People's Democracy

Attack On National Symbols: The Case of Premchand

THE Hindi/Urdu intelligentsia is literally shell shocked. Something it always regarded as sacrosanct recently came under attack and, that too, in a most shameful manner. Obviously with a nod from their bosses in the human resource development ministry, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) suddenly announced to drop Munshi Premchand's novel Nirmala from its syllabus for Class 12 Hindi course and replace it with practically unknown Mridula Sinha's Jyon mehandi kau rang. The casual manner of announcing this changeover was simply breathtaking. The change was sought to be presented as a routine replacement of one author’s book by another’s. A CBSE spokesman even claimed that pupils were bored of studying one novel year after year, and hence the change. The fellow seems to have forgotten that it is the pupils who continue to change year after year.

Hindi/Urdu writers, other sections of intelligentsia and a large body of public opinion felt simply outraged. This is not the way you treat your undoubtedly one of most recognised and influential literary faces. Hence there rose a volley of protest. There were protests even in parliament. Then, on express instructions from the HRD minister Murali Manohar Joshi, the CBSE announced a partial rollback that many considered as rubbing salt to injury. Premchand's Nirmala was given a reprieve; it was allowed to continue, but only as an option to Mrs Sinha's Mehandi. A litterateur whom Hindi/Urdu writers consider their upanyas samrat (emperor of fiction) was bracketed with a non-entity in Hindi literature. Naturally, this led to even more protest.

Though a non-entity in Hindi literature, Mrs Sinha is otherwise an entity in herself --- with an identity that matters these days. She has served as president of the ruling BJP's women's wing, though her term attracted attention only for her statements reflecting anti-women prejudices and patriarchal values. She is the wife of an important BJP leader from Bihar. She is currently the chairperson of Social Welfare Board of the government of India. In brief, she is an integral part of the ruling Sangh Parivar. To the latter, she is 'ours' and hence eminently suitable as a replacement for Premchand who is in all likelihood, by any stretch of imagination, 'theirs' and not ‘ours.’ Joshi & company are also not reconciled to the fact that Premchand used to write in Urdu which they have always dubbed, of course wrongly, as a ‘foreign’ and a ‘traitor’ language. They have never tried to hide that, as they have a mandate to rule, they will like to replace ‘theirs’ by ‘ours.’ Hence Premchand was to be out and Mridula Sinha in.

It is not difficult to understand why Premchand can never be ‘ours’ for the Parivar. To borrow and re-use Lenin's phrase, Premchand is the mirror of our national liberation movement. His has been the most complete, most authentic and most integral representation of India’s national movement --- its concerns, struggles, feelings, values and even dilemmas. Both as a writer and as an individual, he was influenced by the national movement and also influenced it. Along with the national movement, he too evolved in an uncompromising, radical direction. He not only rejected communal nationalism in strongest and most powerful words; he was probably first in clearly pronouncing that independence is not just replacing a John's rule by Govind’s. Naturally, all this can never be reconciled with the political ideology of Hindutva. Hence this unashamed attack on Premchand.

This attack on Premchand is also a reminder to all those who thought that Mr Joshi's and Sangh Parivar's campaign is only a matter of a new set of rulers seeking to oblige their own favourites. This is not so. This, in the main, is a part of the ideological campaign for eliminating all traditions other than the majoritarian communal one. That is why the Parivar sees the entire tradition of our national movement, and not just its radical wing, as an adversary. That's why the Parivar is busy attacking the nationalist and radical history writing, the national movement itself, its leaders, its bards and its achievements including our very independence that is now being surrendered to foreign imperialist masters with double speed. Their target is our two hundred years long, arduous struggle --- a process that led to our evolution into an Indian nation. They are already attacking our national symbols, national heroes.

But can their project of “Demolishing the Idea of India” be allowed to succeed? What is thus required is to dethrone the demolishers of our great national project at the very first opportunity.