However, S.B. Chaudhuri observes, the revolt was “the first combined attempt of many classes of people to challenge a foreign power. This is a real, if remote, approach to the freedom movement of India of a later age”
2 Answers
The meaning is similar to definition 3 at wiktionary:
(especially with respect to likelihood) Slight.
They have a very remote chance of winning.
You have a remote resemblance to my grandmother.
So the sentence means that the revolt was foreshadowing the later Indian freedom movement. But the usage is awkward and not really idiomatic to my ear; "a remote approach" doesn't sound right. Perhaps I would have used "a slightly similar approach."
This is a real, if remote, approach to the freedom movement of India of a later age.
From Cambridge Dictionary,
remote adjective (SLIGHT)
a remote possibility
Your example hence means this is a real approach to the freedom movement of India of a later age even if it could be a slight approach. From the context, we could also use light instead of slight. Ngram
answered May 5, 2021 at 1:07
