Co-operation with Other Parties

It is imperative that in the interest of Hindudom, it is absolutely necessary that there should be an organisation manned by Hindus only to represent Hindudom as a whole and to protect the interests political, social, cultural, economical, etc., of the Hindu people as a whole. It was with this particular mission that the Hindu Mahasabha was started by such eminent patriots like Lala Lajapat Rai, Madan Mohan Malviya and others and led by Dr. Moonje, Bhai Paramanandji and other great champions of the Hindu cause. Ever since its start, the Hindu Mahasabha has been recognised by other political organisations and even by the British Government also as the foremost, if not the only, political representative of Hindudom. Consequently, any question of a merger or a compromise for a common front for elections or any other object, which demands first of all the liquidation of the Hindu Mahasabha as a political body representing Hindudom and seeks to reduce it to a social and cultural organisation only, cannot but prove most detrimental to the Hindu cause and should never be countenanced at all. Inasmuch as the proposals made recently for such a compromise to one and all seek to deprive the Hindu Mahasabha of this, its main mission of representing and defending the political interests of the Hindus and inasmuch as seek to compel it to merge as a Hindu political body into any old or new organisations, which are open to non-Hindus as well, the acceptance of any such proposal cannot but constitute the betrayal of the two most fundamental bedrocks, on which the Hindu Mahasabha was founded and has been solidly and devotedly taking its stand, namely its mission of representing Hindudom alone and being manned by Hindus alone. Consequently, none of these proposals or any new one of the same nature should ever be even entertained, much less accepted. Nevertheless, a common front for elections or for any issues commonly accepted can be formed with the Hindutwanishtha bodies in particular, and with any political body in general, if that co-operation with those bodies does, in no way, affect the existence and freedom of the Hindu Mahasabha as a Hindu organisation representing Hindudom politically and in all other spheres of national life. In short, co-operation and no amalgamation or merger is the formula that should guide all activities of the Hindu Mahasabha. □□□

Notes [←1] Sakharam Gorhe—he was one of those accused persons in the Nasik revolutionary conspiracy trial who stated in the High Court to have been subjected to police tortures and morpolurs starvatonary to wring out confessions from them so as to implicate other persons as well. The High Court held that the story was an exaggeration and partly a fabrication! History in the long end may record who was right and spoke the truth. All that can be said now is that Sakharam did not implicate anyone else, was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment and died while in a jail, a martyr’s death.

[←2] This petition expressing the political views of the revolutionaries in general and Mr. V. D. Sawarkar in particular was written to the Government chiefly with the intention of pressing no sooner than the passage of the Reforms through the Parliament. For, Mr. Savarkar had several reasons to believe that the Government was then anxious to know what effect the bill would have on the revolutionist attitude. He was several times approached by the authorities there and invited to express his views. He was convinced that the Reforms were chiefly addressed to the revolutionists.