Gandhiji and Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the same page

The row over Jinnah’s portrait hanging at AMU student union hall has raked-up a bitter memory from my child hood. On one republic day I came back from prabhat pheri spirited and in festive mood, asked my father who was still in bed; Abba, why do not we chant Muhammed Ali Jinnah ki Jai as we do Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai, Jawaharlal Nehru ki Jai, Maulana Abul kalam Azad ki Jai? My father got astounded and furiously screamed at me. He was about to slap me that I ran away to join the celebration at village school. A teacher asked me to sing a patriotic song and I sang

Kesariya bal bharne wala Saada hai sachchai
Hara rang hai hari hamari dharti ki angdaai
Aur kahta hai yeh chakra hamara
Qadam kabhi na rukega
Hind desh ka pyara jhanda
Uncha sada rahega

Though a loving and caring father, the reaction of my father that morning scared me from history, particularly the part of history which has Gandhiji and Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the same page.

Years later as a student I encountered this scary history at the fourth floor of Maulana Azad Library of Aligarh Muslim University. I was surfing and searching for some interesting fiction/nonfiction. I came across a freshly arrived book ‘The man who divided India’ by Dr. Rafiq Zakari, a great scholar and parliamentarian. Away from shadow of my father, I dared to pick up the book and got it issued in my name. I read the book cover to cover. It further increased my curiosity about the haunted past and the person. I read some more books like ‘Price of partition’ by same author, Pangs of Partition by S. Sattar, My experiment with truth by Mahatma Gandhi, India wins freedom by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad etc.

Then I knew little about the history and the person who divided India. I learned that like Gandhiji, Jinnah was also a Gujrati who changed his date of birth to match with that of Jesus Christ, he also sailed abroad to pursue law and graduated from prestigious Lincoln Inn, that he was not comfortable with Indian languages, lived a life of aristocrat, ate ham sandwitch, drunk alcohol, never offered namaz, was branded as ambassador of Hindu muslim unity, opposed Khilafat movement led by Gandhiji on pretext of mixing of religion with politics, he left India and went to England to live life of obscurity and returned back to lead muslim league which culminated into partition of the country, a himalyan disaster in the history of mankind.

In India of 2018, some people want to delete the history where we find Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Muhammad Ali Jinnah on same page. They want AMU administration to remove a portrait from historic AMU Student Union Hall which has history behind it. A portrait which has been hanging since 1938 has irked and offended the ultra nationalists. These ignorant bunch need to be reminded the words of Jawahar Lal which was there at the time I was student at the gate of PG section of Maulana Azad Library of AMU, Aligarh ''A university stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and for the search for truth.'

The AMU community should dispel the falsehood as it is inscribed at the iconic Bab-e Syed,

Sone walon ko Jaga de Shair ke Ejaz se
Khirman-e Batil jala de Shola-e Awaz se

Awaken the somnolent from miracle of your verse and vanquish the falsehood from the flame of your call.

At a time when the force of irrationality and parochialism is trying to bully and dominate, it needs to be countered sensibly. AMU has withstood the adversity with courage and grace. The current turmoil created by parochial and fanatics will pass as always.

Ae Aligarh Ae jawan qismat dabistan-e kuhan
Ae ke shamma fikr se taabinda teri anjuman
Tere maikhane me larzan hai sharab-e ilm-o fan
Hashr ke din tak phala phoola rahe tera chaman

I, AA3008, stand in solidarity with the students and the AMU community dispersed worldwide at this hour of fight against hooliganism and irrationality.