Communal Reaction by Majority Community

The minority communalism met with a reaction from the majority community. From the 1870s itself, some Hindu zamindars, moneylenders and middle-class professionals began to give expression to anti-Muslim sentiments. They went to the extent of declaring that the British had liberated the land from Muslim tyranny and saved the Hindus from the oppression by Muslims. The cause of Hindi was given a communal colour by saying that Urdu was the language of the Muslims (which was not historically quite correct).

Then came organisations to promote a communal outlook. The Punjab Hindu Sabha, founded in 1909 by U.N. Mukherjee and Lal Chand, opposed the Congress for trying to unite Indians of all colours into a single nation. They argued that Hindus should side with the colonial government in their fight against Muslims. The All-India Hindu Mahasabha held its first session in April 1915 with the Maharaja of Kasim Bazar as president. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was established in 1925. However, Hindu communalism was not a strong force for a long time as the modern secular intelligentsia and middle class among Hindus wielded a greater influence. This was not the case with the Muslims; the Muslim communal elements – landlords, traditional religious leaders and bureaucrats – exercised a lot of influence on the Muslims.

The one-upmanship of different versions of communal tendencies was a factor which deterred any effective counter- offensive against communalism.