Open Access
American Research Journal of History and Culture
ISSN (Online): 2379-2914
DOI: 10.46568/arjhc
Communication of Violence, Religious Culture and Nationalism in A Bend in the Ganges
Doctoral Candidate in English (Communication), Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Udaya Raj Paudel. “Communication of Violence, Religious Culture and Nationalism in A Bend in the
Ganges”. American Research Journal of History and Culture ; V4, I1; pp: 1-13
Abstract
This paper tries to analyze A Bend in the Ganges by Manohar Malgonkar in terms of Gyanendra Pandey’s
critique of partition historiography and nationalism, and V. D. Savarkar’s ideology of Hindutva or Hindu Rastra.
Although both views are critical of the attempts by traditional historiographers to erase the violent history of
India, their critiques of traditional historiography have diametrically opposite purposes and interests to serve.
Pandey writes from a Marxist subaltarnist point of view, emphasizing the oppression of minorities like women,
dalits, and Muslims at the hand of the state which he sees as predominantly serving the interests of upper class
Hindus, whereas Savarkar and Malgonkar emphasize the need for a strong nation and people based on common
religious and cultural aspirations. The ideology of Hindutva as formulated by Savarkar which sees religion as
the most important element in deciding the loyalty of the people and sees violence as an effective tool against
tyranny is amply reflected in the novel by Malgonakar. Savarkar and Malgonkar moreover see non-violence of
the kind envisioned by Gandhi as being too idealistic and hence incompatible in the everyday world where the
very existence sometimes depends on the effective use of violence.
