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CHAPTER 2
ORIGIN, VISION AND EVOLUTION OF THE ANUVRAT MOVEMENT
Introduction
On a dark day in January of 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru - the first Prime Minister and
the architect of modern India - addressed Mahatma Gandhi's death to the mourning
nation in the following words: “The light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness
everywhere, and I do not know what to tell you how to say it. Our beloved leader Bapu,
as we called him the father of the nation is no more." Hostility had been simmering
between Hindus and Muslims since India's partition in 1947, and Gandhi's death led to
open violence in post-independence India. The situation of resentment had tremendous
adverse effects on the creation of the new nation. When the fresh constitution was being
formed, India was declared a secular nation with no official state religion. By means of a
secular strategy, India attempted to facilitate tolerance for all religions.
In many ways, the declaring of "a secular nation" was appropriate, especially
because the nation's culture and heritage was largely shaped by divergent religious
viewpoints, imprints of various invasions as well as a long history of colonial rule.
However, conducive as the decision was, it still could not eliminate the oppressive
divisions of castes, untouchability, sectarianism, communalism and disharmony within
the country. Such "dark side” led to dissatisfaction in all fields - social, religious,
? Janak Raj Jai, 1947-1980 (Regency Publications, 1996), 45.
