How philosopher KC Bhattacharyya appealed for liberation from British ‘cultural subjection’

Any discussion of Indian “culture” per se is strewn with landmines. Let me expand on these difficulties with reference to a major debate that continues to stalk discussions on culture. Some of these difficulties were pointed out by two philosophers, Dharmendra Goel and Rajendra Prasad, in their comments on “Swaraj in Ideas”, authored by the eminent philosopher Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya (1875–1949), or KCB as he is popularly known. We begin, then, with KCB’s argument.

In 1929, KCB, George V Chair at Calcutta University, delivered the Sir Ashutosh Memorial Lecture to students at Hooghly Mohsin College in Chandernagore, located at a short distance from Calcutta. The essay was found in his papers after his death and published. The publication of “Swaraj in Ideas” was well received by the philosophical community, and most tomes on Indian political philosophy include profound commentaries on his intensely reflective talk.

The lecture was delivered in the context of momentous political changes in the country: the swell of nationalism under the inspired leadership of Gandhi, the adoption in 1929 of the resolution on Purna Swaraj by the Indian National Congress, and the spiritualisation of the discourse on freedom by public intellectuals.

Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya gave the concept of freedom a new dimension by...

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