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7. What were Jawaharlal Nehrus views on Socialism? Elaborate

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ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2014-2015)

E.P.S.-3
Modern Indian Political Thought
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read and refer the official study material provided by the university.

Answer all questions. Try to answer in your own words.

Answer the following in about 500 words each.

Q. 1. Discuss the British colonial intervention in Indias economy in the early 19th century.
Ans. The consolidation of colonial rule in India was over by 19th century. Hence, the prior task of the
colonial rulers was to maintain their power. For this end they required their supporters from amongst the
subjects. The creation of a class of landlords and the educated urban middle class, most of whom were absorbed by colonial administrative system and other colonial institutions, were steps to meet the needs of British
colonialism. The colonial education and other cultural undertakings geared towards the establishment of ideological hegemony. A different conception of colonial rule also developed during the course of the 19th century.
It was based on an appreciation of the traditional institutions and practices. An important trend of thought,
informed by liberal principles focused attention on the positive aspects of the British rule.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy considered British rule as a blessing and held that this conversion would yield
future benefits. His sharp critique of many degrading aspects of Indian society was probably what made him
appreciate the advantages of being ruled by and associated with an enlightened nation like the British.
Keshab Chandra Sen too held that British rule which appeared at a time of grave social and moral crisis was
a divine dispensation and not a mere accident. God willed it so. He even held that the temporal sovereign
was Gods representative and sedition, was not only a political offence, but a sin against God.
Rabindranath Tagore, Dada Bhai Nauroji, G.K. Gokhale, M.G. Ranade, as well as C.R. Das and Moti
Lal Nehru all spoke in varying degrees of the benefits that British rule had brought to India. In the face of
colonial repression and exploitation, this conception of colonial rule i.e., of the British rule being beneficial,
could not last for long. The colonial rule was looked upon as an unnecessary evil and by the beginning of
20th century, anti-colonialism became integral to political thinking.
The agenda for future nationalist conceptions of colonial rule was set by Tilak. The decade of 1920s was
the decade of radicalisation of anti-colonial thinking. A section of the educated youth, critical of Gandhis
ideas and methods, sought to advance the understanding of British and to evolve new methods of political
struggle. The revolutionary nationalists emerged out of this trend. Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal

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Nehru became the spokesmen of this section. The process of radicalisation of Congress led to the emergence
of radical nationalism in the form of Congress Socialist Party in 1934. The Congress socialist thinkers,
particularly Jaya Prakash Narayan and Acharya Narendra Dev made an attempt to synthesise socialism with
nationalism and to press socialism in the service of nationalism, i.e., in the anti-colonial struggle.
Q. 2. What were the main economic and social ideas of Gopal Krishana Gokhale? Elaborate.
Ans. Gokhale was one of the band of men, who laid the foundation of Indian Economic Thought. His
economic thoughts were largely practical and not mere the theoretical interpretations. He was an active
politician.
Gokhales drain Ideas : Gokhales emphasis was on two aspects of drain, i.e., the excessive employment
of British personnel and also the unfair charging of the Indian office establishment on Indias account. These
involved a continuous drain of savings out of India to the diminution of the countrys development potential
was stressed by Gokhale. Sometimes he expressed himself on this issue with an uncharateristic bitterness,
calling it bleeding, and arguing that if it were to cease, the military and civilian administration must be
increasingly Indianized. He said that India was forced to create, year by year, an export surplus of which at
least a portion was uncompensated. A backward economy which is continually forced to create such a
surplus is obviously depleted of its domestic saving potential and finds its growth retarded by an exogenous
political factor.

Gokhales Land Revenue Settlement: Gokhale was a close observer of whole land revenue question.
He excessively pleaded for the lowering of the assessment levels, especially in certain regions of Bombay,
Madras and United Provinces where they were inordinately high. He advised so because he viewed that in
India agriculturists has no capital and has but little credit and is simply unable to make proper use of natures
wealth that lies at his door, with the result that his cultivation is of the rudest and most exhausting type. For
the Ryotwari areas, he suggested that the assessment should first be reduced and evened out, and then
frozen in order to do away with the uncertainity of periodical revision; in another context, he suggested
that land revenue revision should automatically follow the trend of pricesa system of fluctuating assessments
later adopted in Punjab, and in modified form in Bombay.
His Remedy of Rural Debt: Gokhale maintained that the fundamental remedy for rural debt was not to
restrict the right of transfer of land, but to introduce greater elasticity into their system of revenue collections,
and even more importantly, to make provisions for reasonable needs of the agriculturists in the shape of
agricultural banks, or a more liberal and flexible system of takavi advances.
Gokhales Ideas on Currency, Exchange and Finance: In the field of currency and exchange, the last
quarter of the 19th century was one of the most disturbing periods of our econimic history. The adoption of
gold standards and the demonetization of silver by several countries had brought about a continuous fall in
the world price of silver, and the rupee being a silver coin, suffered the inevitable consequences. Gokhale
criticized the mechanism and viewed that the standard had a built-in inflationary bias, especially since the
Gold Standard Reserves was built out of the profits of rupee coinage. He supported the stoppage of the free
coinage of rupees, and introduced an automatic Gold currency standard.
In the sphere of public finance Gokhale addressed himself primarily to three issues: the growth of public
expenditure, high and regressive taxation and the large, continuous and progressive budget surpluses.
According to him, the increased public expenditure in India, under automatic management, defective
constitutional control, and the inherent defects of alien domination, only helped to bring about a constantly
increasing exploitation of our resources and retarded our material progress. Similarly, Gokhale subjected

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the Governments tax policy to continuous criticism. He particularly protested against the growth of regressive
taxes such as land revenue, salt duty, customs, and the cotton excise. His plea for reduction of taxes was
based not only on their regressive character, but also on the ground that there were large, continuous and
progressive budget surpluses.
So, it will be readily agreed that Gokhales critique of British policy based upon a historical construct of
the impact of British colonial policy on the backward economy of India into which fabric were woven such
causal elements as the drain, land revenue settlements and the operations of currency and finance formed
the basic ground work of thought which inspired our national movement.
Gokhale was inspired by English liberal philosophy. Views of Locke, Bentham and J.S. Mill influenced
him a great deal. Like J.S. Mill, he strongly advocated individual liberty which meant freedom, with restraints.
He wanted members of Servants of India Society to live a disciplined life and accept discipline of the first
member of the society.
He stood for liberty of free criticism subject to certain well-defined limitations. He wanted Indians to
enjoy right of self-expression in the same sense as Britishers enjoyed. He insisted on freedom of contract
and advocated he right to private property. He asserted that individual liberty could not be maintained
without representative institutions in a country. He did not stand for universal franchise and suggested
property qualifications like land and revenue. He was of the view that the educated classes represented the
masses as they were their natural leaders. However, he did not shut his eyes to the future exercise of franchise
by the masses.

He not only stood for representation of people in the legislative but also advocated representation of
interests in it. He did not hesitate in according special representation to the religious minorities. He even
accepted communal diffferences between Hindus and Muslims and pleaded for separate representation of
the Muslims, to secure their cooperation in the national struggle. He pleaded for throwing open a substantial
minimum seats to elections on territorial basis in which all qualified voters take part without distinction of
race or creed.
Thus, like J.S. Mill, Gokhales theory of representation is hedged with serious limitaitions. He would
allow vote only to the tax payers prefer educated to illiterate masses for purpose of enfranchisement. Gokhale
also wanted to establish the freedom of free criticism of Government and therefore pleaded for the freedom
of press. He said, The press is in one sense like the Government, a custodian of public interests and any
attempt to hamper its freedom by repressive legislation is bound to effect these interests prejudically and
cant fail in the end to react upon the position of the Government itself . He also advocated the right to
private property.
Answer the following in about 250 words each.

Q. 3. Enumerate and describe the main political ideas of Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Ans. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a leader of such qualities by which destiny of India was
changed. He has not given us any picture of the politically perfect society in this sense of the term political
philosophy. He does not discuss the features and possibilities of best state as Plato, Aristotle and Cicerodo.
His main concern in life was the political emancipation of India. He discover an element of realism in the
political ideas and outlook of Tilak. His political thought reflects a rear blend of ancient Indian thought and
the nationalistic and democratic ideas of the modern West.
He was a Vedantist. He considered spirit as the supreme reality. Since all men are portions or aspects of
that absolute essence, all have the same autonomous spiritual potentiality. This led him to believe in the

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supremacy of the concept of freedom. According to him, freedom is the very life of the individual soul
which Vedanta declares to be not separate from God, but identical with him. The Western theories of national
independence and self-determination exercised a great influence upon Tilaks mind.
He was of the opinion that keeping on the constitutional methods of struggle was without foundation as
India did not have its constitution. Moderates gave importance to administration and its improvement, while
Tilak liked it through non-cooperation, obstruction and passive resistance. He trusted self-sacrifice, suffering
and service of the people. Most leaders appealed to intelligent class while Tilak appealed to the masses in
millions. He used village mandaps for voicing the feelings as platform and used Indian dialects to
communicate. Tilak declared, Swaraj is my birth-right and I will have it. He thought of freedom to be
never achieved by charity, but was to be demanded as a right. Freedom was quite necessary for social,
political and economic upliftment of the public. Freedom was a political and spiritual necessity of the
people for by that they can remove their misery, stravation and degradation.
Q. 4. Discuss Jyotiba Phules critique of the British rule.
Ans. British rule had brought to an end of the tyranny and chaos of the regime of the last Peshwa in
Maharastra. The colonial rulers had not only established law and order, but also the principle of equality
before law. The earlier regime of Brahmin Peshwas had imposed strict limitations on education, occupation
and living standards of the lower castes and women. The new rulers opened the opportunities in education
and mobility in occupation for members of all castes. New ideas of equality and liberty could reach the
moderately educated sections of the lower castes. Phule was probably the best product of this process. In
such situation it is not surprising that Phule favoured the British rule. He hoped that the new Government
which believes in equality between man and man would anticipate lower castes, from the domination of the
Brahmins. The British rule opened up new employment opportunities in the administration. The political
power at local level was also being given to the Indians. Phule who was concerned with Poona Municipality
could visualise how lower castes would be able to acquire power at local level during the period of British
rule and also enter the colonial bureaucracy. He believed in the benevolent attitude of the British rulers
towards the lower castes and therefore asked for a number of things from them. He was not sure how long
the British rule would continue. Therefore, he wanted lower castes to exploit the opportunity and get rid of
the tyranny of Brahmins. Phule assured the colonial rulers that if the Shudras were made happy and contented, they need not worry about the loyalty of the subjects. He asked the Government to make laws
prohibiting customs and practices which gave subordinate status to women and untouchables. Phule wanted
Brahmin bureaucracy to be replaced by non-Brahmin bureaucracy. But if non-Brahmins were not available,
the Government should appoint, the British men to these posts. He believed that the British officers would
take impartial view and were likely to side with lower castes. He firmly believed that the Almighty God had
dethroned the tyrannical rulers and had established in their place a just, enlightened and peaceful British
rule for the welfare of the masses.

His Criticism of British Rule: Though Phule preferred British rule to the regime of Brahmins, he was
known to the shortcomings of the former and he never hesitated to point them out openly. Since his mission
was to bring about an egalitarian society where all men and women would enjoy liberty. Phule criticized the
contemporary rulers if he felt that their policies went against this idea. He was mainly interested in destroying
the supremacy of Brahmins in social, economic and political fields. Therefore, he used to attack the British
Government whenever its policies favoured the Brahmins even indirectly. It was the educational policy of
the British Government which came under severe attack from Phule. He complained that the Government
was providing more funds and greater facilities to higher education and neglecting that of the masses. He

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brought it to the notice of the Government that the greater portion of the revenue of the Government was
derived from the labour of masses. The Government, therefore, should spend a large portion of its income on
the education of the masses and not of the higher classes. He also criticized the higher secondary schools,
colleges and the system of scholarships. The scholarship system, he observed was unduly favourable to
literacy class while there was a need of encourage the lower castes children. Phule was also against the
British officers, who were concerned about their own comfort and salaries. He opposed the move to spend
one thousand rupees on Viceroys visit.
Q. 5. What were Dr. B.R. Ambedkars views on caste? Elaborate.
Ans. Ambedkars main battle was against the caste system. Caste had made Hindu society stagnant. Due
to the caste system, Hindu society is unable to accommodate outsiders. This drawback poses permanent
problems for integration. Even internally, the Hindu society fails to satisfy the test of homogenous society.
It is only a conglomerate of different castes. Caste is an obstacle in the growth of national spirit. Most
importantly, caste system perpetuates injustice on the lower castes. The untouchables, in particular, are the
constant object of injustice. They are denied education, good livelihood and human dignity. The caste system has dehumanized them thoroughly. The very idea that the mere touch of one human being pollutes
another shows the gross level of inequality and brutality to which the caste system had sunk.
As a sociological historian, Ambedkar did not accept the hypothesis of an Aryan invasion of India.
Ambedkar has forcefully put forward the view that the Shudras were not dark-skinned aboriginals enslaved
or subordinated by the Aryan invaders, but they too were Aryans who belonged to the Kshatriya solar
dynasty. The subordinate status of the Shudras was brought about by a bloody battle between Shudras, the
Shudra king and Vasistha. Due to social vicissitudes and change of fortune, they became degraded from
their Kshatriya status. The Brahmins were responsible for the degradation of the Shudras. The Purusha
Sukta, the vedic character for subordinate status of the Shudras is regarded by Ambedkar as a later
interpolation.

According to Ambedkar, the Hindu scheme of social structure based on the four varnas or chaturvarna
breeds inequality and has been the parent of the caste-system and untouchability which are merely forms of
inequality. He demanded a radical social solution of the evil. The Indian Constitution which has provided
for complete equality before law and equal protection of laws to all citizens, under the Article 14, and in
Article 17, not only has abolished untouchability but has made its practice, in any form, an offence punishable
under law, has gone a very long way in giving a constitutional and legal foundation for the redemption of the
sorrows and troubles of the untouchables.
Ambedkar was realistic in pointing out that the Indian Bureaucracy which shared the prejudices of the
Hindus against the untouchables was responsible for the owes of the untouchables. Hence, there is realism
in his views that, in order to make public services responsive to the needs of the untouchables, there should
be more member of the untouchable community in the higher executive.
It appears that, possibly, Ambedkar was not satisfied with the constitutional provisions for the untouchables
in the Indian Constitution. During the days of the Round Table Conference, he had sponsored a demand for
a separate electorate for the untouchables. His conversion to Buddhism shows that he contented a future for
the untouchables somewhat in separation from the broad stream of the Hindu society. He wanted the separation
of the untouchables from the Hindu society. Buddhism seeks to liberalise the structure of the caste, indirectly
by ignoring the caste considerations in the Sangha as well as in the lay community. But it did not make a
protected and a radical attempt to root out caste itself.

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Ambedkar has supported the demand for Pakistan if the Muslims were bent upon having it. He felt that
if there was no alternative, Pakistan had to be accepted. He realistically pointed out that Pakistan would
liberate both the Hindus and Muslims from the fear of enslavement and encroachment.
Q. 6. Discuss his concept of Satyagraha.
Ans. The concept of Satyagraha is an important component of Gandhis theory of spiritual politics. It
has generally been argued that Satyagraha, Gandhis method of non-violent resistance, is a method of conflict
resolution. All conflicts can be resolved by the mighty weapon of Satyagraha by lifting these from the gross
physical plane to the elevated spiritual and moral plane where they can be adjusted by the union of souls.
The idea and practice of Satyagraha is in fact Gandhis unique contribution. It inculcates agraha or moral
pressure for the sake of truth. It is a technique of resisting all that is evil, unjust, impure or untrue, by love,
self-suffering, self-purification and by appealing to the divine spark in the soul of the opponent. Gandhi
designated it as a love force or soul force.
Gandhis theory of Satyagraha is based on the concept of suffering. Suffering according to him serves
three purposes
(i) It purifies the sufferer.
(ii) It intensifies favourable public opinion.

(iii) It makes a direct appeal to the soul of the oppressor.

Gandhi prefers the term Satyagraha to passive resistance as the designation of his instrument for
political transformation. He is prepared to suffer physical injury at the hands of the opponent so that the selfsacrifice may sway the conscience of the opponent and make him see truth.
A Satyagraha has so much spiritual power that he may disregard even death in the hands of the opponent.
To him, his body is but a temporary shelter of the eternal soul; the body may perish but the soul does not. He
is prepared to die so that the example may change the heart of the opponent and inspire him to embrace truth.
A Satyagrahi has lot of patience. He fights the enemy with patience and sympathy. He pursues truth by
making himself rather than the opponent suffer.
Answer the following in about 100 words each.

Q. 7. What were Jawaharlal Nehrus views on Socialism? Elaborate.

Ans. He look at socialism in wider context. He said, The world is essentially international today,
although its political structure, lags behind and is narrowly national. For socialism to succeed finally it will
have to be international world socialism. Despite his deep attraction to Marxism Nehru was far from being
a communist. He confessed My roots are still perhaps partly in the nineteenth century and I have been too
much influenced by the humanist liberal tradition to get out it completely. However, Nehrus leaning
towards Soviet Russia, after the attainment of independence, reveals that he was enamoured of Soviet system
though as a realist he wanted it to be adapted to India conditions.
Q. 8. Trace the genesis of the formation of the Communist Party of India.

Ans. The origin of the Communist movement in India can be traced to the period after the Bolshevik
Revolution of November, 1917. This revolution was catastrophically explosive in its intellectual consequences
for the entire east. The suppressed and exploited sections began now to look upon Moscow as a new paradise
and Lenin came to be venerated as the new patriarch and messiah. Some important political leaders of the
East like Sun-Yat-Sen, M.N. Roy, Ho-Chi-Minh, Mao-Tse-Tung, Choun-En-Lai, Jawaharlal Nehru and others
received inspiration from Russia and slowly Marxist-Leninist ideology began to percolate into the traditionally

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orthodox and scholastic land of the Orient. M.N. Roy is one of the founders of Indian Communism. He had
tried to inculcate Marxist dogmas to a few persons at Tashkent. During the early 1920s he tried to indoctrinate
some other young Indians into the Communist ideology by his vigorous writings. Abani Mukherjee, Nalini
Gupta and a few others received Marxist baptism at the Moscow Oriental Academy. With his expulsion
from the Communist International in 1928, Roys influence on Indian Communism declined. The Ghadar
Party was organised in California by Lala Har Dayal and Sohan Singh for wining Indian independence. It
consisted mostly of Sikhs. In early 1920 s some of its members like Santokh Singh, Rattan Singh and
Gurmukh Singh went to Moscow and pledged support to the Soviet Union at the fourth Congress of the
Communist International. In 1921, Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Datta (d.1961), P. Khankhoje
and a few others like Nalini Gupta went to Moscow. They claimed to be communists. Sripat Amrita Dange
of Bombay (b.1899) has been one of the Old Bolsheviks, while Rajni Palme Dutta has been the leading
spokesman of Indian Communism abroad and is the mentor and guide of Indian communists.

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