Webinar on Nationalism in Bengal

To commemorate the 75th year of the Independence of India, the Department of History organized a webinar on "Nationalism in Bengal" on March 12, 2022. Professor Lakshmi Subramanian explored the interception of music within the domain of popular theatre and the role of music and jatra in the dissemination of national feeling. She discussed music as an intrinsic part of the cultural nationalist project with its regional variations and then proceeded to elucidate the debate between Gandhi and Tagore as to whether music should be composed only for its own sake or also for political purposes. Professor Mrinalini Sinha spoke on the 'obscure movement for the abolition of overseas indentured labour, with special emphasis on how Calcutta became the locus of the protests against indentured labour. She examined the influence of the abolitionists as well as the ways in which Gandhi was involved in these discussions during his last years in South Africa. She also demonstrated how the sexual exploitation of Dalit and peasant women became the focal point of national honour, with the discourse shifting from the middle class to the rights of the 'subalterns'.