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Introduction:

Communalism is the political assertiveness of acommunity to maintain its identity in a pluralsociety which is undergoing modernization.(Modernization and politics of communalism – atheoretical perspective – theAmerican Political Review,vol.64). Communalism isgenerally associated with “anarrow, selfish, divisive andperspective aggressive attitudeon the part of a religious group.”It is a type of blind loyalty of thepeople towards the communitywhich is placed above theirloyalty to the State to which theybelong. In a negative sense, it isa kind of hostile attitude showntowards "other communities orreligions, while living within thesame body-politics.”Communalism exploits both religion and politics.Communalism is the enemy of progress,revolution, democracy and of federal nation-statebuilding on rational scientific lines. Hence, in itstotality, communalism is a “political strategyopposed to nationalism as an aggression on multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingualcommunity."

Gandhian Strategiesfor combating Communalism

Dr. Purna Chandra Pradhan

During freedom struggle two leaders–Mahatma Gandhi and M.N. Roy – took seriousnote of communalism and the Hindu Muslimquestion. Almost all other leaders under theCongress umbrella, including Jawaharlal Nehrumaintained that once the British left, this problem

(as also the question of human rightviolation caused by the hierarchicalsystem) would be solved in notime. Gandhiji, however, oftensaid, in most unambiguous terms,that unless these two evils aredone away with, India has no rightto Independence from British Raj.Ultimately he fell a victim to anintolerant cult-nationalism.Gandhiji was a religious man, andhe had the same respect for otherreligions that he gave to his own,Hinduism. And he wanted theHindus, as also other Indians, tofollow his example and solve the

Hindu Muslim question. Regrettably this approachhas not helped in combating communalism.

M.N. Roy wrote a book, while in Jail in1930-36, Historical Role of Islam with a view tosolving the Hindu Muslim question. He wrote:“although Islam came to India after it had playedout its progressive role, and its leadership hadbeen wrested from the learned and cultured

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Arabs, the revolutionary principles of the days ofits origin and ascendancy were still inscribed onits flag.” A critical study of history would revealthat Brahmanical orthodoxy having overwhelmedthe Buddhist revolution; India of the eleventh andtwelfth centuries must have been infested withmultitudes of persecuted heretics who wouldeagerly welcome the message of Islam”. Roymaintained that we must be clear as to the causesof the Muslim conquest of India so that we getrid “of the prejudices that makes the orthodoxHindu Look upon his Muslim neighbour as aninferior being. Unless a radical change of attitudeis brought about by a sober sense of history, thecommunal question will never be solved.”

Addressing the Muslims, Roy wrote: “fewMuslims of our days may be conscious of theglorious part played on the stage of History bythe faith they profess.” Roy therefore urged uponboth Hindus and Muslims to revive the positiveaspects and the creative heritage of Islamic culture.“Indians, both Hindus and Muslims”, Royconcluded, “could profitably draw inspiration from… [the] knowledge of Islam’s contribution tohuman culture and a proper appreciation of theHistorical value of that contribution would shockthe Hindus out of their arrogant self satisfaction,and cure the narrow- mindedness of the Muslimsfor our day by bringing them face to face with thetrue spirit of the faith they profess”. Ourgovernment and opinion makers must takeGandhi’s approach minus the mystique and Roy’sscientific approach to a solution of the problemseriously.

Gandhi fought for communal harmony andat last laid down his life for it. He was a devoutHindu but held equal respect for all religions andupheld the right of all the religious minority groupsto profess and practice their respective religionsfreely at footing with the majority group. Gandhiwas not opposed to the Varna or caste based

system in Hindu society, but, he insisted that itmust carry no connotation of pollution or purity,which generated into the evil and offensive practiceof untouchability. Another evil of the Varna systemhe castigated was the consignment of some castesto manual labour, carrying with it lower socialesteem reserving the socially esteemed intellectualwork for the others. Gandhi felt that by removingthis individual distinction, a socially useful re-construction of the caste system was possible.

Communalism has been a serious threatto national integration in India. It has destroyedother three elements of modern India, such as,secularism, democracy and fraternity unity.Religious fanatic has taken the ugly shape ofcommunal tension and riots in India, leading tothe partition of India (1947), killing of MahatmaGandhi (1948) and Smt. Indira Gandhi (1984),riots in Meerut (1987), Aligarh and Muzafarnagar(1988) and Bhagalpur (1989). Issues like Babri-Masjid and Ramjanmabhumi. Godhra incidenthave formented communal tension and threatenednational integration badly. The secular Indian polityhas failed to check obscurantism, religiousfundamentalism and communal fanaticism whichhave taken the worst shape of communal violence/riots frequented between 1947 and 2002.

Gandhian Strategies:

Though Gandhi was an orthodox Hindueven he went against the sentiments or the feelingsof the Hindus in order to maintain communalharmony. The famous Vande Mataram’ song hadproved an inspiration during those days. Bengalicommunity almost worshipped the song. Butwhen Jinnah, the president of Muslim League anda handful of his follower Muslims objected,disregarding the nationalist sentiment of the song,Gandhi put a ban on it and forced the whole nationto abandon it. In 1940, Congress announced adecision that the words Vande Mataram’ shouldnot be used by Congress members in any public

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speeches and announcements. Gandhi also put aban on Shiv Banvani. Shiv Banvani is a smallinspiring poem by poet Bhushan. The poet hadwritten that if Shivaji had not been born, entireIndia would have been converted to Islam. Thepoet had used exact words to correctly depictthe fierce fanaticism and intolerance preachedwithin Islam. Gandhi imposed a ban on this poemto keep the sentiments of his Muslim brothers’.

Khilafat movement was an attempt by theIndian Muslim community to unite together insupport of the Turkish Empire ruled by theKhalifa. The Muslims considered the Khalifa asthe custodian of Islam. Under the leadership ofprominent Muslim leaders, the Khilafat movementwas launched in most parts of North India. Gandhisuggested the Muslims -

“If the peaceful non-cooperation movement doesnot succeed in getting justice, then, they have theright to follow the path shown in the Holy Booksof Islam and I whole-heartedly support this path.”

Gandhi whole-heartedly supported theKhilafat Movement in order to bring Hindu-Muslim unity. When the Indian Muslims invitedthe Amir of Afghanistan to attack India and toconvert this Darul Harb into Darul Islam, Gandhisupported this move also.

Once, when he went to Delhi he held hisprayer meetings in a Hindu temple in the sweeper’scolony. Ignoring the strong protests of the priestshe adamantly read few passages from the Koranas part of the prayer meeting inside the Hindutemple.

In 1947, millions celebrated theindependence that they had won through decadesof struggle. But the year was also marked by aholocaust of violence and ethnic cleansing thataccompanied Partition. Seventeen million peoplewere forced to migrate and 1 million people werekilled. Hundreds of thousands of corpses littered

the streets of cities like Calcutta and Delhi. Thereare descriptions of train cars arriving full only ofdead people.

While riots raged in Punjab, Gandhi tolda leader of the Muslim League: I want to fight itout with my life. I would not allow the Muslims tocrawl on the streets in India. They must walk withself-respect.

At the time of India-Pakistan partitionviolent Hindu-Muslim riot took place. Millionswere uprooted from their ancestor’s territory andmassive violence and slaughter occurred on bothsides of the border. At the lowest estimate, onemillion people perished and fourteen millionbecame homeless. When hundreds of thousandHindu and Sikh refugees entered India, Gandhishowed utmost sympathy for them. Gandhi said–

"I am grieved to learn that people are runningaway from the West Punjab and I am told thatLahore is being evacuated by the non-Muslims. Imust say that this is what it should not be. If youthink Lahore is dead or is dying, do not run awayfrom it, but die with what you think is the dyingLahore. When you suffer from fear you die beforedeath comes to you. That is not glorious. I willnot feel sorry if I hear that people in the Punjabhave died not as cowards but as brave men.”

Gandhi, in his late seventies, personallyjourneyed to areas where communal violence hadbroken out and did his best to persuade peopleto stop, walking barefoot through the riot-tornslums and threatening “to fast unto death.” Hismoral authority was able to stop the violencesometimes, but when he left, all the social andeconomic problems that led people to see anotherreligious group as their main enemy were still inplace.

Furthermore Gandhi presented an Ahimsaformula to the Hindu refugees. He advised theHindus, “The Hindus not to die helplessly. But

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they are to die without a murmur. Only then theriots will stop.”

In another incident, Gandhi addressedthe homeless Hindus at the end of one of hisPrayer Meetings and said, “After all, who are thekillers ? They are our Muslim Brethren, noneother. Does a converting into another religionbreak the bond of brotherhood ?”

In a speech on April 6, 1947; Gandhiagain advised the destitute Hindus, Even ifMuslims decide to wipe out the Hindu race, thereis no point in Hindus getting angry on Muslims.Even if they slit our throats, we should be patientand accept death. Let them rule the world, wewill pervade the world and merge with it. At leastwe should not be afraid of death. The providenceis made of life and death. Why feel unhappy aboutit ? We will enter a new life if we face death witha smile. We will create a new Hindustan [India].

On September 23, 1947, during a prayerspeech, Gandhi said, “[Even if Muslims] killedour relatives, our people, why should we be angrywith anyone ? Those who got killed met with aproper end. We should know that they attainedheaven. Let this happen with Gods’ wish with eachone of us. God should grant us this kind of death.If you want to ask God for anything, let it be this.”

On Muslim slaughter of Hindus andSikhs, Gandhi elsewhere said. “I would tell theHindus to face death cheerfully if the Muslims areout to kill them. I would be a real sinner if afterbeing stabbed I wished in my last moment thatmy son should seek revenge. I must die withoutrancor. ... You may turn round and ask whetherall Hindus and all Sikhs should die. Yes, I wouldsay. Such martyrdom will not be in vain.”

Gandhi died for upholding Muslimequality, assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu fascist.The killer, Nathuram Godse, had been trained asan organizer in the RSS in the 1930s.

Conclusion:

In our country people belonging tovarious religions live in harmony, but there areoccasions when the communal fabric getsdisturbed, often on trivial issues. It is theresponsibility of all sections of society to ensurepeace and brotherhood so that all rounddevelopment of the country takes place rapidly.To eliminate communalism must be our first andtop priority. All Indians as a true sons anddaughters of motherland must come forward tountiringly fight the forces of communalism whichhave been putting a grave strain on the health ofour nation.

References:1. ‘A suppressed chapter in history: The exodus of

Hindus from East Pakistan and Bangladesh” byTathagata Roy.

2. “A tale of two Gujarati saints”, by Anwar Shaikh.

3. Distant Neighbours: A tale of the subcontinent”by Kuldip Nayar.

4. Gandhi Hatya Keno?” (in Bangla) by Gopal Godse.

5. “Genocide in East Pakistan / Bangladesh” by S. KBhattacharyya.

6. ‘May it please your honour”? By, NathuramGodse.

7. “Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths” by, MarkShepard.

8. “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Ekti AkopotJibony” (in Bangla) By, RudrapratapChattopadhyay.

9. The Holy Bhagavad Gita.

10. “The life of Mahatma Gandhi”. By, Louis Fischer.11. ‘Ulema Freedom Struggle and Concept of

Pakistan”. By, Mohammed Anwer Hussain.

12. Why Godse killed Gandhi?” By, Kanchan Gupta.

13. Modernization and politics of communalism-atheoretical perspective-the American PoliticalReview, vol.64.

Dr. Purna Chandra Pradhan, Head of Department ofPolitical Science, N.B.C. College, Kendupadara, Ganjam.