Our Freedom Movement – The Big Picture

This is certainly not for the poisonous, hate-spewing villains of Hindutva. This is for all others who are really not clear about the big picture of our Freedom movement.
The Indian National Congress which led the freedom movement was clear about a few things:
1. It wanted every citizen of India to participate in the political process of electing a government. It wanted the government to be truly representative.
2. It wanted the nation to be secular – not in the French sense, but in the sense that every religion would have equal right to propagate its tenets.
3. It wanted a republic where there was a modicum of equality.
4. It wanted to go the extra mile to help the Dalits and the tribes.
5. It wanted India to be united, for which cause it was prepared to make every compromise with the Muslim League so long as it did not tell upon the long term survival of the country.

There were some minor aberrations, but Congress was quite consistent about these principles even before the advent of the second world war.
The second world war changed the entire world and India was no exception. It no doubt hastened its freedom, but even without the war, Britain would not have been able to hold on to its colonies. Its decline started when the First World War began.
The years between 1945 and 1947 were frenetic and events changed so fast, it made everyone dizzy. Again, Congress held on to its basic principles. It was prepared to give its provinces almost complete autonomy, with not so strong a centre. It was principally the intransigence of Jinnah and the Muslim League that caused the partition. Every time a compromise was possible, Jinnah stood in the way and came with new conditions. Most Muslims were with him. Congress tried everything to convince the Muslims that a United India would be advantageous to them but did not succeed in its attempt. The Direct Action of 1946 changed every thing. Noakhali happened. A much bigger butchery happened in Bihar as a retaliation. Punjab started to burn. The Congress was left with practically a single option. It came to realize that without amputation, the entire nation would become gangrenous.
This is the big picture. There were several twists and turns and minor events. Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and several other players no doubt erred occasionally but they never forgot the big picture. They never acted in a selfish, dishonourable fashion. Only the puss-filled, stinking Hindutva minds, whose forefathers were silent and sullen spectators when the birth of the Indian nation happened, will attribute evil motives to the grand leaders of our freedom movement. These miserable cretins pry a few incidents out of the grand narrative and spin ridiculous stories. They are beneath contempt.