The 125th birth anniversary of the famous Urdu-Hindi litterateur
Munshi Premchand is being observed this year. There is a distinct lack of
enthusiasm on the part of the ministry of Culture in particular and the
government in general in organising the anniversary in a befitting manner.
It seems paradoxical that a government the reason for whose
existence and continuation is the slogan of secularism is so lukewarm in
celebrating the most potent and significant secular icon of our times. The
reasons are not far to seek.
Premchand, in his life and work, is a committed nationalist; he
rejects imperialism both for its economics and its culture. Premchand is
unmistakably for the poor, more particularly for the peasantry who bore the
brunt of colonial exploitation. Premchand is unambiguously secular. Premchand is
totally opposed to the Brahmanical social order. Such a man could hardly be a
favourite of the Hindutva regime and they unsuccessfully tried to withdraw
his novel Nirmala from the CBSE curriculum. The present regime, deeply
committed to imperialism dictated economic policies, half-hearted in its
secularism and embarrassed by the constituency of the poor who elected them to
power, is less than enthusiastic in celebrating Premchand and his work.
Why does the Hindi-speaking elite not celebrate Premchand with
the vigour that he deserves? (The way, for instance, Tagore is celebrated by the
Bengali-speaking elite.) There cannot be a straightforward answer to this
question. But a set of factors can be enumerated here, an in-depth analysis of
which may provide the answer. The Hindi-speaking elite is too fragmented, it is
not homogeneous even linguistically, it does not share the same psychological
make-up and its evolution is tainted with its anti-Urdu and pro-upper caste
origins. It therefore lacks the requisite democratic impulse.
Premchand’s creative output, which is immense, considering he
died when he was 56, has made him a great writer in two languages – Urdu and
Hindi. I am not competent enough to discuss the literary merit of Premchand’s
writings and their pioneering role in evolving the genre of the novel and short
story in Urdu and Hindi.
His intellectual evolution has been well summed up by
sociologist AR Desai: "He evolved from a critique of orthodox Hinduism via Arya
Samaj and other religious reform movements towards agnosticism. He developed
from social and political reformer into a critic of (the) consequences of
colonialism and capitalism. In politics, he became a rebel who sympathised with
all struggles under the rubric of (an) anti-imperialist nationalist movement.
However, getting disillusioned with Gandhiism, he could not transform himself
into a radical Marxist though he was developing sympathy for that world view."
As a great litterateur, social historian and critic through his
fiction, reformer and thinker Premchand needs to be celebrated. Above all, he
needs to be celebrated at the present juncture for his secular views.
Premchand’s first short story collection, Soz-e-Watan,
published in 1908, was charged with sedition and its available copies were burnt
for promoting patriotic feelings. These stories also underline the importance of
communal integration which became a passion in his later writings. On the
question of communalism Premchand sounds so relevant today that one tends to
forget that he said these words in the 1930s: "Communalism always seeks to
project itself as culture. It is as if it was ashamed to appear in its true form
and so, like the ass that seeks to boss over the creatures of the forest by
donning the skin of a lion, communalism seeks to adopt the disguise of culture.
Hindu wants to preserve his culture eternally and so does a Muslim. Both
consider their culture as insulated from the other. They forget that there is
neither a Muslim culture nor a Hindu culture. Now in the world there is only one
culture and that is economic culture. But we are still crying over Hindu and
Muslim cultures, although culture has nothing to do with religion."
Although initially Premchand was influenced by the Arya Samaj,
he saw its positive role in terms of social reform and did not share its
anti-Muslim bias. When the Arya Samaj took up the Malkana Rajput Shudhi movement
which was damaging to Hindu-Muslim unity, he wrote: "I have not been
writing in Urdu for some time. I don’t get time at all. But I have decided
to write a small piece on the Malkana Shudhi movement. I am strongly opposed to
it. I will send it in three or four days. Arya Samajis will be very angry. But I
hope you will publish it in Zamana."
Another well known instance is when Premchand showed his anger
over the vicious anti-Islam writing by Chatursen Shastri, a known Hindi-writer.
Shastri wrote a book, Islam Ka Vish Vriksha (The poison tree of Islam),
in 1933. Premchand wrote to Jainendra Kumar: "What has happened to that
Chatursen that he has chosen to write Islam Ka Vish Vriksha? You write a
criticism of it and send me a copy of the book. We must strongly oppose this
communal propaganda." He also wrote to another Hindi critic, Banarsi Das
Chaturvedi: "This is a very cheap and mischievous conspiracy for spreading
communalism, which must be thoroughly exposed." The Hindu magazines edited by
Premchand, Hans and Jagaran wrote against Chatursen’s book,
inviting the displeasure of many of his "Hindu" friends.
Premchand was critical of communal bigotry in much of his
writing. In an editorial in Jagaran on August 29, 1932 he said: "This
mental attitude (communalism) chokes the very spirit of nationalism. We have to
root out this attitude else our country will be sweet only in dreams."
The Urdu critic Syed Sibte Hasan, in a perspectival observation
of Premchand’s Muslim characters, noted: "We find Sakina of Maidan-e-Amal
and her old mother and Amarkant’s carefree friend Saleem who, though a district
officer, kicks off his post, joins satyagraha like the kisans and
goes to jail like Sakina and Pathani; Godan’s Mirza, who gives shelter to
Hori’s son Gobar and nurses the wounded strikers; the hero of Juloos, old
Ibrahim Ali, who attains martyrdom while leading a procession; the poor Muslim
child Hamid in Id who, instead of buying sweets and toys for himself,
buys a pair of tongs for his poor grandmother; and finally, Jumman Sheikh of
Insaf who, even after an estrangement with his bosom friend Algu Chaudhuri,
decides in the panchayat in his favour. Here, in the eyes of Munshi
Premchand, Hindu-Muslim unity, going beyond the bounds of necessity, culminates
into a principle of justice."
Premchand’s contribution to the evolution of the Hindustani
language needs to be emphasised. He uses colloquial words and words derived from
the Persian language with equal ease. It is language like that of Premchand that
the vast multitude of people use and enjoy.
Premchand is indeed one of the most significant secular icons of
our times.
(Rajendra Prasad has been associated with SAHMAT since its
foundation).
