Online encyclopaedia Wikipedia is known to be a den of leftists, and most of its articles are written to favour leftist-Islamist views, and are highly critical of conservative ideologies. Therefore, lots of distortions in facts are seen in many Wikipedia articles. As part of its pro-Islamist biased, the website also tends to be anti-Hindu in narrative. Another example of such bias has been noticed, in the Wikipedia page of Jogendra Nath Mandal, the first law and labour minister of Pakistan.
Jogendra Nath Mandal resigned from the position and returned to India in 1950 due to anti-Hindu riots and policies, and the anti-Dalit bias in Muslim majority administration in Pakistan. The reason for Mandal’s return to India is fairly well known, as he had written a long resignation letter on 9th October 1950, giving detailed reasons of his disillusion with Pakistan due to its anti-Hindu and anti-Dalit policies.
However, now Wikipedia has attempted to distort this well-known history, it claims that Jogendra Nath Mandal returned to India to visit his ill son in Calcutta. It states, “In 1950, Jogendranath Mandal found himself compelled to repatriate to India. It is commonly assumed it is because of a decision precipitated by an outstanding arrest warrant against him in Pakistan. However, it was because his only son Jagadishchandra Mandal, who was studying in Kolkata at the time, had fallen sick and he had comeback to attend him.”
This claim was added on 27 January this year by a Wikipedia editor with the username Achintya2023.
The matter was raised on 𝕏 by Kausik Gangopadhyay, economist and professor at IIM Kozhikode. He posted a note on 11 April by Dr. Mohit Ray, an Indian environmental and human rights activist based in Kolkata, which illustrated how the Wikipedia article distorts history.
The post titled “How Wikipedia Lies to Appease Islamists and Secularist Liberals: A Case Study” quotes from the resignation letter of Mandal, which said, “After anxious and prolonged struggle I have come to the conclusion that Pakistan is no place for Hindus to live in and that their future is darkened by the ominous shadow of conversion or liquidation. The bulk of the upper class Hindus and politically conscious scheduled castes have left East Bengal. Those Hindus who will continue to stay accursed in Pakistan will, I am afraid, by gradual stages and in a planned manner be either converted to Islam or completely exterminated.”
How Wikipedia Lies to Appease Islamists and Secularist Liberals: A Case Study
— Kausik Gangopadhyay (@kausikgy) April 11, 2024
Why Jogendranath Mandal, Law and Labour Minister of Pakistan, fled from Pakistan to India?
Everyone knows why exactly Jogendranath Mandal, a leader of the dalit Hindus and the first Law and Labour… pic.twitter.com/wbTZv6Yq45
However, the Wikipedia edit by Achintya2023 completely downplays these details and claims that Mandal returned to India to attend to his sick son Jagadishchandra Mandal. Moreover, while the Wikipedia article does mention of Madal’s concerns for Dalits or Scheduled Castes in Pakistan, it does not mention the genocide of Hindus mentioned by Mandal in his letter.
Kausik Gangopadhyay said that such dishonesty is even more profound in the Bengali Wikipedia. He wrote, “The dishonesty goes further down in the Bengali Wikipedia which has whitewashed the genocide and pogrom against Hindus in Pakistan but mentions sanitized half-truth of social injustice and biased attitude.”
While adding the claim of the son’s sickness, the Wikipedia editor cited a book titled The Decline of the Caste Question: Jogendranath Mandal and the Defeat of Dalit Politics in Bengal. The book is authored by Dwaipayan Sen, a historian and professor.
OpIndia accessed the book, and found that the book has been incorrectly credited to make the claim. While it does mention that Jogendra Nath Mandal came to Calcutta to see his son who was studying in the city at that time, it does not claim that was the reason for his return to India. The book tells that he used this only as an excuse to come to India, as he was concerned that he would be attacked if he announced his intention to return to India.
After returning to India, Mandal claimed he fell ill himself and wrote to Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan asking to allocate his portfolios to someone else. Later, Mandal sent his long resignation letter to Khan, confirming the reason for leaving India, which was the genocide of Hindus and not fulfilling the promised benefits for the Dalits in Pakistan.
The book gives a detailed account of Mandal’s days in Karachi before moving to India. He had become frustrated with the betrayal of the Pakistan govt, as they never fulfilled the promises made for the welfare of Dalits. While Ambedkar had called for all Dalits in Pakistan to move to India during the partition, Mandal had opposed it, hoping for a Muslim-Dalit unity. He had appealed to the Hindus to remain in Pakistan, even during Karachi anti-Hindu riots in 1948.
However, he continued to oppose the mass violence against Hindus including Dalits in Pakistan, but his views were ignored by his government. Seeing the massive communal riots in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), he had great doubts about Dalits in the province. He was in a great dilemma, because, as a law minister he could not ask Dalits to leave Pakistan, but he could not ensure their safety in Pakistan either.
His resignation letter makes it clear that he resigned due to anti-Hindu riots and policies, the bleak future of Dalits in Pakistan, and his inability to make any changes to the situation despite being a minister. Therefore, he was contemplating resignation and return to India, but this was not easy. He suspected that his resignation might not be accepted. And if he resigned going against the will of the prime minister, he might face violence, and may not be able to even stay safely in his home.
Therefore, Mandal travelled to Calcutta citing his son’s illness and then sent his resignation letter to PM Khan. This is clear that he used his son’s illness to safely exit Pakistan without creating doubts about his intentions, and he left the Pakistan govt and the country due to anti-Hindu riots and policies.
Mandal’s resignation letter mentions Direct Action Day on 16 August 1946 announced by the Muslim League, the Noakhali riots in October 1946, the anti-Hindu policy of Pakistan, anti-Hindu riots in Dhaka on 10 February 1950 that resulted in around 10,000 deaths, the govt’s plan to squeezing Hindus out of East Pakistan, dismal future of Hindus in the country, forced conversions of Hindus, laws eliminating civile liberty etc as the reasons of quitting the govt and leaving the country.
JN Mandal also said in his resignation letter that PM Khand had forced him to make false statements, saying “I can no longer afford to carry this load of false pretensions and untruth on my conscience and I have decided to offer my resignation as your Minister”.
Therefore, the Wikipedia article on Mandal with the recent edit completely distorts the reason for his resignation from the Pakistani govt and return to India. He might have travelled to India to see his sick son, but that just the occasion, it was not the reason of his decision. He has clearly written that he left Pakistan and the Pakistani govt due to its anti-Hindu policies and non-fulfilment of promises made for Dalits, and the Wikipedia article is completely silent on his concerns about Hindus in Pakistan.
