With reference to the book “Desher Katha” written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during
the freedom struggle, consider the following statements:
(1) It warned against the Colonial State’s hypnotic conquest of the mind.
(2) It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs.
(3) The use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer:
(a)
Core Books/NCERT
Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912) a close associate of Sri Aurobindo. He was a Marathi Brahmin who had settled in Bengal. He published a book entitled Desher Katha describing in exhaustive detail the British commercial and industrial exploitation of India and not just Bengal (Hence statement 3 is wrong). It warns in its concluding chapter against the colonial state’s “hypnotic conquest of the mind.” In overwhelming details, he explained the sordid story of foreign exploration leading to India’s economic servitude, and this book seems to have had an enormous influence on the young men of Bengal. This book had an immense repercussion in Bengal, and assisted more than anything else in the preparation of the Swadeshi movement. Therefore, the correct answer is (d).