History of Modern Political Movements

The present work is an attempt to study at the regional level the complexities of various political movements in the era of India’s freedom struggle. The three movements in Orissa namely – movement or the formation of a separate province, the Congressled movements and the Anti-feudal movements in the princely states overlapping each other, dominated the period of the present study. The movement for the assertion of Oriya identity and the demand for a separate province for the Oriya-speaking people placed under various presidencies raises questions like whether it was nationalist, whether it was contradictory, cooperative or complementary with the Indian nationalist movement? Similarly the nature of the movement in the princely states sand its inter-relation with the other two movements raises issues like the commitment of the Congress to the democratic ideas. One may question their nationalism or even their patriotism. In contrast, it is difficult to call them non-nationalist considering the whole gamut of their contribution for the all-round development of the province.