The film, Mangal Pandey, has come and gone, but the debate over 1857 and its wider legacy continues. While one school of opinion is bent upon dismissing the first war of independence as a mutiny, another lot is busy trying to erase the Muslim contribution to 1857 and Mangal Pandey’s heroism.The anti-1857 school includes a smattering of economists and political columnists, with no record of writing on history and cinema. Surprisingly, a few dyed-in-the-wool Marxists have joined them as well. Those who swear by Hindutva fall into the second category. Both categories, surprisingly, come together in their support for globalisation and liberalisation.Two years before the sesquicentennial of the tumultuous event, there is a conspiracy to either bury it or distort it. There is even an attempt to pit Dalits against 1857. This is dangerous misinformation. For 1857 is not just about fire and brimstone and the wars of Delhi and Lucknow. It is a living testament to a lost culture, and the lost possibilities of an Indian subcontinental empire, bringing Hindus and Muslims, Brahmins and Dalits under one umbrella — or even a modern, powerful nation comprising Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.No one knows that the 1857 leadership issued charters which explicitly stated that lower castes could claim equality with the higher castes. Strangely, no Indian scholar has ever tried to bring these facts to light. Is this because the language used is Urdu/Hindi and not English? Because the charters reveal an indigenous republican, peasant spirit? Because Muslim Pathans fought to the last to defend Rani Lakshmibai and Hindu sepoys brought Bahadur Shah Zafar to power — and these images militate against communal interpretations of history? Because 1857 speaks to us in the language of composite culture — in kathak, khayal, thumri, tabla and sarangi — sounds which we are being made to forget in today’s era of globalisation?While we are confused and bewildered, the west is clear. Writers and politicians have come out openly not just against the movie but the very idea of 1857. Saul David, who wrote the rather dubious The Sepoy Mutiny, hit the nail on the head when he warned in a press statement against raising the spectre of 1857 at a time when west and east are locked in a conflict of civilisations.The fact is, the British ruined indigenous industry, trade and ecology. In 1750, India and China accounted for 60 per cent of the world’s trade. England’s share was a mere 2 per cent. Hundred years later, the situation was reversed. The very first battle of Plassey, which began on the myth of British invincibility, was actually a sham — there was no battle as most of Siraj-ud-Daula’s army had been subverted from within. Realising that true conquest would be possible only if India’s cultural back is broken, the British encouraged the missionary to join the merchant and manufacturer. All three began a systematic policy of denouncing India, its history and commerce.Savagery and ‘‘civilised’’ barbarism lurked beneath all the high-sounding utilitarian ideas of 19th century Britain. Can contemporary British liberal opinion explain how a reformer like William Bentinck was hell bent on dismantling and selling the Taj Mahal? Or how sati was actually a non-issue and had long ago been banned by Akbar? Are they willing to reveal that English pirates, with active encouragement from the British Crown, ravaged Indian ships, pillaging, raping and looting Haj-bound pilgrims for three days in 1695? And this was the reason why Emperor Aurangzeb called for the closure of the East India Company trade? Are they willing to acknowledge the massacre of millions of maulvis, sadhus, courtesans, sepoys, peasants, aristocrats — the whole Indian armed population — in 1857?There can be no getting away from the fact that the wounds of 1857 are still raw.Misra is the author of ‘Mangal Pandey: The True Story of an Indian Revolutionary’
