Nation and Village: Images of Rural India in Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar

Author(s): Surinder S. Jodhka

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , Aug. 10-16, 2002, Vol. 37, No. 32 (Aug. 10-16,
2002), pp. 3343-3353
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

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 pecial articles

Nation and Village

Images of Rural India in Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar
Scholars of modern Indian history have often pointed to the continuities in the colonial
constructs of Indian society and the nationalist imaginations of India. The village was an
important category where such continuity could be easily observed. However, a closer reading
of some of the leading ideologues of nationalist movements also points to significant
variations in their views on the substantive realities characterising rural India. Focusing
primarily on writings of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar, the paper attempts to show that though
the village was a central category in the nationalist imaginations and there was virtual
agreement that it represented the core of the traditional social order of India, the attitudes of
the three leaders towards village society varied considerably. The paper tries to show that
while for Gandhi the village was a site of authenticity, for Nehru it was a site of
backwardness and for Ambedkar the village was the site of oppression.

SURINDER S JODHKA

Since the villages had been autonomous

society, village has also been an important
ideological category in the modern Indian republics, the rulers of India were anyway
For me, India begins and ends in the villages imagination. The village 'was not merely always outsiders [Cohn 1989; Inden 1990]!
(Gandhi 19796:45, in a letter to Nehru a place where people lived; it had a design Notwithstanding its historical origins,
written on August 23, 1944.). in which were reflected the basic values the idea of village has persisted in the
...the old Indian social structure which has
of Indian civilisation' [Beteille 1980:108].
Indian imagination and has found diverse
so powerfully influenced our people...wasThough elsewhere also life in the coun- uses. The historians of modern India have
based on three concepts: the autonomous
repeatedly pointed to the continuities
tryside has been contrasted with urban/city
village community; caste; and the joint
life with the former believed to be havingbetween the orientalist/colonial categories
family system [Nehru 1946:244].
a purer form of the native/national culture
of knowledge and the nationalist thinking
The Hindu village is the working plant of
the Hindu social order. One can see there [see, for example Williams 1973], it was
[Chakravarty 1989; Breckenridge and van
der Veer 1993; Uberoi 1993; Dirks 2001;
perhaps only in the case of India that the
the Hindu social order in operation in full
swing [Ambedkar, in Moon 1989:19]. village came to acquire the status of aUpadhya 2002]. Like many other catego-
primary unit representing social formation ries, the idea of village too was accepted
T he village has for long been viewedof the entire civilisation. as given, characterising the Indian reali-
as a convenient entry point for Villages have indeed existed in theties. Leaders of the nationalist movement,
understanding 'traditional' Indiansubcontinent for a long time. However, itfor example, invoked it in many different
society. It has been seen as a signifier of was during the British colonial rule and contexts. Despite disagreements and dif-
the authentic native life, a social and culturalthrough the writings of the colonial admini-ferences in their ideological orientations
unit uncorrupted by outside influence. Forstrators that India was constructedas a land or political agenda, the 'village' remained
the professional sociologists and socialof 'village republics'. Inden has rightly a core category through which most of
anthropologists, village represented India pointed out that though most other civili- them conceptualised or thought of the
in microcosm, 'an invaluable observationsations of the Orient too were primarily 'traditional' Indian social life. However,
centre' where one could see and study the agrarian economies, it was only the Indian unlike the colonial administrators, the
'real' India, its social organisation andsociety that was essentialised into a land nationalist leadership did not see village
cultural life. By studying a village, the of villages [Inden 1990:30]. The British simply as the constituting 'basic unit' of
pioneering Indian sociologist M N Srinivas colonial rulers obviously had their own Indian civilisation. For most of them, village
claimed, one could generalise about thepolitical reasons for representing India as represented 'the real' India, the nation that
'social processes and problems to be found they did and imputing qualities such as needed to be recovered, liberated and
occurring in great parts of India' [Srinivas
autonomy, stagnation and continuity to the transformed. Even when they celebrated
1955:99]. village life in the subcontinent. It helped village life, they did not lose sight of the
Apart from its methodological value, it them justify their rule over the subconti- actual state of affairs marked by scarcity
being a representative unit of the Indiannent to their people back home in Britain. and ignorance.

Conceptualization of Indian
Economic and Political Villages-
Weekly Autonomous, August 10, 2002 3343
stagnant, unit

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characteristics, but why?
 Apart from having been educated about imagination could perhaps also help us
A good deal of social scientific literature
the Indian society through the colonial is available on the colonial constructions build a sociology of the Indian nationalist
writings on the subcontinent, the middle of the Indian village and the validities ofmovement.
class nationalist leaders were also con- their assumptions regarding the social and Further, available literature on the his
economic
fronted with the village during their struggle structures of the rural commu- tory of Indian sociology and social anthr
for freedom, trying to mobilise the 'com- nities of the subcontinent [see for example pology tends to attach a good deal o
mon masses' of the subcontinent against Cohn 1987; Breman 1987; Breman et al importance to the influence that colonia
1997: Habib 1995]. Similarly, there havewritings and the western theoretical tradi
colonial rule. It was during this interaction
also been some studies on the manner in
of the received frameworks acquired tions have had on the way these discipline
through the colonial education and con- which village was used as a primary are practised in India today. However,
methodological category for understand- would be safe to underline that the nation
crete realities of life that their ideas about
rural India were formed. Nehru was not ing the Indian society by sociologists and alist movement for independence, an
the only one who set out on a mission tosocial anthropologists during the 1950s later, the programmes and policies of
'discover' and 'rediscover' India; others and 1960s [Srinivas 1994; Breman et al planned development introduced by th
active in the independence movement also1997: Jodhka 1998]. Though one can also post-independence Indian state als
observed and wrote a great deal about thefind a good deal of references on the ways influenced the practice of social scien
social, economic and cultural life of thein which the nationalist leadership ap- research and teaching in India. Sociolog
Indian people. proached the Indian village or the 'agrar- and social anthropology were no excep
However, given the regional and cul-ian question', there have not been many tion. Some of the founding fathers of Indian
tural diversities of the subcontinent, and comparative studies of the internal dis- sociology and social anthropology, fo
social locations of the individual ideo- agreements and differences within the example, were deeply involved with th
logues of the nationalist movement, the nationalist leadership on the subject. nationalist movement.2
Indian social life was viewed differently While much significance is attached to
Gandhi's ideas of the Indian village, other
by different leaders. The nationalist free- II
dom movement was also a moment when strands of the nationalist movement tend
the futures of India were being visualised.to generally get ignored or subsumed within Colonial Context and the
Their notions of India's pasts or its tradi-the Gandhian notion of village. Ambedkar's Nationalist Imaginations of India
tional social order invariably also reflectedideas on village, for example, were very
their future visions orthe alternative agendadifferent from those of Gandhi. Similarly, Introduction of modern technology and
they had for free India. Village remained though Nehru agreed with Gandhi on many the hitherto unknown structures of gover-
a central category in their scheme of things.issues relating to rural India, his writings nance by the British colonial rulers during
Even in the constituent assembly, whichon the Indian peasantry, on the whole, their rule over much of the south Asian
was appointed to frame a constitution forpresent a very different approach to the subcontinent were extremely important
free India, the question of whether thesubject. Even Gandhi's ideas on the Indian factors in transforming the social, cultural
and political life of the region. While these
village or the individual should be the village are not as simple as they are often
primary unit of Indian polity was debatedmade out to be. structural changes introduced by the co-
with much passion. lonial rulers were indeed extremely sig-
Focusing primarily on writings of these
Apart from influencing state policies for three leading activists and ideologues nificant
of factors in integrating India into the
development and change in independentthe freedom movement, Gandhi, Nehruworld capitalist market, it was perhaps the
India, these constructs have also becomeand Ambedkar, I hope to show in this paper nationalist movement for independence
that became the defining moment of the
part of, what could loosely be called as 'the that though village was a central category
Indian common sense'. For example, in in the nationalist imaginations and there 'modern' Indian society, a source of its
some of the recent critiques of modernwas a virtual agreement on the fact that new identity.
living, the idea of the traditional 'Indianit represented the core of the traditionalThe nationalist movement for indepen-
dence was much more than just a political
village community' is invoked as an alter- social order of India, the attitudes of these
native to the alienating urban/city life. leaders towards the village society varied struggle waged against foreign rulers. Not
Many of the nationalist writings on theconsiderably. They disagreed, both on the only did the national identity of modern
village have also become inspirations merits of traditional Indian village life, and India consolidate itself during these
for some of the 'new' social movements also on the place it should have in the mobilisations, many of the regional and
that have emerged in India during the future India of their visions. community identities were also shaped
recent decades. Perhaps the most impor-The Indian nationalist movement has and sharpened during this period. Along
tant in this category have been the writ- mostly been seen as a subject that with
ought the rise of these identities, the newly
ings of Gandhi. His critiques of modern to concern the historians, and to a lesseremerged middle classes also spent a
great deal of energy in generating new
extent the political scientists. Anthropolo-
science and his idea of an alternative living
on the pattern of the traditional Indian gists and sociologists have only rarely knowledges about their cultures and
village communities have all along been ventured into it as something of their regions.
popular with a good number of environ- interest.l Since the village has been oneWhile most of the reformers were pre-
mentalists, in and outside India, and with of the most popular categories among occupied with localised communities, try-
many of the action groups, the non- sociologists and social anthropologists ing
in to find ways and means of negotiating
governmental voluntary organisations between the traditions they inherited from
India, a comparative study of the represen-
(the NGOs). tations of rural life in the nationalist their pasts and the ensuing modernity that

3344 Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002

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 they received from the colonial educa- Ill There are at least three different stages
tional system, the politically oriented or ways in which he used the idea of the
amongst them had a much broader agenda. Nation and the Village Indian village. In the first, he invoked it
The challenge for them was to work out to establish equivalence of the Indian
a case where India could be represented Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar, the three civilisation with the west. In the second,
as a single cultural and political entity, on most important leaders and ideologues of he counterposed the village to the city and
the basis of which they could imagine the freedom movement, all, in a sense, presented the village-life as a critique of,
nationhood for India. Finding denomina- belonged to the city. Not only did they and an alternative to, the modern western
tors and categories through which such a spend most of their lives in cities, much culture and civilisation. In the third phase
case could be made was obviously a of their political action was also performed of his engagement, he was concerned with
challenging project. To the advantage of in urban centers. Of the three, Ambedkar the actual existing villages of India and
these ideologues of the nationalist and was the only one who had a first hand emphasised on the ways and means of
regional movements, the colonial rulers experience of village life during his child- reforming them. Though he continued to
had already done a considerable amount hood. Though in terms of the class status of see village as an alternative way of living,
of groundwork on this. Apart from writing their families, the three came from comple- he also found many faults with the existing
extensively on the religious traditions of tely different strata, they all belonged to lifestyle of the rural people in the Indian
the communities in the subcontinent, and mobile families, in the sense that even their countryside.
constructing India as an ancient civilisation, parents had been 'mobile'. Occupationally It was perhaps in 1894 that Gandhi for
the colonial administrators had also gath- also, they were engaged in 'secular' occu- the first time invoked the idea of the Indian
ered a good deal of information on the pations.3 They all went to foreign lands for village as a political symbol. This was in
social structure and economic life of the education or work and came back to India. a petition to the White government, an 'open
Indian people. In the process of gathering Thus, notwithstanding their attitudes or letter' written to the Members of Legislative
this data they also deployed several cate- commitments to rural life, their writings Assembly in Durban to demand voting rights
gories that enabled them to make sense ofon the subject were mostly reflective, and for the people of Indian origin living in
the Indian society and situate it in the not experiential in nature. Yet their views South Africa at par with the ruling English
available evolutionary schema that were on village life were not mere observations people. Gandhi argued in his petition:
being worked out in the western academyof what was happening on ground. They In spite of the Premier's opinion to the
around the same time [Cohn 1987, 1996; reflect their visions of India's pasts and contrary... venture to point out that both
Inden 1990]. The 'caste system' and the futures. In fact none of them looked at the English and the Indians spring from
'village communities' were perhaps the village as a concrete reality with regionala common stock, called the "Indo-Aryan"
two most important categories that the variations and historical specificities[Gandhi 1958:149].
colonial ethnography deployed rather having internal dynamics of change. Ir-
The idea of village was used to further
extensively to make sense of Indian respective of their attitude and the overall
corroborate his argument and establish
society and to distinguish it from the west. ideological orientation towards it, village
equivalence of the Indians with the ruling
Over the years, these two categories came for all of them was a civilisational entity.
English community. In another 'petition
to be accepted, almost universally, as the More importantly, they seemed to have
concrete social unit in terms of which the
to the Natal Assembly' in the same year
assumed that the social structure of the
social structure of traditional India was to
he made reference to Sir Henry Maine's
village was similar everywhere in the
be talked about. subcontinent. works on the village communities who,
Much of this colonial knowledge of India ...most clearly pointed out that the Indian
would have obviously been found to be IV races have been familiar with representa-
tive institutions almost from the time
very useful by the middle class leaders of
the Indian nationalist movement while Gandhi and the Village immemorial....The word panchayat is a
trying to visualise India as a unified na- household word throughout the length and
breadth of India, and it means...a council
tional entity. Many of these ideas about Gandhi has been rightly known as the
of five elected by the class of the people
India would have initially come to them ideologue of the village. He celebrated the
whom the five belong, for the purpose of
Indian village life as no one else did. He
as plain or obvious 'facts' or 'truths' about
managing and controlling the social affairs
their society. However, their involvement also wrote and spoke a great deal on various
of the particular caste [ibid:94-95].
with mobilisations of the Indian masses aspects of village life. Though, as men-
and in this process their first-hand expo- tioned above, he was not born in a village Apart from his assertion about the tra-
sure to the realities of India, would have and did not even have 'an ancestral vil- ditional Indian village and its core social
also been equally important factors in lage' to identify with, much of his social institution, the caste, as being compatible
shaping their understandings of the Indian and political philosophy revolved around with the modern western ideas of democ-
society. It would perhaps be safe to say the idea of the village. racy for their having been similarly
that it was the combination of the received Gandhi became preoccupied with 'the organised on the principles of representa-
knowledges about India from available tive governance, the text also points to his
Indian village' right from his days in South
literature produced mostly by western Africa and remained so until the end of sources of understanding the Indian village.
writers, and the nature of their involve-
his life. However, his ideas on village, It aswas not just to strengthen his argument
also his politics, evolved with time and
ment with the people of the subcontinent being presented to the White rulers that
that eventually shaped their own views underwent
of some important changes along Gandhi invoked the writings of a western
the Indian village. with his political career. commentator on India. The influence of

How connecting the liberalisation, economics to world war

Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002 3345

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Sir Henry Maine and that of other western/ imagined, could be achieved only by re- Not only were the big cities symbols of
colonial writings on the Indian village is storing the civilisational strength of India alien rule and exploitation, they also had
visible all through his career. through revival of its village communities.a morally corrupting influence on the village
Perhaps another important point that 'The uplift of India depended solely on the people. In another piece in Young India
emerges out of these letters written to the uplift of the villages'. The growth of bigpublished in 1927, he wrote:
White rulers of South Africa is his attitude cities, particularly those established by the Some of the villages are deserted for six
towards the native African tribes. Gandhi, British, was no sign of progress. They were or eight months during the year. Villagers
for example, makes no reference to the signs of degeneration, 'the real plague spots go to Bombay, work under unhealthy and
exclusion of 'blacks' from such rights. The of India' [Parel 1997:xlii]. In a letter addres- often immoral conditions. then return to
Indians deserved the right to vote not sed to Lord Ampthill in 1909. he wrote: their villages during the rainy season
because democracy required universal To me the rise of cities like Calcutta and bringing with them corruption, drunken-
franchise but because of the nature and ness and disease [Gandhi 1969:151].
Bombay is a matter for sorrow rather than
evolution of traditions in different com- congratulation. India has lost in having Apart from the critique of western civili-
munities. By invoking the idea of 'village broken up a part of her village system sation and colonial rule that he attempted
republics' he obviously wished to argue [Gandhi 1963:509]. through counterposing the village and the
that the Indians who have had a system He elaborated it further in Young India city, his politics was perhaps also a pointer
of representation built into the caste in 1921:
to the shift that he brought about in the
panchayats were as advanced a community Our cities are not India. India lives in her nationalist movement, from an elite-
as the Whites were.
seven and a half lakhs of villages, and thebourgeois activity directed at mobilising
His more substantive and better-known cities live upon the villages. They do notthe newly emerging middle classes to a
writings on the village began when he bring their wealth from other countries.popular movement with growing partici-
came back to India and got involved with The city people are brokers and commis-pation of the peasantry from India's hinter-
the nationalist freedom struggle. His move sion agents for the big houses of Europe,lands. As Embree rightly points out, he,
from South Africa to India changed both America and Japan. The cities have coop-for the first time, gave the masses of India
his location and his political concerns. erated with the latter in the bleeding pro-'a sense of involvement in the nation's
Though in some crucial sense his notion cess that has gone on for the past twodestiny' [Embree 1989:165]. As is well
hundred years [Gandhi 1966:288-891.
of the Indian village remained the same, known, until Gandhi arrived on the scene,
the uses he put it to in the second phase He reiterated his views on cities in exactlythe nationalist movement had largely
were however very different. After hethe same tenure some 25 years later, in been an urban phenomenon. 'For the early
returned back to India and engaged him- 1946 at a workers' meeting, where he said:nationalist generations, independence
self with the movement for independence, When the British first established them- meant being free to emulate colonial city
his politics underwent a complete change. selves firmly in India their idea was tolife' [Khilnani 1998:125]. Gandhi turned
The question of securing voting rights for build cities where all rich people wouldit upside down. The new nation was not
the Indian people and establishing equi- gravitate and help them in exploiting theto be found in the cities but in the villages
valence with the Whites was no longer his countryside. These cities were made par- where a large majority of the Indians
agenda. He was to assume the leadership tially beautiful; service of all kinds werelived.
of movement for independence from the made available to their inhabitants while What exactly was his notion of the Indian
British, which required driving the White the millions of villagers were left rotting
village and how did he visualise the ac-
rulers out of India. in hopeless ignorance and misery [Gandhi
tually existing rural India?
1982:232].
In order to wage such a struggle, he needed Village, for Gandhi was not merely a
a different set of ideas or an ideology thatPerhaps more important for the argu-place where people lived in small settle-
would de-legitimise the British rule over ment being developed here is the manner ments working on land. For him, it re-
India. Such an ideology required construc-in which he counterposed the city with the
flected the essence of Indian civilisation.
tion of a difference that would establish village. The Indian village had a design, a way life,
the sovereign identity of India and restore The village civilisation and the city which had the potential of becoming an
its cultural confidence. The idea of village civilisation are totally different things. One alternative to the city based and technol-
came in very handy in this endeavour. depends on machinery and industriali- ogy driven capitalist west. Empirically such
He did this by counterposing the Indian sation, the other rests on handicrafts. We villages did exist in the past and one might
village with the modern cities that were have given preference to the latter. After still find them in the interiors of India.
set up by the British in India. While the all, this industrialisation and large-scale Drawing support for his argument from Sir
village-life represented the essence of India, production are only of comparatively re- Henry Maine's writings, he argued in
the development of modern cities in India cent growth. We do not know how far it Harijan in 1939:
symbolised western domination and colo- has contributed to our development and ...Indian society was at one time unknow-
happiness, but we know this much that it
nial rule. Village was the site of authen- ingly constituted on a non-violent basis.
has brought in its wake the recent world
ticity, the 'real/pure India', a place that, wars... The home life, i e, the village, was undis-
at least in its design, had not yet been turbed by the periodical visitations from
Our country was never so unhappy and
corrupted by the western influence. The barbarous hordes. Maine has shown that
miserable as it is at present. In the cities
city was its opposite, totally western. India's villages were a congeries of repub-
people may be getting big profits and good
Though political freedom could be lics [Gandhi 1978:4].
wages, but all that has become possible by
achieved by overthrowing the colonial rule, sucking the blood of villagers [Gandhi Similarly, responding to a question from
the real swaraj or self-rule, as Gandhi 1977a:369]. a group of foreign visitors he advised them

3346 Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002

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that if they wanted to 'see the heart of and generally carry on such reforms from "violence as a measure to achieve it".
India', they should 'ignore big cities'. The within as is possible" [Gandhi 1972:406]. Villageism, on the contrary, could achieve
big cities here were but poor editions of The lack of hygiene and sanitation were social welfare without using such mea-
their big cities. They ought "to go to the the other things that all villagers needed sures [Gandhi 1980:192].
villages, and those too not close to cities to pay attention to. He was often disap- And perhaps most importantly, a vil-
or to railway line, but unspoilt by them". pointed by the disregard for cleanliness lage-centric society was the most prag-
He suggested them to: that he observed in most of the villages matic choice for a country like India because
he visited in different parts of the subcon- its 'crores of people would never be able
Go 30 miles from the railway line, and you
will see that the people show a kind of tinent. He also wrote quite extensively on to live in peace with each other in towns
culture which you miss in the west...you this subject. In one of these typical com- and palaces'. In a letter addressed to Nehru
will find culture which is unmistakable but ments, he wrote: in October 1945, he had argued that a
far different from that of the west. Then
If we approach any village, the first thing society based on the principle of non-
you will take away something that may be we encounter is the dunghill and this is violence was possible to achieve only "in
worth taking [Gandhi 1976:116-17].
usually placed on raised ground. On en- the simplicity of village life". However,
He was very unhappy with the nature of tering the village, we find little difference by simplicity he did not mean that his
changes that the Indian village life had between the approach and what is within 'dream-village' would completely exclude
gone through during the British colonial the village. Here too there is dirt on the modern science. A certain amount of
rule. In his views, these changes had roads...If a traveller who is unfamiliar with science and modern means of communi-
impaired the villagers, made them less these parts comes across this state of af- cation could be integrated into such a village
creative and more dependent on the out- fairs, he will not be able to differentiate
[as in Parel 1977:150-51]
side world: between the dunghill and the residential
His idea of an alternative India is perhaps
parts. As a matter of fact, there is not much
...the villager of today is not even half so of a difference between the two [Gandhi best spelt-out in one of his pieces pub-
intelligent or resourceful as the villager of lished in Harijan in 1942 where he wrote:
1970:445].
fifty years ago. For, whereas the former is
reduced to a state of miserable dependence In another piece, he praised the Euro-
My idea of village swaraj is that it is
and idleness, the latter used his mind and peans in Africa as being worth imitating completely republic, independent of its
neighbours for its own vital wants, and yet
body for all he needed and produced themin this regard:
interdependent for many others in which
at home [Gandhi 1974:409].
There is no gainsaying the fact that our dependence is a necessity. Thus every
Gandhi emphasised that freedom from villager betrays a woeful ignorance of even villager's first concern will be to grow its
colonial rule could become meaningful the rudiments of village sanitation. One own food crops and cotton for its
only if it was able to grant this autonomy could deplore the race prejudice amongst cloth...Then if there is more land avail-

back to the village: the South African Europeans, but their able, it will grow useful money crops, thus
attempts to keep their towns healthy and excluding ganja, tobacco, opium and the
The cry of 'back to the village', some like...Education will be compulsory upto
sanitary were heroic and worthy of imita-
critics say, is putting back the hands of the the final basic course. As far as possible
tion [Gandhi 1969:76].
clock of progress. But is it so? Is it going every activity will be conducted on the
back to the village, or rendering back to Though he repeatedly talks about reviv- cooperative basis. There will be no castes
it what belongs to it? I am not asking theing the village, particularly its 'defunct such as we have today with their graded
city-dwellers togo to and live in the villages.handicrafts' to save the peasant from ills untouchability...The government of the
But I am asking them to render unto theof industrialisation and inevitability of village will be conducted by a panchayat
villagers what is due to them [ibid:409-10]. moving to the cities [Gandhi 1977b:228], of five persons annually elected by the
While he asked for revival of the spirita closer look at his writings tends to suggests adult villagers, male and female, possess-
of traditional village life, he also foundthat his vision of village was essentially ing minimum prescribed qualifications.
many flaws with the actually existing'a futuristic one', representing an alter- .. To model such a village may be the work
villages, and not all these ills were anative society that was different from the of a lifetime. Any lover of true democracy
and village life can take up a village, treat
consequence of the western/urban influ-modern-industrial west. His villages would
it as his world and sole work, and he will
ence. Two things that he commented quite have had similarities with what Sir Henry
find good results...[Gandhi 1979a:308-09].
frequently upon were the practice of un-Maine had written in his book about the
touchability and a general lack of clean-past village society, but not everything thatWhat would happen to the already ex-
liness. Compared to the cities, where people is believed to have existed in the past isting cities? He did not ask for their
were "educated and broad-minded to a destruction. The cities, he appealed, should
needed to be there in such a 'model village'.
little extent at least", untouchability His also participate in 'the village movement'.
was writings reflect more of a reformist
a more serious problem in the villages, Those living in cities and those working
rather than a revivalist urge. His village
which were "the centres of orthodoxy". for the movement will "have to develop
had to be constructed through a concerted
While he wanted the village society effort,
to often by outsiders - the village
village mentality and learn the art of living
abandon the practice of untouchability,workers.
he He wanted to initiate a movement after the manner of villagers". Though
of village 're-construction' which would they need not "starve like the villagers",
also wanted untouchables to change them-
selves. He. for example, wanted themtranslate
to his ideal into practice. they must change their old style of life
'observe common cleanliness', "refrain Such a village would provide an alter- radically. "While the standard of the vil-
from eating meat of dead animals and from native not only to the industrial west, lagers must be raised, the city standard has
drink, send their children to schools, re- but also to socialism. He was averse to to undergo considerable revision" [Gandhi
move untouchability among themselves socialism because it required the use 1975:319-20].
of

Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002 3347

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 Gandhi was certainly not the only one above, Nehru's importance also lies in the as well as certain obligations, both of which
in the freedom movement who saw village fact that he was the first prime minister were determined and protected by custom-
and its social structure as something that of independent India and played a crucial ary law [ibid:2461.
needed to be sustained and strengthened. role in shaping its policies and programmesHe produced, almost verbatim, what
He influenced a large number of others and for development. His comments on howMetcalfe and later Marx had said about the
his ideas on the village as an alternative rural India ought to be developed also Indian village communities.4
to the modern/industrial west continue to reflect his notion of Indian village life.
Foreign conquests brought war and de-
inspire many even today. However, there His ideas on the traditional Indian society
were also some in the freedom movement struction, revolts and their ruthless sup-
are perhaps best spelt,out in his well-
pression, and new ruling classes relying
who disagreed with him, particularly on known book, Discovery of India (first
chiefly on armed force...The self-govern-
the subject of the place of village in future published in 1946). Though Nehru's ap- ing community, however, continued. Its
India. Even some of those who worked proach to the understanding of Indian past break up began only under the British rule
very closely with him did not completely was historical in nature, he apparently [ibid:246].
looked at the 'old' social structure of Indian
share his enthusiasm for the village. Nehru
was one of them. Similarly, in relation to village
society from an evolutionary perspective.
panchayats and political spirit of the tra-
This is particularly so in his discussion on
V ditional Indian village, he reinforced the
village and caste. "The autonomous village
prevailing notion about the village society
community, caste and thejoint family", that
as having been economically stagnant and
Nehru and the Village he identified as the three basic concepts
community-oriented but democratically
of the "old Indian social structure", had
organised. The traditional social structure
After Gandhi, Nehru was perhaps the something in common with traditional
emphasised 'the duties of the individual
most important and influential leader of societies in general as the organising prin-
and the group' and not 'their rights'.
the Indian nationalist movement. Apart ciples were the same everywhere:
from being an important ideologue of the In all these three it is the group that counts; The aim was social security: stability and
Indian National Congress, he also became the individual has a secondary place. There continuance of the group; that is of society.
the first prime minister of independent is nothing very unique about all this sepa- Progress was not the aim, and progress
India. He was the catalyst of the approach rately, and it is easy to find something therefore had to suffer. Within each group,
India chose for its development after it equivalent to any of these three in other whether it was the village community, the
achieved independence from colonial rule. countries, especially in medieval times particular caste, or the large joint family,
[Nehru 1946:244]. there was a communal life shared together,
Though Nehru worked under the leader-
a sense of equality, and democratic
ship of Gandhi and gave him a good deal He further elaborated his 'functionalist'
methods [ibid:252].
of respect, his ideas on the nature of India's notion of an integrated traditional village
past and his vision of its future were not society in the following text: However, he also emphasised that such
the same as those of Gandhi. These dif- a system of village republics had long
...The functions of each group or caste
ferences were also reflected in his views degenerated into a society that was marked
were related to functions of the other castes,
on the Indian village. by various ills. There was a clear shift in
and the idea was that if each group func-
Unlike Gandhi, Nehru perhaps never tioned successfully within its own frame-Nehru's discussion on village life as he
identified himself with the village. He was work, then society as a whole workedmoved closer to contemporary times. He
also quite self-conscious about his urban harmoniously. Over and above this, a strongappears to have become more and more
and upper middle class upbringing. He and fairly successful attempt was llmade tocritical of the past structures, particularly
create a common national bond which of caste based hierarchies, which, in his
admits in his Autobiography (first pub-
would hold all these groups together - the
scheme of things, should have no place in
lished in 1936) that until 1920 or so his
sense of a common culture, common tra-
'political outlook' was that of his class, modern societies. Unlike Gandhi, Nehru
ditions, common heroes and saints, and
'entirely bourgeois' [Nehru 1980:49]. It saw no virtues in reviving the traditional
common land to the four corners of which
was only when he started his political social order. His modernist critique of the
people went on pilgrimage. This national
career and came in direct contact with the village and caste system is best presented
bond was of course very different from
common rural masses of India that he present-day nationalism; it was weak in the following passage from Discovery
began to think differently. It was "a new politically, but socially and culturallyofitIndia:
was strong [ibid:248].
picture of India..., naked, starving, crushed, ...the ultimate weakness and failing of the
and utterly miserable" [ibid:52]. Though Nehru did not celebrate the old caste system and the Indian social structure
As was the case with Gandhi, Nehru's 'village republics' of India as Gandhi did,were that they degraded a mass of human
writings on village too have several thedif-sources of their understanding of India's
beings and gave them no opportunities to
ferent strands and could be classified into
past seem to be common. Nehru too seems get out of that condition - educationally,
toinhave read the writings of colonial ad-
two or three categories. First of all, as culturally, oreconomically...ln the context
Gandhi, the idea of the Indian village ministrators and western scholars on theof society today, the caste system and much
that goes with it are wholly incompatible,
communities is also quite central to 'traditional
his Indian society' quite uncriti-
reactionary, restrictive, and barriers to
notion of traditional India. However,cally.
his This is best reflected in his comments
progress. There can be no equality in status
on
approach to the 'realities' of rural classes the 'old' agrarian economy. He writes:
and opportunity within its framework, nor
as he saw them during his encounters with Originally the agrarian system was basedcan there be political democracy, and much
'the actually existing rural India' was very
on a cooperative or collective village.less, economic democracy INehru
different from Gandhi's. As mentioned Individuals and families had certain rights1946:254].

3348 Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002

Nehru's Basic points-
1 Indian system had structured systems that will help in
moving forward.
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Nehru's ideas were opposite to that of Gandhi.
 This shift becomes even more evident his extra income. Weavers, carders and The policies of land reforms introduced
as we move to his comments/writings on dyers became unemployed. They wereafter independence were a direct transla-
forced to fall back on the land for liveli-
Indian rural society of the colonial period. tion of such thinking. If agriculture was
Not only did he become more critical of hood, by cultivating the land or by workingto develop, it was necessary that we put
the traditidnal social order but he also as labourers, but there was already enough
'an end to zamindari andjagirdari systems.
pressure on the land. The result was thatWe must... eliminate all intermediaries and
began to increasingly talk about the exist-
the majority of the people were compelled
ing social and economic structures of the to act as farm labourers, and somehow fix a limit for the size of holdings [Nehru
village society in terms of 'social classes'. keep alive...And this poverty began from1954:94].
The peasants/kisans and landlords were the time the British came here because they Similarly, Nehru also had very different
the two classes that he frequently madestarted their own trade while destroyingviews on the place that industry would
reference to. ours [Gopal 1972:365]. have in the Indian economy. While Gandhi
His writings clearly reflect a modernistThough he attributed the peasants' miserythought that villages could largely be self-
attitude to the village class structure. He,
to their exploitation by landlords and the sufficient and rejected the modern cities
for example referred to the landlords ascolonial
a rulers, he shared with western for their being a sign of colonial domina-
"physically and intellectually degenerate"writers the popular opinion on the politicaltion, Nehru saw industrialisation as being
character of Indian peasantry as beinginevitable. Industrial development and
class, which had 'outlived theirday' [Nehru
1980:52]. On the other end, the peasants politically docile and fatalistic. urbanisation would help in reducing the
or "the kisans, in the villages" constitutedIndian peasant has an amazing capacity toburden on land and therefore would be
the real masses of India [Gopal 1973:82]. bear famine, flood, disease, and continuousgood even for those who would be left in
The shift perhaps was also a consequence grinding poverty - and when he couldthe village. Addressing the Associated
of his growing first hand encounters withendure it no longer; he would quietly andChamber of Commerce in Calcutta in
the rural masses after the 1920s. He de- almost uncomplainingly lie down in hisDecember 1947, he had said:
thousands or millions and die. That was
scribed quite lucidly the prevailing struc- ...while we want to help the peasants and
ture of agrarian relations while describing
his way of escape [Nehru 1980:306].
agriculturalists, industry also is of domi-
one such encounter with peasants in the How did he visualise the future of Indian nant importance in India. Agriculture can
following passage: rural society? How far did he agree and/ produce wealth but it will produce more
I listened to their innumerable tales of or disagree with Gandhi? wealth (if) more people are drawn from
agriculture and put in industry. In fact, in
sorrow, their crushing and ever-growing Though Nehru and Gandhi seem to agree
order to improve agriculture we must
burden of rent, illegal extraction, eject-on the nature of traditional Indian village
improve industry (sic). The two are allied
ments from land and mud hut, beatings;society, Nehru's critique of village life, as
[Gopal 1986:566].
surrounded on all sides by vultures whoalso of the British rule, are very different
preyed on them - zamindar's agents,from those of Gandhi. Perhaps the most He also differed with Gandhi on the
moneylenders, police; toiling all day tocritical difference between Gandhi and use of modern technology in agriculture.
Nehru was their attitude towards the
find that what they produced was not theirs Instead of celebrating the traditionalist
and their reward was kicks and curses and
question of class and the class structure streak among the cultivators, he criticised
a hungry stomach [Nehru 1980:52]. of the Indian agrarian society. While Gandhi them for 'using outdated methods', and
Nehru also developed his critique of thealmost always spoke about the village for in being 'content with whatever little
colonial rule through such accounts of the a populist language, in terms of village they as produced'. In contrast to Gandhi, he
a unit with an underlying assumption about
existing state of affairs in rural India. What thought that modern technology was
he describes in the passage quoted abovethe unity of its interests, Nehru recognised good for farmers. They could produce
was not merely what he observed in aand, in his later writings, foregrounded twice or thrice as much as they did if they
particular village. He saw landlordism as the internal differences in the rural soci- learnt new techniques of farming [Gopal
being organically linked to British rule. It ety, the contradictions between landlords 1997:86-90].
was the British rulers who had in the firstand the peasantry. Similarly, while Gandhi However, he did share with Gandhi the
place implanted the landlord system inadvocated the need for reviving the 'es- need for a revival of handicrafts and cottage
India "with disastrous results" [Nehru sential spirit' of village life, Nehru wanted industry. The modern industry could not
1946:246] and they (the landlords) couldto transform the village social and eco- absorb all the surplus population, what-
survive in India "only so long as an ex-nomic structure by using modem techno- ever may be its pace of development.
ternal power like the British governmentlogy and changing agrarian relations. The "Hundreds of millions will remain who

props them up" [ibid:58]. landlords and landlordism, in his scheme would have to be employed chiefly in
He also blamed the British for disturbingof things, would have no place in indepen- agriculture". While development of the
the old economic equilibrium of the vil- dent India. industry was necessary if we were to
lage. They implanted exploitative agrarian The kisans, on the other hand, were the remain free, "the development of heavy
relations and destroyed the local industry,real 'masses of India'. The colonial rulers industry would not by itself solve the
taking away non-agricultural sources of were not the only enemies that the kisansproblem of the millions in this country".
employment that were available to the localhad. The local landlords were as much a Thus India needed to revive "the village
people. Elaborating his argument on India'sproblem. Their difficulties 'in the main and cottage industry in a big way" [Nehru
deindustrialisation, he writes: related to such questions as rent, ejectment1954:84].
The Indian farmer who used to supplementand possession of lands'. 'Swaraj would Need of reviving the cottage and small-
be of little avail if it did not solve' the scale industry was not the only point
his income by plying the charkha in his
spare time was also suddenly deprived ofproblems of the kisans [Gopal 1973:82].where Nehru spoke the language of

Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002 3349

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 Gandhi. He also shared with Gandhi hisfor Indian independence. However, over settlements too reflected this basic tenet.
the years, ie has grown in stature. As Quite like the Hindu civilisation, village
broad philosophical approach to the vil-
lage (also see above his notion of theEleanor Zelliot has rightly pointed out, he too was. divided:
traditional Indian village in the beginningis perhaps the only pre-independence leader The Hindu society insists on segregation
of this section). Though, economically the who has continued to grow in fame and of the untouchables. The Hindu will not
village of future India could not be self- influence throughout the contemporary live in the quarters of the untouchables and
will not allow the untouchables to live
period [Zelliot 2001].
sufficient, socially and politically his ideas
were pretty much the same as those of The significance of Ambedkar lies in his inside Hindu quarters... It is not a case of
social separation, a mere stoppage of social
Gandhi. The following text is useful evi- social background. Over the years, he has
dence of this: intercourse for a temporary period. It is a
come to represent the most downtrodden
case of territorial segregation and of a
The village, which used to be an organicsections of the Indian society, the 'untouch- cordon sanitaire putting the impure people
and vital unit, became progressively aables' and the dalits. Though like Gandhi inside the barbed wire into a sort of a cage.
derelict area, just a collection of mud hutsand Nehru he too was well educated and Every Hindu village has a ghetto. The Hindus
and odd individuals. But still the villagehad spent a good part of his youth in thelive in the village and the untouchables live
holds together by some invisible link, and
west, he identified, almost completely, within the ghetto [Ambedkar 1948:21-22].
old memories revive. It should be easilythe dalit cause. This was reflected in his
Thus for Ambedkar, village presented a
possible to take advantage of these age-
long traditions and to build up communalthinking and politics. Like Gandhi andmodel of the Hindu social organisation, a
and cooperative concerns in the land andNehru he too wrote a great deal on India.5microcosm. It was 'the working plant of
in the small industry. The village can no As mentioned above, of the three ideo-the Hindu social order, where one could
longer be self-contained economic logues of the freedom movement beingsee the Hindu social order in operation in
unit...but it can very well be a govern- compared here, Ambedkar was the onlyfull swing'. Though he often used the
mental and electoral unit, each such unit
one who had a first hand experience ofexpression Indian village, the village, for
functioning as a self-governing commu-village-life and that too of looking at ithim, did not include the untouchables,
nity within the larger political framework
from below, as a dalit child. Apart fromwho lived outside, in the 'ghetto'.
and looking after the essential needs of the
village...I feel sure that the village should having been born in a village, his last The Indian village was not a single unit.
be treated as a unit. This will give truername, Ambavadekar, as it was initiallyIt was divided into two sets of populations:
and more responsible representation [Nehru registered in school, was also derived from 'touchables' and 'untouchables'. The 'toucha-
1946:534-35]. his 'native' village called Ambavade. It bles' formed, what he called, 'the major
Thus, though Nehru's approach to in- was only later that a teacher in his schoolcommunity' and the untouchables 'a minor
dustry and technology and the place they changed it to Ambedkar, giving him hiscommunity'. The 'touchables' lived inside
ought to have in the future of India were own name [see Keer 1962:14]. the village and the untouchables lived
very different from Gandhi, he was not Though his father was a mobile dalit and outside the village in separate quarters.
untouched by the influence of Gandhi. was employed in a 'secular' occupation, The touchables were economically the
More crucially, perhaps, their sources ofAmbedkar could not escape the difficul-dominant community and commanded
understanding India's past were mostly ties of his caste and class background duringpower; the untouchables were a 'depen-
common. They both read the writings of his childhood. The economic hardshipsdent community' and a 'subject race of
colonial/western scholars on India rather that his family experienced during his hereditary bondsmen'. The untouchables
childhood are quite starkly reflected in thelived according to the codes laid down for
uncritically. This seems particularly so with
fact that of the 14 children born to his them by the dominant 'touchable' major
their understandings of the 'old' Indian
mother, only five survived. Though hecommunity. These codes laid guidelines
village. The western writers, after all, had
presented the Indian past in good light andgrew up to be a barrister with a degree inregarding their habitations; the distance
these leaders had learnt much of their law and Doctor of Science from western they ought to maintain from the 'Hindus';
concepts of history and politics from the universities, he could never forget the the dress they should wear; the houses they
western education system. experiences of his childhood and theshould live in; the language they should
It was left to B R Ambedkar, who hardly humiliations of being a dalit. It is thisspeak; the names they should keep. They
experience that was, to a significant extent,could not build houses having tiled roofs;
had any stakes in the glorification of tra-
to shape his political outlook as also histhey could not wear silveror goldjewellery
ditional India, to develop a radical critique
of the Indian village. Being a dalit and perspective on the village life. Thus, in [Moon 1979, 1989].
Ambedkar
having spent a part of his childhood in a we find, what could be called, Though Ambedkar did refer to the
village of Maharashtra, he knew what living a dalitist view of the village. Indian village and its casteist social struc-
in a village meant for a dalit. He obviously Like most of his contemporaries,ture in his earlier writings, most of his
had no attraction for orientalist notions of Ambedkar too spoke about the Indian ideas on the subject were perhaps
India that celebrated its past. society and the village life in civilisationalcrystallised in response to the debates in
terms. Despite recognising the obviousthe constituent assembly where many
VI cultural diversities, the social structure of'Hindu members' of the assembly made
the Indian village was, for all of them, the 'angry speeches' in "support of the con-
Ambedkar and Indian Village same everywhere. However, unlike others,tention that the Indian Constitution should
Ambedkar saw the Indian civilisation as
recognise the village as its base of the
When compared with Gandhi and Nehru, being a Hindu civilisation. More impor- constitutional pyramid of autonomous
the influence of B R Ambedkar was rather tantly, he saw dalits as not being a partadministrative
of units with its own legisla-
limited, particularly during the movement this Hindu society. The structure of village
ture, executive and judiciary" (1989:19).

gero lines voting happening in villages?

3350 Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002
Indian Village-
For Gandhi basis of democracy In India
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In his well known response to those who ating experiences and dependency. There to cite parallel cases to match...It seems
wanted village to be treated as the basic was only one source of livelihood open to that the first class-struggle took place
unit of Indian civilisation, he had said: them. It was 'the right to beg food from between the brahmins, kshatriyas and
the Hindu farmers of the village. A large vaishyas on the one hand and the shudras
I hold that these village republics have on the other [ibid:193].
been the ruination of India...What is the majority of the untouchables in the village
were either servants or landless labourers. There is a remarkable continuity in his
village but a sink of localism, a den of
ignorance, narrow-mindedness and com- As village servants, they depended uponwritings on the village. His critique of the
munalism? [Moon 994:62]. the Hindus for their maintenance, and had village and caste system resembles quite
His concern obviously emanated from to go from door to door every day andclosely those anthropological writings that
collect bread or cooked food from the tried to consciously look at caste from
the standpoint of the 'untouchables', for
whom recognition of the village as a unit Hindus in return for certain customary below [see, for example, Mencher 1975].
services rendered by them to the Hindus'
of legal structure of India would have been
'a great calamity' [Moon 1989:19]. [ibid:24]. Conclusion
In his typically polemical style he con-
Though, as mentioned above, Ambedkar
too was educated in the west, he was cluded: Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar were the
perhaps much more sceptical of western This is the village republic of which the three most important leaders of the moder
Hindus are so proud. What is the position
and colonial writings on the Indian soci- India. The three leaders have been impor
of the untouchables in this Republic'? They
ety. While Gandhi and Nehru accepted the tant not only because they played a critica
are not merely the last but are also the
notion of 'village community' as a natural role in India's struggle for freedom fro
fact of Indian civilisation, Ambedkar least...in this Republic there is no place
colonial rule, and have become symbol
for democracy. There is no room for of India's independent nationhood. The
perhaps saw it more in historical terms, as
equality. There is no room for liberty and
having been derived from the colonial/ legacy is also imbibed in the perspective
there is no room for fraternity. The Indian
western imaginations of India, specitically they articulated on India, its pasts and it
village is a very negation of Republic. The
from the writings of Sir Charles Metcalfe.republic is an Empire of the Hindus over possible futures. Their writings continu
He also thought that such a notion ofthe untouchables. It is a kind of colonial- to be sources of inspiration for all tho
village came to be accepted by the upper
ism of the Hindus designed to exploit the engaged in further consolidating India
caste Hindus and the leaders of the inde- untouchables. The untouchables have no democracy in many different ways. The
pendence movement because it projected rights...They have no rights because they legacies also reflect many of the dilemm
them in a positive light. 'The average Hindu are outside the village republic and be- being faced by Indian society today.
was always in ecstasy whenever he spoke cause they are outside the so-called village The reformist vision of Gandhi, who
of the Indian village. He regarded it as an republic, they are outside the Hindu fold wanted to construct a harmonious and self-

ideal form of social organisation to which [ibid: 25-26]. contained village, uncorrupted by the
he believed there was no parallel anywhere The 'Hindu domination' was not con- modern life of the city and western tech-
in the world' [ibid:19]. nology continues to find its echoes in
fined to the village. The local power/social
The 'realistic picture' of village life wasstructure was reflected at the macro/na- present times. It was only through the
very different. For Ambedkar, the govern-tional level as well. reconstruction of the village that India, for
ing normative structure of the village was From the capital of India down toGandhi,
the
could recover its lost self and
no way close to democracy. The village village level the whole administration attain true freedom. Though not very
is
life was marked by experiences of exclu- rigged by the Hindus. The Hindus arewidespread like in the present-day India, his
sion, exploitation and untouchability. Not the omnipotent almighty pervading allappeal over remains quite powerful amongst
only did the members of upper/dominant the administration in all its branches hav- those looking for alternatives to the con-
castes make the untouchables live outside ing its authority in all its nooks and cornersflict ridden, polluted and unlivable big
the village, in the ghetto, the untouchables [ibid:104]. cities. Apart from his followers on the
were also excluded from most of the vil-
Ambedkar also contested the popular
Indian political scene. his ideas have also
lage festivities. 'When the whole village anthropological thesis about the ideologi- inspired many of the environmentalist
community was engaged in celebrating a cal unity of the Hindu society that claims writings and ideologies in other parts of
general festivity such as Holi or Dasara, that ideologically the untouchables also the world.
the untouchables must perform all menial Nehru's modernist vision of the village
subscribed to ideas of pollution and purity.
acts which were preliminary to the main Against the idea of 'cultural consensus' has been the source of much of the official
observance. These duties had to be per- and 'reciprocity' as characteristics of the policies and programmes of rural develop-
formed without remuneration' [ibid: 22] ment initiated by the government of
caste system, he draws an analogy between
Apart from the experiences of near caste and class and looks at caste exactly India after independence, particularly
complete domination, the untouchables in the terms in which Marx had talked during the 1950s and 1960s. Though he
were also exploited and oppressed by the about classes. shared with Gandhi the notions of tradi-

upper castes. They were not allowed to tional Indian village having been a 'com-
The four varnas were animated by nothing
acquire wealth in form of land or cattle; munity' in the past, for him class divisions,
but a spirit of animosity towards one
they could not practice agriculture. Even backwardness and ignorance marked the
another. There would not be slightest
as labourers they could not demand rea- actual existing villages. The question, for
exaggeration to say that the social history
sonable wages. They must submit to the him was not to revive the old 'community'
of the Hindus is not merely of class struggle
rates fixed or suffer violence [ibid 23]. but to develop the village and the agricul-
but class war fought with such bitterness
They lived a life that was full of humili- ture through new technology and abolition
that even the Marxists will find it difficult

Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002 3351

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of 'outdated' structures of agrarian have perhaps voted against the very ideasettlements. The village life, they all pro-
relations. of village where it was impossible to escape fessed, needed to be changed. They also
Having become the first prime minister from one's caste identity. seemed to agree on the point that it was
of India, he had the opportunity of trans- Before I conclude this paper, let me also difficult for the village to produce such a
lating his thoughts into practice. The point to the fact that notwithstanding change from within. They all, in different
policies and programmes initiated by the their differences on the nature of Indian ways, called for outside agents to inter-
government of free India did carry his village, there are many ways in which the vene. Even Gandhi emphasised on the
vision. The implementation of land re- three seem to agree. As mentioned in the need of outside volunteers to go to the
form, although with limited success, and beginning of the paper, they all spoke village and translate his ideas into reality.
various programmes of rural development about the village in civilisational terms. Nehru thought that the peasants were 'ig-
that took modern technology and new seeds The Indian village had a pan-Indian norant' 'foolish' and 'simple folks' [Nehru
to the cultivators have transformed Indian structure. Irrespective of the differences 1980:61]. They needed to be encouraged
agriculture significantly. of region, language or culture, villages and motivated to change their ways of
Unlike Gandhi and Nehru, Ambedkar were the same everywhere. Village, per- cultivation and learn modern techniques
was a 'rebel'. He had neither the moral haps, was the only 'concrete' denominator in order to grow more food. The initiative
of the Indian nationhood. However, I
authority of Gandhi, nor the institutional had to come from the state. Ambedkar had

power of Nehru. His influence, however, have also tried to show above that from the outset no stakes in the village.
despite
The future of dalits lay elsewhere, not in
the use of categories like village popularised
cannot be underestimated. Over the years,
he has grown in stature and has emergedby the colonial discourses on India, their the 'den of ignorance'. Ml
as a symbol of a potent dalit identity all-substantive notions of the empirical
over India. His writings articulate a 'sub-reality were shaped by a multitude of Notes
altern view' on the village. When looked factors and the effects of their uses of such
[Work for this paper was completed during my
categories varied significantly. In other
at from below, from the standpoint of
those who were made to live outside the stay at the Department of Rural Sociology,
words, though orientalist/colonial catego-
University of Wisconsin-Madison. 1 am grateful
village and were treated as untouchables, ries provided them with conceptual re- to Gary Green for inviting me to the department
the so-called virtues of traditional living sources; these categories could not com-
and commenting on an earlier draft of the paper.
turn into oppressive structures. The hopepletely limit/determine their politics and
Sneha S Komath and Ayeshah Iftikhar also read
for the dalits, therefore, did not lie in itsworld-views. the draft and gave useful comments. Usual
revival/reconstruction, or for that matter, Further, though their approaches were disclaimers apply].
even in its development. Though he doesvery different, they were all unhappy with I There have been only a few sociologists, such
as Desai 1948; Moore 1966; Dhanagare 1982,
not suggest it explicitly, Ambedkar wouldthe existing state of affairs in the rural

Special Issue on

Information Technology and Developing Societies

Call for Papers

EPWcalls for papers for a Special Issue on Information Technology and Developing Economies
and Societies to be published in February 2003.

Significant focus has been placed on the use of Information Technology as a means of
development over the last few years. We are looking for research that examines three aspects
of this use of IT. First, research into the effects, impact and possible future impact of IT
on developing countries. We are not particularly focused on IT as an industry, but rather
as a tool used in the economy and society at large. Secondly, we are interested in studies
that identify analogous technical introductions that provide insight into projections of how
IT will influence these societies. For instance, what have we learnt from the spread of
telecommunications? In many places, the use of IT may not be significant enough yet to
study. We may, therefore, have to examine other areas to gain insights and project what
may happen. Finally, we are interested in studies that examine how the social science disciplines
can be useful in guiding interventions focused on employing IT for development.

Please submit abstracts of your research by the end of September 2002. Completed papers
must reach us by the end of December 2002.

3352 Economic and Political Weekly August 10, 2002

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