What Dr Ambedkar replied when Gandhi addressed Abdul Rashid, killer of Swami Shraddhanand as Brother?
Dr Vivek Arya
Dr Ambedkar mentioned that it did not matter whether the number of prominent Hindus killed by fanatics among the Muslims was large or small. What mattered more was “the attitude of those who count, towards these murderers'. The murderers of course received the penalty under the law, as they rightly deserved. But Ambedkar was upset that influential figures in the Congress or among the Muslims ‘never condemned these criminals'. He drew the attention to a Times of India article dated 30 November 1927 that brought to light a dangerous trend:
It is reported that for earning merit for the soul of Abdul Rashid, the murderer of Swami Shradhanand, in the next world, the students and professors of the famous theological college at Deoband finished five complete recitations of the Koran and had planned to finish daily a lakh and a quarter recitations of Koranic verses. Their prayer was 'God Almighty may give the marhoom (martyr i.e. Rashid) a place in the "ala-e-illeeyeen” (the summit of the seventh heaven)'
What is not understandable is the attitude of Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi has been very punctilious in the manner of condemning any and every act of violence and has forced the Congress, much against its will, to condemn it. But Mr. Gandhi has never protested against such murders. Not only have the Musalmans not condemned these outrages, but even Mr. Gandhi has never called upon the leading Muslims to condemn them. He has kept silent over them. Such an attitude can be explained only on the ground that Mr. Gandhi was anxious to preserve Hindu Moslem unity and did not mind the murder of a few Hindus, if it could be achieved by sacrificing their lives.?
Reproduced from Veer Savarkar by Vikram Sampath
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