Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Indian capital
- 2 Crisis and opportunities
- 3 Business, Civil Disobedience and the reforms 1931–1935
- 4 The turning point: capitalists and Congressmen 1935–1937
- 5 Business, the central government and the Congress 1937–1939
- 6 Indian business and the Congress provincial governments 1937–1939
- Conclusion
- APPENDICES
- 1 Top business groups in India in 1931–1939
- 2 Largest public companies in India 1932–1939
- 3 Holdings of controlling group in selected companies 1926–1927
- 4 Main groups in the cotton-textile industry 1931–1939
- 5 Sectorwise distribution of companies under the control of major Indian and British groups 1931–1939
- 6 Profits in selected industries 1928–1939
- 7 India's balance of commodity transactions (merchandise and treasure) on private account 1929–1939
- 8 Final balance of India's international transactions on current account 1929–1939
- 9 Principal countries in India's foreign merchandise trade 1929–1939
- 10 Most significant items in India's foreign merchandise trade 1929–1939
- 11 A Bombay manifesto of twenty-one businessmen
- Biographical notes
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index
11 - A Bombay manifesto of twenty-one businessmen
from APPENDICES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Indian capital
- 2 Crisis and opportunities
- 3 Business, Civil Disobedience and the reforms 1931–1935
- 4 The turning point: capitalists and Congressmen 1935–1937
- 5 Business, the central government and the Congress 1937–1939
- 6 Indian business and the Congress provincial governments 1937–1939
- Conclusion
- APPENDICES
- 1 Top business groups in India in 1931–1939
- 2 Largest public companies in India 1932–1939
- 3 Holdings of controlling group in selected companies 1926–1927
- 4 Main groups in the cotton-textile industry 1931–1939
- 5 Sectorwise distribution of companies under the control of major Indian and British groups 1931–1939
- 6 Profits in selected industries 1928–1939
- 7 India's balance of commodity transactions (merchandise and treasure) on private account 1929–1939
- 8 Final balance of India's international transactions on current account 1929–1939
- 9 Principal countries in India's foreign merchandise trade 1929–1939
- 10 Most significant items in India's foreign merchandise trade 1929–1939
- 11 A Bombay manifesto of twenty-one businessmen
- Biographical notes
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
APPENDIX II
A Bombay manifesto of twenty-one businessmen 'Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in his presidential speech at the Lucknow Congress, said: “I see no way of ending the poverty, the vast unemployment, the degradation and the subjection of the Indian people except through socialism. That involves vast and revolutionary changes in our political and social structure, the ending of vested interests in land and industry, as well as the feudal and autocratic Indian States system. That means the ending of private property, except in a restricted sense, and the replacement of the present profit system by a higher ideal of cooperative service.”
'This has been described as a new civilization and illustrated by what is happening in Soviet Russia today.
'We have no hesitation in declaring that we are unequivocally opposed to ideas of this kind being propagated, as in the present condition of widespread economic misery in the country, they are likely to find ready though unthinking reception. We are convinced that there is a grave risk of the masses of the country being misled by such doctrines into believing that all that is required for the improvement of their well-being is a total destruction of the existing social and economic structure. The inculcation of any such ideas into the mind of unthinking millions of this country would lead to a situation in which not only the institution of private property but the peaceful observance of religion, and even personal safety, are likely to be jeopardised.
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- Information
- Indian Business and Nationalist Politics 1931–39The Indigenous Capitalist Class and the Rise of the Congress Party, pp. 206Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1985