Hindu Revolution - Genesis and Development

Genesis and Development

The present Hindu revolutionary movement is seen as a continuation of the Revolutionary War of 1857. However, its actual beginnings may be dated to the last decade of the 19th century in which the revolutionary seeds of the 1857 events began to germinate, providing fresh impetus to India's national struggle of liberation from colonial rule. Some of the first manifestations of this were protests against economic exploitation and a growing call for swadeshi, i.e. Indian-made goods, in particular, cotton cloth to replace foreign imports. This was linked to the concept of boycott (bahishkar) of foreign goods and culminated in the demand for swaraj (self-rule). This demand was formulated by Lokmanya Tilak and agreed upon by Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghose in 1905 and proclaimed by Dadabhai Naoroji in his presidential address at the Calcutta Congress in 1906. It remained the principal aim of the movement until Independence in 1947.

In the post-Independence period the focus of the movement shifted to the domination of the political field by the Congress party and its allies as well as other developments regarded as detrimental to Hindu interests, such as Islamic extremism. As the situation has not found resolution and the ultimate goal – the establishment of a Hindu State or Ideal Society (Ram Rajya) – is yet to be achieved, the movement remains an ongoing process.

Like most revolutionary movements, the Hindu Revolution comprises both moderate and extremist undercurrents. Although the primary methods of struggle employed by the movement have been constitutional and agitational, it has not been without its more radical factions which have attempted to achieve political goals through the use of armed force. The starting point of the armed struggle is generally accepted as having been provided by the guerrilla campaign of 1879 which was led by Vasudev Balwant Phadke and aimed to establish a Hindu Republic in India. In the wake of these events, various underground groups emerged in the 1890s, aiming to initiate a national insurrection through acts of assassination carried out against leading representatives of the colonial state. A notable example of this was the assassination of the Plague Commissioner of Poona (Pune), Mr. Rand, on 22 June 1897 (the diamond jubilee day of Queen Victoria's coronation). The Chapekar brothers and their associates who were involved in these actions have been described as "the founders of the revolutionary movement in India" and "the first to invoke the Gita in support of political action of that kind".

The period of 1905-1910 marked the beginning of a new phase in which the movement began to take on nationwide dimensions. Popular outrage at the British partition of Bengal; Muslim-Hindu communal violence; the trial and deportation of Lokmanya Tilak; and the influence of revolutionary events outside India (notably in Russia), led to waves of mass political meetings, mass protests, street demonstrations, political strikes and riots. This phase culminated in the assassination of official personalities, including Sir Curzon Wyllie of the India Office, "Pandit" Jackson, the collector of Nasik and William Ashe, collector of Tirunelveli. Assassination attempts were carried out on East Bengal Lieutenant-Governor Bamfylde Fuller, Calcutta Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford, Viceroy Minto and Viceroy Hardinge (who was injured in a bomb attack in New Delhi).

The First World War (1914–1918) was seen as an opportunity to forge alliances with foreign powers opposed to Britain, such as Germany and Turkey, and a "Provisional Government of Free India" under Raja Mahendra Pratap was set up in Kabul in December 1915. However, counter-revolutionary measures such as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Acts (which came into force from 2 March 1919) and heavy police repression combined with Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent Non-Cooperation Campaign of 1920-1922, acted as a brake on the armed struggle. Gandhi's promise of obtaining Swaraj within a year by non-violent means failed to materialise and the Revolution lost its vital momentum.

Renewed revolutionary upsurges in the 1920s and 1940s continued until Independence without reaching insurrection levels. Nevertheless, armed action particularly as carried on by the revolutionary Indian National Army (INA) is acknowledged to have had a significant effect on the course and outcome of India's national freedom struggle. Although Independence was finally achieved in 1947, the country's accompanying partition into India and Pakistan was a traumatic event that was seen as a serious setback to the national movement and a heavy blow to India's territorial integrity. Hindu radicals blamed this development on Mahatma Gandhi's policies and this led to his assassination in January 1948.

In the post-Independence period the movement saw a marked return to constitutional methods. Attempts were made to gain a larger share of political power through the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), founded in 1951, and from 1980 through its successor, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which succeeded in forming a coalition government in 1996-98.

At the same time, however, frustration at the lack of progress in the political field has led to a revival in militant Hinduism, a notable manifestation of which is the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. The movement campaigns for the reconstruction of the Ram Temple (Ram Mandir) in the holy city of Ayodhya and led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid (Babri Mosque) in 1992.

More recently, militant underground organisations have attempted to resume armed struggle as a means of achieving political change. Among these the Pune-based Abhinav Bharat group – named after Veer Savarkar's original organisation – has reportedly been campaigning for the establishment of a Hindu State or Nation (Hindu Rashtra).