Congress Ministries:
March 16th, 2008 | by Raja Ghias |The Congress ministries lasted for a period less than two a half years, from July 1937 to October-November 1939. The short period of the Congress rule was extremely crucial in the history of Hindu-Muslim relations and projected fully its Hindu racism and anti-Muslim policies.
The Bande Mataram song was Hindu revolutionary poem occurring in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel Ananda Math, which invoked divine assistance against the Muslims and British and roused the people to drive both out of India. This song, obviously distasteful to the Muslims, was made sort of a national anthem by the Congress and was sung not only at all its meetings but also at the opening of legislative assembly sessions in the Hindu provinces when the Congress was in power during 1937-39. Despite Muslims protest it continued to be the Congress song till 1947.
Similarly, Ganghi described cow-protection as the dearest possession of the Hindu heart, the central fact of Hinduism and the gift of Hinduism to the world. Bande Mataram was, as was said above, a rabidly anti-Muslim song, which Congress had owned. To Gandhi it had wonderful associations and expressed the one national wish of India. And I should prefer Bande Mataram to Bharat Mata Jai, he said.
The Wardha scheme of education, which was a creation of Gandhi’s provinces. This was an essentially communal schemes shot through and through with Hindu ideals. The teaching of religion was completely ignored and this amounted to an attempt to disengage the Muslim child from his faith. Musim Childern were obliged to honor the Congress flag, to sing Bande Mataram, to wear home spun cloth (Khadi) and to worship Gandhi’s portrait.
It was the Central Provinces that the Wardha scheme appeared in its most orthodox and obnoxious form. This was the Vidya Mandir, the creation of temples of learning. In the provincial legislature and all over the province Muslims had bitterly opposed the introduction of this plan, but their resentment was unheeded. Under this scheme, schools were to be managed by committee chosen by a joint electorate. No separate Muslim School was provided, nor was arrangement made for training Urdu-speaking teachers. So Hindi was patronized, promoted and extended at the expense of Urdu. The very name Vidya Mandir was a challenge to the Muslims, for it smacked of Hindu idolatry. In short, there was every sign that the new constitution signified a Hindu Raj, pure and simple.
