The Determining period: 1905-1924
This period was of great socio-political upheavals in the annals of freedom struggle. To name some of them: Partition of Bengal in 1905, Establishment of Muslim League in 1906, Separate Electorates in 1909, Re-unification of Bengal in 1911, Outbreak of I WW in 1914, the Boer War, Lucknow Pact of 1916 and the Communal Riots in Malegaon, Malabar, Gulbarga, Kohat, Jallianwala Massacre in 1919, Launch of Khilafat Movement, Minto-Morley Reforms Report and the Enactment of Government of India Act 1919, Arrival of Gandhi and the Turmoil in the Congress.
It is Sai Deepak’s view that “…. unless the period between 1905 and 1924 is made sense of …, the assessment of the combined impact of European and Middle Eastern colonialities … on the framing of the Constitution of 1950 would be truncated and historically uninformed.” The author desires that the “misplaced religiosity towards the document (that is, Constitution) is replaced with sense of proportion, perspective and purpose.”
Colonial Clouds over Indic Civilisation
Wahhabi Movement arrived in India as early as in 1800 and continued to have a strong Indian base. The role of Syed Jamal-al-Din-al-Afghani in the global pan-Islamism and that of Shah Waliullah in Bharat are narrated in detail. In 1877 Syed Ahmed Khan believed in treating Ottoman Calipha as merely a religious head and Ottoman empire as a model Islamic modernity, but with no potential significance for Muslims of the subcontinent.
However, despite opposition from Syed Ahmed Khan, Syed Jamal al-Din-al-Afghani’s visit to Bharat around that time strengthened ‘pre-existing pan-Islamic notions’. So much so, by 1918 Fazlul Haque, president of Muslim League, unhesitatingly pronounced that “…. in case of conflict between Divine Laws and the mandates of our rulers, every Musalman will allow Divine Commandments to prevail over human laws, even at the risk of laying down his live.”
The advent of European, more particularly the British, rule not only ended this long period of Islamic political dominance but also created a new socio-political dynamic in Bharat. And the 1857 Mutiny became a turning in the British colonial control over India. Emergence of Congress triggered a political movement in the country online with the contemporary developments in Europe.
Congress – Its Colonial Roots and “Reforms” Blueprints
It is noteworthy that in 1855 Allan Octavia Hume founded the Indian National Union “in full consultations with the Viceroy”. It later became Indian National Congress. Its specific objective was to provide a platform for civic and political dialogue among the ‘educated Indians’ - interpreters between the British and the millions whom the British governed. Freedom from the British rule was never founding objective of the then Indian National Congress.
Author subscribes to the thought that Congress’s colonial roots and policies had deep negative impact on Indic Civilizational Values of Bharat. Congress’s emphasis on western education bereft of Indic Values was in stark contrast with the Islamic Reformers like Syed Ahmed Khan, identified as a British loyalist. He had placed greater or at least equal emphasis on Islamic and Western education, and his Aligarh model led to the establishment of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama and Jamia Millia Islamia apart from Aligarh Muslim College.
This development lead to the Hindus moving away from their roots at a time when the Islamic reformist movements sought to move closer to the practice of early Islam. Thus, author feels that the Congress helped in further strengthening the roots of Middle Eastern coloniality in Bharat.
Gandhi and Swaraj
With the coronation of honorific ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi had acquired an unchallengeable socio-political position, and an aura which belittled even the senior stalwarts in Congress. Gandhi’s politico-socio-psychological manipulations within the Congress led to further splintering into sub-groups representing different approaches to country’s future. His deeply entrenched belief in Hindu-Muslim-unity, even in the face of stark realities in front of him and manipulation of people’s faith in him on the basis of his success in South Africa, played diabolic role in the happenings during 1905-1924.
In later years his distancing from Congress and yet continuing to have a veto power in the decisions of the Congress corroded the internal democracy within the party. His repeated Fast-unto-Death, Non-cooperation and Satyagraha caused congenital deformities in the functioning of the party.
Gandhi’s strong support for the Khilafat Movement became a watershed moment in the freedom struggle. It is interesting to note that the British and the allies tactfully managed to subvert the position of Calipha with the help of Ataturk, who maneuvered to get Abdul Mejid, a son of late Sultan Abdul Aziz ‘elected’ as Khalifa. New Khalifa’s powers were restricted to spiritual and not temporal. Therefore, the author feels that “Swaraj, from the perspective of the Khilafatists, was a Quran sanctioned Islamic means to a purely Islamic end…. with Swaraj being merely incidental goal as it was not the trigger for the Agitation, dismemberment of the Caliphate was the real trigger.
By hoping to secure Swaraj with the pan-Islamism, “Gandhi had struck a Faustian bargain, the ultimate price being paid with the blood of millions of people and dismemberment of Indic civilisation’s only sacred geography – Bharat.”
Therefore, author very strongly feels that “Gandhi helped advance Syed Jamal al-Din-al Afghani’s vision more than Syed Ahmed Khan did. Had Afghani been alive around that time of Khilafat Movement and Agitation, he would have been proud of Gandhi for furthering the former’s vision and cause, and prouder of Maulana Abdul Bari, Maulana Muhamad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Maulana Abdul Kalam, and Maulana Hasrat Mohani for getting a ‘Hindu leader’ to support the cause of pan-Islamism in such a big way.”
Defying Myths
This book defies three myths which have entered into our political discourse.
The first myth: That the Wahhabis supported Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.
Quoting R. C. Majumdar author states that “Wahhabis demonstrated non-alignment of goals with mutineers which would have benefited the British. And this aloofness was consistent with their central stated belief that Bharat was Dar al-Harb as long as it was ruled by non-Muslims”.
Second myth: The British sowed the seeds of the idea of Pakistan with the partition of Bengal in 1905 on religious lines.
To quote author “What is also important to note is that Afgani’s pan-Islamic ideas and vision of reclaiming ‘Mughal lands’ had laid out the template not just for the Kilafat Movement, but also for the Pakistan Movement, since, essentially, Pakistan was meant to be Dar al-Islam, to which Muslims in Bharat could emigrate by performing hijrat. Pakistan would serve as the new homeland from where jihad could be launched against Dar al-Harb, i.e., Bharat, to ‘restore’ its status to Dar al-Islam” (p.109).
Thus, author clearly establishes that it is a false impression that communal harmony existed between Hindus and Muslims prior to the employment of so-called divide-and-rule policy by the British in 1905. This myth only creates an erroneous impression of Hindu and Muslims being equal victims of British rule.
Third myth: Jinnah was the architect of Two-Nation Theory.
Author states that the Two-Nation Theory is the outcome of inherent separatist tendency of Middle Eastern consciousness, starting from Syed Ahmed Sirhindi under Mughal emperor Akbar to Syed Ahmed Khan of Aligarh. Constant objective was to secure position of global ummah as well as the position of Muslims in a Hindu majority Bharat under British rule. Therefore, the Two-Nation Theory was a reality which existed much before Jinnah arrived, and finally ended with the partition of Bharat in 1947.
Dormant Socio-Political Volcanoes
Author provides very detailed accounts of Malegoan, Malabar, Gulbarga and Kohat communal riots during 1905-1924 with authentic multiple source references. This account bares not only the discriminatory approaches by the Congress and more particularly Gandhi, but also the inbuilt socio-political fears within the communities which act as dormant volcanoes. These horrific incidents by no account the passé in our history, unfortunately they are destabilizing the post-independent Bharat as well.
Era of Re-discover of Bharat
Book is certainly a product of in-depth research. Presentation with Quotations from multiple sources, detailed Notes, References, Appendices, and Index authenticate the statements. However, 600 plus pages are indeed a reader’s challenge, though enlightening one.
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