मेरा आजीवन कारावास / माझी जन्मठेप (स्वातंत्र्यवीर सावरकर - काले पानी का ऐतिहासिक संस्मरण)

much nearer the Hindus than the Mussulmans. They do not object to meat in any form and style, and they will take it from Muslims, Christians and Jews and yet remain Buddhists. Hence the Mussulmans could not prevail upon the Burmese in this respect. Only two means were open to the Muslims to convert the non-Muslims. One was the sword which had, long ago, broken in their hands. And the other was persuasion and argument of which they knew nothing; the Muslim community as a whole is at cross- purposes always with the method of persuasion. Hence they could not convert the Hindus in the Andamans by these two weapons. Their only resource was goondaism and commensality. But in these two matters, the Burmese were powerful enough to beat them at their own game, or even one better than they. For the Burmese ate hog's flesh which was an anathema to the Muslims, and they ate mice and other flesh which would make the Muslims shudder. We would deliberately talk to them on Buddhism and praise it, and would listen to their reciting verses from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. We observed their holidays and our holidays together. Hence they were drawn closer to our Sangathan movement. Moreover, the youngsters among them were always exposed to the coarsest jests and the hardest treatment of the Muslims. Hence they were convinced that if any thing could save them it was the Sangathan of the Hindus alone and nothing else. And it was a fact that the strength of the movement had saved them from that cruel treatment and drawn them still closer to us by ties of love and mutual devotion.

The incident of the 'bang' had been as much an annoyance to them as to the Hindus. The Hindus were in rage because by that act the Mussulmans desired to flaunt the Muslim religion in their faces. The officers would hot give them any protection. In these circumstances and as a counter-blast the Hindus started their prayers early in the morning. Once I had checkmated the Nimaz by confronting it with a Hindu devotee and his bhajan. And the Hindus adopted the same method to silence the Muslims. It was not a question of one or two Mussulmans. It was a dispute between one community and another. As the Hindus began their prayers in a loud tone, the officers who had maintained silence towards their rivals, launched prosecutions against the Hindus. One by one they were charged and punished for the act. Their plea was that to offer such morning prayers was not an essential part of Hindu religion. To which the Hindus answered that if not prayer, at least blowing on the conch early in the morning was an essential part of the Hindu worship. Therefore, one of our enthusiasts, who had taken a leading part in this affair and who was a prominent member of our organisation, procured a conch and secreted it in his cell. The following morning at dawn, just when the Muslims had begun their 'bang', this member began to blow vociferously upon his conch. The kafir conch in its sound and volume proved more powerful than the Muslims cry of the bang. The tomtom of the drum was lost in the sound of the kettle-drum. The 'bang', the Muslims felt, was desecrated by the conch. They were angered and shouted abuse. The enthusiast was punished for the offence. Thereafter the Burmese and the Hindu prisoners began to blow on their several conches. At last, the united and bold action made the bang withdraw into its shell. Their protest with the officers had gone in vain. The Hindu's right to blow on the conch as an act of worship was recognised and they were asked to stop the 'bang' before the Hindus could be asked to cease blowing on the conch. Thus the bang came to an end and the conch ceased to blow. What was impossible for reason to do, that