IQBAL’S HINDU RELATIONS - Khushwant Singh



IQBAL’S HINDU RELATIONS - Khushwant Singh



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|Khushwant Singh  |

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|I am beholden to P.V. Rawal of Jammu for sending me a photograph of Allama Iqbal’s Kashmiri Brahmin family taken in Sialkot in |

|1931. At this time Iqbal was in his mid-fifties. He had already risen to the top as the greatest Urdu poet, at par with Mirza |

|Asadullah Khan Ghalib. Although he was proud of his Brahmin descent, he had nothing to say about his Hindu relations. In this |

|picture, the elderly lady seated in the middle is his grandmother, Indirani Sapru, nicknamed Poshi, wife of Pandit Kanhaya Lal |

|Sapru. The man standing on the left in a shawl is Iqbal’s cousin, Amarnath Sapru; note the close resemblance to the poet.  |

|The family traces its origin to one Birbal. They lived in the village of Saprain (hence, the surname Sapru) on Shopian-Kulgam |

|road. Then the family moved to Srinagar where Iqbal and most of his cousins were born. Birbal had five sons and a daughter. The |

|third one, Kanhaya Lal, and his wife, Indirani, had three sons and five daughters. Kanhaya Lal was Iqbal’s grandfather. His son,|

|Rattan Lal, converted to Islam and was given the name Nur Mohammad. He married a Muslim woman — Imam Bibi. The Saprus disowned |

|Rattan Lal and severed all connections with him. There are different versions of Rattan Lal’s conversion. The one given to me by|

|Syeda Hameed, who has translated some of Iqbal’s poetry into English, maintains that Rattan Lal was the revenue collector of the|

|Afghan governor of Kashmir. He was caught embezzling money. The governor offered him a choice: he should either convert to Islam|

|or be hanged. Rattan Lal chose to stay alive. When the Afghan governor fled from Kashmir to escape its takeover by the Sikhs, |

|Rattan Lal migrated to Sialkot. Imam Bibi was evidently a Sialkoti Punjabi. Iqbal was born in Sialkot on November 9, 1877. As |

|often happens, the first generation of converts are more kattar than others. Iqbal thus grew up to be a devout Muslim. It is |

|believed that once he called on his Hindu grandmother, then living in Amritsar. But there is no hard evidence of their meeting |

|and of what passed between them; Iqbal did not write about it. Though he had many Hindu and Sikh friends and admirers, he felt |

|that the future of Indian Muslims lay in having a separate state of their own. Iqbal was the principal ideologue of what later |

|become Pakistan. Iqbal’s mother-tongue was Punjabi but he never wrote in it. He used only Persian and Urdu, as did many Urdu |

|poets before him.  |

|There are many aspects of Iqbal’s personal life which have not been fully researched by his biographers. We know he married two |

|or three times and that his favourite son was Javed, who became a judge of the Lahore high court. Iqbal’s affair with Atia Faizi|

|of Bombay when they met in London is well-known. There must have been some correspondence between them to show the kind of |

|relationship they had. When in Heidelberg, he was taken up by his young German tutor, Emma Veganast. This secret was divulged by|

|the mayor of Heidelberg in a speech in which he named a part of the bank of the river Neckar after him — Iqbal Weg. The |

|Pakistani ambassador to Germany had the mayor’s speech mentioning the girl’s name suppressed. Iqbal and Emma continued to write |

|to each other till the end of his life. The correspondence should be available in archives in Lahore and Heidelberg. Lovers of |

|Iqbal, among whom I count myself, deserve to be presented with a fuller picture of their idol. We have biographies of |

|Rabindranath Tagore revealing all his love affairs but none of the Allama telling us of the kind of man he was.  |

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|Standing (second from left): Late Amarnath Sapru, first cousin of Iqbal.  |

|Sitting (from left): Raj Kishori Rawal, d/o Amarnath Sapru; grandmother of Iqbal; and Pt. J.N. Rawal, h/o Raj Kishori  |

|Subject: Fwd: More Re. ments:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

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|Subj: Re: More Re. ments:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New Temple   |

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|Dear Kalim,  |

|I know some of you feel very deeply about Iqbal - I myself used to attend the Lahore meeting on 21 April every year where some |

|great singers recited his poems firing the audience with great passion and Islamic zeal. |

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|However, with advancing years Iqbal become more and more a captive of his Islamic romanticism and there are poems advising |

|people to submit without any questions to the dictates of the Sharia. I think the best work on Iqbal - Iqbal the progressive and|

|Iqbal the reactionary - is by Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1946). I have read later writings too but they tend to be devotional and |

|sometimes deliberately misleading because once Iqbal become  Rahmatulla- Alayheh - nothing can be said in criticism of him. |

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|Iqbal married many times. One of his wives was the sister of Khawaja Ferozuddin. Iqbal never attended to her and she died at her|

|brother's place after years of neglect. Khawaja Ferozuddin's son was the famous music director Khawaja Khurshid Anwar. Our house|

|on Temple Road Lahore was one removed from that of Khawaja Ferozuddin. In between was a hay and cattle fodder shop. That was the|

|Temple Road of the 1950s and up to the 1970s. |

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|Aftab Iqbal was Iqbal's son from his first wife. He also lived on Temple Road for a while. He used to tease women even when he |

|was middle aged and was expelled from there by the people. I am told that Iqbal had liasion with the German governorness he |

|hired for Javid Iqbal but it can be just a rumour deriving from envy but who knows. |

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|Best regards, |

|Ishtiaq |

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|The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the |

|Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He can be reached at  |

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|Subj: RE: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

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|It is natural that Iqbal's views, attitudes and works were influenced by the various events of his life.  |

|It is impossible for us to know of all that he experienced. While he was in Europe he sure was busy as during a three year stay |

|he completed a bachelor's degree from Trinity Collage Cambridge, A law degree from Lincoln's inn London and a PHD from |

|University of Munich besides entering politics!. He wrote his dissertation on the development of metaphysics in Persia and as |

|this was in German he also learnt German during this time. |

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|Iqbal had been married at the age of 15 and while we can assume he never had any mental compatibility with his first wife he did|

|father a child by the age of 18. |

|In Europe he was close to a young German lady (perhaps only platonic) and a Muslim student Atiya Faizi (possibly romantic).  |

|What exactly was the relationship with Faizi and how did it influence him would be interesting to find out. |

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|Why Iqbal did not publish anything in Urdu till 1924? Well it is possible that he considered Persian to be a superior language |

|for literary expression and thought Urdu more of a means for verbal communication (and thus he frequently recited his Urdu |

|poetry at meetings). Only in later years he decided that as there is not enough Persian literacy among the people of India it is|

|important to have his Urdu poetry published as well. |

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|Aamir |

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|[pic] |

|Subject: Fwd: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

|To:  |

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|Sent: 10/11/2010 8:46:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time |

|Subj: Re: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

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|Kalim |

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|I wonder if our group realizes whats been happening in the mail-trail. When I wrote that line innocently which I highlight |

|below, little did I realize where this would lead to. We are clearly 360 degree away from the origins of India or Bust?....and |

|are we not all glad that we went on a tangent? |

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|Saray jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara |

|Hum bulbulein hein iske ye gulsitan hamara |

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|Unfortunately many, if not most, Indians find it somewhat difficult to comprehend that this tarana has been originally written |

|in a puritan's Urdu (actually in a ghazal format) and the poet/creator of this unofficial national anthem of India, is indeed |

|Allama Muhammad Iqbal. That it has often been called by many as Tarana-e-Hindi is a subject in itself. |

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|Despite the extensive research and information available on Iqbal, much still remains a mystery. The Shaer-e-Mashriq lived a |

|life outwardly of which there is little to be said, and inwardly of which little is known. e.g. irrespective of the fact how |

|much his mental ourlook changed pre-Eurpoe and post, I will share with the group two of my observations which intrigue me most |

|about his work: |

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|1. Despite his extensive work in Urdu from his early days, he did not publish his first Urdu collection, Baang--Dara until 1924,|

|at which time he was approaching 50 years of age.  |

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|2. In 1933, Iqbal became a victim of a throat ailment which no doctor could really figure out. He seemed to have realized that |

|death wasn't far away, and he started to put things on fast-forward. He packed up his law practice in 1934 and his Bal-e-Jibril,|

|acknowledged as his masterpiece in Urdu, was published in 1935. This was followed right after by Zarb-e-Kalim in 1936. The |

|latter was was a collection of short epigrams, critical rather than lyrical in spirit. His health deteriorated rapidly after |

|that and he died in April 1938. Armaghan-e-Hejaz, containing his last works in both Urdu and Persian, was published |

|posthumously. |

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|Others may please weigh in on the above. I hope and pray that our vibrant exchange continues, leading up to Iqbal Day which |

|approaches us on November 9th. |

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|We are trying to organize an event in Boston. |

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|Siraj |

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|Subject: Fwd: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

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|Dr. Aamir has shared an excellent link if one wished to further explore Iqbal, his poetry, commentaries and 'Collection Of |

|Selected Urdu Poetry Of The Author In Devnagri And Original Urdu Script.' There are many many choices. |

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|Take your pick as to what you are looking for, depending on the intensity of your "tajussus". It is an immense source to tap for|

|lovers of Urdu poetry. Since it is impossible to suggest just one or the other, I will only suggest the one that I myself  have |

|been reading for the last few months, (here I must stress this is but one of the many); and it is:  |

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|Tulip in the Desert: A Selection of the Poetry of Muhammad Iqbal |

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|Mustansir Mir has done a superb job of bringing to life selected works of Iqbal to a generation of Indian and Pakistani Muslims |

|who do not read, write or speak Urdu fluently. (or Farsi -K) |

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|The author has gone into a detailed analysis of the work of Iqbal. Each poem is introduced with text and there are plenty of |

|foot notes to grasp the meaning of each verse. It is said that poetry loses its charm when translated and is not as good as the |

|original. In Mustansir Mir's case, I cannot subscribe to this view. His work has made me appreciate the true nature of Iqbal |

|work in full force that even my parents who were well versed in Urdu and read his work did not enjoy. |

|For this invaluable gift to us, that is Indian Muslims, I offer a collective thank you!  |

|As reviewed by Nadir Ali Mir; and I fully concur with his comments.  |

|Now, of course one can search deeply and find any other book that one finds more appealing to one's taste |

|and thirst. That  brings to mind a Farsi verse by poet Urfi Shirazi Dehlavi (1600s–1700s): |

|ز  نقش  تشنہ  لبی  دان  بہ عقل  خویش مناز،  دلت فریب  گر  از  جلوہ  سراب  نہ  خورد |

|[A free translation]: " Don't take such pride in yourself (or boast) of your superior intellect if you were not deceived by the |

|sight of a mirage, it was so, only because you were not suffering from an intense enough thirst! " |

|It is one of the rare Farsi verses quoted in one of Iqbal's English lectures (The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, |

|a compilation of lectures delivered by Muhammad Iqbal on Islamic philosophy; it was published in 1930. These lectures were |

|delivered by Iqbal in Madras, Hyderabad, andAligarh. The last chapter, "Is Religion Possible", was added to the book from the |

|1934 Oxford Edition onwards.* |

|In Reconstruction, Iqbal called for a re-examination of the intellectual foundations of Islamic philosophy. The book is a major |

|work of modern Islamic thought. It calls for a radical reinterpretation of the Islamic thought, pointing out that the classical |

|schools of Islamic thought were merely human constructions developed in the middle ages.  |

|Iqbal considers the abolition of the Islamic caliphate was legitimate and argues that democratic government is now a necessity. |

|He also calls for reform regarding the rights of women and criminal penalties, such as the hudood laws. It was a major influence|

|on Iranian sociologist Ali Shariati and other contemporary Muslim reformers, including Tariq Ramadan.  |

|-Kalim |

|* to read more, source: .  |

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|Sent: 10/11/2010 4:26:20 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time |

|Subj: RE: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

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|Yes what happened to Iqbal during his stay in Europe is worth finding out.  |

|Maybe it can give a clue as to how Pakistani's who go to the Western free society come back radicalized. |

|Interestingly I have seen some Pakistani's who were rather right wing becoming agnostic after a few years in Pakistan. |

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|Ram and Nanak can be read in Urdu following this link: |

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|Aamir |

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|Subject: Fwd: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New ... |

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|Here is a verse from Iqbal from his Tarana-e Hindi (with English translation): |

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|"madzhab nahin sikhata aapa mein' bair rakhna, |

| hindi hein' ham, watan hay hindostan hamara" |

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|[religion does not teach you enmity among yourselves, |

|Hindi (indians) we are, and hindostan is our home] |

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|Also it would be great if some one could share two other poems of Iqbal in Urdu: "nanak' and 'raam" |

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|-Kalim |

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|From:  |

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|"Naya shiwala"   (New Temple) -March 1905 |

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|an English translation (available on the web): |

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|O Brahman! Should I speak the truth if you don't mind? |

|The idols of your temples have gone antiquated. |

|You've learnt, from the idols, to harbor animosity towards your own people; |

|the God too has taught his preacher the ways of violence and war. |

|Having got fed-up I left temple as well as mosque; |

|[I] left attending the lecture of the preacher as well as your story-sessions. |

|You think that God resides in the stone idols |

|Each speck of the motherland is God to me. |

|Come, let's, once again, remove the curtains of unacquaintedness; |

|let's help the separated beings meet again [and] remove the motif of duality. |

|The territory of heart is vacuous for a long time. |

|Come, let's make a new shrine in this land. |

|Our shrine should be taller than all the shrines of the world! |

|We should make its spire touch the edge of the sky. |

|We should sing, each morning, the amiable hymns |

|[and] make all the worshippers drink the wine of love! |

|[Both] power and peace are implied in the songs of the disciples. |

|The salvation of the people of the world lies in love! |

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|From: billumian@ |

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|Dear Kalim,  |

|Then, my admiration is for the taranas he wrote before he left for Europe. What happened to Iqbal in Europe remains a mystery. |

|It is equally intriguing that when Jinnah decided to set up house in England after the Second Roundtable Conference he began to |

|plead the privy purse cases of the princes before the British government and thus became captive to the interests of the |

|landowners - a break with his liberal past and afterwards he championed Muslim separatism just as Iqbal did after returning from|

|Europe. |

|Cheers, |

|Ishtiaq |

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|[pic] |

|From: saleem_mir@ |

|To: Kirfani@ |

|Sent: 10/11/2010 8:18:39 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time |

|Subj: Re: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New Temple |

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|Kalim, |

|It is generally believed that Iqbal of pre european era was different from Iqbal afterwards i.e |

|nationalist Iqbal versus "militant" Iqbal. As I understand these are two aspects of same person as we see him from their own |

|mind set. There are many shades incorporated in the mind of a poet like in all of us. Iqbal's Nya Shwala is a culmination of a |

|scintilating mind bringing forth a ruby out of the cobweb of contrasting hues that you and I confuse at it's apparent face. |

|It's an on going refinement of thought that keeps it in the sphere of wonderment we get to like. |

|This is how Iqbal thought of himself: |

|Iqbal bhi  Iqbal  say aagha  nahiN  hay |

|kuchh is meiN tamaskhar nahiN Wallah nahin hay. |

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|Keep seeking! |

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|Saleem Mir  |

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|Sent: Mon, October 11, 2010 7:51:21 AM |

|Subject: Re. ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New Temple |

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|From:   |

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| It seems that both Tarana-a-Hindi and Naya Shiwala belong to the same era (Before Iqbal left for Europe). |

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| Both were published in Abd ul-Qadir's journal 'Makhzan';  taraanah-e hindi  in Oct. 1904 and nayaa shiwala in March 1905. |

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|Aamir |

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|From |

|Sent: 10/11/2010 6:19:25 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time |

|Subj: Re: ments: Fwd:[Abdalian] India or Bust? -Iqbal:Two Taranas & New Temple |

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|Dear Kalim,  |

|When did Iqbal write this third poem. It is truly humanist. The timing is important because if it was followed by all the poems |

|that appeal to the reactionaries and they keep quoting him then this one poem would be like Jinnah's 11 August speech - neither |

|precedent nor followed immediately by consistent advocacy of humanism and patriotism which is inclusive. There is no doubt about|

|Iqbal's genius as a great poet. |

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|Best regards, |

|Ishtiaq |

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|The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the |

|Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He can be reached at  |

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|   With apology to those unfamiliar with Urdu script. Iqbal's three poems: Tarana-e Hindi, Tarana-e Milli and Naya Shawala (New |

|Temple), |

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|"Here he comprehensively rejects religion as outdated and a root cause of violence" |

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|-Kalim |

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|Sent: 10/11/2010 4:01:04 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time |

|Subj: RE: Fw. Comments: Re: Fwd: Re. Fwd: [Abdalian] India or Bust? |

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|Iqbal wrote his Tarana-e-Hindi in 1904 and it is emphasizes his love for his country (Hindustan) which was under foreign |

|occupation. From 1906-9 Iqbal spent 3 years in Europe. Somehow this changed him and this change is reflected in his less |

|known Tarana-e-Milli (1910).Here he seems to have moved from being an Indian nationalist to a pan-muslim visionary with hints of|

|militancy:  |

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|Another poem of his Indian nationalist frame of mind is Neya Shawala (New Temple).  |

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|Here he comprehensively rejects religion as outdated and a root cause of violence. |

|I think the salvation for India and Pakistan lies in reverting to the Iqbal of Tirana-a-Hindi and Naya shawala. |

|For indeed only love can bring peace and salvation. |

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|Subject: Fw. Comments: Re: Fwd: Re. Fwd: [Abdalian] India or Bust?  |

|To:  |

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|Re: Fwd: Re. Fwd: [Abdalian] India or Bust? |

|From:  |

|Kalim |

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|I read with interest the comments from Mehul Kamdar and I was impressed by his analysis on the regional dynamics of the |

|languages. |

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|My grandparents are a combination of Lucknow and Allahbad and while I was born in Pakistan well after partition, spoken and |

|written Urdu has always continued to be the main form of communication at home, which continues to this day. Urdu literature |

|(specially poetry) is one of my areas of interest. |

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|Firstly, the name Hindustani (as a language at least) has died a natural death. Over time, the use of the word Hindustani itself|

|has become fairly restricted. In the last 30 years or so, I have heard it in use more in context with the Hindustani style of |

|Indian classical music, prevalent in northern India than in other aspect of life. Hindi as a language now has been the spin-off |

|from the historical Hindustani and one can argue about this being a result of political, religious or simply regional |

|acceptability. |

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|While colloquial Urdu and Hindi may draw many similarities, being off-springs from the same origins, they differ vastly in |

|literary and formal vocabulary. Urdu is heavily influenced by Persian, Arabic and Turkish words and even dialects, while |

|Hindi has been steered, by some quarters, to draw a lot of words from Sanskrit and other regional languages, with progressively |

|decreasing Persian flavor. Script-wise too they are poles apart with traditional Urdu written in Nastaaliq while Hindi is |

|written and read in the Devanagri format of script.  |

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|Saray jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara |

|Hum bulbulein hein iske ye gulsitan hamara |

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|Unfortunately many, if not most, Indians find it somewhat difficult to comprehend that this tarana has been originally written |

|in a puritan's Urdu (actually in a ghazal format) and the poet/creator of this unofficial national anthem of India, is indeed |

|Allama Muhammad Iqbal. That it has often been called by many as Tarana-e-Hindi is a subject in itself. |

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|Another interesting aspect of the Urdu script (as Arabic) is that while the script in narrative is written from right to left, |

|but numerics go from left to right, similar to English...1234567 |

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|Strangely, what has brought these two languages closer than perhaps anything else, has been the recent affects of technology and|

|Bollywood. Our young folks are texting and sending SMS in basic Roman Urdu and basic Hindi. Some creative minds have started to |

|call this as Hinglish. In Bollywood-produced movies (not south or elsewhere in India) Urdu and Hindi have interfaced |

|hand-in-hand. Urdu (often diluted to taste) still holds firm ground in the song lyrics and dialogs in films which have a |

|backdrop of north India. The new Indian TV dramas are also more tilted towards Urdu and this may have been, in part, from the |

|affect of Pakistani TV dramas and plays, which haven been hugely popular in India as well. |

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|The bottom-line, however, is that we need to communicate in whatever works for us and in whichever way we can understand each |

|other best, so that we are on the same page. Unfortunately, we often shy away and loose many great opportunities of exchange, |

|due to inner apprehensions and preconceived notions. Poet Neda Fazli has expressed this message for us with an amazing poetic |

|clarity, which I reproduce here in Roman Urdu: |

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|Faasla nazron ka dhoka bhi to ho sakta hai |

|Wo milen ya na milen hath barrha kar dekho |

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|Siraj |

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|From:  |

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|Dear Kalim/Mehul, |

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|You always raise very interesting issues, no doubt.  I hope and wish there were others like you both in India and Pakistan. |

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|At times, I do feel as if we are ignoring the ground reality amongst us.  You may call me a "sample of one", not "routine". |

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|Mehul, while discussing the switch from Hindustani to Hindi, why did you exclude Patel and Tandon.  Similarly, while discussing |

|the role of SRC (State Reorganization Commission), why didn't you include other "goals" that the "shrewd" Nehru wanted to |

|achieve by drafting "Fazle Ali" (Muslim, by name at least) in that commission.  Didn't he want to "destroy" the legacy of the |

|old Hyderabad, Aurangabad, and other mini-kingdoms, zameendars, and whatever little was left as remnants in those former stooges|

|of the Britishers or so-called "nawabi".  The same Nehru left J&K untouched. Why? |

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|Kalim, I have lived in Westchester County for almost fourteen years, and in this country for almost 44 years.  Most of our |

|social friends, who invited us and whom we invited to our homes for dinners, snacks, functions came from the |

|Urdu-speaking/knowing crowd.  Unfortunately, we felt everywhere that my country of origin also had a lot to do.  We never felt |

|as coequals to our Pakistani-origin Urdu-speaking/knowing crowd.  The same can be said about the Indian Hyderabadi crowd who |

|also claim to know Urdu.  Nehru, a Kashmiri Brahmin, as our present Lata Haya (poetess), called that "Deccani Urdu".  What is |

|the explanation for these?  I am not talking about experiences in India, but all in the States. |

| |

|If my comments sound cynical, weird ignore them.  But if you can educate me further I shall be thankful for that learning. |

| |

|Best regards, |

| |

|Zahir |

|  |

|[pic] |

|From:  |

|Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 23:43:51 -0400 |

|Subject: Fwd: Re. Fwd: [Abdalian] India or Bust? |

|To: |

| |

|  |

|A very enlightening and informative e-mail from Mehul on Urdu/Hindi/regional language issues in India. In such a vast highly |

|populated mass of land, large enough to be called 'sub-continent', a variety of dialects, accents, pronunciations and |

|interjection was bound to be inevitable, and of necessity ought to have been accepted as an inseparable fact of natural, |

|cultural, evolutionary, anthropological phenomena. Problem is when you inject 'religion' (and/or race), as an 'absolute' |

|ingredient, which it is not, but on the contrary happens to be an inextricable evolutionary phenomenon, then, you create and |

|invite all kinds of irrational supremacist schisms leading to language riots, discriminations, blood sheds and pogroms. As if |

|religion alone was not enough to do immense harm and had not caused enough damage and senseless blood letting over and over, all|

|without any remorse, self doubt or a self questioning conscience, an integral part of being humans if one were human. It has |

|been demonstrated that even the lower mammals such as rats and the rodents have a sense of empathy, if not conscience, which I |

|suspect is perhaps not so unique or exclusive to human beings.  |

| |

|  |

|-Kalim |

| |

|  |

| |

|Sent: 10/9/2010 6:04:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time |

|Subj: Re: Fwd: Re. Fwd: [Abdalian] India or Bust? |

| |

|  |

| |

|Dear Dr Irfani, |

| |

|  |

|A note for Mr Siraj - until very recently, in India, Urdu was known as Hindustani, the implied suggestion being that the |

|language was an Indian one. In fact, both Gandhi and Nehru wanted Hindustani to be India's national language, but the Hindu |

|fundamentalists in the Congress party like Pandit Gobind Ballabh Pant and Moturi Satyanarayana insisted on a language that was |

|closest to Sanskrit - Hindi with the Devanagari script, instead. They even ignored versions of Hindi that were closer to |

|Hindustani than they were to Sanskrit in their push. The resulting problem in India saw a huge commotion when several states |

|protested vehemently including Tamilnadu (my former home state) against what they saw as the imposition of Hindi upon them. |

|India very nearly broke up at the time and Nehru had to perform a deft act by reorganizing India's states on a linguistic basis |

|in order to keep the country together. Hence the state names you have today - Tamilnadu means "Land of the Tamil people," Andhra|

|Pradesh means "Nation of the Andhra people" and so on. The original Presidencies that existed under the British and which were a|

|part of India's administrative makeup until the 1960s, died out because of the Hindu fundamentalists and their zeal to impose |

|Hindi on the country. |

| |

|  |

|A major part of the problem with Urdu in India lies in the two distinctly different versions of the language as spoken and |

|written there - Lakhnavi and Dakhani Urdu. While it is possible for someone speaking one version to understand most of what |

|someone speaking the other version says, they are not identical and have many differences which can be confusing to people who |

|are only familiar with one version or the other. Any Pakistani friends who may have visited Hyderabad or Bangalore (or some of |

|the Muslim majority cities in the Deccan including Bijapur, Ambur, Vaniyambadi or Arcot) would understand what I mean. Dakhani |

|Urdu absorbed a lot of the vocabulary, grammar and inflections of the local languages (mostly Tamil, Telugu and Kannada) that it|

|came in contact with. The late Indian comedian Mahamood used to be much loved for his delivery of Dakhani Urdu in many of his |

|films, especially where he played South Indian roles. |

| |

|  |

|Best wishes, |

| |

|  |

|Mehul Kamdar |

|  |

|=  |

|= |

|   |

|   |

|=  |

|   |

| |

| |

| |

|--  |

|Rashid Latif Ansari |

| ----------------------------------------------------- |

|"Morality is doing what is right, regardless of what we are told;   |

|Religious dogma is doing what we are told, no matter what is right."  |

|All human beings are equal. No one deserves to be revered more than others. |

|No piece of earth or earthly object is more sacred than the rest.  |

|All days of a year have equal importance. None is superior or inferior to others. |

|---------------------------------------------------- |

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