WRITTEN BY R. NANJAPPA                        

Post No. 8612

Date uploaded in London – – – –2 SEPTEMBER 2020   

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge; this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

BOOKS INDIANS SHOULD READ – 34

                                                 R.Nanjappa

                                            Chapter 13 Part 1

             THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF DHARAMPAL-8

                 Our Constitution: A Fraud on Mahatma Gandhi?

VILLAGE SWARAJ, THE BASIS OF SWARAJ

In leading the struggle for Independence for 30 years, Gandhiji never forgot that the

object of Independence was the emancipation of the villages.
Gandhiji wrote:

India is not Calcutta and Bombay. India lives in her seven hundred thousand

villages. 

” India does not live in its towns but in villages. But if the cities want to

demonstrate that their populations will live for the villagers of India the bulk

of their resources should be spent in ameliorating the condition of and

befriending the poor. We must not lord it over them, we must learn to be

their servants.”

Young India, 23-4-1931

In the nearly 90 years since these lines were written, India has continued to live in villages.

According to 2011 census, there were 6,49,481 villages of which 5,93,615 were inhabited.

83 crore people or 68.8% of our population still lived in villages. There has been large scale

migration towards the towns and cities. Such migration continues. Still most Indians live in

villages.
But do these villages live? What sort of life do they lead? Are they villages or illages?

PROSPEROUS INDIA

When the British came to India, India was a nation of prosperous village republics. Kings

and kingdoms, big and small, existed. But the villages lived on their own. Each had its own

system of finance, public services, education, administration of justice. These have been

well documented by the British themselves. [See the previous articles.] They had survived

invasions and onslaughts by Muslims and others. Charles Metcalfe wrote:

Dynasty after dynasty tumbles down. Revolution succeeds to revolution. Hindoo, Pathan,

Mogul, Maharatha, Sikh, English are all masters in  turn but the village communities remain

the same. In times of trouble they arm and fortify themselves. A hostile army passes

through the country. The village communities collect their cattle within their walls, and

let the enemy pass unprovoked.

And:

The village communities are little republics having nearly everything that they want

within themselves. They seem to last where nothing else does.

“This union of the village communities, each one forming a separate little state in itself,

has, I conceive, contributed more than any other cause to the preservation of the people

of India, through all the revolutions and changes which they have suffered and is in a high

degree conducive to their happiness and to the enjoyment of a great portion of freedom

and independence.”  

[Care: This does not mean that the villages were isolated. They were economically

independent but socially, religiously, culturally cohesive.]

India lived on through all these changes because the villages were prosperous and lived.

FEEDING THE URBAN MONSTER

The British system of administration drastically changed this.They lived in cities and

fortifications. Their aim was to suck the wealth of India and send it to England, which

they did for well nigh two centuries. To this end, they changed land taxation, which took

away all surplus. The local communities were left without resources to continue public

services like medical care, education, etc . When taxation became excessive, they

abandoned farming and migrated to cities and towns. But the British took over local trade,

and closed down industries, in order to promote their own goods. Industries also declined,

and along with it employment. Vast numbers were shoved into poverty, and famine struck.

This is how India lost its freedom.

Among all our leaders, Mahatma Gandhi alone realised this from the beginning. He knew

that it was impossible to create jobs for all the seekers in the towns and cities. The jobs

had to go to where people lived. The villages had to be revived. Thus ‘village swaraj’

became the building block of Indian Swaraj. Three items in his 18-point Constructive

programme directly related to villages: village industries, village health, and improvement

of the lot of agriculturists.

Gandhiji was not idealising or idolising the village. He was fully aware of the shortcomings

and defects of village life. But he knew that these were the direct result of the British

model of top-down administration, where the village survived to serve the urban economic

monster. The villages were sucked to feed the town and the city. Villagers toiled so that

urbanites might prosper. The village and villager were mere numbers. Only cities and urban

elites mattered.
                                                          * To be continued

WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN

Post No. 8609

Date uploaded in London – –1 SEPTEMBER 2020   

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge; this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

நேற்றும்,அதற்கு முந்தைய தினமும் 18 என்ற எண்ணின் மஹிமையைக் கண்டோம் ; இன்று மேலும் சில 18க்ளிக் காண்போம்.

18 வகை கூலம்

நெல், புல் , வரகு, தினை,

சாமை, இறுங்கு/சோளம் , துவரை,

கேழ்வரகு , எள்ளு , கொள்ளு, பாசிப் பயறு,

உளுந்து, அவரை, கடலை,

மொச்சை , காராமணி , கோதுமை,

தட்டைப்பயறு ;  சில நூல்களில் தோகை என்ற வகை காணப்படுகிறது.

******

18 வகை குடிமக்கள்

வண்ணான் , நாவிதன்/அம்பட்டன், குயவன், தட்டான், கன்னான் ,

கல்தச்சன், கொல்லன், தச்சன், எண்ணை வாணிகன், உப்பு வாணிகன்,

இலை வாணிகன், பள்ளி, பூமாலைக்காரன், பறையன் ,

கோவிற்குடியான், ஒச்சான், வலையன், பாணன்.

****

குற்றங்கள் 18

பிங்கலம் என்னும் நிகண்டு கூறும் 18 குற்றங்கள்–

பசியும், பயமும், நீர்வேட்டலும்,

 வெகுளியும் உவகையும் வேட்டலும் ,

நினைப்பு, உறக்கமும் ,நரையும்

நோய் படுதலும் பிறப்பு, இறப்பு,மதமும்,

இன்பமும் அதிசயமும், வியர்த்தலும் ,

கேதமும் ,நகை யும்.

******

18 மூலிகைகள் / அஷ்டதசமூலம்

கொடிவேலி , கண்டங்கத்தரி, எருக்கு,நொச்சி ,

முருங்கை, மாவிலிங்கம்,சங்கங்குப்பி ,

தழுதாழை, குமிழ், பாதிரி,

வில்வம், கறிமுள்ளி, சிற்றாமல்லி,

பேராமல்லி, கரந்துறை,  தூதுளை,

நன்னாளை, வேர்க் கொம்பு.

****

அஷ்டாதச ரஹஸ்யம்

(விசிஷ்டாத்வைதம் முமுக்ஷு ப்படி )

தத்வத்ரயம், அர்த்தபஞ்சகம்,ஸ்ரீவசனபூஷணம்,

 அர்த்தசராதி , பிரமேயசேகரம், பிரபன்னபரித்ராணம் ,

சாரசங்கிதம், சம்சார சாம்ராஜ்யம் , நவரத்னமாலை,

நவவித சம்பந்தம், யாத் ருசிகப்படி,பரந்தபடி ,

ஸ்ரீயப்பதிகப்படி, தத்வசேகரம், தனித்வயம்,

தனிச்சரமம், தனிப் பிரணவம் .

முன்பு கண்டது போல மஹாபாரத பர்வங்கள் 18, பகவத்கீ தை அத்தியாயங்கள் 18, மஹாபாரதப் போர் நடந்த நாட்கள் 18 என்பதுடன் , யதுவின் வழிவந்த யாதவர் குடிகள் 18 என்றும் மஹாபாரதம் இயம்பும். அதைவிட அதிசய விஷயம் மாபாரதத்தின் பழைய பெயர் ‘ஜய’ அதன் எண்ணும் கடபயாதி முறைப்படி 18 ஆகும்.

tags –

–சுபம்–

WRITTEN BY R. NANJAPPA                        

Post No. 8607

Date uploaded in London – – – –1 SEPTEMBER 2020   

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge; this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

BOOKS INDIANS SHOULD READ – 33

Chapter -12 Part 3

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF DHARAMPAL-7

R. Nanjappa

WHAT HASTENED BRITISH EXIT

The British quit, it seems in a hurry. Why?

The end of the Second World War completely changed the situation. Imperial govt became a debtor to India – a position unacceptable to imperialists. The new situation entailed on Britain enormous responsibility and expenditure for the defence of India, which she was unable and unwilling to bear. 

The rise of the Indian National Army under Subhas Bose electrified the nation, especially the youth and greatly enthused our men in the Army and Navy, and some naval units even mutinied. The loyalty and obedience of the Indian soldiers could no more be taken for granted. It is these developments that hastened the freedom of India, more than the programmes and methods of Gandhiji. (Of course, Dharampal does not cover these developments.) He confines himself to comparing Gandhi’s programmes in 1920s and 1930s with what had happened a century earlier, and pointing out the common elements.

The colonial government did not share a bond with the Indian people, though the English educated classes were by and large loyal to them. In the hundred odd years after 1811, they did not care to cultivate the people, but relied on brute force to hold on to power. They consolidated their hold by force. But when they perceived that force would not work- they could no more command the loyalty of our soldiers and sailors, they decided to quit-rather than face a big mutiny. They imposed Partition as the condition for freedom. Thus Gandhiji did not succeed in a single aim of his in his long struggle against the British in India. Gandhiji was totally outwitted. 

DOES CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE HAVE A PLACE IN INDEPENDENT INDIA?
Do non-cooperation and civil disobedience have a place in free India? This is a serious issue on which experts are divided. In a parliamentary democracy based on a party system, we have other methods of dissent. But there is no saying whether the government of the day will listen to it.

 And there are areas and issues which cut across political and party lines. Look at how students protested across the USA, demanding control on arms, which hit all parties. So are the protests against the role of chemical companies like Monsanto in agriculture. There are issues which exercise the people, and which are not appreciated by the political class, in spite of the ritual or show of periodic elections.  Direct public protest in some form becomes necessary even in democracies to make the ruling establishment aware of such issues and concerns. Power not only corrupts; it renders the ruling class (of all hues) arrogant and insensitive to public weal. Most rulers are also plain stupid. They are controlled by vested interests.

In free India, the label Satyagraha has been freely misused by petty men. However, the most disheartening aspect of the matter is the totally authoritarian way in which the govts of Independent India, both at the Centre and in the States have dealt with peaceful agitators even for genuine causes, and the mean methods they adopted, to suppress them. Their approach has been totally senseless and outrageous. They have indeed been worse than the British. Look at the way peaceful movements like those of Sunderlal Bahuguna, (Chipko), Medha Patkar, (Narmada) Anna Hazare (anti-corruption) were dealt with by our own governments. (which were run by a party, shamelessly  claiming Gandhian legacy.) Even the grievances of persons displaced by public projects were not entertained when peaceful. Govts. in Independent India  are even more remote from authentic Indian tradition in dealing with people’s grievances and unrest, than the British. Like in education, administration, judiciary, etc, here too they follow British methods and brutality. In their arrogance, Indian govts treat peaceful methods of resistance as illegitimate. They take cognizance only when protests are accompanied by violence and political backing. 

Will a protest now against the routine periodical upward hike in property tax, or registration fee work in free India? Will people even unite now on such issues to protest? Does a government which is elected by a minority of total voters really enjoy legitimacy? These questions are not raised by Dharampal, but occur to us on reading his material.

Volume II of Dharampal’s collected works contains archival material relating to the 1811 agitation of the people against house tax. It has a detailed Introduction by Dharampal and a learned Foreword by Jayaprakash Narayan. It is rewarding reading.

Who can say how many more such incidents are lying hidden?

to be continued……………………………………………..
                                                        ***