Offensively, India walks away Muhammad IqbalThe man who wrote Tarana-e-Hindi, ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara’. her song may not be a crime yet child’s prayer (a child’s prayer) But this is proved by a recent incident in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, where a principal and a Batchmates The children were booked for asking them to sing “Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua Ban Ke Tamanna Meri” at the school assembly.
We are living in times when patriotism is considered the prerogative of a few. use words like God, god-ra And God The poem irked a Vishwa Hindu Parishad worker so much that he lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the police. The principal herself was either so scared or clueless that instead of defending the lines of the poem, she claimed that she was on leave from school on the day the alleged crime of singing the nazm took place. Neither the complainant nor the police or even the accused had much knowledge about Kavita.
incidentally, words like God And god are uniquely Indian, and transcend the boundaries of religion. Not only Muslims but Sikhs and some Hindus of North India also use it God To the Almighty. like godA freely used expression for God in Urdu literature.
‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’ was written in 1902 and was inspired by Matilda Edwards’ ‘A Child’s Prayer’. It has been sung in schools in North India for almost a hundred years. This did not change with Pakistan’s adoption of Muhammad Iqbal as the poet of the nation.
In many government schools, where children are not comfortable with English, this poem was part of their morning ritual. Unlike a Saraswati Vandana, a Biblical hymn, an Islamic sura, it was not a religious address. No parent objected to a child saying ‘lab pe aati hai dua’. Who can object to a child singing, “Make my life like a moth, O Lord / May I love the candle of wisdom / May my work be the protection of the poor / May I love the kindred and the elderly / My Lord! Save me from unrighteousness / Help me to walk on the good path”?
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Poet-translator Mustansir Dalvi has written Iqbal: Taking issue and Allah’s answer, “Being Indian and of India inspired many of Iqbal’s poems.” It was Iqbal who called Ram as Imam-e-Hind. He praised Nanak by calling him Mard-e-Kamil or the perfect man. He had the breadth of vision and depth of knowledge to translate the Gayatri Mantra into Urdu Aftab (sun). in New Shivala (New Temple), he made the nation a deity. He loved India to such an extent that he raised it higher than any other place in the world including Arabia.
“Saare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara”, wrote Iqbal, decades before VD Savarkar coined his Pitrabhu (fatherland) and Punyabhu (sacred land) doctrine to differentiate between those whose birthplace and the sacred land bordered India. was within, and whose holy land was abroad. Iqbal was above such demarcation and sect.
‘two-nation theory’
Not that he didn’t have his critics when he was alive, or even after his death. when he wrote complaint (Taking points) In 1909, a large section of the Ulema was distressed by his lamentation before God. calmed down after provocation Jawab-e-Shikwa (Allah’s Answer) where God answers Iqbal’s prayer. This was all there was in the world of Millat and Ummat (community and universal brotherhood based on Islam). The larger Indian society often viewed him through the prism of the two-nation theory, under which he believed, unlike Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and like Savarkar, that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations.
Yet, Iqbal had much more to offer. He chose his audience carefully. He used to recite them when he was in Lahore Kalam at liberty. When in Sialkot, he never gave any indication of being a Poet Or participate in poetry seminars. After his formative years in Europe, when he saw great scientific and economic progress and found in his mind the relative backwardness of Muslim society, he became concerned about the materialistic streak of Western society. Before marrying the Ummah to the idea of internationalism, Iqbal was a staunch patriot who celebrated India’s rivers and mountains, calling its citizens bulbulins (singing birds) and the country his garden. Praised ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’ homeland Or patriotism.
All that is recorded in the yellow pages of history. Like his audience, Iqbal today needs a wiser look at his works, away from the prism of pre-1905 when he went to Europe, or post-1909, when he returned. This may not be possible at a time when it is increasingly falling victim to the politics of ‘us’ and ‘them’ – a collateral consequence of bigotry. Just as ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’ is less heard in the public forum and at risk of being confined to Urdu medium schools, so are his other works including ‘Himla’, where he praises the mountain range that protects India. Let’s do it, are being forgotten. However, it is better than making irresponsible allegations after singing “Lab pe aati hai dua” in Bareilly.
Noted writer-critic Sham Lal said a few decades back, “Times are tough for writers, especially after the causes they fought for, won, lost or were overtaken by events.” Iqbal may have tough times now. Being a prisoner of posterity, Iqbal is shunned by the nation, in every particle of which he finds a sense of divinity. As he once wrote, “Khak-e-watan ka mujhko har zara devat hai” (Each dust particle of my motherland is God to me).