Mutiny is a misnomer

I was disappointed with Rudrangshu Mukherjee’s article, “Bloody and brutal” (Weekend, May 6). What happened in 1857 was part of the freedom struggle against British imperialists. The British called it Sepoy Mutiny because it suited them. Even after 70 years of Independence it is a matter of shame that historians like Mukherjee should still call the actions of the sepoys as mutiny. “Mutiny” is an open rebellion against proper authority. The British were never proper authority. They were the invaders who oppressed the Indians. Rightly, Americans call theirs as the war of American Independence.
 
To say there was violence from both the sides should be music to the ears of the British. Only an apologist for the British would make such a statement. Actions of the oppressed are not tantamount to violence. They are a reaction to years of violent suppression.

 
It is high time Indians call what happened in 1857 as War of Indian Independence. It is nothing else.
 

                S Viswanathan  Bengaluru
 
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