The evolution of Subramania Bharati via his writings in The Hindu | An interview with historian A.R. Venkatachalapathy Premium

Subramania Bharati was a fierce advocate of social reform and held strong views on political questions. His writings in The Hindu, between 1904-1919, shed light on his evolving political position and his courage in standing up to British repression. He advocated citizens' rights and criticised conservatism and orthodoxy. His most productive years were spent in exile in Puducherry.

He is probably the most quoted poet of the 20th century in Tamil Nadu, and is often appropriated by political parties left, right and centre, as they see fit. Subramania Bharati (1882–1921) held strong views on many of the burning political questions of the day and was a fierce advocate of social reform. As a 22-year-old rookie journalist, he wrote to The Hindu: “Is it doubted in any quarter that, in England, a cobbler-boy with necessary merit finds his path clear to the Premiership? And is it not treason in India to believe a Sudra (not to speak of Panchama) with an unparalleled knowledge of Sanskrit scripture and with exceptional goodness and piety can ever aspire to the seat of Sringeri?”

A.R. Venkatachalapathy, historian, and professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, who has edited Subramania Bharati: Writings in The Hindu, argues that Bharati’s political position in the aftermath of the brutal crushing of the Swadeshi movement was nowhere more clearly expressed than in these writings. The Hindu was the only newspaper that gave him space to express his views in the dark period between 1910 and 1913, when many publications were banned by the British.

Though most of his writings were in the form of letters to the editor, Bharati’s contributions began in 1904 and continued until 1919, two years before his premature death. September 11 marks the 102nd death anniversary of the poet. Edited excerpts from an interview with Venkatachalapathy:

Bharati is arguably the most important cultural figure of 20th century Tamil Nadu. But he is known primarily as a Tamil poet who wrote on nationalist themes. His published writings in English are limited. In this context, what he wrote in The Hindu is of considerable value. They throw new light on his evolving political position, which cannot be discerned from his other writings.

As we know, Bharati exiled himself from British India after an arrest warrant was issued against him, and sought refuge in French-ruled Pondicherry from mid-1908. Between early 1910, when the British government brutally crushed the Swadeshi movement, and 1913, when he wrote in Subramania Siva’s Gnanabhanu, The Hindu was the sole avenue to express his views, especially political ones. Even when A. Rangaswami Iyengar invited him to contribute to Tamil daily Swadesamitran in 1915, Bharati was expressly prohibited from expressing his political opinions. This definitely redounds to the credit of The Hindu and its editor, S. Kasturiranga Iyengar.

Much of the views that Bharati expressed in English in The Hindu were never articulated in Tamil. His protests against the banning of his books and the nasty surveillance that he was subjected to in Pondicherry are chronicled only in The Hindu.

His evolving political stance to British repression can be seen only in these writings. For instance, reacting to the Lord Chancellor of England, he writes, “This remark strikes me as a piece of national insult levelled at us because the man was pretty sure that there was no harm in insulting a disarmed and subject nation.” The italics is Bharati’s, and it indicates his unease with purely constitutional methods. But as World War I broke out, standing by the British, he called himself “a representative of the constitutional Nationalist Party in Southern India”.