Maududi on the Partition of British India; April 1947

Last Updated on February 4, 2021 by Hamad Subani

The partition of the Indian Subcontinent in 1947 was  a conspiracy which resulted in the largest mass migration in human history, with up to 14.5 million people crossing borders. More than 1.5 million people ended up being killed in the accompanying communal violence, and the structure of the Indo-Islamic Civilization that characterized the Indian subcontinent was changed for the worse. The following article highlights the opposition to the partition by Sayyid Maududi, a Muslim religious leader. His voice of sanity would end up being drowned in the craziness that followed. While the Partition cannot be undone, these writings still remain one of the most prescient views on how the Partition would be counterproductive for all parties involved. In my book, The World War Deception, I independently arrived at the conclusion that the Partition was a management strategy for the New World Order, which was not very different from other “partitions” that took place around the same time (East and West Germany, North and South Korea, North and South Vietnam, North and South Yemen). Maududi on the other hand, had no access to modern day conspiracy literature. Yet, his intuition was strong enough to identify the conspiratorial forces on the Muslim side.

The Partition as a Conspiracy

The Partition can be interpreted as a multi-front conspiracy conducted by the British, which originally began when the British consolidated after 1857. In 1905, the then prosperous province of Bengal was partitioned on religious lines, although few people realized that this was a dry run for the upcoming Partition of the entire nation. But British Colonists could not be motivated to create new nations, only to leave them behind. We are thus left with the possibility of an undocumented force (the Illuminati) operating through them. The British shamefully lent the services of their police and their military to leaders who sought to conduct the Partition. Without this intervention of theirs, the Partition would only be an idea. They would evade responsibility by arranging for India and Pakistan to become “independent” just before the Partition. Even though these two new nations were still in indirect control of the British. The other important proponents of the Partition were Hindu Nationalist and Muslim Nationalist leaders, both groomed by the British. The writings of Maududi which will be discussed concern the follies of these Muslim Nationalist leaders.

The success of both the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East and the Mughal Empire in India derived from their ability to accommodate diverse groups and interests. They created composite cultures where diverse groups would barter their collective strengths to cover collective weaknesses. A case point is that of the military-agricultural complex that brought unprecedented prosperity to Mughal India. While the non-Muslim peasants of North India were always industrious, it was only the umbrella of security given by the Mughal State that made agriculture reach its full potential. Further, unlike European colonists in Australia and the Americas who exterminated locals and created their exclusive enclaves/settlements/colonies, Muslims never sought to segregate themselves from locals. And this intermingling with  non-Muslim populations lead to the spread of Islam, as well as the creation of the Hindi and Urdu languages. In more than 700 years of sporadic Muslim rule over North India, there was not a single instance of Muslims demanding their areas of domination to be segregated from non-Muslims. The sudden Muslim demand for partition was indeed alien to the socio-cultural context of what remained of the Indo-Islamic civilization. And most Muslims of the subcontinent still remain baffled about what hit them  in 1947.

 The region of Pakistan was already a Muslim majority one. The majority of those Muslims that migrated to Pakistan were from the Punjab and Bengal, where communal riots gave them no alternative. It is important to note that the British had deprived their Indian subjects of arms, which they needed to defend themselves. And had Indian Muslims been capable of defending themselves, it is unlikely that communal riots would force them to migrate. For example, despite being in the eye of the storm, the Muslim residents of Old Delhi did not end up being evicted because they sealed their passageways and installed machine gun nests at the entry points of Old Delhi. Among the remainder of Muslims that migrated to Pakistan, most of them were economic migrants, possessing much needed skills and credentials that would be sought in a new country. The tiny remainder consisted of idealists and adventurers who wanted to live the Islamic dream, even though they were fairly vague about how it was to be realized. As the Partition would demonstrate, segregating communities and cloistering them together did not necessarily make them more productive or powerful. For example, Hindus were economically strong in the Muslim areas of Sindh, Punjab and Bengal, which ended up in Pakistan. And Muslims were politically strong in the seat of the Mughal Empire in Central North India. But this region of Uttar Pradesh went to India.

Strangely, something similar happened to the Turks during and after World War I. The Turks would give up their prized Empire and retreat into Turkey, partitioning themselves from their former strongholds in the Middle East. Unlike the case of the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East was already predominantly Muslim. And therefore unlike Indian Muslims, the Turks partitioned themselves not in the name of Islam, but in the name of a racist, virulent Turkic nationalism. They gave up pretensions for an Empire that spanned most of the Middle East for a homeland in the rocky Anatolian Peninsula!

The indication that the Partition was a conspiracy is further supported by the fact that there was no independent inquiry to find out why it had taken place. Both nations immediately sought to bury this event, and given the fact that the “Partition Generation” will soon pass away, there has been no effort whatsoever to preserve their memories and recollections on an official level. Neither was there any UN intervention. Blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of the citizenry of India and Pakistan. This was because a little bit of digging would have revealed conspicuous British involvement.

The failure of Muslim Intelligentsia

While both Hindu and Muslim Nationalists are to blame for the Partition, Maududi’s writings concern the Muslim Intelligentsia, with which he was expertly acquainted. The Muslim Intelligentsia had been destroyed by the British following the events of 1857. Despite the catastrophe of 1857, Muslims continued to be at the forefront of every attempt to resist the British. They were involved in several botched rebellions. But the failure of each of these rebellions brought further destruction of the Muslim Intelligentsia, until what remained of it was a completely demoralized and apologetic literary class in Uttar Pradesh. This new Muslim Intelligentsia, best characterized by the Aligarh University, was sadly usurped by the British administrative system, and became a vector for destructive Western ideas of nationalism, ethnocentrism, communism and socialism. The Aligarh University was initially funded by the Agha Khan (more on him later). It was first called Anglo-Mahomaden College, indicating its British roots. The concept of nationalism is antithetical to Islam. But the Partition would see for the first time ever, “Muslim Nationalism.” Given the fact that British rule prevented the development of a true Muslim Intelligentsia, it could also be argued that Muslims were deliberately deprived of a choice. Thankfully, Maududi was never part of this new Westernised Muslim Intelligentsia. He represented Orthodox Islam of the madrasa, a group which was then considered to be on in its road to extinction.

Was the Agha Khan the real mastermind of the Muslim League?

If we are to assume that the Partition was a conspiracy, then it very likely predated Jinnah. And Jinnah was merely a figurehead of it, just like the many Hindu nationalists on the other side. To this day, there remains a vague sense of whodunit with regards to the Partition. Even poet-philosopher Iqbal is blamed, although he had died well before it. And he had advocated a “separate federation of Muslim Provinces,” not a Partition involving population transfers. Certainly, it was a British conspiracy. But with the British leaving, there had to be another group that would continue to run the show in Pakistan. One group that was very close to the British and continued to operate in Pakistan after they left were the Nizari Ismailis. Was the real mastermind of the Muslim League the spiritual leader of the Nizari Ismailis, the Agha Khan?  Jinnah was a Nizari Ismaili, though he was very private about it. Agha Khan III, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah was one of the main founders of the Muslim League. While the Nizari Ismailis were a tiny minority of subcontinental Muslims, they enjoyed a position of privilege in the British Empire, making them financially and culturally more advanced than the rest of Muslims. On the right is a photograph of Agha Khan III. Despite it’s meme-like quality, it has not been retouched in any way. That is what he really looked like.

The Ismailis still seem to be favoured in the West over regular Muslims. In Canada, warmongering Prime Minister Stephen Harper personally inaugurated their pyramid shaped Ismaili Centre in Toronto. Disgraced Canadian MP Rahim Jafer, who belonged to the same warmongering Conservative Party of Harper, is a Nizari Ismaili. Raging lesbian Muslim “reformer” Irshad Manji is said to be one of them (unconfirmed). Salman Rushdie was named after Ibn Rushd, an Ismaili. Eboo Patel is a member of President Barack Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships is an Ismaili from Mumbai. Tarek Fatah, who gets prime television coverage in Canada for his anti-Islamic views, seems to like the Agha Khan. Freemason Mayor of Calgary Nahid Nenshi is also an Ismaili. Usually, Ismailis have surnames that are slightly different from that of regular Muslims……..*ji, Premji, Nenji, Tyabji, Kaji, Nanji, Manji, *shi, Nenshi, Menshi, Fyzee, *bhai, Bhaiyat, *wala, Patel. And most of them have some connection to the Gujarat region of India. After India became independent, many of them would migrate to Africa along with Gujarati Patel Hindus, only to face animosity from the African people. While it is unclear who was at fault, some African people accused them of exploitation, and of collaborating with the predatory White ruling elite.

Jinnah’s Strange Support for the World War Deception

Among the various tricks and ploys Jinnah used to achieve the partition, the most despicable was the Muslim League’s support for the British when British India was goaded into World War II. This was completely at odds with the traditional Muslim stance of resisting the British at every opportunity. What made it all the more shameful was that the predominantly Hindu Congress Party was opposed to Indian support for the war, and the Congress Provincial Ministers resigned in protest. And another Indian leader Subhash Chandra Bose had already joined the Japanese to fight against the British. This opportunity was taken by Jinnah to put the Muslim League, which already enjoyed state patronage, at the forefront, while other leaders remained jailed. Though it had been founded more than three decades earlier, the League would gather support among South Asian Muslims only during World War II. Jinnah’s support for the British in World War II can never be reconciled with Islam. Not only was he assisting a non-Muslim power, but a predatory one which had established itself as an enemy of the Muslim people throughout the world. In my book The World War Deception, we see clear proof that this war was only for the establishment of the New World Order.

While Jinnah would be enjoying the support and patronage of the British, another Muslim leader belonging to the Congress Party, Maulana Azad launched the Quit India Movement on 8th August 1942. The Japanese were moving up the Malayan Peninsula after the fall of Singapore, and with the resources of the British Empire stretched thin, the Quit India Movement became the biggest threat to the British since the Rebellion of 1857. Maulana Azad was promptly jailed and sent to Ahmadnagar, because of which Mahatma Gandhi had to lead the movement on the 9th of August. The Quit India Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi made the British hasten the independence of the subcontinent. Otherwise, they would have hung around for at least a decade.

Possible Collusion between Muslim Nationalists and Hindu Nationalists

What is even more disturbing about Jinnah’s support for the British in World War II is that the same sentiment was reflected by V.D. Savarkar, a Hindu nationalist advocating partition on the Hindu side. Savarkar criticized the Quit India Movement and instead had his followers join the British effort in World War II. Was there some kind of secret collusion between Muslim nationalists and Hindu nationalists advocating partition?

In 1908, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was tried by the British at the Bombay High Court for “sedition.”  He was awarded six years in jail. The first request for bail was rejected. The second request for bail was made by none other than Barrister Jinnah. It was also rejected. The third request for bail was, however, successful. The trial in the case started later. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, along with two other Hindu Nationalist leaders constituted the Lal Bal Pal trio, which along with Sardar Patel, was the Partition lobby on the Hindu side. Some have found it strange that Jinnah would be on such close terms with a major Hindu Nationalist. Then there is the strange case of Bhai Parmanand. A founder of the Hindu Mahasabha and the proto-socialist Ghadar Party, he was later sentenced to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman islands, only to be pardoned after a few years. Some have doubted whether he was on the island at all, and he could have been receiving training from British Intelligence abroad during this period. He was one of the earliest advocates of the Partition. Here are his thoughts in 1909:

The thoughts jotted down by me on the sheets of paper were broadly speaking, on two subjects, One was “What should be the future constitution of India ?” On this I had written that the seat of the Central Government should be at Delhi and Simla. There should be a separate chamber for Indian princes,—like the House of Lords—the President of which should be the ruler of a state like Nepal. The second topic was the relation between Hindus and Musulmans. At that time it was impossible for me to anticipate the present unity. My idea was that the territory beyond Sindh should be united with Afghanistan and the North West Frontier Province into a great Musulman kingdom. The Hindus of the region should come away, while at the same time Musulmans in the rest of India should go and settle in this territory.

Bhai Parmanand in ~1909, trans. Sundra Iyer and Lal Chand Dhawan, The Story of my Life (Lahore: The Central Hindu Yuvak Sabha). p. 41. Link

One of Jinnah’s mentors in his early years was Gopal Krishna Gokhale. This soft-spoken leader had faith in Western institutions, and was the original pioneer of non-violent reform, which was later adopted by Gandhi.

V.D. Savarkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, scholar Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar (whose wife was Jewish) and the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (Nathuram Godse) all happened to be Chitpavani brahmins, who have a verified Jewish descent. Of course, with the exception of Savarkar, none of them had any connection to the assassination that can be documented. While the Ismaili leader, the Agha Khan, claims descent from the Prophet of Islam, many historical anomalies suggest a Jewish descent here as well. It is unclear how seriously Jinnah took his Ismaili faith. He wasn’t public about it. But if he was a serious devotee, he could have been easily manipulated by the Agha Khan.

It is also interesting to note that Gandhi’s assassin originally sought to kill both Gandhi and Husayn Shaheed Suhrawardy together, a Muslim leader who along with the brother of Subhash Chandra Bose, initially opposed the Partition of Bengal and instead sought to create a soveriegn, unified Bengal state. Suhrawardy would later die in suspicious circumstances. The assassin claimed that he was opposed to Gandhi’s consideration of Muslims even after the Partition. In reality, the British establishment was worried that Gandhi would muster anti-partition sentiment among both the Hindu and Muslim communities to reverse the partition. Gandhi had intended to travel to Pakistan just for that purpose. Gandhi had already begun to have public spats with Nehru and Patel over their agreement to the Partition. He had begun to drift away from the Congress, along with his followers.

The Role of Bollywood

In 1947, when the Partition had just commenced, Bollywood director Mehboob Khan released a movie named Elan. The movie title means “announcement” in Urdu. Was this a subtle Elan for Pakistan? While being a black and white melodrama set up in a Muslim household, the title doesn’t appear to do it any justice. But upon closer inspection, we see the movie had many subliminal messages aimed at Muslim audiences. It was repeatedly screened all over India, becoming the sixth highest grossing Indian film of 1947. In a very popular song, we see large groups of Muslims, all the cartoonish stereotypes, waving the Pakistani flag, and singing on nationalistic lines. They seem to have suddenly become aware of their collective cultural identity. Religious references are thrown in as well, despite the fact that Islam and nationalism are more or less incompatible, with Islam demanding complete devotion to God, not cultural groups or political leaders. And a female singing in public is fairly reprehensible in the Islamic religion. A warning that their beautiful “garden” in British India could be spoilt is also thrown in. Even more mysterious is the protagonist, a feminist reformer, who favours modern progress over religious traditions, not unlike Jinnah’s sister. In the end, she kills her husband, in what can be considered a salute to the anti-patriarchy attitudes of Western feminists.

In 1957, after India became an independent country, Mehboob Khan released another epic production called Mother India. The Powers That Be had aligned India with the Soviet Union. And this film would carry socialist themes of celebrating unrewarding hard work without asking too many questions. Just like Elan, the protagonist is a female. The main males in the movie, her husband and her son, are losers. And in the end, she kills her son in the interest of collective justice. Mehboob Khan was from the Maratha princely state of Baroda, which was also connected to the Partition Conspiracy. The symbol of Mehboob Studios contains a Soviet-Communist sickle-and-hammer.

Bollywood has still not given up its old tricks. In 1992, Bombay was hit by organized communal riots. People soon started asking questions. The riots were too organized, too precisely timed, to be the work of random mobs. Suspicions were roused and fingers started being pointed. In an effort to whitewash what had happened, a film aptly named Bombay appeared. There were ample hints that it was developed with the secret collaboration of the Chitpavani political leadership of Bombay, and it served to whitewash the riots. The protagonist, a Hindu man in sneakers, gets his lover, a Muslim girl in a burkha, to run away from her conservative family and marry him. And this is against the backdrop of the riots, which are portrayed not as the handiwork of organized political-criminal interests, but sudden mood swings of everyday people. Not once in the movie is there the hint of conspiracy or political motive. In one of the many cheesy song-videos that accompany the movie Bombay, the Muslim girl is seen running away, only to have her burkha entangled in a tree branch. She keeps on running, leaving the rather good burkha behind. In reality, the movie should have come with a “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME” warning for the simple reason that relationships in India involve all sorts of drama from the families of the two participants. And runaway brides, whether Hindu or Muslim, are not exactly welcome because being runaways, they are unlikely to bring a big dowry bonanza for the monster mother-in-law. A typical mother-n-law would happily immolate such a bride in an “accident” so that her son could marry a girl that would bring along a double-door Samsung® fridge with Tropical Inverter Technology.™ And at such an instance, the husband would turn into a nincompoop, singing a melodramatic Bollywood number blaming the stupid world.

Just seven months prior to the Indian General Election of 2014, the movie Satyagraha was released, with Amitabh Bachhan playing the role of social reformer Anna Hazare, and standing up to an extremely corrupt system. This was more in line with the NATO backed Arab Spring, that called for overthrow, revolution and mob rule, as opposed to constructive reform. Actress Kareena Kapoor played the role of a journalist, taking inspiration from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Though the CNN was notorious for inflaming the Arab Spring by its widespread coverage, it never bothered to cover the similar Occupy Movement in America. While the Arab Spring would topple three Middle Eastern governments, the Occupy Movement would be destroyed by infiltration and would soon be forgotten. It is strange why the movie would try to portray the controlled Indian media as a friend of the protestors. The film was shot extensively at Bhopal, the location of an erstwhile princely state that was connected to both the Partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The name Satyagraha is from Gandhi’s movement. But Gandhi’s movement was against a predatory foreign power. This one seems to be aimed at Gandhi’s Congress Party!

Maududi’s Warnings to the Muslim Community on the Impending Partition; April 1947

The following are excerpts from an address delivered by Sayyid Maududi at the end of the annual convention of the Madras zone of his organisation, the Jamaat-e-Islami, on Saturday 26th April 1947. In mid-August 1947, India and Pakistan would be created, and the Partition would commence immediately afterwards. Maududi would leave for Pakistan because there was a far more better chance for his Islamic idealism in a Muslim majority place. An ideological battle for the future of Pakistan was unfolding, and Maududi could not abandon the Muslims of Pakistan to Communists and Westernized Nationalists. But he urged all his followers to stay where they were, and only a small coterie of trusted followers and those who managed his personal affairs would follow him into Pakistan. He believed that his vision was equally compatible in a non-Muslim majority place, and he made full arrangements for organizational cadres left behind in India to operate in complete independence of his leadership. Like the nations of India and Bangladesh, the the Jamaat-e-Islami of India and Bangladesh would have completely a different destiny than that of the Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan. This address was meant for his followers staying behind in India.

It should be noted that Maududi could have never foreseen the grim horrors of Partition. It was assumed that there would be no transfers of populations after a peaceful Partition. Yet, Maududi still opposed it.

This address was published in Urdu in Roodad Jamaat-e-Islami Volume 5. It was first translated into English in 2009 by Mohammad Siddiqui Naveed. Should you wish to cite it, the following is the citation in MLA format:

Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maudoodi, A Historic Address at Madras trans. Mohammad Siddiqui Naveed (New Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami Publishers 2009)

Maududi’s Prediction of Partition

page 11

The change that I am indicating is that the nation will be partitioned shortly.

The Islamic Rationalization for Opposing the Partition

page 8

And again, although the boundaries of operation for the whole organization will be the entire country, but every member will endeavour in his own local region. And for every member of a city, town, or village, the precincts of functioning are his respective native region. It is obligatory for each one of us to stand firm with fortitude and get absorbed in this call for reform and transformation and never move away from ones locale unless it becomes absolutely impossible to continue to live there or all hope is lost for the proclamation of truth bearing fruit. Impending circumstances will raise many voices of migration and

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it is not improbable that the general fervour of imaginary anxieties may alarm many of us to flee but the mission of which you are a bearer demands that each of you put up a courageous front and strive to make his call prevail in the lives of that region. You are to be like the brave captain who struggles to save his sinking ship until the end and is the last one to abandon it.

Maududi’s Aversion to the Communalism of both the Muslim and Hindu Nationalists

page 21

Some [Muslims] will run towards nationalist Muslims, some will leap towards the Communist Party, some will prepare to migrate, some will not stir in this state of dejection and some, in a state of diisgust or sheer foolish peevishness will revive the lost religious conflict that would not only draw a storm of destruction upon themselves but on thousands of innocent brothers.

page 10

In reality, there is no concept of righteousness in their hearts and all standards of morality are now subservient to communalism. Whatever is in accordance with the interests and demands of this communalism is considered to be the highest morality, including falsehood, breach of trust, oppression, callousness and tyranny or even anything that is accepted universally as evil. Contrarily, truth, justice, honesty, compassion, virtue and civility are all resolved to be sinful if they are opposed to group interests or hinder achievement of communal demands.

In these circumstances, it is very difficult to strive for a cause that ignores all group feelings and addresses mankind, which ignores sectarian demands, and invites all towards righteous principles of truth, which breaks group conceit and establishes universal justice. In this period of frenzy, neither Hindus nor Muslims are ready to hear the voice of this call. Muslims assert that you belong to our Faith, thus it is obligatory for you to stand under one banner and fight this religious conflict. “Why form a separate party that persists in principles of faith, ethics and truth? Strength of Muslims is dispersed by your untimely call and harms its religious interests, thus we consider you to be our adversary although your call is towards the same Islam in whose name we are fighting this religious conflict.” On the other hand, if you approach Hindus, they consider what is being said to be appealing to their hearts but are wary because it

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comes from people of the same hostile religion. They suspect this moral appeal to be another policy promoting Muslim religious sentiment.

These circumstances may seem extremely discouraging and trying, but are not permanent and will soon change. The correct course of action for you at this time is to pursue your work single mindedly  and not get entangled with petty controversies.

How Indian Muslims will suffer because of the Partition, and why the Muslim League’s Western ideas are to blame

page 13

The democratic principles on which the evolution of Indian polity took place (based on whose point of view, even Muslims had compiled their list of demands) would be seen to work only for majority benefits. Minorities, if even to receive anything  would be in the form of charity to beggars and not as rights of peers or partners. This has been an obvious reality from which Muslims have blinded themselves wilfully.  They committed a dual folly of primarily accepting democratic principles of the West as their system of governance and secondly presented the proposition for partition of the nation that deemed that they would be rulers where they were in a majority and would be subservient where they were in a minority.

page 15

[…….]

These are the compelling consequences of modelling political policies on foundations of communal identities in a western type democracy. An astute eye could visualize this at the time these policies were being adapted but none was permitted to foresee and people who tried were considered adversaries. Now these repercussions are about to become a reality and after all, we will not only have to witness them but endure them willingly or otherwise.

page 17

We can clearly see that both India and Pakistan are on the path of a Western form of government and the fruits of this concept of governance that have come out in the West will also take place here.

We can clearly see that both India and Pakistan are on the path of a Western form of government and the fruits of this concept of governance that have come out in the West will also take place here. Distinct religious identity of a minority, its religious rights and demands will not be endured for long by either a Muslim religious state or a Hindu religious state.

Why the Uprooting and Transferring of Populations away from their Native Localities is Ludicrous

While Maudoodi foresaw the Partition, he did not see the uprooting and transfer of local populations. Bengali, Sindhi and Punjabi Hindus left Pakistan and Muslims were almost completely evacuated from Indian Punjab and some provinces bordering Pakistan. There was also a mass migration of Muslims from Bengal and other parts of India. On page 17, he indicates his belief that there would be no transfer of populations, and having a strong Hindu minority in Pakistan would actually be beneficial to the relationship between the two countries! The possibility of the entire Muslim population being relocated to Pakistan (which would imply a far much bigger Pakistan, not just the majority Muslim regions), and the entire Hindu population being relocated to India does cross Maudoodi’s mind and he discusses it. But he dismisses it as ludicrous. To quote,

page 18

The third channel is said to be of migration and transfer of population. Migration means that Muslims

page 19

should voluntarily leave India and start to settle in Pakistan and transfer of population means that both governments with mutual resolution transfer their community to their respective regions in a pre-arranged fashion. The first course is practical but is not a solution to the issues of Indian Muslims because only the affluent or frustrated members of families or a few adventurous fortune seekers will adopt this. General Muslim population will continue to settle down where it is today and large scale migration on its part will be impossible unless, God forbid, they are presented to circumstances similar to Bihar (where extreemely violent riots took place). As far as the second alternative is concerned, I don’t think that for another fifty years governments of India and Pakistan will be in a position to mutually transfer forty five million Muslims and twenty five million non-Muslims to their respective regions even if they wished it from the bottom of their hearts.

When the Partition unfolded, Maudoodi’s worst fears proved to be true. Most of the transfer of population that took place between the two countries was not voluntary. But the result of communal riots so well organised, that some have speculated the role of British Intelligence. Indeed, there were even cases where British soldiers and Intelligence operatives from neighboring Burma were caught instigating riots. British Police and the British Military looked the other way, while Nationalist Hindus, Nationalist Sikhs and Nationalist Muslims went for each other’s throats.

On Hindu Communalism

page 23

An inherent trait distinct trait of this kind of passion is that it manifests only against a hostile, obstructive and challenging force, its intensity flares up with increased resistance and is alive till these forces of confrontation remain. This desire is automatically suppressed, the moment resistance ends and the purpose of the passion is achieved. More important problems to life then start to draw the attention of people and elements that were linked to each other purely due to religious passion begin to scatter. The issue of Hindu religious passion is also similar to this one. One of the two legs on which it stands is the passion of freedom from British authority that is to collapse shortly. After this, the other leg that would remain is the sentiment to oppose Muslim religious allegiance. It would be difficult for this to continue after the formation of Pakistan, provided the Muslim minority of the Hindu region resolve their issues in such a manner that there is no ground for tension and anguish between India and Pakistan and there remains no opportunity for Hindu religious passions to be rekindled in order to suppress claims and demands of Muslim religious ardour. If Allah bestows this wisdom on Muslims then you will see even though nationalist leaders, preachers of communal and religious bigotry will continue to present artificial perils and counterfeit dangers in order to keep the religious fervour alive and kindled, nevertheless it will disappear.

Maudoodi turned out to be wrong on this one. There was no way he could foresee the American intervention in Pakistan, which would keep Pakistan perpetually hostile to India as a means for America to strongarm India. Neither could he foresee the role of mass media in televising counterfeit dangers posed by the Muslim minority in India. Communalism was painstakingly kept alive by the Powers That Be.

On the Realistic Possibility of a Soviet-backed Socialist Takeover of India

page 27

The reins of India’s future are being put into the hands of people who seem to be combining the former traditions of Hindu culture with the way of life of western Europe and America. If my estimation is correct, they will certainly succeed in establishing an ostensible democracy, superficial equality and fake justice but beneath these, will continue the same injustice, prejudice and differentiations that are found now.

[…….]

The Socialist parties are preparing to take advantage of this state of affairs. The instant present religious fervour is fatigued, after attaining its objective; they will try to make inroads using the

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fissures created due to conflict of interests and flaws in the class system. They will offer hopes of justice to the common man, in order to attain political power. But these parties have no program which can put an end to these injustices and which in itself is free of oppression, injustice, massacre, disorder, coercion and cruelty. They will present India with altercations and hatred of classes in place of the present hostility and disputes of religions. Until now people killed and burned homes in the name of Hindus and Muslims; now they would start killing for livelihood.

[…….]

Establishment of Socialist Order will result in a dictatorship similar to the one in Russia and this tyrannical and totalitarian authority would bind the whole population. This way, people will be deprived of the freedom of speech, writing and thought.

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Similarly, the subsistence of all people will come into the hands of a few and the servants of God will not even have the freedom to raise their voices in disgust at the hardships of this order nor attempt to change this state through a political organization or collective efforts.

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A Socialist Revolution is an operation that severs away a big portion of one’s health along with the disease, and people tolerate it only when there remains no hope of the illness being cured by any medicine.

Maudoodi turned out right on the nature of the Soviet backed Socialist threat. In my book The World War Deception, I have presented the argument that this realistic threat continued to hover over India until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Now it has resurfaced in the form of pseudo-religious mass agitations (See previous section on the Bollywood movie Satyagraha).

On the Danger to Hindu India’s Intrinsic Spiritual Values

page 29

A bigger harm that would come to India due to this Socialist Revolution is that, in spite of the degradation of Indian culture in these preceding decades, there still remains a certain respect for spiritual and ethical values. This will end and the whole country would completely become a materialistic state. The only thing that can save India from these consequences is a group that should arise with a system of superior and genuine spiritual and ethical values, with genuine and impartial collective justice and real democracy- not only political but social democracy too, where equal opportunities to progress are provided to all countrymen without distinction of class and race, either individually or collectively.

The Real Islamic Alternative to the Partition demands of the Muslim League

page 19

Muslims due to their ignorance and short-sightedness are unable to understand these facts today but very soon these will become conceivable and then they will surely have to choose between three avenues.

One will be to accept the policies of ‘nationalist’ Muslims and be prepared to be absorbed into Hindu nationalism.

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The next will be to continue with the same behaviour of present Muslim religious nationalism till they [Muslims] are completely obliterated.

Third will be renunciation of religious nationalism , its approach, claims and demands, and accept the guidance of Islam which demands that instead of striving for the interests of the community, a Muslim should focus all efforts towards the fundamental solicitation of Islam. And collectively as a community present a testimony of such behaviour and disposition so as to convince the world that this indeed is the society that lives for the mere reformation of the world and not for its own self, that undoubtedly, the principles it presents, make human existence on an individual and collective level extremely superior, elevated and reformed.

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From the beginning in my opinion it was not correct for Muslims to be fighting for their community interests and demands instead of working for Islam.

Priority will have to be given to end the religious conflict that has taken place between Hindus and Muslims until now. From the beginning in my opinion it was not correct for Muslims to be fighting for their community interests and demands instead of working for Islam, but to continue this struggle would not only be wrong but suicidal. It is extremely important for Muslims to completely alter their course of action. Demands of proportionate representation in assemblies, raising a hue and cry about elections, struggle for employment opportunities or cries of demands for community rights will not only be useless because those in power have decided to put an end to a distinct political existence of Muslims by insisting on “qualifications” only in elections or employment and there is no way to stop this decision. It would be detrimental because the harder Muslims struggle for the confirmation of their rights, more it would provoke Hindu religious prejudice. And if they seek assistance of Pakistan to settle their grievances, this will become the cause for an international complication and turmoil, adding strength to the life of Hindu religious fervor. Thus we have to prepare general opinion on a large scale among Muslims so

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that as a community they adopt complete indifference towards power and administration in the government. Confidence is to be reposed in the Hindu religious nationalist movement, through our course of actions that there is no other religion competing with them politically. This is the only way to end the extraordinary prejudice that presently exists in the non-Muslim majority against Islam. The fear among them of another deamnd of Pakistan, by Muslims of an area where Islamic propagation is given increased opportunity, can only be removed in this manner.

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Instead of creating an outcry over proportionate percentage in employment or wailing over the Hinduization of Government departments, principled criticism of the prevalent system is to be carried out. Every defect is to be identified and shown to the public. They should then present to them a better way of life and create public opinion in its favour.

Epilogue

Maududi was ahead of his time. The then Muslim Intelligentsia were Western educated, and easily fell prey to the Muslim League. Maududi was considered too fringe for them. Mainstream political Islam continued to be dominated by the Muslim League, resulting in the Partition and the violent transfer of populations. On the other hand, Orthodox Muslims shunned Maududi because he rejected their relegation of Islam to rituals. Maududi and his writings would continue to be the most serious threat to their religious aristocracy, which depended on keeping common Muslims ignorant and monopolizing all religious discourse. Maududi would seriously undermine them by producing a translation of the Quran in simple, spoken Urdu, free from flowery language and complex extrapolations that usually characterized the then translations.

In Pakistan, he was sneered at for having once opposed the creation of Pakistan. Maududi made the mistake of making Lahore his headquarters. If only he had settled in the NorthWest Frontier Province, things could have been different. Jinnah’s commitment to Islam was only limited to inducing the Partition. He had begun backtracking in his lifetime, and the Pakistani government would soon label itself as secular. Apparently, letting Islam into the equation would introduce all sorts of complications for America’s intended intervention in Pakistan. Not only would the wine-guzzling privileges of Pakistani Army Officers be abolished, the necessity of even maintaining diplomatic relations with America would be scrutinized and debated. Usury would be abolished, and the Pakistani Rupee would be pegged to a gold standard. The British Penal Code would be disposed in favour of sharia law, and big fat bureaucrats and ministers would risk losing their hands. All issues with neighbouring countries would be resolved in an ethical manner, as opposed to the border strife that characterizes proxy nations dominated by superpowers.

It is understandable why Maududi would be vilified in the West as a “fundamentalist.” Strangely, his biggest loathers appear to be American Zionists, even though his organization, while opposed to Zionism, never operated in the Middle East, or against the State of Israel.

Maududi was clearly headed for a collision course with the shadowy forces running Pakistan. And as time passed, this secret war became all the more apparent. There was an official attempt to hang Maududi, which was cancelled at the last minute under pressure of his supporters. During the last days of Zulfiqar Bhutto, his office compound was surrounded, and preparations were made to blow it up. Some argue that Maududi did not die a natural death.

Some of the migrants to Pakistan who had initially supported the two-nation theory and the subsequent Partition did not let go of their separatist tendencies even after the formation of Pakistan! Instead of assimilating, they formed the Muhajir Qaumi Movement, which roughly translates as Immigrant Nationalist Movement. An oxymoron? During the reign of General Zia, they were propped up to divide the support the Jamaat-e-Islami enjoyed among migrants. Currently, the MQM even caters to foreign interests.

While his intuition was strong enough to sense the enemy within, little did Maudoodi know that he was confronting an enemy which was an ancient nemesis of Islam.

After 9/11, the same shadowy forces running Pakistan would openly assist Western intervention in the region.