Punjab
Author: Rajmohan Gandhi
Publisher: Aleph, Rs 695
The ‘poisonous winds’ of 1947 go as far back as the Arab invasion of Sind in 712 AD, says Saradindu Mukherji
Rajmohan Gandhi begins the book with the “poisonous winds of 1947” without mentioning their origin. The demand for Pakistan, and the division of Punjab and Bengal in the process, had been based on a particular demographic composition and a separatist mindset. Areas where Hindus and Sikhs had been reduced to minority by Muslims were to be invested with a different status than the rest, and such ideas had been in the air since the 1920s. It is on this basis that Sind, being Muslim majority, was separated from Bombay Presidency in 1936. Hence, the beginning of the “poisonous winds” can be traced to an earlier period — the Arab invasion of Sind and subsequent invasions from Central Asia, laying the foundations of Arab/ Islamic imperialism in India.
Gandhi can’t escape the conclusion if he does not mix up the consequences with the causes. Even if one does not want to go that far, one can’t exonerate Wahabis, Faraizis, Barelvis, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the Aligarh movement and the blunder of Mahatma Gandhi in championing the Khilafat issue, leading to the massacre of thousands of Hindus in Kerala by Moplah Muslims. Moreover, 1947 without Mohammed Ali Jinnah, his “Direct Action” (August 1946) and the Noakhali pogrom (1946) do not make much sense.
The author, while visiting Pakistani Punjab, is “struck by the strong similarities between Delhi and lahore, including an identical mix of Mughal and British monuments”. This is facetious. What is the Hindu/ Sikh population in lahoreIJ Is it higher than in 1947-48, and how is it comparable to an ever increasing Muslim population in DelhiIJ Does he find any Hindu/Sikh holding senior positions in lahoreIJ Certainly not, but there are many Muslims holding senior positions in the Delhi Government.
After Partition, Jawaharlal Nehru had thrust a Muslim league man as the Governor of Indian Punjab, a process which Syama Prasad Mookerjee called “white-capping the Muslim leaguers”! There have been at least three Muslim Governors, two Christians and one Jewish Governor in Indian Punjab. Readers would like to know the number of non-Muslim Governors in Pakistani Punjab. As for monuments, he might ponder as to why no Hindu monument worth the name survives in Pakistani Punjab.
Methodologically, it is perhaps flawed to have two different situations juxtaposed and draw superficial conclusions, and equating Pakistan with India. This is absurd to say the least. The author makes much of ‘Punjabiyat’ and the commonality, yet fails to explain as to why Pakistani Punjab has hardly any trace of pre-Islamic people among them. There is no counterpart of Malerkotla there. It would be revealing to know the number of new Hindu temples, gurdwaras and churches in Pakistani Punjab since 1947.
Based primarily on secondary source materials, the author does not appear to have taken note of one of the earliest works on Punjab by NK Sinha, essays by Rabindranath Tagore, including the memorable poem on Banda Bahadur, and works of David Gilmartin. Be that as it may, the book offers a survey of Punjab over the centuries.
Sufis are given a larger-than-life image by Gandhi, as is the practice among the ‘progressive’ historians in India. Frankly speaking, how many Sufis did ever protest the persecution of Hindus and Sikhs and their forced conversion to IslamIJ He, however, mentions the cases of the sufferings of Hindus/Sikhs at the hands of their Muslim masters. The author traces the emergence of lahore as a prosperous city and its reference in Milton’s Paradise lost (1667)!
He writes well on the rise of Sikhs and their Gurus, foundation of the Sikh empire and, of course, Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He sketches briefly the role of Christian missionaries in converting people, including Dalip Singh, the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, without mentioning the biography of the unfortunate Prince of Punjab (The Exile by Navtej Sarna) or the story of Princess Sophie Duleepsingh, a granddaughter of Ranjit Singh, who lived in England and supported the cause of women’s suffrage. Gandhi also mentions the Arya Samaj movement, the Singh Sabhas and the Ahmadiyas, besides other smaller Muslim and Sikh organisations. It’s a book which promises a lot but fails to deliver that much.
The reviewer teaches history at University of Delhi