The year 2007 marks 60 years of India’s freedom and the historian Ramachandra Guha has an important post-independence book lined up, India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Larest Democracy (Picador). Outlook has published excerpts from the forthcoming book in its issue dated 7 May 2007, entitled “Why India Survives”.
“Among the institutions that keep the country together are those bequests of the British—the civil service, the army, the railways, the English language, and the game of cricket. Working with or in subordination to a democratic and federal Constitution, these institutions have ensured that in over four-fifths of India, the elected government enjoys a legitimacy of power and authority…
“The economic integration of India is a consequence of its political integration. They act in a mutually reinforcing loop. The greater the movement of goods and capital and people across India, the greater the sense that this is, after all, one country.
“Apart from these elements of politics and economics, cultural factors have also contributed to national unity. Pre-eminent here is the Hindi film. This is the great popular passion of the Indian people, watched and followed by Indians of all ages, genders, castes, classes, religions, and linguistic groups.”
Agree? Disagree? Have our status quoist babus been a help or a hindrance? Has cricket been a unifying factor or a colonial legacy that has helped squander our potential? Have Hindi movies bound us together or been the opium, providing a hazy escape from the reality? Tell.
excellnt observation by guha. he goes on to say multi- lingual, multi-cultural make-up of india is responsible for united india. i can be a kannadiga and an indian,this is the unique aspect of india.
but hindi film- binding force, this is utter nonsense.
I don’t know why every aspect of India as to find its root to Britain. Its been more than half a century since British are gone and a lot has happened. Why doesn’t the author dig & find out what happened in these 60 years that keeps us together?
Btw, even Pakistan shares the same features as mentioned by the author. Look where they are now.
Hmmm not sure your cricket has kept you united :-)
Unfortunately Guha is weak in counting particularly when it comes to past.
India has been one country not in the westophilian sense but in a Dharmic sense for the last thousands of years. He might not have heard about Adi sankara who was born in Kaladi but established Mutts in the four corners of India.For him Indian spiritual unity does not exist.
Guha who is a Naxalit sympathiser has got permission from Sonia to use the archives at Nehru Museum to write his book and so sing the songs [jalra] of the Sonia Dynasty.
If he is an historian then I am a Bharatha Natyam dancer!!
India is united because of the Brahmins and the Hindus. What ever abuse is thrown at them they just accept with out much protest and with a smile. Just imagine, as per the various reports brahmins occupy all top level posts in India. If so what prevented them from stopping all legislations against them. They just want to live in peace for the sake of their country India.Similarly Hindus also accept all abuses against them by the Minorities and the politicians who play vote bank politics.
Mr Guha writes on all topics, sports, history, politics etc. He should enter politics and be a good cabinet minister who can jump from one portfolio to other over night. No offence meant!
What has kept us united? Pakistan, cricket, lack of education and poverty!
For as long as the rest of the country has the patience to put up with Hindian arrogance, this country will stay united. But once it breaches the tipping point, the strands will break. Hindians will have only themselves to blame and they stand to lose than gain from the balkanisation of India. It is time they realised that for their own survival in the longer run, they stop usurping the Indian identity all for themselves.
Danny,
And these Hindians are…Hindi speaking Indians? Please clarify! You make an interesting point.
India was fragmented and disunited culturally, linguistically, religiously and regionally for thousands of years. This was exploited by invaders in medieval period, and while Moghuls plundered the country, Akbar tried to do some amendments but they ended up introducing Islam more and more and the religious divide widened. It is the British who through civil service, railways and more importantly introducing a new language which is not native and which every one has to learn (and hence equally disadvantaged) achieved a united India. It is ironically the British rule which united
the opposition and India was able to achieve independence.
When Jinnah refused to work with other congress leaders even when offered the prime ministership of united India by Mahatma Gandhi to prevent the fracture of India, the first danger to the country’s unity surfaced. With the formation of Pakistan, this danger disappeared. Then the danger to the unity arrived when Potti Sriramulu died of a hunger strike and Nehru relented and the federation of states on linguistic
basis was achieved.
However, the danger again surfaced when DMK took charge of administration in Tamil Nadu, and picked up fight with the centre threatening separation when the centre in immediate post-Nehru period gave recognition to Hindi as an official language along with English. Riots continued for a while in Tamil Nadu until central ministers like TT Krishnamachari and C Subramaniam assured the Tamils that English will not disappear from official use. Also, many friends of Annadurai and Karunanidhi advised them to shut up for a while and wait until the centre becomes weak when they can wield influence nationally. Sure enough, Thiru Karunanidhi is doing just that now!!
Finally, fortunately for India there has been not strong disruptive forces that could fracture India’s unity which the civil service, railways ,English and cricket built for over a hundred year. Bollywood movies are providing icing on the cake
Virtirix Says:
“Btw, even Pakistan shares the same features as mentioned by the author. Look where they are now”
The answer is simple, it is Islam which doing the harm there. In Islam there
is no room for open debate, if there is Pakistan would not under dictatorship for so long and democracy would not not been muzzled so many times. For Islam to function, it needs a strong dictator/a feudal sheikdom, where sharia law reigns supreme, open litigation discouraged etc.. Democracy has served India well, and it made Deve Gowda a PM, Sonia a king maker and Rahul a king in waiting!! Thiru karunanidhi I was told even speaks some Hindi now, a language which attracted visceral hatred from him in 1960s when he instigated that riot and many died.
# rvaidya Says:
May 6th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
If he is an historian then I am a Bharatha Natyam dancer!!
Succinct and well said !
Danny, You make some interesting observations. Illiteracy means nearly half of us don’t even recognize our own flag!!. Most of the illiterate citizens don’t understand the concept of nationhood and democratic rights.
What’s holding India in the post-liberalization era? A decent ecomonic growth in the last decade. We would have gone the USSR way if not for the growth in the economy and incremental changes in peoples lives. The same growth will threaten our unity if inequality rises and the growth does not translate into real development. Plus there are always other fault lines which will keep us in a balkznized state for a while.
I read Guha’s essay in Outlook. While he makes some good points, I feel that he has the cosmo crowd in mind. That’s why the repeated references to Hindi films. My favoutite assessment of India which still holds true is from John Kenneth Galbraith who termed India as a functioning anarchy.
A lot of people confuse civilization for nationhood. While we are an ancient civilization, we are a new nation!! The concept of India as a nation took shape just over a century ago. When you think about it, the mutinies that took place exactly 150 years ago were regional or local in nature. They were struggling to free themselves and not thinking about freedom for India as it exists today. Same goes for fights against the Brits by Tippu, Chennamma, etc.
Every independent struggle starts as a bunch of mutinies some where. Skirmishes against British leading to mini and maxi wars and finally a civil war to achieve a nationhood in America. I have lived in many western countries, each has its problems, and have always admired the Indian democracy with all its faults. In equality exists in every country including America where 48% have no medical insurance and there are no safety nets if adversity hits a family. When Galbraith was ambassador in India and gave speeches, I attended/listened to his speeches. Coming from America ( he was really a Canadian!), we thought that he did not understand the diversity of India, so were many of his countrymen. Diversity I feel is India’s strength. I also do not underestimate the power of Hindi films as a harmoniser.
Ranga,
How true! I am a great admirer of Galbraith. Also, Will Durant recorded the uniqueness of Indian culture much earlier.
DB,
The 1962 Mysore university convocation was unique, both Chandrasekhar
(the astrophysicist) and Galbraith the US ambassador were conferred honorary doctorates. I was a part of the convocation audience at Crawford Hall (as I had to collect my gold medal, no attempt here to promote myself, I swear!), and listened to Galbraith’s brief speech. Later Chandrasekhar gave a brilliant talk on ‘Brownian Motion’ to a general audience.
In my opinion Indian diversity and culture defines the uniqueness of its democracy. They are both its strength and weakness. It has also demonstrated that ancient civilisation is a critical core to its democratic framework. I was working in America during the Watergate saga which led to Nixon’s resignation. At that time every senator was saying how the nation cannot fall back on culture which acts as anchor in such times.
Ranga,
That is fantastic! What a treat it must have been to be present there on that occasion! I was a babe in my mother’s arms in that year:)
How true! We have come across some turbulent times like the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi following IG’s assassination (Khalistan, Punjab insurgency, and Kanishka bombin); the destruction of Babri Masjid (Mumbai blasts, and by the same excuse India got bombed ‘n’ number of times); and some members in the forum would probably want to include the Gujarat riots (recent Mumbai blasts, routine bombings in Delhi and other places and so on. IMHO, I regard the Godhra reaction as the only counterattack against the irrationality that was prevailing at that time–it was exactly the case of Irrational meeting with the ‘reasonable becoming unreasonable temporarily–also 9/11 has just happened and the whole world was waking up to the specter of the peaceful religion’s real intent and purpose).
But I must say, Watergate defined American polity and the high jinks that were so characteristic of Americans–easily understood in The Ugly American. I think with the Iraq war, there is deeper introspection than ever!
DB
About Galbraith: He was very tall nearly 7 feet and he appeared even taller when standing near the vice chancellor!! He was much closer to Lyndon Johnson than John Kennedy even though the latter plucked him from academia.
About Chandrasekhar: Very quiet and modest-looking person. He started with ‘Brownian Motion’ (in my chemistry days in the engineering college , I learnt about it in colloids) and brilliantly applied it stellar space and galaxies.
The audience was mainly composed of students and that was nice.
coming back to the poll Q : What has kept India united
Ans: Tobacco (usage in varied forms like chewing, inhaling,..)
Potholes, Open drains, Paan stains, shared insensivity, corruption, loudspeakers, spicy food and a million gods have all kept India united.
The lack of a better option, perhaps?
India is united because of the shear inertia( scientific not as lethargy). The momentum of freedom struggle is not completely dissipated but it is waning. The present leadership at top level is not inspiring. They are all too old, tired and myopic. lack far sight, lack the vision required to rise above oneself and petty party interests. Here party (political) interest take priority over broad national interest. Public is immature, gets swayed by emotional issues AND the politicians know how to keep the fire burning. Local aspirations override national integrity. Well in India every thing happens for good. And God himself has promised to take birth again and again when things go bad. Yada Yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavathi Bharatha——
Linguistic States was a good decision. The only issue with it was that size was not defined. It should have led to smaller Linguistic States. Eg- Maharashtra and possibly Karnataka should have been divided into two Marathi and Kannada speaking States. Same logic for all big States. Culturally, if all units are assured of their identity without trying to homogenize our people, then this country will remain united. But, fact is, politically, we have never been united! Save exceptions.
because there are big countries in the world and to compete with them we should be strong enough with resources…..we have much similarity culturally and fortunately we got a foreign language