A lot to learn from the tragic story of partition

It was not just partition of territories but also of minds, says author Ram Madhav

Mysore/Mysuru: The partition of 1947 was not just of land but of hearts as well. The narrative and discourse that Hindus and Muslims cannot live together is dangerous, divisive and every Indian must be cautious about this agenda, said noted thinker, author and National Executive Committee Member of the RSS Ram Madhav.

He was speaking at the launch of his book ‘Partitioned Freedom’, a lecture, discussion and interaction organised by Manthana Mysuru this morning at Vijnana Bhavan in Manasagangothri.

“Nobody wanted partition yet it couldn’t be averted. Four decades earlier, in 1905, Bengal was partitioned by the British. A massive movement, called ‘Vande Mataram Movement’, was launched against it by the Indian National Congress. British were forced to annul the partition of Bengal in 1911,” he recalled.

“When Bengal was partitioned in 1905, the whole country stood behind Bengal, and the whole nation was engaged in agitation. But when Jinnah declared Pakistan and India partitioned in 1947, India did not stand up. My book answers what happened between 1940-47 and what changed between 1911-1940,” he said. 

Lala Lajpat Roy, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal led the movement from the front. The British bowed down, and King George himself came to take back the decision and undo the partition. Indians won in that battle and the nation remained united, he noted.

About Gandhiji and Jinnah

“This book is of Gandhiji and Jinnah. Both are from Gujarat, barristers. Jinnah was instrumental to bring Muslim League and Congress to Lucknow Conference. But he left Congress in 1920, citing Gandhi’s intervention in Khilafat Movement. He stayed low-key and came back to the limelight in 1935. Jinnah then became a champion of Muslim politics in India. This is a story of that leader,” he revealed. On the other hand, Gandhiji came to India in 1915 and he had experienced Africa. He had a notion that Hindu-Muslim unity was first and freedom came next. In 1919, he became the President of Khilafat Movement. In return, he expected help from Muslim community for Congress in freedom movement. He gave concessions after concessions for Muslims be it Vande Mataram, national flag, bhajan, language, everything.

Fuelling communal passions

From 1920 to 1935, a separate electorate for Muslims was accepted by Congress. This phase of appeasement did not make Muslims come close to Congress and instead resulted in partition. “During the last decade of the struggle, Gandhi tried to ensure that India stayed united but it was too late as we had already nurtured the demon,” he said.

No doubt that Gandhiji had the best of intentions regarding the preservation of our cultural ethos as well as Hindu-Muslim unity, but the extent of compromise that his idealism demanded later only led to fuelling communal passions unfortunately, he said.

“This is a tragic story of two leaders. Finally, this story of partition gives us two important messages. Firstly, never indulge in appeasement of the forces who are about to destroy the integrity of the country, and secondly ponder on why we succeeded in 1911, and not in 1947. The answer is the country should be vigilant by itself and not depend on anyone in particular for the unity of the country,” Ram Madhav added.

“The Partition was not just partition of territories but also of minds, which needs to be seen with utmost seriousness and care. We need to build a united Indian society. It can happen only if the leadership and elements that believe in separatism and communal separation are discouraged. A sense of one nationhood needs to be encouraged,” the author noted.

Indian history is complex

Releasing the book, Founder-Editor of Star of Mysore and Mysuru Mithra K.B. Ganapathy noted that every society assumes history means only political history. We must remember there is social history, economic history etc., in a society. “There is no country in the world where we find political vacuum as there will be someone who will fill the vacuum, hence the importance of political history,” he said.

Apart from Roman history, Indian history is the most complex like a fathomless ocean. “India is an eternal country and despite many challenges India faced over centuries, we still survive in a truncated manner geographically. Though India has been partitioned, our spirit, mind and culture is alive. The civilisational aspect of Hinduism is expanding and will never cease to exist,” Ganapathy said.

Recalling the division of Bengal in 1905, Ganapathy asked if Bengal that was divided during British rule into two was united later in 1911 following protest, why our leaders could not stop India’s partition. “I do not know if the leadership then was up to the challenge. Why did the tall leaders of that time allow the country to be divided? I believe that falling silent in times of crisis is nothing but cowardice. But can we undo the partition? We probably cannot. Only time alone can answer this question,” he said.