Rao Rashid, Roller-Coaster: My Early Years (Lahore: Jumhoori Publications, 2005), pp. 311. Price Rs. 300/--.
Rao Rashid is famous for his service to the state (police officer, counselor at the Pakistan High Commission in London, aide to Bhutto etc) and his very visible political career as a PPP loyalist who struggled against General Zia ul Haq’s martial law regime. His book Jo Main Ne Dekha (1982), an account of his years in high office, reveals the colourful and corrupt face of Pakistani politics as observed at close quarters.
This book is Rao Rashid’s autobiography. Although the first chapter dealing with childhood repeats some of the information given in the Urdu memoir mentioned above, it is worth reading for the abundance of the detail in it and for its lucid and simple narrative style.
The author was born in Haryana which encircles Delhi. His village, Kalanaur, was the centre of the Panwar Rajputs. The Rajputs were both Hindus and Muslims and there were many class and racial affinities between the two groups. Indeed, being Rajput or not was a significant part of the definition of identity in that part of the world before religious differences assumed salience. This is a fact which many contemporary writers, blinkered by the two-nation theory, conceal but the author has described it candidly. Similarly he has not concealed the fact that upper class men exploited lower class women sexually and even asserted the right of the first night (droit de seigneur) upon the luckless, low-caste, peasantry.
Rao Rashid took what he confesses to be ‘undue pride in the superiority of their bloodstock’ (p. 39). This had a negative as well as a positive side. The negative one is that the author, despite his rationality and assertion of enlightened values, still seems to believe in racial superiority. He lets slip a few remarks interspersed in the book which suggest that, despite public protestations of equality, he still believes that some racial stocks (the Rajputs) are better than others. And, obviously, this superiority is in aggression and war—values not conducive to peace on this planet. But let us not dwell on the negative side alone for it was this pride in one’s self which sustained the young Rao through the impoverishment of his family which followed his soldier father’s early death. Pride in one’s self is good for one’s self confidence and self-image. It is often supplied by a belief in one’s family or racial group’s superiority and, in so far as it saves a person from feeling inferior, it is to be acknowledged as being useful under some circumstances.
What need to be done is to make all human beings proud of their humanity which should be measured by compassion and decency rather than aggressiveness. But that is the reviewer’s personal opinion which remains as contestable as assertions to the contrary. So, returning to the book .
The author’s mother was an outstanding person who saved her children from feeling inferior and malnourishment. He brings out the courage, compassion and foresight of her character in many an episode. His brother also helped bring him up and even paid for his education at Aligarh University. He describes his brother as a selfless intellectual deeply devoted to the common people. When he migrated to Pakistan he became a people’s leader in Renala Khurd. It is a measure of Rao Rashid’s humanity that he understands and approves of this kind of politics.
The author narrates events about his school, village, family and university with frankness and simplicity. He gives us a fair picture of life in the village before the partition without making the Hindus monsters of iniquity and Muslims paragons of virtue. His praise of a Hindu politician, Sir Chotu Ram, is both generous and unbiased. He also does not hide the poverty of his house but what emerges strongly from these intimate portrayals is the strong sense of family bonding and faith in the virtues of frugality and moral uprightness.
At the age of eighteen the author was taken to Aligarh university which he describes as many others have done. The rites of passage—introduction (ragging) of first year ‘fools’—are described with much humour. Then comes the wonderful life of freedom which students studying in the semester system can hardly conceive of. Aligarh’s routine was as easygoing or as demanding as a student wanted it to be. Our author made it easygoing with the result that he did not do too well as a scholar but, considering that he did very well in life later, this was not to be regretted as much as he regrets it.
During the Aligarh years the author fell in love with a beautiful girl. This is a very tender episode and he narrates it in a straightforward and candid manner. I believe he is the only public figure, barring literary figures like Josh Malihabadi, who has described an innocent teenage crush. It makes him human and credible. What is wrong with the autobiographical accounts of our generals and bureaucrats otherwise is that they deal only with the public persona. This account deals with the human being behind the persona. This is a very welcome relief from the posturing of most of our biographers.
The last chapters are about the author’s adventurous flight to Pakistan after the partition. The moment of stepping into the new country is narrated in a moving manner. But disillusionment is in the wings because the author knows how his brother’s pro-people politics is the exception rather than the rule.
While the personal narrative is powerful because of its truth and simplicity, the philosophical reflections (‘Introduction’) and the historical portions (Chapter 18) are not successful. The philosophical portion consists of platitudes which weaken the book. However, there are personal reminiscences which are not only necessary but also deeply touching. Similarly, one finds no reason for putting in a purely historical narrative which is available in well-documented historical books. What is valuable is the author’s experience, his feelings, his point of view. This is interspersed in the last three chapters with long historical narratives which are unnecessary.
These, however, are small faults. On the whole this is one of the most candid and interesting biographies to have come out in the last few years. When completed, Rao Rashid will have added to the social and political history of South Asia. The book should have been proof-read more efficiently because typographical errors, incorrect punctuation and wrong turns of phrase mar it at places. All in all it remains a very welcome addition to biographical literature in South Asia.