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Event, metaphor, memory: Chauri Chaura, 1922-1992

By: Publication details: Penguin Books 2006 LondonDescription: xxiv, 294 pISBN:
  • 9780143062042
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 954​.03 A6E9
Summary: Taking Gandhi's statements about civil disobedience to heart, in February 1922 residents from the villages around the north Indian market town of Chauri Chaura attacked the local police station, burned it to the ground and murdered twenty-three constables. Appalled that his teachings were turned to violent ends, Gandhi called off his Noncooperation Movement and fasted to bring the people back to nonviolence. In the meantime, the British government denied that the riot reflected Indian resistance to its rule and tried the rioters as common criminals. These events have taken on great symbolic importance among Indians, both in the immediate region and nationally. Amin examines the event itself, but also, more significantly, he explores the ways it has been remembered, interpreted, and used as a metaphor for the Indian struggle for independence. The author, who was born fifteen miles from Chauri Chaura, brings to his study an empathetic knowledge of the region and a keen ear for the nuances of the culture and language of its people. In an ingenious negotiation between written and oral evidence, he combines brilliant archival work in the judicial records of the period with field interviews with local informants. In telling this intricate story of local memory and the making of official histories, Amin probes the silences and ambivalences that contribute to a nation's narrative. He extends his boundaries well beyond Chauri Chaura itself to explore the complex relationship between peasant politics and nationalist discourse and the interplay between memory and history. Table of content: 1. The Riot and History 2. A Narrative of the Event 3. Chauri Chaura-Dumri-Mundera 4. Fraudulent Reports 5. The Lessons of the Riot 6. The Crime of Chauri Chaura 7. Nationalizing the Riot 8. The Case for Punishment and Justice 9. Dwarka Gosain's Complaint 10. Violence and Counterinsurgency 11. The Making of the Approver 12. Shikari's Testimony 13. The Approver and the Accused 14. Judicial Discourse 15. The Alimentary Aspects of Picketing 16. The Politics of the Trial 17. Historian's Dilemma 18. Dumri Records 19. The Youthful Account 20. Komal-Dacoit 21. The Babu-saheb of Mundera 22. The Madanpur Narrative 23. Malaviya Saves Chotki Dumri 24. The Great Betrayal 25. A Powerful 'Mukhbir' 26. The One-Seven-Two of Chauri Chaura 27. The Policemen Dead 28. The Darogain 29. The Presence of Gandhi 30. Otiyars 31. Chutki, or the Gift of Grain 32. The Feast of 4 February 1922. 33. The Colour Gerua and Proper Nationalist Attire 34. What the Otiyars Wore 35. Witness to a History 36. Towards Conclusion 37. Epilogue (http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520087804)
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Item type Current library Item location Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Vikram Sarabhai Library Rack 45-A / Slot 2533 (3rd Floor, East Wing) Non-fiction General Stacks 954​.03 A6E9 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 189697

Taking Gandhi's statements about civil disobedience to heart, in February 1922 residents from the villages around the north Indian market town of Chauri Chaura attacked the local police station, burned it to the ground and murdered twenty-three constables. Appalled that his teachings were turned to violent ends, Gandhi called off his Noncooperation Movement and fasted to bring the people back to nonviolence. In the meantime, the British government denied that the riot reflected Indian resistance to its rule and tried the rioters as common criminals. These events have taken on great symbolic importance among Indians, both in the immediate region and nationally. Amin examines the event itself, but also, more significantly, he explores the ways it has been remembered, interpreted, and used as a metaphor for the Indian struggle for independence.
The author, who was born fifteen miles from Chauri Chaura, brings to his study an empathetic knowledge of the region and a keen ear for the nuances of the culture and language of its people. In an ingenious negotiation between written and oral evidence, he combines brilliant archival work in the judicial records of the period with field interviews with local informants.
In telling this intricate story of local memory and the making of official histories, Amin probes the silences and ambivalences that contribute to a nation's narrative. He extends his boundaries well beyond Chauri Chaura itself to explore the complex relationship between peasant politics and nationalist discourse and the interplay between memory and history.

Table of content:
1. The Riot and History
2. A Narrative of the Event
3. Chauri Chaura-Dumri-Mundera
4. Fraudulent Reports
5. The Lessons of the Riot
6. The Crime of Chauri Chaura
7. Nationalizing the Riot
8. The Case for Punishment and Justice
9. Dwarka Gosain's Complaint
10. Violence and Counterinsurgency
11. The Making of the Approver
12. Shikari's Testimony
13. The Approver and the Accused
14. Judicial Discourse
15. The Alimentary Aspects of Picketing
16. The Politics of the Trial
17. Historian's Dilemma
18. Dumri Records
19. The Youthful Account
20. Komal-Dacoit
21. The Babu-saheb of Mundera
22. The Madanpur Narrative
23. Malaviya Saves Chotki Dumri
24. The Great Betrayal
25. A Powerful 'Mukhbir'
26. The One-Seven-Two of Chauri Chaura
27. The Policemen Dead
28. The Darogain
29. The Presence of Gandhi
30. Otiyars
31. Chutki, or the Gift of Grain
32. The Feast of 4 February 1922.
33. The Colour Gerua and Proper Nationalist Attire
34. What the Otiyars Wore
35. Witness to a History
36. Towards Conclusion
37. Epilogue
(http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520087804)

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