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Abstract
The revolutionary movement in the United Provinces and Punjab, which peaked in activity in the years 1928–1932, is often thought in inherently gendered terms, and as being underpinned by a masculine agenda of retributive anti-colonial violence. This study attempts to peel back the layers of masculinity attributed to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), through a study of the life of Durga Devi Vohra (1907–1999), more popularly known as ‘Durga Bhabhi’, the young mother who famously assisted in the escape of the renowned HSRA member, Bhagat Singh, from Lahore following his involvement in the murder of a British policeman in 1928. The article pushes beyond this much-celebrated incident, to demonstrate the extraordinary roles played by women, not only as wives and mothers of male revolutionaries, but as activists in their own right. I argue that it was their capacity to manipulate highly gendered concepts underpinning the colonial regime's attempts to police them, which ultimately made them indispensible to the revolutionary movement.
Acknowledgements
This article is dedicated to the memory of the late S.L. Manchanda. Thanks are due to the archival staff at Teen Murti, the National Archives in New Delhi, and of the Asian and African Studies Collection in the British Library; and to the Centre for South Asian Studies at Cambridge University, whose oral history archives are available online. I also wish to thank Ira Raja, Aparna Vaidik, and S.L. Manchanda for their invaluable help, as well as Sanjeev Gautam, Charu Gupta, Max Harcourt, A.G. Noorani, Gauhar Raza, Rajmani, Rajesh Prasad, Amit, and Reema Sarwal. An early draft of this article was presented at the Masculinities Workshop at ANU, with thanks to those who commented on the presentation, as well as Sanjay Srivatsava, Kalpana Ram, and Assa Doron, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
Notes
1. See Pinney, Photos of the Gods, 117.
2. McLain, India's Immortal Comic Books, 171; Mehta, “The Amar Chitra Katha of 1857.” See also Kumar, “Nationalism as Bestseller,” 176.
3. For the story of how Bhagat Singh became established as the “face” of the revolutionary movement in the 1930s, see Maclean, “The Portrait's Journey.”
4. On the discursive use of “terrorism” to describe violent anti-colonialism, see Bose, “Engendering the Armed Struggle,” 152–3.
5. Nalin Mehta argues that Amar Chitra Katha furnishes a “first mental map of history and mythology”, a “first imaginary of the past”. Mehta, “The Nation in Comic,” 186. The problem with the dominance of the comic book version is that its narrative of events is at times historically inaccurate. For example, the Bhagat Singh edition of ACK asserts that he witnessed the anti-Simon demonstration in Lahore, when Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten by police, which according to his colleagues is not correct. See Gupta, Jai Dev, Oral History Testimony (henceforth OHT). Interviewed by S.L. Manchanda, May 10, 1978. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (Hereafter NMML) Oral History Project, Acc. no. 346, 42; Verma, Shiv. OHT, interviewed by Hari Dev Sharma and S.L. Manchanda, February 16, 1972, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 50, 82.
6. Gaur, Martyr as a Bridegroom.
7. For example, Deshpande, “Tale of Two Bhagat Singhs”; Singh, “Distorting Bhagat Singh's Legacy,” 65–6.
8. A history of the revolutionary movement from the perspective of the Indian Intelligence Bureau can be found in Hale, Political Trouble in India, Chapter 2.
9. Pinney, Photos of the Gods, 127; Gell, “L'Inde aux deux visages.” Thanks to Rachel Routley for translating this.
10. Bharti, Desraj. OHT, Interviewed by S.L. Manchanda, November 19, 1977, (NMML) Oral History Project, Acc. no. 819, 50.
11. This is evident from early official correspondence, see Telegram from Viceroy Home Department of India, to Secretary of State for India, December 18, 1928, IOR, P&J (S), 79/1929, exhibited at the Supreme Court of India Museum, August 2008.
12. The CID in 1926 described him as being of “medium height; thin oval face; fair complexion; slightly pock-pitted; aquiline nose; bright eyes; small beard and moustache; wears khaddar”. CID file no. 9249/1926, facsimile reproduced in Wariach and Jain, Hanging of Bhagat Singh, 58.
13. On this point, see my “History of a Legend.”
14. Kasturi and Mazumdar, Women and Indian Nationalism, 2; Thapar-Bjorkert, Women in the Indian Nationalist Movement, 47.
15. This case is most convincingly argued with reference to the revolutionary movement in Bengal, where Bengali men, and occasionally also women, challenged gendered colonial concepts of Bengali effeteness by taking up arms. See Bose, “Engendering the Armed Struggle,” 159. This argument does not align well with the HSRA, whose members were predominantly Punjabis, and as such were more likely to have imbibed the inverse – that Punjabis constituted a “military race”. Colonial discourses aside, it is demonstrable that witnessing the violence of colonialism was a humiliating experience, and answering colonial violence, such as the attack on Lala Lajpat Rai, with counter-violence was seen by the HSRA as “avenging the national honour”. Khanna, Durga Das, OHT, Interviewed by S.L. Manchanda, May 16, 1976. NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 294, 70.
16. Vohra, Durga Devi. OHT, Interviewed by S.L. Manchanda, February 16, 1972. NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 369.
17. Manchanda, S.L., interview with the author, New Delhi, November 9, 2010. Durga Devi's testimony transcript runs to 36 pages; whereas that of Sridevi Musaddi, which I draw on below, is 140 pages. This is perhaps because the interview with Durga Devi was not pre-arranged weeks in advance, as was the usual practice. Mr Manchanda gone to Lucknow to interview Yashpal, who recommended that he approach Durga Devi, which Mr Manchanda did at once. As a result, Durga Devi did not have the chance to reflect on what she might talk about in the interview prior to it taking place, nor had she “practiced” telling her story, like Yashpal had, who had written about his revolutionary life extensively in his multivolume work Singhavalokan.
18. For information on the Bengali revolutionary movement, which had an earlier provenance and differed in many ways from that in north India, see Ghosh, “Terrorism in Bengal”; Forbes, Geraldine, “Goddesses or Rebels?” 112–34. Bandyopadhyay, “Women in Bengal Revolutionary Movement,” 30–5.
19. Gupta, Jai Dev. OHT, Interviewed by S. L. Manchanda, May 10, 1978, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 346, 29.
20. Gupta, OHT, 14.
21. Gupta, Manmathnath, OHT, interviewed by Dr Hari Sharma, November 22, 1969, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 174, 66.
22. Das, Chhabil, OHT, interviewed by S. L. Manchanda, May 17, 1971, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 163, 26.
23. Verma, Shiv, OHT, 42.
24. Prasad, Gaya, OHT, interviewed by S. L. Manchanda, November 4, 1973, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 835, 54; Gupta, Manmathnath, 64.
25. Verma, OHT, 166.
26. Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert interviewed Mishra's wife, Sushila Devi Mishra, in the 1980s, and while Sushila Devi mentioned her husband's arrest, she would not talk to the interviewer about the incident in which she challenged her husband's integrity, possibly because she considered it “inappropriate for a woman of traditional values to criticize her husband”, although that was precisely what she had done in 1929, that too supported by her mother-in-law. Thapar-Bjorkert, “Nationalist Memories,” 42.
27. Alter, “Celibacy, Sexuality, and the Transformation,” 45–66; Watt, Serving the Nation.
28. Kapoor, Jaidev, OHT, interviewed by S. L. Manchanda, October 3, 1974, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 431, 97; Rajendrapal Singh, “Warrior,” interviewed by S. L. Manchanda, July 24, 1986, NMML OHT, 587, 45.
29. See Yashpal, Singhavalokan, 342–62. Many HSRA members were pressured into arranged marriages by parents, but actively pursuing a love marriage, as did Yashpal, was another thing altogether. Khanna, OHT, 74.
30. This action was the bombing of Viceroy Irwin's train in late 1929.
31. Friend, Selections from Autobiography, 178.
32. Khanna indicates that the friction between Yashpal and Azad was much broader. Khanna, OHT, 84. See also Warrior, OHT, 44; Yashpal, Singhavalokan, 330; Friend, Selections from Autobiography, 161; and Harcourt, “Revolutionary Networks in North Indian Politics,” 345.
33. Musaddi, Sridevi, OHT. Interviewed by S.L. Manchanda, February 4, 1982, Acc. no. 585, 58.
34. Manmathnath Gupta, OHT, Cambridge, 24. This additional danger was that women might face sexual abuse in prison or during questioning.
35. Notification by Director, Intelligence Bureau, dated February 2, 1932, Revolutionary Activities in India, British Library, IOR L/PJ/12/391, 45. Bhagat Singh scholar Chaman Lal has verified it as Bhagat Singh's writing.
36. “Our Opportunity,” Revolutionary Activities in India, British Library, IOR L/PJ/12/391, 1932, 49.
37. Ibid., 59. On the biological construction of women's passivity, see Enloe, Maneuvers; De Mel, Militarising Sri Lanka.
38. Vohra, OHT, 2.
39. Bhagwati Charan Vohra, NMML Private Papers, Acc. no. 720.
40. Durga Devi Vohra had known Bhagat Singh since 1921. Vohra, OHT, 32.
41. “Provincial Nau Jawan Bharat Sabha,” in NAI, Home Political, 130 & K.W., 1930, unpaginated.
42. Vohra, OHT, 4.
43. Jain, Bimal Prasad. OHT, Interviewed by Uma Shankar, June 3, 1987, Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge, s121, OHT, 7–8; Verma, Samsmritiyan, 160.
44. Vohra, OHT, 11.
45. Lajjawati, OHT, 136–137.
46. Vohra, OHT, 10.
47. Vohra, OHT, 12.
48. Vohra, OHT, 12. Lajjawati, Kumari. OHT, interviewed by S.L. Manchanda, November 24, 1981. NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 471, 99. Yashpal, Simhavalokan, 114–16.
49. Kapoor, Jaidev, OHT, 91.
50. Vohra, OHT, 13
51. Das, OHT, 34–5.
52. Verma, OHT, 88.
53. Vohra, OHT, 15.
54. The attack on the Legislative Assembly, on April 8, 1929, was in protest at two bills introduced to suppress trade unionism and communism in India. Bhagat Singh and B. K. Dutt threw two low impact bombs, fired two shots from a pistol, and scattered propaganda leaflets into the Assembly before offering themselves for arrest. Bhagat Singh skillfully used the ensuing court case, and indeed his own execution, to highlight the injustice of colonialism. See Noorani, Trial of Bhagat Singh; Nair, “Bhagat Singh as “Satyagrahi,” ” 649–81.
55. Vohra, OHT, 17.
56. Ibid., 18.
57. Ibid.
58. “Lahore Bomb Factory Discovered,” Hindustan Times, April 28, 1929, 1.
59. “Attachment of Lahore Congressman”s House,” Times of India, May 15, 1929.
60. Ram Chandra, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, 116–17.
61. Sahni, Truth About the Indian Press, 78.
62. Jain, OHT, 5.
63. Vohra, OHT, 20.
64. L/PJ/12/389, Revolutionary activities in India: D I B reports, 65.
65. Lajjawati, OHT, Acc. no. 471, 137. See also Ram Chandra, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, 123.
66. Vohra, OHT, 20–1.
67. Ram Chandra, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, 124.
68. Singh, Rana Jang Bahadur. OHT, Interviewed by Uma Shankar, July 27, 1975. Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge, Oral History Collection, s108, 30.
69. Musaddi, OHT, 51, 60.
70. N.K. Nigam, OHT, Interviewed by Uma Shankar, July 21, 1974, Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge, s 99, 8.
71. “Bhagat Singh and Dutt's Hunger Strike,” Tribune, July 16, 1929, 9; “Jatin”s Death: Hartal in Lahore,” Tribune, September 15, 1929, 2.
72. “Note on Terrorism,” in Revolutionary Activity, BL, IOR L/PJ/12/404, 106.
73. “Twelve Men Arrested in Police Raids,” Times of India, October 11, 1930.
74. Ibid.
75. “Shots fired at Lahore Police Officer,” Times of India, October 14, 1930.
76. “Bombay Police Hunt for Absconding Gujerati Couple,” Times of India, October 15, 1930.
77. Vohra, OHT, 24.
78. This is consistent with the heightened security in the Punjab at the time, as Bhagat Singh”s court case had led to a rise in “outrages” and attacks on officials. See Weekly Report of the Director, Intelligence Bureau, December 11, 1930. No. 49. British Library, IOR, L/PJ/12/390.
79. Durga Devi recalled that Prithvi Singh and Bapat were in the car with her. However the prosecutors in the court case alleged that Bapat, S.N. Rao, and Durga Devi were in the car at the time of the shooting. The discrepancy could be as a result of aliases, or the prosecutors could have been wrong – the accused entered a not guilty plea.
80. “The Lamington Road Case,” Times of India, May 6, 1931, 1
81. Ibid.
82. Jain, OHT, 9.
83. Vohra, OHT, 22.
84. “Bombay Outrage,” Times of India, October 14, 1930; “Bombay Shooting Outrage,” Times of India, October 20, 1930.
85. Vohra, OHT, 26.
86. “The Lamington Road Outrage,” Times of India, February 2, 1931, 11.
87. “Wanted Woman in Lamington Road Conspiracy Case: Is She the Durga Devi of Lahore Case?” Times of India, January 30, 1931, 10. “All accused acquitted in Lamington Road Case,” Times of India, May 5, 1931, 9.
88. “Police Hunt for Absconding Gujerati Couple,” Times of India, October 15, 1930.
89. Lajjawati, OHT, 116–18.
90. Ghosh, “Terrorism in Bengal,” 287.
91. Vohra, OHT, 33.
92. Ghosh, “Terrorism in Bengal,” 288. One suspects that this sort of legislation was un-enforceable; the mind boggles at the thought of police checking under abayas and veils to ascertain the gender and religion of the wearer.
93. He is styled as such in “Attachment of Lahore Congressman's House,” Times of India, May 15, 1929. Many revolutionaries continued to be members of the Congress in order to maintain broad networks. Intelligence networks were also aware that revolutionary organisations held their meetings to coincide with the annual Congress meets. Extract, Weekly Report of the Director, Intelligence Bureau, January 12, 1928, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, IOR/L/P&J/12/59, 17. See also Report by Fryer, April 19, 1929, NAI, Home Political, 192/1929, K.W. II, 14.
94. Lajjawati, OHT, 94.
95. Nehru, “Gandhi or Balraj?”. Balraj was thought to be one of Bhagat Singh's aliases. On this episode, see also L.F. Chand, OHT, 44.
96. This would have been between February 17, when Gandhi arrived in Delhi, and March 4, when the talks were concluded. Dalal, Gandhi, 86–7.
97. This is consistent with Jawaharlal's response to the revolutionaries. He visited them in jail and often spoke of them in speeches and in his autobiography. See Nehru, Toward Freedom, 144.
98. Vohra, OHT, 27; Lajjawati, OHT, 136.
99. The early 1930s in general marked an increase in the politicization of women, with the onset of Civil Disobedience. The large numbers of women taking part served, among other things, to make the work of the police “particularly unpleasant”. India in 1930–31, New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1985 [1931], 73.
100. NAI, F/18/3/1931, NWFP Fortnightly Report for the Second Half of March 1931.
101. Tribune, March 29, 2008, 5; and March 28, 1931, 1.
102. Gaur, Martyr as a Bridegroom.
103. “Collection of violent speeches made in the Punjab”, NAI, Home Political, 33/9/1931, 146–7. It is not absolutely clear that this was Durga Devi Vohra; she did not own up to it in her brief OHT, but it is very much in her “stamping ground” of Punjab, and it seems very much in character.
104. “The Naujawan Bharat Sabha,” NAI, Home Pol 130/1930, 49.
105. Ram Chandra, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, 187.
106. Forbes, Manmohini Zutchi Sahgal, 95.
107. United Provinces Political Who's Who, 101. IOR: L/PJ/12/672, 101.
108. The United Provinces Political Who's Who, 101.
109. Vohra, OHT, 26.
110. Vohra, OHT, 29; Manmathnath Gupta, OHT, Cambridge, 19.
111. Times of India, July 30, 1938, 5.
112. “ “Durga Bhabhi” Dead,” Tribune, October 16, 1999.
113. Lal, The Vanishing Empire, 203–204.
114. Kutralam Pillai, “Sentamil Manjari,” Part 1, 151.
115. L.F. Chand, interviewed by Uma Shanker, April 28, 1972, Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge, Oral History Collection, Transcript no. 205, 44.
116. Extract from Weekly Report of the Director, Intelligence Bureau of the Home Department, Government of India, dated New Delhi, December 17, 1931, no. 48. British Library, IOR L/PJ/12/391.
117. Bose, “Engendering the Armed Struggle,” 159.
118. India in 1930–31, A Statement prepared for presentation to Parliament, Delhi: Anmol Publications 185 [1931], 73.
119. Sarkar, “Politics and Women in Bengal,” 99.
120. Singh, “Our Opportunity,” 57.
121. On this general point, see Thapar-Bjorkert, Women in the Indian Nationalist Movement, 74.
122. According to this plan, the Governor of the Punjab was shot, but only injured, on December 23, 1930. An Indian policeman died in the incident and Hari Kishen was sentenced to hang. See Hale, Political Trouble in India, 69–70.
123. Khanna, Durga Das. OHT, interviewed by S.L. Manchanda on May 16, 1976, NMML Oral History Project, Acc. no. 294, 32.
124. A note on Terrorism in India, L/PJ/12/397, 100. See also NAI, Home Political, 130/1930 for references to women activists.
125. Paliwal, OHT, 76.
126. Political Who's Who, 311.
127. Thapar-Bjorkert, “Nationalist Memories,” 43.
128. Kasturi and Mazumdar, Women and Indian Nationalism, 17.
129. NAI, Home Political, 13/XI & KW/1931, “Denigration in the Tone of the Press in the Punjab.” See also Gaur, Martyr as a Bridegroom, passim.
130. Thapar-Bjorkert, “Nationalist Memories,” 42.
131. Khullar, “Durga Bhabhi.”
132. Shiv Verma, Manmathnath Gupta, Yashpal and Sukhdevraj published memoirs; the first three were the authors of more than one volume. Durga Devi contributed an interview to a volume on Bhagat Singh, but in it did not reflect on her own broader contribution to the party. Yadav and Singh, eds., Bhagat Singh: The Making of a Revolutionary.