"India is free but she has not achieved unity, only a fissured and broken freedom.... The old communal division into Hindu and Muslim seems to have hardened into the figure of a permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that the Congress and the nation will not accept the settled fact as for ever settled or as anything more than a temporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civil strife may remain always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. The partition of the country must go,'it is to be hoped by a slackening of tension, by a progressive understanding of the need of peace and concord, by the constant necessity of common and concerted action, even of an instrument of union for that purpose. In this way unity may come about under whatever form'the exact form may have a pragmatic but not a fundamental importance. But by whatever means, the division must and will go. For without it the destiny of India might be seriously impaired and even frustrated. But that must not be."
React to this quote
More by Sri Aurobindo
See allResonant Thoughts
"...here I have a very strong objection to what Edward Said writes in his book Orientalism. I am sure this book is very popular with you and I think it is very important for me to say that, there were …"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"It is in that English Parliament the chains for Ireland are forged, and any Irish patriot who goes into tha…"
— Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa"Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who …"
— John F. Kennedy"Personal freedom is a magnificent thing; by it and by it alone can a nation achieve its true freedom. Man m…"
— Alexander Herzen"Think of Tone. . . Think of how he put virility into the Catholic movement, how this heretic toiled to make…"
— Patrick Pearse"To the Working Men of Rochdale: A deep sympathy with you in your present circumstances induces me to addres…"
— John Bright"There is one Resolution I will not omit. Resolved that no Slaves be imported into any of the thirteen colon…"
— John Adams