BJP Leaders' False Cry of ‘Hindus in Danger’ Was Debunked by Sardar Patel in 1950
On the occasion of the celebration of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 150th birth anniversary it is tragic that his rich legacy of uniting India on a secular basis and his exemplary policy of statecraft – rooted in the ideal of neutrality of the Indian state to religion – has been systematically demolished by Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindutva leaders during the last 11 years.
It is all the more shocking that his debunking of the slogan, “Hinduism and Hindus are in danger” on May 15, 1950 in Kerala after the erstwhile princely State of Travancore joined the Indian Union has been revived by these elements.
Hindu deity invoked to thwart Travancore’s accession to India
It is worthwhile to recall that the Hindu Kingdom of Travancore was asked by India’s first deputy prime minister Sardar Patel to join the Indian Union, as he did to other princely States to unify India. The authorities of that Kingdom declined to do so on the ground that its sovereignty flowed from Hindu deity Sri Lord Padmanava who could not be subjected to sovereignty of India. Patel, appalled by the deployment of a Hindu deity to foil the historic efforts for accession of a princely state to India asked “Then please tell me how could Travancore’s rulers allow Lord Padmanabha to become subservient to the British Crown?”
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar the ideologue of Hindutva supported the weird theocratic logic of the rulers of Travancore not to join the Indian Union. Vikram Sampath in his book, Savarkar: A Contested Legacy 1924-66 wrote, "Savarkar’s ill-advised support to the Dewan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, who was planning to declare autonomy and independence of the Hindu princely state, was unfortunate and detrimental to the integration process of the new Indian Union.”
It was Savarkar who was charged by Patel on February 27, 1948, for having conspired to kill Mahatma Gandhi while heading a fanatical wing of the Hindu Mahasabha.
In spite of all such obstacles, eventually the Hindu Kingdom of Travancore joined the Indian union in 1949 marking the triumph of Sardar Patel’s policy of secular management of statecraft.
Myth of Hinduism in danger
When he visited Trivandrum on May 15, 1950 and while addressing a mammoth rally consisting of a lakh of people, Patel appealed to them “…not to be carried by the false cry of ‘Hinduism in danger’ raised by a section of Hindus in Travancore-Cochin State.” He firmly assured them that Hinduism would never be in danger in India, acclaimed as a land of tolerance from time immemorial with all religions flourishing without facing any threat.
On the same day while addressing another massive meeting in Ernakulam, he said, “When I heard some of the people of the State saying for the first time ‘Hinduism in danger’ then I feared whether Hindus had disappeared from here”.
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi he stated, “There was one Hindu who made a reputation for India all over the world. That was Gandhiji. And yet it was a Hindu who killed him”.
He then asked, “Is that Hinduism? Do you preserve Hinduism by that method?”
He candidly referred to the numerous castes, creeds and sub-castes within the Hindu fold and remarked that even amongst the Christians there prevailed such diversities. He then urged, “Let us follow our own religion and if we follow it properly, then nothing is in danger. Let us live as decent men-either Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Parsees. No religion prospers which is based on intolerance”.
Asserting that “Hinduism can never be in danger in India,” he flagged the point that Hindus constituted a vast majority and proceeded to ask, “But even without majority, have we not produced men of religion in the past?” He cited the example of Shankaracharya as one such great soul and emphasised that he never raised the cry of Hinduism in danger. Against that backdrop he forcefully added, “Religion is a matter between the man and his Maker.”
They cry of “Hinduism in danger” raised in the erstwhile Hindu Kingdom of Travancore after its accession to secular India and dismissed by Patel as “a false cry” is now being invoked by the BJP and Hindutva leaders who have sustained a toxic ecosystem to peddle their manufactured narrative which is divisive and polarising.
Causes behind Gandhi’s assassination
The divisive and venomous atmosphere created in 1947, at the time of India’s independence claimed the life of Mahatma Gandhi who was assassinated on January 30, 1948. Sardar Patel, the first home minister of independent India, had banned the RSS on February 4, 1948. He wrote to its chief, M.S. Golwalkar, “All their (RSS leaders’) speeches were full of communal poison. It was not necessary to spread poison in order to enthuse the Hindus and organise for their protection. As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of the sympathy of the Government, or of the people, did not remain for the RSS. …. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhi’s death. Under these conditions, it became inevitable for the Government to take action against the RSS…”
On October 14, 1949, Patel very profoundly said in the Constituent Assembly, “I made it clear that this Constitution of India, of free India, of a secular State will not hereafter be disfigured by any provision on a communal basis.”
On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Patel the fabricated narrative of “Hindu khatre mein hain (Hindus are in danger)” only allows Hindutva forces to disfigure the secular state on a communal basis.
S.N. Sahu served as an officer on special duty to former President K.R. Narayanan.
This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.
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