Nov 1, 2001
Book Review For Biblio.
Remembrance of Days Past: Glimpses of a Princely State During the Raj. By Jahanara Habibullah (Oxford University Press 134 pages).
The title is reminiscent of a Marcel Proust classic. The present book essays a different kind of nostalgia with far fewer pages[134] and quite as many as seventy-five illustrations, or one picture for every two pages of prose.
The pictures are of the type that adorn family albums of the “upper” classes anywhere in the world.
We have a record of births, childhood, sports, games, engagements weddings and other such events which form material for social columnists. Photographs which with luck and some “pull” could appear in the pages of The London News, The Tatler and Bystander or in their, now defunct, colonial echo, or country cousin, the Illustrated Weekly of India.
The invitations issued by the last Viceroy, Lord Louis and his lady Edwina Mountbatten, for a banquet at the Viceregal Lodge on 15th August 1947 to celebrate the Independence of India and the swearing in of the first President of Pakistan on 23rd March 1956 are reproduced. This is proof positive of the status enjoyed by the author”s husband in the twilight of the British Raj in India as well as in the successor state of Pakistan. The second card says “You are requested to bring this card with you and hand it to the Police Officer at the entrance”.
Social scientists may fall into the trap of observing that while India became a secular democratic sovereign republic Pakistan “degenerated” into a dictatorship sheltering under the cover of religion by calling itself “Islamic.
Lest Indians adopt this superior attitude towards Pakistanis it should be remembered that even in the heyday of Nehruvian socialism the Dinesh Singhs (Kalaakaankar) and the Karan Singhs (Jammu & Kashmir) infiltrated the ranks of power wielders ousting those who had fought for freedom. The fact that their families had been Rajas and Maharajas and lived it up during the British Raj by collaborating with the alien masters while oppressing the peasantry and opposing the freedom movement was forgotten.
This is conveniently forgotten and the selective amnesia has been helped by and has helped establish dynastic rule in Indian political life.
The Indian National Congress is headed today by Sonia Gandhi whose numerous inadequacies handicaps and failings are all condoned by her family status. She is the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi and grand daughter-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru. Her closest associates and most favoured advisors are from ex-Princely States [ Karan Singh descended from Gulab Singh Dogra of Jammu. He purchased Kashmir for fifty lakhs when the British were looting and vandalising the kingdom of Ranjit Singh after his death and selling off bits to raise cash; the late Madhav Rao Scindia whose ancestors on the father”s side betrayed the Rani of Jhansi and the Independence struggle in 1857 while those on the mother”s side looted pillaged and vandalised Lucknow in 1858 as allies of the British].
Even in the 20th Century the Scindias continued their anti-national activities. The training of Gandhi”s assassins took place in Princely Gwalior and the murder weapon was also provided from there. Sweets were distributed to all train passengers touching Gwalior Railway Station on 30th January 1948 to celebrate the murder of a 78 year old man by shooting bullets into his bare chest.
Many freedom fighters lived squalid lives in Independent India while the Scindias and the Kashmir family and even minor princelings like Arjun Singh have enjoyed great wealth power, privilege and prestige.
As a result of the betrayal of the ideals for which the Bhagat Singhs and the Khudi Ram Boses laid down their lives the RSS who never fought the British rules India today.
Atal Behari Vajpeyi is from what used to be the Princely state of Gwalior and the Foreign Minister affects Princely connections in Rajputana.
Thus the common bonds between the Indians and the Pakistanis of the 21st century rest on medieval mindsets .
The present book may well find acceptance in the highest quarters of the Indian establishment. It is possible that government departments and Indian embassies besides the Department of Tourism will buy this book in bulk as it projects the image of India that was loved by the British. Princes, snake charmers rope tricks beautiful women in resplendent costumes blazing with jewellery .
The writer is descended from the Nawabs of Najibabad. Terrible vengeance was visited on them after the failure of the 1857 revolt as they were, wrongly according to the author, accused of complicity. The family were bailed out by the Nawab of Rampur and became high officials in the state of their patrons.
The author has lived a rich resplendent and privileged life in India and in Pakistan. She must be considered an authority on the heritage and has described ceremonies and customs like weddings and the serving of paan (betel leaf) in some detail. All this adds to the charm and the value of the book.
The Indian origin of the heritage is not acknowledged perhaps because it is unfashionable to do so in Pakistan. Paan [the betel leaf] and all tradition connected with it are entirely and pre-Islamic Indian. The translation goes awry because of this point of view. Thus in the glossary the arsi mus”haf is translated as “the wedding ceremony during which the bride and the bridegroom see each other for the first time (Persian: Arsi = mirror:Mus”haf =Quran). Arsi or Aarsee is a word from Hindi. The ceremony is “Hindustaanee” and unlikely to be found in Iran (Persia) or Turan (Transoxiana). The mirror was placed on the Quraan in order to Islamise the ceremony and make it acceptable to Muslims.
Perhaps this is the mind set which made the charming farewell utterance “Khudaa Haafiz” into the odd Allah Haafiz in Pakistan. Khuda or Khudaa is the Persian word for God. The Pakistanis substituted the Arabic word for God, Allah in place of Khuda and made a softness hard.
Alas!