32. With reference to the book ‘Desher Katha’ written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements: (2020)

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? 

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 2 and 3 only 

(c) 1 and 3 only 

(d) 1, 2 and 3

1. Answer: (a) Statement 1 is correct: 

Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912) a close associate of Sri Aurobindo was a marathi brahmin who had settled in Bengal, Sakharam was born in Deoghar. His text, titled Desher Katha (Story of the Nation/Country), written in 1904, warned against the colonial state’s ‘hypnotic conquest of the mind’. 

Statement 2 is correct: This book had an immense repercussion in Bengal, captured the mind of young Bengal and assisted more than anything else in the preparation of the Swadeshi movement. The government of Bengal banned the book in 1910 and confiscated all the copies. But by the time DesherKatha was banned by the colonial state in 1910, it had sold over 15,000 copies, inspired swadeshi street plays and folk songs, and had become a mandatory text for an entire generation of swadeshi activists. Deuskar used ‘desh’ to mean nation. It is worth quoting part of an article “AmaderDesher Katha” [About our Country], that appeared in the children’s periodical Prakriti [Nature] in 1907. 

Statement 3 is not correct: The interpretation of Bengal as ‘desh’ can be seen in the book. But, use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was not in the specific context of the region of Bengal.