What a Gandhian constitution might have looked like: Sidin Vadukut
What if Nathuram Godse
had missed? What if Gandhi had survived, and cast his immeasurable influence on
the Constitution of India? The answers to some of these questions may lie in
the unique events that transpired in a corner of Maharashtra in 1938. In the summer of that
year, a procession of 6,000 peasants living in the town of Atpadi, in
present-day Maharashtra, began marching the 160km to Aundh, the capital of
their microscopic princely state. Intelligence officers working for the ruler
of Aundh, Raja Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi, sent alarming reports of an angry
crowd, led by fiery
leaders, shouting revolutionary slogans.
These spies were
entirely right to be alarmed. The procession accounted for more than 10% of the
entire population of Atpadi taluka. Two days later, and with no
sign of enthusiasm abating, the procession was camped just 5km outside the
gates of Aundh. Writing about the events some five decades later, the late Apa
Sahib Pant, son and heir of the raja of Aundh, recalled the state of alarm in
the palace. The prince prayed to the royal family’s deity, Jagadamba. “Oh
goddess,” he thought, “can this be the end of Aundh, and Baba’s dreams of a
model state?”
As the procession
camped for the night, the ministers, advisers and the prince himself were
running helter skelter at the palace preparing for the inevitable showdown. The
protesters were expected to arrive at the palace and demand an audience with
the raja the next day. Yet no one at the palace, it appeared, had sought to
consult with the raja. A meeting of high-ranking officials was called hastily
in a palace called the “Rangachi Kholi”. This was where the raja liked to
paint. Almost every day, up to 2 hours at a time, Bhawanrao would paint scenes
from the Ramayan, Mahabharat, or the life of Shivaji, whom he adored.
Much to the
astonishment of his ministers, the king appeared unperturbed about the
revolution that seemed to have gathered at his doorstep. After listening to his
advisers, he turned to his son. Apa Pant, later to become a stellar diplomat in
the service of the Republic of India, suggested a gentle response. Let us offer
them a lunch of dal and rice, the prince claims to have said,
and then let us ask these citizens of Aundh what they are protesting about.
“Let it be so,” said the king.
The next day, placated
by a warm welcome and lunch, the protesters sat down to talk. A variety of
leaders spoke to and for the crowds, and, as the day passed, the audience
swelled as villagers began to pour in from surrounding hamlets, most not even
part of Aundh’s jurisdiction. Two issues appeared paramount: lower taxation and
better administration. The government of Aundh agreed to review taxation rates.
And two Congress leaders—Shankarrao Deo and B.V. Shikhare—were appointed to
review the state of administration in Aundh and suggest reforms.
But the events of that
summer led to something much more than just two promises of reform and a free
lunch. They began to make the ruling disposition of Aundh think. How did things
get to this point? What if, next time, rice and dal didn’t
placate a crowd of thousands? What if, next time, as one minister had feared,
the crowd burnt down the palace? Something had to be done. The people needed a
better deal. And thus it came to
pass that some six months later, on 23 November 1938, on the 70th birthday of
the raja, Aundh did something unprecedented, perhaps, in the history of
kingship in India. That morning, Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi, the ruler of Aundh,
relinquished his throne. The government of Aundh had passed on to his people.
“My children,” the raja declared, were now capable of managing their own
affairs. He would now just watch and guide them. There was just one
problem. How would Aundh actually manage its own affairs? The leaders of Aundh
turned to the one man they knew could help: Mahatma Gandhi… read more:
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/p1p8hydrvOgHttZC8FXSJJ/What-might-a-Gandhian-constitution-have-looked-like.htmlAlso see
The Sangh’s New Game Plan for Ayodhya
1948: Assassination of Gandhi
