FROM MAULANA'S DESK

movements appear to have been influential, but in terms of results, they produced nothing of value. In fact, their results were completely counter-productive. For example, under Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the movement for Muslim revival succeeded in achieving its goal of a separate state for Muslims in 1947. But this ‘success’ was, in every sense, absolutely unreal. Even before the creation of Pakistan, for all practical purposes—Muslim-majority regions—‘Pakistan’—already existed. The contribution of the Muslim revivalist movement leaders was merely to affix the name ‘Pakistan’ to the former Muslim-majority parts of India. The futility of this movement was further driven home in 1971 when Mr. Jinnah’s lament of a ‘truncated Pakistan’ was further exacerbated with the emergence of Bangladesh, leaving Pakistan weakened. There were many big names associated with the Hindu revivalist movement—B.S. Moonje, V. Savarkar, Dr. Hedgewar, Guru Golwalkar etc. Many impressive organizations emerged from this movement— for instance, the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which won considerable support among the Hindus. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has close ideological and organisational links with the RSS, is today the governing political party in India. Hindu nationalist parties have been active over the years enjoying political power at the state and central levels. But, even Hindu commentators acknowledge that they have been unable to steer the country in the direction of construction and progress. Partitioning India on the basis of religion in the hope of solving the Hindu-Muslim problem proved to be no solution at all. Looked at from any angle, including religion, this was a disaster, the result of destructive politics. From the Islamic point of view, Partition had no justification at all. Islam is a universal religion that addresses the whole of humanity. It is not a mere philosophy. Rather, it is a missionary and revolutionary religion. It does not aim to create insurmountable walls between Muslims and non-Muslims by manufacturing a fictitious ‘two-nation theory’, the theory that Muslims and non-Muslims are two separate and opposing nations—which is Pakistan’s official ideology. Despite this, the movement for the Partition of India gathered pace, and the country’s Muslims lent it their support. In their unthinking Meant to solve the Hindu-Muslim problem, the natural consequence of the Partition was only to further worsen the conflict.