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Communalism in Bengal
From Famine To Noakhali, 1943-47
First Edition
- Rakesh Batabyal - Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
March 2005 | 428 pages | SAGE India
The years immediately following the Bengal Famine of 1943 witnessed the consolidation of communal ideologies culminating in the riots of 1946 in Calcutta and the violence in Noakhali on 1946-47. This volume explores this period of Indian history and argues that the final phase of the anti-colonial struggle witnessed a clash of nationalism and communalism where class and solidarity against the colonial power was forgotten.
Introduction
Hunger and Politics
Politics amidst Hunger
Politics Overtakes Hunger
War Is Over
Violence Reigns
Violence Everywhere
Looking for the Origins
Battling with Hatred
Conclusion
[This book] makes for interesting reading for it tells the story of the Hindu-Muslim divide in the most critical span of four years prior to the division of India into two sovereign states of India and Pakistan in 1947 on the basis of the ‘theory of two nations’.
Communalism in Bengal is an important, innovative work. Mostly intended for a postgraduate and academic readership, the book, the sixth in the Sage Series in Modern Indian History, is bound to become a classic in the study of Indian modern history, sociology and politics, and a useful framework for those wishing to know more on Indian history in general and Bengal…