Suhas Palshikar (‘In between two Indian states’, IE, January 23) is correct when he talks about the “clout”, the RSS chief “enjoys not only among RSS cadres but also among many outsiders” and his “edict about the formation of a true Indian state on January 22 last year will undoubtedly be taken seriously in many quarters”.
The RSS’s increasing influence appears to pique Palshikar, but his ire on the RSS chief’s statement reflects prevalent confusion on two issues. Was India born on August 15, or is it an ancient, timeless nation? Is a formal end to an alien rule synchronous with the decolonisation of human minds, or does its toxicity linger long after the colonialist has left?
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Some with the colonial mindset don’t see India as a nation but as a “union of states”, implying that it is an artificial construct — put together by the British and later validated by the Constitution. This is a colonial paradigm, which Gandhi debunked in Hind Swaraj (1909); in these words, “The English have taught us that we were not one nation before… We were one nation before they came to India… It was because we were one nation that they were able to establish one kingdom. Subsequently, they divided us… and we Indians are one as no two Englishmen are.”
Colonising minds is a slow process of rewiring the colonised to look at themselves through the perspective of the colonial masters, who gradually slough off their original identity and veracious past. Decolonisation is even slower and more complex because the colonised don’t even know about their psychological servitude and intellectual captivity. So, the colonised resist decolonisation — reminiscent of Stockholm syndrome.
The British had worked for nearly two centuries to kill the “Indian” in Indians, and they succeeded in considerable measure. Could the toxic effects of this divisive enterprise have been undone by the British monarch’s royal Assent issued on July 18, 1947, announcing India’s independence? Or India becoming a Republic on January 26, 1950? Far-reaching, profound societal changes don’t follow a calendar.
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After the departure of the aliens on August 15, 1947, the alienated replaced them. Answering a question from legendary journalist Durga Das on why he had preferred Nehru when Patel had overwhelming support, Gandhi said, “Jawahar is the only Englishman in my camp”.
There are numerous examples of the subservient mindset. While the Indian Air Force was headed by a Britisher till March 31, 1954, the Navy couldn’t get an Indian as its chief 11 years after independence. The general budget used to be presented in the Lok Sabha at 5 pm on the last working day of February. The British chose this odd timing to suit the convenience of the people back home in England. This archaic practice remained undisturbed until 1999, when the Vajpayee government changed it.
The British enforced the Indian Penal Code 1860 (IPC) to meet the requirements of their burgeoning empire. This colonial legacy continued even 74 years after independence till it was replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on July 1, 2024. In line with its resolve to remove the vestiges of British rule, the Modi government has repealed over 1,500 archaic laws; a new naval ensign that drew inspiration from India’s rich cultural heritage was introduced. The previous one carried Saint George’s Cross and had a red cross on a white background with the Union Jack in the top left corner.
There is little doubt that India’s Independence meant different things to different people. Many saw it as merely a transfer of power. For Gandhi, there was nothing to celebrate. He was in faraway Noakhali, rescuing hapless victims of the Partition.
For Communists, an independent India was merely an extension of Western imperialism and capitalism. The Akalis, too, weren’t happy and expressed their resentment by burning a copy of the Constitution in February 1994. The DMK also disowned the Constitution and set fire to it in November 1986. Indira Gandhi committed a coup against the Constitution when she promulgated Emergency in June 1975.
After independence, millions of Indians, like the RSS chief, hoped that the historical injustices and cultural wrongs would be addressed after independence. Reconstruction of the fabled Somnath temple was undertaken, with support from the likes of Sardar Patel. The civil society, including leading Congressmen, pined for a similar initiative in Ayodhya. There was no Jana Sangh or RSS as a part of the movement at that time. However, colonised minds made it into a Hindu-Muslim issue — delaying its resolution by seven decades.
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The present democratic system is a product of our Constitution, which embodies the collective vision of the Constituent Assembly. The Assembly did not adopt a printed version of the Constitution; its members signed an original, calligraphed copy. This copy was then sent to the artist Nandalal Bose and his students at Santiniketan, who adorned its 22 parts with intricate artwork, including an illustration of the Ramayana in Part III: Fundamental Rights; it depicts Bhagwan Ram, Sita and Lakshmana’s return to Ayodhya. The written text and pictorials offer a deeper understanding of the values and inspirations that have shaped India over the aeons.
The consecration of Ram temple by PM Modi in 2024 was in line with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Contrary to what Palshikar would have us believe, this step reinforces the fact that the “de facto Indian state” and the “normative and idealist, enshrined in the Constitution” are now moving towards being one. When the RSS chief declared that India got its “true independence” only on the day the Ram temple at Ayodhya became a reality, he underscored the point that cultural freedom was intrinsic to decolonisation.
The writer is a former Chairman of the Indian Institute of Mass Communications (IIMC)
