Presidential Speech. APRIL 1925.
"I want to emphasise on this occasion that our object is to further love and not hatred. The Hindus are religious people. Their scriptures, the Vedas, enjoin upon them to look at the whole universe with eyes of friendship. This, however, does not mean that we should be so sentiment-ridden as to make ourselves incapable of protecting our lives and rights and interests against unjust attacks by others........We cannot afford to be so weak and imbecile as to allow or encourage others to crush us, nor can we be obsessed by false ideas of Ahimsa but at our peril. Ahimsa is the highest religion, but there is no religion higher than Truth. Ahimsa and Truth must be reconciled, in fact; in essence they are one and the same. But we cannot let others misunderstand us on this point; so that encouraged by our conduct in this respect they may take into their heads to interfere with our rights and to humiliate and destroy us. It may be possible for individuals, nay at some stage of their existence, it may be obligatory on them, to act up to the highest Ideals of Ahimsa. But as a community, our Ahimsa must be regulated by Dharma as interpreted in the light of time and place. This is the teaching of the ancient Hindu religion. That is the principle upon which they founded the system of Varnas and Ashramas. What may be the highest religion for a Sanyasi, may be the greatest sin for a Grihasti. To confound the duties of the different. Ashramas in such a way as to make them untimely and inopportune is making confusion worse confounded. It is a matter of extreme regret for us that we have let the true principles of Varna Ashrama Dharma disappear, and the whole system of Hindu life has been so perverted as to lead to confusion and degradation. Neither the Varnas, nor the Ashramas are to be found in their original condition or any way near them. Whether we can re-establish them on the ancient principle is a question beyond my power to answer. Rut, I have no doubt, that to impose upon young Grihasties the whole Dharma of a Sanyasi, is entirely opposed to Hindu teachings and Hindu culture. There can only be one result of such a teaching, viz., destruction.
“I am of opinion that we should m11ke a supreme effort to introduce joy into the lives of our children and young men and young women. We should fill them with a hope and with a desire to rise in the world by their own exertions. What is needed is to make them enterprising and ambitious. No nation can aspire to freedom and prosperity in life whose young men and young women are obsessed by the desire of being unworldly and ambitionless. This necessarily leads to laziness, false contentment, cowardice and lack of spirit and also to unmanliness. This leads the people to taking things lying in and gradually becoming accustomed to slave mentality. A man who has no ambition to be free and prosperous and independent can never be happy, nor can he be a truly religious man. This is not the road to salvation but to destruction.
"The Hindus have so far followed a. National policy and, I think, they must stick to that. They will be stultifying themselves if they replace their nationalism by communalism. Yet we cannot ignore the fact that there are some communities in India who want to take undue advantage of our nationalism and are pushing forward their communalism to such an extent as is injurious to the interests of the whole nation and certainly disastrous to those of the Hindu Community. Such communalism we are bound to oppose as, in our judgment, it can only lead to permanent slavery, permanent disunity and a state of perpetual dependency.
"The Hindu Mahasabha has no special political functions except to define the position of the Community in relation to other communities. The Hindus as a community are opposed to Communal representation as such in any shape or form. The preponderance of opinion seems to be that the Lucknow Pact was a mistake .........In the conversation at Delhi, the position of the Hindu representatives was that they would accept any uniform principle of representation applicable to the whole of India subject to one consideration that the electorates in all cases should be mixed, and that the principle of communal representation shall not be extended beyond the legislature. In face of this, to say that the Hindus, as such, are opposed to any compromise is not true. I do not consider that an understanding between the Hindus and the Mohammedans is impossible, but, it must be Clearly understood, that the Hindus will not submit to any coercion whatsoever in arriving at some settlement. No amount of riots and disturbances will make them enter into any agreement which they do not consider fair and just.
"We have several evidences of the mentality of the Frontier Mohammedans in this respect. Some Mohammedans have already suggested that all the territories which lie between Peshawar and Agra should be made over to the Mohammedans in which they might establish Mohammedan Government as a member of the Mohammedan League of Nations. At
the last session of Muslim League held at Bombay, M. Mohammed Ali actually suggested that. the Mohammedans of the Frontier Province should have the right of self-determination to choose between an affiliation with India or with Kabul .........The question of the Frontier is very important to the whole of India and it specially concerns the safety and security of the Hindu Community. It is not right to say that the territories beyond Indus were taken possession of by the British Government from the Mohammedans...
...The Sikhs held possession of these territories as a part of their Empire, and the British Government took possession of these provinces from the Sikhs. So far as Hindus are concerned, the question is one of pure Frontier defence and should be judged purely on its merits as such. The Hindus do not desire any domination over the Mohammedan population. What they want is the safeguarding of their interests and that of India generally.
"The Hindu Mahasabha and the Hindu Community as such must take steps to protect their Community from the attempts of other religions to take away their members. Just as their work is legitimate from their point of view, so must be the work of Hindu Community in that line. From the very nature of Hinduism, the Hindu work in that line is purely defensive. The Shuddhi movement is a defensive movement.
"The Hindu Mahasabha stands for this unity of action and I appeal to all the different sections of the Hindu Community to lay aside their differences and unite under the flag of the Hindu Mahasabha. We must recognise the common dangers both internal and external. The external dangers I have already referred to. The internal dangers are still more formidable. We are too much disunited on account of the divisions and subdivisions of the Community into so many needs and castes .........The old game of throwing out people on very small pretences must be given up and occasions must be sought to bring people back into our fold without injuring anybody's scruples."
"I want to emphasise on this occasion that our object is to further love and not hatred. The Hindus are religious people. Their scriptures, the Vedas, enjoin upon them to look at the whole universe with eyes of friendship. This, however, does not mean that we should be so sentiment-ridden as to make ourselves incapable of protecting our lives and rights and interests against unjust attacks by others........We cannot afford to be so weak and imbecile as to allow or encourage others to crush us, nor can we be obsessed by false ideas of Ahimsa but at our peril. Ahimsa is the highest religion, but there is no religion higher than Truth. Ahimsa and Truth must be reconciled, in fact; in essence they are one and the same. But we cannot let others misunderstand us on this point; so that encouraged by our conduct in this respect they may take into their heads to interfere with our rights and to humiliate and destroy us. It may be possible for individuals, nay at some stage of their existence, it may be obligatory on them, to act up to the highest Ideals of Ahimsa. But as a community, our Ahimsa must be regulated by Dharma as interpreted in the light of time and place. This is the teaching of the ancient Hindu religion. That is the principle upon which they founded the system of Varnas and Ashramas. What may be the highest religion for a Sanyasi, may be the greatest sin for a Grihasti. To confound the duties of the different. Ashramas in such a way as to make them untimely and inopportune is making confusion worse confounded. It is a matter of extreme regret for us that we have let the true principles of Varna Ashrama Dharma disappear, and the whole system of Hindu life has been so perverted as to lead to confusion and degradation. Neither the Varnas, nor the Ashramas are to be found in their original condition or any way near them. Whether we can re-establish them on the ancient principle is a question beyond my power to answer. Rut, I have no doubt, that to impose upon young Grihasties the whole Dharma of a Sanyasi, is entirely opposed to Hindu teachings and Hindu culture. There can only be one result of such a teaching, viz., destruction.
“I am of opinion that we should m11ke a supreme effort to introduce joy into the lives of our children and young men and young women. We should fill them with a hope and with a desire to rise in the world by their own exertions. What is needed is to make them enterprising and ambitious. No nation can aspire to freedom and prosperity in life whose young men and young women are obsessed by the desire of being unworldly and ambitionless. This necessarily leads to laziness, false contentment, cowardice and lack of spirit and also to unmanliness. This leads the people to taking things lying in and gradually becoming accustomed to slave mentality. A man who has no ambition to be free and prosperous and independent can never be happy, nor can he be a truly religious man. This is not the road to salvation but to destruction.
"The Hindus have so far followed a. National policy and, I think, they must stick to that. They will be stultifying themselves if they replace their nationalism by communalism. Yet we cannot ignore the fact that there are some communities in India who want to take undue advantage of our nationalism and are pushing forward their communalism to such an extent as is injurious to the interests of the whole nation and certainly disastrous to those of the Hindu Community. Such communalism we are bound to oppose as, in our judgment, it can only lead to permanent slavery, permanent disunity and a state of perpetual dependency.
"The Hindu Mahasabha has no special political functions except to define the position of the Community in relation to other communities. The Hindus as a community are opposed to Communal representation as such in any shape or form. The preponderance of opinion seems to be that the Lucknow Pact was a mistake .........In the conversation at Delhi, the position of the Hindu representatives was that they would accept any uniform principle of representation applicable to the whole of India subject to one consideration that the electorates in all cases should be mixed, and that the principle of communal representation shall not be extended beyond the legislature. In face of this, to say that the Hindus, as such, are opposed to any compromise is not true. I do not consider that an understanding between the Hindus and the Mohammedans is impossible, but, it must be Clearly understood, that the Hindus will not submit to any coercion whatsoever in arriving at some settlement. No amount of riots and disturbances will make them enter into any agreement which they do not consider fair and just.
"We have several evidences of the mentality of the Frontier Mohammedans in this respect. Some Mohammedans have already suggested that all the territories which lie between Peshawar and Agra should be made over to the Mohammedans in which they might establish Mohammedan Government as a member of the Mohammedan League of Nations. At
the last session of Muslim League held at Bombay, M. Mohammed Ali actually suggested that. the Mohammedans of the Frontier Province should have the right of self-determination to choose between an affiliation with India or with Kabul .........The question of the Frontier is very important to the whole of India and it specially concerns the safety and security of the Hindu Community. It is not right to say that the territories beyond Indus were taken possession of by the British Government from the Mohammedans...
...The Sikhs held possession of these territories as a part of their Empire, and the British Government took possession of these provinces from the Sikhs. So far as Hindus are concerned, the question is one of pure Frontier defence and should be judged purely on its merits as such. The Hindus do not desire any domination over the Mohammedan population. What they want is the safeguarding of their interests and that of India generally.
"The Hindu Mahasabha and the Hindu Community as such must take steps to protect their Community from the attempts of other religions to take away their members. Just as their work is legitimate from their point of view, so must be the work of Hindu Community in that line. From the very nature of Hinduism, the Hindu work in that line is purely defensive. The Shuddhi movement is a defensive movement.
"The Hindu Mahasabha stands for this unity of action and I appeal to all the different sections of the Hindu Community to lay aside their differences and unite under the flag of the Hindu Mahasabha. We must recognise the common dangers both internal and external. The external dangers I have already referred to. The internal dangers are still more formidable. We are too much disunited on account of the divisions and subdivisions of the Community into so many needs and castes .........The old game of throwing out people on very small pretences must be given up and occasions must be sought to bring people back into our fold without injuring anybody's scruples."
