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BOOKS
Conspiracy
Theories
Speculation rather than
analysis is the hallmark of this historial study
By
Saeed Naqvi
Of Jean Alphonse
Bernard's extended career in the French diplomatic service, the years
1960-64 turned out to be crucial. These were his years in India. The war
with China and the transition from Jawaharlal Nehru to Lal Bahadur Shastri
(and subsequently to a series of prime ministers) was riveting stuff for
a civil servant seeking a niche for himself in the ranks of the acade-mics.
It was brave, even audacious of the author to traverse the ground which
has footprints of some of the finest scholars who addressed themselves
to the task of studying modern India. His book is unlikely to set the
Yamuna ablaze, but those looking for fresh insight might not be disappointed.
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FROM RAJ TO THE REPUBLIC
By Jean Alphonse Bernard
Har-Anand
Price: Rs 795
Pages: 500
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The author's strong French credentials lead one
to expect digressions into comparative colonial experience-the British
in India as compared with the French in Algeria, for instance. But all
one is able to obtain are nuggets as to how Gandhi and Romain Rolland
agreed or disagreed on strategy and ethics. Bernard seldom analyses political
events from a French point of view and yet leaves traces of his being
French on the pages as irrelevant details.
He gives details of the institutional framework
left behind by the British (the kcsos and so on). His French mind then
asks a question: "Is it not reasonable to suppose that the British
creation of the Indian Civil Service was inspired by French, or more precisely
Napoleonic ideas, viz auditors and members of the Council of States, prefects,
etc?" What, pray, is the purpose of this aside unless some elaboration
is offered?
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| INDIA BAFFLES: No scholarly pretension for Bernard |
History sometimes leaves room for speculation
on what shape events might have taken if a particular cookie had crumbled
in a different way. Harold Wilson's brilliant defence secretary, Denis
Healy, once asked me to pursue a story which, if true, opens up an interesting
vista on "what might have been" if Healy's memory is not failing
him. According to Healy, Jinnah's name figured prominently in the shortlist
for Labour candidates from South Leeds for a particular general election
at the turn of the 20th century. "If Jinnah's name had not been dropped
from the shortlist and he had won as a Labour candidate from South Leeds,
would not the history of the subcontinent been different?" Healy
asks with a twinkle in his eye.
This book is replete with such speculative possibilities.
The author suggests that an outcome other than the partition of India
loomed on the horizon from the Cripps Mission, Simla Conference (July
14, 1945) to the Cabinet mission and beyond. Of Jinnah and the Congress
he says, "He wanted to be the sole spokesman of the Muslims while
the Congress felt it had the right to represent all categories of Indians.
"Henceforth both aimed for the Centre and only the Centre. Could
they share power at the Centre without sharing India?"
The author, like others before him, believes
that Jinnah did not really want Pakistan. "Though not a staunch Muslim,
he was nevertheless conscious of embodying their (Muslims) distinct identity
and alienation i.e. their need to be treated as equals by the majority
community. Once this demand was satisfied, Hindustan and Pakistan could
be amalgamated within the parliamentary, secular and democratic India
he no doubt wanted."
The narrative is not totally free of conspiracy
theories that impart some readability to Bernard's compilation, extracted
from history aleady written. Take this for example: "Was there a
link between Ayodhya and the incidents in Khulna in East Bengal?"
The author asks: "were their quasi-simultaneity and the use of the
events by the Hindu Mahasabha and the Bengali press purely fortuitous?
It is noteworthy that on December 15, 1949, the secretary-general of the
Hindu Mahasabha had declared at a meeting in Uttar Pradesh that the 'Mahasabha
had decided to establish a Hindu state and Raj in this country ... to
effect the reunification of India and Pakistan and recreate Akhand Bharat.'"
The author then points out suspiciously: "One
week later the idol was taken into the Ayodhya mosque. It is also remarkable
that the Ayodhya affair began two days before the annual conference of
the Hindu Mahasabha in Calcutta on December 25-26, 1949. Hindu hysteria
spread throughout north India, while in Pakistan the cry of Islam in danger
was raised anew." For those who would like to keep their ears close
to the ground on current affairs, echoes from the immediate past are essential
to complete the contemporary picture. For this purpose Bernard's book
might serve as a ready reference. It has no pretensions of being scholarly
in the sense that it boasts no fresh research.
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