Communal Organisations in Colonial Politics

Communal organisations emerged in colonial India during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fundamentally reshaping the political landscape and leading to the country’s ultimate partition in 1947. These groups organized along religious identities to secure socio-economic privileges, political representation, and state patronage. Encouraged by colonial administrative policies such as separate electorates, communal formations grew into mass political movements that challenged the secular nationalist vision of the Indian National Congress.

Origins and Colonial Policy

Communalism in modern India developed through a combination of socio-economic rivalries, administrative classifications, and deliberate policies deployed by the British government to counter rising national unity.

Driving Factors Behind Communal Mobilisation

• Divide and Rule Strategy: Colonial authorities exploited religious divisions to prevent a united anti-colonial front, treating Hindus and Muslims as distinct, mutually exclusive political entities.
• Census and Administrative Categories: Early census operations categorized populations strictly by religion, encouraging community leaders to mobilize along socio-religious lines to demand government jobs and education quotas.
• Uneven Economic and Educational Development: The late arrival of modern education and industrial opportunities in certain regions created competition among urban middle-class elites for civil service jobs and local board seats.
• Morley-Minto Reforms (1909): The introduction of separate electorates granted Muslim voters exclusive rights to elect Muslim candidates, institutionalizing communalism within the formal political system.

Muslim League and Communal Assertions

The All-India Muslim League was established on December 30, 1906, in Dacca (now Dhaka) during the annual meeting of the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference.

Key Milestones and Leaders

• Founding Members: Nawab Salimullah of Dacca, Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk, Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, and Syed Ameer Ali played instrumental roles in its establishment. Aga Khan III served as its first permanent president.
• Simla Deputation (1906): Led by the Aga Khan, a delegation of 35 prominent Muslim leaders met Viceroy Lord Minto in October 1906 to demand separate electorates and representation in government services proportional to their political importance rather than demographic size.
• 1940 Lahore Resolution: Passed at the Lahore session chaired by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, this resolution demanded independent states for Muslim-majority areas in the north-western and eastern zones of India, laying the formal foundation for the creation of Pakistan.

Hindu Mahasabha and Political Hindutva

The emergence of Muslim communal politics triggered counter-mobilization among Hindu leaders, culminating in the founding of the Hindu Mahasabha.

Evolution and Ideology

• Punjab Hindu Sabha (1909): Founded by Lal Chand and U. N. Mukherji to oppose separate electorates and counter the political influence of the Muslim League.
• Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (1915): Formed at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, and the Maharaja of Darbhanga to unify Hindu political interests.
• Shuddhi and Sangathan Movements: Led by leaders like Swami Shraddhanand during the 1920s, these movements aimed at reconversion and physical consolidation of Hindu society.
• Ideology of Hindutva: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who became president of the Mahasabha in 1937, formulated the concept of Hindutva in his 1923 work Essentials of Hindutva, defining a Hindu as someone who considers India as both Fatherland (Pitribhu) and Holy Land (Punyabhu).

Other Major Communal and Caste Formations

Beyond the major Hindu-Muslim divide, several regional, religious, and caste-based organizations formed to protect specific group interests against dominant political forces.

Regional and Class Formations

• Akali Movement and Shiromani Akali Dal (1920): Formed in Punjab to free Sikh Gurudwaras from corrupt mahants, evolving into a political organization advocating Sikh electoral safeguards.
• Justice Party (1816): Formed as the South Indian Liberal Federation in Madras by T. M. Nair, C. Natesa Mudaliar, and P. Theagaraya Chetty to challenge Brahmin dominance in education and civil services.
• Unionist Party (1923): Founded by Fazl-i-Hussain, Chhotu Ram, and Sikandar Hayat Khan in Punjab as a cross-religious alliance representing agricultural landlords against urban moneylenders.

Major Communal Organisations at a Glance

Electoral Politics and Partition

The provincial elections of 1937 and 1945–46 highlighted the deepening polarization of Indian politics. In the 1937 elections, the Muslim League performed poorly, but intense communal propaganda over the next decade transformed its fortunes. In the 1945–46 elections, the League won 86.6% of the Muslim votes and swept all Muslim seats in the Central Legislative Assembly, while the Congress dominated general seats. This complete electoral segregation made the partition of India inevitable by 1947.

Key Exam Facts

• The Simla Deputation met Viceroy Lord Minto on October 1, 1906, demanding separate electorates for Muslims.
• The All-India Muslim League was founded on December 30, 1906, in Dacca under the presidency of Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk.
• The Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 formally introduced separate electorates for Muslims in India.
• The All-India Hindu Mahasabha was established in April 1915 at Haridwar by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya.
• The Lucknow Pact of 1916 marked the only instance where the Indian National Congress formally accepted separate Muslim electorates.
• Swami Shraddhanand led the Shuddhi movement in the 1920s under the aegis of the Arya Samaj and Hindu Mahasabha.
• K. B. Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Nagpur on Vijayadashami in 1925.
• V. D. Savarkar authored Essentials of Hindutva in 1923 while serving imprisonment.
• The Muslim League passed the famous Pakistan Resolution at its Lahore session on March 23, 1940.
• The Justice Party introduced communal quotas in administrative jobs in Madras Presidency through the Communal G.O.s of 1921 and 1922.