Contributions of M. N. Roy to Modern Indian Politics!
It can be stated that M. N. Roy was certainly the most learned of modern Indian political thinkers. He was also a great orator, who had a very distinct and vigorous style; and he was also a voluminous writer. His most voluminous book was about 6,000 pages titled.
The Philosophical Consequences of Modern Science and when it was published it ran in to nearly 10 volumes. Further, Roy was an excellent interpreter and a historian. His work, Reason, Romanticism and Revolution, is a significant contribution to the history of Western thought by an Indian writer.
His Materialism is also a fairly competent book. Materialism, according to Roy, was a revolutionary philosophy, because its epistemology is expansive in its comprehension. New Humanism of Roy aims at inculcating a sense of primacy of values and the urge for eternal freedom. According to Roy, democracy would be successful only when spiritually free individuals assume the conduct of public affairs. He strongly believed in the greatest good of the greatest number that can be attained only when members of the government are accountable in the first place to their respective conscience.
The new Humanist Ideology enunciates the primacy of freedom, knowledge and truth. The re-assertion of Roy of the valuation foundations of politics and society is a welcome contribution to the modern political thought and behavioral political analysis. In the name of New Humanist, Roy attempted to reinforce the foundations of hedonism.
As a materialist, he considered life to be an end in itself. The sole purpose of life, according to him, is to live; and to live is to have the power and resources to satisfy the desires that naturally spring in man’s mind. Thus, Roy was a Benthamite, who preached Indians to believe in concepts like self-denial and simplicity, and the joy of satisfying one’s desires.
Roy though tried to give a sociological interpretation of Indian culture, his immense absorption and interest in Marxist theories proved him to be a failure in original interpretation of Indian society and culture. At times, his Marxist notions made him assume an unfounded attitude of superiority.
The simple reason for this inability to interpret the Indian culture was his self-exile for more than 15 years; then, his incarceration for six years made him a freelance, rootless critic of everything Hindu and Indian. He considered that Brahamanical ascendancy represented a trend based on the substructure of economic decadence.
As a modern man, he was against the primitivism and medievalism of Indian culture; and as a materialist, he denied the tenets of religion and spiritual philosophy. The tragedy of Roy was that he was an intellectual who’s furious and bitter remarks went on increasing that eventually made him an alien in his own country that branded him as a negative critic.
Roy’s genius was critical rather than constructive. He has not given any new thought neither in political science nor philosophy nor did he work out an integral system of thought. He just attempted to synthesize different elements of thought. He only tried to throw light on elements such as rationalistic renaissance, physical realistic cosmology, humanistic ethics and a passionate quest for freedom. But the synthesis that emerged was neither very profound nor original. Despite all these, there are many who regard him as an intellectual and the most learned man.