politics in orissa —viii the ganatantra parishad

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 -

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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.

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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

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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

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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