Friday, September 15, 2006
Syed Shahbuddin's dread of pan-Islamism
Tuesday, January 28, 1997
This refers to newspaper reports about Syed Shahabuddin calling on Centre to curb the Khilafat Campaign. In this age of satellite communication, when national boundaries are getting less and less of barriers for free flow of information, be it relating to entertainment, culture, religion, consumerism or political propaganda, world movements ---from Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Hindutva to America’s pop culture, the free world takes them all in its stride. Mr. Shahabuddin’s sudden public proclamation of fear of Islam has something to do with the loss of his Parliamentary seat. He can hold neither his successes nor his reverses. One is reminded of a couplet by Lucknow’s celebrated Urdu poet, Yaganah Changezi, who once paraded through the streets on a donkey, with his face blackened, said in self-reflection:
Khudi ka nashsha chadhha, aap mein raha na gaya
Khuda bane the Yaganah magar bana na gaya
Khilafat movement has no political or territorial overtones. It is essentially part and parcel of the body religion of Islam. Though, because of British Imperialist manipulations against which even Mahatma Gandhi joined Khilafat movement, and through Kamal Attaturk’s declaration of Republic, Khilafat was abolished, it does not stand revoked in Islam. Syed Shahabuddin’s strong reaction against SIMI goes to prove that he is prone to swings of extreme beliefs and therefore unsuitable for any credible role in the future of either his community or his country.
#199
This refers to newspaper reports about Syed Shahabuddin calling on Centre to curb the Khilafat Campaign. In this age of satellite communication, when national boundaries are getting less and less of barriers for free flow of information, be it relating to entertainment, culture, religion, consumerism or political propaganda, world movements ---from Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Hindutva to America’s pop culture, the free world takes them all in its stride. Mr. Shahabuddin’s sudden public proclamation of fear of Islam has something to do with the loss of his Parliamentary seat. He can hold neither his successes nor his reverses. One is reminded of a couplet by Lucknow’s celebrated Urdu poet, Yaganah Changezi, who once paraded through the streets on a donkey, with his face blackened, said in self-reflection:
Khudi ka nashsha chadhha, aap mein raha na gaya
Khuda bane the Yaganah magar bana na gaya
Khilafat movement has no political or territorial overtones. It is essentially part and parcel of the body religion of Islam. Though, because of British Imperialist manipulations against which even Mahatma Gandhi joined Khilafat movement, and through Kamal Attaturk’s declaration of Republic, Khilafat was abolished, it does not stand revoked in Islam. Syed Shahabuddin’s strong reaction against SIMI goes to prove that he is prone to swings of extreme beliefs and therefore unsuitable for any credible role in the future of either his community or his country.
#199
