The idea of Indian reunification

Picture of Markandey Katju

Markandey Katju

Why not India and Pakistan just be friends?

At a particular historical juncture, ideas become a material force.

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Victor Hugo

Thus, at certain historical junctures the ideas of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, democracy and the slogan ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, anti colonialism and socialism became material forces which changed the world.

Victor Hugo said “There is one thing more powerful than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come “. The idea of Indian reunification is an idea whose time has come (though it will take a long time to achieve).

The idea of Indian reunification, that is, reunification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh under a secular government, has only recently been born through the creation of the Indian Reunification Association (IRA) but it is bound to develop into a powerful material force which will bring about a complete change in the Indian subcontinent.

IRA will have an impact throughout the world. That is because it is based on truth, the truth that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are really one nation, sharing the same culture, and were artificially divided in 1947 by the wicked divide and rule policy of the British rulers (see my article ‘The Truth about Pakistan’ and BN Pande’s ‘History in the service of Imperialism’ online) and the bogus two nation theory (that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations).

indiPartition was a historical British swindle which must be undone.

We were befooled by the Britishers into thinking that Hindus and Muslims are each others enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled?

How much longer must communal blood flow between us?

Details about the idea can be seen in the Mission Statement and 16 Addresses to the Indian Nation on the websites inreunification.com 

Truth can be suppressed for some time, but ultimately it will triumph. New ideas initially often provoke a lot of hostility, as they were unheard of before, and shock people, who normally have fixed mindsets. But if based on truth, they will be finally accepted.

IRA
Nicolaus Copernicus

Thus, when the Prussian-Polish scientist Copernicus wrote his heliocentric theory (around 1514) that the earth goes around the sun, instead of the then prevailing geocentric theory, that the sun goes around the earth, people were shocked, since this went against what was written in the Bible and Ptolemy’s theory.

In fact at that time it was a dangerous theory to propound or propagate, since refuting the Bible was at that time a capital offence, for which one could be burnt at the stake in the Inquisition (the great Italian scientist Galileo narrowly escaped this fate in 1625 by recanting). But because it was truthful, it was ultimately accepted by all.

It was a typical technique of the British imperialists to partition a country before leaving it so that people there keep fighting each other even after the British leave, and thereby the British keep a hold on the country even after their departure and safeguard their economic interests. They did this to India the same way which they did to Ireland, Cyprus, Palestine, etc.

indiAlso, Partition of India was done to prevent India from emerging as a modern industrial giant (like China of today), of which it has all the potential. This needs to be explained in some depth, and for that we have to delve into economics, for politics is concentrated economics.

Cost of labour is a big chunk of the total cost of production, and if cost of labour is less the cost of production is less, and then one can sell one’s goods at a cheaper price.

There is competition in the market, and one businessman eliminates another not with guns, bombs or tanks but by underselling him. The same happens on the national and international level.

Celebration of Communist revolution in 1949

To give a historical example, China was a very poor, largely feudal and backward country before its revolution in 1949. After 1949 the Chinese leaders built up a massive industrial base.

This massive industrial base, coupled with the cheap labour available in China, enabled the Chinese to undersell the whole world in consumer goods (and many other goods too).

If one goes to a Western supermarket he will find it packed with Chinese goods, which often sell at half the price of goods manufactured by a Western manufacturer, because Chinese labour is cheap whereas Western labour is expensive.

So once a country sets up a massive industrial base everything turns on the cost of labour. Countries with cheap labour have a distinct advantage over countries having expensive labour.

workersNow Indian labour is even cheaper than Chinese labour. If we set up a massive industrial base we will even undersell the Chinese.

But if we set up a massive industrial base (for which we have all the potential, as we have a huge pool of technical talent and immense natural resources) what will happen to Western industries ?

They will collapse, as they will not be able to face Indian competition, thus throwing millions out of employment.

Will the Westerners permit this? No, they will fight it tooth and nail. And how do they prevent it? By making Indians fight each other in the name of religion, caste, language, race, region, etc.

This was the real purpose of partition of India. A secondary purpose was to ensure sales of arms of the Western arms industries (India and Pakistan spend billions of dollars in buying foreign arms, money which could be spent on the welfare of our people).

There have been many criticisms of the idea of Indian reunification as propagated by IRA, and I may deal with them one by one:indi

It is a pipe dream.

When Mazzini spoke of Italian unification, most people called it a pipe dream. But the dream became a reality thanks to Cavour and Garibaldi.

Much water has flown since 1947

Germany was partitioned into West and East Germany in 1945, but was reunited in 1990. So time is immaterial.

Hindus and Muslims hate each other

There was no communal hatred upto 1857. Hindus and Muslims lived amicably like brothers and sisters, helping each other, and celebrating each other’s festivals. There were no communal riots before 1857.

In 1857 the great Mutiny broke out, in which Hindus and Muslims jointly fought against the British.

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Indian Rebellion of 1857

After suppressing the Mutiny the British decided that the only way to control India was divide and rule, and this policy of artificially creating hatred between Hindus and Muslims (through local agents and agent provocateurs) was implemented effectively and systematically, year after year and decade after decade (details of how this was done is given in my article ‘The Truth about Pakistan’ and BN Pande’s ‘History in the service of Imperialism’ which can be seen online).

The same policy has been pursued even after 1947 by certain powerful vested interests.

Despite all this, the truth is that there is no real hatred between the communities (despite all efforts of polarisation by some politicians), and the proof of this is that when Indians, including Hindus, go to Pakistan they get tremendous love, affection and hospitality there, and the same happens when Pakistanis come to India.

Hindus and Muslims living abroad mix socially and interact as if no Partition had taken place.

Today there are about 200 million Muslims in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh each, i.e. a total of about 600 million. whereas the Hindu population is about 966 million. If Pakistan and Bangladesh are reunited with India there will be more communal strife and violence

I have already answered this on the previous point. The ‘hatred’ between Hindus and Muslims was, and is still being, artificially created by vested interests.

Indian reunification will be under modern minded secular leaders who, while ensuring religious freedom, will not tolerate religious bigotry or attempts to incite religious hatred, and crush it with an iron hand.

To regard all Muslims as terrorists is silly. All people, whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, etc wish to live peacefully.

Why not include Nepal, Srilanka, Burma etc in reunited India?

Presently we must only aim at undoing Partition, which, as explained above, was a historical British swindle. Later on, after reunification, other countries who so desire, may join us

Why not India and Pakistan just be friends? What is the need of reunification?

Talk of Indo-Pak friendship is living in a fools paradise, or deliberately deceiving the people. Pakistan was created as an Islamic state so that there should be hostility, not friendship (so that India does not emerge as a modern industrial giant, like China).

Therefore there can never be genuine friendship between the two states. Whenever there is a move for friendship, like PM Vajpayee’s Lahore bus trip, it will be soon followed by an incident like the Kargil war.

It must be clarified that the enmity is not between the people of India and Pakistan. It is between the governments, who are really puppets of foreign powers.

Why not have a confederation like the European Union?

Europe and the Indian subcontinent have different histories. There was no partition of Europe on religious basis. So the analogy is totally misplaced. There are powerful foreign forces which want India and Pakistan to remain hostile to each other (for the reasons I have already given).

No India ever existed before the British came to India

The Mughals united most of India, except the south, though Aurangzeb conquered parts of south India too. Also, even if there was no total unity of India under the Mughals, there was broad cultural unity.

IRA concept is the same as Akhand Bharat of RSS

This is not true. The RSS concept is of a Hindu dominated reunited India.

The IRA concept is of a truly secular India with no community dominating over other communities, and the government of reunited India led by modern minded secular leaders who will not tolerate communalism.

Only Indians may want reunited India, not Pakistanis or Bangladeshis

All people in our subcontinent will sooner or later realise that Partition was a fraud by the Britishers, and it is in their interest to reunite under a secular government. Our subcontinent is a region of great diversity, but that does not mean we cannot live amicably together (as we were living before 1857).

Branches of IRA have been created in Pakistan and Bangladesh too.

The current scenario makes reunification impossible

This scenario will not last forever. Sooner or later people both in India and Pakistan will realise that they were befooled into thinking that Hindus and Muslims are each other’s enemies. Those who polarise society, incite communal hatred, and oppress minorities are really agents of foreign powers who do not want India to emerge as a modern industrial giant

What is the advantage of reunification for our people?

Presently we waste our energies and resources in fighting each other. Our aim must be to create a reunited India as a modern industrial giant, for unless we set up a large scale modern industry we will never be able to abolish poverty, unemployment, child malnourishment, lack of healthcare and good education, etc.

It is only modern industry which can generate the wealth required for looking after the welfare of our people. But that is not possible unless we reunite.

Some people say that India should be divided into small countries like Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, etc which are all flourishing. These countries have their own historical backgrounds, and such analogies are entirely misplaced.

We have to create a large scale modern industry, and modern industry requires a huge market.

To those who say that south India should be separated from north India, the question must be put: then where will goods produced in Coimbatore, Karur and Erode (the industrial belt of Tamilnadu) be sold ? Presently a large part of them are sold in north India.

What is the practical method of achieving reunification, and how much time will it take?

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Ramneek Singh, Vice President of IRA Overseas Council standing with a poster outside Town Hall, Munich, Germany

IRA wants a peaceful voluntary reunification, like that of West and East Germany, not by force or by military means.

Many people ask how will this be achieved? The answer is that presently we should only spread the idea of reunification, and form study circles to discuss it.

Later on, when the idea becomes widespread throughout our subcontinent (which is bound to happen as it is based on truth), people will use their creativity and find out ways and means of effecting peaceful reunification.

As regards how much time reunification will take, my guess is it may take 15-20 years, since there are powerful interests which will not let us easily reunite (for the reasons already mentioned above).

But all patriotic people must help in this sacred endeavour (already a large number of IRA branches and units have been created in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other countries, and the movement is spreading fast).

Those who wish to join or know more about IRA maycontact its Chairman Indervansh Chadha at  harindrealtors@gmail.com or its Gen Secy Irfan Pullani on ip@inreunification.com  

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Picture of Markandey Katju

Markandey Katju

Justice Markandey Katju is former Judge, Supreme Court of India and former Chairman, Press Council of India.

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