Communalism in Bengal: From Famine to Noakhali, 1943-47 By Rakesh Batabyal, Sage, Rs 750

Rakesh Batabyal points out that Bengal was the region where colonial rule first entrenched itself and where it had a deeper impact than in any other region of the subcontinent. Communalism was a product of the period of Indian history which witnessed colonialism as a political reality. Batabyal argues that communalism grew as a reaction to the politics and ideology of nationalism and soon captured the imagination of a large section of the people of the subcontinent.

Education and employment were two crucial elements in the growth of the consciousness of communalism in Bengal. Batabyal says that the colonial state had linked the two so closely that social mobility came to depend on both. These two thus became the sites of contest between the communities.

Many researchers assume that separatism was the only way by which the socio-economically and politically disadvantaged Muslims could articulate their aspirations. Others, however, emphasize that Muslim separatism was a product, among other things, of Muslim backwardness in the economic, social and educational fields.

Talking about the causes of the Bengal famine of 1943, Batabyal cites Amartya Sen?s argument about there being no substantial difference in food availability between 1941 and 1943. The problem lay in its procurement. But the reasons for the drastic fall in people?s purchasing power remain contested, adds Batabyal. ?And here the critical role of colonialism stares us in our (sic) face, despite serious attempts to dilute its exploitative character.?

Batabyal appears to be in his element while chronicling the great Calcutta killings and the Noakhali violence. The infamous Direct Action Day was August 16, 1946, not October 26 as stated by Batabyal. The Calcutta riots may be seen as the culmination of the political process ushered in by the communal politics. The Noakhali-Tippera riots of 1946-47, according to Batabyal, marks the climax of the pre-independence communal violence in Bengal and was a direct sequel to the Calcutta killing of August 1946.

This reviewer would not put the blame for communalism in Bengal entirely on colonialism. For communalism thrived in Bengal even before British rule.