Acts of Rebellion: The common Explosive

History is fraught with Acts of rebellion of size small, big and enormous. The Mutiny of 1857 will certainly fall in the enormous category vis - a - vis acts like Industrial strikes which are quite "small" as compared to the Mutiny. However, any Act of rebellion - big or small is similar to an explosion. An explosion's impact is broadly governed by 3 factors:


1. The kind of Explosive used


2. The Amount of Explosive used


2. Spark(s) / Triggers to ignite the Explosive.





The "Nature of Explosive" in any Act of rebellion is a combination of factors internal to the persons involved - fears, prejudices, likes - dislikes etc. The number and cross section of people involved is what is equivalent to the "Amount of Explosive" . And the Trigger is a combination of all other external factors like situations, events, ideologies etc.





My recent experience at factories has made me an eyewitness to the phenomenon of Industrial Strike; and William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal" showed the Mutiny of 1857 from the Indian side of the fence. Both these "Acts of Rebellion" are vastly different in terms of the magnitude and nature, and are, of course, separated by a time period of 150 years. And this is what made it more interesting for me to discover that the difference is mostly in terms of the "Triggers" which caused the explosion and the "Amount of Explosive" used. The "Kind of Exposive" behind the two acts was quite similar. This essay tries to explore this Explosive behind these Acts of Rebellion which, interestingly, is still well within its expiry date after more than 150 years of dramatic change.





If one explores the Reasons why the mutiny happened, the most cited reason is the cartridge of the P-53 Enfield rifle which was greased with Cow and Pig fat and had to be opened with mouth. On delving deeper, one also comes across more reasons like Bad working conditions, Less pay etc. But still, all these were triggers. Similarly, an Industrial strike has several evident reasons which are actually just the triggers to the explosion. The one thing which creates the explosive in the first place is An Attitude of Aloofness from the Superior's side. In the mutiny's case, it was the East India company Military adminstration who adapted the Aloof attitude, in a strikes' case it is the Factory management which does so.





This Aloofness - prima facie seeming to be just another behavioral parameter, is dangerous. Very dangerous. That is because almost always, it is perceived as Arrogance and a sign of "Looking Down Upon" by the party being shown aloofness towards. The impact this aloofness and its perception has is gradual - but very profound. This makes layers of Grudge in the hearts of the people who feel they have been looked down upon, and this Grudge is what exactly is the Explosive which has been mentioned above.





The aloofness has further hazards. Aloofness results in breakdown of communication between the two parties , which eventually creates an atmosphere of distrust. In such an atmosphere, all kinds of rumours, hereseys and half - truths start being perceived as The Truth. This enormously adds to the "Explosive of Grudge". It then becomes easy for prejudices to take precednce over logic, for impulsiveness to take precedence over maturity and for fanaticism to take precedence over reason - then be it a mutiny in 1857 or an Industrial Strike in 2009.



In the Mutiny's case, this phenomenon manifested as below:
Till about the 1820's, the "Angrez Sahib" mingled quite freely with the "Natives". In the personal sphere, they married to Indian women and proudly started an Anglo Indian Lineage. In the professional sphere, which mainly constituted of the Military and Administrative services, the Angrez Sahib, in spite of being the boss, showed camaraderie with his native subordinates. He talked to them in leisure time. He listened to their stories of "mofussil" - the Indian countryside. He showed interest in their language, culture and festivals. In short, and put in a layman's words " Angrez sahib hamare saath Uthte - baithate the."

By the 1850's, all this had changed. Having Natives "Bibis" had become a taboo. Mingling with the Natives was started to be perceived as "Unlike -Englishman behaviour". And taking part in the native festivals and "worshipping of strange deities" became "completely outrageous behaviour. " There were two main reasons behind this.

1. Heightened power of the East India company: By the 1850s, the East India company had reached its pinnace of imperial victories in and around the Indian sub continent. This conquer had steadily built a feeling of imperiaistic arrogance in the Englishmen
2. Advent of the Evangelicism: By this time, the Evangelical Christian missionaries had set their feet firmly in India thru an amended East India company charter passed in 1813 which allowed them to use the East India company's operations as platform for their work. Since the basis of their preaching was to "free the black man of his burdens", it inevitably created a drastic change in the way "Angrez sahib" saw the "Natives."

Thus, by 1857, " Angrez sahib ab hamare sath uthate baithate nahi hain" had become an all pervasive feeling. Aloofness and the susequent layers of Grudge had firmly grounded themselves in the hearts of the Natives, including, of course, the Sepoys of the East India company. The explosive was ready. And that too, in huge quantity since the grudge was prevalent in almost all Natives even remotely associated with the East India company.

And then the sparks came. Low pay, bad service conditions, rumours of forced religious conversions within the Sepoy ranks and Finally - the Enfield rifle cartridge and Mangal Pandey. Sufficient to cause a massive explosion.

And massive explosion it was. The Mutiny of 1857 was the largest Armed rebellion in the History of British Empire, not just in India, but world wide. Varying in nature and magnitude according to geographies, political conditions, local interests and religious flavours, the Mutiny took one form after the another, progressively getting more and more gruesome. Like a kid rubbing and rewriting on a slate, it changed destiny of Indian rulers and Kingdoms - including the 500 Yrs old Mughal Empire. But the most significant impact if the Mutiny was even more holistic - It canged the very lens thru which the British and the Indians saw each other. This lens which had contempt before the Mutiny, now was filled with Antipathy and Hatred created by the atrocities and inhuman acts committed by both sides during the mutiny.

Although the East India company was dissolved in 1858, this lens stayed. It played a very significant role thereafter since it defined the very way in which the British conducted themselves in Colonial India post 1857. It built the foundation of all the political, administrative and judicial systems which the British Raj laid down in India after 1857. The Britishers left in August of 1947 and an Independent India was born, but as we all know, most of our administrative, political and judicial systems remain unchanged - still a legacy of the British Raj. So, in short, the "Lens" has forever become a cornerstone of the foundation of India.

Such was the imapct of the Mutiny of 1857 - triggered by various events, compounded by the number of stakeholders involved, BUT created by one seemingly harmless vice - Aloofness.

The unrest in Industrial scenarios follows the same pattern. The evident reasons, triggers and magnitude varies, but all can be averted if the factor which builds the explosive - the seemingly innocuous but highly dangerous trait of Aloofness can be taken out of the management behaviour. In short, for Good Industrial relations, nothing much needs to be done except - "Saath Uthna Baithana chahiye."