Marxists want to erase 10,000 yrs of Indian history

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Marxists want to erase 10,000 years of Indian history

By Manju Gupta

 

 

 

Marxvaad aur Bharatiya Itihaas Lekhan (in Hindi) by Shankar Sharan,

India First Foundation, 283 pp, Rs 400.00

 

The writer, who has completed his doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru

University, Delhi is of the view that in 1853-1857, Karl Marx wrote

23 essays while Engels wrote eight on India with the prime aim of

highlighting the futility of British rule over India, though their

views towards India were as objectionable and adverse as that of any

intellectual of the European world.

 

The 19th-century Europe was touching new heights of glory in science

and technology which had made this part of the world believe that

Europe was the most advanced civilisation in the world with its roots

in Christianity, higher than all other religions and which had to be

imposed upon rest of the backward world to make it civilised. This

has been called the `white man's burden'.

 

The author tries to show that Marx had knowledge equivalent to nil

about the India that existed prior to the 7th-8th century, though he

never admitted it openly; he referred to that period as useless and

steeped in superstitions. For him only the history of the Middle Ages

which had been extended due to Muslim rule, was the complete history

of India. Hence, for Marx, the only history was that pertaining to

the period of the invaders who had entered India from the western

borders.

 

According to Marx, every nation passes through four high periods

which one after another are more progressive and on this basis he

concluded that since the Middle Ages or that since Muslim rule came

after the ancient period, it had necessarily got to be more advanced.

 

Thus, for him, India's 10,000 years of history was `zero' despite the

archaeologists having described the period as the `greatest'.

 

The author says that the irony of history was that British

imperialism, Muslim fundamentalism and Russian Marxism under their

military policy combined together to attack the Indian civilisation—

some from left, some from right, some from behind and others from the

sides. "Who was a friend and who was the foe in such a situation,

none could tell. Some were dancing at London's behest, others at

Moscow's, while still others at Aligarh's. Delhi stood like a mute

spectator to it all." Hence, according to the author, it is necessary

to view the writing on Marxist history against the background of

the `unholy alliance' reached between British imperialism, Muslim

fundamentalism and Marxist communism. This unholy alliance believed

that India's ancient `Hindu age' or ` ancient age' was rotten which

had to be put to an end by some greater civilisation, which according

to them was the Muslim conqueror, very conveniently forgetting the

Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita, Abhijnana Shakuntalam

which were being praised unanimously by indologists from Russia,

Holland, France, Germany and England. The author very aptly

questions, "Were the civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece or

Rome so rotten that they were destroyed?" Most historians have found

that in a battle, in a civilised society, it is the barbarian who

overpowers the civilised, hence the defeat of Hindu rulers in the

wars should not be looked upon as the defeat of Hinduism.

 

The author then refers to the controversy raised by Marx over

nationalism through his `nation-state theory' in the 18th-19th

century. Marx's theory gave rise to the class struggle and Marx's

thesis—the problem of the world's working class is one and if they

rise together, then social and economic balance can be achieved. He

then talks of Lenin's strategy to arouse the communists in every

country to ask for national independence and to take over power. But

in India this strategy failed as the Congress became the chief party

of independent India and the communists, in desperation, began to

malign the Congress leaders.

 

Dr Shankar Sharan has revealed some very pertinent aspects of Marxist

politics and policies. This book divided into 11 parts is a deep

study and revelation of Marxism.

 

(India First Foundation, G-3, Dhavandeep Building, 6 Jantar Mantar

Road, New Delhi-110 001.)