The colonial and nationalist legacy shape the post colonial indian polity

 How did the colonial and nationalist legacy shape the post colonial indian polity

The nature of post-colonial state in India partially reflected the legacy bequeathed by its colonial past. In Britain, the indigenous capitalist class created a strong nation-state within the liberal framework and representative institutions. It provided a framework of legal and administrative institutions that were needed for rapid capitalist industrialisation. However, the colonial state established in India by the British,did not replicate those institutions in India. The British in India always stressed the essential difference between India and Britain and the fact that India was not ready for the liberal, secular project of the European kind.

How did the colonial and nationalist legacy shape the post colonial indian polity

They developed a powerful bureaucratic-military apparatus and administrative mechanism to subordinate the native social and ruling groups. The post-colonial Colonisation Indian polity and society inherited some elements of the colonial system. Apart from other remnants of colonial set-up, the partition that was associated with the transfer of power or the birth of two nations, itself was the end product of colonialism and was a particular form of decolonisation. This kind of retreat of empire from the Indian sub-continent has been a subject of fierce historical debate. Various views have been expressed to explain the traumatic years of partition and various hypotheses propose to explain why the colonial rulers divided the Indian sub-continent along religious lines, while transferring power to the natives.

Partition as a Form of De-colonisation The partition of India in 1947 has been seen as the logical culmination of Muslim communalism and the creation of Pakistan is seen as the ultimate communal demand. The Muslim League articulated the interests of all Muslims as homogeneous and mobilised them for narrow political objectives. It is further argued that colonialism opened up avenues of politics of popular participation and mobilisation. The nationalist leaders to set in motion the process of 'nationin- the- making' utilised these opportunities in the sphere of public life. The ultimate goal of such a nation-state project was consolidation of exclusive military- political control over territories unified by the British colonialism, creation of political legitimacy through ideologies of material welfare and a degree of cultural homogeneity to achieve a 'composite culture'. In order to outwit the nationalist challenge to the hegemony of its rule, the Imperial authorities used the theory of "divide and rule". Some scholars have suggested that Indian social tradition and institutions, as we know them today, were largely a colonial "construction".

How did the colonial and nationalist legacy shape the post colonial indian polity

 British administrators and scholars gave a homogeneous and supra-legal cohesiveness to the so-called 'religious' and community-based pre-colonial Indian social identities. The creation of socialidentities is seen as a hlfilment and consequence of successfbl social manoeuvring by the colonial power. Even if communalism was not a creation of the British Raj, it played a key role in this political scheme. The British government was able to find political allies and prevent the unified antiimperialist front from emerging. The spread of communal tensions and riots also provided a justification for continuation of British rule in India and for denial of self-government. The partition of Bengal (1905) for administrative convenience and formation of Muslim League (1906) under official patronage are seen as the developments that ultimately contributed to partition. The scheme of separate electorates in the legislatures provided by the Minto-Morley-reforms (1909) was a system of representation on the basis of separate interests of distinct communities and their acceptance by congress temporarily to arrive at a settlement with Muslim League in Lucknow pact (1916) paved the way for extreme mass communalism of 1940s.

Colonial Pattern of Power

The state in which the nationalist forces represented by the I.N.C. played a key role inherited many features of the administrative and institutional structures of Colonisation (Part 11) the colonial past. The constitution of India, itself was a product of British constitutional arrangement for India. The newly elected legislative assemblies of provinces elected members on the basis of one representative for roughly one million of the population. The Sikh and Muslim legislatures were to elect their own separate quota on the basis of their population. Muslim League members refused to join its deliberations. After India became independent, the constitution-drafting body became fully sovereign. Although, the constituent Assembly adopted many of the democratic and normative forms that the nationalist leaders had been espousing during colonial rule, the basic constitutional framework comprised of a strong unitary centre, with limited devolution of power to provinces.

How did the colonial and nationalist legacy shape the post colonial indian polity

The centralising polity of colonial period, despite some changes, was thus retained. The impact of the Imperial polity found expression in the continuation of the elite cadre of Indian Civil Service. Although the question of bureaucracy's responsibility or regular reporting and control by elective, non-bureaucratic political institutions required certain basic changes in its hnctioning and orientation, many features of colonial period were retained. These included not only the elements such as open entry based on academic achievement, elaborate training programmes, permanency of tenure and a graduated scale of pay with pension and other benefits and a system of promotion and frequent transfers, but also continuation of imperial legacy in its functional orientation, i.e., giving primacy to law and order. In certain aspects, the ethos and values of the colonial bureaucracy continued especially in the sense of attaching priority to law and order maintenance and possessing a sense of responsibility for its administrative , actions.

In other aspects gradual changes in their functions as public servants, ' ' along with new responsibility like conducting elections and taking developniental initiatives as the heads of public enterprises, eroded its earlier exclusive and cohesive character. The structure and role of military and para-military forces also reflected the colonial legacy. The professional character of army insulated from the civil society was preserved. The lower officers were mostly drawn from the ranks of landed peasants which was a continuation of colonial policy. The colonial belief in martial races was reflected in the recruitment policy and regiments though initially divided on caste, ethic and community basis later included mixed caste and ethnic groups.

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