Author: Sasha
This article is Sasha's original and will not be reprinted by any media
【Sasha Lecture Hall No. 803】 (Lecture 337 of the Historical Series)
On this day in history, Mahatma Gandhi of India was assassinated. And this assassin, a Hindu believer, is a true Indian. His last words were "Hey, Rama! What does this mean? Listen to Sasha.
The root cause of Gandhi's assassination was the religious conflict in India.
Sasha briefly introduces the background of Indian religion.
In India today, more than ninety-nine percent of the population is religious, and only a very small minority is atheist. Among them, more than 80% are Hindus, about 10% are Muslims, and other religions such as Sikhism and Jainism are other religions.
In ancient times, of course, the same was true of India.
Hinduism is a traditional religion that emerged as early as the 6th century BC (Brahmanism). Hinduism is not just a religion, but permeates every aspect of Indian life.
Therefore, Buddhism once dominated India for a short time, but eventually it was squeezed out by Hinduism.
Around the 7th century AD, Islam began to enter India.
In 1206, the Sultan dynasty in Delhi adopted Islam as the state religion.
In 1526 Babur established the Mughal Empire, which became one of the most powerful states in the world, pushing Islamic civilization to new heights.
Islam is a form of exclusivity and soon forms its own power. In addition to the imposition of religion by state leaders, Islam can also solve some of India's objective problems.
Hinduism is best known for its caste system. The Shudras of the four castes were of inferior status, and the untouchables were like pigs and dogs.
Islam, although also has an internal hierarchy, does not have the caste of Hinduism for generations.
As a result, a large number of Shudras and Dalits converted to Islam.
There are huge differences between the teachings of Hinduism and Islam, and contradictions and conflicts are inevitable.
For example, Islam is monotheism, and Hinduism is polytheism.
Islam believes that God is invisible and ubiquitous, and opposes the image of God, while Hinduism has countless sculptures and portraits of gods.
Islam holds that all men are equal before God and that they will return to God after death. Hinduism, on the other hand, believes that it is natural for people to be divided into several levels, and that reincarnation takes place after death.
Wait a minute.
In short, religious conflicts have lasted for hundreds of years.
Until the 1940s, when China formed the Indian Army, nationalist officers saw a serious religious conflict in India.
The officer recalled: In Hinduism, cattle are gods, and no one is allowed to kill cattle. Islamists often walk past Hindu restaurants with bloody beef, followed by a fight. Since everyone looks at each other unfavorably, why don't they live separately, but live together? Later, we realized that they were not willing to back down and show weakness.
As early as 1885, when the Congress party was founded, there were serious religious problems within the party.
In the Congress party, Muslims complain that they do not have the same rights as Hindu members.
Although they were all Indians and also tried to gain independence from British colonization, Muslims believed that they had different demands from Hindus and it was difficult to sit in the same boat.
Thus, in 1906, the Congress party formed the All India Muslim League (or Muslim League) composed of Muslims.
Tensions intensified, with Muslim leader Jinnah breaking away from the Congress party in 1920.
In 1931 the initials of the provinces of The Muslim provinces formed the word "Pakistan" as a unified name for the Muslim region.
It can be said that in the 30s, the difference between Islamists and Hindus has become very obvious.
In 1946, Britain was unable to control India and was forced to allow India independence.
At this time, the Islamists' claim was clear: the establishment of an independent Muslim state, no longer belonging to India.
The Hindus were shocked to see the Muslims as traitors, and the two sides began a fierce conflict.
On August 16, 1946, Muslim protests in Calcutta led to a feud between Muslims and Hindus. The vendetta lasted nearly 24 hours, killing 5,000 people and injuring 20,000. Sectarian bloodshed also spread to Bihar, Mumbai and other places.
This massive unrest, which did not cease completely until 1948, forced nearly 10 million people, mostly Muslims in India or Hindus in Pakistan.
The West believes that at least 500,000 people have died in the great religious conflicts of recent years
On 4 June 1947, Mountbatten declared that india's independence would be achieved on 15 August of that year by dividing British India into two states, India and Pakistan.
This decision caused serious resentment among Hindus, who considered it to be the dismemberment of India.
Pakistan declared independence on 14 August 1947, and India on 15 August 1947. Jinnah became the governor of Pakistan, and Jawaharlal Nehru became prime minister of the newly independent India.
In October 1947, the first Indo-Pakistani War broke out between the two countries because of Kashmir, and the fierce fighting did not stop completely until January 1949.
The whole country of India was in chaos, with rivers of blood flowing.
In Kashmir alone, more than 100,000 Muslim residents of Jammu have been killed by Hindus. Subsequently, muslims made a big report and killed many Hindus.
Mahatma Gandhi was troubled by intricate religious and sectarian conflicts and advocated unity.
He advocated that Hindus and Muslims live in peace, not divide, and are one people.
Gandhi once said, "Hindus, Muslims, Catholics and Sikhs, there is no difference between them." To me, they are an indivisible whole. ”
Unfortunately, in the face of the terrible reality of the bloody conflict between the two religions, Gandhi could only succumb.
If Pakistan is forcibly left in India, I am afraid that there will be endless religious wars.
At this time, India had just become independent and did not have the capacity to cope with the complex situation.
Instead of destroying them all together, it is better to quickly cut through the chaos and achieve peace between the two popes.
In the end, Gandhi had no choice but to support Pakistan's independence.
This, in turn, greatly infuriated the Hindu extremists.
Until Sasha went to India, the Indian guy said to me: We think that Pakistan and India are 1 country, and there should be no Pakistan or Bangladesh in this world, but only 1 India.
Hindu extremists believed that Gandhi had defended the interests of the Muslims at the expense of the Hindus; he supported the division of the country and was a traitor to the country.
At the same time, when India and Pakistan attacked each other and even killed each other, Gandhi's non-violent policy was close to a joke.
This Hindu fanatic of the Assassin Nathulam Goldson is very representative: Today, Indian refugees are starving and dying, but Gandhi defends the Muslim oppressors. Our homeland has been dismembered, and herds of vultures are tearing up her body. In broad daylight, Indian women are devastated. But in the face of these atrocities, the cowards of the Congress party remained indifferent. How long will this situation last? How long and what month can we endure?
In fact, the Assassin Nathuram Goldson was originally an admirer of Gandhi.
Born a Brahmin, he threw himself into Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and was imprisoned for it.
At 5:17 p.m. on January 30, 1948, the 79-year-old Gandhi attended a prayer meeting.
As he entered the venue, Nathuram stepped out of the crowd. He disguised himself as saying hello to Gandhi , "Hello Father Gandhi, " and suddenly pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his chest and fired 3 shots in a row.
After Gandhi was shot, he fell to the ground with his hands folded and quickly stopped breathing.
The last words he said were: "Hey, Rama! "
Rama was the great god of Hinduism and the most worshipped god of Gandhi's life.
Gandhi's words were, "Ah! O my God! "
There are many interpretations of this sentence, and some Chinese literati who only know fur think it is a scream.
In fact, at the last moment Gandhi was sighing.
His whole life emphasized nonviolence, but it ended in violence, and it is no wonder that Gandhi sighed.
After killing Gandhi, Nathuram did not flee, but expounded his idea: I killed him for India.
After Gandhi's death, according to his will, the body was cremated within 24 hours.
Nathuram, on the other hand, was eventually sentenced to death by hanging for murder.
Until his execution, Nathuram Goldson remained true to the position of Great India and strong nationalism. He said in his suicide note: I have no property to give to my family, only a pile of ashes for you. But I will never be willing to ascend to heaven until the dream I pursued when I committed my crimes is realized. Ignoring the traditional customs of Hinduism, I begged my family not to scatter my ashes in "a river that flows into the sea." Instead, keep my ashes until the day comes when the Indus River passes through a unified country under Hindu rule, when they can scatter My ashes in the river.
And Gandhi once summed up his life: When I despair, I will think that "in history, only truth and love can prevail, and there are many tyrants and murderers in history, who may be invincible in the short term, but will always fail in the end." Think about it, it will always be like this. ”