An If of History–2

The study of the many “ifs” of history is always a fascinating journey into the twist and turns of history. What if MK Gandhi, on a visit to Belur Math in 1901, had met Swami Vivekananda? What if Swami Vivekananda had not passed away at the age of 39 in 1902?

What if Swami Vivekananda had succeeded in visiting Russia and had met the iconic Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana. The Swami’s Raja Yoga and Sri Ramakrishna’s Kathamrita had profoundly impacted Tolstoy. He considered Vivekananda to be “amongst the best thinkers of the world, alongside Socrates, Rousseau, Kant etc.”

What if Tagore, Einstein, Rolland and Ananda Coomaraswamy met in conversation? Tagore met each of them separately. What if Ananda Coomaraswamy had not left India for Boston in 1917 and spent three decades of his life in America?

What if Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi had met after the latter’s return from South Africa? What if Sri Aurobindo had not withdrawn from his leadership of the freedom movement and gone into exile in Pondicherry? What if Khudiram Bose had not missed his target and killed Judge Kingsford in 1908 in Muzaffarpur? What if the SS Maverick had unloaded its huge cache of arms on the coast of Balasore in 1915 and Jatindranath Mukherjee had succeeded in inciting revolt in the regiments of the British Indian Army? What if Veer Savarkar had succeeded in escaping to France when the SS Morea had docked in Marseille?

What if Lokmanya Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai had not died in 1920 and 1928, respectively, and Bhagat Singh not hanged in 1931? What if Netaji returned to India, or his INA had succeeded in pushing through beyond Manipur into Assam? What if the whole of Bengal, along with Calcutta, had gone into Jinnah’s Pakistan? What if Sardar Patel had become the first Prime Minister of India?

What if R Shamasastry had not rediscovered Chanakya’s Arthashastra, or RD Banerjee had not discovered the remains of the Indus Civilisation, or Rahul Sankrityayan not travelled to Tibet and recovered the huge treasure of Indian Buddhist manuscript that was saved from the ravages of Bakhtiyar Khilji’s raids and of those who followed him? What if the Somnath Temple had not been rebuilt after independence through the herculean efforts of KM Munshi and support from Sardar Patel? What would these omissions have meant for our quest for cultural and spiritual self-recovery?

What if the Kashmir issue, after Pakistan aided raiders had been repulsed, had not been taken to the United Nations? What if Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee had not founded the Jana Sangh or what if he had not died in Kashmir and emerged triumphant from his last satyagraha to integrate India?

The many ifs of history bring in a panoramic dimension of possibilities. They form a kaleidoscope in the study, assessment and contemplation of history and of how these could have shaped or directed it.

Dr Sanzgiri, the principal interlocutor between Subhas Chandra and Doctorji, wrote to the latter on July 12, 1939, thanking Doctorji for the invitation to meet him in Nagpur. Since travelling to Nagpur for the moment would be difficult, Dr Sanzgiri invited Doctorji instead to Mumbai on 20 July. “We very much wish that we will be able to meet you here. The person concerned will leave on the night of July 20. I am sure that we can develop a plan to meet our shared goals.” The “person concerned” was Subhas Bose.

Sanzgiri’s letter was received in Nagpur on July 18 and Doctorji was too weak and his health too fragile to travel to Mumbai by July 20. He was haltingly recovering from his serious bout of illness. Subhas, on the other hand, fighting an existential political battle, was on a whirlwind tour of the country to establish and legitimise his newly formed Forward Bloc. His time was limited and thus the meeting once again failed to materialise. Had the meeting taken place, had Doctorji been in the prime of his health, he would have perhaps imparted advice and guidance to Subhas on the techniques of organising a mass volunteer organisation whose cadres would secretly and silently prepare for revolution.

Subhas had experience of organising the Congress volunteer corps, but Doctorji’s experience of a countrywide exclusive volunteer organisation or movement, focused on India’s regeneration, had a wider ambit. For this regeneration to happen at all levels, India needed to be free and, therefore, one of Doctorji’s principal objectives, through the Sangh shakhas and activities, was to crystallise this yearning for freedom and the sense of Bharatiyata – of Indianness.

In his authoritative biography of Doctorji, Rakesh Sinha points out that in the Sangh shakhas, “narration of stories of the lives of and patriotism of national figures like Shivaji, Samarth Ramdas, Rani of Jhansi and Lokmanya Tilak etc. became a daily routine.” They would be read and discussed. Sinha cites veteran historian Devendra Swarup’s observation that Doctorji “had developed revolutionary methods and strategies under the guise of a social movement, so that it could be concealed from the British.”

The colonial intelligence department, Sinha tells us, reported that the RSS’s swayamsevaks were “organised into platoons, companies and battalions and severe discipline is implemented. Their uniform too, resembles that of military personnel…” The report noted with concern that the “responsibility for imparting training had been assigned to a former army officer Martand B Jog” while “Vande Mataram and other inspirational songs would be sung daily at the shakhas.” Sinha argues that Doctorji’s slogan of ‘organisation for the sake of organisation’ was actually a forerunner of his preparations for a “big struggle against imperialism.” Subhas and Doctorji’s erstwhile revolutionary colleagues could discern this deeper objective.

The All-India Forward Bloc held its session in June 1940 in Nagpur. Subhas presided over it and the party passed a resolution demanding the setting up of an interim national government immediately. By July 2, 1940, Subhas would be arrested for an indefinite period after he had announced the launching of the Holwell Monument satyagraha demanding the removal of the “Black Hole Monument” which Indian nationalists argued was a false portrayal of Indian brutality against the British.

When he heard of Doctorji’s deteriorating condition in Nagpur, Subhas rushed to meet him in the early hours of June 20, 1940. Severely weakened Doctorji was in his death throes by then, sunk in a deep and painful slumber. RS Ruikar, then general secretary of the Forward Bloc, accompanied Bose. Those who were present by Doctorji’s bedside have left an account of that visit.

Palkar writes of that final visit and attempted meeting. “Subhas Babu closely watched Doctorji and enquired about his health. The swayamsevaks there provided him with updates on Doctorji’s health.” They spoke of his persistent high fever for the last 15 days. Subhas discouraged their attempts to wake Doctorji. He sat for a while, “looking intensely at Doctorji with warmth and respect. Then he closed his eyes, as if to pray, and saluted Doctorji.” Subhas waited for a while in the next room and finally left.

It is said that Doctorji woke up soon after, and on being told that Subhas had himself come to see him and would return, he was overcome with sadness at this missed opportunity. He had perhaps guessed that his meeting with Subhas would never take place. The Manthan issue on Doctorji’s centenary records that he uttered Subhas’s name with “great affection and did pranam.” That night Doctorji’s fever shot up, he lost consciousness sometime after midnight and on June 21, 1940 breathed his last.

Palkar rued this historic missed opportunity. “Both Doctorji and Netaji had the same revolutionary fervour within them”, writes Palkar, “although both were on the same wavelength in this respect and wished to meet each other to exchange ideas and thoughts for the sake of their motherland, they were unable to meet at all. What misfortune that this was to be their destiny.” The profound significance of this if of history is best left to our contemplation.

The writer is a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), BJP, and the Chairman of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation. Views expressed are personal