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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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RETREAT AND RAGE |
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a surface view, the Muslim League's campaign for a separate
homeland, culminating in the state of Pakistan in 1947, cannot be
clubbed with movements of demarcation and definition such as the
Faraizi, Wahhabi, Tablighi and so on. Indeed, the memory of having
been India's rulers figured prominently in the mental makeup of the
leaders and supporters of the Pakistan movement.Even so, the fear of
being swallowed back into the Hindu ocean gave it the sweep
and power that it acquired even among Muslims who were to stay on in
the Indian republic. Political separatism was an offshoot of
religious separatism.
Professor Yogendra Singh in
Modernization of Indian Tradition 16
has compared and contrasted Sanskritization among Hindus with
Islamization among Muslims. Both are forms of upward mobility
whereby lower sections of society seek to improve their status. But
there the comparison ends. Professor Singh notes two differences.
First, while "revolt against hierarchy through
Sanskritization implies a withdrawal from tradition....and might
eventually accelerate the pace of modernization",
Islamization, "as a movement of revivalism of basic virtues
in the Islamic tradition...might contribute to greater conservatism
by increasing the hold of the religious elites on the
population" 17. |
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