Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee (15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938), was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. Most of his works deal with the lifestyle, tragedy and struggle of the village people and the contemporary social practices that prevailed in Bengal. He remains the most popular, translated, adapted, and plagiarized Indian author of all time.

Quotes

• Love knows everything.
  • Devdas: Other Stories. Roli Books Private Limited. 2005. p. 106. ISBN 978-81-7436-932-1. 

Attributed

• If we go by the lessons of history we have to accept that the goal of Hindu-Muslim unity is a mirage. When Muslims first entered India, they looted the country, destroyed the temples, broke the idols, raped the women and heaped innumberable indignities on the people of this country. Today it appears that such noxious behaviour has entered the bone-marrow of Muslims. Unity can be achieved among equals. In view of the big gap between the cultural level of Hindus and Muslims which can hardly be bridged, I am of the view that Hindu-Muslim unity which could not be achieved during the last thousand years will not materialise during the ensuing thousand years. If we are to drive away the English people depending upon this elusive capital of Hindu-Muslim unity, I would rather advise its postponement.
  • Shri Sarat Chandra Chatterji in October 1926. Attributed to S.C. Chattopadhyay by A. Ghosh in, Making of the Muslim Psyche in Devendra S. (ed.), Politics of Conversion, New Delhi, 1986, p. 148., and also quoted in Goel, S.R. Muslim Separatism - Causes and Consequences

• They [Muslims] were not satisfied merely with looting, they destroyed temples, they demolished idols, they raped women.... ‘All that we [the passive Hindu] do is compile lists of all instances of their cruelty, oppressiveness and hostility towards us and all we ever say is this: “You have killed us, you have broken our idols and kidnapped our women. In this you have been very unjust, and have caused us great pain. We cannot continue to live like this.” Do we ever say more than this, or do more than this?’ .... ‘I ask you this – can our country be freed by fraud?
  • [Saratchandra Chattopadhyay, an eminent Bengali novelist] quoted from Akbar, M. J - The shade of swords_ Jihad and the conflict between Islam and christianity-Routledge (2008)

• Sri Seshadri has cited the advice which Sarat Chandra Chatterjee had tendered to his people. He had written as follows in October, 1926: “Hindustan is the land of the Hindus. It is, therefore, the duty of the Hindus alone to liberate it from the shackles of foreign domination. Muslims are sitting with their faces turned towards Arabia or Turkey. Their heart is not in the land of Hindustan. But when it is not there, it is no use lamenting over it. We need not be unnerved by counting the heads of Muslims. Numbers are not the supreme truth in the world… In freedom’s battle in any country, do all the people of that country take part? When the Americans fought for their freedom, more than half the people of that country were with the British. In the Irish freedom struggle, how many were actually involved in it?… Right or wrong is not decided by the counting of heads. It is decided by the intensity of tapasya or the single-minded devotion to the cause. The problem before the Hindus is not to devise ways and means of bringing about an artificial unity. The problem before them in how to organise themselves.”
  • Sarat Chandra Chatterjee cited by H.V. Sheshadri, quoted from S.R. Goel, Muslim Separatism - Causes and Consequences Ch.12