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12/15/2005 - Uda Devi Zindabad?: The Use and Misuse of History in Uttar Pradesh by Richard D. Connerney

ICWA LETTERS Since Institute Current World Affairs Crane Rogers Foundation provided fellowships enable outstanding young professionals outside United States write about international areas issues An exempt operating foundation endowed Charles R Crane Institute supported contributions minded individuals foundations TRUSTEES Bryn Barnard Joseph Battat Mary Lynne Bird Steven Butler Sharon F Doorasamy Peter Geithner Gary Hartshorn Katherine Roth Kono Cheng Li Peter Bird Martin Dasa Obereigner David Z Robinson Carol Rose John Spencer Edmund Sutton HONORARY TRUSTEES David Elliot David Hapgood Pat M Holt Edwin S Munger Richard H Nolte Albert Ravenholt Phillips Talbot Institute Current World Affairs The Crane Rogers Foundation Four West Wheelock Street Hanover New Hampshire 03755 U S A RDC SOUTH ASIA Richard Connerney Phillips Talbot Fellow studying influen impact religion Indian society Uda Devi Zindabad The Use Misuse History Uttar Pradesh By Richard D Connerney DECEMBER LUCKNOW India In center intersection outside apartment stands statue patina covered sexually ambiguous figure carrying rifle forward determined glare The inscription statue names figure Uda Devi Pasi heroine Mutiny Curious about identity meaning monument I delved local history investigate story Uda Devi Pasi What I discovered instead caste politics commu tensions deliberate fraud Along I learned about misuses history India Lucknow In north India state virtual anarchy A general revolt against growing hegemony British East India Company sumed cities Delhi Jhansi Cawnpore In Lucknow small British garrison clung enuously The Residency collection buildings banks Gomti River Surrounded rebels without adequate supplies dwindling detachment British soldiers loyal Indian auxiliaries often called sepoys combat danger being overrun throughout summer A relief column British soldiers finally broke through September discover lacked firepower leave again This called first relief Lucknow encircled Residency greater supplies In November General Colin Campbell broke through rebel lines again During second relief Lucknow Highlanders Regiment advanced along southern Gomti until reached Palace Sikandarbag formerly situated across street apartment There desperate resistance rebels fortified position In sanguineous battle followed rebels soldiers their combat After British overrun palace officer noted British displayed bullet wounds inflicted above Suspecting sniper remained hidden nearby pipal British officers fired dislodged rebel ground Further investi gation revealed rebel caste woman named Uda Devi Pasi donned clothing participate uprising Or story Today story Uda Devi Pasi inspiration caste women Uttar Pradesh State Each No vember members caste Pasi gather sight final plunge celebrate imperialist rebel defied convention struck embryonic cause Indian Independence For Pasis traditionally caste herders toddy tappers Uda Devi Martyrdom Day occasion revel bravery martial spirit their ancestors slogans Uda Devi Uda Devi deathless Uda Devi Zindabaad Long Uda Devi This November Sikandarbag Park filled Viranga Uda Devi Pasi Sansthan Heroic Uda Devi Pasi Institute They West Bengal Madhya Pradesh Bihar offer oblations image Uda Devi Pasi Many women remote villages traveled distances attend As I looked their faces occurred caste women least esteemed position In society They songs honor their heroine recited poetry expressing their injustices caste system Do monument stage Give society We freedom today unfair traditions world We society Unfortunately monument stage would Uda Devi Pasi Martyrdom Day Politicians aware Uda Dev Pasi means Pasi caste large block attended gathering large The stage filled ministers officials various competing political parties All these visitors belonged Pasi caste At point program Pasi woman stepped stage flower necklace offer before Uda Devi A large refused official malas As inspiring story Uda Devi Pasis politicians their votes suffers A toddy tapper person tapped trees which alcoholic punch Viiranganaa Uudaadevii Smaarak Samsthaan Varma Preety Ham nayaa samaaj chaahie translated Hindi RDC Local politicians homage Uda Devi Sikandarbag Park Pasi women nearby villages attended large numbers invited speak photo D Simon serious roblem reliable historical evidence Uda Devi Pasi exists In Uda Devi appear original monument Sikandarbag Park erected Although eyewit mention woman sniper killed Sikandarbag November neither caste recorded In Uda Devi ciation Pasi caste 1980s Pasi organizations began discovering history their people This widespread trend fostered Hindu reform groups Arya Samaj wanted include traditionally marginalized groups history Independence If Uda Devi deathless because never first place In light these historical realities Uda Devi Pasi Martyrdom Day seemed ridiculous Many Pasi women large numbers illiterate probably dimly aware history Lucknow Mutiny It seemed politicians Uttar Pradesh trading manufactured history memorial parks statues votes I doubted Pasis could perceive flimsiness story Uda Devi manipulative behavior politicians I expressed these ideas Dr Manuela Ciotti thropologist expert caste women University Edinburgh drove Martyrdom Day festivities She share Instead actual history Pasi caste wholly world Whatever contribution never written The Pasis merous other castes India existed lennia under Brahmins Muslims British As unscrupulous seems barter votes history manufactured history important Pasis Manuela wondered Don deserve Look nobody worried about historical Uda Devi today except Over thousand Pasis gathered because story What See Forbes Mitchell William Reminiscences Great Mutiny Asian Educational Service New Delhi Gupta Dipauter Caste Question Sage Publications New Delhi Inventing caste history Dalit mobilization nationalist Badri Narayan INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS wrong Perhaps right Af Westerners utilize shadowy historical figures promote range bious ideas What connection example histori St Valentine Hallmark Valentine Day Although Pasi named Uda Devi never fallen pipul Sikanderbag Park equally untrue George Washing chopped father cherry So early Chris bishops America first president enlisted promote squishy romantic sentiments value honesty cannot historica record Lucknow twisted accommodate aspirations suffering group village women All cultures their historical myths As Manuela asked wrong Mangal Pandey With I Bombay The Rising Ballad Mangal Pandey The movie received great negative press because loose adherence historical facts Mutiny Most criticism British government which objected scene depicted massacre villagers British sepoys never actually occurred Others objected ducers taken facts Mangal Pandey Still others certain scenes could offensive white people slaugh tered conclusion The historical basis rests story ordinary sepoy named Mangal Pandey stationed Calcutta spring later proved false British East India Company Enfield rifles required cartridges greased angered Brahmin Mr Pandey eating mortal One stoned beyond sense bhang hashish Mangal confronted commanding officers killed injured another before turning himself attempting commit suicide Un steady excessive cannabis consumption missed skull managed slightly injure shoulder The British finished short later hanging April The takes story Mangal Panday makes nationalistic morality In The Rising British East India Company indeed slaughter sacred grease rifles rifles inflict promiscuous slaughter inoffensive villagers Mangal Pandey other receives treatment He comes across sensitive mercu young passing resemblance 1970s Frank Zappa Before shooting starts Mangal makes friends European officers beautiful dancing played stunning Rani Mukherjee hoofing himself energetic dance numbers To credit British soldiers always appear inhuman monsters One Captain Gor depicted sympathetically Moreover native leaders inculpable either At point group attempt enact ritual which widow burned alive husband funeral Gordon white interrupts baric custom rescues widow Neither Mangal Pandey actions inspired bhang lassi hashish milkshakes nationalistic fervor With press I expect Mangal Pandey I Although liberties history neither honest other historical dramas India America matter Should movie singing dancing standard torical accuracy Were liberties taken Mangal Pandey worse countless anachronisms inaccu The story first appeared after Washington death The Life Washington Parson Mason Locke Weems A sepoy Indian enlisted soldier British Mangal Pandey rampage immediately preceded outbreak general uprising against British East India Company which began earnest about month after death Certain historians reason propter Mutiny occurred because Mangal Pandey execution In probability disaffection resulted Mutiny simmer years would occurred without RDC racies Western historical films Gone With Wind History after written winners tells story What wrong writing other ourselves Ayodhya The answer question rocky beneath Ayodhya about hours Jeep northeast Lucknow The Ayodhya literally means without Never since Eric Red named covered island North Atlantic Greenland place inappropriate moniker Ayodhya flash point Hindu Muslim tensions least century recently Ayodhya become battle extremists religions The origins conflict Ayodhya distant Many Hindus claim Ayodhya birthplace Ram incarnation Vishnu subject Hindu Ramayana A popular story dures Ayodhya temple stood Ram earthly incarnation called Ramjanambhoomi Place birth Ram Mus invaders century according version events razed temple built large mosque Babri Masjid stones A persistent belief Babri Masjid mosque Hindu stoked fires communal 1980s The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP issue Ramjanambhoomi construct platform appeal working class Hin In infamous BJP agitation called Rath Yatra chariot journey right politician L K Advani traversed India economy decorated primeval chariot while urging Hindu march Ayodhya fight glory Ram A short later December massive Hindu nationalists converged overran barriers leveled century Barbri Mosque pickaxes shovels Even years after destruction mosque issue Ayodhya indirectly spark outbreaks communal lence Gujarat riots The archeological record however offer support existence medieval Hindu temple Ramjanambhoomi Most early surveys Archeological Survey India ASI failed remains large existing struc under Babri Masjid mosque Later under political pressure Hindu right ASI examined claiming found sought after evidence massive century temple Ram Meanwhile independent archeologists objected geological evidence suggests remained abandoned centuries flooding By Deborah Manuela I visited Ayodhya first January looked Hindu temple mosque prison Rings barbed steel barriers rounded visitors restricted chain wound guard towers ArcheologyMagazine July Flashpoint Ayodhya Did Hindu liners recruit archeologists rewrite history Kristen M Romey INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS bunkers Overzealous security personnel subjected visitors repeated searches confiscated cameras By I I thought Ramjanambhoomi least pleasant tourist world More disturbingly between fiction reality blurred While producers The Rising created movie based City Ayodhya place The Great Escape If I found level security Ramjanambhoomi overbearing however I unaware looming threat On July group Islamic terrorists attempted breach walls destroy rocket propelled grenades In minute battle followed extremists bystanders Ayodhya place without become battleground again When I about attack newspaper I realized tampering India analogous ceiving biography George Washington include vivisected cherry My Father Told Me That Irish Built Pyramids I Now Know That They Probably Had Some Help The communalization history growing India Nationalist views ancient history seeping Indian history books since Bharatiya Janata Party 1980s The current Con gress government trying repair damage deleting these jingoistic historical myths school books their effort without opposition More progressive parties absurd extremes their treatment history For example Suraj Bhan Chairman National Commis Scheduled Castes recently called rewrit Hindu religious scripture itself eradicate demean references caste people The abuse history sides political spectrum seems snowballing The years manufactured caste histories Pasi historical manipulation nationalistic causes ASI A feeling mainstream history given short stick motivates groups Pasis naturally difficult accept account history India wholly devoid their community contribution Hindu nationalists other desire redress centuries Muslim occupation India Both groups would write themselves story Mutiny sometimes called The First War Indian Independence But historical revisionism slippery slope You allow certain communities Pasis create their heroes under heading history right others Hindu fundamentalists The relaxation historical rigor allowed Pasi activists obscure unknown Sikandarbag Park facilitated manufacture cheological record Ayodhya writing In history overheated nationalists It weakness moreover allows Nazis Iranian presidents Holocaust Creation Scientists claim world began BC Without sistent standards evidence history becomes story writing which ending always happy In regards history maybe should words George Washington No matter grave crimes cannot least Times India Lucknow Edition Updated history offends safronites Times India Lucknow Edition Reform Hinduism larger common This originally calculation James Ussher Archbishop Armagh RDC INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS Current Fellows their Activities INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS Richard D Connerney January INDIA A lecturer Philosophy Asian Religions Logic Rutgers University Rick Connerney spending years Phillips Talbot Fellow studying writing about intertwining religion culture politics India described former U S Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith functioning anarchy Rick B A M A religion Wheaton College University Hawaii respectively Kay Dilday October FRANCE MOROCCO An editor New York Times Op Ed years Kay holds M A Comparative International Politics Theory Graduate Center City University New York Bachelor degree English Literature Tufts University graduate Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands Cours Civilisation Sorbonne She traveled written Haiti began journalistic council reporter Somerville This Week Somerville MA Cristina Merrill June ROMANIA Born Bucharest Cristina moved Romania United States mother father Learning English retaining Romanian majored American History Harvard College there became captain women tennis She received Master degree Journalism New York University worked several U S publications Adweek New York Times spending years Romania watching emerge darkness Ceauscescu regime presumed light membership European Union NATO Nicholas Schmidle October IRAN A journalist researcher Pew Forum Religious Public Life Nick finishing Maste program Comparative Regional Studies Middle East Central Asia American University Washington DC He studying intensive Persian fiancee Rikki Bohan anticipation departure Iran after marriage autumn Andrew J Tabler February SYRIA LEBANON Andrew lived studied worked Middle East since Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Fellowship enabled begin Arabic language studies toward Master degree American University Cairo Following Master editorships Middle East Times Cairo Times before moving Turkey Lebanon Syria working Senior Editor Oxford Business Group correspondent Economist Intelligence Unit His ICWA fellowship bases Beirut Damascus where report Lebanese affairs Syrian reform Jill Winder July GERMANY With B A politics Whitman College Walla Walla WA Master degree Art Curating Bard College Annandale Hudson NY Jill ICWA Donors Fellow looking Germany through ideas viewpoints contemporary artists Before months intensive study German language Berlin Thomas J Watson Fellow looking communist practice cultural politics transition former Soviet Czech Republic Slovakia Poland Croatia Hungary Latvia Romania Slovenia Ukraine Institute Fellows chosen basis character previous experience promise They young professionals funded spend minimum years carrying designed programs study writing outside United States The Fellows required report their findings experiences field month They write subject formally informally The result unique reporting analysis periodic assessment interna tional events Author Connerney Richard D Title ICWA Letters South Asia ISSN Imprint Institute Current World Affairs Hanover NH Material Type Serial Language English Frequency Monthly Other Regions East Asia The Americas Europe Russia Mideast North Africa Sub Saharan Africa ICWA Letters ISSN published Institute Current World Affairs Inc exempt operating foundation incorporated New York State offices located West Wheelock Street Hanover NH 03755 The letters provided charge members ICWA available libraries profes sional researchers subscription Phone Fax E Mail valley Web address Executive Director Peter Bird Martin Program Administrator Brent Jacobson Publications Design Management Ellen Kozak Institute Current World Af fairs The Crane Rogers Foundation This newsletter reprinted republished without express written consent Institute Cur World Affairs