Viraj Desai
The present paper focuses on the idea of village in
the Indian context and chronicles the various identical transformations it
underwent during the colonial times and especially during the freedom movement
of India. The paper studies how during the nationalist movement, the idea of
village became central to the idea of ‘India’ in the attempt to critique the
colonial regime and its means and ways. The paper studies the idea of village
from the points of view of two of the most crucial figures of the Indian
freedom struggle and the shapers of the independent India, Mahatma Gandhi and
B. R. Ambedkar. Mahatma Gandhi was a strong proponent of the idea that India
could achieve svaraj or Independence only by focusing more and more on
its rural life and areas and also candidly pointed out the shortcomings of the
contemporary Indian villages for their betterment. The paper also provides an
overview of the influence of Gandhi’s views on village on Gujarati as well as
Indian literature in English. On one hand where Gandhi’s views of village were a
democratic one, B. R. Ambedkar’s views came from the viewpoint of the
oppressed. For him, the village represented the microcosm of upper-caste
dominance in which the Dalits had no place. Hence, the paper also throws lights
on a different view of village than of Gandhi, one of the subaltern’s view.
M.K. Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, Idea of Indian Village, Indian
society and culture, Nationalist movement of India.
VOL.15, ISSUE No.1, March 2023