Better remembered as a polymath and historian, D.D. Kosambi was also a globetrotting peace-activist in the 1950s and contributed to the world peace movement both within India and internationally as a first-rate organizer. This pamphlet was printed at Nagar Press Works, Indore and was published and distributed by Anant Bhaskar Lagu, a ‘labour agitator’ and Communist Party of India (CPI) activist. Lagu had previously been detained under the Madhya Bharat Maintenance of Public Order Act (1948), had escaped from police custody, and was arrested again under the Prohibition of Associations Dangerous to Public Peace Act in 1949. Without the aid of relentless foot-soldiers like Lagu, it was difficult for intellectuals like Kosambi to reach out to the working classes, even when they conveyed their messages in Hindi. This pamphlet was referred to the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Ministry of States to be considered for proscription by the Home Secretary of the Bhopal Commissionerate in 1951. The text of the pamphlet has been translated from a copy attached to the file sent to the Home Ministry (held by the National Archives of India), which was also reviewed by the Intelligence Bureau. Another version of this text in a typed English draft can be found among Kosambi Papers in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. There are considerable differences between these two versions, and we cannot be certain which one was the ‘original’. The Hindi pamphlet does not elaborate on the nine points of the WPC invoked by Kosambi. Among other things, it also drops the paragraphs where he specifically appeals to the Jagadguru of Sringeri Math, the ministers of the Bombay state, and ‘fellow scientists’ C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha. Perhaps for the sake of brevity; perhaps in tune with expected sensibilities of the audience. We cannot say for sure if Kosambi’s editorial hand is at work here or Lagu’s. On the other hand, the English text does not mention the four declarations at the beginning of the pamphlet, omits the references to Robeson and Picasso and avoids illustrative parts of several paragraphs. In short, although largely overlapping, the two texts are temporally and stylistically quite distinct. What appears below is a tentative translation of the Hindi pamphlet which was brought out in 1950-51. I have not made editorial interventions beyond breaking up a couple of paragraphs to enhance readability.
As a member of the World Peace Bureau,1 I am making this appeal to you without regard to name, place of origin, occupation, creed, caste, faith, political opinion or sex.
I only request you to support the peace movement. If you agree with even one of the nine points published by the World Peace Council,2 you are an ally of peace. If you want to give any other suggestions in the interest of world peace, you are most welcome to join the peace movement and place your proposals for consideration. I have my own convictions regarding the many possibilities to achieve permanent peace. I have expressed my views on this before and I adhere to them with all sincerity. Here, I am not taking an opportunity to reiterate my ideas or drag you into debates. Rather, I am appealing to you to join the peace movement in spite of our differences, whatever they may be.
Let us go through some of the arguments that are usually proffered against signing the peace appeal. Firstly, the weak ones tremble and say ‘what difference can an individual make! It will remain a mere promise. There is nothing to be gained from my signature alone.’ This is because no individual can make a powerful move all by themselves. What we want is that by becoming a signatory to the world peace appeal, you show those who keep beating the drums of war that you are not the only peace-loving individual but one among many millions. But you will ask, and others will also ask you this: ‘Isn’t the peace movement a communist ruse? Is this not a treacherous communist ploy to deceive others while secretly preparing for conflict?’
I want to say that I do not believe these. The communists are not the ones banning the peace appeal. They are not the ones bombing the peaceful villages of Asia or threatening to unleash a full-scale nuclear war. Communist states are not allocating more than half their national budgets for ‘defence’.
Their explosives are used for moving mountains, changing the course of rivers, making deserts bloom, and populating those lands which have been lying barren for centuries. For many years, they are not only constructing dams and cordoning forests to protect them but have also planned several more creative projects to be undertaken in future. If this is what is meant by preparing for war, we must also join the race. We too must bring hundreds of thousands of acres of land under cultivation, achieve victory over floods and droughts and not remain at the mercy of monsoons, earthquakes and cyclones anymore.
This is why we must sign the peace appeal with honesty. Because we have nothing to lose and a new way of life to gain. Will you stop breathing because communists breathe the same air too? If the world has been divided into two camps which are sliding towards war every passing day, how can the peace movement succeed if it does not seek to bridge the gap by engaging people from both sides? It is commendable that the European left parties have helmed this movement so far. It is also a matter of shame that the left-wing parties in India remain embroiled in petty bickering.
‘Are wars really that bad? Weren’t the days of the last war better than our present times?’ This is a dangerous whisper that we get to hear on a daily basis now. This is exactly what a criminal dealer tells an alcoholic or a junkie: ‘It is so much fun to remain intoxicated. Here, have one more and think about the good times to be had.’
You cannot simply return to the situation of the previous war. You will be dragged into the deeper abyss of the next war. Do not stop at comparing today’s situation with that of the Second World War but also compare the circumstances preceding the war with what happened in its wake. Only then will you realize the magnitude of the losses incurred. Do you seek the destruction of what remains of the world too? You want the poor workers and technicians to work round the clock as they did during the war years. Do I have to remind you that this exploitation had happened at the cost of the devastating Bengal Famine of 1943? Can we expect any less of a disaster from the next war especially after the Partition?
It may be that you are a man of trade with foresight and thoughtful plans for the future. You might be thinking that the First World War empowered Indian industries and businesses to stand up on their own feet and even compete with foreign commodities. The Second World War decimated the foreigners and gave us independence. Will the Third World War not strengthen Indian capital and production in the world market? The answer is no. Five years after the First World War, you had somehow attained a degree of prosperity. Five years after the Second World War, we are clinging onto ration cards for our sustenance. All the talk of getting freedom from foreign rule is of no use when the grains we consume are no better than what foreigners feed their livestock. Can we survive by chewing on paper notes after the Third World War?
Gone are those days when wars could force open new markets. Now conflicts strangle free markets across the world. During the First World War, our soldiers died in foreign lands. During the Second World War, the very borders of our country were under threat. You must not have forgotten the troubles and scare of 1942-43. Where will we be during the next conflict? Inevitably under foreign occupation and bombardment. The question of profiting from trading with belligerents on both sides while somehow remaining unaffected does not even arise — it is a pipe dream.
Whoever reads this pamphlet will have to contend with one base argument: ‘Beware! This is all politics. Stay out of these movements if your job is dear to you.’ By publicly appealing to you, I risk losing the most myself. As I see it, the necessity of peace is not just an absolute truth but a great truth. Must I become such a cowardly ally of truth for the sake of my livelihood? You have to ask yourself this question as well. Your character will be tested on the basis of your response.
Great voices from the past are calling out to us: Dante, Petrarch, Shakespeare and Milton, Goethe and Heine are imploring us. Are their words so futile that we only read them from the comfort of our bedrooms and discard them the moment a crisis strikes? Or will you exemplify their teachings in real life? Great voices of our times, Nazim Hikmet, Pablo Neruda, Ilya Ehrenburg, Frédéric Joliot are calling out to us; Paul Robeson’s proud golden voice, Picasso’s brushstrokes are calling for the greatest human need now — Peace.
This appeal is primarily for the many. However, it is also intended for a few who in their public lives move in more influential circles than me. I appeal to them especially in the name of peace. Unfortunately, the situation is such that I am having to make this appeal. Ordinarily, it was incumbent upon you and people of your stature to appeal to the millions of common people including me.
Firstly, I appeal to you, President Rajendra Prasad, who was rightly chosen as the first President of independent India. You dignify this office with simplicity of living and integrity of character, both of which are difficult to attain amidst the turmoil of politics.
The beloved leader of our millions, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, I appeal to you. A generation earlier, at the behest of the Indian National Congress, you made your stance on international matters absolutely clear. Your writings up to 1938 show that you have been an unwavering friend of peace, acutely aware of the dangers of the war being prepared for in those days. Back then you had raised your voice against the bombing of the North-West Frontier Province and now you oppose the atom bomb. It was you who had condemned the bombardment of Spanish civilians while standing tall amidst the bombing yourself. Will you hesitate to support and lead this great movement for peace?
Acharya Kripalani, I appeal to you, who I have known since my childhood and whose leadership prowess had ensured the successful organization of a seemingly impossible struggle like the Khadar movement. You kept the spirit of the Congress alive at a time when getting called a congressman was considered dangerous. You have always openly advocated that which you have considered true and just.
I have the right to appeal to you in the name of my father, whom you all knew well. Had he been alive today, he would have made a much stronger appeal than me. I have never asked anything for myself from any of you. Whatever I ask for the peace movement from renowned disciples of Mahatma Gandhi such as yourselves would be insubstantial. You have upheld his message of non-violence even in the arduous hour of personal suppression and imprisonment. Would you transmit the principles of your great teacher to the people, or would you rather forget them? It is on the basis of these same values that I appeal to all the members of central and provincial committees [of the Congress?] to actively extend support to the peace movement.
Mr J.R.D. Tata, I have a special right to appeal to you. You are at the helm of India’s most respectable industrial organization. I have heard that the Tatas dedicate their profit in the service of humanity by spending it on health, education, research and philanthropy of various kinds. It is also said that you have set an unmatched example among Asian industrialists by calling for the improvement of the workers’ standard of living. In a similar vein, if you choose to create an ideal for industry and capital across the world by endorsing this peace appeal, nobody would be able to doubt your sincerity. You would be able to carry forward the longstanding philanthropic traditions of the Tatas on a much vaster scale than you have been able to do within your organization so far. But if you do not raise your voice now, you would invite the criticism that even the Tatas do not want peace but war because wars inflate their profits. It will be said that Indian industrialists have millions to spend on wars but not a single word to expend on peace.
Doctors R.N. Cooper, V.R. Khanolkar, A.V. Baliga, I have little to say to you. You have been helping with the appeal from long before. By practising surgery and pathology, you have known much better the pain, agony, and disability that war inflicts on friends and comrades along with hunger and disease. You all are busy, I am aware, but will you allow yourselves to be disheartened at this stage when the goal finally seems to be within our reach?
Devdas Gandhi, I also appeal to you, who edits one of the most prominent newspapers not just in India but across the world. Have you changed so much since your days in the Sabarmati Ashram — where we used to debate the equivalence of the charkha and the machine gun — that instead of you, I have had to shoulder the responsibility of making this appeal? What better memorial can you build for your late father than one of permanent peace — for which you will have the enthusiastic cooperation of millions, enriched with heartfelt blessings and love? Is it not your duty to lead Indian newspapers in favour of peace?
Dr Zakir Hussain, you have already signed the peace appeal. I join those in the world of Indian education and Islamic culture, where you enjoy an unimpeachable standing, in asking you to do more. As an economist you know better than many other intellectuals how the Indian economy is dithering on the brink of collapse. I know that you are not keeping very well. But the health of the world is even worse. If you too don’t take a step forward, who will?
I have appealed to some of you directly by taking names and in my personal capacity. You all have it in your power to spread the message of world peace not just to every corner of the country but even beyond its borders. There is no village so remote, no dwelling so poor, no mansion so grand, no individual so big or small, who can forget your names easily. Will you not use this power of yours?
- The pamphlet started with 4 declarations. ‘Let us resolve that not a single Indian soldier will step out of the country to fight on foreign soil. No foreign power shall be able to recruit Indian citizens to their armed forces. No foreign power shall be able to draft even non-Indians living in India into their militaries. Gurkha soldiers must not be recruited from Gorakhpur or Darjeeling to defend the British Empire in Malaya. Under no excuse shall a foreign power be able to maintain a temporary or permanent military base on Indian territory; they shall neither be given access to Indian ports, airports, means of road and maritime transport for the transit of their forces or resources during war, nor shall they be ever permitted to construct any kind of base for this purpose.’ ↩︎
- These were as follows: ‘1) That foreign intervention in Korea, China, Viet Nam, must cease. 2) That Germany and Japan must not be rearmed. 3) No colonial peoples should be subjugated by violence; there is to be no racial discrimination in any part of the world. 4) No intervention in the internal conflicts of a country is justified on any grounds; any state that first employs armed force against another is an aggressor. 5) The propaganda for a new war must stop. 6) The crimes committed against the population of Korea, and General MacArthur’s responsibility must be examined by an impartial tribunal. 7) All atomic, bacteriological, and similar weapons of mass destruction must be absolutely and unconditionally banned. 8) Normal trading relations on the basis of a peace economy are to be restored among the nations of the world. 9) All obstructions to full cultural intercourse among the peoples of the world are to be removed on a platform of peace and mutual understanding.’ ↩︎
Lokayata 