Revolts revisited
by Humra Quraishi

Rajmohan Gandhi tells how his new book, A Tale of Two Revolts, brings out
connections between the Indian and American uprisings 

Personalities like Rajmohan Gandhi do not require a formal introduction. Besides Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson he is a well-known author and is currently teaching at the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, in the US. Above all, he is running an ongoing programme in troubled locales with the objective of reaching out through the process of dialogue and talks. In fact, recently when I met him in New Delhi, he was to leave shortly on a seven-nation tour in his capacity as the president of Initiatives of Change International.

Excerpts of an interview with Rajmohan Gandhi, in the backdrop of his latest book A Tale Of Two Revolts - India 1857 and The American Civil War (Penguin). A volume in which he "deftly reconstructs events from the point of view of William Howard Russell, an Irishman who was also perhaps the world’s first war correspondent, and uncovers significant connections between the histories of the US , Britain and India. The result is a tale of "two revolts, three countries and one century ..."

Yes, it is entirely different from my earlier books `85In this case, I was following a whim and did not know where it would take me ... you could say it was almost a bizarre idea but now that I’m 74 it’s okay to embark on something uncertain, a bit bizarre!

What prompted you to bring up those connections between those two revolts and with that the historical connections and cross-connections between the three countries concerned — India, Britain and the US?

This volume is based on comparative history and I discovered many aspects to these two revolts as I begun my research work `85These two revolts took place almost back to back. And in both, large-scale killings took place so much so that it is estimated that more Americans were killed in the American Civil War than the number of Americans killed in both the two World Wars put together, so you well imagine the numbers dead in that civil war and the immense level of bloodshed. But there stand some stark differences too: whilst Abraham Lincoln tried to find a reason for the American Civil War by stating that it was the price the American people had to pay for the great sin of slavery, here in India there was no leader or political figure at that time who could articulate a deeper explanation for the large-scale killings that took place during India’s revolt of 1857.

A great deal of the details of the 1857 revolt were published in the American media and our revolt against the British was presented in America as ‘barbaric and uncivilised Indians’ attacking a western civilised world ... So, for most Americans the revolt of 1857 was a revolt of ‘barbarian’ Indians against the civilised West .

Those two revolts played a significant role in shaping history . In your opinion what changes, in the immediate future, could loom large in the context of today’s wars — America’s intrusion into Iraq and the guerilla warfare going on in Afghanistan?

I wanted to recapture and write about what happened then and to bring in those connections between India and the US of that period, through certain characters. But I’m not here to comment on today’s situation; can’t draw comparisons/lessons from that past in the present context.

Why I quit the political scene? Well , circumstances changed,in the sense that the political party which had supported me became weak, lost its strength and stronghold ... now , anyways, I am more than happy doing what I’m doing — to write is how one can express oneself.

It is indeed very unfortunate that in today’s world many governments are using military might and the gun and bomb as a solution to settle revolts and uprisings. And we need to reflect on this, we need to reflect on the aftermath of a revolt and the violence involved — the deaths and tragedies, the bloodshed, the killings ... I have quoted Abraham Lincoln on this aspect — the aftermath of a revolt and we need to reflect on this aspect ... we have to dwell on and focus on alternatives to violence.

Yes, I think so. In fact, if only we realise the aftermath of violence and reflect on the disasters that violence brings along ... nothing would hearten me more if militant groups and even today’s rulers/men at the helm of affairs read my book and reflect on what disasters killings and violence and counter-violence bring along ... We have to look for alternative ways, superior ways, to redress a situation, to reach out.

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