India: The Dawn Of A New Era (An Autobiography)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889-1968) was one of the greatest Social Scientists of India.He was Professor of Economics and Sociology from 1921-1951 in Lucknow University and later on Vice-Chancellor in the same University for some time.

He played an important and constructive role in the country's freedom struggle. From 1905 to 1915 he was closely associated with certain important leaders of National Freedom Movement in Bengal including Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Benoy Kumar Sarkar and Asutosh Chowdhary.

He was associated with many eminent educationists and artists of that time, who gave call for National Education and revival of Indian Art to imbibe the spirit of nationalism among the masses. He himself started adult night school in the slums of Calcutta in 1905. Later on in his home town, where he was appointed as lecturer, he started night school and cooperative societies in rural areas from 1910-1915 which were part of national move- ment at that time.

He was invited to deliver lectures at many Indian Universities and also abroad including U.K., Europe, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. He was a highly original philosopher of history, a pene- trating interpreter of civilisation, a prominent literary critic and a gifted art theorist. He wrote more than 46 books covering these and other subjects.

He held important positions in some volun- tary organisations and Government Commit- tees including some international bodies. He was Vice-President of the Calcutta Workmen's Institute, Secretary of the Bengal Social Service League, Economic Advisor to the Gwalior State, Member of the Technical Committee of the I.L.O., Vice-President of the International Institute of Sociology and Chairman of the All-India Literary Board.

An American reviewer has considered him to have written "some of the most imortant works of our century".

In this book Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee dis- cusses how the victory of Japan over Russia in Russo-Japanese war in 1905 gave a new hope to Asian countries when the movement of decolonisation mingled with cultural renais sance started in India. The Partition of Bengal by the then British Government in the same year i.e. 1905 brought out a new spirit of nationalism and cultural regeneration. The main plank of this programme was boycott of foreign goods, Swadeshi, national education, social reforms, social and political awakening through journalism and spirit of sacrifice for freedom and uplift of down trodden.

Out of political and social upheavel caused by Partition of Bengal led to a mass movement creating a new spirit of patriotism among the educated and the masses. To liquidate illite- racy, remove untouchability and ameliorate the condition of the poverty stricken became the objects of this mass movement into which this new nationalism and renaissance was channelised.

A large number of illuminaries including Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Ganga- dhar Tilak, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rabindra Nath Tagore were involved. These political thinkers were divided into two main groups, extremists and moderates. Among the extremists three famous names were Lal, Bal and Pal. The extremist group led by them believed in pas- sive resistance i.e. Swadeshi, Boycott of foreign good, national education, complete inde- pendence and even in revolution. On the other hand the moderates confined to three P's i.e. Petition, Prayer and Protest.

Here is a volume that is at once an autobiography of one of the great academicians and social workers of our time and a personal record of about eighty years of certain highly significant but less known aspects of the history of India and of a large number of personalities involved therein.

Radhakamal Mukerjee was one of the few multidiscipli- narians who wrote with equal ease, authority and originality on a large variety of areas. He authored fifty books, covering subjects relating to economics, sociology, planning, mankind, races, democracy, civilization, art, psychology, personality, civics, population, working class, land problems, marriage, Bengal, values, morals, philosophy, evolution, mysticism, Bhagavadgita and Ashtavakragita.

He is famous for his institutional theory of economics, for his synthesis of urban and rural economy, and for his advocacy of economic planning and his preparation of far- sighted agricultural, industrial and social plan projects. He exhibited remarkable and uncommon boldness in emphasizing that such projects should be run by scientists from universities and colleges rather than by the bureaucracy, and protested vehemently against the usual gap between the welfare of the masses and the interests and attitudes of administrators, result- ing in inefficiency, inadequacy and shortsightedness of plans run by them and their attempt to satisfy the zeal and ambition of ministers, Planning Commission and Parliament rather than concentrate on the employment of scientific technologies and techniques. He was one of the few who have been keen that planners be well integrated personalities who have many sided interests and values and realize the dynamic interdepen- dence of society, science, technology and culture.

He is equally famous for his vision of sociology as the global integrative master of science of society. His leadership in social welfare programmes inspired and continues to inspire a large number of people to join, follow and, of course, to admire him.

This book INDIA: The Dawn of a New Era was written by late Professor Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889-1968), one of the most eminent and versatile scholars of the twentieth century, a saint and a great social worker. However, the same book is coming out after about three decades of his death due to certain reasons. Dr. Mukerjee had desired in his Will that all books of his personal library including the manuscripts should go to the Tagore Library, Lucknow University. The complete manuscripts of some books and other loose papers were taken possession of by the Lucknow Branch of the State Bank of India as directed in his will. The Tagore Library of the Lucknow University formed a committee to bring all the manuscripts from the bank concerned. However the committee members could not succeed in the mission. I then offered my services to the Library for this work and after many visits to the Bank, we could bring all manuscripts and other im- portant papers to the Library by the end of 1981.

Since his death I have been planning to bring out a volume in his memory but one thing or the other always stood in the way to which I have referred in the Preface of our book Society and Culture mentioned below. However during this period I tried to activise all the three institutions with which I was closely associated with him, viz., The Youth Social Welfare Society, Lucknow, Bharatiya Sanskriti Bhavan, Lucknow and Indian Council of Social Welfare, Uttar Pradesh Branch.

We celebrated his birthday anniversary every year on 7th December under the auspices of Bharatiya Sanskriti Bhavan of which he was the President. I was an office-bearer and later on President of the Bhavan for a number of years. On this occasion besides some lectures on his life and works by some of his close associates in his life, there were some devotional songs. The work done through these these three institutions is discussed in detail in my forthcoming book India and the West: In Search of a Leader Like Gandhi, Gokhale or Ranade.

**Contents and Sample Pages**