August 15, 1952 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

On Bengal: A Post-Mortem " N a r a d "

PE O P L E keep on asking: What has happened to Bengal? But

my question is: Does Bengal exist today? There are, of course, East Bengal and West Bengal. But , alas! Bengal is no more. This, in

'a nutshell, is what has happened to Bengal.

L need not go into the causes or the rationale of Partition-politics. It is the reaction of the Part i t ion w i t h which I am concerned at the moment.

One thing is sure: Partit ion seems to have caught us quite a wares., If our leaders had any notion about its possible effects, their pre-partition activities and utterances furnish li t t le proof of their prescience. This dismal failure on their part to anticipate the results of the Partition as also their failure to prepare the public m i n d for those results show a mental lacuna that is almost incredible. O u r leaders seem to have staked everything on the hope that the therapeutics of freedom would do the trick and all would be well in the end. But that hope has proved a chimera. T rue , the end is yet to be. But that, again, is l i t t le consolation in our present predica­ment.

Bengal, like Prance, is a party-striken country, where, if anywhere in India, people try and make an intellectual approach to every issue. But this intellectualism draws its inner sustenance from a unique emotionalism inherent in the genius of the Bengalee people.

The intellect is at a discount now-a-days. The fashion is to decry an intellectual. So an intel­lectual of intellectuals, Jean Paul Sartre says, an intellectual is never a true revolutionary; he is just good enough to be an assassin. This is only an obiter dictum that one need not accept. T h e revolutionary movement in Bengal was not mere fire-works as staid politicians may imagine. Both in its in i t ia l and evolutional .stages, it reveals an intellectual leadership rare in the history of revolutionary movements anywhere in the world. There were political realists in this movement who could set- beyond a slogan and could intelligently plan for the Future.

Therefore, w i t h Gandhiji 's advent in Ind ian polities, we find the Jugantar group of revolutionaries

identifying themselves wi th the Indian National Congress. The Gandhian credo of non-violence was, however, an object of ridicule to them. It was the mass-character of the movement that appealed to their pragmatic mind . C. R. Das wi th his call of l Swaraj for the masses' captured the imagination of these revolutionaries even more than Gandhij i w i th his innocuous charka. However, they decided to give Gandhian leadership a chance. After his resignation from the ICS Subhas found himself in close asso­ciation with these" revolutionaries, also. Inevitably, the: British Gov­ernment and its indigenous allies sensed a danger in this new com­bine. So the top-ranking among the Jugantar revolutionaries, Bhu-pen Datta, A run Cuha, Suren Ghosh, Jiban Ghatterjee, Suresh Das were placed under arrest along wi th Subhas and were deported to Burma to be kept under detention there. After the death of C. R. Das, w i th Jugantar leaders along wi th Subhas in detention, the po l i ­tical situation in Bengal drifted to factional feuds over the Calcutta Corporation affairs which have continued to dominate Bengal pol i ­tics eve: since. The " Big f i v e ' Cabal of Bengal which came into being then, in the late 'twenties, have in varying degrees wielded an influence over Bengal politics not always wholesome nor entirely healthy for it . Of the Big Five, Sarat Bose is no more. Of the remaining four, Tulsi Goswamy has vir tual ly faded out from public life while N inna l Chandra Ch under seems to have staged a come-back to politics this year as the Mayor of the Calcutta Corporation. Of course, NaJini-Bidhau partnership (between N a l i n i R a n j a n Sarkar and Dr B. C. Roy) is still going strong

Sarat Bose's historic indictment of Naliniraajan notwithstanding.

To take up the thread of my narrative, the long absence of the Jugantar leaders behind prison bars, —some of them could have cele­brated their Silver Jubilee of prison-l i f e - a n d a mysterious change in Subhas's party-affiliation in the mid-'thirties very adversely affected progressive movements in Bengal politics. So it was a dismal day for Bengal when Subhas finally broke away f rom the Gandhian leadership. Subhas's break with the 818

Congress had the unfortunate effect of isolating Bengal from the rest of India . What is more, it accentuat­ed the anti-Bengalee feeling that was brewing al l over India because of a number of historic causes. Natural ly , it was the Congress orga­nisation in Bengal that received the severest jo l t from Subhas's secession f rom it. Indeed, Congress in Ben­gal was - threatened wi th complete extinction.

True, there were the orthodox khadi elements. But they were neither united enough nor organi­sationally competent to shoulder the burden of Congress leadership in Bengal. The khadi elements were divided into three groups w i t h l i t t le or no co-ordination among them. The Khad i Pratisthan of Satish Das Gupta was far too aloof and isolated to be in the thick of active1 politics wh i l e the Abhay Ashram group of Dr Prafulla Ghosh and Arambag group of Prafulla Sen (the present Supply Minister in West Bengal Cabinet) were too l imited in their outlook to take upon themselves the leadership of the Congress. At that juncture of our national life it. was the jugantar group winch stepped in and stood by the Congress. But like what had happened at Calvary, the savi­ours could not save- themselves.

The new BPCC that was formed began to function wi th vigour and determination for its General Secre­tary A r u n Guha Believed in activis-ing the organisation down to its lowest units. It was going ahead and getting into its stride when British Government struck again as it had done in the past at a l l psy-etiological movements. A n d A r u n Guha found himself . in detention again along w i th a number of his close associates.

From now on the situation in Bengal was one of confusion and chaos because of the war and famine on the one hand and r iot-psychosis on the other.

The Communist Party, as is very natural for i t , sought to rish in the troubled waters and it achieved a measure of success also for it could secure even Congress leaders of the eminence of M r s Sarojini N a i d u and Dr Bidhan Roy to ident i fy themselves w i t h certain aspects of its activities. Dr Roy is reported to have sent a letter to Gandhi j i at about this time denouncing his

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY August 15, 1952

leadership, Dr Shyamaprasad,: w i t h his voce-

ferous advocacy of national com-immal ism was, of course, playing his usual role. A n d the only Con­gress leader of status outside the prison, K i r o n Sankar Roy, was playing a good younger brother's role to Shyamaprasad. The release of Suren Ghosh d id not b r ing any relief for w i t h A run Guha, Bhupen Dat ta , Manoranjan Gupta still in j a i l , he was completely overwhelm­ed by the fast developing situation in the country. Sarat Bose was also released at about the same time and his spectacular re turn to Con­gress in a blaze of glory robbed Suren Ghosh of much of his effec­tiveness even though he was reinstal­led as the President of the BPCC.

So the Parliamentary Board that was formed to run the general elections was almost entirely domi­nated by Sarat Bose, though Dr Ghosh and Prafulla Sen managed to snatch away quite a number of seats for their respective groups. T h e only group, and the dominant group at that, whose case went by default was the Jugantar. Arnar Ghosh's able advocacy failed to get them their dues because of a new ukase of the Congress H i g h Com-

mand that nobody could offer him-self for election on the Congress ticket f rom behind the prison bars. An exception was made in the case of only one jugantar Ieader. So by the time A r u n Guha, Bhupen Datta , Manoranjan Gupta and others were released, things had begun to dr if t and undesirables were more and more being pushed to the forefront. A r u n Guha was not reinstalled as the General Secretary of the BPCC though according to the constitution and practice he should have been. Indeed, coming events cast their shadows before.

On the eve of the Partition and transfer of power, group alignments in Bengal politics were, as was perhaps natural before such cata­clysmic changes, very f lu id . It is interesting to note that neither Dr Bidhan Roy nor Na l in i Sarkar was in the picture at al l . Dr Roy's stock was so low that he even failed to get himself elected as an alderman of the Calcutta Corporation of which he was a Mayor for so long. People in the know of things are inclined to con­nect this defeat w i th Dr Roy's sup­pression of the Corporation later— but that is quite another story. The significant fact was that both

N a l i n i Sankar and Dr Roy were Avoided dur ing the general and Constituent ' Assembly elections. Extremely touchy by nature, Dr Roy seems to have made a serious grievance of it and his subsequent break w i th the Jugantar is believed to have been at least partially due to his pique over this issue.

Sarat Bose had again broken away from the Congress and had been busy organising a party of his own on the scheme of Independent Bengal. The question of electing a leader of the Congress Assembly Party loomed large before the West Bengal Congress legislators. The obvious choice was, of course, K i r o n Sankar Roy who had been functioning as the leader of the Opposition for so long in the Ben­gal Assembly. But K i r o n Sankar sprang a surprise by refusing to stand for the election. He made it clear that he had opted for East Bengal in his own m i n d and could not therefore offer himself for elec­t ion. It was, I am sure, an act of great sacrifice, and few, I am equally sure, are capable of i t . The fact that he could not stick to this noble resolve later does not take away from the greatness of his sacrifice. K i r o n Sankar was a l i v -

August 15, 1952 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

i n g paradox in w h o m many Oppo­site qualities existed side by side. W i t h a l i t t le more dash and a l i t t le less cliquishness, he would have been one of our foremost leaders. It was, Indeed, most unfortunate that Jugantar leaders should have fallen out w i th h im—for they 'had to pay very dearly for it later.

W i t h K i r o n Sankar out, the next choice was Surendra M o h a n Ghosh. But he took inordinately long, as is his wont , to take a decision and by the time he finally could take one, the die had been cast in favour of the khadi group leader, Dr Ghosh. Both Dr Ghosh and Prafulla Sen were- members of the Constituent Assembly then and they effected a marriage of convenience over the issue. A n d on Dr Ghosh fell the mantle of office when the Congress took over the government.

But this is not to suggest that Dr Ghosh was not worthy of the choice. Indeed, the brief period for which Dr Ghosh was the pre­mier in West Bengal would remain recorded in letters of gold in our history as a period of great ideal­ism and noble venture. It was like a dream coining true. The people were electrified by a new hope and even corrupt officials started behav­ing honestly. But such a spell could not last long. A n d then, Dr Ghosh's own handling of the refugee problem was far from satisfactory. 'The Preventive Detention Act and police-firings also marred to a great extent the excellent effect of his earlier pronouncements.

Matters soon came to a head and a motion of no-confidence was about to be passed. The talk of no-confidence was to make Dr Ghosh quit office. The jugantar leader A m a r Ghosh took the lead in this matter, and at the De lh i end, A r u n Guha, who was a wh ip of the Central Congress Parliament­ary Party, played a significant part in persuading the Congress H i g h Command to accept Dr B. C. Roy as the premier of West Bengal, Dr Roy was booked for UP Gov­ernorship and was actually on his way to Luc know when things took this dramatic tu rn . Dr Roy return­ed from the station to be elected as the leader of the Congress Party in West Bengal. The mailed fist underneath the velvetty gloves was, however, soon visible when Dr Roy revealed to the Party the per­sonnel of his prospective ministry. His list contained names long in the bad book of the Congress. His proposals very clearly revealed his social sympathies and his anxiety to

change the comple t ion of the Con-gress f rom a revolutionary organi­sation to a capitalist caucas was a l l too self-evident also.

The majority of the Congress legislators met at the residence of K i r o n Sankar Roy which was the venue of many historic meetings and came to a unanimous decision that a mandate in the form of an u l t i ­matum should be sent to Dr Roy, As the meeting was in progress, there came a telephone call for K i r o n Sankar. In the absence of any positive proof we are only left to guess as to who it was that gave the r ing. Subsequent events, how­ever, leave very l i t t le room for con­jecture. Of the two emissaries sent to Dr Roy to convey to h im the decision of the meeting, only one returned while the other remained wi th Dr Roy to help h i m form a ministry. F rom that moment a new chapter began in West Bengal politics. We know of par t ing kicks pretty well , but Dr Roy had gone one better, he had begun by start­ing kicks.

So a peculiar situation develop­ed in West Bengal. Here was a Congress Government of non-Con­gress men which had no relation to the Congress organisation in the province. The f u l l impact of the Part i t ion soon began to be felt on West Bengal's politics. It dealt a mortal blow to the Congress orga­nisation -because in Bengal it was the East-Bengal people who ran the organisation. A n d Jugantar par t i ­cularly was cr ippled because its main support came f r o m East Bengal districts.

As it happens in a procession, if the order is reversed the vanguard is at once turned into the rear­guard. So the Arambagh group f rom its obscure back water was suddenly hurled in to the forefront by a for tu i tous concord of circum­stances. What was death to the East Bengal Congress men became sports to the members of this very parochial group who saw the chance of their l ife-time in the mis­fortune of other fellow Congress men. War money was stil l afloat in plenty and black marketeers in their quest for licence and permits soon entered into an unholy alliance w i t h this group whose pu l l w i t h the Min is t ry placed it in a par t i ­cularly advantageous position. This combine soon met at Memary and raised the slogan of d iv id ing the Congress organisation also. If Part i t ion had cut Bengal into twain physically, Memary sought to k i l l the soul of Bengal—so vilely pro­

v inc ia l w a s t h e p r o g r a m m e o f action that the M e m a r y conference adopted. Great organisations and l i t t le minds go i l l together. A n d never in history perhaps—certainly not in Bengal—had such small and thoroughly unworthy men- ventured to shoulder the burden of leader­ship of so great an organisation. Bengal, indeed, was no more.

The subsequent events are too sordid to relate and not the least sordid part of it was the role play­ed by the H i g h Command in con­nection w i t h them. For i t was the H i g h Command which helped the forces of reaction in West Bengal both to organise and to stabilise at the cost of those who had kept the Congress flag flying in those lean days when the organisation had been threatened w i t h complete extinction in Bengal.

The Jugantar leaders awoke to the folly of ousting the good man Dr Ghosh when it was too late. They tr ied once again the no-confi­dence t r ick—but unlike the good man, Dr Ghosh who had resigned in a huff on the mere mention of no-confidence, Dr Roy stuck to his post and very successfully strength­ened it by generous gifts of favours. The number of ministers and par­liamentary secretaries was raised to a fabulous figure and thus the majority against h i m was converted into a minori ty .

What would happen i f Jawa-harlal could carry his day and make Dr Roy resign is only a matter for fascinating, albeit, idle specula­t ion. A n d why Jawaharlal let off Dr Roy and his ministry f rom those charges which he himself had found to be substantially true is a matter upon which he alone can th row light. Even though j awahar la l took the investigation so l ightly, he found five of the twelve charges brought against the Roy Min i s t ry to be substantially true. Future historians of the Congress and of the nation would be hard put to i t to defend his action when the pas­sions of the moment have died down and the glamour of Jawa-harlal's v i v i d personality would not be there to influence a verdict.

The intense hatred for the Con­gress that one finds everywhere in West Bengal is due in no small measure to actions of Jawaharlal like this. There is a wide spread feeling today that there is nobody to appeal to and there is no remedy for the wrongs committed by the high and mighty. But, we know, that is the "stuff revolutions are made of.

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