Skip to main content

When Savarkar said he had 'no quarrel' with Jinnah’s two-nation theory

Savarkar
By Shamsul Islam*
The Hindu Mahasabha under the presidentship of VD Savarkar aligned with the British masters to crush the Quit India Movement in 1942. The Responsive Cooperation with the British was not only a theoretical commitment. It soon got concretized in ganging up of the Hindu Mahasabha with the Muslim League.
When all political organizations, including the Congress, were banned, only the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League were allowed to function. And it was during this period that the Hindu Mahasabha led by Savarkar ran coalition governments with the Muslim League. Savarkar defended this nexus in his presidential speech to the Kanpur session of the Hindu Mahasabha in the following words:
“In practical politics also the Mahasabha knows that we must advance through reasonable compromises. Witness the fact that only recently in Sind, the Sind Hindu Sabha on invitation had taken the responsibility of joining hands with the League itself in running coalition Government.
"The case of Bengal is well known. Wild Leaguers, whom even the Congress with all its submissiveness could not placate, grew quite reasonably compromising and socialable as soon as they came in contact with the HM and the Coalition government, under the premiership of Fazlul Huq and the able lead of our esteemed Mahasabha leader Dr Syama Prasad Mookerji, functioned successfully for a year or so to the benefit of both the communities.” (VD Savarkar, "Samagra Savarkar Wangmaya: Hindu Rashtra Darshan", Vol 6, Maharashtra Prantik Hindusabha, Poona, 1963, pp 479-480.)
As explained by Savarkar in the Muslim League Bengal ministry, the second-in-command of the Mahasabha, Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee was deputy to the Muslim League head of the ministry. Mukherjee also held portfolio of suppressing of the Quit India Movement.
The Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League, besides Bengal and Sind, ran coalition government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) also during this period.
Savarkar joined hands with the League when the Congress opposed any dealing with the Muslim League. Dhananjay Keer in his biography of Savarkar, which is hailed as the most authentic by the Hinduvta icon's fans, admits that Savarkar had advised the Hindu leaders in the Muslim majority provinces to join ministries formed by the Muslim League.
In fact, both had been working in tandem for a couple of years. While addressing the Madura Conference of the Hindu Mahasabha (22nd session) in 1940, Savarkar admitted that his party was aligning with Muslim groups in different provinces in opposition to the Congress. His following words only corroborate the fact that Hindu-Muslim communalists had united against the Congress:
"At several places they (the Hindu Mahasabhaites) succeeded in inflicting defeats on the Congress candidates and today representatives of the Hindu Sanghatanist party form so influential minority in the provincial legislatures and some of the local bodies as to be able very often to hold the balance so as to influence the formation of the Moslem Ministries themselves. In addition to that, there are two to three Hindu Ministers in the (Muslim) Ministry itself who are pledged to the Hindu ticket. " (VD Savarkar, "Samagra Savarkar Wangmaya: Hindu Rashtra Darshan", Vol 6, Maharashtra Prantik Hindusabha, Poona, 1963, p 399.)
Jinnah

Savarkar's two-nation theory

For a complete appraisal of Savarkar's role in advancing two-nation theory in pre-Independence India, we must get acquainted with his words and deeds while he was a freeman, guiding the Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1942. These are available under the caption, "Hindu Rashtra Darshan", published by the Hindu Mahasabha, Maharashtra. While delivering presidential address to the 19th Hindu Mahasabha session at Ahmedabad in 1937, Savarkar unequivocally declared:
"As it is, there are two antagonistic nations living side by side in India, several infantile politicians commit the serious mistake in supposing that India is already welded into a harmonious nation, or that it could be welded thus for the mere wish to do so. These were well meaning but unthinking friends take their dreams for realities.
"That is why they are impatient of communal tangles and attribute them to communal organizations. But the solid fact is that the so-called communal questions are but a legacy handed down to us by centuries of cultural, religious and national antagonism between the Hindus and Moslems...
"Let us bravely face unpleasant facts as they are. India cannot be assumed today to be a unitarian and homogenous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations in the main: the Hindus and the Moslems, in India."
(VD Savarkar, "Samagra Savarkar Wangmaya: Hindu Rashtra Darshan", Vol 6, Maharashtra Prantik Hindusabha, Poona, 1963, p 296.)
Thus, Savarkar, long before Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s adoption of the two-nation theory in 1940, was preaching it. Both stood together against Indian nationalism. Importantly, when the League passed its Pakistan resolution in Lahore (March 1940) Jinnah specifically referred to the above words of Savarkar in defence his brand of the two-nation theory.
Savarkar was not to be left behind in this thanks giving exercise. While addressing a press conference in Nagpur on August 15, 1943, he went to the extent of saying, “I have no quarrel with Mr Jinnah’s two-nation theory. We, Hindus, are a nation by ourselves and it is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two nations” (cited in "Indian Annual Register", 1943, Vol 2, p 10.)
Savarkar’s belief in two-nation theory led him also to believe that the Muslim League exclusively represented all Muslims and the Hindu Mahasabha exclusively represented all Hindus. Savarkar, in the course of his presidential address to the 22nd session of the Hindu Mahasabha at Madura, thanked,
"His Excellency the Viceroy for having deliberately and decisively recognized (sic) the position of the Hindu Mahasabha as… the most outstanding representative Hindu body and finally coming to the conclusion that the Moslim (sic) League represents the Moslem interests, the Hindu Mahasabha the Hindu interest…" (VD Savarkar, "Samagra Savarkar Wangmaya: Hindu Rashtra Darshan", Vol 6, Maharashtra Prantik Hindusabha, Poona, 1963, p 407.)
Dr BR Ambedkar, a keen observer and critic of the competitive Hindu-Muslim communal politics in pre-independence India, was candid in his belief that: 
"Strange as it may appear, Mr Savarkar and Mr Jinnah instead of being opposed to each other on the one nation versus two nations issue are in complete agreement about it. Both not only agree, but insist that there are two nations in India -- one the Muslim nation and the other Hindu nation. They differ only as regards the terms and conditions on which the two nations must live. (BR Ambedkar, "Pakistan or the Partition of India", Government of Maharashtra, Bombay, 1990 [reprint of 1946 edition], p142.)
If Savarkar with such anti-national ideas and practices to his credit can be awarded the highest national honour; Bharat Ratna, who can stop Mohammed Ali Jinnah from claiming the same?
---
*Well-known political science, formerly with Delhi University, Prof Islam's writings and video interviews/debates can be read here. Twitter: @shamsforjustice. Blog: http://shamsforpeace.blogspot.com/. Contact: notoinjustice@gmail.com

Comments

Nazrul Islam said…
Dear colleague:

You will be glad to know that my book, "Rivers and Sustainable Development" is getting published by the Oxford University Press. The book gives considerable coverage to the Narmada Bachao Andolon. In doing so it uses the image below

https://i2.wp.com/feminisminindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/narmada.jpg?fit=630%2C420&ssl=1

Credit for this image was given to Counterview. I would like to get the permission to use it in mya book above.

I couldn't find appropriate contact information in Counterview website about where to send this request. So I will appreciate if you kindly send it to whoever can give a response to this request. I will very much appreciate getting the permission.

Best regards,
Dr. Nazrul Islam
New York



Editor said…
Dear Dr Islam: Thanks for your interest. If I correctly remember, it is a photograph provided by NBA. We are a blog and not a formal, professional website. As for any formal permission, can you contact NBA leaders, especially Medha Patkar? Am sure, they will gladly agree. Thanks

TRENDING

Aurangzeb’s last will recorded by his Maulvi: Allah shouldn't make anyone emperor

By Mohan Guruswamy  Aurangzeb’s grave is a simple slab open to the sky lying along the roadside at Khuldabad near Aurangabad. I once stopped by to marvel at the tomb of an Emperor of India whose empire was as large as Ashoka the Great's. It was only post 1857 when Victoria's domain exceeded this. The epitaph reads: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast." (The rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave) The modest tomb of Aurangzeb is perhaps the least recognised legacies of the Mughal Emperor who ruled the land for fifty eventful years. He was not a builder having expended his long tenure in war and conquest. Towards the end of his reign and life, he realised the futility of it all. He wrote: "Allah should not make anyone an emperor. The most unfortunate person is he who becomes one." Aurangzeb’s last will was re...

Beyond his riding skill, Karl Umrigar was admired for his radiance, sportsmanship, and affability

By Harsh Thakor*  Karl Umrigar's name remains etched in the annals of Indian horse racing, a testament to a talent tragically cut short. An accident on the racetrack at the tender age of nineteen robbed India of a rider on the cusp of greatness. Had he survived, there's little doubt he would have ascended to international stature, possibly becoming the greatest Indian jockey ever. Even 46 years after his death, his name shines brightly, reminiscent of an inextinguishable star. His cousin, Pesi Shroff, himself blossomed into one of the most celebrated jockeys in Indian horse racing.

PUCL files complaint with SC against Gujarat police, municipal authorities for 'unlawful' demolitions, custodial 'violence'

By A Representative   The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has lodged a formal complaint with the Chief Justice of India, urging the Supreme Court to initiate suo-moto contempt proceedings against the police and municipal authorities in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The complaint alleges that these officials have engaged in unlawful demolitions and custodial violence, in direct violation of a Supreme Court order issued in November 2024.

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das*  India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on. A soft attitude always creates strong relationships. A relationship should not depend only on spoken words. They should rely on understanding the unspoken feeling too. So w...

State Human Rights Commission directs authorities to uphold environmental rights in Vadodara's Vishwamitri River Project

By A Representative  The Gujarat State Human Rights Commission (GSHRC) has ordered state and Vadodara municipal authorities to strictly comply with environmental and human rights safeguards during the Vishwamitri River Rejuvenation Project, stressing that the river’s degradation disproportionately affects marginalized communities and violates citizens’ rights to a healthy environment.  The Commission mandated an immediate halt to ecologically destructive practices, rehabilitation of affected communities, transparent adherence to National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders, and public consultations with experts and residents.   The order follows the Concerned Citizens of Vadodara coalition—environmentalists, ecologists, and urban planners—submitting a detailed letter to authorities, amplifying calls for accountability. The group warned that current plans to “re-section” and “desilt” the river contradict the NGT’s 2021 Vishwamitri River Action Plan, which prioritizes floodpla...

Haven't done a good deed, inner soul is cursing me as sinner: Aurangzeb's last 'will'

Counterview Desk The Tomb of Aurangzeb, the last of the strong Mughal emperors, located in Khuldabad, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, has this epitaph inscribed on it: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e maa ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast" (the rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave).

CPM’s evaluation of BJP reflects its political character and its reluctance to take on battle against neo-fascism

By Harsh Thakor*  A controversial debate has emerged in the revolutionary camp regarding the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s categorization of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Many Communists criticize the CPM’s reluctance to label the BJP as a fascist party and India as a fascist state. Various factors must be considered to arrive at an accurate assessment. Understanding the original meaning and historical development of fascism is essential, as well as analyzing how it manifests in the present global and national context.

How polarization between different ideological trends within the communist movement sharpened in India

By Harsh Thakor*  This article is a rejoinder to A Note on Slogans of “Left Unity,” “Unity of the Communist Revolutionaries” and “Mass Line” by Umair Ahmed, published on the Nazariya blog .

Implications of deaths of Maoist leaders G. Renuka and Ankeshwarapu Sarayya in Chhattisgarh

By Harsh Thakor*  In the wake of recent security operations in southern Chhattisgarh, two senior Maoist leaders, G. Renuka and Ankeshwarapu Sarayya, were killed. These operations, which took place amidst a historically significant Maoist presence, resulted in the deaths of 31 individuals on March 20th and 16 more three days prior.

राजस्थान, मध्यप्रदेश, पश्चिम बंगाल, झारखंड और केरल फिसड्डी: जल जीवन मिशन के लक्ष्य को पाने समन्वित प्रयास जरूरी

- राज कुमार सिन्हा*  जल संसाधन से जुड़ी स्थायी समिति ने वर्तमान लोकसभा सत्र में पेश रिपोर्ट में बताया है कि "नल से जल" मिशन में राजस्थान, मध्यप्रदेश, पश्चिम बंगाल, झारखंड और केरल फिसड्डी साबित हुए हैं। जबकि देश के 11 राज्यों में शत-प्रतिशत ग्रामीणों को नल से जल आपूर्ति शुरू कर दी गई है। रिपोर्ट में समिति ने केंद्र सरकार को सिफारिश की है कि मिशन पुरा करने में राज्य सरकारों की समस्याओं पर गौर किया जाए।