Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: April 1, 2021 at 5:22:30 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Asia]: Wanchoo on Moffat, 'India's Revolutionary > Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Chris Moffat. India's Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the > Promise of Bhagat Singh. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, > 2019. 292 pp. $105.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-108-49690-2. > > Reviewed by Rohit Wanchoo (Jagellonian University) > Published on H-Asia (April, 2021) > Commissioned by Sumit Guha > > Bhagat Singh and His Afterlives > > _India's Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of > Bhagat Singh_ is an innovative study of the life and afterlives of > the legendary Bhagat Singh. Chris Moffat states that his aim is to > discover not the "true" Bhagat Singh but the reasons for his enduring > popularity with people on the left and the right of the ideological > spectrum. This study of Bhagat Singh engages with ideas of European > thinkers on revolution, memory, monuments, dissensus, and inheritance > in a creative and nuanced way. Moffat explores "the vertiginous urge > for communion with the past and its effects in the present" (p. 4). > Bhagat Singh is the revolutionary icon who demands both critique and > action. > > The fact that Bhagat Singh was executed when he was only > twenty-three, that his life is not well documented, and that his > writings are not very copious makes it easier to imagine his legacy > in multiple and even contradictory ways. Focusing on the disruptive > potential of a revolutionary, Moffat explores what is "portable and > reiterable" about Bhagat Singh in order to "open the figure out into > his afterlives" (p. 18). Although the book is not a political or > intellectual biography of Bhagat Singh, the author explores in > sufficient detail the intellectual milieu of Lahore, the radical > ideas of the teachers of National College, which the revolutionary > attended, the books that he read, his atheistic views, and his role > as a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). > It was a modernist vision of "abstract potentiality"--shaped by > Indian nationalism and anarchist and democratic ideas--that > galvanized youth in the 1920s (p. 59). > > In the second chapter, the militant life envisaged by the > revolutionaries is understood in terms of three factors: resolute > action, willingness to face death, and fearlessness "linked to a > sense of imminent change" (p. 62). The revolutionary climate of the > 1920s was shaped by responses to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, > democratic movements around the world, and the Russian Revolution. > Moffat argues that the promise of Bhagat Singh emerges because he had > the courage to ask "What is to be done?" and not because he provided > any answers. It was not any particular program that made Bhagat Singh > a popular icon but the "passion of a dispute" (p. 16). Moffat > dexterously weaves together the ideas of European theorists into his > historical account but sometimes this does not work well. The effort > to link the open-endedness of Bhagat Singh's revolutionary ideas or > promise with those of Vladimir Lenin in his 1902 tract (titled "What > Is to Be Done") is not very convincing. He argues that Bhagat > Singh--like Lenin--believed that a mass movement was possible in > their time. The revolutionaries "fight for the present and all its > possibility" (p. 83). This open-endedness--which Moffat emphasizes > repeatedly--is not there in Lenin even in 1902. However, the author > does acknowledge that the HSRA might have misunderstood Lenin. > > Moffat frequently cites the numerous studies of Bhagat Singh that > deal with nationalism, atheism, Marxism, and various revolutionary > traditions across the world. Without denying the importance of these > themes, he trains his sights on Bhagat Singh's argument with power > and the state. The spectral afterlives of Bhagat Singh are the result > of the "play between a potentiality which exceeds the national and > the vertigo produced by an anarchic idea of justice," which is not > bound by existing laws or institutions (p. 88). The author regards > the provocative slogans raised by the revolutionaries and their > defiant courage during their trial as the staging of a dispute. > Kissing the noose before being hanged--and the "overt thrill of > antagonism" produced by raising the slogan "Inquilab Zindabad" > frequently in the courtroom and in jail--accounted for the immense > popularity of Bhagat Singh rather than any ideology or "any > self-standing principle" (p. 98). The courage of Bhagat Singh and his > comrades validates their cause and this helps them to be "constituted > as subjects of a discourse of truth" (p. 100). > > In the second part of the book, Moffat surveys the afterlives of the > legendary figure. A book on Ghazi Miyan, a young Muslim warrior who > sacrificed his life protecting cows, grappled with the theme of > afterlives earlier. Believed to be a nephew of Mahmud Ghazni, an > invader in the eleventh century, Ghazi Miyan has long been venerated > as a saint. His shrine in eastern Uttar Pradesh attracts thousands of > Hindus even today.[1] What is distinctive about Bhagat Singh's > afterlife is that his enduring appeal rests on his courage rather > than his political program or writings. Cutting "across the political > spectrum, across contradictory futures," he inspires and incites > people to act fearlessly (p. 60). This is also true of Mahatma Gandhi > who appeals to diverse ideological groups--including Marxist > radicals--despite the fact that he lived a long life in the public > glare and his voluminous writings are widely known.[2] > > One of the important themes of this book is how Bhagat Singh himself > calls the living to account to undertake a struggle that was left > unfinished by his early death. Moffat proposes that the living > articulate a sense of responsibility toward the dead and express a > commitment to continue the struggle. The sense of disappointment with > the postcolonial state in India propels young revolutionaries to > resume the struggle. According to the author, "the living respond to > the demands of inheritance" (p. 121). The author gives a detailed > account of the "ideologically promiscuous" appeal of Bhagat Singh and > the fragmentary and contradictory corpus of his writings--his essay > on atheism, the Jail Notebook, and numerous journalistic articles (p. > 158). Although Vidyawati, Bhagat Singh's mother, and his nephew > Jagmohan Singh were aggrieved that his contribution was not > adequately acknowledged by mainstream nationalists, they opposed the > appropriation of the legend by Bhindranwale during the Khalistan > movement. The Bhagat Singh Research Committee set up by the legend's > fellow revolutionaries in the HSRA also tried to set the record > straight as did S. Irfan Habib and S. R. Bakshi. > > With some disappointment, the author concludes that the careful > garnering of evidence by scholars like Chaman Lal, P. C. Joshi, and > K. C. Yadav actually served to "embellish a hagiography rather than > deflate it" (p. 142). For instance, Lal compared Bhagat Singh with Ho > Chi Minh and Che Guevara because he too tried to combine communism > with local and national culture. Bipan Chandra has asserted that > Bhagat Singh would have evolved into a Marxist Gandhian if he had not > been hanged in 1931. The metaphor of Bhagat Singh's journey, > according to Moffat, diminishes the "anarchic vertigo created by > sacrifice" (p. 150). This metaphor delinks the revolutionary from the > charge of violence and terror on the one hand and proposes the move > toward a destination that is more "refined, comprehensive, stable" > and imagined as Marxist, anarchist, or a superior form of patriotism, > on the other hand (p. 151). While Moffat has asserted repeatedly that > his aim is not to discover the "true" Bhagat Singh, he strongly > insists that the revolutionary's "destination can never be > 'validated'" and that myths cannot be refuted because they are based > on convictions (p. 156). > > In the fifth chapter, "In League with the Dead," Moffat proffers the > view that the dead have an "interruptive potential" and intervene in > contemporary politics by cajoling and demanding action. The author > refers to "a vision of community that spans the living and the dead, > establishing a dispute that is held in common across sequential time" > (p. 166). Moffat notes that in the India Against Corruption movement > of 2011, right-wing provocateurs have played a role and have invoked > Bhagat Singh. The vigilantism of the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena is also > narrated briefly. When it comes to producers of films like _Sadda > Haq_ (2013) or musicians like Jazzy B and other supporters of a > militant Jat Sikh identity, the spectral presence of Bhagat Singh > cajoling them into action becomes problematic. As far as the Sikh > pantheon is concerned, Bhagat Singh is only one "amid a crowded > congregation," although all are regarded as "contemporaries in this > perpetual, ongoing confrontation with _zulm _[oppression]" (p. 195). > Somehow it does not look as though Bhagat Singh's presence is > sufficiently integral here, inflecting the dispute and "demanding > attention in his own right as a spectral 'third person'" (p. 249). > > Moffat also gives a synoptic account of the appeal of Bhagat Singh to > various strands of the left. In Punjab, the Maoists sought to study > the Ghadar movement, Teja Singh Swatantra's Lal Communist Party, > Bhagat Singh, and even the Babbar Akalis. The mainstream left was > less willing to embrace Bhagat Singh because of the primacy they > attached to mass struggles rather than individual acts of courage. > The young revolutionaries of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi > interviewed by Moffat are not cajoled by Bhagat Singh's ideas alone. > Influenced by various contemporary Marxist theorists and activists, > they have more clearly defined agendas and destinations in mind. > Besides, both the left and the right have to deal with what is known > about Bhagat Singh's life and writings. In an article in 1926, Bhagat > Singh had praised the courage of six Babbar Akalis who had killed > informers and government officials even though he did not approve of > their actions. Bhagat Singh admired courageous commitment regardless > of ideology--whether demonstrated by Vinayak D. Savarkar or Guru > Gobind Singh, or the revolutionaries of France, Ireland, or Russia. > As the author rightly observes, this has happened to Bhagat Singh > himself. He too is admired across the ideological spectrum for his > uncompromising spirit and willingness to sacrifice his life. > > In the final chapter, Moffat critiques the idea of commemorative > monuments as a form of exorcism. "By affirming death," he argues, > "the monument comes to inflict death, denying the possibility of the > ghost and forestalling the revenant's return" (p. 203). He deals > skillfully with the controversy and the politics of appropriation > that developed when a tall statue of Bhagat Singh was put up in front > of the Parliament building in 2008. This was the very building in > which he had thrown bombs--not to kill but to make the deaf hear. It > was criticized by various party leaders for representing Bhagat > Singh--a national icon--as a turbaned Sikh and a portly one at that. > Across the border in Pakistani Punjab, Bhagat Singh is regarded as a > "son of the soil" (p. 240). The gathering of a group of committed > activists at a site in Lahore where Bhagat Singh was hanged on March > 23--coincidentally the National Day of Pakistan--to rename it Bhagat > Singh Chowk is a measure of the dissensus the icon can incite. > Invoking Bhagat Singh, activists in Pakistan also use street > performances and film screenings to reclaim an "indigenous legacy of > secularism, socialism or indeed radical revolution" (p. 229). > > Trying to break from the "historicist injunction" to demystify, > Moffat focuses on the heterogenous nature of inheritance (p. 248). > Following Jacques Derrida, he argues that inheritance is a choice and > a task; one has to _assume_ an inheritance and particularly its most > "living" part (p. 246). Only when action in the present is strongly > linked to the desire to complete "unfinished business" can we speak > of revolutionary inheritance. By focusing on the incalculable or > non-foundational, he is not forsaking what he calls the "_archaic_ > narratives of state and nation" but regards them as "co-constitutive" > (p. 249). Moffat argues that despite looking at all the relevant > facts he cannot tell the full story of Bhagat Singh because deep > feelings cannot be fully known. The afterlives of the > revolutionary--marked by the play between anarchy and _arche_, the > forces of disruption and containment--also provide insights about the > nature of Indian democracy. As discontent based on unfulfilled > promises and unrealized potential affects the entire postcolonial > world, Moffat's book will cajole and incite others to assume their > revolutionary inheritance or explore the role of the spectral in > politics. > > Notes > > [1]. Shahid Amin, _Conquest and Community: The Afterlife of Warrior > Saint Ghazi Miyan_ (New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2015). > > [2]. Etienne Balibar, "Lenin and Gandhi: A Missed Encounter?," > _Radical Philosophy_ 172 (March/April 2012), 9-17. > > Citation: Rohit Wanchoo. Review of Moffat, Chris, _India's > Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh_. > H-Asia, H-Net Reviews. April, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55770 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7694): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/7694 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/81794040/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
