Hindu ethos, Muslim fears

Hindu ethos, Muslim fears
Mushirul Hasan

Nevermind if the mission of scores of freedom fighters was fulfilled or not at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. The important thing was the lowering of the Union Jack; the redeeming feature was that it was not to flutter ever again at the Red Fort, where it was hoisted in 1857, or anywhere else in India. Now was the turn of the tricolour jhanda to be raised high above the sky. It symbolised freedom and democracy not only for India but also for the world. That is why the crowds surged towards the Lal Qila to win back what was theirs, to celebrate, once and for all, the dawn of a new era. They burst into cheers as they heard the emotionally charged voice of India's first Prime Minister.

Young girls and boys in their school uniform chanted in unison -- Chacha Nehru Zindabad! Zindabad! Some quietly sang Tagore's lyrical anthem.The Flag, the Anthem and the National Emblem are the three symbols through which an independent country proclaims its identity and sovereignty and as such they commandinstantaneous respect and loyalty. They reflect in themselves the entire background, thought and culture of a nation. Today, as the Republic celebrates its 50th year, the controversy is not about the flag or the national emblem but the singing of Vande Mataram. What happened in Lucknow recently may appear as an isolated event, but it is actually symptomatic of the enlarged arenas of conflict in our polity and society.

What is disconcerting is the relative ease with which liberal-left voices have been stifled and the massive task of "rewriting" history textbooks has been undertaken. What is equally disturbing is how the Gujarat government can get away with the decision, which our "liberal and moderate" Prime Minister supports, to allow government servants to join the RSS. Reviewing the Constitution at the behest of a party that is not even close to commanding a majority in Parliament, is the last straw. As the erstwhile "socialists" in the BJP-NDA alliance remain impervious to what is happening outsidetheir bungalows and office chambers, the country wrestles with long-standing religious, cultural and intellectual disputations.

Mercifully, we have a sagacious President who has acted as the custodian of our Constitution with remarkable boldness and tenacity. The silver lining is that we could turn to him for wise counsel and leadership. Let me return to Vande Mataram. Authored by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, this anthem has triggered so-me of the great communal debates since the mid-1930s. As the Congress inched its way towards the corridors of power in 1937, the singing of Vande Mataram was made mandatory in several schools of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Muslim League reacted strongly, though thoughtlessly, to discredit the ministries and catalogue its "wrongs." For example, the exaltation of Hindi and the accompanying attack on Urdu, exclusion of Muslims from government service, and the introduction of the Wardha and Vidya Mandir schemes and the concomitant danger to Islamic practices and the traditionalsystem of Muslim education.

In this way the communal cauldron was kept boiling and the stage set for a protracted Hindu-Muslim conflagration.Generally speaking, the Congress was wedded to the view that divisive symbols should be kept in abeyance in order to conduct the struggle against colonialism. But, when it came to discussing Vande Mataram, some insisted that the song was an integral part of their campaign. Whether or not this is true can be debated, but there can be no doubt that the song inspired many thousands of people, mostly Bengali Hindus, who protested against the partition of Bengal in 1905.

Tagore, who set its first stanza to the tune and was the first to sing it at an early session of the Calcutta Congress, maintained that Vande Mataram had acquired a separate individuality and an inspiring significance of its own. Yet Tagore conceded that the poem, read together with its context, was liable to offend Muslim susceptibilities. Perhaps he was talking of a Hindu song, reflecting a Hindu ethosin which the country is equated with the mother goddess. Today, if some leaders of our minority communities express their disquiet, I see no reason why their feelings and sentiments should be brushed aside. At any rate, a secular state has no business to make Muslim, Sikh and Christian students sing any song against their wishes. This is the essence of any secular democracy. But, is the song anti-Muslim? Let us discuss threadbare, instead of exchanging lathi blows. Let the priests and politicians congregate in the shadow of the Red Fort and debate their viewpoints, instead of trading charges and counter-charges.

A nationwide consensus is what we need. Once this is achieved, we can move on to sort out the other thorny issues that keep recurring time and time again. In the process, we may discover that all these years the Muslim fears have been vastly exaggerated. Or, perhaps, we may convert the protagonists of the Vande Mataram to the idea that forcing the song down anybody's throat is against the spirit ofthe Constitution. But before settling down to an open-ended discussion, let us at least read the poem translated by Aurobindo Ghose. Quite often, ignorance is not bliss.Mother I bow to thee! Right with thy hurrying streams,/ Bright with thy orchard gleams./ Cool with thy hands of delight./ Dark field waving, Mother of Might, Mother free.Glory of moonlight dreams/ Over thy branches and lordly streams,/ Clad in thy blossoming trees/ Mother, giver of ease,/ Laughing low and sweet!/ Mother, I kiss thy feet,/ Speaker sweet and low!/ Mother, to thee I bow,/ With many strengths who are mighty and stored (?)To thee I call, Mother and Lord!/ Thou who savest, arise and save!/ To her I cry who ever her foeman drive/ Back from plain and sea/ And shook herself free./ Thou art wisdom, thou art law./Thou art hear, our soul, our breath./ Thou the love divine, the awe/ In our hearts that conquers death/ Thine the strength that conquers death/ Thine the beauty, thine the charm./ Every image made divine/ In our temples is butthine./ Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen, (swords of sheen).With her hands that strike and her/ Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned/ And the Muse a hundred-throned./ Pure and perfect without peer/ Mother, lend thine ear,/ Rich with thy hurrying streams,/ Bright with thy Orchard gleams./ Dark of hue, O candid fair/ In thy soul with jewelled hair/ And thy glorious smile divine,/ Loveliest of all earthly lands,/Showering wealth from well-stored hands,/ Mother, Mother, mine!/ Mother sweet, I bow to thee,/ Mother great and free!