Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Iqbal
By Khalid A.
London, UK
This is regarding the program ‘Najam Seth Special’ of June 20 on Dunya TV. I feel that some points raised by Qazi Hussain Ahmed deserve further discussion:
Qazi Hussain Ahmed relied heavily on Iqbal’s poem about patriotism versus millat. Qazi Sahib fails to appreciate the difference between poetic expressions and the political opinions which Iqbal (or any other poet) would express outside the poetic medium. For example, Iqbal says ‘sarey jahan se ach-cha Hindustan hamara’. Does Iqbal really believe that Hindustan is actually better than the rest of the world? Iqbal would never make such a claim outside the poetic medium. In a similar way, Iqbal, when he is outside the poetic medium, does advocate the patriotic ideology, such as the creation of Pakistan. He believed that ultimately a strong Pakistan would be beneficial for the whole Ummah.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed asks why Muslims living in Central India favored the creation of Pakistan, knowing fully well that they would not be living in Pakistan. The answer is in three parts as follows:
1.The Muslims of Central India realistically accepted that they could not have 20 mini-Pakistans spread all over India.
2. They selflessly accepted that this situation should not stand in the way of the creation of Pakistan in Muslim-majority areas.
3. They pragmatically accepted that reciprocity would ensure fair treatment of minorities in both India and Pakistan. Large-scale migration was never a part of the partition plan.
Qazi Sahib has memorized Iqbal where it suits him. But Iqbal was wary of narrow-minded mullahism. Mullahs were unhappy that Iqbal or Jinnah did not grow beards, as if the beards were introduced by Islam. They conveniently forget that all the Meccan infidels also grew beards, wore Arab dress, ate dates and honey and spoke Arabic. All of these are now erroneously considered as symbols of Islam. In fact, the likes of the Taliban would argue that Islam is incomplete without such symbols.
