Who Shot the Mahatma? Representing Gandhian Politics in Indian Comic Books

Abstract

Amar Chitra Katha (‘Immortal Picture Stories’) is the leading Indian comic book series, with 440 mythological and historical titles and sales of over 86 million issues. In 1989, after twenty years of publishing success, the producers of this series decided to release two issues on the world-renowned Indian politician and activist, Mahatma Gandhi. But Gandhi, best known for his technique of non-violent civil resistance, presented a formidable challenge: How to depict the Mahatma, paragon of peace and non-violence, in a visual medium that is notorious for its action and violence? This article examines the relationship between text and image in these comics, and draws upon interviews with authors and artists, to better understand the contested memory of Gandhi in India today as well as the contested concept of non-violence.

Keywords

Amar Chitra Katha comic books Gandhi Jallianwala Bagh non-violence popular culture satyagraha

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barry, Ann Marie Seward (1997) Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image, and Manipulation in Visual Communication. Albany: State University of New York Press .

Bose, Sugata and Jalal, Ayesha (1999) ‘Gandhian Nationalism and Mass Politics in the 1920s’. In Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal (eds.), Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy (pp. 135–45). Delhi: Oxford University Press .

Chandrakant, Kamala (2002) Interview with the author, 24 February, Chennai.

Chatterjee, Partha (1995 [1986]) ‘The Moment of Manoeuvre: Gandhi and the Critique of Civil Society’. In Partha Chatterjee , Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? (pp. 85–130). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press .

Datta, V.N. (2000) ‘Preface’. In V. N. Datta and S. Settar (eds.), Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (pp. vii–viii). Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research .

Gandhi, Mohandas K. (1983 [1948]) Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. New York: Dover Publications .

Ghosh, Satyavrata (2002) Interview with the author, 4 April, Mumbai.

Godse, Gopal (1977) May It Please Your Honour: Statement of Nathuram Godse. Pune: Vitasta Prakashan .

Grewal, J. S. and Banga, Indu (2000) ‘The Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy: The Official Attitude and its Significance’. In V. N. Datta and S. Settar (eds.), Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (pp. 114–24). Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research .

10.

Hawley, John Stratton (1995) ‘The Saints Subdued: Domestic Virtue and National Integration in Amar Chitra Katha’. In Lawrence Babb and Susan Wadley (eds.), Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia (pp. 107–34). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press .

11.

Kumar, Krishna (1996) Learning from Conflict. New Delhi: Orient Longman .

12.

Kumar, Ravinder (2000) ‘The Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy, the Rowlatt Satyagraha and the Character of the Nationalist Struggle in India: Some Reflections’. In V. N. Datta and S. Settar (eds.), Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (pp. 16–24). Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research .

13.

McLain, Karline (2005) ‘ Lifting the Mountain: Debating the Place of Science and Faith in the Creation of a Krishna Comic Book ’. Journal of Vaishnava Studies 13(2): 22–37 .

14.

Mitchell, W.J.T. (1994) Picture Theory. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press .

15.

Nandy, Ashis (1980) ‘Final Encounter: The Politics of the Assassination of Gandhi’. In Ashis Nandy, At the Edge of Psychology: Essays in Politics and Culture (pp. 70–98). Delhi: Oxford University Press .

16.

‘ Nathuram Godse: Why I Shot Gandhi ’, Onlooker (16–30 November 1978): 22–25 .

17.

Nehru, Jawaharlal (1958 [1936]) Jawaharlal Nehru. An Autobiography. London: The Bodley Head .

18.

Pai, Anant (2002) Interview with the author, 26 March, Mumbai.

19.

Patterson, Maureen L. P. (1988) ‘The Shifting Fortunes of Chitpavan Brahmans: Focus on 1948’. In D. W. Attwood , M. Israel , and N. K. Wagle (eds.), City, Countryside and Society in Maharashtra (pp. 35–58). Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for South Asian Studies .

20.

Pritchett, Frances W. (1995) ‘The World of Amar Chitra Katha’. In Lawrence Babb and Susan Wadley (eds.), Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia (pp. 76–106). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press .

21.

Rao, Subba (2002) interview with the author, 5 March, Mumbai.

22.

Sharma, Yagya (2002) interview with the author, 16 March, Mumbai.

23.

Singh, S.R. (2000) ‘Gandhi and the Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy: A Turning Point in the Indian National Movement’. In V. N. Datta and S. Settar (eds.), Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (pp. 193–209). Delhi: Council of Historical Research .

24.

The Role of Chitra Katha in School Education (1978) Bombay: India Book House Education Trust .