Saheen Bagh
& Sarjeel Imam – an aberration or by design
The
incidents that unfolded in a lightening manner after the passage of the
Citizenship Amendment Bill (now Act) [referred to as CAA hereinafter], got me
thinking about the reasons for such an adverse reaction, particularly when this
amendment in no way was an impediment in the general welfare & position of
the Muslim community per se. However,
the follow up at the now infamous ‘Saheen Bagh’ and the commentaries from its
so called organizers, whom I would like to refer to as perpetrators, especially
the sinister scheme of cutting off of Assam from rest of the Country, tickled
my brain cells to take a look at the issue in a holistic manner.
Assam
struck a chord because my father & uncles were uprooted from their lands
because of the partition as it unfolded and I had heard a lot from my late
father about it, especially about Sylet and his mention of names like
Surawardy, Shaudllah and Gopi Nath Bordoli etc.
Most the newbies, born much after the partition have not even heard
about the miseries brought about by the partition in the life of ordinary
residents on either side and Sylet was not an exception. Therefore, I looked into some books, articles
etc. and this narrative is my own interpretation of the events and is brought
forth to educate the youth about the facts & circumstances. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has
especially segregated the petitions from Assam and Tripura from those emanating
from other States and in order to understand the reason, one has to delve into
history of the region, which is specifically being suppressed by a major
section of the media. Thus, the younger
generation in particular is not aware as to why the people of Assam rose up
against the CAA and the media coloured it, as being an uprising because the
Muslims had not been covered in the said amendment, which is the main stay of
the present campaign in other parts of the country and based on false premises.
I
have a strong belief that the partition of Bengal, over and over again, by the
Britishers was to vent their anger and frustration at the acts of residents of
Bengal, who had spearheaded the independence movement, especially at the final
stages. It could especially be because
of Netaji, whose actions was the final nail in the British coffin that prompted
them to take such drastic action, especially so in Sylet, which was the
breeding ground for many revolutionaries and patriots of that time. I am not delving into much details about the
life and contributions towards independence movement of these luminaries, as it
would take away the narration from the present essence of this write-up.
The
Britishers in order to channelize their ‘Tea Garden’ establishments and
business had amalgamated Sylet with Eastern Bengal & Assam in 1874 and
thereafter, in 1912 brought it into folds of Assam. Both these amalgamations had brought about
intense reactions and resentment, especially from the Bengali Hindus of Sylet,
who wanted to remain with Calcutta (as it was known at that time) and within
the jurisdiction of Calcutta High Court, as they could identify themselves with
Bengali speaking gentry there. However,
despite several assurances given by the Britishers, this request was never
acceded to. The people of Sylet, where
both Hindu and Muslim sects, who were influenced by the contemporary saints of
the Bhakti cult like Chaitainya Maha Prabhu (an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna)
and Muslim saint Shah Jalal (a Sufism follower), had overwhelming influence on
the residents of this district, as both belonged to this region and had
widespread following on either side and acted as a strong cohesive string in
the region.
However, after the amalgamation of
1912 large number of Bengali Hindus from Sylet joined the Government jobs in
Assam Secretariat and this planted seeds of insecurity and fear of being
over-run by Bengali speaking people amongst the Assamese gentry. Thereafter, in late 1920’s when the Khilafat
movement was introduced by Gandhi ji, the concept of separate country for
Muslims had taken firm hold amongst the educated Muslim gentry, despite the
fact that the movement was scrapped by Gandhi ji because of violence associated
with it at a later stage, but the seed of partition planted through this
movement had taken firm roots. In
pursuance of this sinister design to include Assam as part of larger Muslim
nation, the demographic profile of Assam was constantly being changed with
influx of Bengali Muslim population migrating from East Bengal and there was a
substantial rise in their numbers from 1911 to 1941. Despite introduction of ‘Line System’ in 1920
that did not allow immigrant population of settle in certain regions their
influx continued and the Muslim leaders tried all means available to settle
them in Assam. The Muslim dominated
Assembly, continued making all efforts to abolish this line system and when the
Gopinath Bordoloi Ministry took charge on 19th September, 1938 it
was faced with this piquant situation of trying to stop this illegal Muslim
immigration into Assam. However, his
ministry was again brought into minority and Mohammad Sadullah regained power
on 16th November, 1939 and again started tampering the Muslim
immigrant’s settlement in Assam.
Thereafter, in order to further change the demographic profile of Assam,
the Sadullah Government during the 1941 census again tried to tamper with the
records by grouping the residents of Assam by their category i.e. naming them
as tribals instead of earlier religion based identification. This resulted in grouping the indigenous
residents of Assam, who earlier were enrolled themselves as either
Hindus/Buddhists etc., as tribals and this census resulted in reflection of a
huge fall in number of Hindus in the region in the census and explosion of
Muslim population by many folds. For
this his Government came under severe criticism alongwith the land policy being
followed by it and it was forced to tender its resignation on 12th
December, 1941. The resignation was also
perpetrated because of the statement made by one Muslim league member by name
of Kazimuddin Ahmed who stated that – “….We
want to see Assam as Muslim majority province.
The settlement of the immigrants is the best means of doing it”. However, through his machinations Mohammad
Sadullah again returned to power on 25th August, 1942 and again
started following the pre meditated design to settle illegal Muslim immigrants
into the State. The high handed actions
of the Sadullah Government was resented by one and all in Assam, including the
Hindus settled there and finally Sadullah was forced to call for a conference
to debate upon these issues from 16th to 19th December,
1944 of the major opposition parties, who denounced the acts and suggested
reforms vide resolution dated 16th January, 1945. But the same was not implemented and as
Congress gained an upper hand in the Assembly, Sadullah got unnerved because of
stiff opposition to his policies and announced his resignation on 23rd
March, 1945. However, his resignation
was preceded by a secret pack between Gopinath Bordoli, R.K. Choudhury and
Sadullah and accordingly, the ministry was reconstituted with all the five
Muslim ministers being retained in Cabinet alongwith one Tribal and four
non-Muslim members being nominated by the Congress party. Thereafter, the Constituent Assembly was
dissolved on 1st October, 1945 and general elections took place on 9th
January, 1946 in which the Congress party alongwith other parties gained
complete majority and government headed by Sh. Gopinath Bordoli took charge on
11th February, 1946. Thus, it is evident from the narration
hereinabove that the Muslim League and its allies were mainly interested in
incorporating Assam into East Bengal/Pakistan and were using their machinations
to change the demographic profile to Assam by settling illegal Bengali speaking
Muslims in large numbers in Assam and exodus of Hindus was negligible, except
for in respect of Government jobs, for which they were found more suitable.
The other part
of this sordid saga was the design of the Muslim leadership to include Calcutta
(as it was known then) in East Bengal/Pakistan and a brief sketch of this
sinister design requires narration at this point, to stitch together the larger
picture that was being drawn by the Muslim leadership. Calcutta was the only city in the Bengal
region that had a majority of Hindus, but due to larger number of Bengali
Muslims in erstwhile East Bengal, the Government in Bengal was headed by one
uncouth Muslim leader known as H.S Surawardy, who is also known in the annals
of history as the ‘Butcher of Bengal’. The whole of Bengal at that time comprised of
about 42 percent population of Muslims, but Calcutta had around 64 percent
Hindus. This notorious character, who
had assumed power as head of Muslim League Government in Bengal in 1945, after
having been inducted into Constituent Assembly of Bengal in 1937. From the initial days itself, he was hell
bent upon annexing Bengal, especially Calcutta with East Bengal/Pakistan into the
Muslim nation. After assuming power in
1945 he started working with this ulterior motive and the most noteworthy one
is that he started changing the demographic profile of the Calcutta Police by
inducting tribals from North West Frontier Province of Pakistan into the Police forces instead of the
traditional induction, as per the then
prevalent A,B,C,D formula i.e. induction of police constabulary from Arrah,
Balia, Chapra and Deoria who were Bhojpuri speaking people and being well built
and loyal, but were steadfast Hindus following Lord Hanuman and Lord Ram and
reciting the Hanuman Chalisa regularly.
This constabulary did not meet the sinister designs that Surawardy had
in mind, as he was aware that they would not harm the Hindus at any cost and
would rather revolt in case of atrocities were meted out upon Hindus. Therefore, he roped in one ICS Officer named
Niaz Mohammad Khan the then District Magistrate of Midnapore and known for the
perpetration of brutal repressive force upon the protestors during Civil
disobedience movement, who was sent to the North West Frontier Province to
recruit locals for induction into Calcutta Police with intent to Muslimise
it. All this was the build-up for the
final assault to subjugate and terrorize the Hindus to refrain from voting
during referendum. Upon call of Jinnah
for ‘direct action’ against the British Government to force them to implement
the partition on religious lines, it was decided that the same would be
launched on 16th August, 1946. This date was specifically chosen by
Jinnah, as 16th August, 1946 was the eighteenth day of Ramzan and it
was on that day that Prophet Mohammad had waged the bloody Battle of Bard,
which culminated in the first decisive victory for the Prophet over the
heathens and consequent conquest of Mecca.
Radical Islamists celebrated this day as a decisive day for Islam.
As
per the pre-planned action that unfolded on 16th August, 1946 the
Muslim League leader Khawza Nizamuddin was the lead speaker, followed by H.S
Surawardy, who delivered speeches to the Muslims after the Jumma Namaz (Friday prayers) and slogans like -
“Maar ke lenge Pakistan, lad ke lenge Pakistan, le kar rahenge
Pakistan, Allahu Akhbar, nara-i-takhbir”.
were raised and the crowds instigated to
kill Hindus and burn their properties.
The infamous H.S Surawardy had conspired with Bengal Governor of that
time named Fredrick Burrows, an equally infamous character, to block the Police
forces from reaching the riot affected areas.
He had during his speech informed the Muslims about this position, which
had emboldened them further. Thus the ‘Great Calcutta killings’ commenced with
this call in Central Calcutta region and spread all around, the estimated
Muslims engaged in mayhem were estimated between 60,000 to 2,00,000 in numbers
and this mass killings of Hindus continued unabated from 16th August
to 22nd August, 1946. Where
after, the Viceroy’s rule was imposed on 21st August, 1946 and the
battalions of British, Indian and Gurkha troops marched into Calcutta and the
rioting finally stopped on 22nd August, 1946.
As
a reaction to these killings in Calcutta, riots had erupted in adjoining areas
of Bihar and United Province (now Uttar Pradesh), but the most catastrophic
riots took place in Noakhali. As per his
grand plan of annexing entire Bengal with East Pakistan, the nefarious H.S
Suhrawardy’s close associate Gholam Sarwar Husseini, another botched up
character, ran a different kind of ‘Direct action’ and killed an estimated 5000
Hindus and as many number of Hindus were maimed in Noakhali and further, about
4000 Hindu women were raped and thousands of families forcibly converted into
Islam between October and November, 1946 under aegis of the H.S
Suhrawardy. There are a plethora of
communications, in form of letters, establishing the connivance between these
two nefarious Muslims that is available in the National Archines in India and
in the United Kingdom. As a result of
this action the Hindu population of Noakhali declined dramatically, as per the
diabolical plan to these two nefarious characters. Although Gandhi ji tried to intervene and
reached the region on 7th November, 1946, but on persistent
opposition by Muslim League left the place on 2nd March, 1947. Immediately thereafter, the Muslims started
the mayhem against the Hindus all over again and even resorted to burning them
alive. When a fresh appeal was made to
Gandhi ji, he merely stated that Hindus should either leave or perish.
However,
the sad part of this entire sordid drama that had been enacted at the time of
partition of India, particularly by the villainous Surawardy, has been in a
sinister and systemic manner swept under cover, by the Marxist & Nehruvian
historians and this trend still continues today, wherein history and historical
facts are convoluted and concocted to placate a particular community. In this tryst, they have gradually brought
about a stand that H.S Surhawardy, who later went on to become the Prime
Minister of Pakistan, as a respectable figure, contrary to the facts that
history presents before us.
Another clever
narrative devised by these Leftists is the word ‘secular’, which only
encompasses Hindu reactions blown out of proportion and is completely silent on
Muslim atrocities, much akin to the story of ‘Emperor’s new clothes’, where despite the fact that a conman had
made the King walk naked, everyone thought that speaking out the truth, would
make him look like a fool, till a harmless little child pointed out the folly. In the present context, it can be seen that a
rather clean politician, who sees the inherent danger of fracture of our
democracy by the bigots and is acting save the national interest, but because
of his stand every, so called educated Hindu does not like to align with,
because of the fact that if you speak out for Hindus, one is termed as a communal,
bigot and illiterate. In this confusion,
most of educated Hindus have started acting as those characters watching the
King walk naked and rather not talk about it, for the fear of being termed as
illiterate and communal. This is kind
psyche that the leftist & Nehruvian machinations have created, especially
by conspiring and convoluting the text books and historical facts that a modern
day kid is totally unaware of.
From the above
narration it is quite evident that in their grandiose design for making a
comprehensive Muslim nation, their leadership and the community at large, were
besieged with the idea of including Calcutta and whole of Assam into East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh). They had left
no stones unturned to achieve this, as is evident from the narrations
hereinabove. Apparently, this unfinished
task still remains in the memories and is etched in psyche of the Muslim
gentry, who are still trying to achieve it, albeit now with support of some
known Political parties, both in Bengal and elsewhere. Therefore,
what Sarjeel Imam stated in his speech regarding cutting off Assam from rest of
India, is not something that is just an aberration, but it is a sinister historical
design of the particular sect of Muslims, who are still striving to achieve
this. Thus, the rhetoric’s and
chants heard in places like Saheen Bagh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Aligarh
Muslim University, Jadavpur etc., echoes the same narrative that happened
earlier in history and more recently in erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir in early
1990’s, when the Kashmiri Pandits were thrown out of their own land, can be deciphered
as the bugle of the same sinister design that is again being nurtured for
fracturing the nation further on religious lines. The Citizenship Amendment Act in no way
affects the rights of the Muslims residing in India in any manner, but is an
enabling provision for granting citizenship to minorities in some neighbouring
Islamic nations. Whereas, the National
Register of Citizens is maintained in most of the countries across the globe,
is being opposed by a particular community in connivance with certain political
parties, with the same design that was being followed in the past, the aim being
to annexe Assam prior to partition. The
same agenda is now again being brought to fore i.e. to increase their
population or numbers by hook or by crook and any legal attempt to subvert it
is taken as a challenge by these bigots.
Every rationally thinking individual, who wants to protect his nation
and his identity, needs to look through this sinister design and act
appropriately to defend himself, but by no means as per the methods adopted by
the Muslims in Bengal during pre-independence days. One should stand in unison and deliver their
verdict by their pens and ballots or else if we continue to fall for the
fallacy perpetrated by leftist oriented gentry and acting like so called
seculars, would cost them their dignity and way of life at the end.
© S Roy Biswas
