Book Reviews
| Published date | 01 January 2014 |
| Date | 01 January 2014 |
| Author | Jaytilak Guha Roy |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120140118 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
BOOK REVIEWS /
185
who are aspiring after government jobs through competitive examinations.
Miserly margins apart, there are several printing mistakes in the book.
Hope, the publishers will rectify these in the next edition.
On the whole, the book under review is an useful addition in the
discipline
of
Public Administration.
-JAYTILAK
GUHA
ROY
Gandhi and the Ali Brothers: Biography
of
a Friendship
RAKHAHARI
CHAITERJI,
Delhi, Sage,
p.
229, Rs. 695.00.
'There is no denying that the imperialist British policy
of
'divide and
rule led to the gradual destruction
of
Hindu-Muslim unity in British India.
However, the British
Raj
alone should not be held accountable for it. The
then feudalist socio-economic system and the mean mentality
of
the Indians,
irrespective
of
class and religion, were equally responsible. When Gandhi
took the leadership
of
the Congress, he had realised this shortcoming and
tried to bring these two communities closer to each other.
In the above backdrop, the book under review
is
a welcome addition
to India's political history. It is based on a well researched study
of
the
relationship
between
Gandhi and the Ali
Brothers-Mohamed
and
Shaukat-mainly
in the context
of
the Non-cooperation and Khilafat
Movements, focusing on the period
of
1919-31. Gandhi's involvement in
the Khilafat agitation was his first direct intervention in an exclusively
Muslim issue, translating it into a national issue.
In
this way he intended to
bring the Muslims out
of
their community cocoons into the mainstream
of
India's national politics. Unfortunately,
as
his relationship with the Ali
brothers broke down, this turned out to be his last such intervention.
Consequently, the issue
of
Muslim participation remained unsettled till
partition.
Divided into eight chapters, the book under review is a modest
endeavour
to
document
a
lucid
micro-
history
of
the
momentous
developments in the personal relations
of
these eminent political figures,
with the dynamics
of
Hindu-Muslim interface
as
the backdrop.
It
consists
of
four substantive parts. Part I comprising the first two chapters provides
a theoretical perspective
of
communitarianism, multiculturalism and Gandhi
as
well as the history
of
the Khilaft Movement and its significance in shaping
Hindu-Muslim relations for the next quarter century. Part -II consisting
of
chapter 3 deals with the characters
of
the AM brothers and their evolution
as the architects
of
the Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. Part III comprising
chapter 4 to 7 focuses on the relations between Gandhi and the Ali brothers
right from love at first sight to the end
of
the road. Part IV consisting
of
the
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