The Muslims ... constitute the real minority in India. And unless one gets into the shoes of the Indian Muslims, it will be difficult to have a correct idea of communalism in India and assess the efficacy of Nehru's approach to it. Like most minorities, the Muslims suffer from numerous handicaps. They are the poorest, the least literate, and the most backward section of the Indian population. Their share in civil and military services is far below their numerical ratio. In no sphere of economic activity are they anywhere near the top. Some of the reasons for this sorry state are objective and historical; others flow from their minority status.
India's partition delivered them some staggering blows. Whilst most upper class Muslims migrated to Pakistan, their poor compatriots in India were left leaderless and rudderless. The Muslims who stayed behind were considered crypto-Pakistanis and their loyalty to India was suspect. And the educated, well-to- do section of the Muslims left behind shied away from providing leadership to the community. Owing to their anxiety to establish their nationalist and secular credentials, they preferred to keep aloof from the affairs of their co-religionists. The Congress also unwittingly aggravated the situation. With a view to enlarging its base, it opened its doors to the nationalist Muslim leaders and offered them organizational posts. The resultant departure of secular leadership from within the Muslim community left the field open to the communal elements.
These setbacks left the community floundering and alienated, facing a serious identity crisis. But what has made recovery even more difficult is the existential reality of an Indian Muslim, placed as he is in a sea of Hindus which outnumbers him in the ratio of one to seven. Well-wishers keep advising Muslims to join the national mainstream. But communities are not streams of water which can intermix when brought together.
The predicament faced by Indian Muslims is very real and must be duly recognized. Aside from their all- round deprivation, they continually face discrimination in daily life. It is understandable when many Muslims do not qualify for higher posts. But when they are denied jobs even as peons and constables in fair proportion, it hurts. When in communal riots they are not only the worst sufferers but even the local police and administration play a partisan role, it hurts. When these riots occur mostly in areas where the Muslims have been able to improve their economic status and when whole communities of Muslim craftsmen are wiped out, it hurts.
All these hurts convey a clear and distinct message: you are the target and the victims because you are a Muslim. This not only tends to reinforce their religious identity, but communalizes it to some extent. Against this background, when Muslims are asked to join the national mainstream, they find it a cruel joke.
It is easy to criticize Indian Muslims, as they are vulnerable on many fronts. Living on an environment which they perceive to be hostile, they withdraw into the shell of religiosity. Being on the defensive all the time, they have developed a siege mentality. Their vulnerability impels them to strengthen the fortification within.
"Honest communalism is fear; false communalism is political reaction", said Nehru ... Living in a climate of fear and discrimination, the Muslims had some reason to be communal. But what about the majority communalism, when the Hindus form more than four-fifth of the population and control every aspect of the country's economic and political life?
In fact Hindu bigotry has a pretty ancient lineage. From the earlier times - when the Brahmanical onslaught overcame the challenge of Buddhism, destroyed Buddhist monasteries and killed monks - to the destruction of Babari Masjid, Hinduism has been occasionally seized by bouts of intolerance. The modern phase of Hindu communalism starts with the creation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Its ideologue, Golwalkar, said: "Non-Hindu people in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture ... or may stay in the country as wholly subordinate to the Hindus".
What helped the Hindu communalists to stoke the fires of hatred were certain emotive issues of high visibility. In the face of the monolithic doctrinal solidarity of Islam, Hindu pluralism appeared weak. Therefore, some Hindu zealots embarked on a campaign of imparting to Hinduism also a greater cohesion of dogma and practice. The most powerful argument with the Hindu communalists was the Islamic injunction of converting followers of other faiths to Islam. Exaggerated accounts of forcible conversion of Hindus by the Muslims rulers were already a cause of deep offence to the Hindus. When this practice of conversion continued even after Independence, it touched a raw nerve and became a provocation communal issue.
Nehru had once observed, "the communalism of a majority community must of necessity bear a closer resemblance to nationalism than the communalism of the minority." Not surprisingly, the incisive and catchy slogan of the RSS is: Hinduism is Nationalism. All Hindu communalists speak in the name of Hindu Rashtra Whereas all Hindus are supposed to be nationalists by right, the non-Hindus have to prove their patriotic bonafides. These attitudes confront the Muslims with a peculiar dilemma: on the one hand they are accused of not joining the national mainstream; on the other they are found ineligible to join it. (Extracted from The Dynasty by S.S. Gill)
