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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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HINDU NATIONALISM : THE FIRST PHASE |
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was not certain whether Gandhiji had studied with enough care the
history of Islam in India, especially of the so-called reform
movements in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries seeking
effectively to purge it of Hindu influences and practices and thus
destroying the bridges connecting the two. I could find no
explanation worthy of the Mahatma for his decision to accept
leadership of the Khilafat movement. The decision, it seemed to me,
revealed the great man's proverbial Achilles' heel.
On deeper reflection I am not so sure. It now seems to me Gandhiji put aside the issue of the pre-eminence of Hindu civilization because he was convinced that Hindus needed first to overcome their weakness. It is well known that when Mahatma Gandhi arrived on the Indian scene from South Africa, the effort to divide India on religious lines had taken hold and that he struggled all his life to undo the damage in vain. It is not equally well known that an effort to fragment Hindu society on linguistic and caste basis had also been on even much earlier and Gandhiji was able to contain it and instead build a powerful freedom movement. This aspect of the Mahatma's life has unfortunately got obscured with the result that not many of us are aware that Hindu consolidation on a political platform was a primary precondition for a successful independence struggle.
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| About Hindu Nationalism: The First Phase |
