RETREAT AND RAGE

20. The second proposition is valid, though, as it happened, Sayyid Ahmed failed to overthrow the durbar from his fastness in the Pathan territory partly because he had to spend much of his energy and resources in trying to cope with the unruly Pathans and their shifting loyalties. The British had acquiesced in the movement of men and money from their territories and in the establishment of the Wahhabi headquarters in Patna.

    The jihad however continued even after the Wahhabis had taken over Punjab and the north-west frontier region in 1849. The Wahhabis played a significant role in the Mutiny of 1857 and the establishment of the Dar-ul-Uloom seminary in Deoband, a major centre for training ulema in the subcontinent.

     

21. Pakistani society, it can be argued, is no different from Indian society in respect of its linguistic plurality. But this is a superficial view. While India represents a case of diversity in unity and not of unity in diversity, as Nehru put it disregard of the Vedic-Sanskrit foundation of Indian civilization, Pakistan is a case of diversity in diversity. Islam does impose a form of unity, but from above and outside.

[ Back ] [ Hindu Phenomenon ] [ Up ] [ Next ]