Sir — This refers to the letter, “Nationalist AMU” (July 20) by Jasim Mohammad, in response to the article, “Kashmir Valley: From nowhere to nowhere” (July 17) by Balbir Punj. I would first like to brief about the genesis of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The British dethroned the Muslims from power and made them equal to Hindus — their erstwhile slaves. The Muslims, therefore, sulked and avoided education provided by colleges and universities they (British) established. Hindus, on the other hand, took the advantage of this education and occupied almost all posts reserved for Indians.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, himself an officer in the British administration, thought that only modern education introduced by the British would uplift the Muslims. Therefore, he established the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College — the precursor to the AMU — for advancement of Muslims only. Is it not divisive on the part of SyedIJ
The writer (Balbir Punj) is right in mentioning the divisive ideology of AMU which is based on Islam. Islam divides humanity (momims and kafirs) time (period of darkness and enlightenment before and after the advent of Islam respectively) and space (dar-ul-Islam and dar-ul-harb). Can he (Mohammad) deny theseIJ
He made a mention of alumni like Maulana Hasrat Mohani and the Ali brothers. One of the alumnus, Maulana Mohammad Ali, publicly called the Mahatma inferior to a characterless Muslim from a religious point of view. The Mahatama digested this insult for the sake of Hindu-Muslim unity.
A proud Kashmiri, Sheikh Abdullah, another AMU alumnus, when he assumed power in Jammu & Kashmir, made Urdu as the official language, instead of Kashmiri. Was it not the AMU effectIJ In Hyderabad, the writer forgot to mention the atrocities of Razakars on the local population.
On Jammu & Kashmir, I want to cite the European Commission’s report (2006) which praises India-held Jammu & Kashmir, that had improved by leap and bounds while Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was in shambles. It was not Maharaja Hari Singh who was pensioned and driven to Mumbai (then Bombay); the insertion of Article 370 was fathered by Sheikh Abdullah.
But it was an unequal Article and, hence, not acceptable to BR Ambedkar who was prevailed over by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru qualifying it as temporary one that satisfied Ambedkar. After partition, Balraj Madhok, a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, demanded swapping of the AMU with the DAV College of lahore but it was not acceptable to Nehru. Does this college exist in lahore nowIJ
Has he commented on the forced exodus of Hindus from the valleyIJ What about the decimation of Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhist population from the Islamic Republics of Pakistan and BangladeshIJ The Muslim population in India has more than quadrupled during the last 70 years. What kind of justice are theseIJ