The 21^st century Bharat has two unique facets to it. First, to its credit, Bharat has extraordinary acclaim for being the oldest thriving indigenous civilization. Second, after surviving the two waves of colonization- Middle Eastern and European, Bharat is still grappling with the third, the Marxist colonization. Incidentally, while another Asian giant, China continually brags of a “Century of Humiliation” and seeks to rejuvenate, centuries of colonization have mellowed down the indigeneity of Bharat. Coloniality, interminably, inextricably etched into the body politic of Bharat, has invariably brought it to a pass when a resurgence of Middle Eastern coloniality is beginning to bare its ugly fangs once again with religious issues dominating its realms.

Having introduced the concept of colonialism and its etymological sisters in his best-selling predecessor India That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation and Constitution, J. Sai Deepak’s second book, in his trilogy titled- India, Bharat and Pakistan: The Constitutional Journey of A Sandwiched Civilisation, already topping the best-selling books chart delves on the influence of the expansionist colonialities- Middle Eastern and European on India from 1740 to 1924. Known for his extreme clarity, meticulous understanding and sharp articulation based on hard facts from original sources, the book written in exacting detail keeps the reader stirred up.

Encapsulating the foundational events that paved the formation of Pakistan, the book is divided into three sections in a chronological continuum. As opposed to the popular attribution of the partition of Bengal seeding the idea of Pakistan, the first chapter explores the role of a spurt of Islamic reformist movements in setting the stage for an idea of a special Islamic nation.

Ostensibly, distressed by the fall of the tottering Mughal Empire, Imams spearheaded Islamic revivalism movements. Tracing the decline of the Mughal rule to the corrosion of Islam, pioneering the reformation to its pristine form, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi exhorted Indian Muslims to see themselves as a part of the global ummah and his conception of Islam was- “The reason which prompted Allah to create the Islamic community originally was…, mainly a political one”. His teachings triggered later Islamic movements in Bharat invariably sowing the seeds for the creation of an Islamic nation.

Ingeminating –“jihad is the cornerstone of socio-political equilibrium” and through a fatwa declaring Bharat “Dar al Harb” or house of war, successive Islamic reformists systematically reignited the Middle Eastern Consciousness by eternalizing the long memory both temporal and territorial through their preachings and writings. What makes this section really interesting is the tact of Islamic reformists in mainstreaming this pervasive ideology by making society their stakeholder under different names and ingeniously escaping the seditious laws of the British. To the detriment of Indic consciousness, political Hinduism or Hindu nationalism still in its infancy had to contend with the vigorous and relentless Islamic revivalist movements that rekindled Middle Eastern consciousness that dominate the discourse as rejuvenating force even now.

Prominent among these movements was the Aligarh movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed. While Syed Ahmed is credited for the genesis of Pakistan, another Islamic ideologist, Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani advocating pan-Islamism laid the template for Khilafat and Pakistan movements. Deploying the western framework, favouring a covert jihad, and espousing collaboration between the Christian and Muslim communities, Syed Ahmed strived for Indian Muslim welfare. On the contrary, though Afghani supported Western Education he proposed that Indian Muslims performing hijrat should move to Pakistan, Dar-al-Islam and launch jihad against Bharat, Dar-al-Harb.

These two Islamic ideologists and reformists contributed to the simultaneous growth of Pan-Islamism and Muslim Nationalism. Aflush with these reformists while Indian Muslims had a blueprint and an operating module, the natives abjectly lacked any foresight for Bharat, the successor of Indic civilization.

The second section discusses the burgeoning Muslim consciousness culminating in the partition of Bengal in detail. Comprising three chapters spanning the events from 1899-1909, this section focuses on the colonial origins of the Indian National Congress, the existence of two wings of Congress- the Moderates and the Extremists, and the stark differences in their consciousness, goals and methods. Moderates/ Liberals subscribed to the method of petition and persuasion as opposed to the Passive resistance of Extremists. The different perspectives of these factions within the Congress, and their end goals aren’t strictly etched in stone. Labeled as staunch Nationalists, some leaders over course of time sublimely slid into the Moderate faction advocating a different approach altogether.  

Seldom dealt with in detail in history books, the reins to the Indian National Movement were held by the British who co-opted the moderate faction of the Congress that believed Bharat’s destiny to be tied with the British fortunes. Indeed, Subramanian Iyer spoke of making, “our beloved Aryavrata the beloved jewel of the imperial crown”.  

Cognizant of India’s enthusiasm to embrace Western education, the British cultivated the Hindu elites who fit the bill of- “Indians in blood and colour but English enough in taste, opinions in morals and in intellect” to neutralize the surging Nationalistic movement led by leaders with Indic consciousness and revolutionaries who accepted nothing less than “Swarajya”. The dominance of the severely colonized moderates, who moved away from the roots led to the promulgation of the Constitution which largely turned out to be a deracinated document.

Vivisection of Bengal is popularly ascribed to the British’s famed ‘Divide and Rule’. In reality, the British took advantage of the pre-existing religious, linguistic, civilizational and political divide to vivisect the region into a Hindu minority province to curtail the veritable surge nationalistic aspirations in Bengal. In response to the unprecedented backlash in the aftermath of the Bengal partition, the British brought out The Indian Councils Act 1909 terming it as a “safety valve”.

Not being grounded in ancestral theology and traditions Hindu elites having internalised the European education compromised on Indic consciousness and embraced secular values. This psychological and cultural colonisation hardly equipped them to deal with colonial establishments. As a result, the Indian National Congress, a hub of Hindu elites willingly genuflected to the British and even accommodated the Muslim interests.

In sharp contrast, prioritizing Muslim welfare, Muslim League persisted in their demand for demographic electorates and sought greater political representation through Simla Deputation. Succumbing to colonization while Hindu elites abandoned the learning of the Indian Knowledge Systems and moved away from their roots, the Muslims on the other hand strengthened their Old Islam.

The last section brings together all the aspects undergirding the pretentious “ganga jamuni tahzeeb” credited for the boom of the Khilafat movement, the annulment of the Bengal partition, the World War I, the flimsy courtship of the Indian National Congress and Muslim League, 1916 Lucknow Pact the Home Rule Movement, the rise of Gandhi as national leader, non-cooperation, Malegaon, Khorat, Gulbarga and Malabar riots.

Aside from the debates within the Congress over India’s support to the British during WWI, this section forms essential reading for comprehending the Muslim supremacism and Muslim exceptionalism that stoked the Muslim consciousness rooted in the Middle Eastern Coloniality. A surge of this consciousness and the driving force of pan-Islamism laid the foundation for the Khilafat Movement impelling the Indian Muslims to opportunistically woo Hindus and pressurize the British to preserve the authority of the Ottoman sultan.

The astute powerplay of Indian Muslims in the prelude to the Khilafat movement exposed their duplicitous transactionalism. Muslims demanded a communal electorate, and communal veto over religious issues and expected Hindus to accommodate their interests while they would barely nudge from their stated positions. Consequently, the precarious Hindu-Muslim unity thrived on the untenable unilateral sacrifices by the Hindus and their disavowal of customs, rituals and heroes. This of Hindu-Muslim solidarity ended with the stabilization of the Ottoman Empire stabilized.

In short, Muslims played every trick in their book to safeguard their interests and their astute prevarication vouches for the same. After Jazirut-al-Arab (Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Arabia were freed from non-Muslim interference, the Indian Muslims quickly shifted their loyalty to the British and proclaimed Muslim exceptionalism. Adducing the majority-minority divide, Muslims sought special treatment and requisitioned more than a proportionate political representation in the Imperial Council for being the former rulers of Bharat. Shifting their camps and allegiances with ease, unceremoniously parting ways with the Hindus, to contain the Hindu majority the Indian Muslims invoked the popular trope of “people of book” and an implicit brotherhood and pledged their loyalty to the British.

Unsurprisingly, the line of defense and unrepentant justification employed by the Muslim elite in the wake of the brutal and barbaric riots then was no different from so-called secular debates of the present times. The remorseless excuse of Ajmal Khan, the follower of Gandhi for Malabar riots was “stray incidents as acts of few misguided individuals and that the rest of the Moplahs are as ready and strong in condemning them. Still, I shouldn’t like the fair name of Islam to be tarnished in the slightest degree”. This is similar to the common lament routinely mouthed by liberals without batting an eyelid even now. The “continuity of thought”, long memory of their bygone superiority laced with ingrained pride embodied in the thought process of the Indian Muslims conspicuously contrasts the phenomenal careless abandon of the Hindu elite and their overenthusiasm to demonstrate secular bonafides.

The similarities and divergent approaches adopted by Muslim and Hindu elites back then are no different from the contemporary times. The endless parallels like- the marginalization of the voices that sought spiritual, cultural, and political decolonization by moderates and leftists during the national movement by branding them as “extremists” is a rampant practice now.  For centuries colonialists have employed a strategy/ software to subjugate colonies. Subjected to waves of colonization, the entrenched colonized Bharatiya minds helplessly succumbed to these tacts of colonialities.

Sai Deepak in his brilliantly researched book lays out bare the strategies employed by the Colonialists and the mind-boggling inability and guileless naivety of the Hindu elite in deciphering the colonialist strategies. He brings to bear his enviable experience in Constitutional Law in establishing with evidence, the template unleashed by Colonialities on Bharatiyas.

Replete with facts, mined from diverse sources, the book elucidates the extent of the inextricable colonization that inundated the mind gates of Bharatiyas. Akin to the Q&A session where Sai Deepak pointedly answers the questions and never wastes a word, his style of writing is an extension of his characteristic clarity and brevity. The rather pithy conclusions at the end of the chapters embody some critical observations that fire up the reader’s thought process. Extensive research and a humongous scale of research enrich the book. Embellished with excerpts from primary sources, the reader is bestowed with the luxury of making his own observations. Teeming with useful references often embedded within the body of the text, for important themes, this book can serve as a reference guide for any inquisitive reader and specifically for scholars on decolonization studies.

Supplementing his invigorating lectures with his books on colonization, Sai Deepak has implacably created a new churn in the psyche of receptive Bharatiyas. This book besides furthering the non-existent or rather fledgling decolonial studies in India will enkindle Bharatiyas living in a la la land who continue to deny even a smidgeon of threat to Indian civilisation from outside and within.   Towards the end of the book, any serious reader would feel betrayed and cheated by the successive Indian leaderships that ordained generations of Bharatiyas to study contorted whitewashed history. This is a must-read book for every Bharatiya who aspires to reignite and revive indigeneity.

India is going through a phase that portends the advent of another Khilafat movement (the author conjectured during the book launch). On the face of it, it might look like an overstretch but a deep dive into the book shall awaken Bharatiyas from a spectacular slumber induced by colonization.

Published by Bloomsbury India.

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