REVIEW - INDIA AFTER GANDHI, MAKERS OF MODERN INDIA

Mukesh Devrari

Ramchandra Guha brings a narrative style to the history writing that his books become more interesting read than the Khuswant Singh’s ‘In the company of women”. Perhaps he is a most celebrated and genius historian of contemporary India. His profound observations and remarkable writing style are reflected in all his works. His books are read by the general public as well as hardnosed academicians.

Above paragraph seems highly subjective and hagiographical account of an author, but it can be kept aside for a time being. Despite the remarkable fan following and eminence, his works lack objectivity and criticality. It seems Guha is enamoured by the charm of Nehru as Nehru was by the charm of Lady Mountbatten. In his book ‘India after Gandhi’ Guha has kept Nehru and his policies at the centre of India. Guha finds no fault of Nehru for the ills of India. He ignores policy blunders and treats Nehru with kid gloves. He justifies all his actions as a politician on the one pretext or other.

At the same Guha knits strange narrative to deduce that even Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel accepted Nehru as his leader which is contrary to the popular belief. He claims that Patel did not intend to pose any challenge for the prime minister’s office. For verifying and substantiating his concocted conclusions he shares the almost filmy scene of a last-minute conversation between Patel and Nehru where former shares his loyalty and later his love for the other.

On Kashmir, many nationalist thinkers claim that Nehru stopped the Indian military from occupying entire Kashmir. Guha claims it was the snow which worked as a dampener, not Nehru. He also claimed that Sheikh Abdullah played a key role in the inclusion of Kashmir in India. Guha also describes certain events, people and issues in such a manner which exaggerates their importance in the historical narrative convincingly. ‘India after Gandhi’ is a statement of the loyalty of this great Indian historian whose name is Ramchandra Guha to a greatest political dynasty in India.

However, this book also proves that Guha is an Indian historian, a staunch nationalist, not willing to quit ground to naysayers when it comes to key issues of national importance. He recognizes opposition arguments and then dismisses them in a subtle manner. This book also recognizes the importance of the division of states and how smartly earlier Nehru opposed it then accepted the division of states without losing any political ground to its detractors. He unravels the complexities of India in its multifarious dimensions. In the years ahead no student of contemporary India will be able to do without studying following his writings. For pleasure reading ‘Makers of India’ is much better than ‘India after Gandhi’. Chapters on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Periyar and Ambedkar capture the genius of these national figures. 

Many Indians generally will prefer the demonic description of Jinnah, but Guha captures his genius by quoting him and highlighting how he dismantled the notion of one India by using cold logic. It is remarkable how skillfully Jinnah expanded his discourse on two nation theory by playing on religious feelings of Muslims and made them enemies of India.  Acceptability of Jinnah’s argument by a section of Indian population also highlighted the fragility of intentions of modern nation-states with a considerable Muslim population to emerge as secular democracies with common law and adult franchise.  

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