Viewing the Modern Indian History with a different Perspective!!

In the last blog we discussed Karl Marx and how this person became so polarising that it fuelled a a cold war that lasted half a century. We also discussed what is a ' ruling class ideology ' and how it impacts our thinking on what is right and what is wrong.

Today , let's move forward with that theory and analyse -

1. Why did the most significant caste and religious reform movements in India took place only after the arrival of British?

2. Was the Indian freedom struggle a part of a big conspiracy?

Analysis

Let us begin with a revisit to the concept of ' Ruling class ideology '.

The sociologists have continuously wondered that the caste system was akin to slavery for the untouchables.

 It gave disproportionately high influence to the brahmins in deciding what is right and what is wrong. They wrote all the major dharmashastra ( rulebook for society in Hinduism ) which gave them privileges based on their birth. 

If this was not enough they condemned generations after generations of shudras and untouchables to live a humiliating life of a slave.

Yet such system sustained for centuries and it was only when the British arrived that people started questioning this unjust system. Jyotiba Phule and B R Ambedkar questioned their inferior status based on birth , while Raja Rammohan Roy questioned the inhuman practice of sati. Similarly all major religions of the time saw several reform movements.

What was it about the British rule which led to such a sudden change in the people's mindset?

Karl Marx argued that such exploitative systems continue for generations because of what he calls the ruling class ideology.

Ruling class ideology is the prevalent ' common sense ' in the society , which allows the elite in the society to maintain their higher status in society. Let's understand this through the example of caste system.

Since brahmins constituted the elite in the traditional Indian society they gave several philosophies on which the whole system was based. Such philosophies become so widely prevalent that they make people feel that the exploitative system is justified.

Some of those ideas were -

- the origin of the Varna system was attributed to God , by giving theories that all 4 varna's came from different parts of the almighty. ( Brahmins from mouth and shudras from feet ). Thus as the Varna system was linked to God , it could not be questioned. It became sacrosanct.

- theory of birth-rebirth was given stating that your status in present life is due to your deeds in past life. Thus you should accept your Varna and follow the duties assigned to your Varna in expectations for a better Varna in next life. This made people blame themselves for their low status in society and never question those who exploited them.

Thus , a stability in the system was established and all people were made to believe in these theories as these became a part of ' common sense ' of the society.

But when the British came , then came another set of ruling class ideology which was based on race and class and did not recognize caste. The British came with the capitalistic system which had a different set of ideologies. It was based on the principles of equality , liberty and fraternity.

Thus , when the same Indian people who had earlier accepted the unjust caste system read the English literature on equality , liberty and human rights a contradiction between the two ruling class ideologies emerged.

Thus applying these principles the English educated middle class started questioning the exploitative religious and caste practices in the society. Hence , Raja Rammohan Roy could think that sati was an unjust system and Ambedkar realised that he isn't inferior just because he was born in a particular caste.

Okay , so with this we realise that it wasn't just a co-incidence that the enlightenment of Indian middle class came with the arrival of British.

So can it be said that the newly emerged English educated middle class were our saviours? 

The first industry in India was setup in about 1854 ( jute industry ) followed by some cotton industries. Also it was in 1857 , that we see resistance emerging against the British rule.

Is it a co-incidence that the Indian freedom struggle took pace as the Indian industrialists emerged?

How does the Marxian philosophy see Indian freedom struggle?

This can be analysed using the Marxian theory of social change. Marx said , historically whenever a new technological advancement takes place a new set of elites are born. 

For example , in the primitive society the society was divided into Masters and slaves. As settled agriculture emerged , a new set of elites i.e those who controlled lands - feudal lords ( zamindars , monarchs etc. ) emerged. 

There was a struggle between the feudal lords and slave masters for control of society and ultimately the feudal lords came victorious.

Similarly , with industrialisation a new set of elites - the capitalists emerged. These capitalists had to struggle with monarchs for supremacy. Thus new ideologies of democracy were propagated as a new ruling class ideology which favoured dominance of the capitalists. Democracy denounced the monarchs and favoured fundamental rights. The fundamental rights included - ' right to property ' and ' right to freedom to work anywhere '. 

These rights formed the basis of the capitalistic order that we see today.

Now let's apply this theory to the Indian freedom struggle.

 During the British rule , the British capitalists were the dominant group in the society. The Indian capitalist class even though existed , realised soon that as long as the British rule continued they can never achieve a dominant position in the Indian society.

Thus , they helped a new English educated middle class to emerge. They started funding the foreign education of several Indian students to study and come back with nationalist ideas of democracy and liberty.

Soon this newly emerged middle class started advocating for independence from British rule , the Indian capitalists even started funding these movements. Huge donations were made by the Tata and Birla group to the Congress to fuel the movement.

A thought was propagated to discard the imported goods and swadeshi movement was launched which would ultimately benefit the Indian capitalists. 

Thus , a new ruling class ideology of nationalism was propagated through the nationalists which was against the British capitalists and favoured in the Indian capitalists. 

Hence when the freedom came , the Indian poor remained a poor , the landless remained a landless.

 It was just a transfer of power from one elite to another.

- based on the writings of A.R. Desai

Next I write about how Marx gave a way out of this exploitative capitalist system and his idea of communism.

 Part 3 : All about communism , socialism , Chinese communism and socialist capitalism.

Amit Chauhan!!