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A study in perceptive
Political awakening of Bengali Muslims
Dr. Shireen Hasan Osmany
Human behaviour -- be it political, social, economic or cultural -- is primarily conditioned by the way he relates himself to cosmic frame of reference and to his fellow human beings. Like individual human beings, human groups also tend to place themselves at the focus of the universe and visualise everything else in reference to the centrality of their own security, peace and well-being. The same holds true for the Muslims of Bengal individually and collectively. The Muslims of Bengal ever since they arrived in this geographical location sometime in the ninth century, have always sought to establish a viable equilibrium with the local political and socio-cultural environment in the context of their faith, tenets and the concept of duties and responsibilities that follow as a logical extension of that faith.
Spiritual dimension
A strictly monotheistic concept of the Creator and sustainer of the universe is the fundamental point of Muslim faith. The spiritual dimension of Muslim consciousness is based on this cardinal principle of faith. Some basic ramifications of such a Unitarian concept of the Creator include the universality of man's duty to his Creator and his fellow beings. A Muslim consequently does not see himself constrained by the limits of space and time. Thus in the quest of new horizons for dissemination of this divine message, when the Arab traders and saints landed on the shores of Bengal, hundreds of years before the arrival of Muslim conquerors, they did not feel themselves alien to the land.
The Muslim traders and saints made Bengal their own country. In social and spiritual terms they established a horizontal relationship with the Buddhists and Hindus who were the two predominant religious groups in Bengal at that time. Politically speaking these early Muslims accepted a vertically subordinate status to the Buddhists and Hindu rulers of the time. Economically they were neither ambitious nor indolent. Since almost all of these immigrant Muslims were males, they took local converted women as wives under Islamic Law.
Low-caste Hindus, Buddhists
Since Islam, as a system of faith and social values, made an entry into Bengal without political or military overtones or objective, neither the Muslims nor the Hindus had, initially, cause for security concerns. As Islam gradually sought to attract converts to its growing fold by offering a respectable human status to the outcasts like Buddhists and lower-caste Hindus a cause for political alarm arose. As hostility against the Muslims gained momentum among the upper caste Hindus, the Muslim conquerors were already galloping across northern and central India towards the plains of Bengal. The early historical phase of Muslim consciousness in Bengal ended with the arrival of Muslim rulers in the thirteenth century.
Like all human groups, the Muslims in Bangladesh have been fairly conscious of their history. This sense of history was not confined to the history of the Muslims in one single geographical location but on a global perspective. Therefore historically the Muslims of Bangladesh have been conscious of their global experience and global role. Such a global sense of history and consciousness of a universal role helped the early Muslims to successfully overcome the challenges presented by the local society.
Bakhtiyar's conquest: Social justice, harmony
With the conquest of Bengal by Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1204 A.D. the Muslims found themselves in a superior position in political and military context. This change in the political frame of reference signalled the dawn of a new era of Muslim consciousness in Bangladesh.
The Muslims manifested a greater awareness of their duty towards fellow human beings in terms of establishing better C and in the spread of education among the local population who were denied these basic human rights under the Brahmanical system of rigid class structure of society in which the lower castes and the Buddhists were not entitled to be treated with human dignity and respect. Mass ignorance was the instrument of control by the ruling Brahmins.
The Muslim rulers of Bengal initiated a new age of humanising process for the masses who suffered the ignominy of being untouchables for centuries under Aryan political domination. The Muslim rulers also established an elaborate system of mass education in keeping with the great emphasis that Islam places on education and learning.
"There is no compulsion in religion." Inadmissibility of compulsion in the process of seeking the spread of Islam in Bengal was thus always at the centre of the consciousness of the Muslims about their role both as rulers and preachers. There is no historical evidence that Muslims in Bengal and for that matter anywhere else in India resorted to force in large scale conversion of locals to their faith.
On the contrary, socio-anthropological evidence tends to confirm the success of nonviolent and humanitarian approach of Muslims in spreading the message of Islam. In fact the use of compulsion would have been the very anti-thesis of Quranic teachings. Faith is a matter of intellectual surrender and physical force can neither dominate nor control the intellectual behaviour of' man.
Classless Islamic philosophy: convergence with Hindus, Buddhists
The period of almost six centuries (1204 to 1757 AD) of Muslim rule in Bengal was thus characterised by a glorious period of communal peace and harmony, spread of Islam by the sheer merit of its superior spiritual and moral appeal, spread of education at a popular level and above all by a historic process of restoring human dignity, respect and social justice among all classes of the population.
The roots of benevolent attitude of the Muslim rulers, educators and preachers to local rites and ceremonies can be traced to the teachings of the Holy Quran. This, coupled with a generous policy of pragmatism, humanism and egalitarianism followed by the Muslim rulers, created a congenial set of political parameters for a degree of convergence between the followers of all faiths in the socio-economic aspects of life. The spiritual divergences between unequivocal monotheism and the Hindu polytheism remained at the root of Muslim awareness of their separate ideals and identities, despite the process of socio-cultural convergence during Muslim rule.
The classless mystic philosophy of Islam, introduced in Benga1 by Muslim Sufis and saints, brought a new message of hope in terms of human dignity and honour for the Buddhists, monotheistic school of Hinduism, and the lower caste Hindu untouchables. The popular acceptance and universal veneration of Muslim saints and savants were a significant tribute by the local population, of all persuasions of faiths, about the non-military and non-political nature of introduction of Islam in Bengal.
Condition of Muslims after 1757
In a historical context the evolution of the awareness of the Bengali Muslims of their distinct and different identity and aspirations went through identifiable phases. The first phase lasted from about the 8th century to 1204 i.e. Muslim conquest of Bengal. The second phase 1204-1757 ended with the loss of Muslim political power in Bengal to the East India Company in the battle of Plassey in 1757.
The third and the fourth phases ran almost concurrently during the British colonial rule up to 1947. The third phase of Muslim consciousness in Bengal was typified by the response of the Muslims of Bengal to their loss of political power to the British.
During the same period the fourth phase of Muslim consciousness evolved through the process of response of Muslims of Bengal to Hindu ascendancy in the economic and intellectual spheres of Bengali life under British patronage.
The political experience of Bengali Muslims in the polity of Pakistan between 1947 and 1971 marked the fifth phase in the evolution of the consciousness of their identity and destiny. The sixth and current phase of Bangladeshi Muslim consciousness began with the Declaration of Independence and subsequent liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. The major distinguishing features of these phases in the evolution of Muslim consciousness include the changing, security parameters and consequent flux in the perception of the Bengali Muslim about his identity, honour and destiny.
Bengali Muslims converged with Hindus, Buddhists
The loss of the political power in 1757 to the British signalled the loss of will and ability of the Muslims of Bengal to protect their separate identity and to shape their destiny. The dethronement from the seat of state power left the Bengali Muslims intellectually bewildered and economically impoverished.
It took them almost one hundred years to come to terms with the changed political fortunes and new economic and cultural realities. Their historic reaction against British ascendancy marked the third phase in the evolution of their awareness of their current and future status under the British. They found themselves not only under the British but also below the Hindus in economic and educational activities.
Shared hope and mysticism were among the major integrative factors of the society of Bangladesh which embraced Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims. Six hundred years of Muslim rule in Bengal engendered a measure of economic and social convergence among the votaries of all faiths. But this trend of harmony and homogeneity was not to last.
British policy: Divide and Rule
British imperialism and its atrocious policies of Divide and Rule unleashed a vicious history of divergence, asymmetry and animosity in the Bengali society. The political ways of Hindus and Muslims parted forever. Economic and cultural antagonism and conflict continued to aggravate during two centuries of British colonialism. Muslims and Hindus increasingly found it difficult to perceive a common destiny. The Muslims of Bengal, of all economic and social classes, came closer and closer on a common platform of general consensus about their fear for survival as a political, religious, economic and cultural entity.
Bengal unlike the rest of India had experienced a half-century of British rule before it had spread over the other regions. As a result it came under significant British influence and produced a new English educated class that brought about radical changes in Indian society and customs. During the beginning of the nineteenth century the group that spearheaded this cultural movement to be known in history as the 'Bengal Renaissance' were the Hindus.
Frustration
The Bengali Muslims did not find any reflection of their aspirations in this Renaissance. Western education was the principal force behind the Bengal Renaissance. As the Muslims did not accept Western education they lagged behind in all economic and political activities as a community.
The upper class Muslims could have taken advantage of Western education but did not. Having been the ruling class they hated the new order that had robbed them of their power and position; frustrated and hurt, therefore, they created a cocoon of exclusiveness around them. One way to maintain this exclusiveness was to cling to the traditional system of education. Moreover, Indian nationalism at this initial stage as Jawaharlal Nehru himself stated, was dominated by Hindus and had a Hinduised look, so a conflict arose in the Muslim mind. Many accepted that nationalism, trying to influence it in the direction of their choice, while many stayed away as they saw it as an articulation of Hindu aspiration.
Gap between two classes
From the second half of the nineteenth century Bengali Muslim leaders began to appreciate the need for 'change among the Muslims. The social, cultural, intellectual and linguistic gap between the early Urdu and Persian-speaking leaders of Bengali Muslims and the vast masses of Bangla-speaking Muslims hindered the growth of popular awareness and movement for political rights and roles. Further the Muslim society in Bengal during that period was divided into two broad groups-the aristocrats and the common people. The aristocrats were those Mussalmans who came to Bengal from outside and had settled here. The common people were usually the converted Muslims.
There was a wide gap between these two classes. The Muslim elite lived in the towns either in or around the court of the Nawab or served the Nawab in the army or in other capacity. This group spoke mostly Urdu and had little contact with the Muslim rural population whose language was Bengali. The Muslim population of Bengal was thus divided by linguistic and cultural barrier which retarded the development of the Muslim community. The efforts of Nawab Abdul Latif, Syed Amir Ali, the two great Bengali leaders, foundered on the unbridgeable gaps that separated the Ashraf from the Atraf.
Nawab Abdul Latif and MLS
In 1863 the Muhammadan Literary Society (MLS) of Calcutta was founded. Explaining the need for the MLS Nawab Abdul Latif stated, "Being fully aware of the prejudice and exclusiveness of the Mohammadan community and anxious to imbue its members with a desire to interest themselves in Western learning and progress, and to give them an opportunity for the cultivation of social and intellectual intercourse with the best representatives of English and Hindu society, I founded the Muhammadan Literary Society in April 1863". The society was successful in creating a considerable interest among the Muslims of the upper class and in giving them a platform from where to voice their grievances and in drawing the attention and sympathy of the British Government towards their need.
Syed Amir Ali was perhaps the first among the Muslims of India to perceive the need of a political organisation for the Muslims. He believed that unless the political training of the Muslim community in India "ran on parallel lines with that of their Hindu compatriots they were certain to be submerged in the rising tide of the new nationalism."
Amir Ali's NMA
In 1878 Amir Ali formed the National Muhammadan Association (NMA). The aim of the Association was largely political. In order to have an effective political organisation reresenting the Muslims of the whole of India, Syed Amir Ali wanted the support of Syed Ahmed Khan, the great Muslim leader of Northern India. In this, Sycd Ahmed Khan declined.
Writing to Ghulam Niaz Khan he explained why: "Amir Ali himself came to me and had argued and insisted that I should join the National Muhammadan Association. But I think it is not wise on the part of the Muslims to adopt political agitation."
He believed that the Muslims of India should concentrate their energy in educating themselves on Western line first. Moreover, it is possible that since the literacy rate in East Bengal was higher than among the Muslims of the north, Syed Ahmed did not support the initiatives of Syed Amir Ali for political reasons. Calcutta was still the capital of British India and the formation of a Calcutta-based Muslim political party might have been seen to confer on the Muslims of Bengal a leading role who were "much more politically conscious and active than its western counterpart."
It is worth noting that the first Indian Muslim member of I.C.S. through competition was Gaznafar Ali Khan who was from East Bengal.
Eye-opener for Syed Ahmed
The birth of the Indian National Congress and its claim to represent all the Indian communities made Syed Ahmed Khan acknowledge his mistake and the soundness of Amir Ali's policy.
Amir Ali wrote in his memoirs that Syed Ahmed Khan "pinned his faith on English education and academic training" and did not admit "the correctness of my forecast.... but I believe that the birth of the Indian National Congress opened his eyes." In two speeches -- one at Lucknow in 1887 and the other at Meerut in 1888 -- Syed Ahmed Khan rejected the claims of the Congress to speak for the whole of India. He pointed out that the Congress represented only the Hindus of Bengal; and warned the Muslim community against the disastrous consequences of joining the Congress.
Both the Muhammadan Literary Society and the Central National Muhammadan Association were against the Muslims joining the Indian National Congress. Rejecting the invitation of the Congress to join it, Nawab Abdul Latif replied, "This committee of the Muhammadan Literary Society of Calcutta... do not anticipate any benefit to be derived from further discussion of the difficult and momentous questions likely to occupy the deliberations of the Congress."
Answering the invitation of the Congress to join it, the Central National Muhammadan Association replied on similar lines. Its Secretary stated, "This Committee think that no possible advantage will result either to their community or the country at large by assuming an attitude of uneasiness towards the government and the steps it has taken, and intends to take."
Strong political impetus
Formation of the Congress thus -- like the Bengal Renaissance -- gave a strong political impetus, even a rude shock to the Muslims of Bengal for articulating a political platform of their own. This was probably the second impetus received by the Muslims of Bengal towards organising themselves into a political entity for seeking a secured existence and better control over their destiny. Muslims of Bengal, notwithstanding their unpreparedness in terms of education, economic and social coherence had to move ahead with a political organisation of their own.
The formation of the Congress thus carried the inevitable seeds of Muslim League, which saw the light of the day after two decades of the establishment of the Congress.
With the formation of the Congress, Hindu-Muslim confrontation became more frequent and intense. Since the Hindus of Bengal became politically more organised, they became stronger in the practical assertion of their views on social life. New issues of confrontation were invented none of which existed for centuries.
Tension and conflict began
Muslims and Hindus had lived a life of cooperation and coexistence over a period of six centuries. But suddenly the growth of Congress fostered a period of ascending tension and conflict between Bengali Hindus and Muslims. This was not so much a matter of coincidence. The nature of Congress ideals and leadership almost guaranteed this sharp deterioration in the inter-communal trust, confidence and peace. During this period nationalism among the Bengali Muslims was mainly inspired by religious sentiments and a sense of self-preservation.
Over the years that followed Hindu-Muslirn relationship became strained. The begali periodical Naba Noor complained of the efforts the Hindus were making for stopping the Muslims from getting government jobs. It wrote, "It has been proved in practice that Muslim officials are not inferior to Hindus in efficiency. Yet the oppression of Hindu officials makes it difficult for Muslims to get on at the initial stage; when they saw that their monopoly was being broken, Hindus strove with redoubled zeal to make out that Muslim officials were stupid... Why go on uselessly trying to create unity if our Hindu brethren feel so upset as soon as one or two Muslims get a job alongside hundreds and hundreds of Hindus?"
Similar feeling was expressed by Nowsher Ali Khan Yusufzai. He wrote, "... it is a matter of great regret that at the present moment there exists no friendly relationship between them (the two communities). If those who being fully aware of the backwardness of the Muslims in matters of education cry for the introduction of competitive examination in public services, is it not only fair on the part of the Muslims to suspect their sincerity? If a representative form of government is introduced in this country, very few or none would be elected from among the Muslims as they are at present very backward.
"The Muslims have every reason to disbelieve the assurances of those who, knowing this fact full well are trying their best to introduce such a form of government."
The relationship continued to deteriorate even as late as 1918. The Al-Islam periodical alleged, "Muslims do not seem to have any right to such positions as Chairman, Vice-Chairman or member of the Local Boards, District Boards and Municipalities which are granted by the government to the people of this country as a token of self-government in addition to government posts. By fair means or foul Hindus exclude Muslims from these posts and enjoy almost all of them themselves. Yet Muslims constitute 52 per cent of the population of this Province (Bengal). In these circumstances, since Muslims are unable to compete with Hindus they ask for the right of the separate electorates. The Hindus are impeding the achievements of Muslims' aims by tumultuous agitation against them..."
Political awakening
Socially too the differences between the two communities came into sharp focus when religious sentiments made them clash with one another. The Hindus considered the Muslims as untouchables and called them yavanas and mlechchha meaning foreigners; but "the words were used contemptuously; both implied that the person is unclean and his touch would pollute food, utensils, the dining area and even the fire place. Orthodox Hindus would take a bath after the day's business if it has brought them into contact with non-Hindus."
This infuriated the Muslims. The Naba Noour wrote, "We Muslims shall continue to take it as a terrible term of abuse until the real meaning of the word Yavana has been settled." The Kohinoor, another Muslim newspaper, regarded the use of the term Yavana as an attempt to oust Muslims (the Yavana clan) from India with the pen instead of the sword. The practice of sacrificing cows during Bakar Eid (festival of cow sacrifice) also became a source of constant conflict between the Hindus and Muslims.
The Hindus regarded the cow as sacred while the Muslims regarded its sacrifice during Bakar Id as a religious obligation. Hence almost every year during Bakar Eid, Hindu-Muslim riots occurred. The riots became so frequent that it drew the attention of the Viceroy, Lord Lansdowne who opined that since the days of the mutiny no other movement had contained in it a greater degree of potential mischief. What made this movement infinitely more dangerous than any other was that it united the educated Hindus, who were expressing their discontent through Congress, with the great uneducated mass.
Voluntary associations to protect the cows known as Gorakshini Sabas (Cow protection societies) grew up. The leaders of this movement delivered inflammatory speeches to their co-religionists and wrote in newspapers and distributed pamphlets. The main purpose of the movement was, "to incite the religious feeling of the Hindu masses and to turn it against the Muslims." One effect was the cruelty the Hindu Zamindars inflicted on their Muslim cultivators for performing cow-sacrifices.
Partition of Bengal annulled
From 1880 onwards therefore it was a time of increasing Muslim consciousness and political awakening: "During it Bengali Muslims gained a clearer picture not only of their situation, but also of who they themselves were and what they wanted." During this period too they learnt that loyalty to the British Government did not pay.
Nawab Mohsinul Mulk wrote in 1905, "In view of how Muslim rights are being suppressed, their aims are being attacked and articles are being written, how is it possible for Muslims to remain silent and yet to avoid loss on account of their silence? To do nothing and to confine our efforts to education alone is an impracticable proposition." The truth of this statement struck them more when in 1911 under pressure from the Hindu community the Partition of Bengal was annulled.
Bengal was partitioned in 1905. In that year the provinces of Bengal and Assam were re-constituted so as to form two provinces of manageable size. The new province to be known as "Eastern Bengal and Assam" had a Muslim majority and included Assam and the divisions of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chittagong (excluding Darjeeling district) and the district of Maldah.
Bengali journal Jyoti
When the idea of the partition of the province was first placed before the people of Eastern Bengal they treated it cautiously. But soon they realised that with Dhaka as the capital of the new province and Chittagong as its main port, the fortunes of the Muslims of the region would change.
The Bengali journal Jyoti, which had previously opposed the transfer of Chittagong to Assam, wrote in 1903, "The dismemberment although painful at first, will in the end be conducive to health. . . We are constrained to say that Calcutta people have very little sympathy with the people of East Bengal . . . Many people fear that the proposed dismemberment will, if carried out, ruin many traditions. But there is, as a matter of fact, hardly any work of the Chittagong people which will be seriously affected by the change. If Chittagong is any day made the capital of a province, that day will be the most auspicious to its inhabitants. We pray to God that Chittagong may shake off the slavery of Bengal and become prosperous."
The Bengali Hindus on the other hand reacted sharply against the Partition of Bengal as it affected the political, social and economic advantages which they were enjoying with Bengal under one Lieutenant Governor. Being educationally advanced they were holding all important as well as almost all non-important government posts. They were lawyers, businessmen and exporters.
New province: antagonism
With the creation of the new province with its Muslim predominance they feared that business would not be as before, and that they would have to shift to Calcutta which would entail large investment by them. As a result an anti-partition movement was started which soon took the form of a communal movement.
Dr. M. D. Chughtai points out, "The predominance of the Muslims in the new province seemed to be a major factor that irritated the Hindus and their opposition to the partition became in effect an opposition to Muslim feelings and interests."
The Hindu leaders claimed that the partition meant the vivisection of the motherland--an insult to goddess Kali who symbolised the motherland. They adopted Bande Mataram (Hail mothers) as their national song. This song taken from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel Ananda Math (The Abbey of Bliss) had for its theme the Sanyasi rebellion against Muslim rule in Bengal in the 1770s and was an anti-Muslim slogan. Its extensive use offended Muslims and led to Hindu-Muslim riots in Bengal.
Lack of Muslim leadership
A noteworthy feature during the nineteenth century was the lack of proper leadership in Muslim Bengal. Muslim leadership was socially fragmented, politically biased and without any meaningful communication between the leaders and the masses. The essentially localised and fragmented leadership was further complicated by personal ambitions and probably genuine differences in the level of perception of the leaders.
In the .nineteenth century the illiterate and poor Muslims, the peasants and artisans, had no one to turn to for advice and guidance except towards reformers like Haji Shariatullah, Pir Dudu Mia or Titumir who were totally ignorant of the new ideas and forces that were going to shape the destiny of all communities.
The educated Bengali Muslims who could have guided them were the aristocrats and the middle class; but this class confined their activities in the city of Calcutta and used Urdu as their language for communication and therefore could not reach the general masses of the Bengali people who spoke Bangla.
Moreover, the two Bengali Muslim leaders, Nawab Abdul Latif and Syed Ameer Ali could not work together and unite the Muslims within a single movement as they never could agree on a common policy. Wilfred Scawen Blunt noted, "It is a pity they hate each other so that they cannot join in any common action."Furthermore, since the movements launched by these two leaders were essentially personality-centered and depended for their continuity on two individuals these movements could not survive their sponsors.
Thus the movement started by Nawab Abdul Latif lost its effectiveness with his death in 1893 as did also Ameer Ali's with his appointment as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1890. The Muslims of Bengal thus till the birth of the Muslim League in 1906, had as their leaders in the main religious men known as Ulema. "For these men," as M.N. Islam points out, "Islam was everything, and everything meant the Caliphs and their understanding of the shariat."
1857 uprising: British eliminated Bengali Muslims from defence
The first Hindu-Muslim national uprising in 1857 against the British gave a deathblow to the Muslims of Bengal. The British blamed the Muslims for it and took a series of measures to cripple them. One immediate action was the deliberate elimination of Bengalis and central Indians from the defence forces and induction of the loyalist Punjabis in their place.
The political backbone of the Bengali Muslims was broken and henceforth any Muslim with leadership aspirations was anxious to first prove his loyalty to the British. As a result from that time onward the Bengali Muslims were hesitant to involve themselves in any political activity for fear of drawing the wrath of the British Raj on them once again.
Shaikh Abdus Sobhan, a Bengali Muslim writer, expressed concern of all the Muslims of Bengal about taking part in politics when he stated in his book Hindu Mussalman, "If now the Muslims join the Hindus and the National Congress then the British will regard the Muslims as unruly characters.... And if in future the Hindus take resort to any irresponsible acts, then the British government will hold only the Muslims responsible for them and regard them as rebels and will probably treat them in such a manner as one should treat rebels." Fear of British reprisal therefore seems to have been another factor in preventing the Bengali Muslims for a while from taking any new initiative in politics.
In the meantime, with the growth and development of the Aligarh movement, the Muslims of Northern India were forging ahead. The rise of the All-India Congress made the Muslims take a broader look, and when they [Muslims of North India] extended their cooperation, the leaderless Muslims of Bengal gladly accepted their offer and merged themselves with the Aligarh Movement.
With the joining of forces of the Muslims of Bengal and North India, Bangladeshi nationalism, based on the feeling of Islamic brotherhood, took a significant step forward. Thus the Muslims of Bengal established their superior commitment to Islamic identity by merging their political dreams with the Mulsims of the rest of India. This stood in contrast with the refusal of Syed Ahmed to unite forces with Ameer Ali of Bengal.
Dhaka 1906: Nawab Salimullah led Muslim League
In 1906, under the leadership of Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, the Muslim League came into being in Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh. With its establishment Muslim nationalism in an organised form emerged. In the decades that followed the formation of the Muslim League, the Muslims of the two wings of India--Northern and Eastern (comprising present Bangladesh)-came closer together, in order, first to safeguard their political interest at home and second to promote among the Mussalmans of India the feeling of loyalty to the British Government.
At the time of the formation of the Muslim League Nawab Viqar-ul Mulk had thus stated that the purpose of the League was "to unite (the Muslims) in association so as to make their voice heard above the din of other vociferous parties in India and across the wide areas in England."
1911: Muslims of Bengal betrayed
During the first few years the League expressed a policy of loyalty towards the British Government. But with the annulment of the partition of Bengal in 1911 a gradual change in the policy took place. Muslims of Bengal felt betrayed. Shortly after this a series of events made the Muslims of India realise more and more that in a Hindu-dominated country they must join hands and forget their regional differences if they were to retain their identity and uphold their faith, culture and tradition.
Syed Ismail Hossain Shirazi of Pabna wrote, "The nationality of the Muslims should be nothing else but Mussalman. The Muslims of the whole world profess the same religion, have the same interest, they think alike and work alike. We must inspire our youths with this idea of great national unity."
The need for the Muslims to forge closer links among themselves became more pressing after the collapse of Hindu-Muslim unity and the trust of the Khilafat Non-Cooperation days. Consequently communal tension began to mount and resulted in frequent and tragic communal riots.
Final blow: India Act of 1935
The birth of Hindu Mohasabha at Banaras in 1923 caused further deterioration in Hindu-Muslim relations. Its objectives were Shuddhi and Sangathan. Sangathan meant organising the Hindus against the Muslims and Shuddhi the conversion of all Muslims to Hinduism.
The working of the Government of India Act of 1935 gave the final blow to possible Hindu-Muslim cooperation. For the Muslims in Hindu majority provinces the rule of the Congress ministries -- from July 1937 to October 1939 -- was "nothing short of a nightmare."
In a press statement in December 1939, Sher-e-Bangla FazIul Haq, the Chief Minister of Bengal, wrote that the policy of the Congress was that "the religion of the Muslims must be humbled because was not this the land of the Hindus? Hence the forbidding of Azan, attacks on worshippers in mosques, the insistence on the triumphant passage of noisy processions before mosques at prayer times ... was it strange, then, that tragedy followed tragedy?"
As a result the League's policy underwent a radical change and by 1940 the Muslims no longer wanted an Indian Federation. As the Congress travelled towards the idea of a united India, so did the Muslim League turn towards Muslim independence.
Sher-e-Bangla moved Pakistan Resolution
At the annual session of the Muslim League in Lahore that year Mohammad Ali Jinnah stated that the Hindus and Muslims belonged to two separate and distinct nations. And on 23rd March of the same year Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Haq moved the historic Lahore Resolution or Pakistan Resolution which repudiated the unity of India and recommended the creation of independent Muslim states consisting of the Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan in the North-West and Bengal and Assam in the North-East. The idea which thus took hold finally led to the division of India into two countries, India and Pakistan, in 1947. Thus Muslim nationalism triumphed and united whit is now Bangladesh with Pakistan on the ground of religious aspirations.
Bangladeshi nationalism
But soon time was to prove that 'Bangladeshi nationalism' was based on more than just Muslim consciousness and that religion alone did not provide sufficient political basis for holding the two parts of Pakistan together. The Muslims of Bangladesh continued their quest for realising their national aspirations and Pakistan was only a passing phase in the evolution of the Muslim consciousness of Bangladesh.
Dr. Shireen Hasan Osmany is Professor, Department of History, University of Dhaka. She is the author of "Bangladeshi Nationalism: History of Dialectics and Dimensions", published by University Press Limited in 1992; "Bangladeshi Jatiyatabad" in Bangla, published by Bangla Academy in 2004; and "British Policy & the Port of Chittagong (1892--1912)", published by University Grants Commission in 2007.
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