the Colonial Government refused to concede any of their demands
  • For example, the Ottawa Conference held in 1932 privileged the British industries in the colonial markets.
• Similarly, the decision of the colonial government to link the Indian rupee to the British pound and fix the rupee-sterling ratio, created suspicion in the minds of Indian Industrialists.
• The disenchantment led to pro-Congress tilt among the industrialists.
  • This resulted in capitalist support for the early phase of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Further, the rise of the Congress left wing and Nehru’s left-leaning speeches further alienated the capitalists from the Congress.
  • They were apprehensive of the Radical forces, and feared that it might work against Capitalism.
• Their interest in pro-Congress politics was only revived during the late 1930s when the Congress decided to work the Government of India Act of 1935.
• Later, while during the Second World War many businessmen reverted to a policy of close collaboration with the British authorities in order to benefit from the war orders.
• Hence the 1930s can be interpreted as:
  • 1930-31: a phase of relative unity
  • 1932-1936: a phase of open split
  • 1936-1939: a new phase of greater unity

3. Post-War Period

• Due to the ambivalent attitude of the Indian capitalist class, it never had a decisive influence on the nationalist politics.
• However, by early 1940s when it was clear that colonial rule would end, the capitalist class veered towards the position adopted by the Congress as was clear in its major policy document, the Bombay Plan, in 1944.
• As a result, the Indian capitalists, chalked out a plan which supported the role of a national state and planning in initiating and sustaining an independent capitalist development in the country, free from imperial control and providing protection to the national capital against the inflow of foreign capital.
• The idea of Centrally Planned Economy, as was professed since 1930s by Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru received strong backing now, from Capitalist Class.

Mainly driven by Interests and later in furtherance of Freedom, the Indian Business groups’ role kept on changing its form, nature and appearance, according to the demands of the time.