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Concept
Hindu Mahasabha
Summary
Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (All-India Hindu Grand Assembly) is a Hindu nationalist political party in India.
Founded in 1915, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating the interests of orthodox Hindus before the British Raj and within the Indian National Congress. In the 1930s, it emerged as a distinct party under the leadership of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who developed the Hindutva ("Hinduness") and became a fierce opponent of the secular nationalism espoused by the Congress.
During the World War II, the Mahasabha supported the British war effort and briefly entered coalitions with the Muslim League in provincial and central councils. After the assassination of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi by Hindu Mahasabha activist Nathuram Godse, the Mahasabha's fortunes diminished in Indian politics, and it was soon eclipsed by the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
The organisation was originally called Sarvadeshik Hindu Sabha ("Pan-Country Hindu Assembly"). In 1921, it changed to the present name Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha ("All-India Hindu Grand Assembly").
Local forerunners of the Hindu Mahasabha emerged in connection with the disputes after the partition of Bengal in 1905 in British India. Under the then viceroy Lord Curzon, the division of the province of Bengal was in two new provinces of East Bengal and Assam, as well as Bengal. The new province of Bengal had a Hindu majority, the province of East Bengal and Assam was mostly Muslim. The division was justified by the British for administrative reasons.
The formation of the All India Muslim League in 1906 and the British India government's creation of separate Muslim electorate under the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 was a catalyst for Hindu leaders coming together to create an organisation to protect the rights of the Hindu community members.
In 1909, Lal Chand and U.N. Mukerji established the Punjab Hindu Sabha ("Punjab Hindu Assembly"). The Sabha stated that it was not a sectarian organisation, but an "all-embracing movement" that aimed to safeguard the interests of "the entire Hindu community".
Official source
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