Nationalism in Indian Cities
S. Gopal
BUSSINESSMEN AND POLITICS: RISING NATIONALISM AND A MODERNIZING ECONOMY IN BOMBAY-1918-1933 by A.D.D. Gordon Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1978, 316 pp., 50.00
URBAN ROOTS OF INDIAN NATION¬ALISM: PRESSURE GROUPS AND CONFLICT OF INTERESTS IN CALCUTTA CITY POLITICS—1875-1939by Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1979, 233 pp., 60.00
Jan-Feb 1980, volume 4, No 1-2

A national movement requires organi¬zation, funds, leadership and popular support. If one or the other is lacking or weak, the movement becomes not only lop-sided but ineffective. It was Gandhi’s great achievement in India that he ensured all four basic elements, even though he left to others the reconciling of the contradiction in the manner in which he provided these essential ingredients. The two well-researched studies of politics in Bombay and Calcutta during the years of the freedom movement throw light on both the spread of nationalism as well as on the contradictions of the Gandhian phase.

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