04-10-2004, 10:51 AM
III
Is the idea of separation of Pakistan from Hindustan shocking ? If so, let me recall a few facts which are relevant to the issue and which form the basic principles of the Congress policy. It will be remembered that as soon as Mr.Gandhi captured the Congress, he did two things to popularize it. The first thing he did was to introduce Civil Disobedience.
Before Mr. Gandhi 's entry into the politics of India, the parties contending for power were the Congress, the Liberals and the Terrorists of Bengal. The Congress and the Liberals were really one party and there was no distinction between them such as divides them today. We can, therefore, safely say that there were only two parties in India, the Liberals and the Terrorists. In both, the conditions for admission were extremely difficult. In the Liberal Party, the condition for admission was not merely education but a high degree of learning. Without first establishing
a reputation for study, one could never hope to obtain admission to the Liberal Party. It effectively excluded the uneducated from rising to political power. The Terrorists had prescribed the hardest test conceivable. Only those who were prepared to give their lives for the cause, not in the sense of dedicating them but in the sense of dying for it, could become members of their organization. No knave could, therefore, get an entry into the Terrorists' organization. Civil disobedience does not require learning. It does not call for the shedding of life. It is an easy
middle way for that large majority who have no learning and who do not wish to undergo the extreme penalty and at the same time obtain the notoriety of being patriots. It is this middle path which made the Congress more popular than the Liberal Party or the Terrorist Party.
The second thing Mr. Gandhi did was to introduce the principle of Linguistic Provinces. In the constitution that was framed by the Congress under the inspiration and guidance of Mr. Gandhi, India was to be divided into the following
Provinces with the language and headquarters as given below :â
Province Language Headquarters
Ajmere-Merwara Hindustani Ajmere.
Andbra Telegu Madras.
Assam Assamese Gauhati
Bihar Hindustani Patna.
Bengal Bengali Calcutta.
Bombay (City) Marathi-Gujarati Bombay.
Delhi Hindustani Delhi.
Gujarat Gujarati Ahmedabad.
Kamatak Kannada Dharwar
Kerala Malayalam Calicut
Mahakosal Hindustani Jubbulpore
Maharashtra Marathi Poona.
Nagpur Marathi Nagpur.
N. W. F. P. Pushtu Peshawar.
Punjab Punjabi Lahore.
Sind Sindhi Karachi.
Tamil Nadu Tamil Madras.
United Provinces Hindustani Lucknow
Utkal Oriya Cuttack.
Vidarbha(Berar) Maralhi Akola.
In this distribution no attention was paid to considerations of area, population or revenue. The thought that every administrative unit must be capable of supporting and supplying a minimum standard of civilized life, for which it must have sufficient area, sufficient population and sufficient revenue, had no place in this scheme of distribution of areas for provincial purposes. The determining factor was language. No thought was given to the possibility that it might introduce a disruptive force in the already loose structure of the Indian social life. The scheme was, no doubt, put forth with the sole object of winning the people to the Congress by appealing to their local patriotism. The idea of linguistic provinces has come to stay and the demand for giving effect to it has become so insistent and irresistible that the Congress, when it came into power, was forced to put it into effect. Orissa has already been separated from Bihar. 3[f.3] Andhra is demanding separation from Madras. Kamatak is asking for separation from Maharashtra.4[f.4] The only linguistic province that is not demanding separation from Maharashtra is Gujarat Or
rather, Gujarat has given up for the moment the idea of separation. That is probably because Gujarat has realized that union with Maharashtra is, politically as well as commercially, a better investment. Be. that as it may, the fact remains that separation on linguistic basis is now an accepted principle with the Congress.
It is no use saying that the separation of Karnatak and Andhra is based on a linguistic difference and that the claim to separation of Pakistan is based on a cultural difference. This is a distinction without difference. Linguistic difference
is simply another name for cultural difference.
If there is nothing shocking in the separation of Karanatak and Andhra, what is there to shock in the demand for the separation of Pakistan ? If it is disruptive in its effect, it is no more disruptive than the separation of Hindu provinces such as Karnatak from Maharashtra or Andhra from Madras. Pakistan is merely another manifestation of a cultural unit demanding freedom for the growth of its own distinctive culture.
Is the idea of separation of Pakistan from Hindustan shocking ? If so, let me recall a few facts which are relevant to the issue and which form the basic principles of the Congress policy. It will be remembered that as soon as Mr.Gandhi captured the Congress, he did two things to popularize it. The first thing he did was to introduce Civil Disobedience.
Before Mr. Gandhi 's entry into the politics of India, the parties contending for power were the Congress, the Liberals and the Terrorists of Bengal. The Congress and the Liberals were really one party and there was no distinction between them such as divides them today. We can, therefore, safely say that there were only two parties in India, the Liberals and the Terrorists. In both, the conditions for admission were extremely difficult. In the Liberal Party, the condition for admission was not merely education but a high degree of learning. Without first establishing
a reputation for study, one could never hope to obtain admission to the Liberal Party. It effectively excluded the uneducated from rising to political power. The Terrorists had prescribed the hardest test conceivable. Only those who were prepared to give their lives for the cause, not in the sense of dedicating them but in the sense of dying for it, could become members of their organization. No knave could, therefore, get an entry into the Terrorists' organization. Civil disobedience does not require learning. It does not call for the shedding of life. It is an easy
middle way for that large majority who have no learning and who do not wish to undergo the extreme penalty and at the same time obtain the notoriety of being patriots. It is this middle path which made the Congress more popular than the Liberal Party or the Terrorist Party.
The second thing Mr. Gandhi did was to introduce the principle of Linguistic Provinces. In the constitution that was framed by the Congress under the inspiration and guidance of Mr. Gandhi, India was to be divided into the following
Provinces with the language and headquarters as given below :â
Province Language Headquarters
Ajmere-Merwara Hindustani Ajmere.
Andbra Telegu Madras.
Assam Assamese Gauhati
Bihar Hindustani Patna.
Bengal Bengali Calcutta.
Bombay (City) Marathi-Gujarati Bombay.
Delhi Hindustani Delhi.
Gujarat Gujarati Ahmedabad.
Kamatak Kannada Dharwar
Kerala Malayalam Calicut
Mahakosal Hindustani Jubbulpore
Maharashtra Marathi Poona.
Nagpur Marathi Nagpur.
N. W. F. P. Pushtu Peshawar.
Punjab Punjabi Lahore.
Sind Sindhi Karachi.
Tamil Nadu Tamil Madras.
United Provinces Hindustani Lucknow
Utkal Oriya Cuttack.
Vidarbha(Berar) Maralhi Akola.
In this distribution no attention was paid to considerations of area, population or revenue. The thought that every administrative unit must be capable of supporting and supplying a minimum standard of civilized life, for which it must have sufficient area, sufficient population and sufficient revenue, had no place in this scheme of distribution of areas for provincial purposes. The determining factor was language. No thought was given to the possibility that it might introduce a disruptive force in the already loose structure of the Indian social life. The scheme was, no doubt, put forth with the sole object of winning the people to the Congress by appealing to their local patriotism. The idea of linguistic provinces has come to stay and the demand for giving effect to it has become so insistent and irresistible that the Congress, when it came into power, was forced to put it into effect. Orissa has already been separated from Bihar. 3[f.3] Andhra is demanding separation from Madras. Kamatak is asking for separation from Maharashtra.4[f.4] The only linguistic province that is not demanding separation from Maharashtra is Gujarat Or
rather, Gujarat has given up for the moment the idea of separation. That is probably because Gujarat has realized that union with Maharashtra is, politically as well as commercially, a better investment. Be. that as it may, the fact remains that separation on linguistic basis is now an accepted principle with the Congress.
It is no use saying that the separation of Karnatak and Andhra is based on a linguistic difference and that the claim to separation of Pakistan is based on a cultural difference. This is a distinction without difference. Linguistic difference
is simply another name for cultural difference.
If there is nothing shocking in the separation of Karanatak and Andhra, what is there to shock in the demand for the separation of Pakistan ? If it is disruptive in its effect, it is no more disruptive than the separation of Hindu provinces such as Karnatak from Maharashtra or Andhra from Madras. Pakistan is merely another manifestation of a cultural unit demanding freedom for the growth of its own distinctive culture.