Why don’t they teach us history of 1857 War ? -- II
| Date :19-Jul-2020 |
By Vijay Phanshikar :
IN FACT, the story of the great 1857 War of Independence is so inspiring that it can change the lives of all the listeners beyond age-groups. Young and old are known to have been inspired tremendously by the story of countless rulers of princely states as well as common people came together to throw off the yoke of foreign rulers. Each episode has an inspiring detail that has the ability to change our lives even now. Despite this, our educators have refused to include the story of 1857 War of Independence in school syllabus and college curriculum.
True, it was not a well-organised uprising, in the sense the effort did not follow a command-and-control model of leadership. True, that led to many people rising against the British in independent efforts that could be crushed because of the small size of operations. True, most leaders of the uprising, like Nanasaheb Peshwe, chief campaigner Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, fought uncoordinated battles and lost. Yet, the overall story of the uprising had all the trappings of a full-scale war, not just because of the size and spread of the effort, but also because of the intensity of emotion it evoked across the land.
The personal heroics, the collective strategic moves and tactical operations, the massive political effort to bind the princely states into a common front and motivating common people to take the plunge are all the matters of terrific details that can inspire anybody. That the uprising did not succeed, is a small detail. For, in a war, both victory and defeat have a fifty-fifty chance. So, losing a war is a matter of detail. The manner of fighting, the cause for fighting, and the overall impact an uprising has on the nation as a whole are the factors that make all the difference. Most unfortunately, these dimensions of the thought never figure in the consideration of our education planners.
And that is the reason why such an important saga of the 1857 War of Independence does not figure properly in our educational thought. In 1907, when the 1857 War of Independence completed 50 years, Swatantryaveer Savarkar wrote his seminal work on the uprising, putting together fully checked and corrected evidence of the whole story. The story of how the book was written and finally published, too, can make a great chapter in India’s history. Unfortunately, we do not know that part a and so we do not share it with youngsters. The moment the British rulers came to know of the presence of the book by Swatantryaveer Savarkar, they swooped down upon the document, to ensure that it never saw the light of the day. When the Savarkar family realised the British intent, it tried to have the book published by hoodwinking the British Government.
All those efforts were met with a stern British swoop. So, in order to duck the British whip, the Savarkar family even smuggled the book to England where Swatantryaveer Savarkar himself tried to have it published, though to no avail as the British rulers there also put spokes in the effort. The book was taken to several European countries, but in each place, some or the other hindrance blocked the way. Finally, the manuscript made its way back to India where it was published in due course of time. Why did the British stop the publication? The answer was simple : They did not want the Indians to know the inspiring story of 1857 War of Independence. However, we also seem to follow the British footprint -- by refusing to introduce our youngsters to the great story.