मेरा आजीवन कारावास / माझी जन्मठेप (स्वातंत्र्यवीर सावरकर - काले पानी का ऐतिहासिक संस्मरण)

much nearer the Hindus than the Mussulmans. They do not object to meat in any form
and style, and they will take it from Muslims, Christians and Jews and yet remain
Buddhists. Hence the Mussulmans could not prevail upon the Burmese in this respect.
Only two means were open to the Muslims to convert the non-Muslims. One was the
sword which had, long ago, broken in their hands. And the other was persuasion and
argument of which they knew nothing; the Muslim community as a whole is at cross-
purposes always with the method of persuasion. Hence they could not convert the Hindus
in the Andamans by these two weapons. Their only resource was goondaism and
commensality. But in these two matters, the Burmese were powerful enough to beat them
at their own game, or even one better than they. For the Burmese ate hog's flesh which
was an anathema to the Muslims, and they ate mice and other flesh which would make
the Muslims shudder. We would deliberately talk to them on Buddhism and praise it, and
would listen to their reciting verses from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. We
observed their holidays and our holidays together. Hence they were drawn closer to our
Sangathan movement. Moreover, the youngsters among them were always exposed to the
coarsest jests and the hardest treatment of the Muslims. Hence they were convinced that
if any thing could save them it was the Sangathan of the Hindus alone and nothing else.
And it was a fact that the strength of the movement had saved them from that cruel
treatment and drawn them still closer to us by ties of love and mutual devotion.

The incident of the 'bang' had been as much an annoyance to them as to the
Hindus. The Hindus were in rage because by that act the Mussulmans desired to flaunt
the Muslim religion in their faces. The officers would hot give them any protection. In
these circumstances and as a counter-blast the Hindus started their prayers early in the
morning. Once I had checkmated the Nimaz by confronting it with a Hindu devotee and
his bhajan. And the Hindus adopted the same method to silence the Muslims. It was not a
question of one or two Mussulmans. It was a dispute between one community and
another. As the Hindus began their prayers in a loud tone, the officers who had
maintained silence towards their rivals, launched prosecutions against the Hindus. One by
one they were charged and punished for the act. Their plea was that to offer such morning
prayers was not an essential part of Hindu religion. To which the Hindus answered that if
not prayer, at least blowing on the conch early in the morning was an essential part of the
Hindu worship. Therefore, one of our enthusiasts, who had taken a leading part in this
affair and who was a prominent member of our organisation, procured a conch and
secreted it in his cell. The following morning at dawn, just when the Muslims had begun
their 'bang', this member began to blow vociferously upon his conch. The kafir conch in
its sound and volume proved more powerful than the Muslims cry of the bang. The
tomtom of the drum was lost in the sound of the kettle-drum. The 'bang', the Muslims
felt, was desecrated by the conch. They were angered and shouted abuse. The enthusiast
was punished for the offence. Thereafter the Burmese and the Hindu prisoners began to
blow on their several conches. At last, the united and bold action made the bang
withdraw into its shell. Their protest with the officers had gone in vain. The Hindu's right
to blow on the conch as an act of worship was recognised and they were asked to stop the
'bang' before the Hindus could be asked to cease blowing on the conch. Thus the bang
came to an end and the conch ceased to blow. What was impossible for reason to do, that