Indian reaction to Colonial science

[T]he emergent urban elite or the bhadralok, represented by Raja Ram Mohun Roy
were the direct beneficiaries of the Permanent Settlement, which had resulted
in the gradual elimination of the older aristocracy.  Having acquired an
economic position and status in the traditional society, members of this
stratum sought to legitimize and consolidate their position in the emerging
colonial society.  In this context, their yearning for Western education and
science, while not inevitable, was not surprising. Even for those Indians in
Bengal who were not part of the bhadralok community, education in Western
science and English was perceived as the main avenue for achieving that
status.  As the Simon Commission report observed, "the school is one gate to
the society of the Bhadralok." [Cited in Kapil Raj, 1991: 120.]

Raja Rammohun Roy's appeal to Lord Amherst against the establishment of the
proposed Sanskrit college, which he claimed, "can only be expected to load
the minds of youth with grammatical niceties and metaphysical distinctions of
little or no practicable use to the possessors or society," articulated the
views of this class.  Well versed in the Hindu and Muslim scriptures and
influenced by Unitarian ideas, Roy's appeal to Amherst constituted a larger
theistic project of reinterpreting Vedanta in the "light of modern science
and modern progress." p.225-6  
	S. I. Habib and D. Raina, 1991: 57, 59. For good discussions of the
	complexities of Roy's views, see V. C. Joshi, Rammohun Roy and the
	process of modernization in India, 1975.

Syed Ahmad Khan and the Aligarh Scientific Society

Roy's counterpart [among the Muslims] was the educationist and scholar Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan...  While reflecting on the social changes wrought by
colonial rule in Bengal, Sir Syed, as well as most colonial administrators,
had noticed that Muslims were noticeably under-represented in English schools
and in the colonial administration. Predictably enough, early colonial
administrators had attributed the perceived lack of interest of the Muslims
in English education and science to cultural factors or hostility towards the
British as they had wrested control of Bengal from the erstwhile Muslim
rulers.

However, by the late nineteenth century, a senior colonial administrator like
W. W. Hunter had explicitly argued that previous colonial policy, especially
the Permanent Settlement, was responsible for the elimination of the Muslim
aristocracy and that the administration had favored the Hindu elites.
That the Muslims were generally hostile to British rule and alienated from
English education was evident in the early period of colonial rule, but
W. W. Hunter had rejected purely culturalist explanations. In a report titled
"Our Indian Musalmans: Are They Bound in Conscience to Rebel Against the
Queen?", Hunter had argued that

	the Mohammadans have now sunk so low that, even when qualified for
	Government employment, they are studiously kept out of it by
	Government notification.
	     - W. W. Hunter, quoted in Dietrich Reetz, 1988: 208. See also
		Hunter, 1872. An excellent discussion of the larger
		structural and historical context of the Muslim response to
		English education can be found in Aminur Rahim, 1992.


Sir Syed's educational project in the mid-nineteenth century can be located
in the realization that while the Hindu middle classes and elites in Bengal,
Madras, and Bombay presidencies seemed to be thriving under colonial rule,
such was not generally the case for Muslims. To explain why Muslims in
general had kept aloof from Western education, Sir Syed had invoked a
combination of cultural and structural factors that included "social
customs," "religious beliefs," "political traditions" and "poverty."

It was the aim of enabling the Muslim community to participate more actively
in colonial society, just as Ram Mohun Roy had done so a few decades earlier,
that explains Sir Syed's modernist response to science, technology, and
English education. Like Roy, Sir Syed was well versed in the Quran and other
Muslim religious scriptures, and he sought to interpret Islam in "the light
of reason" by arguing that "any religion which is true or claims to be true
cannot contain such elements in it as are contrary to nature and offend human
reason."  Sir Syed believed that in order to attain social mobility in the
colonial setting, a Muslim needed to have "philosophy in his right hand and
natural science in the left." [Habib & Raina 59]

Echoing Ram Mohun Roy's views, Sir Syed argued,

	Up to the present time the indigenous education of the country has
	been (like that of Europe at no very distant period) confined to the
	study of language and metaphysics, which though it undoubtedly serves
	to increase the mental acuteness of the learner, gives rise to none
	of those practical results which have been the fruits of the study of
	positive science amongst European nations.
			[Syed Ahmad, cited in Habib, 1991: 141]

The Aligarh Scientific Society was established by Sir Syed in 1864, with the
expressly stated goal of "causing the blessed morning of civilization to dawn
on the night of ignorance and darkness which for ages has retarded the
advance of this country."  

The resonance of the views of Charles Grant and James Mill is evident in the
program of the Aligarh Scientific Society. In fact, one of the books that the
Society translated into Urdu was James Mill's Elements of Political Economy.

These efforts at popularizing modern Western science through the medium of
the vernacular were met with outright hostility by the Muslim clerics. Sir
Syed was labeled a "Hindustani Natury," because, as one of the clerics
explained, "Ahmad Khan in order to gain benefits from the British and to
destroy the Muslims became an agnostic. By playing the role of an agnostic
and natury he wanted to prove that nothing existed in the world except nature
and natural intellect."
	- Jamaluddin Afghani, quoted in Habib, 1991: 148. 

Sir Syed's assertion that he was not in fact hostile to religion and had
complete mastery over the religious texts, evoked the sarcastic response that
he was as "skilled in religion as a monkey who has fallen into a pan of
indigo considers himself to be a peacock."

In the long run, Sir Syed's project led to the establishment of the
Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1877, later to become the Aligarh Muslim
University, where instruction in Western science was offered.

Mahendar Lal Sircar and the Indian Assocn for Cultivation of Science

By the late nineteenth century, many Indians responded enthusiastically to
the introduction of Western science and technology, but they were discouraged
by the heavy emphasis on applied technical education and the visible neglect
of theoretical scientific research and teaching. Such a policy was reinforced
by the prevailing view in the colonial administration and in England that
Indians were incapable of engaging in fundamental scientific research.

As a consequence, when scientific teaching was introduced in higher education
at Presidency College, Calcutta, qualified Indians were denied positions, and
faculty members were recruited from England.  The discrimination against
Indian scientists can be illustrated by examining the experience of two
outstanding Indian scientists of the time.

Discrimination against J.C. Bose and P.C. Ray

J. C. Bose had trained at Cambridge under Rayleigh and Francis Darwin, and
his work had evoked enthusiastic response from leading English physicists
like Kelvin and William Ramsay. Kelvin, for example, had written that he was
"literally filled with wonder and admiration" for Bose's work.

When Bose returned to India in 1885, the principal of Presidency College
objected strongly to his appointment as a junior professor of physics. He was
eventually allowed to take up the position only if he agreed to receive
two-thirds of the regular salary. Bose accepted the position but registered
his protest at the treatment meted out to him by never touching his monthly
check. [Shiv Visvanathan; 1985. Organizing for Science: The Making of an
Industrial Laboratory. OUP.  p.28.] 

P. C. Ray, another outstanding scientist, obtained his D.Sc. in chemistry
from Edinburgh and returned to India in 1888, hoping for an appointment in
the Bengal Educational Service, but had to wait for over a year before being
appointed to the position of a temporary assistant professor. Ray protested,
contending that "if a British chemist of my qualifications were present, he
would have been appointed immediately by the Secretary of State to the
Imperial Service." 

These were just two outstanding Indian scientists, and part of the anglicized
intelligentsia, who were denied positions and therefore opportunities for
research due to pervasive racism in that period.174Patrick Geddes, a British
administrator and the pioneer of sociology in India, aptly summarized the
prevailing conditions in the following words:

	There was a strong doubt, not to say prejudice against the capacity
	of an Indian to take any important position in science. [I]t was
	assumed that India had no aptitude for the exact methods of
	science. For science therefore India must look to the West for
	teachers. This view was accepted and so strongly maintained in the
	education department that when Bose was appointed officiating
	Professor of Physics in Presidency College, its Principal objected on
	the above grounds. 
		[Patrick Geddes, quoted in Visvanathan, 1985: 28]

It was under these conditions that the Indian Association for the Cultivation
of Science (IACS) was established due to the initiative of Mahendar Lal
Sircar. Although the association was formally established in 1876, i.e.,
about a decade before J. C. Bose and P. C. Ray experienced problems in
gaining employment as scientists, the situation had been far worse earlier.

Mahendar Lal Sircar's appeal for the establishment of an institution that
would combine teaching and scientific research and would be "entirely under
native management and control," attracted funds from a number of Indian
patrons. At the first meeting of the association, Sircar criticized the
exclusive focus of the colonial government on technical education and
observed "with deep regret that our government has hitherto afforded no
opportunity nor afforded any encouragement to the pursuit of science by
natives of this country." 

He bemoaned the fact that the colonial "government has to bring out men from
England whenever any necessity arises for carrying on investigations in any
subject and even for professorships in its educational institutions," and he
hoped that in the face of discriminations against Indian scientists, the IACS
would demonstrate that "despite the inherited submission to a foreign yoke we
have inherited a mind not inferior in its endowments to the mind of any
nation on earth."   Sircar emphasized a combination of teaching and research
since "nothing enables a man to learn as well and as thoroughly as the
necessity to teach." 

However, not all Indians shared Sircar's ideas. His plan for founding an
institution was opposed by members of the Indian League who believed that
Indians were not yet capable of undertaking basic scientific research and
should continue to work on purely technical problems. The chairman of the
Indian League, K. M. Banerjee disagreed with the IACS's goal of attaining
"personal independence with the acquisition of knowledge and the attainment
of university degrees and Honours."  He argued that

	no one could hail the day with greater favor than himself if that
	scheme could give rise to Indian Galileos, Indian Newtons, Indian
	Herschels [but] existing circumstances compel him and his friends to
	think of utilizing the discoveries already made before aspiring after
	such discoveries."
	    - Rev. K. M. Banerjee, quoted in Chittabrata Palit, 1991
		"Mahendar Lal Sircar, 1833-1904: The Quest for National
		Science." In Science and Empire: Essays in Indian Context, ;
		1700-1947. Edited by D. Kumar. Delhi: Anamika Prakashan.

The objections of the Indian League were rebutted by Rev. Eugene Lafont, a
science teacher associated with the IACS. Lafont defended Sircar's plan by
arguing that,

	The Scientific Association was not intended to produce Newtons,
	Galileos and Herschels, though even that was not impossible... its
	primary object was very different [The Indian League] wanted to
	transform the Hindus into a number of mechanics requiring for ever
	European supervision whereas Dr. Sircar's object was to emancipate in
	the long run his countrymen from this humiliating bondage. 

To the charge of the Indian League that basic scientific research was
irrelevant, Sircar responded by arguing that he did not deny the importance
of technical education, but that "preliminary scientific education must
precede scientific education, and before making provision to establish the
former on a secure basis, it would be madness to waste energy and fritter
away funds for the mere name of technical education."

The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was formally
established in 1876, and the scientists associated with it began offering
courses in a number of fields. In the next few years, with funds from a
number of Indians, including an unsolicited grant from the maharaja of
Vizianagram, a laboratory equipped with instruments introduced into India for
the first time was established. The IACS funded and supported basic research
for a number of Indian scientists, and an entire school of Indian physicists
was trained at its Cultivation of Science Laboratory. Sircar's understanding
that the Indian scientists would not thrive under the colonial system of
education was vindicated when C. V. Raman, one of the students of the IACS
who was expected to be "the brightest ornament of the Association," became
the first Asian scientist to win the Nobel Prize for theoretical physics in
1930 for the discovery of the "Raman effect."

P.C. Ray on Industrialization

In his efforts to demonstrate that theoretical chemistry could be harnessed
to industrial growth, Ray had established a number of industrial concerns...
However, by the late twenties, Ray had lost confidence in the program of
heavy industrialization being promoted by his own students at University
College. Earlier, he had dismissed Gandhi's views on heavy industrialization
but had now become one of its most committed advocates.  As he recounted:

	Ever since my college days in the eighties of the last century I have
	been a devoted student of Western Science and I have tried my best to
	divert science to practical application. It has been my privilege to
	be instrumental in introducing in Bengal at least one aspect of
	science [T]he great experimental chemist Liebig laid down that the
	industrial progress of a country was measured by the output of its
	sulphuric acid. And it so happens that I am intimately associated
	with several concernsone which manufactures soap in large quantities
	and another BPCW, which bids fair to be the biggest producer of India
	of sulphuric acid and its accessory products. When Mahatmaji [Gandhi]
	in 1921 first made the Charkha the symbol of the new movement, I
	myself, a staunch believer in mechanization, laughed at this relic of
	medievalism.

However, it was during his involvement with a series of flood and relief
operations in Bengal that Ray began to question his commitment to heavy
industrialization through the application of science and found Gandhi's views
more appealing.  To those who were proponents of heavy industries, Ray posed
the question: "At the most 2 millions earn their bread in the industrial
centres of India, but what of the remaining 318 million? Will you wait till
Manchesters, Liverpools, Glasgows and Dundees spring up here and transfer 70%
of the rural population to India? I am afraid you will have to wait until
doomsday." 

While criticizing the proposal for building heavy industries by other Indian
scientists, Ray emphasized that he was not completely against all
industrialization. As he put it:

	The problem of distribution is not a whit less important than the
	problem of production; what do we gain if millions of our countrymen
	starve while a few fatten on unnatural grain? I need not be
	understood as saying all big scale industries should be smashed. The
	thing cannot be disposed away so airily.  ...
	But surely you will agree with me that if the same result can be
	brought about by means much less harmful, surely that is
	preferable. 

[compare Gandhi:
	God forbid that India should ever take to industrialization after the
	manner of the West. The economic imperialism of a tiny island kingdom
	(England) is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation
	of 300 million took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip
	the world bare like locusts.
		[quoted in Ramachandra Guha, "Towards a Cross-Cultural
		 Environmental Ethic." Alternatives 15: 431-47. 1990 ]

However, the views of P. C. Ray were not acceptable to his students,
particularly Meghnad Saha, who was by now the leading Indian astrophysicist
and was also actively involved in the emerging politics of the Indian
National Congress.

The Indian National Congress had advocated a program of heavy
industrialization almost immediately after its inception.  This advocacy was
muted only during the period when Gandhi had assumed the leadership of the
party, but although his emphasis on cottage and village industries had been
incorporated within the party program, those who held such views did not
constitute the dominant faction.  In 1935, when the Government of India Act
conferred a more active role on the Congress party, the views of the faction
that espoused Gandhi's ideas were audible but not very influential.
The worldview of the party was articulated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1937. Nehru
asserted,

	Congress represents science, and science is the spirit of the age and
	the dominating factor of the modern world. Even more than the
	present, the future belongs to science and to those who make friends
	with science and seek its help for the advance of humanity. 
		[J. Nehru, quoted in Jagdish N. Sinha, 1991: 169.]

Following the provisions of the Government of India Act, elections were held
in 1937, and Congress ministries were formed in most of the provinces. In
1938 a National Planning committee was convened with Nehru as its
chairman. The Planning committee included a number of industrialists, and
most importantly, the leading proponent of heavy industrialization, and
P. C. Ray's student, Meghnad Saha.

In 1934, Saha, together with a group of leading Indian scientists
[including: J.N. Mukerjee, J.C. Ghosh, S.K. Mitra] had
established the Indian Science News Association and an influential journal,
Science and Culture.  

This association of scientists which came to be known as the "Science and
Culture Group," advocated the utilization of scientific knowledge for heavy
industrialization. Impressed both by the results of planned industrialization
in the Soviet Union and the project of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Saha
and his group vigorously criticised the Gandhian program in the pages of
Science and Culture. Saha alone published a staggering number of 2,100
articles and 4,600 notes attacking "Gandhian regressiveness." In one
editorial, he argued that

	we do not for a moment believe that better and happier conditions of
	life can be created by discarding modern scientific techniques and
	reverting back to the spinning wheel, the loin cloth and the bullock
	cart."

Gandhi's view of Scientific Truth and ahiMsa