On August 14, the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University announced that the university will no longer include Poet Muhammad Iqbal in its curriculum. VC Yogesh Singh explained that while people have the right to learn about Iqbal, his work, which allegedly supported the division of India and Pakistan, should not be taught if it threatens national unity and togetherness.
At an event on August 14, the Vice Chancellor urged students to prioritise India’s unity and stand against any forces that create division between communities. He also emphasised the importance of studying and learning about leaders like Veer Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B R Ambedkar, and others who sacrificed their lives for the nation’s independence.
VC Singh was quoted as saying, “Iqbal was the person to sow the seeds of partition. He was a close associate of Muhammed Ali Jinnah who later became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. When Iqbal was in Lahore’s Govt College in 1904, he only had written ‘Sare Jaha se acha, Hindustan hamara’, Tarana-e-Hind, but later he only forgot to stand by what he had written”.
VC Singh further emphasised that India should be everyone’s top priority. He asserted that no one should compromise on the nation’s values and urged collective efforts to improve the country. “Students should be taught to fight for the nation and stand up for it,” he stated.
He also added that nobody, absolutely nobody, wanted India to be divided into two countries, but the leaders at the time failed to strongly oppose the partition.
Muhammad Iqbal was the proponent of the two-nation theory that led to the creation of Pakistan in the early 20th century. While many Indians recognise him as the author of the song ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha,’ Nehruvian secularists view Iqbal as a symbol of unity and tolerance between Hindus and Muslims in India.
Iqbal’s famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ was published in 1904, just a year before the Partition of Bengal in British India. The most well-known lines, from its sixth stanza, read: “Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā, Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā.” Critics argue he has been the ‘Philosophical Father of Pakistan.’
In Tarana-e-Milli, written in 1910 for children, Muhammad Iqbal’s Islamic fundamentalist views become quite clear. This composition, set in the same meter and rhyme scheme as ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha,’ reflects a starkly different sentiment. The first stanza of Tarana-e-Milli contrasts sharply with the unity expressed in the sixth stanza of his earlier work, declaring, “Cīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai sārā jahāṉ hamārā” (China and Arabia are ours, Hindustan is ours; as Muslims, our homeland is the entire world).
Muhammad Iqbal’s Islamic fundamentalist views, which sharply contrast with the portrayal of him as a symbol of communal harmony in India since independence, are clearly evident in the Tarana-e-Milli. In the poem, he states, “The treasure of tawhid is in our hearts, It is not easy to wipe out our name and mark. The first house we have liberated from idols is the Ka’abah; We are its custodians, and It is our protector.” Tawhid refers to the concept of Monotheism in Islam. Tawhid refers to the concept of monotheism in Islam. The lines together reveal Muhammad Iqbal’s deep-seated opposition to idolatry and polytheism.
Between 1904 and 1910, Muhammad Iqbal underwent a significant shift in worldview, which is believed to have occurred during his three-year stay in the United Kingdom. It was during this period that he allegedly adopted Islamic fundamentalist views, leading him to become a strong proponent of Pakistan’s creation. In the later years of his life, Iqbal passionately advocated for the establishment of Pakistan.
In his presidential address at the 25th Annual Session of the All India Muslim League on December 29, 1930, Iqbal stated, “India is a continent of human beings belonging to different languages and professing different religions…I, therefore, demand the formation of a consolidated Muslim state in the best interests of the Muslims of India and Islam.”
