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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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HINDU NATIONALISM : THE FIRST PHASE |
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a result of this reconstructed Hindu nationalism, "the
demand for full independence was for the first time understood by
great numbers of Indians, and a sincere pride in the Indian heritage
made that demand into more than an academic assertion of natural
rights."
As I see it, our history of the past two centuries has been the history of the rise of Hindus after a lapse of centuries of Muslim invasions and rule. This is a wholly revisionist view of history and would be resisted by the dominant elite which has both made history in this period and written it. But precisely because mine is a radical departure, it merits being spelt out even if it is possible to do so only in bold strokes. I regard the task urgent in view of the havoc that history, as written and taught, has wrought. The Hindu re-emergence took place under the auspices of the British, which is one reason why the phenomenon has not been seen to be what it has, in fact, been. The British disarmed the peasantry and established the rule of law; they ensured that education and commercial enterprise (and not the sword) would be the gateways to success and prosperity. These measures were a handicap for the Muslim elite which had all along relied on the sword to establish and sustain its hegemony.
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| About Hindu Nationalism: The First Phase |
