Do you know what the problem is to be a Muslim in today’s Uttar Pradesh? In fact, it is not one. They are multiple.
The biggest fear is that you could be lynched; you could be beaten up into pulp publicly or you can be arrested on trumped-up charges. Also, if you protest your house could be raised to the ground. You are made to live in constant fear. This is the situation in spite of the fact that 20 percent (or 45.8 million) of the 228.96 million population of Uttar Pradesh is Muslim.
The fact is that a Muslim could be arrested and dismissed from service if he teaches his students to sing a Urdu poem. Perhaps, not any poem, but that of Mohammad Iqbal who has written the national song—Sarey jahaaN say achcha Hindustan hamara/ Hum bulbuleiN haiN iski yeh gulsitaaN hamara.
There is this poem titled Bachche Ki Dua or the Prayer of a Child. It goes like this:
Lap pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
My heart’s desire comes to my lips as a prayerZindgi shama ki surat ho Khudaya meri
God, make my life as one of a candle, a guiding lightDoor duniya ka mere dam se andhera hojaye
My presence would destroy the darkness of this worldHar jagah mere chamakne se ujala hojaye
And my burning light would illuminate all spaceHo mere dum se yohe mere watan ki zeenat
My actions would be for my country, beautiful and admiredJistara phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
Just as a flower adds to the beauty of a gardenZindigi ho meri parwaane ki soorat ya rab
My life would be like that of a moth that loves light and flies into it,Ilm ki shama se ho mujko mohabat ya rab
O Lord! Such would be my love for Knowledge, O Lord!Ho mera kaam ghareebon ki himayat karna
I would work not but to help the poorDardmandon se, Zaeefon se muhabbat karna
And to fill the lives of the lost and old with loveMere Allah! Buraee se bachana mujhko
O God, save me from the evil and wrongNeik jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujhko
And keep me on the path that is straight and righteous
According to recently published reports, some members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) accused school principal Nahid Siddiqui and Shiksha Mitra (teacher) Waziruddin of “hurting the religious sentiments of the people in the Hindu-dominated area by reciting madrassa-type prayers” in the school. The VHP has also added one more allegation—that the Muslims are trying to convert Hindus into their religion.
As I see it, from the perspective of the UP government the poem is in Urdu not Hindi, the State language and; it talks of Allah, not God, not Eshwar.
Are the meanings of these three names different from each other? For any saner, unbiased person they are not.
While this is the situation in UP, one should know that one other poem written by Iqbal that is Saare JahaaN say achcha…is played, among others, by the Indian military band on a regular basis. Will it also be banned from being played first by the military band and then by the public? One never knows.
Iqbal is known as Shaer-e-Mashriq or the Poet of the East. Simply put, he is among the top three poets of Urdu—Meer, Ghalib and Iqbal. His philosophy of Khudi or Self is said to be a landmark chapter in Urdu poetry. He wrote two poems on the theme of Khudi or Self and Rumuz-e-Bekhudi and Secrets of Selflessness.
He also wrote Naya Shivala a poem where he talks of Hindu-Muslim unity using lots of Hindi words. In part, it says:
Sach kah dun aye Brahman gar tu bura na mane
(I will tell you the truth O! Brahman, if you do not mind)
Tere sanamkadon ke butt ho gaye purane
(The idols of your temple have turned old)
Apnon se bair rakhna tu ne buton se sikha
(You have learnt to nurse enmity towards own people)
Jang-o-jadal sikhaye waiz ko bhi khuda ne
(The god has even taught the preacher to battle)
Pathron ki muraton mein samjha hai tu khuda hai
(You believe that God exists in idols of stones)
Khak-e-watan ka mujh ko har zarah devta hai
(But for me every speck of our nation’s land is a god)
In yet another poem he eulogises Ram whom he calls Imam-e-Hind (Spiritual leader of India)
Labrez hai sharab-i-haqiqat se jam-i-Hind!
The cup of Hind
Sab falsafi hain khitta-i-maghrib ke ram-i-Hind
Yeh hindiyon ke fikr-i-falak ras ka hai asar,
Rifat men asman se bhi ooncha hai bam-i-Hind
Rifat men asman se bhi ooncha hai bam-i-Hind
Is des men huey hain hazaron malak sarisht,
Mashoor jinke dam se hai duniya men nam-i-Hind
Hai Ram ke wujood Pe Hindostan ko naz,
Ahle nazar samajhte hain usko imam-i-Hind!
Ejaz us chiragh-e-hidayat ka hai yahi
Raushan tar as sahar hai zamane men sham-i-Hind!
Talwar ka dhani tha, shujat men fard tha!
Pakeezgi men josh-i-mohabbat men fard tha!
overflows with the wine of truth.
Philosophers of the Western world
are its devotees.
The mysticism of her philosophers
makes Hind’s star soar above all constellations.
Thousands of angels have descended
to proclaim Hind’s name before the world.
And proud of his existence
the discerning eye sees in Ram, a prophet.
The glow from this lamp of wisdom
makes Hind’s evening more radiant
than the world’s daybreak.
Valrous, brave, a master swordsman!
In purity, in love, Ram, was unmatched
Iqbal has also written eloquently about Guru Nanak and many other sterling personalities that were born in India.
On Iqbal’s death in 1938, Rabindranath Tagore said: “The death of Iqbal creates a void in literature that like a mortal wound will take a very long time to heal. India…can ill-afford to miss a poet whose poetry had such universal value.”
Tagore who wrote Jan gan mann…, India’s national anthem, has said many more things to keep the peace in the country. But why would VHP and its ilk care? They believe that the government in UP is theirs and would listen to their demands, not that of other groups.
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