....prior to the big fart.
"VognoDuut165" <dawn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:VuCdneMeVIAqRL7VnZ2dnUVZ_obinZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Tagore: His politics of the other kind.
>
> "Viewpoint"
>
>
> Thursday May 08 2008 14:47:47 PM BDT
>
>
> By Mohammad Gani, USA
>
>
> 50 years (later) from today, it could have possibly been a "reasonable
and
> appropriate norm" but at this moment would simply be an audacious
adventure
> to compare Prof. Yunus with Tagore; and to some, it would easily
construe
a
> serious "colossal offense" tantamount to comparing Jonathan Swift's
> "Gulliver" with tiny little "Lilliputian" equally! You better criticize
> Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ or mother Theresa but leave our only
Tagore
> alone! To even offer a criticism of Tagore these days is to invite an
> immediate and often emotionally charged attack on oneself.
>
> We are quickly asked to choose between original "Historical royal Bengal
> Culture, Heritage and Identity" or be in the Universal and authentic
> Pakistani Razakar List"; it is that simple! Anyway, the exact reality
is,
we
> are "Absolute Bangladeshi" by all means until any prospective "United
> Bengal" is promulgated on the ruins of all out devastation by future
World
> War III . At this point, we may at best say that Tagore and Yunus, these
2
> uncommon men have only 1 thing in common; both are Nobel Laureate and to
me
> it is truly difficult to differentiate which one (Nobel Prize) is
superior
> Nobel than the other, between these 2 (if any)!
>
> All we know, the "Politician Yunus" was "dead on arrival" in the ring of
> nation's political circus or was at least chased out by our "Oscar
Winning"
> National Assets Hasina/Khaleda and also by some of our politically
motivated
> erudite think tanks world wide almost instantly. Their strong and
legitimate
> arguments were; Yunus would have been a useless leader and an impending
> threat to our progressive super-democracy who has NO political
experience
> like our career politicians Khaleda and Hasina. Anyway, thus our
"Politician
> Yunus" became "Spaghetti" instantly after stepping inside the super
massive
> (political) gravitational field [Political BLACK Holes] of
Hasina/Khaleda.
> Stupefied Yunus could now need few more years to get his bloody nose
fixed
> and perhaps it would be the end of his ephemeral and miscarriaged
political
> future!
>
> Now, keeping aside "Shudkhor" Prof. Yunus; how do we see our other
geniuses
> like Galileo, Newton, Einstein and Tagore as politicians or did they
ever
> engaged and/or took side in any politics in its real term? For example,
> Einstein's life was "divided between politics and equations" and most of
us
> knew his politics of nuclear bomb as well as his famous letter to
President
> Franklin Roosevelt. Einstein's political activities started during First
> World War when he was a professor in Berlin and was sickened by what he
saw
> as miserable waste of human lives, became involved in anti-war
> demonstration. His post war efforts to prevent nuclear war are also well
> known. His advocacy of civil disobedience and post war international
> reconciliation efforts did not make him any popular and actually his
> politics later were making it difficult for him to visit/enter US, even
to
> give lectures.
>
> His second great cause was Zionism. Though he was Jewish by decent,
Einstein
> rejected the biblical idea of God. However, a growing awareness of
> anti-Semitism during and after the First World War made him an outspoken
> supporter of Jewish Community. His "mind's free speech" on his theories
also
> came under attack; an anti-Einstein organization was even set to
repudiate
> and assault him. At one point, a man was convicted of inciting others to
> murder Einstein that ended up with $6 (six dollars) fine! In 1933,
Hitler
> came to power and Einstein was in America and decided not to return to
> Germany. His efforts towards peace achieved little except only few
friends.
> However he was duly recognized in 1952 for his support for Jewish cause
and
> was offered Presidency of Israel. He declined it, perhaps; equations
were
> more important to him, knowing very well that "Politics is for the
present
> but an equation is something for eternity"!!!
>
> Background briefs: The Indian Independence Movement was a series of
> revolutions empowered by the people of India put forth to battle the
British
> Empire to a complete political independence. It began with many
> organizations like the "Sepoy Mutiny or Rebellion" of 1857, reaching its
> climax with Indian National Congress, All India Muslim League, Mahatma
> Gandhi's Quit India Movement (1942-1945) and Subash Chandra Bose's
Indian
> National Army invasion of British India during World War II and
culminating
> eventually in full freedom on August14/15, 1947.
>
> Events: Kabi Guru Rabindranath Tagore was not deeply or visibly involved
in
> any Party politics but never detached himself from maneuvering actively
with
> contemporary political events either. His "village politics"
inadvertently
> (?) was joining Ashutosh Mukerjee in the "anti Dacca University
> (Dhaka)"campaign. This Calcutta-based platform, composed of mostly
"upper
> class" Hindu opposed the approved Dacca University with the imaginary
"fear"
> of unspecified negative impacts to the Calcutta University. Though
Ashutosh
> Mukerjee was the actual kingpin of this anti Dacca University movement,
> Tagore openly became in the same page of music with Ashutosh Mukerjee on
> this movement against Dacca University.
>
> Tagore's political views marked complexities to characterize when he
joined
> "Swadeshi Movement" in 1906 with the Indian National Congress, a
> Hindu-dominated political organization supported by the Calcutta elite
> against Lord Curzon. He strongly voiced against the partition of "United
> Bengal" and fiercely opposed the division of Bengal in his essay
published
> in "Bangadarshan".
>
> All India Muslim League supported Lord Curzon for historical reason and
> voiced against "Swadeshi Movement". Tagore was also uniquely complex in
his
> attitude towards nationalism. He inaugurated the meeting of the Congress
> party that took place in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1896 by singing "Bande
> Mataram" to his own tune. He composed his celebrated piece "Shivaji's
Utsav"
> at that time and was inspired by the Shivaji Festival introduced by
> Maharashtra's Balgangadhar Tilak. In his many articles like "Sadhana",
> "Bangadarshan", and "Bharati", he passed many intransigent opinions and
> views on many contemporary political situations.
>
> In 1925, Tagore stated that British imperialism was not a primary evil
but
> only a political symptom of our social disease. He urged Indians to
accept
> that "there can be no question of blind revolution, but of steady and
> purposeful education". Such views inevitably enraged many, placing his
life
> in danger. During his stay in a San Francisco hotel in late 1916, Tagore
> narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Indian expatriates; the
plot
> failed only because the would-be assassins fell into an argument. Yet
Tagore
> wrote songs lionizing the Indian Independence Movement and renounced his
> knighthood in protest against the "Jallianwala Bagh massacre" on 13
April
> 1919. Tagore was also the key in resolving a Gandhi-B.R.Ambedkar dispute
> involving separate electorates for untouchables. Though Tagore wrote for
the
> movement of self-rule, he never supported extreme nationalism or
terrorist
> activities and had disputed admirations for Netaji Subash Chandra Bose
as
a
> leader of Indian Independence.
>
> Gandhi and Tagore severely clashed over their totally different
attitudes
> toward political philosophy, culture and science. In January 1934, Bihar
was
> struck by a devastating earthquake that killed thousands of people.
Gandhi
> was then deeply involved in the fight against "untouchability"; and
> extracted a positive lesson from that tragic event. He argued, "A man
like
> me cannot but believe this earthquake is a divine chastisement sent by
God
> for our sins; in particular the "sins of untouchability". For me there
is
a
> vital connection between the Bihar calamity and the untouchability
> campaign". Tagore equally abhorred untouchability and had joined Gandhi
in
> the movements against it, but fulminated against Gandhi's interpretation
of
> this event that had caused suffering and death to so many innocent
people
> including children and babies. He also hated the epistemology implicit
in
> seeing an earthquake as caused by ethical failure. He wrote "It is all
the
> more unfortunate because this kind of unscientific view of natural
phenomena
> is too readily accepted by a large section of our countrymen".
>
> Tagore was predictably hostile to communal sectarianism, such as a Hindu
> orthodoxy that was antagonistic to Islamic, Christian, or Sikh
perspectives.
> Even nationalism seemed to be a suspect to him because of his attitude
> toward traditional Indian culture over broad cultural diversity. He
wanted
> Indians to learn what is going on elsewhere, how others lived, what they
> valued, and so on, while remaining interested and involved in their own
> culture and heritage. Unlike Gandhi who promoted traditional Indian
culture,
> Tagore was not dismissive to Western civilization. It could be found in
his
> advice to Indian students abroad and in his letters wrote to his
son-in-law
> (1907) Nagendranath Gangulee who had come to USA to study agriculture.
>
> Rabindranath rebelled against the "strongly nationalist form" that the
> independence movement often took. This approach made him to refrain from
> taking particular active part in any contemporary politics. He wanted to
> assert that India's right to be independent without denying the
importance
> of what India could learn freely and profitably from abroad would not
> compromise traditional Indian culture. Tagore's criticism of patriotism
is
a
> persistent theme in his writings. In 1908, he expressed his position
clearly
> in a letter replying to the criticism of Abala Bose, the wife of a great
> Indian scientist, Jagadish Chandra Bose, "Patriotism cannot be our final
> spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the
price
> of diamonds and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity
as
> long as I live". This was the visible conflicts between Nationalism
> (Democracy/Patriotism) and Humanity (Internationalism). His novel "Ghare
> Baire" (The Home and the World) has much to say about this theme. In
this
> novel, Nikhil, who is keen on social reform including women's
liberation,
> but cool toward
>
> nationalism, gradually loses the esteem of his spirited wife, Bimala,
> because of his failure to be enthusiastic about anti-British agitations,
> which she sees as a lack of patriotic commitment. Bimala becomes
fascinated
> with Nikhil's nationalist friend Sandip, who speaks brilliantly and acts
> with patriotic militancy and she falls in love with him....
>
> Tagore also was not invariably well-informed about international
politics.
> He allowed himself to be entertained by Mussolini in a short visit to
Italy
> in May-June 1926. It was arranged by Carlo Formichi, a Professor of
Sanskrit
> at the University of Rome. During that visit Tagore wished to meet
Benedetto
> Croce, an Italian Philosopher/ politician, but Prof. Formichi called it
> "Impossible"! Mussolini told Tagore that Croce was "not in Rome". As
Tagore
> continued insisting and said, "I would go wherever he is". Mussolini
then
> said to him that Croce's whereabouts were unknown!!
>
> Warnings from Romain Rolland, a French writer and Nobel Prize in
literature
> in 1915 and other friends should have ended Tagore's brief involvement
with
> Mussolini more quickly than it did. But only after he received graphic
> accounts of the brutality of Italian fascism from two exiles, Gaetano
> Salvemini and Gaetano Salvadori and learned more of what was happening
in
> Italy. Tagore did publicly denounce the regime and published a letter to
the
> "Manchester Guardian" in August 1926. The following month "Popolo
d'Italia"
> a magazine edited by Mussolini's brother, replied: "Who cares? Italy
laughs
> at Tagore anyway and also at those who brought this unctuous and
> insupportable fellow in our midst."
>
>
> (Ref: Thanks to Prof. Amartya Sen, Swedish Nobel Academy and so many
> periodicals!).
>
> -----------------------
> Mohammad Gani
> Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
> E Mail : mgani69@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
|
