Colonial History

South Asian Governmentalities: Michel Foucault and the Question of Postcolonial Orderings edited by Stephen Legg and Deana Heath, New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2018; pp 269, ₹595.

State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab by Rishi Singh, New Delhi: Sage, 2015; pp ix+232, ₹895.

In the current controversy about the national song, the general assumption seems to be that the song 'Vande Mataram' reflect nothing more than an uncomplicated love for the motherland, and that it is unreasonable of Muslims, if not actually unpatriotic, to object to it. The present essay looks at some of the older debates about the song and also about the novel Anandamath which frames the song. In the light of its novelistic context, the article argues, the song acquires different and darker meanings. Moreover, the verses that are not usually sung compose a vision of a militaristic patriotism that gradually replaces the more nurturing resonances of the earlier parts. The gradual movements of the song are replicated in the design of the novel. The article explores these shifts in the song and in the novel, while it simultaneously assesses the different readings of both - political and literary. It concludes with an attempt to seek out hidden subtexts in the novel which sometime disturb and deconstruct its dominant and obvious meanings.

Florence Nightingale and the Health of the Raj by Jharna Gourlay; Ashgate Publishing Company, Hampshire, UK, 2003; pp xi + 305, hardbound, price not mentioned.

History does not retrace its steps. It is no longer useful to ask if the partition could have been avoided. The question is no longer important. The different perceptions of the shared history of India and Pakistan have, perhaps, contributed in some measure to create barriers of prejudice between the two nations. However, there are issues of history that need to be looked at again. This article attempts to highlight some of those contentious and often ill-understood issues. Offered here is an attempt by a sociologist-cum-social anthropologist to highlight some issues. It is not an alternative history.