1894: The Swami Vivekananda Quote BJP-RSS Supporters Never Mention
“Why amongst the poor of India so many are Mohammedans? It is nonsense to say, they were converted by the sword. It was to gain their liberty from the . . . zemindars and from the . . . priest, and as a consequence you find in Bengal there are more Mohammedans than Hindus amongst the cultivators, because there were so many zemindars there. Who thinks of raising these sunken downtrodden millions? A few thousand graduates do not make a nation, a few rich men do not make a nation. True, our opportunities are less, but still there is enough to feed and clothe and made 300 millions more comfortable, nay, luxurious. Ninety per cent of our people are without education — who thinks of that? — these Babus, the so-called patriots?”
— Swami Vivekananda
Letter to Diwanji (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai)
Dearborn Avenue, Chicago, November 1894
From the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda