The Bollywood movie Chhava is in the news not only for its success at the box office, superb portrayal of Chhatrapati Sambha Ji by Viki Kaushal and that of Emperor Aurangzeb by Akshaye Khana but also for igniting communal passions among some. History has recorded the capture of Sambha Ji by the Mughal Emperor and the cruel manner in which he was killed because of his refusal to convert to Islam. The movie relives the whole ordeal in all its gory details. Recorded history shows that Aurangzeb’s rule and his fanaticism led to destruction of hundreds of Hindu religious places including the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. Given today’s environment, where there is a race among politicians and their parties to usurp the legacies of Hindu leaders of yesteryears, this movie was bound to raise passions. And it has done exactly that in Maharashtra where Shivaji and his son Sambha Ji are revered.
A lot has been said and written about the statements made by Smajwadi MLA, Mr Abu Azmi, eulogising Emperor Aurangzeb a few days ago within the precincts of the Maharashtra assembly. His political opponents were quick to seize the opportunity to condemn the same and make it an issue of the state. But then today we are living in an era that is being touted as an ‘era of Hindu awakening’. This is the prime reason why such innocuous statements by some fringe politician invite the wrath of many in the country. The reader is also aware that such umbrage among politicians works both ways and is not a one-sided affair.
There are no two opinions about the need of a Hindu awakening. Afterall they, including religions born out of Hinduism, comprise over 83% of the national population. Hindus had been dominated and suppressed for over a thousand years, first by Islamic raiders, then Mughals and after that by British colonial masters. It resulted in a large-scale destruction of their enviable and rich way of life that included efficient governance, education, religious learning and treasure troves of scientific knowledge in various fields like astronomy, medicine, engineering, spirituality, fine arts among many others.
This period saw a loss of momentum in the traditional quest of Hinduism to seek new knowledge in the interests of mankind and to make the world a better place to live. So, any qualms about the need for a Hindu awakening have to be set aside without any ifs and buts. What is important to understand is that an awakening of this nature in a heterogeneous society, where a community of over 1100 million is seeking to re-establish its links with its once glorious past, will never be a smooth phenomenon. There are bound to be many pitfalls, roadblocks and more importantly undercurrents that many will exploit towards their nefarious ends.
People in different societies across the world do not unite because of what the future has in store for them since future will always be an unknown commodity. They bond mainly because of established common historical, religious, traditional and cultural linkages that they have shared for generations. In large societies, there will always be some subsets that may not conform to this logic. In doing so, they deliberately ignore their past and the shared commonalities with others in the society. Instead, they tend to be influenced more by their recent past and at times by some hazy perceptions of what the future may hold for them. This invariably leads to the alienation of such subsets within the larger society. India falls in this category.
Indian Muslims are a sizeable subset of the Indian society whose ancestors converted to Islam mostly during the Mughal period starting in the sixteenth century. Today, they are chary of acknowledging their over 6,000 years old traditional linkages with the larger Hindu society. They deliberately limit their history to last few hundred years while hoping to be part of the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood in the future. Further, in the last six decades the community has failed to develop political leaders with a national outlook, stature and acceptability across the nation. Thus, their representation in governance at the top level has been negligible resulting in a feeling of being isolated and left behind. This has resulted in a defensive mindset that forces them to fall back on the Mughal era to search for their heroes. Additionally, they seek support from external Islamic nations and organisations by showing solidarity with them. This obviously does not sit well with the majority in the country for obvious reasons.
Part of the blame for this unsavoury situation has to lie with those who were charged with writing the history books after independence. Every History book in schools had a major part devoted to Mughal rule. The reader may recall how Akbar has always been referred to as Akbar the Great and was portrayed as an epitome of tolerance, benevolence and secularism. Each Mughal ruler’s regime was discussed in detail in the books that highlighted their battles and good work apart from other things. The atrocities and destruction perpetuated on Hindus and Hinduism were underplayed. The history books were silent on the roles and contributions of Indian kings and other heroes of that period. Indian history was limited to the Mughal and British eras while thousands of years of ancient Indian History was glossed over.
Unfortunately, the founding fathers of the nation failed to develop a unique Indian identity for the nation and its citizens after independence. Ideally, it should have been an identity based on the thousands of years of the rich heritage, culture and way of Indian life duly heightened with a capsule of modernity borrowed from the west. However, in their misplaced wisdom that included reservations about Hinduism and a blind fascination of the western society, they opted for one that bordered on being a poor clone of the western society.
To further aggravate the problem, they defined a minority based on numbers alone instead of adopting the more acceptable and meaningful methodology where threat of extinction and subordinacy to a more dominant group are the key defining characteristics. They then gave these minorities, based on numbers alone, special rights and privileges but withheld the same for the majority. In short, the nation’s Hindu majority became lesser citizens in their own land – a land where they have lived without a break from times immemorial. Therefore, sooner or later an awakening was due and today there are serious signs of that taking place – albeit slowly.
The statements of Mr Abu Azmi have to be seen in light of these developments and not in isolation. The overzealous seriousness of the response by Shiv Sena (UBT) and the BJP led state government stems from the fact that Chhatrapati Sambha Ji Maharaj, a descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is revered in Maharashtra. Aurangzeb is depicted as the villain in Chhava who eventually captured and killed Sambha Ji in a very brutal manner in 1689. The irony of the Mughal and Maratha history is that in 1771, it was the Maratha Confederacy that not only reinstalled Shah Alam II as their puppet Emperor in Delhi but also provided an army to protect him and whatever was left of the Mughal empire. In the process, they had many skirmishes with Sikh Confederacy who were arch enemies of the Mughals.
India is a pluralistic society today where the need of the hour is to live amicably with each other and adopt tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation as the bedrocks of coexistence. The journey of Hindu awakening will be counterproductive if it involves running roughshod over other communities. If the nation has to scale to greater heights and become a world leader, the lead will have to come from the Hindus with other communities playing a meaningful supporting role. If this 80% cannot break free, no amount of effort by any other section of Indian society will be able to take India where it wants to be.
In the end, it is all about national interests. And they will be best served if this phenomenon of societal awakening is embraced by all in its true spirit. Every Indian has to understand and appreciate the need for Hindu awakening and their efforts to break away from the historical shackles that tend to hold them back. In fact, the Muslim community too needs an awakening to position themselves as partners in taking India to its rightful place in the world order instead of seeing themselves as rivals to Hindus. Both communities have to work in tandem and should leverage their common roots, heritage, history and legacies to adopt a complimentary approach to nation building. The Need of the hour is a National Awakening and not just Hindu Awakening.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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