Muslim Separatism: Causes and Consequences

by Sita Ram Goel

Muslim Separatism: Causes And Consequences presents the author’s views on the factors that resulted in the partition and the reasons for the continuing communal tensions in the country.

India was under foreign rule for more than a thousand years before achieving independence. The muslim invaders had already established their hold over Hindustan and had been trying to convert the native population into Islam.

The author says that this struggle between the ruling Muslims and the Hindu subjects had been going on for a long time before the European powers, especially the British, came to India. While the northern part of India was quickly conquered, there was strong resistance to the Muslims in the south which lasted till the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire

Even after this, during the period of the Mughals, there was resistance again when the Maratha Empire reached its height under Shivaji. This constant struggle kept the conflict burning between the communities. The British used this to their advantage in their policy of divide and rule.

The author uses a book written by H V Sheshadri, The Tragic Story Of The Partition, to present most of his viewpoints. In this, the author presents the distinct behaviour patterns of the Muslim Leadership and that of the Nationalist Leadership. While the Muslims were aggressive, separatist and insistent upon retaining their rights and privileges, the nationalists, according to the author, were primarily weak and appeasing to all the Muslim leaders’ demands.

The author states that even after independence, these attitudes prevail, strengthening Islamic separatism and extremism. He also criticises the Indian idea of secularism. He says that the group that calls itself secular is opposed to anything Hindu and does not use the same scale while examining the actions of other communities.

The author has summed up the history, politics and the motivations behind the communal tensions and attitudes and has presented his views on the reasons for the Partition and explains why these factors still play a role in keeping the country divided.

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction, Islam

135 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Sita Ram Goel (16 October 1921 – 3 December 2003) was an Indian religious and political activist, writer and publisher in the late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-communist and also wrote extensively on the damage to Indian culture and heritage wrought by expansionist Islam and missionary activities of Christianity. In his later career he emerged as a commentator on Indian politics, and adhered to Hindu nationalism.

Reviews

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really an opening book. How to avoid the formation of another Pakistan or Bangladesh within the territories of the Indian Union? The book answer to that question. This book is still apply in current situation.
Highly recommend this book for all well wishers of India.

[Arun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book puts the partition in a historical sense and establishes its links with the period earlier than 1857. It makes you look at partition not as a closed chapter but as an ongoing process.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book: Muslim Separatism: Causes and Consequences
Author: Sita Ram Goel
Publisher: Voice of India (1 August 2011)
Language: ‎ English
Paperback: ‎ 128 pages
Price: 150/-

ভারতবর্ষের প্রেক্ষিতে লেখা বই। ফলত ভারতেতিহাসের অলিগলিতে ঘুরে বেরিয়েছে।

কিন্তু বইটির বিশ্লেষণগত সার্থকতা এখানেই যে, লেখক এক্কেবারে সোর্স টেক্সটগুলি ডিকোড করার চেষ্টা করেছেন।

লিবু মানুষজনের ব্যাখ্যা কেমন জানেন ?

তাঁরা বলেন যে, দেশভাগ তো শুধু সিরিল র্যাডক্লিফের তৈরি সীমারেখা নয়, ছিন্নমূল মানুষের মনেরও দ্বিধাদীর্ণ বিভাজন।

তবু, কিছু কাল আগে পর্যন্তও তথ্যনিষ্ঠ, লেখ্যাগার-নির্ভর, তথাকথিত উচ্চমার্গীয় ইতিহাস দেশভাগ-জনিত ব্যথা, বেদনাবোধ এবং সর্বোপরি মানসিকতার ইতিহাস রচনার কলাকৌশল ঠিক আয়ত্ত করতে সক্ষম ছিল না।

সুখের কথা, মহাফেজখানার দলিল-দস্তাবেজের বাইরে অন্য ধরনের তথ্যসূত্রের সাহায্যে এই মানবিক ট্র্যাজেডিকে ধরার প্রয়াসও শুরু হয়েছে আস্তে আস্তে।

দেশভাগের গল্প বলতে গিয়ে আধুনিক লিবারাল লোকজন উদ্বাস্তু মানুষের অভিজ্ঞতাকে গুরুত্ব দেয়।

ভারত ও পাকিস্তানে দুই পঞ্জাবের উদ্বাস্তু মহিলাদের অভিজ্ঞতাকে উল্টেপাল্টে দেখে সেই প্রয়াসে এক নতুন মাত্রা যোগ করেন তাঁরা।

আর প্রায় একই সময়ে আরব ডলার পুষ্ট আঁতেলরা বলেন যে, দেশভাগের আগুনে দগ্ধ হয়েছেন এমন মানুষদের দৃষ্টিকোণ থেকেই খুঁজে পেতে হবে দেশভাগের অন্যতর ইতিহাস।

আরে রোগটা সেখানে স্রেফ ফেটে বেরিয়ে এসেছিল দাদারা।

সমস্যাটা এতটাই লঘু নাকি ?

পূর্ব ভারতের দেশভাগ ও ভিটে থেকে উৎখাত-হওয়া হিন্দু শরণার্থীদের কাহিনি যদি জটিল মনে হয়, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ছেড়ে চলে যাওয়া বাঙালি মুসলমানদের গল্পটি কিঞ্চিৎ জটিলতর।

এঁরা অনেকেই স্বাধীনতার স্বাদ নিয়েছেন— এবং শরণার্থীও হয়েছেন— দু’বার, ১৯৪৭-এ এবং ১৯৭১-এ।

এক জীবনে দু’বার আশ্রয়চ্যুত হয়ে নোঙরহীন নৌকোর মতো চলার অভিজ্ঞতা কার ক্ষেত্রে কী রকম?

এই বইয়ের লেখক বলছেন:

The distortion cannot be dismissed as an injury inflicted in the past when the British presided over our education.

The distortion is still being dished out by all our educational institutions and is being made progressively more pernicious.

The government of an independent India is now concocting a s t i ll more mischievous version of Indian history and selling it on a large scale in the name of national integration.

No one seems to know that the old British version has been radically revised in recent years by the British scholars themselves.

It is true that Hindu society had never written its own history in the modern sense of the subject. It had never searched for archaeological and archival materials to knit together an account of monarchs and ministers or of military generals and civil administrators.

We should be grateful to the British and other Western scholars for digging up our past and giving us a lead in writing our history in a modern and more ordered manner.

What we are pointing out is that the Western version of our history was not always objective.

Quite often, this version was vitiated by cultural presuppositions and prejudices of which Western scholars had failed to purge themselves.

In certain cases, this version was politically motivated as well.

আধুনিক ভারতের মুসলিম বিচ্ছিন্নতাবাদ ও তার মনন বুঝতে এই বইটি পড়ুন।

আমি হঠাৎ করে এই বইটি নিয়ে লিখতুম না। লিখতে বাধ্য করলো হিন্দু উগ্রপন্থী তাত্বিক Soham Paul লিখিত দীপ্ত ভটচাজের বইয়ের ভূমিকার কয়েকটা বাক্য।

অনেক অনেক পিছিয়ে আছেন আপনারা তাত্বিক যুদ্ধে।

ইতিহাসের ঋণাত্মক বা নেগেটিভ ব্যালেন্স কতটা ভয়ঙ্কর, তার আন্দাজ নেই বোধকরি আপনাদের। হোলি ফ্যামিলির এক জায়গায় এঙ্গেলস বলছেন :

"History does nothing, it “possesses no immense wealth”, it “wages no battles”. It is man, real, living man who does all that, who possesses and fights; “history” is not, as it were, a person apart, using man as a means to achieve its own aims; history is nothing but the activity of man pursuing his aims...":

আর এই বইয়ের লেখক বলছেন:

“Since 1947, India, a leading champion of secularism and the home of the most ancient philosophies known to man has witnessed more than 20,000 incidents of serious communal rioting.

Every year the number of Muslims who fall victim grows larger.” We leave the statistics in this statement to the Government of India.

They have been cited by a spokesman of the Arabs whose causes our Government defends, day in and day out. But we cannot help being grateful to Javed for presenting India as the home of the most ancient philosophies known to man. We do not mind it at all that the compliment carries as a taunt.

Truth needs telling, whatever the twist. The worst liar in the world has a right to tell the truth once in a while.

We wish and hope that the Ulama and the Sufis of Islam in Indian will also admit this great truth, and stop denouncing this country as an area of darkness which Islam has to illumine.

We appeal to the worthies of the Jama’at-i-Islami in particular and Muslims in general to study some of these most ancient philosophies to which Javed has referred.

We assure them that they will find it a refreshing change from the cock-and-bull stories on which they have been fed so far by the Quran and the Hadis....

আপনারা রাজনৈতিক ক্যাঁচাল করে চলুন ভায়েনসুদের দল। এক হাতে ভিক্ষার বাটি ও অন্য হাতে শিশ্ন পাকড়িয়ে থাকবে আপনার আগামী।

ডেমোগ্রাফি ইজ এ বিচ।

ট্রাস্ট মি।

[Shikhar Amar · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this polarised world the only way to remain sane is by reading books from both the left and right wings of politics.

“You can live amicably with a religion whose principle is toleration. But how is it
possible to live with a religion whose principle is ‘I will not tolerate?’
- Sri Aurobindo (1923)

[Shailesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant & must read book for all Hindus to understand that the core tenets of Islam sow the seeds of partition long before the Muslim league.

The book is a commentary on the book The Tragic Story of Partition by Shri Seshadri.

The book articulates the frustration of Islamic ideology that it failed to conquer India in 5 centuries

This book written in 1985 will be relevant even for another 30 years from now. Lot of behaviour that we observe today is explained quite well.

[Bhawna Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always find myself amazed after reading Sita Ram Goel's book because it remains so relevant to today's situations. It really shows that all of this has been going on forever. It's a must-read for anyone who thinks it's all just in the minds of the 'Sanghis'.

However, I would like to point out that it would have been better if Goel ji had included the darker side of Akbar as well. I'm sure he wasn't praising him, just trying to highlight a difference, but including the part where Akbar committed genocide in Chittorgarh, killing over 30,000 innocent commoners , along with his other atrocities, was necessary, even if it was just a few lines. Otherwise, those who are only looking for a way to justify their psuedo-secularism will cling to this.

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indian school textbooks on its modern history follow a formulaic approach to explain how and why demands of partition arose in British India that finally led to its division on religious grounds. We were taught that the British masters cleverly employed a ‘Divide and Rule’ policy which split the opposition to their rule and then played one party against the other. If you read only the text books, this idea would always look fine and satisfying. But the moment you apply commonsense to critically observe the happenings around you (one such thing is the presence of prayer rooms in busy restaurants, but this is the latest fad that comes to mind) or simply read other books, problems start to rise. From personal experience, the first doubt I felt was whether Hindus and Muslims lived in perfect peace and harmony BEFORE the British came on the scene. The vague hint from text books was that it wasn’t so. Further books on medieval history convinced me beyond doubt that what preceded the British era was almost a millennium of unceasing Muslim invasions that looted the country, destroyed its temples, forcibly converted multitudes, captured its inhabitants to slavery and robbed its women to sultans’ harems, all the while expressing the utmost contempt and derision for anything and everything Indian. Those who doubt this conclusion need only to consider the striking similarities in the remarks about India made by Babur and Thomas Babington Macaulay. So I came to the realization that we were ALREADY divided when the British arrived. The next question would be what makes us divided or separated. The answer came in the post-Covid period when a lot of ex-Muslims gave vent to their feelings in social media about Islamic injunctions that advocate a sense of exclusivity and intolerance to other faiths. It is amazing that this book has gone to the root cause of the problem forty years before and thus lighted up several dark corners of inconsistency in the traditional secularist narrative. Sitaram Goel is an insightful historian, writer and activist who need no introduction.

Goel claims that there is a fundamental difference between Islam and other religions. Islam came to India as a fully developed ideology of an aggressive and self-righteous imperialism rather than merely a religion. However, Indians mistook it as just another religion and accorded the necessary respect. This imperialism which ruled India for at least seven centuries was unseated by the Marathas, Sikhs and Jats at first and then by the British. But the mindset of superiority and overlordship remained with its adherents and the residues of Islamic imperialism always sided with the British which made the struggle for independence much more difficult. It had one more bout of vigorous manifestation in the demand for partition. Goel advocates that Indian society must do some hard thinking on how to tackle this ideology. Instead, it has adopted some soft and soothing slogans. One such slogan is that the British sowed the seeds of discord between Hindus and Muslims. However, on closer inspection, it can be seen that they had employed the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy on other matters as well. The dichotomies they raked up or simply invented include the Aryans vs Dravidians, martial races vs others, scheduled castes vs others and so on. But as soon as the British readied to depart, all these misgivings were forgotten but the Muslim question remained. The remainder of this book examines why.

Another basic trait of Islam is analysed next. The Islamic theology didn’t come to terms with reality in moments of defeat. Never for an instant its scholars could countenance or reconcile with a victory for the other side. This is because the superiority of the believers against the infidels is hammered home very early on into their minds. In such a scenario, only one factor could explain defeat and that is the estrangement of god which can be set right by more fierce piety. This type of piety is a dangerous thing which made its swordsmen behave as brutally as they did. The author alleges that the Sufis who don a deceiving mantle of eclecticism are in fact fanatics trying to convert the unbelievers in a sweet but treacherous manner. Hence the mullahs and Sufis would not let the swordsmen relax and threatened them with hell if they turned away from the ‘divine work’ of subjugating the whole world under the banner of Islam. Contrary to Islam’s tall claims of professing equality of manhood, the author exposes the partisan nature of its scholars’ proselytization plans. Shah Waliullah’s book ‘Fuyud al-Harmeyn’ advises that the leading members of the infidels are to be converted. The lower classes are to be left alone to work in the fields and for paying jizya. They, like beasts of burden or agricultural livestock, are to be kept in abject misery and despair.

Then comes Goel’s bold leap to investigate why Islam is different from other religions as far as nationalism is concerned. Muslims are divinely ordained to belong to a supra-national brotherhood (ummah) containing believers from all parts of the world. Leaders of the Indian National Congress continued to foster the illusion that the residues of Islamic imperialism could be mobilized in the fight for freedom from the British. As they offered more and more concessions to placate the Muslim hardliners, the demands grew more and more strident and at last they asked for the ultimate prize – a separate nation. That too was reluctantly conceded, but the basic issue of non-assimilation continues to fester in the ‘secular’ country which remained after the dismemberment. Lala Lajpat Rai made a deep study of the Koran and Hadees (traditions of the Prophet) and revealed the divine injunctions contained in them that forbade the Muslims from mixing with the infidels. Instead, they are commanded to conquer and rule over them in the most brutal way, which was exactly what the Muslim invaders were doing over those centuries of utter misfortune for India. Rai was so taken aback by the reality he discovered as to fervently pray for his reading to be erroneous and a solution to this problem could be found. Gandhi wrote something similar in 1924 that corroborates what Rai said: “my own experience confirms that the Mussulman as a rule is a bully” (p.97), but Gandhi didn’t bother to trace this behaviour to the founding tenets of the religion which continued to be a ‘noble faith’ for him – alleges Goel.

So far, we could have dismissed all that happened as old history which came to an end when Pakistan was created to accommodate Muslim demands. But Goel asserts that the same Muslim behaviour pattern that existed prior to 1947 is not rooted out and continues to grow in independent and secular India in ominous proportions. The same old pattern of crying victimhood and discrimination are being raised again and again. Fanatics claim that the economically poor minority community is being persecuted and Muslim lives, properties and honour are not safe amidst rising Hindu communalism and chauvinism which try to wipe out all traces of Muslim culture and religion. Goel made this warning in 1985 but the script even now continues to run line by line in complete agreement with what he prophesied. But our national behaviour in the face of this religious pattern remained true to type even after 1947. The leadership failed to see the pattern and long term strategy at the back of short term tactics. Solid Muslim vote banks ensured their silent obedience. The author then cautions us that the same sin and folly which the national leadership committed in the name of Hindu-Muslim unity in the years before partition continues to be committed by all national political parties in the name of secularism.

Finally, Goel summarizes the basic Islamic teachings and proves that it divides the human family into two factions – believers and infidels; human history into two periods – the age of ignorance and enlightenment; the inhabited earth into two – the lands of the believers (dar ul-Islam) and infidels (dar ul-harb) and postulate a permanent war between these two divisions until the infidels convert to the ‘true faith’ or pay jizya and remain as Dhimmis (second-class citizens).

At only 128 pages, the book is very short but the ideas conveyed in it are very profound, appropriate and timely for India’s continuance and longevity as a secular country. The clarity of Goel’s thought is amazing and he expresses it with sincerity and conviction but with a touch of disappointment at its futility to awaken awareness among Indians. Readers cannot stop at this one book of the author and would surely seek out other titles from the same pen. This book is actually a review or summary of H V Seshadri’s book, ‘The Tragic Story of Partition’. ‘Residues of Islamic imperialism’ is a new term coined in this book to denote the mindset and the zealots who want to give primacy to religion over the nation. A careful study of the term would convince anybody of the truth in that contention.

The book is highly recommended.

[Abhishek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certain characteristics characterize SRG's writing: concise content, scathing criticism, meticulous detail, and bludgeoning impact. Muslim Separatism: Causes and Consequences is no exception.

This is a review of the seminal book, 'The Tragic Story of Partition' by H.V. Seshadri. SRG, while broadly agreeing with the clarity and retelling of H.V. Seshadri, adds his own opinions where he differs from the author. The book delves into the causes that led to the partition of India and how the Hindu society and the leaders of the Indian National Congress failed and continue to fail to understand the consciousness of Islam and the sinister nature of the 'residues of Islamic imperialism' - the people and movement that emerged post the downfall of the Mughal empire.

SRG is a master at both rising up the patriot within us while making us hang our heads in shame when we realize how the misjudgments and lack of insight into the mind of the enemy led to the bloody massacre of an ancient civilization and its people. He provides a continuity of the stream of thought among Muslims right from the fall of the Mughal empire to reclaim India as a whole and places all of their actions before and during the freedom struggle in that context. From the Wahabbi movement inspired by Shah Waliullah, followed by Ahmad Shah Abdali, Abdul Aziz, Syed Ahmed Barelvi, Titu, and Dudhu Mian, to finally the father of the two-nation theory, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, SRG traces the underlying motive and cause of jihad until partition. He laments how the national leadership under the Indian National Congress failed to have any sense of historical perspective and thus kept losing ground to the Muslims as they sided for and against the British at their convenience.

It is important to note that SRG gives credit where due, primarily to the British for their meticulous study of Indian history, geology, and scriptures and rigorously documenting them to lead us to write our history in a more modern and ordered manner. He praises the shining beacons of our national resurgence, starting with Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. It is unfortunate that despite such stalwarts trying to shake us from our slumber and open our eyes to the greatness of our spiritual and cultural heritage, the leaders of the Indian National Congress were blinded by the promises and ideologies purported by the British and the Muslim league.

One might wonder what the purpose of reading such books might be today, but cliched as it might sound, history does repeat itself. There are many lessons to be learned from India's history, particularly around the independence movement and the partition. For India to progress as a nation and re-assert its civilizational strength and culture, it must learn from the mistakes it made in its past to rise to a confident future.

[Vineet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the people accuse Britishers of ‘Divide and rule’ policy. But there should have sufficient proof that the British were only exploiting the differences that already existed between Hindus and Muslims, and that the British had not created those differences because Separatism was stock-in-trade of Muslim leadership and British made use of it for their own purpose. The Islam in its very nature is dividing which divides human family into believers and infidels, Human history into age of ignorance and age of enlightenment, the inhabited earth into Darul Islam and Darul Harb and postulates a permanent war between these divisions.
In this book the author went back in history to analyse Muslim Separatism in India. After decline of Islamic rule in India the Mullas and sufis like Shah Waliullah, Syed Ahmed Barelvi, Shariatullah, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Iqbal,Ahmad Sirhindi etc. started feeling uneasiness and tried their best way to establish the Islamic rule in India again. This is proved from letters written by Waliullah to Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afganistan and other muslim rulers of India to join the fight against Marathas, Jats and Sikhs in establishing Islamic rule in India.
During the freedom struggle britishers observed a rising tide of National Resurgence in Hindu Society. Therefore, they saw in muslims a natural partner to counter this resurgence. The muslims started protesting that parliamentary institutions were not suited at all to them. The leaders of India national congress could think only in terms of parliamentary constitution patterned on the British Model. They could, therefore, see no alternative to winning the trust of minority community and then started surrender of Indian National Congress to end number of illegitimate demands of muslims.
The book has uncovered many truth that many try to avoid discussing. Masterpiece.

[Pramod Pant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good in terms of research and citations, but really bad if weighed on the scale of honesty expected of a historian. The author is very frequently invested emotionally in the issues, and at one place even says, “ We Hindus …..”
But a good buy for a peep into the dark recesses of Islam (not Muslims, as the poor folk are caught up in a pretty bad situation today thanks to the interpreters of their religion) in India. Mullahs and Madrassahs have exploited the Muslims and have done them a disservice.
And a good buy for Muslims too, I’d say!

[Manu Brar · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for every Indian to avoid Khilafat 2.0

[Düsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly logical analysis of the radical islam situation in India. Must read for anyone who wants the real picture.

[Arvind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with a candour and courage of which today's society is painfully bereft.

[Chinmayi S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the absolute gems quoted verbatim from "Holy" books can be found in this book.