India's Struggle For Freedom: Role of Associated Movements in Set of 5 Volumes (An Old & Rare Book)

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The publication of 4 volumes along with a supplement volume containing the index and the bibliography on 'India's Struggle for Freedom: Role of Associated Move ments' in the centenary year by the Centenary Celebrations Committee of the Indian National Congress with Prime Minister as Chairman and Smt. Sheila Kaul, former Minister of Education as the Convener, is intended to bridge a wide gulf in the historical account of our freedom movement. As the Prime Minister des cribes in the Foreword, the freedom movement had a wide base, covering the contribution of the Indian National Cong ress as well as of the other political organi sations and associated movements, some preceding the Congress and others runn ing parallel to it. This wide complexioned panorama of other political bodies and organisations, collectively described as the Associated Movements by the historian writers, include the Santhal and Chuar Movements preceding the Congress and the contemporary Movements of Home Rule, Swarajya Party, Congress Socialist Party, Forward Bloc, All India States People's Conference, Khudai Khidmatgars, Revolutionary Party, Ahrars, Indian Trade Union, The Akali and the Babbar Akali Movements, Indian National Army, Com munist Party, The Kukas or the Namdhari Movement, Rampa Rebellion, The Revolutionary Movements All India Kisan Sabha, Jammu and Kashmir Natio nal Conference and others, All these movements interacted and invigora ted the freedom movement collectively and severally and left indelible stamp on the history of the country and on the hearts and minds of the masses of our country. The eminent historians who have contributed the chapters on these movements in the series of 4 volumes consider that these movements. depict many splendoured spectrum of Indias's epic struggle for freedom. They have also projected in the accounts of these movements their leaders and patriots of great fame known for their heroic deed, stoic sacrifices, dedication and commitment as also for their ideology and precepts, perspectives and visions, who have accumulative and individual the enriched history of the freedom move ment of the Indian people. The historians rightly feel that their annals and historic, cultural and political material must be prescribed for dissemination among the youths and the coming generations for stimulation and reflection.

Several authoritative works have been published on the role of the Indian National Congress in the country's struggle for freedom. A com prehensive history of this premier organisation has also been sponsored during the centenary celebrations of the Congress. However, there have been only stray attempts to evaluate the contribution of other political organisations or movements to free our country from foreign rule. The need for a comprehensive work on the subject has been greatly felt. It was in pursuance of this long-felt need that the Centenary Celebrations Committee of the Indian National Congress under the dynamic leader ship of the Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi felt that a comprehensive work on the subject might be brought out. A sub-committee with Shri G.S. Dhillon as Chairman, Shri Xavier Arakal as Convenor and Dr. P.N. Chopra as the Project Director was set up for the purpose.

It was no easy task to prepare an exhaustive list of these movements, some of which preceded the Congress while many of them were its off shoots at one stage or the other. But the leaders and members of these movements who belonged to every corner of the country made immense sacrifices for the liberation of the country. They did not belong to one religion or one caste. They rose above these narrow considerations and intense love for their motherland and a keenness to see it free permeated all their existence. That was the single thread of unity that bound them all. Their methods and means of struggle might have been different but over the decades these freedom fighters worked hard with the same dedication, singleness of purpose and solidarity. This is one chapter of our history which will inspire the generations to come. It was a difficult task to find competent scholars to whom this work could be entrusted and completed within the stipulated period. In spite of these handicaps, I am glad to say that we were able to complete the work much ahead of schedule, thanks to the cooperation of distinguished scholars who had lent to these volumes the benefit of their profound scholarship. It was indeed a challenging task for the Editor to scrutinise the contributions of over two dozen scholars, verify the facts, introduce uniformity and also avoid overlapping as far as possible. I have tried to make the minimum possible alterations in the original write-ups.

I have examined the relevance of Jawaharlal's Marxist approach to the communal and social problems. Since Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had held Jawaharlal chiefly responsible for the break with the Muslim League in 1937 and partition, I have devoted two chapters to this question, and have objectively examined Maulana Azad's thesis that it was Jawaharlal who sabotaged the move for a rapprochement between the Congress-League which he had initiated. I have come to the conclusion that the Maulana was far from clearsighted and wasequally responsible for embittering relations with Jinnah and the Muslim League. The Socialist prescription was in no way different. The Congress leadership was so self-enclosed and self-absorbed in 1937 that it did not lose its sleep over its miserable electoral perfor mance in the strategically decisive Muslim- majority Provinces of the Punjab, Bengal and Sind nor did it worry over its failure to win a single Muslim seat on its own in the politically and culturally impor tant Muslim-minority Provinces of Bombay and the U.P. In this self-centredness of the Congress High Command lay the seeds of the tragedy of partition. The subject matter of the latter part of this volume is the slow transformation of Jawaharlal, the uncompromising anti-imperialist fighter of 1927-1937 into a wobbly leader whose will to action had been paralysed by premature internationalism, deep antipathy for Nazism and blind belief in the myth of the two-thousand year old India-China friendship. Gandhi's hold over him and his innate sense of honour acted as a corrective and saved Jawaharlal from going the cooperationist road taken by Rajaji and the Communists.This phase is important also because the Socialists' differences with Jawaharlal can be traced back to this change in Jawaharlal's outlook on life and events.

This work by Dr. P. N. Chopra deals with the history of the Indian National Congress from its foundation by A. O. Hume in 1885 upto its chequered long historic struggle ending with the achieve ment of independence in 1947 and its on-going political stance under the stewardships of successive Prime Ministers. The numerous events having deep linkage with the functioning of the Raj, its constitutional, moderate, extremist and non-violent postures have been systematically dealt with while taking into consideration its long and arduous journey for full century on the political stage of India. Notwithstanding its internal soluble and insoluble squables, it remained, on the whole, a well-knit organization which afforded a lead to our nation unprecedented in the history of our country. Its broad based manifesto enshrined with a socialistic pattern of society, its secular posture with emphasis on the development of weaker sections: its non-aligned foreign policy and its well-knit economic programme have enabled it to maintain its identity with strength and vigour in the service of the nation. It is all so, because its organiza tion and policies had been rightly quided by prominent leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. During the centenary year, the leadership of this organisation and our country has been entrusted to our young dynamic Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, who has once again put forth a new ideology for the all-round development of the masses of India with a confirm con viction to take the nation to the new horizons of 21st century.

**Contents and Sample Pages**