The day was 4th September 1927. The city of Nagpur, which was part of the then British India’s Central Provinces and Berar, witnessed a deadly outbreak of violence on the occasion of Mahalakshmi Puja.
As part of the annual celebrations, a massive procession of Goddes Lakshmi was being carried out throughout the city. When Hindus were passing through the Mahl area of Nagpur, the Muslims stopped the procession from going forward.
The Muslims took to the streets on the evening of 4th September 1927, armed with lethal weapons. Author M. G. Chitkara in his book ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: National Upsurge (2004)’ writes about their nefarious agenda –
“A huge procession armed with lethal weapons and shouting war cries like “Allah-ho-Akbar”, etc. was taken out just at that hour in the afternoon when Hindus would be relaxing after the hectic rituals since morning and a sumptuous lunch. The plan was to sneak into the lanes and by lanes after reaching the Mahal area and attack the unguarded Hindu families, and loot and plunder their homes.“
Amid chants of ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’, the Muslims began entering the Hindu lanes only to see their plans fail. The Hindus, largely disorganised until just 4 years ago, were prepared for a change.
“…The attackers began receiving severe beatings by well-positioned and adequately prepared youth, giving a delightful demonstration of their training in the “lathi” art (stick-wielding technique) breaking the heads and bones of the rioters who took to their heels. The Hindus had thereby, for the first time, convincingly proved their readiness and capacity to face and tackle any such situation.The thrilling news of the ignominious rout of the Muslim rioters spread like lightning throughout Nagpur,” stated author M. G. Chitkara.
The Muslim ‘template of violence’, which worked in 1923, was finally foiled. A report published by the American newspaper, New York Times, dated 7th September 1927 stated – “The casualties in the Nagpur Hindu-Moslem riots up to this morning total twenty-five killed and 180 injured.“
Resistance by the RSS
RSS biographer C.P. Bhishikar describes the event of 4th September 1927 in the following manner (excerpt from Pages 43 and 44 of his 1979 book ‘Keshav: Sangh Nirmata’) –
“…The Muslims hatched a conspiracy to bring out a massive procession on September 4, 1927 (Mahalakshmi Puja day) and indulge in rioting. The procession was scheduled for the afternoon, a time during which Hindus would be resting after lunch.
The Sangh workers got wind of the plan, and knew that the procession was going to be attended by riot. Doctorji was personally out of Nagpur on that day. The procession was to pass through the Mahl area, an educated middle class locality. On both sides of the route there were a number of narrow lanes.
The processionists were equipped with lathis, javelins, knives, daggers. Those who wanted to indulge in violence and loot indulged in thunderous slogans of ‘Allah ho Akbar’ and ‘din din’ and attacked a house situated in one of the narrow lanes. But at the entrance itself, they got a thorough beating.
Thereafter they got thrashing at every lane entrance. Several rioters had their heads broken. The procession broke up and people began to run. The fleeing goondas (hooligans) beat up the lone Hindus they found in the way.
After the first retaliation against the Muslim intrusion several Hindus left their lunch unfinished in anger and came out; by the evening they beat back the invaders. For three days there-after stray incidents continued.
The atmosphere remained tense but not a single Hindu locality was attacked. The Hindu society showed a unity and militancy which inspired self-confidence.“
The paradigm shift in handling Muslim aggression
Page 241 of the book ‘Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance (1993)’ acknowledges the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in protecting the Hindu community against the Islamist onslaught.
“When communal rioting broke out in 1927, sixteen RSS squads moved into various neighbourhoods to provide protection.” As a result, the popularity of the RSS increased and its image as the ‘defender of the Hindu community’ was established.
Tapan Basu on Page 20 of his book ‘Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags: A Critique of the Hindu Right (1986)’ grudgingly notes –
“The Nagpur riot vastly enhanced RSS prestige, for the word spread around that a hundred Hedgewar boys had successfully repulsed
a violent Muslim mob.“
The most significant development of 1927 was perhaps the paradigm shift in Hindus on how they responded to Muslim aggression and street veto. The attitudinal change was on full display during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations of that year.
RSS pracharak Vasantrao Oke in his testimony states (reproduced on Page 249 of MG Chikara’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: National Upsurge) –
“In 1927, there were riots in Nagpur. Hindus were defensive. [In the past] Muslims stopped the Ganesh processions when they passed before a mosque with music. However, in 1927 Dr Hedgewar came in front of the procession, from the beginning, on the mosque road till the tank while beating the drums. Because of him all the others also came along beating the drums. They had the courage then. I took Dr Hedgewar as a challenge against injustice.“
The recurrent theme of Muslims being ‘provoked’
In the 1920s, Muslims would run rampage on the streets and attack Hindus through trivial excuses. RSS chief KB Hedgewar described such attacks as only ‘Muslim riots’ (instead of Hindu-Muslim riots) given that the attacks would be carried out unilaterally by Muslims.
He believed that the riots were triggered by the failure of the Khilafat movement and the Muslim belief that Hindus were disorganised and hence rendered helpless.
Given that KB Hedgewar wanted to unite the Hindu community through the RSS, he became a major roadblock in the Islamist agenda to run over Hindus. As such, he would regularly receive threatening letters or have his house vandalised.
Muslims, who successfully orchestrated violence in Nagpur in 1923, assumed that it would be an easy task to repeat their carnage in 1927 but they were mistaken.
The RSS had emerged as the first line of defence of the Hindu community until then under the leadership of KB Hedgewar. The result of the Hindu resistance against Islamic onslaught was such that Nagpur never witnessed any riot in the remainder of the 20th century.
While Muslims continued to create trouble in the rest of India under the pretext of being ‘provoked’ by Hindu religious processions, they did not dare to engage in any mischief in the RSS stronghold of Nagpur.
“Nagpur had the honour to open a new page in history by leaving behind that ugly tradition and teaching a telling lesson to the aggressors. The benefits of this healthy change has been enjoyed by the citizens of Nagpur ever since, as Nagpur has never again seen any serious attempt by Muslims to start any disturbance,” stated author M. G. Chitkara.
