Gopal Krishna Gokhale: The liberal nationalist regarded by Gandhi as his political guru

At Bombay, Gokhale opposed the British government’s onerous land revenue policies, advocated free and compulsory primary education, and asked for the creation of equal opportunities to fight against untouchability.

Following the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, there arose a brand of liberal political leaders in India who sought a greater role for Indians in running the country’s affairs while pledging allegiance to British rule. In the Bombay Presidency, the prominent leaders who adopted constitutional methods as a means of achieving political reform included Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Dadabhai Naoroji, and Justice MG Ranade.

It was in this very line of thought that Bombay gave the nation another notable leader at the turn of the century – the liberal giant Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915). A protégé of Ranade and influenced by the British philosopher-parliamentarian Edmund Burke, Gokhale worked towards realising constitutional ideals in India for three decades and abjured the use of reactionary or revolutionary ways.

Professor-turned-political leader

Gokhale hailed from the Ratnagiri district in present-day Maharashtra and studied at the Elphinstone College in Mumbai before joining as a professor at the Fergusson College in Pune, where he taught polGokhale first arrived on the national scene after cross-examining British colonial expenditure at the Welby Commission of 1897 in England. Gokhale’s work earned him praise in India as he laid bare British military financing policies that heavily burdened Indian taxpayers much to the chagrin of then Viceroy Lord Curzon — regarded among the most vituperative of racists to occupy that post.

In 1899, Gokhale joined the Indian National Congress, emerging as one of the main leaders of its ‘moderate’ wing, and gave up teaching three years later to work as a lawmaker for the remainder of his life.

Positions in colonial legislatures

Gokhale is best remembered for his extensive work in colonial legislatures. Between 1899 and 1902, he was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council followed by a stint at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 till his death.

At Bombay, Gokhale opposed the British government’s onerous land revenue policies, advocated free and compulsory primary education, and asked for the creation of equal opportunities to fight against untouchability.

At the Imperial legislature, Gokhale played a key role in framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 and advocated for the expansion of legislative councils at both the Centre and the provinces. A critic of British imperial bureaucracy, Gokhale favoured decentralisation and the promotion of panchayat and taluka bodies.

He also spoke for the Indian diaspora living in other parts of the British Empire and opposed tooth and nail the indentured labour system, raising their problems in the Imperial legislature as well as at Congress sessions.

Work in the Congress

Gokhale became Congress president at its Banaras session in 1905, where he said, “The minds of the people have been familiarised with the idea of a united India working for her salvation; a national public opinion has been created; close bonds of sympathy now knit together the different Provinces; caste and creed separations hamper less and less the pursuit of common aim; the dignity of a consciousness of national existence has spread over the whole land.”

This was also the time when bitter differences had arisen between his group of ‘Moderates’ and the ‘Extremists’ led by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak among others. Matters came to a head when the two factions split at the Surat session of 1907.

Historians note that despite ideological differences, Gokhale maintained cordial relations with his opponents. In 1907, he fervently campaigned for the release of Lala Lajpat Rai, who was imprisoned that year by the British at Mandalay in present-day Myanmar.

After Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India, he joined Gokhale’s group before going on to lead the independence movement. Gandhi regarded Gokhale as his political mentor, and wrote a book in Gujarati dedicated to the leader titled ‘Dharmatma Gokhale’.itical economy and history.

Source: Indian Express, 11/05/2020

Racism isn’t a problem in sport — it’s a societal problem

Michael Holding writes: Racism is not about individuals, but about systems, institutions. That's why all of us have to come together to beat it.

I remember the first time I heard about racism. It was about a gentleman who lived in my street, Evonne Blake, a black man, whose skin tone was very dark. He once went to a hotel — an establishment frequented by white expats — in downtown Kingston in Jamaica, and went to the pool. The other guests immediately left the pool and the hotel called the police to escort him out. They also drained the pool so that the others don’t get into the same water as the black man. It was the early 1960s, I was just a kid then.

Then I remember the summer in 1976, England, when letters would come to the dressing room for us players, with racist messages. “Go back home, crawl back to the trees,” and such. We, as a team, decided to ignore them, and I personally, could do that easily because I knew I was going back home after the tour and I didn’t face that every day. But I also understood that I had that luxury, but what about the people who lived there? It also made me understand and appreciate why the West Indies cricket team’s performance mattered so much to black people in the UK. They could walk with their heads held high to their workplaces next morning. They could look into the eyes of their colleagues and feel, “I know I am as good as you”.

In cricket, the racial abuses I have experienced came mostly from the crowds — I wasn’t racially abused even once by an Australian or English player. The crowd would pile it on, of course, and that’s why I believe racism isn’t a problem in sport — it’s a societal problem. Where do the people in the stands come from? From society. It’s not to say that there aren’t players who don’t feel racially arrI remember being inside a lift in a hotel in Australia with other team-mates. As the door opened, a man peeped in, saw us, and didn’t get in even though there was space: Just as the doors were closing, he shouted racial abuses. That’s how cowards behave. But as I mixed with more and more West Indians in England, and travelled extensively, I got to understand what they are going through. Unfortunately for those West Indians, they weren’t leaving at the end of summer. I could understand the frustrations that led to subsequent race riots in the UK. There are problems that the Windrush generation faces — hundreds of Caribbean immigrants in the UK were wrongly targeted by immigration enforcement, with many being detained or deported.ogant, but the point I am making is that you have to tackle it by cleansing society.

I have not faced racism in India and they were always fanatical about our team. But since I have been to India many times, I have realised that there is a class and caste system prevalent in the country. A lot of bias and prejudice against its own people. I hope that ends. Then, there are lots of Indians who believe that the fairer the skin, the better you are. That always surprised me. It’s a billion-dollar business supported by those who buy the cream to make their skin lighter. This not peculiar to India — there are still dark-skinned people in other parts of the world that think on similar lines. The skin-colour issue is a left-over from the brainwashing of the colonial era.

There was brainwashing in the Caribbean too. I remember, as a kid, I was once walking in New York with a friend. I saw a white man lying in the gutter and I was so shocked that I just froze. She asked me, “You didn’t think a white man could be poor?” I clearly didn’t, at that point. That image has always stayed with me, the moment I realised how I was brainwashed. Bob Marley sang a lot about it: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery”. We, as people, have to recognise the brainwashing. Look at some of the Biblical teachings. The picture they show of Jesus, blonde hair and blue eyes. Really? Nobody in the part of the world where Jesus was supposed to have lived had that colour.

Consider the recent situation in the US. Not just the death of George Floyd, which is being seen as yet another case of police brutality — as if the rest of the society is not culpable. Did you see the first instinct of Amy Cooper, that lady in Central Park in New York, when a black man told her to keep her dog on a leash, as was the rule in that particular area? Her first instinct was to threaten him that she will call the police — a threat she carried out. That’s white privilege. She knew that if the police came, nine out of 10 times a white policeman would show up. And they would believe her, the white person’s version. Her reflex reaction was that — wired into her, taught to her by the society she lives in.

There is unfair profiling and targeting of black people in England as well but at least you don’t end up dead there, the likely outcome in America. You get the impression some police there go out on the streets thinking who can I abuse today. It’s institutionalised racism in the US that makes them feel they are different.

I would like to say one thing, though, to the kids growing up in the US: Don’t lose hope. This time, it does feel a bit different. People are coming together across the world. In the UK and rest of Europe. Everywhere. Not just people of colour but, heart-warmingly, people of all races. The majority in the US wants change. But the most important thing is to go out and vote — at the lowest of levels. The councillor, the housing administration, the mayor — get local, become more aware, and put the right people in the seats of power.

There has been a history of systemic racism in the US. The housing segregation means that the local school isn’t as well-funded as the richer, whiter neighbourhoods as the schools are funded mostly from the property taxes in that region. The practice of “redlining” that led to banks denying loans to poor neighbourhoods — where black people lived — meant that the divide between the communities got wider. The practice of “felony disenfranchisement” combined with mass incarceration has led to a vast section of people being denied the right to vote. The implicit bias, the prejudices that the people are unaware they have, has led to more educated blacks being unemployed.

There is no single person responsible for systemic racism, and that’s why people have to come together to beat it. To change it from the grassroots, systematically. The burden of change, though, shouldn’t be on the kids: It’s the adults who need to change. The white people who don’t speak up are part of the problem. It should be clear by now that silence isn’t going to solve it. It’s 2020 — if we don’t change now, then when?

As told to Sriram Veera. Holding is a former West Indies cricketer. This article first appeared in the print edition on June 12, 2020 under the title ‘Let’s break the silence’.

Source: Indian Express, 12/06/2020

Quote of the Day

“Never let success get to your head. Never let failure get to your heart.”

‐ Anonymous

“सफलता को कभी अपने सिर पर न चढ़ने दें। और असफलता को कभी दिल में न उतरने दें।”

‐ अज्ञात

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 55, Issue No. 22, 30 May, 2020

Editorials

The Elusive Home

Fortifying Investors’ Interests

From the Editor's Desk

In a Perpetual Panic

Gopal Guru

Commentary

Examining the Covid-19 Relief Package for MSMEs

Sangeeta Ghosh

A Gender-responsive Policy and Fiscal Response to the Pandemic

Jashodhara Dasgupta, Sona Mitra

Role of the Private Sector in Escalating Medical Inflation - Evidence from 75th Round NSS Data

Pritam Datta, Chetana Chaudhuri

Paradox of a Supply Constrained Keynesian Equilibrium - The COVID-19 Case

Dipankar Dasgupta, Meenakshi Rajeev

Book Reviews

A History of Political Parties in India

Mahendra Prasad Singh

The Phenomenal Rise of Asia - Unfolding of Diverse Development Strategies

Rakesh Mohan

Insight

Labour Law Changes - Innocuous Mistakes or Sleight of Hand?

Atul Sood, Paaritosh Nath

Special Articles

Lives and Livelihood - An Exit Strategy from Lockdown

Partha Chatterjee, Soma Dey, Shweta Jain

Rapid Growth of Private Universities - Transformation of the University Space

Anirban Sengupta

Doctoral Journeys - From Field Diaries to Institutional(ised) Authorship

Anupama Mahajan, Krupa Rajangam, Savitha Suresh Babu

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Postscript

​COVID-19 and the Rhetoric of Social Overhaul

A P Ashwin Kumar

​Pixação in São Paulo - Stories from the Favelas

Varsha Gopal

The Coming of Corona

Madhumati Dutta

Last Lines

Letters

A Tale of Exodus

Alan Vellaiparambill

Many Meanings of Resilience

Shreyashi Bhattacharya

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: Partial Solution

Engage Articles

Digital Economy: India's Account Aggregator System Is Plagued by Privacy and Safety Issues

Rohan Jahagirdar, Praneeth Bodduluri

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

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What is Human Rights Day?

Human Rights Day 2019: The theme for this year is 'Youth Standing Up for Human Rights', under which the UN aims to celebrate the potential of youth as agents of change, amplify their voices and engage a broad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights.

Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 every year. It is the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

UDHR is a document proclaiming the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being, irrespective of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or any other status. It is the most translated document in the world, and is available in over 500 languages.

The theme for the year 2019 is ‘Youth Standing Up for Human Rights’, under which the United Nations aims to celebrate the potential of youth as agents of change, amplify their voices and engage a broYouth have been chosen for the campaign led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) since their participation is essential to achieve sustainable development for all, they play a crucial role in positive change and empowering them to better know and claim their human rights will generate benefits globally.

Human rights and sustainable development are correlated to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the sense that human rights are driven by progress on all SDGs and SDGs are driven by advancements on human rights.ad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights.

Source: Indian Express, 10-12-2019

Pandemic offers chance to pursue an alternative model of urbanisation

With this major transformation and with the onset of COVID-19, it is surely the time to reconsider our habitation model.

Between the year 1 CE and the start of the Industrial Revolution (around the early 1800s), the decadal growth of the global population was around 0.8 per cent. With the advent of concentrated production centres, improved medicine and the era of fossil fuels, the global population has shot up by seven times in the last 180 years, clocking a decadal growth rate of over 11 per cent.

This population growth rate has been largely urban and metro-centred. Today, cities consume two-thirds of the global energy consumption and account for more than 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. London became the first modern city to cross the one million population mark around 1800. By 1960, our planet had 111 cities with over a million inhabitants. In China and India, the number rose from 371 in 2000 to 548 in 2018, with 61 of these cities in India. Recently, the UN projected that by 2030, 28 per cent of the world population will live in dense, congested spaces, jostling for ever-dwindling space and choked infrastructure. Population densities have increased enormously, with the Dharavi slum in Mumbai registering a mind-boggling density of 3.75 lakh persons per sq km.

But COVID-19 has raised the question: Will concentrated, high-investment, high-density cities have a prominent place in the new, emerging world? Are they successful at providing an adequate return on investment? And, above all, do they provide a quality of life and happiness to all their inhabitants? An average Mumbaikar daily spends 95 minutes commuting between office and home, wasting nearly 10 per cent of his time awake everyday. Eight people die every day in Mumbai in local train-related accidents, and in Delhi, five people lose their lives in road accidents.

Going by present trends, India will build a new Chicago every year to accommodate new urban dwellers. This will require about $2.5 trillion of investment until 2030 — to create more congested urban spaces. Should we not look at alternative models of habitations, which are more frugal, more sustainable and offer more satisfying lifestyles and higher welfare levels?

Once cities expand beyond one million, they start to experience dis-economies of scale with pressure on every urban amenity increasing exponentially — more people means more vehicles, more vehicles mean need for more roads and increased pollution, which mean more hospitals, more energy and more waste. Even the most robust megacities can easily witness the “domino” effect where a minor and local failure is compounded into a catastrophe. In China in 2010, due to some broken cars and road repair work, a minor traffic snarl expanded quickly into a massive jam of 120 kilometres on the highway connecting Inner Mongolia and Beijing. Drivers were left with nowhere to go for a punishing 12 days. Even in India, we have witnessed smaller but painful versions of the same phenomenon. The truth is that overpopulated cities strain their resources inordinately and leave little room to successfully tackle every contingency.

Thus, cities are the most affected by natural and man-made disasters. Nearly every hot-spot of the COVID-19 outbreak is a congested urban centre. The low-income areas of cities, where anything from drinking water to sanitation can be a shared facility, are the most vulnerable to any disease outbreak. Congested low-income urban spaces not only bear an inordinately high disease burden, they also bear the brunt of air pollution, water contamination and crime infestation. In the face of any disaster like a flood, earthquake or, worse still, a pandemic, migrant workers, who throng these megacities, rush to go back to their villages. India, with its approximately 72 million migrant workers (including their families), is vulnerable to such disruptions as amply demonstrated in recent weeks.

Some of the principal and strong advantages claimed for megacities with their sky scrapers are the economies of agglomeration and the generation of new ideas and innovations through multi-disciplinary interactions. These advantages have been largely nullified with advances in digital technologies that have made online interactions numerous, equally rich in content and covering a wider range of disciplines. The “cloud” is the new interaction space, which can be accessed by innovators from widely-spread geographies. Digitisation has apparently resulted in the loss of cities’ innovative mojo.

With this major transformation and with the onset of COVID-19, it is surely the time to reconsider our habitation model. Gandhiji’s model of gram swaraj, APJ Abdul Kalam’s vision of providing urban amenities in rural areas and Nanaji Deshmukh’s idea of self-reliant village development clearly deserve of fresh and focused attention. We have vast swathes of land, people and resources located in our over 6,00,000 villages. These offer another chance for us to pursue an alternative model of development where agriculture, industry and service sectors move in sync for sustainable development, which is in harmony with nature. This will minimise our carbon footprint. At the same time, it will also minimise social disruption with jobs coming to people rather than the other way round. New technology, the carbon constraint and diseconomies of congestion and density must force us to review our urbanisation landscape.

Kumar is vice chairman NITI Aayog, Singh is CEO of Dr. Kalam Centre, New Delhi. Views are personal

Source: Indian Express, 8/06/2020

Create opportunities for migrants back home

Many of the migrants who have returned are, in fact, craftspeople. Crafts provide the second-largest source of livelihood in India and are a source of employment even in the most remote parts of the country.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, in his latest Mann Ki Baat, acknowledged the suffering of “underprivileged labourers and workers”, saying, “their agony, their pain, their ordeal, cannot be expressed in words”. What does the future hold for those migrant workers who have managed to get back to their villages?

For now, the only prospects of work these migrants who have gone back have are agricultural labour or work under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). With all the skills they bring back with them, this is the time to upgrade the MGNREGS work and widen its scope so that lasting assets are created. Some of those assets will also create jobs.

Will the workers stay in their villages or will they return to the cities once the coronavirus pandemic is no longer an ever-present threat? Historically, urbanisation does seem to be the universal trend as economies develop. China has gone in one generation from a primarily rural to an urban nation. In 1980, one in five Chinese citizens lived in the countryside. Now more than half live in urban areas. There is, however, an important difference between China and India. China adopted a policy of building urban housing specifically for rural migrants. In India, migrants have drifted into cities where they have had to fend for themselves. The result has been that these slums are now, inevitably, proving to be coronavirus hotspots. In Mumbai, more than 40% of the population lives in slums. In fact, Slumdog Millionaire made the sprawling Dharavi slum so famous it became a tourist attraction. It’s not surprising, therefore, that Mumbai has such high figures for infection.

Now the PM has promised to build affordable property for migrant workers to rent. However, the problems of land and land values, finding suitable locations near work sites, clearing slums, and managing properties will prove to be obstacles.

In spite of the pull of urbanisation, many migrants have said that they are so scarred by their experience in the aftermath of the pandemic that they will never go back to the cities. This may not be a bad thing. It will rebalance the population so that villages are no longer emptied of young men. And because there would no longer be an endless supply of labour in the cities, those who employ migrants will, at last, be forced to value their workers.

Young people staying at home could provide the opportunity to revive rural economies too. Of all the sectors that have the potential to provide rural employment, agriculture and craft are the two most obvious examples. Many of the migrants who have returned are, in fact, craftspeople.

Crafts provide the second-largest source of livelihood in India and are a source of employment even in the most remote parts of the country. Fifty per cent of artisans are women. Crafts create little or no carbon footprint. They preserve an important element of India’s traditional culture. Unfortunately, however, they have been ignored by economists. No reliable database of craft activities has been created. Mahatma Gandhi recognised this neglect of artisans as a problem and said that if recognition and encouragement were not forthcoming, we would be guilty of strangling them with our own hands. Giving the prestigious CD Deshmukh lecture at Delhi’s India International Centre, Ashoke Chatterjee, former executive director of the National Institute of Design and adviser to the Crafts Council of India, said, “This lack of awareness has meant that the development of crafts has not been given any priority.”

Once again, artisans have been largely ignored in the measures announced to cope with the crisis created by the pandemic in the address by the finance minister. Giving crafts their rightful place in the economy will provide livelihoods that will provide villagers with the opportunity to stay at home.

Source: Hindustan Times, 6/06/2020