FOCUS ON RELIGION AND LANGUAGE
Abstract
The era from 1937 to 1939 has its own importance as the
British contended that an effective political system could bridge the
communal differences but it hardly met this challenge. This study explores
the state of communal riots in the British Punjab during the years 1937 to
1939 due to religious as well as language differences. In 1937, the
government reminded the Deputy Commissioners through directives that
generally, the people were free in their religious activities but law and order
was paramount to be observed. If officers thought religious activities to
be dangerous they must be dealt with a heavy hand in order to curtail
danger. The Punjab Governor wrote that a clash between agitators and
police would be inevitable in this situation “but the alternative is to allow
provocative acts to continue with the consequent spread of communal
trouble.”i
The British policy on religious freedom and law and order
seemed tangible and practical as well, nevertheless the state of communal
trouble based on religion and language remained acute in the British Punjab.
Many counter-moves like a secular setup of the Punjab Unionist Party,
apparent evenhandedness of the officials and British patronage of the Hindu,
Muslim and Sikh communities seemed to be working as resisting forces to
the communal agony. Leadership might have friendly posture but masses
remained divided on religious lines. Pestering enough the communal clashes
convinced the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs to accept the respective leaders to
have geographical split ultimately. This endeavor aims to explore communal
clashes in Punjab during the years of 1937 to 1939 that occurred mostly on
lingual and religious grounds
Akhtar Hussain Sandhu , María Isabel Maldonado García . (2015) COMMUNALISM IN THE BRITISH PUNJAB DURING 1937 TO 1939 , Al-Hikmat: A Journal of Philosophy, Volume 35, Issue 01.
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