Untold Facts

Annihilation and, at times, massacre of religious and other minorities at a single go are nothing new in the euphemistically called ‘Largest Democracy’, Bangladesh’s big neighbor, and ‘Big Brother’. Of late when the minority Christians in Orissa and the minority Muslims in Assam are being attacked, their houses and even churches and similar places of worship are being burnt down, many done to death with both crude and modern arms and not sparing even pregnant women and children day in and day out, one renowned journalist M J Akbar in a recent column published in a Dhaka daily has gone on to rediscover there ‘Secularism is a way of life’, and amazingly in contrast, another big shot Kuldip Nayar in separate column published here exploded the opposite ugly face and myth of secularism in his own country. Who should the commoners would believe and trust? On the Godhra massacre of Muslims in 2002, the earlier Justice Bannerjee Commission Report and the recently published Justice Nanintri Report giving opposite views of the matter but astonishingly in full tune with the well known Muslim killer Narendra Modi’s (BJP’s Guzrat Chief Minister) stance being debated not only outside but also inside among their own sane people. The recent banning of the SIMI ( STUDENTS’ ISLAMIC MOVEMENT OF INDIA) and that the involvement of the invisible Indian Mujaheedin in the recent bomb blasts in Jamia Nagar in Delhi was nothing but a hoax is also being talked about there. Also quite amazing is that while the SIMI was banned by the Delhi Government long ago, the Bajrang Dal or the extremist Hindu fanatics out to finish all non Hindus from their exclusive motherland or RAM RAZ remains there not only untouched by the administration but emboldened much more than as ever so mush so that they had motor cycle processions wielding saffron colored flags in front of the nose of the law enforcing agencies as was seen n the NDTV news. Less said about the freedom movement and huge blood letting of the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir in perpetual suppression, oppression and killings in thousands for six decades the better. In the scenario that we see now around but nothing unusual for decades, should not sane people look back a bit seriously in historical lessons of the last century for useful guidance of the present generation for deciding on their imperatives?
The Indian subcontinent or the lower Himalayan region is a vast geographical area having huge people living in since unknown pre-historic past ages of several millenniums not in anyway homogeneous but diverse in living modes, beliefs and attitudes to life and occupations. Foreign rules in the early centuries attempted time and again to unite the region and the people but such efforts had failed every time having at best short preludes. The latest one of the foreign rule at a stage in the beginning of the last century being uncomfortable in running their RAZ here in 1905, after a well thought out planning for years, divided the Bengal Presidency, the largest in the empire having Calcutta (now Kolkata) consisting of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Assam in to two parts, one having Calcutta as the centre of the old Presidency and East Bengal and Assam out of the Presidency as another new province making Dacca ( Dhaka) as its capital city for running the administration from this old Muslim city but desolated over the centuries after the fall of Muslim power in the region. The new province thus established was considered for expediency of the British rulers but it incidentally provided some possible opportunity for marginal advancement for the people who fell backward since the coming of the British compared to the new elites based mainly at Calcutta in the new framework of the province having capital at Dhaka. Naturally but not in fairness, the Calcutta based new Bangali elite took the likely advancement of the people of the new province as a threat to their already established vested interests in education, employment, business interests etc. So they rose in revolt to reverse the history and annul the partition of 16th October 1905. Being already advanced in English Education and schooled professions, they had their political and social organizations like the Congress (INC), the Hindu Mahasava, etc. that offered all possible sustenance to the anti-partition movement. The pro-partitioners had then been not only backward but also unorganized, despite the Muslim League formed in 1906 with a commitment to preserve the new set up through people’s movement. The new British administration did not survive unfortunately for long but merely six years, and the backward people though expected some opportunities for advancement but that soon ended in December 1911 by annulment of the partition by the RAZ due to pressure tactics of the advanced community, on the one hand, and weaknesses to put effective counter pressure by the backward community, on the other. Had the partition of 1905 would not be annulled in 1911 and that would survive afterwards, the minority and majority syndrome of 1940s and as of today would not be here in the region, because, in that case the partition of 1947 would not come about that solved then, no doubt, some minority and majority issues but not all inside the post 1947 independent India. Not only this, the whole lower Himalayan region would further thrive after the British had left in federal or at least confederation structure possibly with minimum distrust between people of different communities.
There is nothing now one could do about to reverse those undesirable events of the past except to recapitulate follies, no matter bigger or smaller, but what particularly Delhi had to do was to ensure full rights as provided in the Constitution of India and state safety and security to all minorities there including the Dalits, as well. Unfortunately, as the world knows their failures are beyond any proportion in civilized norm.
The experience of the last six decades of free India after 1947, however, in contrast with Pakistan and Bangladesh having no serious communal problem the Big Brother has been continually and dangerously infested with communalism and repression of the distinct minorities by various sections aligned with the ruling sections made it crystal clear that she is unable to contain effectively and satisfactorily any violence against the minorities of all shades irrespective of religions, caste divides etc. Her secular Constitution is being continually violated in one form or the other in this particular matter. A conclusion could thus be made safely that the freedom movement of the distinct national minorities in the north-west and in the north-east be given due appreciation and granted independence just as the SOVIETS gracefully did in early 1990s.
The partition of the British Indian subcontinent first in 1905 and then in 1947 should show Delhi the right way for peaceful solution not only of the majority-minority issue that has taken once again over the years dangerous turn in various parts of India but also for yielding to the inalienable right of self-determination of the people are concerned.

M.T. Hussain
Dhaka-1206
12 October 2008