Chapter 6: THE FIRST SUPPER
Subbaiah was tired. It was nearly a week since Shastri had resigned, and Indira Nehru usurped his chair, however, there was still a deafening silence on the official language policy. The new government was busy finalizing the cabinet portfolios, and there was no time to be bothered with mundane language issues now that power was in hand.
Everyone was confused. Without a definite announcement, they could not protest, since English was still officially an associate language and Shastri's promise continued to hold.
Anna and the top leaders of DMK realized that there was more to it than meets the eye, Indira had outwitted them and held back deliberately. Everyone knew that with the change of guard, Hindi would inevitably become the sole national language, however, without specifics, there not much they could do. Students rejoined classes and everyone went about their daily work as if nothing had happened.
‘I am sure she is going make a surprise announcement, to catch us off-guard,’ Subbaiah said, standing in front of a roadside kiosk just opposite the university gates.
Every morning, after the first two classes, he met Ganapathy at the staff canteen for a cup of tea and idle chatter, but with the sun beating down mercilessly today, they decided to walk down to the entrance for soothing tender coconut water, the natural energy drink untouched by multinational companies like Coca Cola, who had slowly started spreading their tentacles in India. Both were of the opinion that the country was still not ready for fully owned foreign companies, but the government allowed companies like Coca Cola to make miniscule investments and repatriate all their huge profits back home.
‘What is DMK planning to do?’ Ganapathy asked, sipping on his Ilaneer.
‘I don't know. I haven't got any orders from the headquarters. I heard that Anna has gone to Andhra and Mysore to talk to a few local leaders.’
‘Obviously not Congress leaders?’
‘Of course not, he is trying to form a coalition of opposition parties, to be prepared for a larger protest. Today he is meeting N. G Ranga, co-founder of Swantara Party in Hyderabad.’
The Swatantra Party founded by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari , fondly called Rajaji, and N. G. Ranga in August 1959, opposed thesocialist policies of the Congress Party, strongly advocating free enterprise and free trade. It had gained a substantial chunk of votes in recent elections to emerge as the single largest opposition party in Parliament.
‘Do you think they will agree to support DMK? After all Rajaji himself wanted to impose Hindi here when he was Chief Minister of Madras in 1938.’
‘That is true, but that was when the British were ruling us. He has now changed his party and position. He assured Anna of his full support and has taken a strong anti-Hindi stand. Ranga just needs to ratify this decision, and if he is positive, then Andhra will join our protests.’
‘What about Mysore and Kerala?’
‘I'm sure Anna and the others will be talking to popular local leaders, even if it means having a dialog with the communist parties. EMS should be interested, he hates the Congress.’
Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, popularly called EMS, was the first Chief Minister of Kerala. As the first non-Congress Chief Minister in India, he became the leader of the first democratically elected Communist government in the country on 5th April, 1957. His government was dismissed in 1959 by the Central Government, which invoked the controversial Article 356 of the Indian Constitution.
The immediate cause of the outbreak of the Liberation Struggle was the introduction of an Education Bill that could have had an impact on the administration of educational institutions financially aided by the government.
Massive rallies and demonstrations against the government took place throughout the state, spearheaded by the Catholic Church, which gave a perfect opportunity for Nehru to dismiss the government.
‘They are communists, ideologically opposing the Swantara party. Do you think they will come along?’
‘I am sure they will swallow their pride and do so, politics does make strange bedfellows. Moreover, do not forget that Indira was responsible for EMS’ dismissal as chief minister. He is surely itching to take revenge.’
‘Subbaiah, I need to go, have a class now. So your dinner invitation still holds?’
‘Sure, we will be expecting you and Vijaylaxmi at around 7.30, don't forget to bring your camera. No more classes for me today, I will spend some time in the library,’ he said tossing his empty coconut shell into a wicker basket.
#
‘Hello Moon, searching for something in particular?’ Subbaiah asked, noticing him struggling with the index cards at the library catalog section.
‘Yes sir, I wanted some Indian history books. I realized that unlike Coreans who are a single race, everyone here is so different, there are so many languages and people look completely different, but they all belong to one country. I really want to know your country’s history and understand how it became possible to unite so many different races.’
‘We have to thank the British for that.’
‘That is what Professor Ganapathy told me the other day, and I was curious.’
‘There is little doubt that without British rule, we would all have ended up being different countries, ruled by selfish kings. Do you know that we still give them regular income?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘When Britain ceded its control over India, a large portion of the subcontinent was held by more than 565 princely states whose position and relation was determined by separate treaties. Most rulers surrendered their sovereignty in return for annual income, called privy purses, and other privileges.’
‘I thought India is a republic. Do they still receive an annual income from the government?’
‘India is a republic, but the royal families have a very strong political clout. It is time they ended this practice. There should be a law to abolish privy purses, and the official recognition of the titles, only then can we claim to be a true democracy.’
‘So were the Indians happy with the British rule?’
‘No, of course not, like any other imperial power, they too had their self-interest in mind and exploited us, but unknowingly ended up uniting us. Like a silver lining in a dark cloud.’
‘It is surprising to see you say anything nice about the British. In my country, we hate the Japanese for what they did to us for 35 years, although they too helped develop our infrastructure.’
‘I am aware, and guess that is the reason you got upset when I asked whether you had Japanese and Chinese friends. I can understand your anger with Japanese, but why the Chinese?’
‘Many of the Chinese kingdoms considered Corea as their tributes and ill-treated us for centuries. Even today they claim that that large parts of our country actually belong to them.’
‘That was centuries ago, today your government has very friendly relations with Mao.’
‘It is just to reduce the influence of Japan in our region; we cannot do that by being close to America. Deep down, Corean's still do not trust the Chinese, even though our government has taken the political decision to strengthen our relationship. We all remember how China sent 300,000 solders in Chosǒn Chǒnjaeng, and supported Kim Il Sung.’
‘If the United Nations, led by Americans had not intervened, your country may have been ruled by Kim.’
‘Yes, and we would have once again become a tribute of China. Luckily, we managed to defeat the communists and unify our country once again.’
‘I remember, I was in London during the Corean war, your country used to be spelt with the letter K. We all thought that it would split up, just like Germany.’
‘Actually we were originally spelt with the letter C, but the Japanese changed it to stand ahead of us in the English alphabetic order. We just changed it back after the war.’
‘That's very interesting. If President Truman had listened to his advisors and sacked General MacArthur, your country would have been under communist rule,
or we may also have been looking at two countries spelt with a K, instead of one.’
When the north led by Kim Il Sung invaded South in June 1950, starting the Corean War, General Douglas MacArthur was designated commander of the United Nations forces. He came up with a brilliant plan to attack the North's forces, which had captured most of the country except for the port city of Pusan making an amphibious assault at Incheon. Taken by surprise, the north had to retreat back to their side of the border. China intervened in their support, changing the whole game, and the war dragged on. By April 1951, the military situation had stabilized, and MacArthur had wanted to launch another attack on north, seeking to capture the entire territory, even willing to use nuclear weapons. President Truman's advisors wanted to relieve MacArthur of his commands fearing that he was growing domestically very popular, and unilaterally deciding the course of battle. MacArthur finally won the war using conventional methods in July 1953, reuniting the entire peninsula.
‘That is true sir, but the cost of the war was terrible. Our country was destroyed, and countless people lost their lives.’
‘That is what inevitably happens in a war. More civilians suffer than the warring armies and ringleaders.’
‘Is it true that India may also face a similar situation because of the language issue?’
‘I hope not, we are all trying for a peaceful solution. Everything depends on Anna's talks with the other leaders, and of course, most importantly our Prime Minister.’
‘I was told that you have a lady as new Prime Minister now, she must be the first woman leader in the entire world.’
‘That is not true; in 1960 Sirivamo Bandaranaike of Ceylone became the world's first female elected Prime Minister. Moreover Indira was never elected, she manipulated the system, using the accident of her birth to assume this position,’ he smirked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘In India, we have a bicameral parliament, with an upper house called Rajya Sabha, and a lower house Lok Sabha. The members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct elections and of Rajya Sabha nominated by political parties. Indira was nominated only because she is Nehru's daughter.’
‘Is it legal?’
‘Yes it is legal, but not ethical, to become Prime Minister without fighting elections.’
‘What happens if she fights elections and wins?’
‘Then I take back my words, and I will respect her. Right now, however, her actions just show a lust for power, she wants to prove that she is as capable as Bandaranaike.’
‘Shouldn't you give her more time to prove herself?’
‘True, I am just emotional because I heard that she wants to impose Hindi on us.’
‘It is already one week, and there has been no announcement.’
‘I know, that is what is troubling us. She knew we would start protesting whenever they make the announcement. Maybe she wants to surprise us, I am sure it will happen soon.’
‘I forgot to ask you earlier. If there is violence, how can I go back to my country? The university will only give me a flight ticket at the end of the term.’
‘Don't worry, there will not be much violence, once all the southern states join us she will have to back down.’
‘I am worried that there will be a civil war. I have already been through one in my life, and cannot handle another in a foreign country.’
‘Don't worry Moon, I will take care of your problems, if the university does close suddenly, we will find a way out. You can stay with me if the situation becomes bad, we live in a big campus accommodation with more rooms than necessary.’
‘Thank you, sir, hope Mrs. Subbaiah does not mind.’
‘I am sure Malathi will not mind. Actually, why don't you come to my house for dinner tonight? You must be fed up of the mess food, and it will be an opportunity to introduce yourself.’
‘That is kind of you sir.’
‘Don't expect noodle soup or other eastern dishes. You can taste the local vegetarian food from my province, my wife is a very good cook, but she doesn't eat meat. I have also invited Ganapathy and his wife, my house number is A8, you can easily find it.’
‘OK Sir, I will be there at 6 'o clock.’
‘Six is too early, Malathi would not have started cooking by then.’
‘I am sorry, I forgot. In Corea, we have our dinner at 6 pm, I will come at eight.’
‘7.30 should be fine. If you feel bored you can come earlier, I can lend you some history books from my collection.’