By Tariq Hasan for TwoCircles.net,
President Barack Obama’s parting advice to the people of India hours before his departure from New Delhi following his three-day state visit had triggered a debate in India. Obama’s mildly-worded counsel served as a timely reminder to the political establishment that divisive politics based on sectarian and communal grounds can derail the country’s ambitious programme for economic resurgence.
There are, however, stridently vocal elements within the country’s ruling dispensation that have obviously not taken kindly to the American President’s admonition. There appears to be hardly any attempt by leaders of the present Indian government to view his criticism with an open mind.
(Courtesy: india.com)
In fact, barely a week after Obama’s departure, incidents of vandalism at different churches in the national capital clearly show that it will require a determined effort by the Centre to curb the menace of religious intolerance.
The Narendra Modi-led government will have to get its act together if it is serious about curbing communal violence. The fact that some Hindu leaders belonging to extreme right have intensified their cause for converting religious minorities to Hinduism, ignoring the international spotlight brought on such activities by Obama’s remarks, shows that the hardliners have no fear. Add to it, the ruling party’s leaders do not even bother to issue token denunciations when such acts of intolerance are committed.
The act of removal of words ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ from the Preamble to the country’s Constitution – in an advertisement – from an influential section of the BJP-led NDA is also a pointer to the prevailing state of affairs. While Prime Minister Modi hosts the first US president at India’s annual Republic Day parade, many of his followers are engaged in damaging the very foundations of the Republic.
If the extremist fringe succeeds in getting rid of the words ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ from the Preamble, one fears their next demand would probably be the removal of Article 25, which Obama cited in a speech on January 27. The article states that all people are “equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion”.
It is clear that if the present ruling dispensation in the country does not urgently and seriously take heed to the warnings of a well wisher, the Indian state could find itself in a turbulent phase ahead.
Despite words of caution from well-meaning sections of the Indian society, the present NDA government seems to have also embarked on a hazardous path to tinker with the country’s national education policy. The ongoing attempts for meddling on the sensitive issue of historiography of the country are far too serious an issue to be ignored by the academia.
During the past few months, measures have been implemented which clearly suggest that the NDA government is hell bent on injecting an overdose of Hindutva into the country’s education system. The most recent example of this pernicious trend is the reconstitution of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR), in which at least four hardcore members of the RSS have been inducted.
Leading historian Professor Irfan Habib has warned that if all right thinking sections of Indian society fail to take heed of these alarming trends, tomorrow it will be too late to repair the damage caused by such divisive and sectarian measures. Habib told this writer, “I consider the situation so serious that I would like to appeal to all non-BJP political parties, including the Congress and the Communist Parties, to join hands and face the challenge jointly”.
Professor Habib’s candid views underline the threat to the country’s education system posed by obscurantist forces that are promoting religious revivalism while compromising with the basic principles of scientific free enquiry and open-minded thought.
Even a cursory study of late 19th century and early 20th century educational movements in India would confirm that these movements, including those for the establishment of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were a reflection of India’s pluralism. The Aligarh Movement, which led to the establishment of Aligarh Muslim University, was primarily aimed at the upliftment of the educationally backward Muslim community. However, the founding fathers of the movement made sure that all communities were part of this movement.
In this connection, it may be pointed out that researchers at the Sir Syed Academy, AMU have recently discovered a letter written by Raja Brij Narain Rai of Padrauna, Gorakhpur, to Nawab Viqarul Mulk, secretary, Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College, which later became the AMU. This letter, dated June 21, 1911 throws light upon the “pluralistic ethos” of the Aligarh Movement, which ultimately led to the establishment of the Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.
The above letter, which was lying unnoticed in the archives of the Sir Syed Academy, is now being prominently exhibited at the academy’s museum. Sajid Naim, assistant curator at the academy, who chanced upon this letter, quotes Raja Brijnarain Rai saying, “My father Udat Narain Rai had earlier donated a sum of Rs 250 to the Sir Syed Memorial Fund and I, too, would like to donate a modest donation as a token of my cordial relations with the Muslim community”.
The letter goes on to state, “The Padrauna State had been brought into being by the Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgeer. Others are free to say anything about him, but my family will always remain indebted to the Emperor Aurangzeb”.
According to Dr Rahat Abrar, spokesman of the AMU, some of the major donations for the establishment of the MAO College, and later the establishment of AMU, also came from those Hindu patrons, who, though aware that the institution would primarily cater for the upliftment of their Muslim brethren, had the vision, foresight and large-heartedness to donate for it.
The list includes the Maharaja of Patiala; the Maharaja of Alwar; Thakur Durga Bakhsh Singh Bahadur, Tesil Rudauli, Sitapur; Rai Narsingh Das Bahadur, Banaras; Raja Kishan Kumar, Moradabad; Raja Baldev Singh, Raja of Okhra; Raja Jai Kishan Das, Moradabad; J B Gaud Dedi, Hyderabad; Thakur Jawahar Singh, Taluqdar, Sitapur and Sardar Shankar Sigh Bahadur, Rai Bareilly, Awadh.
Abrar said the first managing committee of the MAO College, which comprised 22 members, also had six Hindu members. These included Raja Jai Kishan Das, Thakur Gir Prasad Singh of Beswan, Pandit Radha Krishnan, Babu Jogendra Nath, Lala Lokman Das and Babu Totaram.
Prof Asmer Beg of the AMU’s Department of Political Science, says, “The above mentioned letter is not an isolated incident but it is a reflection that members of both the Hindu and Muslim communities had played a significant role in promoting the institutions of higher learning in late 19th century India. While many Hindus helped in raising funds for AMU, many Muslims too had shown similar large heartedness for helping in the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University. Denying the pluralistic ethos of modern Indian history will tantamount to striking at the very root of the concept of Modern India! Recent attempts to project the history of freedom movement of India in a narrow prejudiced manner will ultimately cause irreparable damage to the underlying principles behind India’s nationhood”.
India is today passing through a very ambivalent phase of its history. On one side, there is enthusiasm and optimism amongst the upper middle class, particularly the big business houses, regarding the immediate prospects of an economic resurgence in the country. After the lacklustre show of the Manmohan Singh government in its final years, these days there is more purpose and decisiveness on economy.
On the other hand, instead of learning lessons from India’s neighbours such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, regarding the disastrous consequences of allowing religious fundamentalism to take root, the Modi government is allowing similar obscurantist forces to gain ground, knowing well that India’s very foundations are laid on the principles of multi-culturalism and religious tolerance.
Thus underprivileged sections of society, including minorities, are getting more apprehensive regarding their future in a polarised India.
And we all know that the BJP won the 2014 election promising inclusive development. Shall we assume that it was just a pretext to grab power?
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(Tariq Hasan is a veteran journalist)