The Struggle against the Colonial Legacy

Two meetings on the above subject were addressed by members of Lok Raj Sangathan in Mumbai area. On Saturday, August 25 2007, the Students’ Union of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences had invited Dr. Sanjeewani and Dr. Bharat of the Lok Raj Sangathan, Mumbai to conduct a programme on the topic “Settling Scores with Eurocentrism”. On 26 th August, a whole day workshop was organised by Lok Raj Sangathan, Ulhasnagar, to sum up the lessons of the last sixty years and to chart the path ahead.

The first presentation in both meetings dealt with the situation that existed in pre-British India and highlighted the achievements of the people of this subcontinent. It is evident from the study of history that India was a rich country, with a flourishing agriculture, technology and industry advanced for those times, a well as, a developed health and education system. In every nook and corner of this vast subcontinent, indigenous progressive socio-cultural movements had taken root. From time immemorial it was accepted that the raja was duty bound to look after the well-being and security of his praja.

All this received a mortal blow during the British rule. It is well-known that the British not only ruined the native agriculture and industry but also committed genocide of whole people who challenged their oppressive rule. Among other things, what they also committed was a cultural genocide, destroying precisely those things from our past that are necessary for the well being and prosperity of our people.

In both the meetings, the second presentation dealt with the issue of imposition of Eurocentrism. This outlook regards Europe and the Western world as the origin and source of everything worthwhile in human civilization – be it philosophy, science, technology, culture or economic and political institutions and systems. This outlook was instilled and propagated by the British colonizers because it was essential for justifying their rule over our India and other colonies. If it could be established that people of this subcontinent were uncivilized, as if they had no achievements in the fields of science, philosophy or economic and political theory, then their rule could be justified as “white men’s burden”.

The truth is quite the opposite but the British colonizers did not want to acknowledge that Indians were highly civilized as far back as the third millennium BC when the British were still at a barbaric stage. Such an acknowledgment would have destroyed Europe’s intellectual premise for colonization – its civilizing mission.

Hundreds of years before the colonizers set foot in this land, various reforms were underway through the Bhakti and Sufi movements to eliminate the backward customs and practices and there was national awakening taking place. Against this backdrop, the British took advantage of their powerful state machinery and of the fragmentation of the Indian society and with great cunning and brute force, they established their control. In the several hundred years of their rule, they destroyed the way of life and imposed Eurocentrism to enslave the minds of the people. Through countless sacrifices, the colonizers had to leave but they managed to hand over the power to the Indian ruling class that was imbued with Eurocentric ideas. This is the reason why people of this subcontinent are still deprived of rights and struggling to lead a dignified life.

The presentations of Lok Raj Sangathan were followed by a vigorous discussion session, in which the students of the Institute wanted to focus on the tasks ahead. In this context they were keen to know what Lok Raj Sangathan is doing.

There were two other presentations in the meeting in the Ulhasnagar organised by the local Committee of Lok Raj Sangathan. The largely youthful gathering consisted of students, many of them postgraduate students of history from the RKT College, students of engineering and medicine, young teachers, as well as professionals. The full-day programme allowed Dr. Bharat and Dr. Sanjeewani to elaborate on their theme, showing in greater detail the harm that the colonial legacy is causing. This was followed by an expose of the Indian National Congress by Prahlad. Using many quotations from Congress records, he showed how that Indian National Congress was set up by the British colonialists as a mechanism to defuse the anger of the masses and divert them from a revolutionary path. It was not a forum of the Indians at large, but of the rich classes who could express their grievances and be co-opted into the British system. The next paper on the Ghadar Party was presented by Subodh. After learning about the treacherous role of the Indian National Congress, it was inspiring for the young audience to learn about the steps taken by patriotic, revolutionary Indians to rid their country of all forms of oppression and exploitation. These two trends clearly reflected those traitorous elements in the Indian subcontinent that were willing to make a deal with the British colonizers and those patriotic elements that wanted to throw the colonizers out.

The last session was an interactive and interesting one. Why do the present day rulers continue the British tradition of hiding and distorting history? In whose hands did the British transfer power in 1947 and how? How do these classes exercise their power? What should we, the people of India do? Such questions were raised and answered by different members of the audience. Many of them decided to become members of Lok Raj Sangathan and contribute to the struggle ahead.