kaushal< I posted this in the Colonial History thread. Its from deccan Chronicle, 12/10/2005
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The role of quislings
Itihaas by Akhilesh Mithal:
Grozny and Baghdad are the continuation of Dillie and Lucknow in 1857. The White powers continue to think of a world divided in terms of âwe and they.â Asiatics figure as less than human and Muslims continue as a synonym for terrorists.
Perhaps it is time to suggest that the life and times of âBadshah,â âFakhre Afghan,â âFrontier Gandhiâ and âKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khanâ should be made compulsory reading in the chanceries of the world. This apostle of non-violence endured a lifetime of suffering for his principles along with his family. The Khanâs son, Wali Khan spent some time in London studying the papers of British rulers of India such as Viceroys and Secretaries of State and wrote a book called Facts Are Facts in Pushto.
His wife Nasim transliterated it into Urdu and Saiyada Syed Hamid rendered it into English. It was published in 1987 and is now out of print. Wali Khan writes, ââ¦.the Viceroy sent a weekly report to the Secretary of State and the Secretary respondedâ¦through a weekly courier..â
âWhat I discoveredâ¦was far beyond expectationsâ¦I found detailed analysis of the internal affairs of India.â
âI had never really believedâ¦my elders who accused the British of using the most underhand tactics to promote their policies...â
âBut never could I imagine that their allegations were a pale reflection of the truth, the truth was much uglier.â
âTheir mischief exceeded our wildest imaginations. Badshah Khanâs and the (Indian National) Congressâ allegations were far short of the truth. If there was the slightest doubt earlier, it was removed because the documents preserved in the archives bore the official British sealâ¦. signed by no less than the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India.â Wali Khan cites the Partition of Bengal 1905, the Minto-Morley Reforms 1909 and the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms as the devices used by the British to mire nascent India democracy in communalism. The âReformsâ decreed that Muslim votes could only be cast for Muslims and Hindu votes for Hindus.
âIn this manner,â records Wali Khan, âthe British laid communalism as the foundation stone of Indian democracy.â
âBy proposing a communal rather than a national base for politics, they forced the Hindus and Muslims into a position whereby if they wanted to enter municipal or community politics, their electioneering was limited to wooing their religious brethren, and fighting on religious rather than national issues.â
Wali Khan uses the Khilafat movement records to show how the British used their Indian pawns to counter national moves for unity and freedom.
During the World War I (1914-1918) a prime British objective was to wipe out the Ottoman Empire and replace the Sultan of Turkey with puppets. This pattern had worked in India. Maulana Muhammad Ali and Mahatma Gandhi saw through this game and jointly started the Khilafat movement. The Khilafat Committee asked Hindus and Muslims to return all British titles and to resign from any official position they may hold in the police, the army or the civilian wing of the administration. Â
The British responded by having their puppets amongst the Muslims allege that the above demands of the Khilafat Committee were a Hindu ploy to eliminate all chances of Muslim advancement by getting them out of scarce government jobs.
On May 22, 1920 His Exalted Highness, the Nizam of Hyderabad issued a âfirman,â which declared that since the Khilafat movement was anti-Muslim it would henceforth be considered illegal! Another âloyalâ Muslim, Sir Muhammad Shafi gave advice that special efforts needed to be made to lure away Muslims and this could be done by the British making peace with Turkey and organising an Anglo-Muhammadan Union to cater to the needs of the British Empire.
<b>By September 21, 1922, the Viceroy Reading could report to the secretary of state, âMy telegram will show you how near we have been to a complete break between Muslims and Hindus.â âI have been giving the greatest attention to this possibility, and I have had the greatest assistance from Shafi on my council who is a highly respectable Muhammadan.â</b>
We shall, in future columns, show how âhighly respectableâ toadies Muslim, Hindu and Sikh behaved during the struggle for freedom.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I di the highlighting in the other thread.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The role of quislings
Itihaas by Akhilesh Mithal:
Grozny and Baghdad are the continuation of Dillie and Lucknow in 1857. The White powers continue to think of a world divided in terms of âwe and they.â Asiatics figure as less than human and Muslims continue as a synonym for terrorists.
Perhaps it is time to suggest that the life and times of âBadshah,â âFakhre Afghan,â âFrontier Gandhiâ and âKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khanâ should be made compulsory reading in the chanceries of the world. This apostle of non-violence endured a lifetime of suffering for his principles along with his family. The Khanâs son, Wali Khan spent some time in London studying the papers of British rulers of India such as Viceroys and Secretaries of State and wrote a book called Facts Are Facts in Pushto.
His wife Nasim transliterated it into Urdu and Saiyada Syed Hamid rendered it into English. It was published in 1987 and is now out of print. Wali Khan writes, ââ¦.the Viceroy sent a weekly report to the Secretary of State and the Secretary respondedâ¦through a weekly courier..â
âWhat I discoveredâ¦was far beyond expectationsâ¦I found detailed analysis of the internal affairs of India.â
âI had never really believedâ¦my elders who accused the British of using the most underhand tactics to promote their policies...â
âBut never could I imagine that their allegations were a pale reflection of the truth, the truth was much uglier.â
âTheir mischief exceeded our wildest imaginations. Badshah Khanâs and the (Indian National) Congressâ allegations were far short of the truth. If there was the slightest doubt earlier, it was removed because the documents preserved in the archives bore the official British sealâ¦. signed by no less than the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India.â Wali Khan cites the Partition of Bengal 1905, the Minto-Morley Reforms 1909 and the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms as the devices used by the British to mire nascent India democracy in communalism. The âReformsâ decreed that Muslim votes could only be cast for Muslims and Hindu votes for Hindus.
âIn this manner,â records Wali Khan, âthe British laid communalism as the foundation stone of Indian democracy.â
âBy proposing a communal rather than a national base for politics, they forced the Hindus and Muslims into a position whereby if they wanted to enter municipal or community politics, their electioneering was limited to wooing their religious brethren, and fighting on religious rather than national issues.â
Wali Khan uses the Khilafat movement records to show how the British used their Indian pawns to counter national moves for unity and freedom.
During the World War I (1914-1918) a prime British objective was to wipe out the Ottoman Empire and replace the Sultan of Turkey with puppets. This pattern had worked in India. Maulana Muhammad Ali and Mahatma Gandhi saw through this game and jointly started the Khilafat movement. The Khilafat Committee asked Hindus and Muslims to return all British titles and to resign from any official position they may hold in the police, the army or the civilian wing of the administration. Â
The British responded by having their puppets amongst the Muslims allege that the above demands of the Khilafat Committee were a Hindu ploy to eliminate all chances of Muslim advancement by getting them out of scarce government jobs.
On May 22, 1920 His Exalted Highness, the Nizam of Hyderabad issued a âfirman,â which declared that since the Khilafat movement was anti-Muslim it would henceforth be considered illegal! Another âloyalâ Muslim, Sir Muhammad Shafi gave advice that special efforts needed to be made to lure away Muslims and this could be done by the British making peace with Turkey and organising an Anglo-Muhammadan Union to cater to the needs of the British Empire.
<b>By September 21, 1922, the Viceroy Reading could report to the secretary of state, âMy telegram will show you how near we have been to a complete break between Muslims and Hindus.â âI have been giving the greatest attention to this possibility, and I have had the greatest assistance from Shafi on my council who is a highly respectable Muhammadan.â</b>
We shall, in future columns, show how âhighly respectableâ toadies Muslim, Hindu and Sikh behaved during the struggle for freedom.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I di the highlighting in the other thread.