Jan 29th, 2012
Hindu Communalism is the single greatest threat to India’s future.
As we approach the anniversary of the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, we should take stock of the greatest single problem facing India – Hindu Communalism. The cost it imposes upon the people in the form of security services such as the Army, the Police and paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force is enormous and growing exponentially.
Gandhiji was assassinated on 30 January 1948 when he was on his way for a daily prayer meeting. At the venue, Gandhi used to address the problems facing the country and suggest remedies. Prayers were then held with appropriate quotations from Hindu, Islamic and Christian scriptures to help in the success of the remedies suggested.
The country was passing through the worst crisis since 1857, when it witnessed the Great Uprising against foreign rule. It was initiated by the Sepoys of the Bengal Army of the East India Company. The 1.35 lakh men and junior officers were 31% Brahmins and 34% Rajputs. They were joined by princes and peasants, merchants and traders and it appeared that the end of foreign rule in India would soon become a reality.
Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse, a Chitpawan Brahmin from Maharashtra, is alleged to have been intimate with Savarkar. This outrage is a prime example of Hindu communalism.
But the British turned the tables by suppressing the revolt in the North West Frontier (Peshawar) and Punjab and September 1857 saw Delhi fall to the East India Company. Their army was largely Indian and they had spies and informers at all levels in the rebel ranks. The fight continued in Awadh and Central India and many Indians continued to fight despite the knowledge that there was no hope for success.
An example was Raja Beni Madhav, a loyal supporter of the Awadh Nawab represented by Begum Hazrat Mahal. When his forces were reduced to just a single war elephant and a handful of cavalry, the English sent an envoy asking him to lay down arms and join them. They promised to restore his lands and estate so that he could live as he had done before the Revolt.
Raja Beni Madhav acknowledged that the next engagement would perhaps be his last and he would lose whatever force that remained. Though he was moved by the Company’s generous offer, he explained that the blood flowing in his veins had the salt of the Nawab Wazir of Awadh and until every drop had been bled out of his body, there was no way that he could betray his cause.
The brutality with which the English East India Company treated the defeated Indians was unparalleled. India lay prone as if in a coma for decades. The only way to survive was to become a comprador and this required English learning. The British Crown had taken over from the Company and realised that the greatest danger to them came from Hindus and Muslims being one.
The history text books were doctored to yield Hindu period, Muslim period and Modern or British period. The raids by Mahmud of Ghazni were made out to be Muslim violence against Hindu temples. This yielded results far in excess of what even the British had hoped. Writers of talent like Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi wrote poignant books like Jai Somnatha and Hindus soon looked upon themselves, as the victims of centuries’ old Muslim oppression.
The result was that even when the Indians created their first organised platform for registering appeals — the Indian National Congress, which came into being only in the 1880s, the mutual suspicion between Hindus and Muslims, prevented a united front. The Muslim League was set up under the British in the first decade of the 20th Century. Its activities became more and more violent until its leader Mohommad Ali Jinnah, who declared 16 August 1946 as ‘Direct Action Day’. Bengal was under a Muslim League Ministry (elected under a franchise that covered only 10% of the population). Hindus were targeted and killed in large numbers. Soon there was retaliation and rioting spread to Bihar. India was truly communalised as never before.
Gandhi retained his sanity and single-handedly stopped the rioting in Calcutta. The violence spread to the North and peaked when the British announced the lines dividing India and Pakistan. When Gandhi came to Delhi he announced his intention to go across the border and address the problem there. At this point, he was assassinated.
The assassin, Nathuram Godse, a Chitpawan Brahmin from Maharashtra, is alleged to have been intimate with Savarkar. This outrage is a prime example of Hindu communalism. More than six decades have passed and there is still no weakening in the growth of Hindu communalism. Its main votary, Narendra Modi, is emerging as the RSS-BJP candidate for the post of Prime Minister of India.
Unless this problem is addressed, there can be little progress towards achieving the ideals that sustained India’s battle for freedom.