What led mu-slim invaders to invade India?

Dr Ambedkar in his book "Pakistan or Partition of India", wrote that when the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsung visited India in the 7th AD, India was an ancient country and Afghanistan was part of India but something has happened between 1711 and 1914 so that India is no more that country. 

The important thing that has happened is the invasion of India by the Muslim hordes from North West. These Muslim invasions were not undertaken merely out of lust for loot or conquest. There was another object behind them. The expedition against Sind by Mahommad bin Quasim was of punitive character and was undertaken to punish Raja Dahir of Sind who had refused to make restitution for the seizure of an Arab ship at Debul, one of the sea-port towns of Sind. But, there is no doubt that striking a blow at the idolatry and polytheism of Hindus and establishing Islam in India was also one of the aims of this expedition. In one of his despatches to Hajjaj, Mahommad bin Quasim is quoted to have said :- 

"The nephew of Raja Dahir, his warriors and principal officers have been dispatched, and the, infidels converted to Islam or destroyed. Instead of idol-temples, mosques and other places of worship have been created, the Khutbah is read, the call to prayers is raised, so that devotions are performed at stated hours. The Takbir and praise to the Almighty God are offered every morning and evening."

After receiving the above despatch, which had been forwarded with the head of the Raja, Hajjaj sent the following reply to his general - 

"Except that you give protection to all, great and small alike, make no difference between enemy and friend. God says, " Give no quarter to infidels but cut their throsts." Then know that this is the command of the great God. You shall not be too ready to grant protection, because it will prolong your work. After this give no quarter to any enemy except those who are of rank.

Muhammad of Gazni also looked upon his numerous invasions of India as the waging of a holy war. Al Utbi, the historian of Mohammad, describing his raids writes–

 "He demolished idol temples and established Islam. He captured ......... cities, killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolators, and gratifying Muslims. 'He then returned home and promulgated accounts of the victories obtained for Islam and vowed that every year he would undertake a holy war against Hind."

Muhammad Ghori was actuated by the same holy zeal in his invasions of India. Hasan Nizami, the historian, describes his work in the following terms -

 "He purged by his sword the land of Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice, and freed the whole of that country from the thorn of God-plurality and the impurity of idol-worship, and by his royal vigour and intrepidity left not one temple 'standing. 

Timur has in his Memoir explained what led him to invade India. He says - 

"My object in the invasions of Hindustan is to lead a campaign against the infidels, to convert them to the true faith according to the command of Mahammad (on whom and his family by the blessing and peace of God), to purify the land from the defilement of misbelief and polytheism, and overthrow the temples and idols, whereby we shall be Ghazis and Mujahids, companions and soldiers of the faith before God.

These invasions of India by Muslims were as much invasions of India as they were wars among the Muslims themselves.

This fact has remained hidden because the invaders are all lumped together as Muslims without distinction. But as a matter of fact, they were Tartars, Afghans and Mongols. Mahomed of Gazni was a Tartar, Mahomed of Ghori was an Afghan, Timur was a Mongol, Baber was a Tartar, while Nadirshah and Ahmedshah Abdali were Afghans. In invading India, the Afghan was out to destroy the Tartar and the Mongol was out to destroy the Tartar as well as the Afghan. They were not a loving family cemented by the feeling of Islamic brotherhood. They were deadly rivals of one another and their wars were often wars of mutual extermination. What is, however, important to bear in mind is that with all their internecine conflicts they were all united by one common objective and that was to destroy the Hindu faith.

The methods adopted by the Muslim invaders of India are not less significant for the subscquent history of India than the object of their invasions.

10 facts about Bhimrao Ambedkar that you did not know

We all know a lot about Dr. Ambedkar because we have been studying him since we were kids, but here I am going to tell you about some things that we have not read in a long time.

Fact 1. In the 1945 session of the Scheduled Castes Federation, Dr. Ambedkar insisted that India did not need a constituent assembly. "It is absolutely superfluous. I regard it as a most dangerous project". He preferred the government of India act 1935 sufficient that it does not require any amendment and hence no other  constituent assembly is required.  Despite this, the members of INC made Dr. Ambedkar the chairman of the drafting committee.  The same members who had already rejected the Government of India Act, 1935. (Writings and speeches, Vol 1, pp. 360-1).

Fact 2. Once Ambedkar said that "if India became independent, It would be one of the greatest disasters that could happen" ( Transfer of power Vol 7, pp. 144-47). He claimed that "Swaraj (India under freedom) can not but be a Hindu Raj" (Writings and Speeches, Vol 9, p. 393).

Fact 3. Do you know? Dr. Ambedkar did not want to give political rights to the Scheduled Tribes (he called them ‘Aboriginal Tribes’), equal to those of the Scheduled Castes? In his address to the session of the All India Scheduled Castes Federation in Bombay on 6 May 1945, he states the “reasons why I have omitted them from my scheme”.

The Aboriginal Tribes have not as yet developed any political sense to make the best use of their political opportunities and they may easily become mere instruments in the hands of either a majority or a minority, and thereby disturb the balance without doing any good to themselves. (Writings and Speeches, Vol 1, p. 375).

Fact 4. Dr. Ambedkar was not firstly elected to the Constituent Assembly.

When the interim government was formed, the Congress included Jagjivan Ram as the Harijan representative in its party, and later, when the Muslim League formed the Interim Government, it included Yogendra Nath Mandal. As the Congress and the Muslim League did not choose Dr. Ambedkar, he became irritated and ill. On 15 December, when the objective resolution was presented in the Constituent Assembly, Dr. M.R Jayakar, who was elected on a Congress ticket from Mumbai, was opposed in the Constituent Assembly on some issues and he was humiliated due to this, he resigned from the constituent assembly. After that Dr. Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly in his place, with the help of the Congress from Mumbai province. 

Ambedkar was a brilliant orator with strong advocacy skills with the benefit of which he delivered a speech that stunned members of Congress, As a result, he was made the chairman of the drafting committee.

Fact 5. Do you know? What did Ambedkar have to say about the villages and panchayats that Mahatma Gandhi considered to be the basis of Swaraj?

According to Ambedkar the villages were nothing "but a sink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow mindedness and communalism" As a result of this the Constitution that was drafted under his chairmanship did not mention a word about Panchayati Raj. However, continuous persuasion of many Gandhians compelled the committee to accept the village panchayat in the directive principle of state policy vesting the responsibility in state legislatures and government.

Fact 6. Ambedkar demanded Separate Electorates and Separate Villages for SCs.

Ambedkar insisted, as late as in March 1947, that the interests of the Scheduled Castes would not be safe in independent India unless they got “separate electorates”. (Writings and Speeches, Vol 1, p. 401) Even he had demanded “separate villages” for SCs. Resolution No IV titled ‘Separate Settlements’, passed at the All India Scheduled Castes Conference in Nagpur in July 1942 (Writings and Speeches, Vol 9, p. 393), states: “The Constitution should provide for the transfer of the Scheduled Castes from their present habitation and form separate Scheduled Caste villages away from and independent of Hindu villages.”

But it is important to note that Mahatma Gandhi was vehemently opposed to the proposal for separate electorates for SCs. In September 1932, he also went on an indefinite fast to condemn both his demands. As a result, the 'Poona Pact' came into picture, which opposed the concept of separate electorates. It was therefore refused by the Constituent Assembly.

Fact 7. Ambedkar did not want to add secular and socialist in the constitution.

On 15 November 1948 at the Constituent Assembly debate in Parliament, a member, Prof K.T Shah from Bihar moved an Amendment to the original Preamble statement. He insisted that the words, “Secular, Federal, Socialist” be inserted into the statement. In a detailed reply, BR Ambedkar justified why he did not include the words “secular” and “socialist” in the Preamble:

Sir, I regret that I cannot accept the amendment of Prof. K. T. Shah. My objections, stated briefly are two. In the first place the Constitution, as I stated in my opening speech in support of the motion I made before the House, is merely a mechanism for the purpose of regulating the work of the various organs of the State. It is not a mechanism where by particular members or particular parties are installed in office. What should be the policy of the State, how the Society should be organised in its social and economic side are matters which must be decided by the people themselves according to time and circumstances. It cannot be laid down in the Constitution itself, because that is destroying democracy altogether. If you state in the Constitution that the social organisation of the State shall take a particular form, you are, in my judgment, taking away the liberty of the people to decide what should be the social organisation in which they wish to live. It is perfectly possible today, for the majority people to hold that the socialist organisation of society is better than the capitalist organisation of society. But it would be perfectly possible for thinking people to devise some other form of social organisation which might be better than the socialist organisation of today or of tomorrow. I do not see therefore why the Constitution should tie down the people to live in a particular form and not leave it to the people themselves to decide it for themselves. This is one reason why the amendment should be opposed. 

Then Ambedkar remarked, “The second reason is that the amendment is purely superfluous.”

Fact 8. Do you know? Ambedkar was not in favour of the one-man-one-vote principle, which underpins the working of parliamentary democracy in India (Writings and Speeches, Vol 1, p. 413). He also disapproved of the concept of territorial constituencies, which has been adopted by the Indian Constitution and the constitutions of most democracies around the world (Writings and Speeches, Vol 9, p. 396).

Fact 9. Do you know? Sir B.N Rao, not Dr. Ambedkar, was the real architect of the Indian Constitution.

BN Rao played the most influential role in the Constituent Assembly. He was associated with the government of British India's reform office for the implementation of the Government of India Act, 1935, for a long time. The viceroy named Sir BN Rao as the Constituent Assembly's Constitutional Adviser in 1946, before the formation of the Constituent Assembly. Even before the President of the Constituent Assembly was appointed, he was in charge of the general structure of its democratic framework of the Constitution and prepared its initial draft in February 1948. The Constituent Assembly had no role in framing it. This draft was debated, revised, and finally adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 26 November 1949.

As part of his research in drafting the Constitution of India, in 1946, Rao traveled to the U.S.A., Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, from there gathered the precedents of 60 countries. These precedents are divided into three parts and distributed among the members of the Constituent Assembly so that if any member of the Constituent Assembly encounters an issue, they may address it. Members of the Constituent Assembly later only made amendments to it.

The President of the Constituent Assembly Rajendra Prasad, before signing the Constitution on 26 November 1949, thanked Rau for having "worked honorarily all the time that he was here, assisting the assembly not only with his knowledge and erudition but also enabled the other members to perform their duties with thoroughness and intelligence by supplying them with the material on which they could work."

Fact 10. On 2nd December 1953 in Rajya Sabha, Ambedkar said, " People always keep on saying to me, 'oh! You are the maker of the constitution.' my answer is I was a hack. What I was asked to do, I did much against my will". I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it out. I do not want it. It does not suit anybody.

But how long will we continue to name Ambedkar the "Father of the Indian Constitution" when the "Father" himself has repeatedly disowned the "child"?

संविधान सभा का स्वरूप एवं कार्यपद्धति : एक विश्लेषण

हमें बचपन से पढ़ाया गया है कि संविधान तो हमने बनाया, इसको बनाने के लिए संविधान सभा ने तीन साल तक मेहनत की, उस सविंधान सभा में स्वाधीनता आंदोलन से निकले हुए सभी शिखर नेता उपस्थित थे, इसलिए हम मानते हैं कि यह हमारे द्वारा बनाया हुआ संविधान है। आज इसी बात का छोटा सा विश्लेषण करते हैं। 

कांग्रेस के नेता हमेशा से भारतीय सरकार अधिनियम, 1935 का विरोध करते आए थे। उनका नारा था कि हमें 1935 अधिनियम नहीं चाहिए और वयस्क मताधिकार पर आधारित संविधान सभा चाहिए। लेकिन अंग्रेजों ने उनकी बातों को स्वीकार नहीं किया और द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध खत्म होते ही सबसे पहले 1935 के अधिनियम के आधार पर विधानसभाओं के चुनाव कराए। इस अधिनियम के अनुसार केवल 15% लोगों को मताधिकार दिया गया था। कांग्रेस को 15% मताधिकार से बनी प्रांतीय सरकार द्वारा अप्रत्यक्ष रूप से चुनी गई संविधान सभा को स्वीकार करना पड़ा। इस प्रकार संविधान सभा में 15% लोगों द्वारा चुने गए सदस्य थे। 

संविधान सभा कि जो समितियाँ बनाई गई थी उनकी बैठकों में अधिकतर सदस्य अनुपस्थित ही रहते थे। संविधान सभा में लगभग 22 समितियाँ थी जिन समितियों में 7-8 समितियाँ महत्वपूर्ण थी। उनमें से प्रारूप समिति सबसे महत्वपूर्ण थी जिस की कार्य विधि के बारे में टिप्पणी करते हुए संविधान सभा के सदस्य टी टी कृष्णमाचारी कहते हैं कि प्रारूप समिति में 7 सदस्य थे। जिसमें से एक ने इस्तीफा दे दिया था, एक सदस्य का देहांत हो गया, एक सदस्य तो अमेरिका में रहते थे, एक सदस्य राजनीतिक कार्यों में व्यस्त थे जिसके पास संविधान सभा के लिए समय नहीं था और 1-2 दिल्ली से बाहर रहते थे जिनके लिए दिल्ली की सर्दी में रहना असंभव था। अतः संविधान बनाने की सारी जिम्मेदारी डॉक्टर अंबेडकर के कंधों पर थी।

सविंधान सभा 2 धरातल पर कार्य कर रही थी। एक धरातल पर समितियाँ थी और दूसरे पर सामान्य सदस्यगण, सामान्य सदस्यों की संविधान के निर्माण में कोई भूमिका नहीं थी। इस संदर्भ में के. हनुमंतैय्या ने कहा कि संविधान सभा को यह जो कुछ लोग चला रहे हैं वह बुद्धिमान है, कानून के अच्छे जानकार है, लेकिन स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन से उनका कोई संबंध नहीं रहा, वे कभी किसी गांव में नहीं गये। गांधीजी ने स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन के द्वारा जो विचारधारा को हमारे सामने प्रस्तुत किया उस विचारधारा से उनका कोई संबंध नहीं है और यही लोग इस संविधान की रचना में मुख्य भूमिका निभा रहे हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि यह संविधान भारत की आत्मा को प्रतिबिंबित नहीं करता, यह संविधान स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन की विचारधारा पर आधारित नहीं है इसका भारत की मिट्टी से कोई संबंध नहीं है।

हिंदुओं की भोग प्रवृत्ति एवं संघ (राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ)

आज के परिवेश में देखा जाए तो हम हिंदुओं की मानसिकता भोग प्रवृत्ति की हो गई है। हम हर कार्य में अपनी स्वार्थता देखते हैं। जबकि हम वह हिंदू हुआ करते थे जो भोजन के लिए भी ग्रहण या सेवन जैसी शब्दावली का प्रयोग करते थे। मुझे याद है जब मैं शाखा में जाया करता था तो कुछ लोग मुझसे कहा करते थे शाखा में जाने से तुझे क्या मिलेगा? समय की बर्बादी होगी आदि। लेकिन संघ नियम है की यहां आपको कुछ नहीं दिया जाएगा बल्कि आपके पास जो भी होगा वो भी ले लिया जाएगा। जब आप संघ में जाए तो अर्पण के भाव से जाएं। जब हम किसी संस्था या संगठन से जुड़े तो हमें यह नहीं सोचना चाहिए कि उससे हमें क्या मिलेगा बल्कि यह सोचना चाहिए कि हम उस संघ या संस्था को क्या दे सकते हैं। एक छोटे आयोजन से ले कर बड़े कार्यक्रमों तक को करने के लिए संघी कभी किसी के आगे हाथ नही फैलाते, आपस में ही धनराशि का संकलन कर स्वयं का स्वाभिमान बनाए रखते हुए हर कार्य को करते हैं। इसीलिए किसी पर आश्रित नहीं होते और निर्भीक होकर अपने उद्देश्य की और अग्रसर रहते हैं। 

उद्देश्य यह है की एक श्रेष्ठ व्यक्ति के निर्माण के आधार पर राष्ट्र का निर्माण करना। श्रेष्ठ व्यक्ति भोगी नहीं हो सकता, त्याग और समर्पण ही मानव को पृथ्वी के योग्य बनाता है। 

हमें यह ध्यान रखना चाहिए कि संघ की स्थापना उस समय पर हुई थी जब हिंदुओं की सुनने वाला कोई नहीं था हिंदू खंडों में बटा हुआ था। तब परम पूजनीय डॉक्टर हेडगेवार जी ने हिंदुओं की एकता के लिए और चेतना जागृत करने के लिए एक छोटा सा प्रयास किया जो आज विश्व का सबसे बड़ा हिंदू संगठन के रूप में उभर कर आया है। संघ की विचारधारा संघ को प्रोत्साहित करना या उसका प्रचार प्रसार करना नहीं है बल्कि हिंदुओं में हिंदुत्व की भावना को जागृत करना है। जो भी व्यक्ति संघ को गहराई से या संघ से मूल रूप से जुड़े हैं वह इस बात से सहमत होंगे कि हमने संघ को शाखा से ही जाना है हमारे लिए आर एस एस या राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ अपरिचित शब्द से लगते हैं। संघ पर किसी एक व्यक्ति का अधिकार नहीं है ना ही हो सकता है क्योंकि हर एक स्वयंसेवक ने केवल अपना गुरु परम पवित्र भगवा ध्वज को माना है ना की किसी व्यक्ति विशेष को। संघ में कई लोग आए और उन्होंने अपना योगदान दिया लेकिन इससे उनका संघ पर अधिकृत अधिकार नहीं हो जाता। संघ इस सनातन समाज का अभिन्न अंग है, जो इसी भगवा ध्वज की प्रेरणा से जन्मा है।