JUNE 2

Waste of Opportunities

After India had been divided on the basis of the two-nation theory, a Muslim majority dominated the newly created Pakistan, majoritism becoming the rule in all the important spheres of Pakistani life.

This created problems for the Hindu minority, for it became almost impossible for them to live there if they wanted to maintain a high Hindu profile. But the Pakistani Hindus did not opt for the way of reaction. Instead, they made themselves completely inconspicuous, restricting their Hinduism entirely to their homes, and concentrating on the fields of commerce and education. In this way they silently engaged themselves in positive pursuits for a period of thirty years. Consequently, they have achieved a satisfactory social equilibrium in Pakistan. There, majoritism poses no real threat to them.

But the Indian scene is totally different. The Indian leaders, Gandhi and Nehru and others, did not attempt to emulate Pakistan on the score of majoritism. Instead, they established a secular system in the divided India. This system offered to Muslims those very opportunities which were not available to the Hindus in Pakistan. Where majoritism in Pakistan had separated the Hindus from the mainstream, the secular system in India afforded Muslims every opportunity to join the national life as equal members with the same status as the majority.

The introduction of the secular system did not, of course, mean that life in India was necessarily ideal. As part of a world which is a testing ground for everything and everyone, no system will be found flawless. Realising this, Muslim leaders played a most foolish part. Instead of emphasizing the favourable aspects of secularism and playing down its unfavourable aspects, they chose to highlight whatever they found of a negative nature. They laid stress, not on opportunities, but on drawbacks. In this way, they seriously hindered the assimilation of Muslims into the Indian mainstream.

As a result, the Indian Muslims have fallen prey to frustration and irritation. Fifty years have been wasted. Had Muslims lived here as they live abroad, all their problems would have been satisfactorily solved by now.