Post on 31-Dec-2016
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY October 24, 1956
The Ganatantra Parishad F G Bailey
T H E Gana tan t ra Par ishad seldom gets a good press. It is 'reac
t i ona ry ' or dominated by feudal interests and medieval t rad i t i ons ' or i t is a pa r t y of 'd isgrunt led pr incel ings1 . I t s r a n k and file are supposed to be i l l i te ra te t r iba ls , hoodwinked by the Rajas, and incapable of rea l i s ing tha t they are in the twen t ie th century and not k n o w i n g tha t there Is a wo r l d of dif ference in democrat ic content between a vote g iven on the ins t ruc t ions of a local p a r t y boss and one g iven on the inst ruct ions of a Ra ja 's henchm a n . In the words o f the ed i tor o f the Economic Weekly (issue of May 3, 1958, p 592) the pa r t y wh ich stands fo r ex-rulers conducted a Mast d i tch f ight ' in" A p r i l and May 1958 (the period of the floorcros-s ings ' ) , being moved in to act ion by the prospect of the i r immense landed propert ies' being assessed and subjected to ' land laws applicable to others." H o w long, the edi tor asks, can the Gana tan t ra 'sell its b la tan t l y reac t ionary policies to the people?
This , no doubt, is how the bat t le appeared f r o m Bombay, th rough the smoke of Congress propaganda. F r o m Orissa, where the a i r is clearer, i t appeared tha t i f anyone was l i g h t i n g i ts las t -d i tch bat t le in 1958. it was the Congress, not the Ganat a n t r a : and i t was not the Ganat a n t r a rampar t t ha t crumbled ane year later.
In this ar t ic le I shal l describe the events In the ex-state areas a f te r the merger in 1948 This, t aken together w i t h what I have a l ready said about the div is ion between the h i l l and the coast, w i l l show t h a t i f the Gana tan t ra stands fo r ex-rulers i t stands for other th ings as we l l . I t is more t han a p a r t y o f 'd isgrunt led pr incel ings' a n d i f i t were only tha t , i t wou ld not have g r o w n successively stronger in the two elections since its for ma t ion eleven years ago. Secondly. I sha l l look fo r the ' b la tan t l y react i o n a r y policies' wh ich , accord ing to the Economic Week ly , the Gana-t a n t r a 'sells to the people' and t r y to balance th is j udgmen t against t h a t o f the A m r l t a Bazar P a t r i k a . w h i c h on June 25th, 1959 described the G a n a t a n t r a as 'a p a r t y wh ich
believed sincerely in Par l i amen ta ry democracy and accepted the socioeconomic programmes of the Congress'. (The Gana tan t ra , of course, is react ionary about proh ib i t ion , and i t is possible t h a t ed i tor ia l opin ion on the Economic Week ly is s taunch ly teetota l and tha t th is is w h a t is meant by "sell ing b la tan t l y reac t ionary policies to the people.)
The Ex-States in 1948
I n d i a in 1948 was l i gh t i ng a desperate st ruggle against anarchy There was the crisis in Kashm i r there were refugee problems, there was the s t ruggle over the Pr incely States. The Orissa Government had won i ts bat t le against the ru lers of the Feudato ry States and i t took over the admin i s t ra t i on of these areas on January 1st 1948. The rulers were g ran ted a p r i v y purse. based on the state's income, and an al lowance to meet the i r rel igious obl igat ions, and cer ta in t ax concessions. At the h igher level of pol icy m a k i n g there is discernible a dist inc t e f for t to be conc i l ia tory , or at least to avoid vindict iveness. Bu t at the same t ime the c l imate of 1948 was not suited to gent le and subtle hand l ing of opponents who showed the least sign of recalci trance. Disorders were suppressed w i t h a heavy hand.
"The need for peace and order in the count ry was never fe l t so keenly as af ter the war . As a l ways happens a f te r wars , an t i social elements, who were dra f ted in to the wa r or had been suppressed by i t , f ind a free p lay f o r their act iv i t ies when the Government Is wa r -wea ry and the people faced w i t h var ious pr ivat ions, the f ru i t s of war . Then came the par t i t ion of the country and brought in i t * wake carnage, loot, and mass movement of populat ion. The sanc t i t y of l i fe and property was lost, the Fa the r of the N a t i o n fe l l a v i c t i m to the mad orgy of ha t red and violence. I t was at th is t ime tha t the Orissa States lost their ident i ty and merged in Orissa. The Rulers of these States who were dreaming dreams of sovere ignty a f te r the w i t h d r a w a l of the B r i t i sh awoke f r o m the helplessness wh ich had led them to
agree to the merger. Some of them misused the privi leges gua ranteed to them by the Government of Ind ia and l ike the t rad i t ional Bhasmasur ' a t tempted to use these privi leges to weaken the Power t ha t had gran ted them the same. The rulers were jo ined by self-seekers whose ambi t ion could not be fu l f i l led w i t h the assumpt ion of power by the Congress. Many of those Congressmen who had out l ived the pat r io t ic fe rvour of the th i r t ies and those whose pol i t i ca l amb i t i on had got the better of thei r good sense, cut themselves f r om the Congress as Socialists and Communists, to preach discontent and disaffect ion. Independence brought f reedom of thought to a degree which never existed in the count ry before and this freedom was unscrupulously used for subversive act iv i t ies. A weak kneed admin is t ra t i on would certa in ly have fa l len a prey in Orissa to the forces of disorder and disturbance wh ich raised their head in the first years of the present regime The big plans of development which the Government launched upon at the very beginn ing of the i r regime af forded the Socialists, the Communists, and the feudal rulers an oppor tun i ty to launch their a t tacks against Government a t H i r a k u d and among the Adibasis of B a m r a and M a y u r b h a n j . The Govern-ment of Orissa faced the a t tack boldly and used the very force which had been so long used against themselves by the Br i t i sh to establ ish order in the State. For over a century the Police had been used by the B r i t i sh to suppress popular movements to keep the people in abject bondage. N o w they served as guard ians of peace, engaged by a democrat ic Government, so t ha t revo lu t ionary admi -n is t ra t ive changes and the bo ld development plans m igh t proceed unhampered. N a t u r a l l y both the Government and the i r agents were misrepresented and misjudged . . .
"Towards the end of the year (1950) the act iv i t ies of Hon ib le Ran j i t S ingh Ba r i ha and other Honible Min is ters, among the A d i -
Politics in Orissa —VIII
1469
October 24, 1959 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y
basl populat ion, con t r ibu ted to a very great degree to easing the Adibas i s i tua t ion by b r i n g i n g about a b road ou t look of u n i t y among them. The foundat ion of the N i k h i l U t k a l Ad ibas i Congress was l a i d w h i c h In the succeeding year was to grive the J h a r k h a n d movement of Orissa a go-by." (Orissa 1950-51 Public Relat ions Depar tment pp 4-5)"
Adibasi Risings There were Ad ibas i r is ings in
1948 in B a m r a , Gangpur, Bona l , and Pa l -Laha ra . These were pu t d o w n by the A r m e d Police, some people were k i l l ed , others were detained, collective fines were inn-posed on vi l lages. In K h a r s a w a n there was a p a r t i c u l a r l y unpleasant outbreak, resul t ing, accord ing to the official enquiry, in 14 deaths,
and according to an unofficial estimate, several hundred ("The 1948 Blood B a t h in K h a r s a w a n ' by Rabi Ghosh, M a n k i n d , V o l I I I . N o 1 August 1948, pp 1 6 ) .
There is a neat s u m m a r y in Orissa 1949 (Publ ic Relat ions Depa r tmen t ) of the events of 1948 and 1949 a n d i t shows h o w the po l i t i ca l developments in the ex-states ap peared to the Orissa Government .
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY October 24. 1959
" I n Gangpur the B i h a r Ad lbas i leaders had a hand . At about th is t ime some Rulers s ta r ted an ag i ta t i on fo r a States' Union-Demonst ra t ions were a r ranged in Ka lahand i , Bo lang i r -Pa tna , Keon-jhar , and B a m r a , and extensive leaf leteer ing u rg ing the masses to nu l l i f y the merger was indulged in . The centres of ac t i v i t y were sh i f ted to Ca lcu t ta . Chaibassa and Monoharpur (S ingbhum) to avo id legal act ion by the P rov in cial Gove rnmen t Adibasis in Keon jhar , Gangpur, Bona i , Bamra and K a l a h a n d i were regu la r l y contacted and inci ted to violence. In spite of the arrest and extern-ment of p rominent ag i ta tors , the Royal is ts cont inued to excite the Adibasis of Bamra , who were worked up to demand an immediate t rans fe r of power to them. Mob lawlessness broke out with the result tha t at Deogarh ( B a m ra) on 26th Ju ly f i r ing had to be resorted to resu l t ing in 3 dead and 13 in jured. The s i tuat ion was -soon brought under cont ro l . The Un ion movement cont inued w i t h the f inancia l hack ing of the Rulers, but in October 1948 the Rulers agreed to accept the merger and the movement died out,
"The next phase in the integrated States star ted w i t h the Mahara jas of Ka lahand i and Bo lang i r -Pa tna aided by the Rajas of Gangpur, Sonepur, and B a m r a sponsor ing a new pol i t ica l o rgan iza t ion cal led the 'Khosha l -U t k a l P ra j a Par ishad ' , the members of wh i ch consisted ch ie f ly of P r a j a m a n d a l seceders and ant i merger ag i ta to rs w i t h headquarters a t Bo lang i r ( P a t n a ) . Branches of the Par ishad were opened in Ka lahand i . Sonepur, Gangpur , Bonai . Keon jhar , A t h m a l l i c k , and Boudh and paid workers were busy p ropaga t ing the par ty 's Ideals v i l i f y i n g the Congress Gove rnment and Government employees, a n d canvassing support f r o m the States people who were advised to vote fo r the Par ishad candidates in the next genera l elect ion.
" (1949) F o l l o w i n g the merger of M a y u r b h a n j the leaders of the Ad ibas i Mahasabha and the an t i -merger is ta inc i ted the Adibasis to wide-spread lawlessness and def iance o f l a w and order. W i t h the a r res t of some of the i r leaders the ag i t a t i on took a more v io lent f o r m and f e l l i ng o f Reserve f o r
ests s tar ted on a large scale. A r m ed Ad lbas i mobs moved about In the In ter io r and threatened the non-Adibasis , two of w h o m were k i l led. They damaged g h a t roads and te legraph communicat ions in their a t t emp t to march upon Rai -rangpur and Bar ipada To check lawlessness f ire had to be opened on a few occasions and the movement g radua l l y died ou t w i t h the qua r t e r i ng of detachments of the M i l i t a r y Police Force, r ound ing up of ag i ta to rs In specific cases, a few detent ions, and the impos i t ion of col lect ive fines (pp 30-31)"
Emergence of Ganatantra Parishad
There are several s t rands discernible in these disorders, and whi le I can disentangle them, I am not competent to discuss them a l l , nor are they a l l re levant to the present theme. One element wh ich I w i l l not ice bu t not enlarge upon is the role of the Adibas is and the J h a r k h a n d P a r t y and the neighbouring State of B iha r . I t w i l l be not iced tha t the ma jo r disorders took place in the nor the rn h i l l areas Th is area, which is now par t of Orissa's 'Ruhr ' , has a large proport ion of ( r iba ls in i ts popula t ion and i t is here tha t the J h a r k h a n d has its support in Orissa. There are frequent a l legat ions tha t people f r o m B iha r and the J h a r k h a n d were concerned in f omen t ing Ad ibas i disorders. Pa r t i cu la r l y is th is said to be t rue of Seraikel la and K h a r -sawan
But this is perhaps too delicate a subject to analyse, and in any case it is not my business to describe par t i cu la r h is tor ica l events. I merely notice t h a t these Ad ibas i movements occurred, and remark tha t i f in the beg inn ing they were connected w i t h the f o r m a t i o n of the G a n a t a n t r a Par ishad, there was soon a pa r t i ng of the ways. The Gana tan t r a is s taunchly Or i ya Nat iona l i s t , and i t has been a constant opponent of the J h a r k h a n d , par t i cu la r l y since the Congress was kept in power by the f i ve J h a r k h a n d voters in the Orissa Legis la t ive Assembly.
'Mentality of Conquerors'
The ma in lesson to be d rawn f r o m the events of 1948 and 1949 was t h a t the Orissa Congress Gov-eminen t was not welcomed in to the h i l l areas. There were m a n y reasons f o r th is . F i r s t l y , and f unda menta l l y , there was the long-estab
l ished an t ipa thy between the h i l l and the coastal areas: the fee l ing against ' K a l a k l s ' Th i s mean t t ha t not on ly the ex-rulers, who had the i r own par t i cu la r gr ievance a n d reason fo r being 'd isgrunt led ' , but also the sma l l middle-class and t he common people of the h i l l areas looked w i t h a l a rm on the new incurs ion of ' K a t a k i s ' Nor , so it seems, was much a t t emp t made to w i n them over. The off icials and the police descended upon the ex-state areas look ing fo r t rouble, as they could ha rd l y do otherwise in 1948. They came, as one of the G a n a t a n t r a M L A s said, ' w i t h the men ta l i t y o f conquerors ' : compla in ts and protests were t reated as 'subversion' . I t need not be assumed t h a t a l l the adm i n is t ra to rs had this out look, but the many accounts I have had of h ighhandedness are, to say the least, not rendered un l i ke l y by the a t t i tude revealed in the quota t ion f r o m Oriassa 1950-51. People were impr isoned or 'externed' f r o m thei r home areas, and the o rd ina ry mechanisms of democrat ic protest d id not exist,
Secondly there were certain admin is t ra t i ve d iscomfor ts fo l lowing on the merger. A s t a r t l i n g and immediate one was the price of rice. The ex-states were, in m a n y respects, closed economies and shielded f r o m the m a r k e t prices ru l i ng elsewhere in Orissa. I have been to ld tha t the price of rice increased fou r fo ld overn igh t in some stales, a l though I can f ind no published figures to substant ia te th is. In addit ion to this came the inconveniences of a large-scale bureaucracy. The personal local ru le of the Ra ja vanished and in it's place came an organ iza t ion wh ich could be moved into act ion only by un fam i l i a r and lengthy and compl icated procedures, and of ten localed many miles fur ther away . I t wou ld have been miracu lous i f the take-over had occurred w i thou t f r i c t ion , and what ever went w r o n g was na tu ra l l y b lamed upon the admin is t ra to rs who had been sent up f r o m the coast by the Congress Government . I n the i r t u r n the admin is t ra to rs b lamed the i r di f f icui t ies on local 'subversive elements' and 'ag i ta tors ' .
The G a n a t a n t r a is s t rong , fo r one reason, because it has the backing of the local in te l l igents ia , and I w i l l summar ize the background in 1948 f r o m w h i c h the Gana tan t ra emerged by quot ing a t l eng th f r o m an in terv iew wh i ch I had w i t h a m a n f r o m one o f the ex-states.
1471
October 24, 1959 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
Price of Rice Shoots Up
" A f t e r the merger th ings were bad, as you know. We h a d to do something. The people could not swal low the merger: they were never consulted.
"There was a difference in the A d m i n i s t r a t i o n after '48 too. Pe t ty officials stayed. B u t they d id not believe in our officers and a l l the h i g h officials came f r o m outside. I t was jus t l ike & m i l i t a r y occupation. Our c iv i l servants were t ransferred to other dis t r ic ts . The ruler had no hand in the admin is t ra t ion . We were handed over to the States M i n i s t r y of Ind ia , a n d they handed us over to the Orissa Government .
"There were a l l k inds of difficulties. F o r example, up to December 31f 1947 rice was sel l ing at 8 seers to the rupee. On the next day it was 2 seers to the rupee, due to control price a n d f a i r price shops th roughout Orissa, Then the medical facil i t ies were free before the merger and the people were even being supplied w i t h p ropr ie ta ry medicines. The in s t i t u t i on was closed. There was good X - r a y equipment, Siemens, one of the on ly three in Ind ia , got dur ing the Jubilee celebrations, and tha t was lef t uncared-for and other equipment was taken away. The admin i s t r a t ion did not care for the people, They behaved l ike v ic tors over vanquished. A f t e r a l l , we are I n d i a n too, aren ' t we?
"This a l l this moulded the m i n d of the intel l igents ia . Previously we had direct approach to the Ra ja and we could get our remedy. B u t the remedy now was too far away. A l l educated people felt something had to be done. We could not undo the merger. But br ibery and corrupt ion became so r ampan t and so v i v i d . Br ibe ry was there before in the state t ime, but i t was not in broad daylight-
People Not Consulted
"Everyone thought that somet h i n g must be done. So we must have a pa r ty . Some of us went to the ruler and wan ted h i m to s tar t a par ty , since he had plenty of admin i s t r a t i ve and pol i t ica l experience. T h a t was in 1949.
"There was f i r i n g in Seraikeila and K h a r s a w a n and B a m r a and M a y u r b h a n j : t h a t a l l led to a cumula t ive effect. Our people were ac tua l ly be ing k i l l ed ,
"We wanted everyone in the par ty , officials, everyone, so t h a t we
could end the misrule : we had to take everyone: there was a great shortage of people w i t h adminis t ra t ive and pol i t ica l experience. We asked the ruler to par t ic ipate and we went to other states to ask other people to take par t .
" F i r s t we started a pa r ty tha t was called K h o s h a l - U t k a l P ra j a Par ishad. We established headquarters at Sambalpur, after the fir ing at B a m r a . P r io r to that, we were a l l t aken in to prison. I was in Cut tack gaol for one mon th . B u t they could not make any charge against me except tha t I opposed the Government. They could not produce us in court : it was just preventive detention. Then I was interned in my dis t r ic t . Then I was served w i t h an externment notice. So I went to Chaibasa in Bihar . I had headquarters there. I went there because we wanted an Eastern States Union . One th ing we considered was tha t they had not taken the consent of the people, but only of the rulers in ge t t ing us merged w i t h Orissa. Secondly we had lost our own admin i s t r a t i on and were being ruled by outsiders in the name of democracy and self-rule. We wanted the r i g h t to self-determinat ion . Patel never consulted anyone except the rulers in merg ing the states: not the people. The people were active in polities in the Garhja t areas (Feudatory States). We had our own P ra j amanda l Movements for ge t t i ng popular rule in the states, and we had succeeded and we didn ' t wan t the Congress Pra ja-mandal . We were ge t t ing self-rule by our own efforts. We did not w a n t to be dictated to by outsider Congress Prajamandal is ts . , ,
At the beginning of its l ife in 1948, while it was s t i l l called the Khosha l -Utka i Pra ja Parishad, the Gana t an t r a pa r ty had the ines t imable advantage of being persecuted. I have already remarked upon the electoral asset of conduct ing an agit a t i o n and becoming a m a r t y r ' . W h a t the Congress gained in 1921 and 1930 and between 1939-42, the Gana tan t r a gained in 1948-49. Leaders were externed or interned, public meetings were forbidden, the police broke up meetings, there were firings and arrests, and the people who witnessed a l l these events or took par t in them no doubt were too excited to perceive that the police were no t suppressing 'popular movements to keep the people in abject bondage' but were 'guardians
of the peace, engaged by a democratic government ' . A broken head is equally painful , whether the l a t h i is wielded in the name of Imper i a l i sm or Democracy.
Special Position of a Raja
The Gana tan t ra is said to be a pa r ty of ex-rulers and we shal l la ter see to w h a t extent this is t rue and how far this c r i te r ion distinguishes this pa r ty f r o m the Congress. But in the meant ime some general remarks about the position of a Raja need to be made.
In an election the candidates first task, leaving aside the issue of pa r ty membership for a moment, is to let the electors know who he is and w h a t he is. In this respect a k i n g starts w i t h a dis t inct advantage. Chi ldren g r o w up on a mytho logy of kings and queens in I n d i a as in England . ' K i n g ' has the g i f t of romance tha t cannot a t tach to ' lawyer' or 'businessman', s t i l l less to 'po l i t ic ian ' or social worker ' .
In a l l the Feudatory States there was the f u l l r i t ua l paraphernal i a of kingship. The Raja, while not precisely the religious head of the state, was the manager of its temples, and was responsible for f inancing and for o rgan iz ing the great festivals tha t take place every year, the Durga puja in the au tumn and the Car fest ival ear ly in the r a iny season. One Raja, who left his state after 1948 and l ived in Calcutta, s t i l l re turned every year to in i t i a te the Durga fest ival . The Orissa Government, recognizing the importance wh ich the people attached to these festivals, took on the responsibi l i ty of f inancing them, just as the k ings had done before. In short, the po-. pular notice and affection w h i c h Minis ters t r y to w i n by presiding a t school prize-givings or s imi la r functions, already belongs to the Raja and has belonged to his f a m i l y for generations.
The Rajas, in fact, enjoyed tha t peculiar posit ion of R o y a l t y wh ich combines remoteness w i t h fami l ia r i t y . Many of them were seldom seen outside the i r palaces except when they emerged to s tar t the Car and sweep the g r o u n d before i t . Yet everyone knew that the Raja wa3 there. M a n y of the Rajas had t r a i n ing in the ICS and some of them played an active role in the admin i s t ra t ion of thei r states. B u t even when the Raja himself d id not sit
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY October 24,1959
1473
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY October 24,1959
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY october 24, 1959
in the of f ice there were formi l ized procedures to ga in his in te rvent ion when his subjects were in diff icul ty w i t h the adminis t ra tors . I have already r emarked on the w a y in wh ich the la rge ly al ien adminis t ra t i o n served to shield the Rajas f rom the od ium of government .
Belongs to His People
This is not to deny tha t l i fe was difficult fo r subjects in m a n y of the states, nor is i t to i m p l y that there is no foundat ion in the allegations made against the Rajas in the States E n q u i r y Commit tee Re port , w h i c h the Congress published in 1939. B u t it does seem tha t either people have very short memories only four years intervened between the merger and the first general election in which many Rajas or candidates supported by Rajas came out v ic tor ious—or else t h a t wha t ever od ium there was, it fell not so much upon the persons of the Ra j fami ly , but upon their adminis t ra tors . It is also to be remembered t h a t the exactions and imposit ions of the Rajas were sanctioned by t r ad i t i on , and tha t they would not appear as outrageous to the state subjects as they d id to the democra t ica l ly-minded agi ta tors who came f r o m outside.
A k i n g even a bad one belongs to his people, and for the greater par t of the populat ion tn the ex-state areas the k i n g alone symholized their existence as a pol i t i ca l uni t , and indeed as a religious uni t . There is a s tory about a Du tchman , before the w a r a noted hater of Jews, who r isked his life to give shelter and protect ion to many D u l c h Jews after the Nazi occupation of Ho l l and , saying I hate a l l b—Jews. B u t these are our b—Jews.' To many of the states peoples, I was to ld by one Pra ja-manda l worker , it seemed as If a gang of outsiders had descended on the state and d r iven out their ruler . There are echoes of this in the i n te rv iew I have quoted above: the sta'es people would have preferred to deal w i t h their problems them-selves, and not to have a solution t h ru s t upon them.
All these factors gave those Ra j famil ies who chose to go in to polit ics a head s tar t , and m a n y of t h e m tu rned out to be able organizers a n d energetic campaigners, B u t even those who were not par-t iou ia r ty energetic h a d the dice
very much loaded in their favour, and against the Congress.
A 'Feudal' Party?
Feudal ' , when applied to modern po l i t i ca l ins t i tu t ions , has about i t the r i g h t a i r of pa t ron iz ing contempt to make i t more a t e r m of abuse than a scientific concept. B u t it can be g iven a f a i r l y precise meaning. In terms o f admin i s t ra t ive organiza t ion a feudal system exists when functions are not specialized and divided between different persons, but the one m a n performs a l l functions in the area over which he has control . These powers are delegated downwards f r o m a k ing , the d iv is ion being made on the basis of t e r r i t o r y . The obverse of ' feudal ' is 'bureaucratic ' , rule by officials, where funct ions are divide ed between different offices ( bu reaux) , . and w i t h i n one t e r r i t o r y there are several persons pe r fo rming the functions which in a feudal system would reside in one man . I t is precisely this contras t t h a t I have been m a k i n g in the course of these articles, when I compared the direct and .simple paternal government of the smaller Feudatory States w i t h the bureaucratic government in the Regulat ion dis tr ic ts .
But clearly the Gana tan t ra Par ishad is not to be dist inguished f r o m other parties in Orissa by th is meaning o f ' feudal ' . In i t s in t e rna l organiza t ion it is no closer to and no fur ther f rom the feudal or the bureaucratic models t h a n are the other parties
No Worse than Any Other
The second meaning which we m i g h t a t tach to ' feudal ' is t h a t the p a r t y support is in some way connected w i t h the feudal organizat ion which existed fo rmer ly in the Feu-datory State::., Undoubtedly if is: various local feudal 'officials' ( to m i x the two concepts for a moment ) , the Gaontias or Nayaks or Bisois or Patros as they are called in the different distr icts , are men of i n f luence and lend the i r support in electioneering to the Gana tan t ra , B u t then every pa r ty tries to approach the electorate not as ind iv idua l voters but in groups and congregations, and i t i s h a r d to make any m o r t a l d i s t inc t ion between an approach wh ich uses the groups of a ' feudal ' system and one wh ich works th rough contractors , the heads of caste-groups, v i l l age school.
masters, or any other local m a n of influence.
T h i r d l y , the p a r t y m i g h t be considered feudal because i t makes use of loyalties and affections w h i c h the people in some states f e l t fo r the i r Raja . B u t again, i t i s h a r d to see how they could be expected to do otherwise, for f r o m a m o r a l point of v iew this is no different f r o m the advantage w h i c h the Congress enjoys in the person of Nehru and of var ious local leaders. f t is alleged t h a t in cer ta in areas among the b a c k w a r d people - for instance parts of Korapu t—Gana . t a n t r a canvassers proclaimed tha t a vote for the i r p a r t y w o u l d mean the res tora t ion of a member of the r u l i n g house who was held in g rea t affection by the people. Such tactics w o u l d ce r ta in ly be a perversion, for i t is obvious t h a t no member of the r u l i n g houses is l i k e l y to be restored to his throne. But , apar t f rom dishonesties of th is k i n d , to wh ich a l l parties stoop a t t imes, there can be no leg i t imate compla in t i f the G a n a t a n t r a makes use of the affection and regard in w h i c h some o f the i r Rajas were held. In bo th respects in m a k i n g use of a feudal organizat ion and of feudal loya l the—the Gana tan t ra is a feudal par ty , but i t is no worse t han any other p a r t y fo r tha t : a l l parties make use of exis t ing loyalties. By and large these loyalt ies are m o r a l l y neut ra l : wha t mat ters is the use successful candidates make of the power given to them.
Pledged to Bring about Socialism
I t i s an easy fa l lacy to t h i n k tha t a p a r t y w h i c h rested i n i t i a l l y on feudal loyalt ies is thereby dedicated to res tor ing feudalism. I t i s impossible for an outsider to k n o w what i s in the hearts of men, and one can judge only f r o m w h a t people do and w h a t they say is the i r in ten t ion . Judged in this fashion the G a n a t a n t r a is not feudal . I t s published manifestos and declarations of other k inds say n o t h i n g about res tor ing the k ingsh ip . Cert a i n l y the members of the par ty , the Ra j famil ies a n d the rest, are out fo r power, bu t the power they seek is jus t t h a t w h i c h is he ld now by the Congress: i t i s k i n g l y power. L i k e a l l the o ther part ies w h i c h are a t w o r k in Orissa they are pledged to b r i n g about socialism. Given the i r background, there is ce r ta in ly a t e m p t a t i o n to question the i r s in-cer i ty in th i s : bu t the same exact ly
1475
October 24, 1959
m i g h t be said of many members of the Congress.
F i n a l l y I permi t mysel f a judgment f r o m conversat ions I have had w i t h members of a l l part ies. I have not in f requent ly l istened to the typ ica l l y Fascist judgment tha t It was a mis take to give everyone the vote, f o r the people are not i n te l l igent enough to make proper use of i t . I have also l istened carefu l ly to pick out nuances wh ich wou ld indicate w h a t the members thought of the i r const i tuents, and some* t imes discerned an a t t i tude wh i ch var ies f r o m perplexi ty th rough i r r i t a t i on down to d isdain and ou t r i gh t contempt. My impression of the G a n a t a n t r a members, pa r t i cu la r l y those who belong to R a j fami l ies, is t h a t on the whole they have more f a i t h in the in teg r i t y and in te l l i gence of the i r const i tuents, t han do the members of other part ies: nor have I heard f r o m them the j udg ment t ha t people were not r ipe for democracy.
A Middle Class Party
The Gana tan t ra is ra ther a middle-class p a r t y than a pa r ty of ar is tocra ts . Of its 51 members in the 1957 house, twenty- f ive occupy reserved seats. Of the rema in ing 26, eleven belong to Ra j fami l ies and f i f teen come f r o m the profess ional or commerc ia l middle-class. Of the eleven Ra j f a m i l y members, three had been rulers of states. In the present Coal i t ion cabinet (Ju ly 1959) there are five G a n a t a n t r a Min is ters : of these two were ru lers and three are middle-class, one a doctor and two who combined a l aw pract ice w i t h pol i t ics. We shal l sec in the next a r t i cle t ha t the Congress a f te r the 1957 elections was not so very di f ferent in th is respect.
There is very l i t t le evidence t h a t the G a n a t a n t r a represents react ion or feuda l ism or on ly the 'd isgrunt led pr incel ings' . One can on ly make out a case fo r this by p ick ing out one or two of the more spectacular ly a tav is t ic ru lers, assuming (wrong ly ) t h a t they were typ ica l of a l l ru lers, and then resti ng the a rgument on the m a x i m t h a t a leopard cannot change i ts spots. W h a t the G a n a t a n t r a P a r i -shad in f ac t represents is the h i l l area of Orissa. In th is respect i t d i f fers f r o m the Congress: in ideology and out look there is no obvious discernible difference.
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY