The Vice Chancellor of Delhi University on Wednesday (14th August) stated that the University will no longer teach about Poet Muhammad Iqbal who allegedly proposed the division of India and Pakistan through his artwork. VC Yogesh Singh stated that people have a full right to know about Iqbal but not at the cost of unity and togetherness.
The VC, in an event on 14th August, urged the students that they shall not compromise with India’s unity and togetherness, and that they shall stand together against the forces that create a divide between the two communities. He also said that students must learn, and read more about Veer Savarkar, MK Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar, and such other leaders who have actually sacrificed their lives fighting for the independence of the nation.
“Iqbal was the person to sow the seeds of partition. He was a close associate of Muhammed Ali Jinnah who later became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. When Iqbal was in Lahore’s Govt College in 1904, he only had written ‘Sare Jaha se acha, Hindustan hamara’, Tarana-e-Hind, but later he only forgot to stand by what he had written,” VC Singh was quoted as saying.
VC Singh further opined that India should be on priority for everyone. No one shall compromise over its values and should work together to make this country a better place. “Students should be taught to fight for the nation, they should stand for the nation,” he said.
He also added that nobody, absolutely nobody, wanted India to get divided into two different countries, but the then leaders also failed to strongly oppose the partition.
Muhammed Iqbal, was one of the most main proponents of the two-nation theory that led to the creation of Pakistan in the first half of the 20th century. Indians know him as the man behind the famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ however, for Nehruvian Secularists, Iqbal has come to be regarded as a beacon of unity and tolerance between Hindus and Muslims in India.
The famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ was published in 1904 by Muhammad Iqbal, a year before the Partition of Bengal in British India. The most famous lines of the composition say, which form its sixth stanza, “Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā, Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā”. Unfortunately, in Independent India, the entire legacy of the Islamic fundamentalist poet has been reduced to these two lines, ignoring almost entirely his contribution to the formation of Pakistan.
In Tarana-e-Milli further, which the poet wrote in 1910 for children, the Islamic fundamentalist nature of Muhammad Iqbal becomes entirely evident. It was composed in the same meter and rhyme scheme as ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’, contradicting the thought of unity in total. The first stanza of this particular composition contrasted sharply with the sixth stanza of his prior composition. It said, “Cīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai sārā jahāṉ hamārā”.
The Islamic fundamentalist worldview of Muhammad Iqbal, which contrasts sharply with the image of him being a beacon of communal harmony that has been propped up in India since independence, are more than evident in the words of Tarana-e-Milli. He says, “The treasure of tawhid is in our hearts, It is not easy to wipe out our name and mark. The first house we have liberated from idols is the Ka’abah; We are its custodians, and It is our protector.” Tawhid refers to the concept of Monotheism in Islam. The words seen in unison reflect quite clearly the deep hatred for idolatry and polytheism that Muhammad Iqbal carried in his heart.
It is quite evident that between 1904 and 1910, a radical transformation occurred in the worldview of Muhammad Iqbal. It is believed that it occurred when he left for the United Kingdom for a three-year period. It is then that he supposedly turned into an Islamic fundamentalist which paved the way for him to become a staunch advocate for the creation of Pakistan. Throughout the later stages of his life, Muhammad Iqbal became a passionate advocate for the creation of Pakistan.
In his presidential address at the 25th Annual Session of the All India Muslim League on the 29th of December, 1930, he said, “India is a continent of human beings belonging to different languages and professing different religions…I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the best interests of the Muslims of India and Islam.”
The statement criticizes the reverence for Muhammad Iqbal and his works in India, arguing that any self-respecting country would have discarded them. It suggests that in India, under the guise of secularism, Hindus endure disrespect and face ongoing existential threats since the formation of the Indian Republic. One can indulge in a debate though about whether art can be separated from its creator but these are intellectual luxuries that could ever be entertained only in the absence of imminent existential threats.
