A glimpse of history

 

 

Lord Wavell's letter to Leopold Emery is an important document in the history of the British rule in India. The right wing parties of pre-independence India, that had people like Godse as their members, held Mahatma Gandhi responsible for the appeasement of Muslims. But Wavell's letter clearly indicates that Gandhiji was a secular Hindu. But it is also true that Gandhiji's dream of Hindu-Muslim unity fell apart, and to this day the Muslims simply refuse to enter the mainstream of Indian society. Jinnah was right when he said that Muslims and Hindus are foreign to each other. But the fact remains that even after the formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh, Muslims still remain backward and out of sync with modern ideas. There are twenty crore Muslims in India who feel at ease and safe with a Hindu dominated though secular political set up.

Santosh Mohan Joshi

Sangli, Maharashtra