Book Summary: "India, Bharat and Pakistan: The Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilisation" - J Sai Deepak

Sai Deepak J The second book dissects the period from the fall of the Mughal empire to the Khilafat movement, relying heavily on the tools developed in the first book and many primary sources. The author also investigates the trail of Islamic doctrine consolidated during the Fatwa-e-Alamgiri (compiled on the orders of Aurangzeb) back to the 13th-century Islamic scholar Taymiyyah and Syed Ahmad Sirhindi (a contemporary of Mughal Emperor Akbar).

The two figures covered in detail among the post-Mughal ulemas are Shah Wahiullah Dehlawi and Syed Ahmad Baraelvi – the two giants who shaped Islamic revivalism in the 18th century. The establishment of the Wahhabi power centre in Northwest Punjab, the establishment of the various schools of Islam in North India – Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-i-Hadith, Aligarh and the British crackdown on Wahhabism are all discussed in sufficient detail before jumping off to Syed Ahmad Khan and the modern genesis of the two-nation theory.

The author then covers all the crucial events from the Partition of Bengal to the Khilafat movement – relying heavily on primary sources. The book ends with a summary of the Khilafat riots – especially the Mopla massacre.

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Book publication date: August 2022.

Brief about the Author:

Sai Deepak J He is an engineer turned litigator, practising as an arguing counsel primarily before the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Delhi.

A mechanical engineer from Anna University, Sai graduated with a bachelor’s degree in law from IIT Kharagpur’s Law School in 2009.

He has carved a niche as a civil, commercial and constitutional litigator.

He has been part of several landmark cases, such as those related to the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the Basmati Geographical Indications and the Marital Rape Exception in the Indian Penal Code.

In 2019, Sai was awarded the Young Alumni Achiever’s Award by his alma mater, IIT Kharagpur. In addition to delivering lectures on constitutional issues, he writes prolifically for leading newspapers and magazines.

He is the author of the bestselling first book of the Bharat Trilogy, India, That Is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution.

India, Bharat and Pakistan:- Book Review

Exordium:

Sai Deepak J has a mellowed take on Gandhi’s support of Khilafat as he shows it to be the prevalent position of Congress much before the advent of ‘Mahatma’. Though his book gives a bloodcurdling account of the Moplah killings, it leaves the readers to decide and attach a label, be it religious fanaticism, tenancy-related grievance, anti-colonial sentiments, or a combination of all of these.

Sai has tried to challenge the colonial and postcolonial narratives about India’s partition, and hence, the ample references and citations to state the unstated with credibility. In this process, the book takes a rigorous and ponderous form, which may not favour the new generation brought up on instant gratification. Citations running into several pages are never an easy read.

A particular other generation would be uneasy, finding its postulates and historical learning first challenged and later demolished. One hopes those who disagree with Sai will take a leaf out of his method & counter with facts and primary sources. It would undoubtedly enrich the discourse, an essential factor that motivates an author to pick up the pen.

1. J Sai Deepak is fearless in connecting things. Even though this may have been done before, the author does it authoritatively. In a tiny paragraph on page 9, the author talks about how, despite Babur’s victory in the first battle of Panipat in 1526, the Mughal influence was limited to Delhi- thanks to the Marathas, the Jats, the Sikhs and the English. He also says that it was around the same time- the early 18th century that the Ottoman Empire also saw a general decline, with its inability to keep pace with the Habsburg and Russian Empires becoming more evident. This conjures up quite a view.

2. There is a picture and detailed narration of the mass meeting of Muslims in Dacca on 5th September 1906 in favour of the partition of Bengal. The author discusses the origins of the two-nation theory and takes an authoritative position that the idea of Hindu-Muslim separateness was not sudden or a knee-jerk disillusionment with the Indian National Congress founded in 1885 but much deeper than that. An arresting cartoon from the magazine Hindi Punch in 1906 talks about vandalism and refers to the separation of Bengal partition of Bengal by chatting about the layers of history that influenced it.

3. Readers of the first book, India That is Bharat, will recognize that it spans from 1492 to 1919. In contrast, the second book focuses on the years 1740 to 1924. As it covers a shorter timeframe, the second book delves deeply into the connections and may even engage the reader more extensively. Most notably, the author candidly states, “My book is not original.” He acts as a lawyer, weaving everything together from a macro perspective.

4. Is Mahatma Gandhi unduly blamed for the Khilafat movement? This is an interesting discussion within the book, and the author asks you to reevaluate your heroes and villains.

5. The narration about the Moplah Hindu genocide stands out - J Sai Deepak transitions from calling it a riot to an outrage - he insists that there was no parity to it and that the barbarity was one-sided.

The narratives surrounding partition are deeply emotional for India. Few writers explore the ideology of partition with the same level of detachment as J Sai Deepak. He scrutinizes Bharat's journey and the true essence of India. He rightly holds us accountable for our tendency to have fleeting memories and remarkable amnesia regarding recent historical events.

Epilogue:

We are progressively inhabiting a world where history appears more like interpretation. How closely this interpretation aligns with the truth hinges on the sources historians utilize, the tone of those sources, and any biases they possess. Ultimately, an agreed-upon narrative shapes a collective consciousness among many individuals.

The author is a litigator who delivers lectures on constitutional issues. His style of presenting an idea by combining various arguments and considering it in multiple ways is consistent with his craft.

His Bharat Trilogy, the second book in which he discusses India Bharat and the Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilization, is building a strong narrative.

The appendix and references stretch over 80 pages, which is natural for an endeavour like this.

Learning:

Between the Indic civilization of the turbulent years from 1905 to 1924 and modern-day Bharat, I contend, based on my observations, that the attitudes contributing to the Partition of Bharat in 1947 persist vigorously. However, they are now cloaked in sanitized terminology.

A key reason for embracing this decolonial reexamination of the Constitution is to emphasize that it should be interpreted within its historical context.

Yet another objective is to reinforce my position that ‘Supreme’ deliberations on constitutional morality, rooted in politico-theological frameworks that have no love lost for Indic indigeneity, are devoid of a sense of history and end up preserving constitutionalism at the expense of the civilisation.

Sai Deepak J Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bloomsbury USA Bloomsbury Business Bloomsbury Professional Ireland