Baig - THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH

THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH
Author(s): M. R. A. Baig
Source: The Indian Journal of Political Science , April—June 1969, Vol. 30, No. 2
(April—June 1969), pp. 103-129
Published by: Indian Political Science Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41854318
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THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Vol. XXX April-June, 1969 No. 2
THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH
By
M. R. A. Baig*
My interest in the Partition of Bengal dates from round about 1930.

Full of patriotic fervour aroused by the Civil Disobedience movement then
in force, I had swallowed whole the prevailing theory that the communal
question was a machiavellian creation of the British whose willing tools
the Muslims were.
Expressing such beliefs once at home, may father, Sir Abbas Ali
Baig, who had been appointed to the Secretary of State's Council of
India in 1910; who had been a member of it when the partition was modi-
fied in 1911 ; who knew Lord Curzon and Lord Minto and had read all
the relevant papers, gave me a long lecture on communalism which I have
never forgotten.
According to him, Muslim communalism was a defensive attitude

which developed due to three main factors. The Hindu chauvinism of
Tilak, the Hindu revivalism of the Arya Samaj, and the Hindu orientation
of the änti-Partition movement of 1905. The last brought things to a
head. Reading the writing on the wall, and their apprehensions heightened
by the certainty of the increase in representation in the Legislative Councils
by the proposed reforms of Lord Minto, on October 1st 1906, a represent-
ative deputation of Muslim leaders waited on him and demanded the
introduction of the principle of separate representation. Following up
rapidly the favourable response, significantly in Dacca, the capital of East
Bengal, the Muslim League was established two months afterwards. The
British, my father said, while their rule may certainly have been made
easier by the Muslims being kept away from the Congress, can hardly be
blamed for the rise of Hindu nationalism, militant in many respects. It was
this, he said, that effectively kept the Muslims away from the Congress-
not British actions.
♦ A close associate of Mr. Jinnah, he resigned from the Muslim League on the
issue of Pakistan. Later on he joined the Indian Foreign Service and served as
the Ambassador to Iran after retirement. His autobiography, entitled In Different
Saddles has already been published.

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104 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
My father, of course, perhaps deliberately to restore my equilib

showed me only one side of the medal. For, obviously, there was
side. Muslim communalism was by no means only due to defensiv
subjective reasons. There was, first of all, the basic Muslim se
brotherhood, a sentiment which by its very nature drew them apar
non-Muslims ; there was, due to lack of comprehension of the
behind Hindu worship and ritual, the anti-kaffir mentality ; the
due to their general backwardness in contrast to their recollec
former greatness, resentment against the Hindu for having outst
them in all walks of life ; and there was the preaching of Sir Syed
Khan, who, believing that the Muslims could not be brought f
without the help of the Government, spared no pains to keep the
from any political activity displeasing to authority.
But this is not the place to examine comparative communa

The fact is that members of all religions have a sense of commun
group self-consciousness. In a Catholic College I once read on t
"Those who pray together, stay togther". It is true.
More than enough has been written about Muslim communali

Much, also, has been written, and by secular-minded Hindus at th
the Hindu chauvinism of Tilak and the Hindu revivalism -of th
Samaj. But, apart from a few revealing passages in The Autobiogr
An Unknown Indian by Nirad Chaudhuri, nothing that I know of h
written to bring out the Hindu orientation of the anti-partition mo
In fact, on the contrary, it is popularly regarded as the first of th
of freedom movements.
In my retirement, having access to libraries where books of reference

could de found, I determined to study the anti-partition movement.
Though may study cannot be considered as either scholarly or exhaustive
my task was made easier by books based on research of the required depth.
To my great interest I found what my father had said was to all intents
and purposes, true. I also found other things. I found, contrary to my
belief, that it was more than doubtful if Curzon's action was to divide
and rule. I found how little it was necessary for him to divide them in
any case as, to my great surprise, the two-nation theory was then in full
force.
But my purpose is not to take up "old forgotten far off things and
battles long ago.'* It is for the opposite reason, Secularism is impossible
as long as the prevailing belief exists, especially among the younger genera-
tion, that the Muslims were the sole villains of the communal piece, and
that it was their bigotry and stubborn refusal to work with the would-be
fraternal Hindus that delayed freedom and eventually partitioned India.
If, therefore, I draw attention to the Hindu orientation of the anti-

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THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH 105
Partition movement, it is not to apportion blame. It is to suggest th

this orientation set a pattern which largely shaped the subsequent free
movement. Without minimising in the least Muslim communalism an
the part played by the Muslim League, I believe that the course of o
history would have been very different if, instead of blaming the Br
for their divisive policy, and the Muslims for their communalism, t
Congress had shed from its membership, and even leadership, those
ments which provided justification for the extreme ¡policies of the Mu
League and, later, for the partition of India.
It is to remove some of the prejudice and resentment against th

Muslims, and to set record straight in some small measure, that this s
is published. It is my fervent hope that it will be read in the spirit
it is written.
The Reformer
"Let India be my judge," were the last words of Lord Curzon on

leaving India. The judgement has been harsh. Remembered chiefly
for his less admirable qualities, his reputation is as being arrogant,
imperious, offensive and politically reactionary. It is true that some of
Curzon's actions gave good reason for such epithets. But, for all that,
he was, without peer, the greatest administrator that has ever been at
the helm of Indian affairs. So wide-ranging were the reforms that he
instituted that it is impossible to assess, in the sphere of administration,
the debt India owes to him. In fact, his reforms throw into such sharp
contrast the administrations that preceded him that one may wonder what
the governments before him did. Details of all he achieved are not
relevant to this study. But to bring out his zeal for reforms, a few
examples may be given. They are necessary to serve as background to
his later action of partitioning Bengal.
Lord Curzon first dealt with the then cumbersome system of noting
and report writing. "Thousands of pages" , he minuted,
occupying hundreds of hours of valuable time, are written

every year by score upon score of officers, to the obfuscation
of their own intellects and the detriment of their official work,
and are then sent up to the local Governments to be anno-
tated, criticised and reported on by other officers who are
similarly neglected their own duty in deference to this absurd
tyranny. While finally their conglomeration of unassimilated
matter comes up here to us again to be noted on in the Depart-
ment of the Government of India.1
1. Letter to the Secretary of State , May 17, 1899.

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Quickly devising a new system, he then turned his attentio

archaeology. Indignant at finding mosques, tombs and palaces conv
by the Public Works Department into public offices and civil resid
he was particularly shocked by the neglected state of the Taj M
Director-General of Archaeology was immediately appointed. Fo
alone India owes him a great debt of gratitude.
He took the first, if rather feeble, step towards what was later kno
as the Indianisation of the Army by establishing, in the face of op
tion from the British Cabinet, an Imperial Cadet Corps.
The improvement of agriculture and the lot of the cultivator

constantly in his mind. He created an Imperial Agricultural Depart
and appointed an Inspector-General. He founded the Agricu
Institute at Pusa, he instituted agricultural schools and colleges and
passed through the Legislature a Bill for the creation of agricu
banks. By another Bill, the Punjab Land Alienation Bill, he en
voured to rescue the agriculturist from the clutches of money lende
whose rapacious hands vast tracts of lands were rapidly passin
help them further he created Co-operative Credit Societies. He also c
Lord Canning's Scheme conferring free-hold throughout the co
and established an entirely new scheme of land assessment and reven
Turning his attention to the economic sphere, he created, for

first time, a Department of Commerce and Industry. By establ
a Railway Board he ensured that the railways would be manag
experts on commercial lines and not, as before, departmentally. Imp
changes in the currency system also stabilised the rupee.
Education then engaged his mind. Summoning an Educatio

Conference to Simla in 1901, Lord Curzon made public his thou
In sharp contrast to Macaulay who recorded his belief that a
shelf of a good European library was worth the whole literature of
and Arabia, he declared:
Ever since the cold breath of Macaulay's rhetoric passed over

the field of Indian languages and Indian Text books, the
elementary education of the people in their own tongues
has shrivelled and pined... If the vernaculars contained no
literary models, no classics, I might not be so willing to recom-
mend them. But we all know that in them are enshrined famous
treasures of literature and art; while even the secrets of modern
knowledge are capable of being communicated thereby in an
idiom and in phrases which will be understood by millions
of people to whom our English terms and ideas will never be
anything but an unintelligible jargon.2
2. The Earl of Ronaldshay, The Life of Lord Curzon (London : Benn, 1918) p

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It could not be a right thing, Lord Curzon continued, that three out
of every four country villages should be without a school, or that more
than four-fifths of the boys of school-going age should be without even
primary education. Though secondary schools existed in fairly large
numbers, he believed that government should withdraw from direct
management, and as regards technical education, he observed :
Technical Education is to resuscitate our native industries, to

find for them new markets and to recover old, to relieve
agriculture, to develop the latent resources of the soil, to
reduce the rush of our youths to literary courses and pursuits,
to solve the economic problem and generally to revive a satur-
nian age.3
Following his words by action, he established, again for the first

time, a Directorship-General of Education, and its first incumbent
was appointed in 1902.
Commissions of Enquiry were appointed for many subjects. Univer-

sity Reforms, the recommendations of which aimed at profit-making
proprietory colleges raised considerable controversy. Irrigation, which
provided for the irrigation of six and a half million additional acres.
Police, which improved their pay, raised their morale, and restricted
many unhealthy practices.
Summing up his achievements himself, during a speech to the

Legislative Council on March 23, 1904, he declared with some perhaps
pardonable satisfaction:
The Government of India in my time has been involved in

many controversies and has had to bear the brunt of much
attack. Perhaps when the smoke of battle has blown aside
it may be found that from the period of stress and labour has
emerged an India better equipped to face the many problems
which confront her, stronger and better guarded on her frontiers
with her agriculture, her industries, her commerce, her edu-
cation, her irrigation, her railways, her armies and her police
brought up to a higher state of efficiency, with every sec-
tion of her administrative machinery in better repair, with her
credit re-established, her currency restored, the material pros-
perity of her people enhanced and their loyalty strengthened. We
shall not deserve the main credit because we have profited
by the efforts of those who have preceded us. But perhaps
we may be allowed our share; and may feel that we have not
toiled and sometimes endured in vain.4
But, alas, for all his tremendous achievements and attainments,
3. Ibid., p. 186.
4. Ibid., p. 302.

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the emotional impact of political actions is greater than that of adm

trative efficiency. Lord Curzon's unpopular reputation brings o
forcibly that good government is no substiute for self-government. M
over, for a man of his massive intellect he showed an almost incredi
lack of perception of the feelings of those over whom he ruled, and
astonishing lack of judgement of the reactions some of his words
deeds might arouse.
While, therefore, it is impossible to defend his imperial adventu

on the frontiers of India, and such of his actions within India, as redu
the elected members in the Calcutta Corporation, or his tactless
amounting to offensiveness, in stating during a Convocation address t
truth was a "Western conception" whereas in the East "craftiness an
diplomatic will have always been held in much repute" , the same ca
be said of the Partition of Bengal.
The Partition
"Lord Curzon was now at the head of affairs" wrote Surendranath

Banerjea, his staunchest opponent, "his energy was feverish. He was
upsetting and unsettling things. The question of boundaries attracted his
attention. The map of India was to be recast, but by pacific methods
and with the impress of his genius and superior personality stamped
thereon. Here was the unsettled question..."5
High up in the list of unsettled questions inherited by Lord Curzon

was that of Berar. Round about 1800, to protect the Nizam from threaten-
ed attacks from Tipoo Sultan and to face the challenge of the Marathas, a
body of troops, known as the Hyderabad Contingent, was established in
Secunderabad, the cost of which was made a first charge upon the revenue
of that part of the Nizam's possessions known as the Berars.
Later, due to serious arrears in the payment of the force, a new Treaty
was negotiated in 1853 under which the Berars came under the adminis-
tration of the British Resident at Hyderabad. This arrangement created
considerable friction between the Nizam and the British which Lord Curzon
determined to end.
In April, 1902, therefore, he personally visited Hyderabad and

in 24 hours negotiated a settlement by which the Hyderabad Contingent
was absorbed into the Indian Army, and Berar, while remaining under the
sovereignty of the Nizam, was amalgamated for all purposes of adminis-
tration with the Central Provinces.
This "great triumph" , as it was hailed, led his active mind to think
of further administrative changes. The Bengal Province, for instance, at
5. Surendranath Benerjea. A Nation in Making (London : Mil ford, 1925), p. 17 1.

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his period, consisted of Bihar, Orissa, Chota Nagpur, West and

Bengal, and Assam under a Chief Commissioner. He communicate
thoughts almost immediately to the Secretary of State. "I am n
sure" he wrote on April 30, 1902, " that this will not be a proper occ
on which to examine into the larger question of the boundaries of
Governments, or some of them, in general. Bengal is unquestionabl
large a charge for any single man. Ought Chittagong to continue to b
to it, or ought we to give Assam an outlet to the sea? Is Orissa
governed from Calcutta ? Ought Ganjam to be given to Madras?..."6
Though Lord Curzon usually thought more boldly, originally and

ahead of his officials, in this case the same, rather obvious, thoughts
occurred to other minds.
In fact, as early as 1896, Sir William Ward,7 the Chief Commissioner

of Assam, had suggested the transfer of Chittagong, Dacca and Mymen-
singh to Assam. Lord Curzon's attention was attracted to it in connec-
tion with a note of Sir Andrew Frazer, Chief Commissioner of C.P. in 1901
suggesting that Urya be made the Court Language of Sambhalpur instead
of Hindi and that it be conveniently added to Orissa either by placing
Sambhalpur under the Bengal Government or by transferring Orissa to
the Central Provinces.
This note of Sir Andrew moved within the Secretariat for fourteen
months before it came to Lord Curzon in May, 1902. Outraged by the
delay and chagrined at being forestalled, he summoned all his satire and
sarcasm and wrote :
I really feel disposed to ask: Is there no such thing as a Head

of the Government, and what are secretaries for but to keep
him acquainted with the administration?... People sometimes
ask what departmentalism is. To any such I give this as an
illustration. Departmentalism is not amoral delinquency. It is
an intellectual hiatus - the complete absence of thought or appre-
hension of anything outside the purely departmental aspects of
the matter under discussion. For fourteen months it never
occurred to a single human being in the department to mention
the matter or to suggest that it should be mentioned. Round and
round like the diurnal revolution of the earth went the file,
stately solemn, sure and slow; and now in due season it has
completed its orbit and I am invited to register its concluding
stage.8
Having already partitioned Punjab by creating the North West

Frontier Province, and considering that the existing boundaries of Bengal,
6. Ronaldshay, op. cit , p. 220.

7. Ishwari Prasad and S.K. Subedar, History af Modemlndia : (Calcutta Indian, 1947)
8. Ronaldshay, op. cit., p. ill.

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Assam, the Central Provinces and Madras were, in his own word
"antiquated, illogical and productive of inefficiency", he agreed with
note that had so angered him and wrote "I should like to fix the Provi
boundaries for the next generation."*
The first scheme, which covered three Provinces, was then put
shape and published in the Government of India Gazette on Dec
12, ' 1903. The Chittagong, Dacca and Mymensingh Divisions were
to ' Assam ; Sambhalpur and some Feudatory States from the C
9 Ibid., p. 322.

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Provinces, the Ganjam District and the Ganjam and Vizagapatam Agency
Tracts from Madras were added to Bengal ; and Chota Nagpur added to
the Central Provinces.
In Bengal this scheme pleased no one. The Hindu leaders of East

Bengal, most of whom were landlords with residences in Calcutta, objected
not only to separation from Calcutta but, even more strongly, to becoming
part of the backward province of Assam. The Hindu leaders of West
Bengal looked on it as diminishing the prosperity and status of Calcutta ;
and the Muslim leaders of East Bengal considered it against their interests
to be transferred from being governed by a Lt. Governor with a Legislative
Council, in which they had some representation, to a Chief Commissioner
in Assam. The illiterate masses of both communities thought what their
leaders told them to think.
Lord Curzon, therefore, decided to study on the spot the case for
change in order to reply to the criticisms of those who opposed the scheme.
He first proceeded to Chittagong and later to Dacca and Mymensingh
In all three places delegations representing various interests presented to
him their views to which he immediately replied. His speech at Dacca, in
reply to addresses presented by Hindu and Muslim Delegations, well bring
out their objections and his motives.
But even supposing that the fear were well-founded, does

it not argue the most extraordinary lack of self-confidence to
urge that these enlightened districts, priding themselves as they
do on their culture, their education, and their advancement, and
counting millions of people, are going to be annexed by a
province which is like an infant to them in respect of develop-
ment and stature ? Gentlemen, the population of the entire area
in Bengal which it has been proposed to transfer amounts to 11£
millions of people. The entire population of Assam is only 6
millions as it is, and of these, nearly 3 millions are Bengalis
already. Do you mean to tell me that these 14£ millions of
Bengalis, representing as you tell me the flower of the race, are
going to be absorbed, obliterated, and destroyed, because it is
proposed to amalgamate with them, for administrative purposes
only, less than 1 £ millions of a race, i.e., the Assamese, whom
you declare to be in every way inferior to your own ? Such an
apprehension would be the most lamentable confession of
weakness in the future of the Bengal race which it is possible to
conceive. If I were an Assamese, I could understand his saying
that he dreaded being annexed and swamped by Bengal. But
why Bengal should say that it is about to be swallowed up by
Assam, I am wholly at a loss to imagine. It is a part of the
same unreasoning fear that is responsible for the argument that
the Bengalis will cease to be Bengalis and become Assamese, or
that they will cease to speak the Bengali language. Gentlemen,
as I travelled in the railway train yesterday, I saw batches of
well-organised schoolboys holding up placards, on which was

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written, "Do not turn us into Assamese." Surely, I need not

point out to an intelligent audience that no administrative
rearrangement can possibly turn one people into another, or
make 14| millions of people speak any language but their own ;
and really the alarms that I am describing seem almost too
childish to deserve notice, were it not that I have found them to
be seriously stated, and apparently genuinely entertained. Let
me put before you for a moment another aspect of the case.
Much use has been made in this controversy of history, and of
all that it is supposed to teach. I also in a small way am a
student of history : and if it has taught me anything of these
parts, the lesson has been that under the present system of
administration, Dacca, which was once the capital of Bengal,
has steadily declined in numbers and influence, and that not
until the jute trade was introduced some thirty years ago did it
begin to revive. In 1 800 Dacca was a city of 200,000 people.
In 1870 it had sunk to 69,000. Since then it has risen, owing
to the circumstances that I have mentioned, to 90,000 in the
last census ; but whereas the increase was 10,000 between 1870
and 1880, it has only been 11,000 in the ensuing 20 years. Will
anyone here pretend that, even after this advance, Dacca is
anything but a shadow of its former self ? Is it not notorious
that for years it has been lamenting its downfall, as compared
with the past ?
When then a proposal is put forward which would make

Dacca the centre, and possibly the capital, of a new and self-
sufficing administration, which must give to the people of these
districts, by reason of their numerical strength and their superior
culture, the preponderating voice in the province so created,
which would invest the Mahomedans in Eastern Bengal with a
unity which they have not enjoyed since the days of the old
Musulman Viceroys and Kings, which must develop local
interests and trade to a degree that is impossible so long as you
remain, to use your own words, the appanage of another
administration, and which would go far to revive the traditions
which the historical students assure us once attached to the
Kingdom of Eastern Bengal - can it be that the people of these
districts are to be advised by their leaders to sacrifice all these
great and incontestable advantages, from fear of being tied on
to the tail of the humble and backward Assam ? Is it not
transparent, Gentlemen, that you must be the head and heart
of any such new organism, instead of the extremities, and do you
really mean to be so blind to your own future as to repudiate
the offer ?...
Finally I come to the sentimental objections, which is based

upon the conception of nationality, and which expresses dismay
at the partition of what is called the Bengali nation. I found
the streets of Dacca placarded with mottoes, expressly sent for
the purpose from Calcutta, containing the words, "Pray do not
sever Bengalis". As the people of Dacca do not, with very few
exceptions, understand English, I am afraid that they did not
fully comprehend what the placards meant that they had to be

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instructed to put up. This morning also, upon my arrival here,

I saw crowds of men holding up placards - also sent from Calcutta
and also written in English - with the inscription "Divide us
not." - I should like, therefore, for a moment to discuss this
question. Pray do not think that I wish to disparage in the
smallest degree the force of sentiment in human affairs, and
still less that particular form of sentiment that springs from the
pride of race. On the contrary, it has spurred mankind to some
of the noblest and purest deeds ; and the man who is not
attached to his country and his race is not fit to exist at all.
There is no reason why Bengalis should entertain this sentiment
one whit less warmly than any other people. But I cannot see
how the argument applies to the present case. If a Scotchman
crosses the Tweed and comes into England, he does not cease to
be a Scotchman. If a Sikh comes to Bengal, he does not cease
to be a Sikh. But here the case is not even one of crossing a
border. For, so far from a single Bengali being taken away
from his present place, or town, or district, or division, he
would remain there precisely as before, with the sole difference
that the Bengali people, instead of being the predominant
element in one local administration, would in future become the
predominant element in two. We offer to the Bengali nation
the opportunity of forming a second unit round a second centre -
and if a reduplication of its political existence is to be regarded
as injurious to its future, Bengal nationality must, I think, be
very distrustful of its own powers. It is curious that among the
appeals that have been addressed to me, frequent allusion is
made to the fact that Eastern Bengal once constituted an
independent kingdom, the people of which, I believe, still call
themselves Bengals, and not Bengalis. And yet, when the offer
is made of a resurrection of that unit, the objection is raised
that history and nationality are both being flouted and
ignored.10
Lord Curzon returned from his tour even more convinced that a
Lieut. Governor with his headquarters at Calcutta could not possibly
administer efficiently such distant and populous areas with their own
peculiar problems. Lovat Frazer graphically described what East Bengal
appeared from Calcutta.
Of all the territories of India, none was less known or less

cared for until recently than the present province of Eastern
Bengal. Assam was comparatively familiar to the world
without; it had its own Chief Commissioner, and the tea interest,
at any rate, was audible enough. But Eastern Bengal, although
its chief city, Dacca, was only 250 miles from Calcutta, was
ground less trodden by Englishmen than the Khyber. It lay
beyond wide brimming rivers. To reach it was a muddled
business of casual trains and ferry-boats and uncertain steamers.
In the rainy season it was one vast swamp. No wandering
traveller sailed upon its waterways. The very landlords were
10. Speeches by Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Vol. Ill, pp. 301-4, 318.

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absentees, squandering upon the delights of Calcutta the subs-

tance which their agents wrung from the peasantry. To the
officials of the Bengal Government the province was a place of
banishment, a land of strange waters to which troublesome or
incompetent juniors could be consigned. Good administration
stopped short at the Ganges. Beyond was a place where millions
lived and worked and fought and committed crime almost
unheeded, this is no fancy picture ; it is a mild description of
the luckless condition into which Eastern Bengal had fallen.
But the province had rarely known any other state. It was
accustomed to being left alone. It had always been the nominal
possession of some remote and inattentive conqueror. Even
when the Moguls spread their Empire throughout Northern
India, they were content to leave Eastern Bengal in the control
of Viceroys. Sometimes the Viceroys ruled well, and under
them Dacca enjoyed a century of prosperity. When the Mogul
Empire began to crumble, Eastern Bengal almost disappeared
from view. The conquering British did much for the province,
although they killed the trade in Dacca muslins ; but after their
first outburst of activity, they troubled themselves comparatively
little about it. It would be easy to demonstrate that under
British rule Eastern Bengal as a whole was far better administe-
red than it had ever been before ; but it was equally true that
until a few years ago it was unquestionably the most backward
province of British India.11
But Lord Curzon realised that there was force in some of the p
raised by both Hindus and Muslims who opposed the partition
objections, he believed, could be removed by enlarging its scope, by
sing the amount of territory to be separated from Bengal and thus crea
a new province, of sufficient size and importance, to form a Lieu
Governorship with its own Legislative Council.
He also believed that during his tour he had heard every concei
argument against the proposed partition, or, as he preferred to call
bifurcation of Bengal. He, therefore, worked out his new, larger, an
he considered an improved scheme and did not think it necessary t
it public till it had been accepted, with some minor modifications,
Secretary of State.
This, as it turned out, proved a great mistake since such a proc

was attributed to sinister motives. "The revised scheme" wrote Sure
nath Banerjea, "was conceived in secret, discussed in secret, and sett
secret, without the slightest hint to the public... We felt that we ha
insulted, humiliated and tricked.12
11 . Lo vat Fraser, India Under Curzon and After (London : Heinmam, 1911), p
12. Lord Curzon made the same tactical mistake in Punjab. When his scheme
partition was officially announced, the Lieut- Governor, Sir Makworth
vehemently complained that he had not been consulted. Another senior o
resigned in protest.

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The new scheme was made public by the publication of a Governme

Resolution on July 19, 1905, and, later, by a Proclamation in the
Government Gazette on September 1, 1905. The new provice of Easter
Bengal and Assam, with a Lt. Governor, a Legislative Council, and
capital at Dacca, comprised an area of 106,540 square miles with
population of 31 millions, of whom 18 millions were Muslims and 12
millions Hindus. This left the rest of Bengal comprising 141,580 square
miles of whom 42 millions were Hindus and 9 millions Muslims.
The two Provinces remained in being till the King's announce-

ment during the Delhi Darbar on December 12, 1911. By then the
British had been thoroughly alarmed by the growing strength of the
Swadeshi Movement. Placating Hindu Bengali sentiment, they thought,
would take some of the wind out of its sails. There were other factors
also. The transfer of the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta
to Delhi which would also hurt Bengali sentiment ; the anti-Curzon and
anti-partition propaganda carried out in England by some Calcutta-based
British jute interests ; the misbehaviour of certain Muslim elements in East
Bengal who terrorised the Hindus ; and the refusal of the Hindus of both
West and East Bengal to accept the Partition as a settled fact.
It was the British reaction to the Partition that tipped [the scales for
its rescission. Calcutta was not then the industrial metropolis it is today.
At that period its prosperity largely depended on the jute industry and the
Port. All the jute factories and the great export-import business houses
were British owned. Feeling threatened by the possible creation of a rival
port at Chittagong, and the creation of jute factories in East Bengal, the
Calcutta British organised a "lobby" in the British Parliament amongst
the Conservative Party, then in opposition, and carried out ceaseless anti-
partition propaganda till it was rescined.
Still another factor will interest those who are convinced that the
Partition was actuated by no other motive than to 'divide and rule'. The
following passage occurs in the relevant despatch of the Government of
India to the Secretary of State.13
It has frequently been alleged in the Press that the Partition

is the root cause of all the recent toubles in India... It is
certain, however, that it is, in part at any rate, responsible for
the growing estrangement which has now unfortunately assumed
a very serious character in many parts of the country between
Mahomedans and Hindus. We are not without hope that a
modification of the Partition which we now propose, will,
in some degree at any rate, alleviate the most regrettable
antagonism.14
13. Published in the Gazette of India , Part I, December 16, 1911, pp. 1067-75.
14. Ibid.

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Taking everything into consideration, therefore, and in particular

fact that "the results anticipated from the Partition have not been altoge
realised, and the scheme, as designed and executed, could only be just
by success.14 Eastern and Western Bengal were united into one Prov
Assam became a separate Province, and Bihar, Orissa and Chota Nagp
were grouped together in a third Province.
The Movement
The Government Resolution of July 19, 1905, was greeted in Calcutta

with a storm of indignation and protest. "The announcement" wrote
Surendranath Banerjea, "fell like a bomb shell upon an astonished
public... We felt that we had been insulted, humiliated and tricked. We felt
that the whole of our future was at stake, and that it was a deliberate blow
aimed at the growing solidarity and self-consciousness of the Bengali-
speaking population. Originally intended to meet administrative require-
ments, we felt that it had drawn to itself a political flavour and
complexion, and if allowed to be passed, it would be fatal to our political
progress and that close union between the Hindus and Mahomedans upon
which the prospect of Indian advancement so largely depended."
'Felť is a strange verb. It would have been more convincing if he had

used 'thought' and given reasons for the thinking.
On the very next day, July 20th, the Bengali language paper, the
Sanjivani , published a 'Pledge' by which the people were asked to take a
solemn vow to use indigenous goods even at a sacrifice.
On July 21st, the people of Dinajpur assembled at a protest-meeting

at which the chief speaker asked the people to pledge themselves to boy-
cotting British goods, to renounce government offices, to sever all
connections with the British, and to observe mourning for one year. Similar
meetings were held in other centres.
In Calcutta, on August 7th, "a general meeting took place in the

Town Hall of Calcutta to devise the future programme. So large was the
rush that beside the main meeting on the first floor of the Town Hall two
other overflow meetings had to be held on the ground floor and in the
compound. The Chairman, Maharaja Mahindra Chandra Nandi of
Kassimbazar, opened the proceedings by describing the Partition as "the
greatest calamity which had fallen before the Bengali-speaking race since
the commencement of British rule." Five resolutions were then passed
protesting against the Partition, protesting against the procedures in dealing
with the Partition, pledging to continue the agitation till the Partition was
rescinded, and pledging to boycott British goods.
Students soon entered the fray and were the most active in spreading
the Swadeshi cause. Rabindranath Tagore also joined the movement and

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contributed by composing several patriotic songs. Innumerable protest-

meetings were held in Calcutta and in the districts, and picketting of dealers
of British cloth took place. "Even an effigy of Curzon, that strong-fisted
custodian cf British Imperialism in India, was burnt with great fanfaro-
nade" by the students in the Eden Hindu Hostel.
The agitation redoubled in intensity after the publication of the

Proclamation on September 1 . A well-known land owner offered Rs. 20,000
for the purchase of handlooms, and bonfires of British cloth took place
on several occasions. The next important development was the formation
of a Society called the Bande Mataram Bhikshu Sampradaya "for the propa-
gation of Bande Mataram sentiment amongst our countrymen." The
members went about in procession "singing Bande Mataram and accepting
voluntary contributions from door to door."
The next step was a "day of national mourning" on October 16.

"Several definite items were specially earmarked for Calcutta for that day -
(1) to move in procession... to wards the Ganges to take a dip in the
sacred waters, and to tie the rakhi round the wrists of passers-by...; (2) to
comeback after bath and assemble at the celebrated Central College. ..and
to observe the Rakhi-Bandan ceremony there ; (3) to observe the day as
a day of fasting and uncooking ; (4) to assemble in the afternoon to lay the
foundation of the proposed Federation Hall ;...and (5) finally, to march in
procession in the evening... and start there the first collections from the
people for the creation of the National Fund."
The building of the Federation Hall was an idea of Surendranath

Banerjea, based on the veiled and shrouded statutes of Alsace and Lorraine
in Paris, to mark and symbolise the "indivisable union" between
"the old province and its severed parts." During the ceremony of laying
the foundation stone on October 16, the following Proclamation was
announced :
Whereas the Government has thought fit to effectuate the

Partition of Bengal in spite of the universal protest of the
Bengali-nation, we hereby pledge and proclaim that we as a
people shall do everything in our power to counteract the evil
effects of the dismemberment of our province and to maintain
the integrity of our race. So God help us.
On November 1, the proclamation was read out to crowded meetings
in all the mufussil areas, and : "Virtually a war-situation developed.
Gone were the days of prayers and petitions. Gone were the days of the
complacent belief in British justice and equity... The situation fast assumed
a revolutionary character. New and radical ideas were placed in the fore-
front of the Nationalist programme. The demand for 'unqualified Swaraj'
for India was declared in no uncertain voice. The technique of a thorough-
going refusal of cooperation with the Government was fully developed.

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The philosophy of the bomb also made its appearance in due course. E
doses of violence and bloodshed were introduced into the scene. India's
first battle for Freedom began."15
And so it continued. The boycott of British goods led to the birth of

the Swadeshi movement. The Swadeshi movement to the . demand for
Swaraj. Swaraj led to Sri Aurobindo and extremism. Extremism split the
Congress, ejected the 'Moderates', such as Surendranath Banerjea himself,
and brought to the forefront- Tilak.
But, parallel, or, rather divergent to this, in October, 1906, the oppor-
tunity provided by the proposed Morley-Minto constitutional reforms, a
Muslim Delegation in an Address to Lord Minto demanded separate
representation. In December, 1906, the Muslim League was constituted.
What were the reasons for these two developments ?
The Orientation
As a function of the anti-Partition movement, a Shivaji Festival was

origanised in Calcutta from June 4 to June 8, 1906. On June 5, a large
meeting was held attended by members of both communities. After read-
ing the President's speech, Jogesh Chandra Chaudhury concluded :
Before stepping down I must say one word. We must tell you
that we are one nation, although (sic) we are going to admire
every Mahomedan hero and Hindu hero. No one in the audi-
ence thinks now that we are two nations. We are now one
nation - Hindus and Mahomedans- and we must embrace each
other as brothers.16
Though the wording throws revealing light on the two-nation men-

tality prevailing in those days, the concluding sentiments were all that one
could expect from a leader of a 'national' movement. Unfortunately,
however, the wish was not followed by practice. Shivaji, in any case,
would have been a strange patron saint to preside over Hindu-Muslim
integration. In fact, there was no integration ; and the Muslim partici-
pation in the movement was the minimum.
The leader of the movement, Surendranath Banerjea, the acknow-

ledged "uncrowned king of Bengal", who was in the best position to
judge is quite specific. Speaking of one Mr. A. Rasool, he adds "
was one of the very few Mahomedans who oppo
Bengal."17 Other authorities provide ample confirma
But Professors Haridas Mukherjee and Uma M
15. Haridas Mukherjee and Uma Mukherjee, India's Fight fo

16. I bid., p. 170.
]7. Banerjea. op. cit., p. 215.

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comprehensive work devote six pages to The Muslims in the Movement.

though after giving many cases of Muslim participation, they add :
Such instances of active participation of the Mahomedans, both

the intelligensia and the common folk, in the Swadeshi move-
ment at least in its initial stages are not few and far between.
But the joint operation of certain powerful forces - the pro-
Muslim policy of the British Government, the anti Hindu
propaganda of the Nawab Salimullah of Dacca, the extensive
campaigneering of the Mollahas and Maulvis of Bengal as well
as the keen desire of the all-India Muslim leaders of Aligarh to
defend and safeguard their communal interests against the Hindus
- all these contributed to the alienation of a large section of the
Muslims from the Swadeshi movement, who began to condemn
it as a 'Hindu' agitation.18
Were they entirely wrong ? And could not their opposition be due
as much to this belief as to all the machination mentioned above ?
Apart from Surendranath Banerjea, the name most associated with

the anti-Partition movement is that of Sri Aurobindo. But, at that period,
it seems clear that he had not reached the spiritual heights he later attained
nor developed that universalism that became his doctrine. In those days,
for instance, he advocated armed revolt and murder by bomb and pistol.
His universalism also had still to evolve. It is true that he wrote :
Nationalism depends for its success on the awakehing and

organising of the whole strength of the nation, it is therefore
vitally important for nationalism that the political backward
classes should be awakened and brought into the current of
political life ; the great mass of orthodox Hinduism which was
hardly ever touched by the old Congress movement ; the great
slumbering mass of Islam which has remained politically
inert throughout the last century,... Nationalism can afford
to neglect and omit none... It rejoices to see any scope of life
where there was no life before, even if its first manifestations
should seem to be ill-regulated or misguided. It is not afraid of
Pan-Islamism or any signs of the growth of a separate Maho-
medan self-consciousness but rather welcomes them.19
But, while such a concept of nationalism is all that one could

expect from one such as Sri Aurobindo later became, one finds in his
technique of political action many means for awakening "the great mass
of orthodox Hinduism' but none at all for ťthe great slumbering mass of
Islam." Typical of his exhortations is one of his editorials in the Bande
Mataram :
The political strife has assumed a religious character, and the
18. Mukherjee and Mukerjee, op. cit ., p. 146.

19. Karan Singh, Prophet of Indian Nationalism , (London : Allen & Unwin, 1963),
p. 77.

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question now before the people is whether India-- the India of

the holy Rishis, the India that gave birth to a Rama, a Krishna
and Buddha, the India of Shivaji and Guru Gobind - is destined
for ever to be prostrate at the proud feet of a conqueren20
It is perhaps fortunate that Sri Aurobindo welcomed, as q

earlier, "any signs of the growth of a separate Mohammedan self-
ciousness." At that period, at least, by disregarding them entir
gave them cause.
Another example of his technique is mentioned by Dr. Karan Si
The celebrated Bhavani Mandir Scheme, written and circulated

by Sri Aurobindo in 1905, also presupposed the possibility
of a mass armed revolt against the British. This pamphlet
shows the marked influence of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's
Anand Math on Sri Aurobindo. The scheme envisages a temple
to be erected in a secret place among the hills consecrated to
the Goddess Bhavani , symbolising Mother India. In this temple
would be founded a new order of Bramhacharins , young
ascetics who would be consecrated body and soul to the libera-
tion of the Mother from the foreign yoke, and who would
spearhead a national spiritual regeneration and the armed
struggle for independence. Though the scheme did not materi-
alise, it throws considerable light upon the working of Sri
Aurobindo' s mind, particularly his view that an armed revolt
was feasible if necessary organisational steps were carefully taken.
Referring to the Bhavani Mandir pamphlet the Rowlatt Com-
mittee Report says that 'the book is a remarkable instance of
the perversion of religious ideals to political purposes,' and
expresses the view that it really contains the germs of the Hindu
revolutionary movement in Bengal.21
As everyone knows not much good came out of the Rowlatt Co

mittee Report. But if any Muslims agreed with the above findings
might be forgiven. Moreover, if the deliberate intention had been
exclude Muslims, no scheme could have been more effective.
Dr. Karan Singh has brought out the influence of the book Ananda
Math on Sri Aurobindo. This may explain what otherwise seems inexpli-
cable. Written as a story set in the period of the dissolution of the
Moghul Empire, the hero of the novel, Bhavananda, is planning an armed
rising against the Muslims of Bengal. While busy recruiting he meets
Mahendra and sings the song Bande Mataram or "Hail Mother." The
latter asks him the meaning of the words and Bhavananda, making a
20. Bande Mataram (Weekly), December 1, 1907.

21. Karan Singh, op. cit., p. 101.

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spirited answer, concludes with : "our religion is gone, our caste is gone,
our honour is gone. Can the Hindus preserve their Hinduism unless
these drunken Nereys (a term of contempt for Muslims) are driven
away ?"
Mahendra, however, not convinced, expresses reluctance to join the

rebellion. He is, therefore, taken to the temple of Ananda Math and
shown a huge image of four-armed Vishnu, with two decapitated and
bloody heads in front. "Do you know who she is ?" asks the priest in
charge, pointing to an image on the lap of Vishnu, "she is the Mother.
We are her children. Say Bande Mataram ."
Mahendra is next conducted to the image of Jagatdharti. "The

Mother was at first like this", says the priest, leading him away to
the image of Kali, "and this is what she has now become." Mahendra asks
why she holds weapons in her hands and the priest answers : "We, her
children, have armed her. Say Bande Mataram". He is then led to yet
another chamber where the ten-armed Durga presides. "This is
what the Mother will be like" says the priest, "when the enemy is crushed
under her feet." And working himself to a pitch of fervour, he chants
the words of the song "Bande Mataram
Mahendra by now equally excited cries : "I am converted. I will

take the vow". The book goes on : "Emissaries go to villages and on see-
ing Hindus cry : 'Brother, will you perform the worship of Vishnu?' and
so saying collect together and set fire and loot Mussulman habitations,
distributing the gain among votaries of the God. The triumphant Hindus
then go to Vishnu temple and prostrate themselves before the image."
Another scene is thus described : "Some shouted, 'kill, kill the
Nereys.' Others shouted, 'Bande Mataram, will the day come wtien we
shall break mosques and build temples on their sites?" Another passage
reads : "We do not want sovereignty; we only want to kill the Mussulmans,
root and branch, because they have become the enemies of God."
Strange though that all the above is, the book ends on the most
astonishing note. Satyananda, who later took charge of Mahendra, and
who had returned to the abbey after a battle was roused from meditation by a
mysterious ascetic who bade him now desist from the struggle and to
accompany him to the seclusion of the Himalayas. Satyananda objected,
saying that the task is but half done. Mussulman rule had been brought
to an end, but the power of the Hindus had not yet been established.
The saint replies that Hindu rule will not yet be established, for it is
necessary for thé good of India that the English should first hold sway.
"But we now have no enemy" he says "the English are our friends."
Making every allowance for the period in which this story lies, for
the circumstances that then obtained, that to those who sang Bande

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Mataram, the Mother was the Motherland, Ananda Math is a stra

book and Bande Mataram a strange song to become the bible and
battle-hymn of a 'national' movement. The Muslim leader of Bengal cou
also read Bengali, and that none of them rallied to the banner n
surprise no one.
To return to Sri Aurobindo, Dr. Karan Singh has entitled his stud
of his political thought as "Prophet of Indian Nationalism". Prophetic
certainly was, for it was such nationalism that made the two-nat
theory inevitable.
One could reasonably have expected a broad approach from that gre
Liberal leader, Mr. G. K. Gokhale. Speaking at Manchester on Octo
6, 1905, he said :
The Bengalis,22 more than any other community in India was

marked out for Government disapproval and displeasure.
How to deal with the Bengalis had always been the problem...
What, therefore, was the plan that had been adopted? The
proposal was to divide Bengal into two parts, to put half the
Bengalis in one province and the other half into another
province, and to reduce them to the position of a hopeless
minority in both. (Italics mine)
It is true that in the old province, the Hindu Bengali would have
been outnumbered by Hindu Biharis and Oriyas. But what about t
9,000,000 Muslims of West Bengal? Were they also another communit
As for the new province, the population was 31 millions. Assam ha
millions, of which half were already Bengalis. This left 25 millions
East Bengal. The majority were certainly Muslims. But were they n
also Bengals? Surely Bengalis could not be a minority amongst ea
other. In actual fact, unless the Muslims were considered as non-Bengal
the Bengalis had now two provices instead of one. The point,
course, was that the Muslims were considered as non-Bengalis. It
true that one or two leaders gave lip-service to the concept that Muslims we
Bengalis. But that was about as far [as it got. One has only to re
Nirad Chaudhuri's unforgettable and authentic description of life
East Bengal to see the complete gulf that separated the Bengalis of dif
erent faiths :
Of Islamic culture we knew nothing, although it was the spiri-

tual and intellectual heritage of nearly half the population
of Bengal and we in East Bengal came into intimate and daily
contact with Muslims. In this we were true to the traditions
22. L.F. Rushbrook Williams, Famous Letters and Speeches (Bombay : Home Libra
1940), p. 547.

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of modern Indian culture as it was shaped by its creators in the

nineteenth century. This culture was not exactly hostile to
Islam, but it completely ignored the Muslims.28
Another interesting point emerges from the speech. Mr. Gokhale's
objections were not that Muslims were being played up against Hindus.
Mr. Gokhale suggests that Lord Curzon's objective was not that but t
divide and weaken Calcutta. Speaking further, according to The Manchester
Guardian :
Mr. Gokhale detailed as complication that must inevitably

arise from the partition - the withdrawal of many men of
ability and influence from residence in Calcutta, the crippling
of the Calcutta Press, the interference with the educational work
of Calcutta and the probable reduction of the High Court of
Calcutta (Italics mine).
Is the head of the cat now appearing out of the bag? The objections
to the Partition are clearly centered on its adverse effects on Calcutta .
That 18,000,000 Muslims, mostly toilers in the fields of absentee landlords
and practically serfs of jute growing interests, might benefit thereby does
not seem to have entered his liberal mind.
Even Professors Haridas and Uma Mukherjee, in their extremely

comprehensive and well-documented study entitled India's Fight for
Freedom , while giving five reasons for the opposition to the Partition
devote two to Calcutta. "A third cause of indignation" they write "aga-
inst the partition was associated with the wealthy and cultured portion
of the community of East Bengal who, on account of their long and
varied associations with Calcutta, could not psychologically accommodate
themselves to Dacca as their new capital".
"Fourthly", they continue, "the new scheme to be opposed because

the Partition would reduce the influence of the educated classes with their
countrymen in the Eastern Bengal, reduce their chances of cooperation
for national objectives and undermine the political importance of Calcutta.
The Calcutta Bar were particularly opposed to the scheme because it
would sever East Bengal from the original province and would injure
their material and political advantages by setting up before long a separate
High Court for the new province."
The other three reasons they give are that the Partition was looked
upon "as a sinister attempt to check and crush the growing solidarity of
the Bengali race"; that it meant greater financial burden on the people; and
that it was intended "to kindle rivalry and animosity between the two
communities in Bengal - the Hindus and the Muslims."
23. Nirad Chaudhuri, The Autobiography of An Unknown Indian (London : Macmillan

1951) p. 199.

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The last point is also made by Surendranath Banerjea who wrote :
Originally intended to meet administrative requirements, we

felt that it had drawn to itself a political flavour and complexion,
and, if allowed to be passed, it would be fatal to our political
progress and to that close union between Hindus and Mohame-
dans upon which the prospects of Indian advancement so
largely depended. For it was openly and officially given out
that Eastern Bengal and Assam was to be recognised a Moham-
edan province and that credal distinctions were to be recognised
as the basis of the new policy to be adopted in the new
province.24
Unfortunately, however, no supporting evidence is given for both

the statements to prove that they are more than assumptions.
Another leader of the movement, B.C. Chatterjee, wrote :
The united voice of the whole nation rose and fell like one
crying in the wilderness. None heeded it. The Viceroy persevered
iii his scheme of administrative division ;... and the people fell
into bitterness.26
But which "whole nation" ? The Muslims of East Bengal certainly

did not oppose Partition. To which "nation" then did they belong ?
Moreover, since at that period ninety percent of Bengalis must have
been illiterate and living in villages, with the minimum communications
between them, it may be wondered how many of the "whole nation" ever
knew or cared what was happening. The use of the word "nation" is also
significant.
Even in 1963, the thoroughly secular and modern Dr. Karan Singh,
Maharaja of Kashmir, betrays the same bias :
Lord Curzon, that gifted though vain and obstinate Viceroy

of India, decided in the teeth of opposition from the Bengalis
to partition the Province of Bengal."
Dr. Karan Singh continues : "The whole province was seething with
resentment". Which Province ? Bengal, apart from West Bengal, consisted
of Bihar, Orissa, Chota Nagpur, Assam and East Bengal. The majority
in Assam and East Bengal were in favour of the Partition, and there is
little evidence that Bihar, Orissa and Chota Nagpur were very much
concerned.
Though Dr. Karan Singh does not seem to be conscious of his

inconsistency, he himself brings out the Hindu orientation and composi-
24. Banerjea, op. cit., p. 173.

25. Ronaldshay, op. cit., p. 327.
26. Karan Singh, op. cit., p. 62.

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tion of the anti-Partition movement. Writing approvingly of the Arya

Samaj, he quotes a de Reincourt in The Soul of India as saying :
...there is little doubt today that the great revolt in Bengal

in 1903 was largely the indirect result of the Arya Samaj
religious nationalism and Dayanand's organisation was the first
real concrete nucleus of political nationalism.*1
The italics are mine to draw attention to the relation between

religious and political nationalism. Moreover, since one of the main
objectives of the Arya Samaj was to bring back to Hinduism all who had
been converted to Islam, its influence on the movement could hardly have
been welcomed by the Muslim leaders of East Bengal.28
Perhaps the most authentic description of the movement is provided

by Mr. Nirad Chaudhuri :
Gradually, however, as the agitation became more intense

and heated, other feelings began to take possession of us. Our
messianic faith in the future of our country was filled out with
a definitely Hindu content ;... When in later life I read Sir
Valentine Chirol's Indian Unrest ...I found that he had been
wholly correct in his estimate of the Swadeshi movement in
representing it as being essentially a movement of Hindu
revival... This movement was bound sooner or later to clash
with liberalism, and the clash which occurred at Surat in 1907
was only superficially a quarrel between the moderates and the
extremists ; in essence it was the manifestation of the irreconci-
lability of liberal nationalism and Hindu nationalism.29
A little later Mr. Nirad Chaudhuri brings out a very interesting

point :
Not less significant as an indication of the change that was

coming over us was the fact that after a little while we ceased,
when we playfully charged one another, to give our childish
and unmeaning yells. We rushed at our momentary enemies,...
repeating the Maratha war-cry- "Hara, Hara, Mahadeo I"30
The shadow of Tilak had indeed fallen over Calcutta.
And so the story goes on. Concern, first and most, for the prosperity
of Calcutta and the sentiments and interest of the Hindu Bengalees of
27. Ibid., p. 30.

28. In later years the influence of the Arya Samaj on the Congress greatly contributed
to the Muslim distrust of that party, and was an important factor that led the
Muslim League to Pakistan.
29. Nirad Chaudhuri, op. cit. p. 230.
30. Ibid., p. 232.

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East Bengal, landowners and lawyers in particular. But disregard, comp

and universal, for the masses of East Bengal who, under-privilege
neglected and maladministered, stood so clearly to gain from an action
that was, from any angle, a much-needed administrative reform.
Aftermath
If Lord Curzon can be given the benefit of the very considerable

doubt that his motives in partitioning Bengal were political, there can
little argument over the Hindu orientation of the anti-Partition movement.
It seems clear that few Muslims, to begin with, and practically n

Muslims, to end with, supported the movement. This is not very stra
since it was obvious that the formation of the new Province, in which
they formed a majority, was in their interests from every point of vie
In spite, therefore, ot the orientation of the movement, it was self-inter
and neither animosity to the Hindus nor loyalty to the British th
motivated their attitude and actions.
But the orientation of the movement, the complete disregard of their

very existence, and the strength of the opposition to them enjoying the
fruits of lhe new Province, convinced the Muslim leaders that their interests
could not be left in non-Muslim hands. Their demand for separate
representation was the logical consequence.
Much has been written of the machiavellianism of the British in
introducing the divisive system of separate electorates. Divisive it
may have been, but, in fairness to the British, not as machiavellian as it
has been made out in order to shift the blame from the shoulders on which
it should rest. Lord Minto was a genial and well intentioned Scottish
nobleman, a sportsman who had ridden five times in the Grand National,
and a former soldier who was specially selected to calm the feelings ruffled
by the stormy Curzon vice-royalty. A former Governor-General of Canada,
where the relations between the Governor-General and the people were very
different to that in India, he was genuinely anxious to advance the cause of
Indian self-government and took the lead in devising the Reforms with
which his and the Liberal Secretary of State for India Lord Morley's names
are associated.
This is not the place to discuss at length the Muslim Deputation of

1906. But the widely propagated theory that it was stage managed, with
malice aforethought, it exploded by the facts brought out by M.N. Das
in his India Under Morley and Minto (London : Allen & Unwin,
1961). Though his strongly held and expressed political views rule
him out as an objective historian, starting from page 164, Professor
Das brings out that early in August 1906 Morley delivered a speech
indicating the prospective reforms. Mohsin ul-Mulk, the Secretary of
Aligarh College, immediately wrote as follows from Bombay to Archbold,

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the Principal of the College, who was on friendly terms with Dunlop Smith,
Lord Minto's Private Secretary :
You must have read and thought over Mr. John Morley's speech
on the India Budget... I have got several letters drawing attention
particularly to the new proposal of 'elected representatives' in
the Legislative Councils. They say that the existing rules confer
no rights on Mohammedans, and no Mohammedans get into the
Councils by election ; every now and then the Government
nominates a stray Mohammedan or two by kindness, not how-
ever on the ground of his ability, but of his position, who is
neither fit to discharge his duties in the Council, nor is he
considered a true representative of his community. If the new
rules now to be drawn up introduce 'election 'on a more extended
scale, the Mohammedans will hardly get a seat, while Hindus
will carry off the palm by dint of their majority, and no
Mohammedan will get into the Councils by election.
It has also been proposed that a memorial be submitted

to His Excellency the Viceroy to draw the attention of Govern-
ment to a consideration ofthe rights of Mohammedans.
Will you therefore inform me if it would be advisable to

submit a memorial from the Mohammedans to the Viceroy,
and to request His Excellency's permission for a deputation
to wait on His Excellency to submit the views of the
Mohammedans on the matter.
Archbold immediately gave a copy of this letter to Dunlop Smith and,

four days later, Lord Minto sent a copy to Morley saying :
...I think it is worthwhile to enclose a copy of a letter to

Mr. Archbold... It was only put before me today and is [impor-
tant as illustrating the trend of Mohammedan thought, and the
apprehension that Mohammedan interests may be neglected in
dealing with any increase in representation on the Legislative
Councils. I have not had time to think over the advisability of
receiving the proposed deputation, but am inclined to do so.
If there is any doubt that Lord Minto's motive was other than being
fair to all interests, it is cleared by what Professor Das brings out on
page 245.
Minto told them (a group of Muslims headed by Ali Imam)
that when he reassured the Mohammedan deputation of 1906
about the principle of communal representation, he never
imagined he was pledging them for all time to confinement in
water-tight compartments shut off from public life of the country,
but had only accepted the principle when the reform movement
was in a fluid state.
The brain that immediately perceived the political advantages to the

British of the Muslim initiative was that of his Private Secretary, Lt. Colonel
Dunlop Smith, a former Punjab civilian. Extracts from his diaries

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Í28 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
have recently been published and the two following items speak for
themselves :
9 Sept. 1906 : About two weeks before Fuller resigned, Arch-

bold, Head of the Aligarh College, asked me if H.E. would
receive a deputation from the Mussalmans to push their claims
for representation on the Councils of the Government of India
and Local Governments. H.E. agreed. The deputation will be
received before we leave on the autumn tour. It will be a most
representative address as they have consulted Patna, Hyderabad,
Bombay, Dacca and the Punjab. All today I have been at some
notes for H.E'.s reply.
10 Sept. 1906 : What I want to stop is these young Moham-

medans forming small societies all over India. Once they start
that game they can make us really anxious. The Bengalis are
a low-lying people on a low lying level with the intellect of a
Greek and the grit of a rabbit. It's the Mussalman with the green
flag calling for blood and the Maharatta Brahmins - not the
Maharatta but the Brahmins - who we have to watch...®1
But even if Lord Minto accepted the principle of separate electorates,

Lord Morley was not convinced. According to Dunlop Smith :
But by the end of 1907 Morley rejected direct voting on a

community basis, and proposed instead a complex system of
Flectoral Colleges, members of which would be elected on a
regional and not a communal basis, and who would themselves
then choose members, from among their own body, for the
Council. The Muslims distrusted this scheme, fearing that their
unity as a minority group would thereby be undermined, and
their special communal interests neglected or ignored.82
Lord Morley's attitude is confirmed by the very leader of the

delegation that demanded separate representation. In his memoirs, the Aga
Khan writes :
John Morley, with his liberal background and outlook, of the

purest theoretical and academic kind, was extremely reluctant
to accept the principle of separate electoral representation for
the Muslims. It went against the grain of his character.3*
We have also the testimony of Lord Morley himself. In one of his

letters to the Viceroy, he writes :
I won't follow you again into our Mahometan dispute. Only I

respectfully remind you once more that it was your early
speech about their extra claims that first started the M. here.44
31. Martin Gilbert (ed.) Servant of India: The Correspondence and Diaries of Sir Jame t
Dunlop Smith. (London : Longmans, 1906) p. 57.
32. Ibid., p. 173.
33. The Memoirs of Aga Khan (London : Cassel!, 19S4) p. 103.

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It is interesting to speculate on what would have been the course

of our history if Lord Morley had been more conservative in his
liberalism.
But one thing seems certain. However much the Muslim move may
have been made British Rule easier, the delegation was not, as it has been
so often termed, "a command performance."
One final question remains to be answered : Was Lord Curzon right

in partitioning Bengal ? If he had indeed done so with the Muslimsiu
mind, history would have proved his action correct. But, paradoxically, if
he was actuated by purely administrative considerations, his action was
wrong.
It is certainly true that the sprawling Bengal Province of that period

greatly needed administrative reorganisation. It is also true that it was a
good principle to separate that portion of the Province which was the
furthest away from the administrative centre, Calcutta. But Curzon's
mistake, characteristically, was to subordinate sentiment to efficiency. By
partitioning Bengal by separating Bihar and Orissa he would have brought
about his much desired administrative reform without outraging the Hindu
Bengali sentiment he so woefully underestimated.
His action unleashed a chain of events he never anticipated. The

movement soon grew to more than just being against the Partition. Radical
elements, waiting in the wings, quickly came on stage, and seizing the
direction turned it into what has been rightly termed as the first Freedom
Movement. The Partition and the Muslims soon passed into the
background.
But the harm had been done. Even if Lord Curzon did not divide
Bengal to rule, the polarisation of Indians of the two faiths, already in
fact socially, took place politically. It is ironic that the Partition did not
divide the two communities so much as its rescission. For that the Muslims,
except those irredeemably pro-British, never forgave either the British or
the Hindus. The division and suspicions steadily grew wider and stronger as
the extension of the democratic principle made more and more politically
conscious ; and the Congress and the Muslim League failing in what was
always open to them - the introduction of joint electorates - Pakistan
became inevitable.
34. Viscount Morley, Recollections (London : Macmillan, 1957) p. 325.

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Baig - THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH

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THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41854318

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Vol. XXX April-June, 1969 No. 2

THE PARTITION OF BENGAL AND ITS AFTERMATH

My interest in the Partition of Bengal dates from round about 1930.

According to him, Muslim communalism was a defensive attitude

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My father, of course, perhaps deliberately to restore my equilib

But this is not the place to examine comparative communa

More than enough has been written about Muslim communali

In my retirement, having access to libraries where books of reference

If, therefore, I draw attention to the Hindu orientation of the anti-

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Partition movement, it is not to apportion blame. It is to suggest th

It is to remove some of the prejudice and resentment against th

"Let India be my judge," were the last words of Lord Curzon on

occupying hundreds of hours of valuable time, are written

1. Letter to the Secretary of State , May 17, 1899.

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Quickly devising a new system, he then turned his attentio

The improvement of agriculture and the lot of the cultivator

Turning his attention to the economic sphere, he created, for

Education then engaged his mind. Summoning an Educatio

Ever since the cold breath of Macaulay's rhetoric passed over

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Technical Education is to resuscitate our native industries, to

Following his words by action, he established, again for the first

Commissions of Enquiry were appointed for many subjects. Univer-

Summing up his achievements himself, during a speech to the

The Government of India in my time has been involved in

But, alas, for all his tremendous achievements and attainments,

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the emotional impact of political actions is greater than that of adm

While, therefore, it is impossible to defend his imperial adventu

"Lord Curzon was now at the head of affairs" wrote Surendranath

High up in the list of unsettled questions inherited by Lord Curzon

In April, 1902, therefore, he personally visited Hyderabad and

5. Surendranath Benerjea. A Nation in Making (London : Mil ford, 1925), p. 17 1.

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his period, consisted of Bihar, Orissa, Chota Nagpur, West and

Though Lord Curzon usually thought more boldly, originally and

In fact, as early as 1896, Sir William Ward,7 the Chief Commissioner

I really feel disposed to ask: Is there no such thing as a Head

Having already partitioned Punjab by creating the North West

6. Ronaldshay, op. cit , p. 220.

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In Bengal this scheme pleased no one. The Hindu leaders of East

But even supposing that the fear were well-founded, does

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written, "Do not turn us into Assamese." Surely, I need not

When then a proposal is put forward which would make

Finally I come to the sentimental objections, which is based

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instructed to put up. This morning also, upon my arrival here,

Of all the territories of India, none was less known or less

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absentees, squandering upon the delights of Calcutta the subs-

This, as it turned out, proved a great mistake since such a proc

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The new scheme was made public by the publication of a Governme

The two Provinces remained in being till the King's announce-

It has frequently been alleged in the Press that the Partition