Road to Communal Polarisation

Political hesitation in 1937 fractured Bengal’s fragile unity, allowing communal narratives to dominate and reshape the province’s social fabric on the eve of independence

- ANIRBAN GANGULY

As noted in Modern Review, Vande Mataram united Indians across faiths, inspiring courage and shared sacrifice.

In his extensively documented study “Bengal Electoral Politics and the Freedom Struggle: 1862-1947”, historian Gautam Chattopadhyay (1924-2006) points out that “as soon as election results were known, efforts started to form a coalition Ministry in Bengal.” The Krishak Praja Party leaders “took the initiative in forming a ministry with Congress support” and “this joint effort led to the formulation of a commonly acceptable programme for the guidance of a Congress-supported KPP Ministry, to be headed by AK Fazlul Huq. KPP leader Dr R Ahmed and Prof Humayun Kabir were at the forefront in trying to stitch this alliance. Ahmed recalls how “The All-India Congress leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru, were extremely unhelpful and Bengal missed a golden opportunity of rallying the Muslim masses to a fighting united front against Imperialism. “It was a cursed day for Bengal’, Ahmed lamented.