Article on the freedom movement and its relevance today
Answers
in long
Explanation:
Every year on August 15, the Indian nation celebrates its Independence Day with great pride and enthusiasm. It is the day on which in 1947, the British transferred political power to the Indians after nearly 200 years of imperial rule over the country. This day is remembered as the day on which India shook the chains of bondage and made a passage to freedom after a long period of struggle and sacrifice of thousands of freedom fighters.
As we celebrate this national day, it may be of interest to many to know how it all started. It was exactly 400 years ago in 1608 that the British tryst with India began. In 1608, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, the first ship of the East India Company named ‘Hector’ with William Hawkins as its captain arrived at the Surat port on the coast of Gujarat. Though the Portuguese had arrived in India a century and a decade earlier (1498), it was the British who eventually dominated the history of India.
The East India Company formed by a group of merchants acquired a Charter from the British Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 for exclusive trade with India. After the arrival of the first ship of the Company at Surat in 1608, the British obtained permission from the Mughal Emperor to establish trade settlements at Surat and other parts of the Mughal Empire. From a humble beginning the East India Company’s trade and commerce began to multiply and the Company established several trading posts in various parts of India especially on the east and west coast including Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.
For nearly 150 years the East India Company concentrated on trade and commerce, carrying Indian manufactured goods and spices to Europe and making huge profits by their sale in England and other European countries. Meanwhile, the gradual collapse of the Mughal Empire and the emergence of regional rulers and their mutual rivalries drew the East India Company in the vortex of the power struggle in India. The French who had arrived in India during the later part of the seventeenth century became trade and political rivals of the British, who eventually lost their race to the British in a bid to establish political power over India.
The British military success in the Battle of Plassey (1757) against the Nawab of Bengal marked the beginning of the imperial ambition of the East India Company. Under successive Governors General British territorial expansion was achieved with ruthless efficiency. Major victories were achieved against Tipu Sultan of Mysore and the Marathas. Finally, the conquest of Sindh and subjugation of the Sikhs led to the political domination of the East India Company over the entire Indian subcontinent. In some regions, the British imposed indirect rule over the native rulers.
The rule of the East India Company for a century had adversely affected practically every section of the Indian society. The sepoy rebellion that broke out in May 1857 was taken advantage of by the disgruntled elements including the dispossessed rulers, landlords, peasants and artisans and craftsmen giving it a mask of general revolt. However, the Revolt of 1857, the first serious attempt of the Indians to get rid of the Company’s rule proved futile due to lack of unity and coordination and effective leadership among the rebels.
Though the Revolt of 1857 failed in its primary purpose of driving out the British from India, it succeeded in putting an end to the Company’s exploitative rule in India. Queen Victoria in her famous Proclamation of 1858 transferred political power from the East India Company to the British Crown and the Queen became the Empress of India.
The British cannot be absolved of their responsibility in ruining India’s economic structure. While their land revenue policy ruined the peasants and drove them to poverty and misery, their commercial policy proved disastrous to Indian industries especially the textile manufacturers. Following the Industrial Revolution in England, the British authorities converted India into a huge market for their manufactured goods and a source of raw materials. The net result of the British economic policies in India was the drain of huge amount of wealth from India to England.
Answer:
By Dr. Ravindra Kumar*
In the whole world India is a country of its own kind. It is the only nation, which for centuries has been the centre of great attraction for people of every part of the globe. On the basis of its knowledge and spiritualism, India has drawn the attention of the world. Its cultural values have left their deep impression on the whole world. India’s prosperity and the way of life of its people have attracted many to it.
Since ancient times, India has been the centre of a rich and developed civilization. Many of its centres of education and learning have been universally renowned in their respective eras. Centuries before Christ, India developed high human values, and on the basis of them it kept its flag flying high. This country has, from time-to-time, given the world mentors, who reached the highest stage of human status became philosopher guides for the entire world. Their ideas and adaptable practices, after passing of hundreds of years, are still ideal teachers for all- general and in particular. Their work is capable of guiding the world even in the current scenario of the world if they are applied according to the demand of time and space.
II
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, gave a new dimension to Ahimsa [non-violence]-an eternal, natural and the highest human value, in theory and practice. As the best and true representative of Indian Culture in his own time, Gandhi was a peacemaker’s mentor. Like other mentors of the world who were born from time-to-time on the Indian soil, Gandhi’s ideas and practices became equally adaptable in his own time for millions of his own country on the one hand, and on the other they proved to be the guiding force for people of many countries of the world. In particular, they have provided guidance to those working for freedom and justice. Moreover, they are fully capable of guiding the people today if they are applied accordingly and will continue to do so in the future.
How? Before knowing and understanding this, we need to consider some fundamental points, and in this chain the first one is: What are the ideas of the Mahatma? Or, in other words: What is the philosophy of Gandhi?
In brief, we can well understand the ideas or philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi in his firm belief in “mutual-dependence of man’s activities on one other” and “unity of human-life”, which is an indivisible whole. In his own words:
“The whole gamut of man’s activities…constitutes an indivisible whole. You cannot divide life, social, economic, political and purely religious, into separate watertight compartments.”
Mahatma Gandhi believed that all human activities, essentially influencing each other, build ways for a life. In this regard, many philosophies also confirm the belief of the Mahatma. Intellectuals are well aware of interdependent development. This makes life more meaningful and effective; and helps in achieving goals such as Truth. Gandhi called upon people to come forward in such a manner. He also emphasized upon adoption of Ahimsa [non-violence], which is the eternal, natural and supreme human value.
For Gandhi, non-violence is an active, pure and all-timely value. It is the best means to reach the Truth. In other words, only through Ahimsacan life be made meaningful. Gandhi had the firm opinion that except non-violence, there is no other means to reach a goal. Without Ahimsa, one cannot know the absolute Truth. In this regard Gandhi wrote the following in Young India:
“Means are after all everything. As the means so the end. There is no wall of separation between the means and the end.”