(Mohd Asim is Senior News Editor, NDTV 24x7)The BJP has got both its history and politics wrong with regards to celebrating freedom fighter Raja Mahendra Pratap's 128th birth anniversary at the Aligarh Muslim University.
Raja Mahendra Pratap (1886-1979) was one of the many illustrious alumni of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental (MAO) College founded in 1877 by the great social reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The MAO College later became the Aligarh Muslim University in 1920 by an Act of Parliament.
Raja Mahendra Pratap stayed at the MAO college hostel during his formative years and his donation and contributions to the university are well recorded in the AMU history.
It should be mentioned here that Sir Syed, when he embarked on his mission to establish a modern and scientific institution of learning, knocked on every door -- both Muslims and non-Muslims -- for help and donations. Apart from Nawabs and the rich among Muslims of the times, there were dozens of Hindu nobles and kings who donated generously for Sir Syed's nobel cause.
Among the first 120 people who gave valuable donations for the construction of the MAO College were several Hindus like Choudhary Sher Singh, Kunwar Lekhraj Singh, Raja Shiv Narain Singh, Raja Uday Pratap Singh, Lala Phul Chand, Lala Vasudeo Sahai and others. Their names still decorate the old buildings of Aligarh Muslim University. And one more name that BJP leaders have forgotten is of Raja Ghanshyam Singh, the father of Raja Mahender Pratap. Why has BJP not called for a celebration for him?
The BJP MP from Aligarh, Satish Gautam, and his party colleagues need to dig a bit into the history of the AMU and Raja Mahender Pratap in particular. They should know that the first graduate from the AMU was historian Ishwar Prasad in the late 1880s (then MAO college) Surprised, Mr Gautam? And while Sir Syed's primary objective behind establishing the MAO college was to spread modern, scientific education among Muslims, he always emphasised that the doors of his college will always be wide open for all who need education. And this remains true till today.
Sir Syed was inspired by another great social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy in valuing scientific enquiry and temper.
Raja Mahendra Pratap was a student when Sir Syed (1817-1898) was still alive and busy putting together the building blocks of this great institution. Raja Mahendra obviuosly respected Sir Syed's missionary zeal and did his bit. And he didn't just donate the land that eventually went to AMU, but also made generous contributions towards the cause of education during his times. Has BJP asked all the institutes to celebrate his anniversary?
Educational institutes, especially as old as the AMU, are built with contributions of hundreds and thousands of people. Do they celebrate or observe the birth and death anniversaries of all the contributors? The best tribute to such souls is to carry on with their legacy and ideals. And AMU is doing that. It just celebrated the birth anniversary of its founder Sir Syed on October 17, as it has every year.
Have the BJP leaders decided to celebrate the birth anniversaries of all the 'Hindu' kings who contributed to educational institutions in the the country over the last couple of centuries?
To reduce Raja Mahender to just a Hindu or a Jat king is a great insult to this great soul.
My humble advice to overzealous BJP leaders is to just read up a bit on the man they have suddenly remembered to celebrate. Raja Mahendra was a reformist, and, surprise, surprise, a Marxist. He was an independent Member of Parliament from Mathura from 1955 to 1962. At no point in time in his life did he have anything to do with any right-wing outfit.
The BJP's sudden remembrance of Raja Mahendra Pratap reeks of petty, divisive politics. It's a notorious attempt to pitch it as Aligarh Muslim University vs the 'Hindu King' who has been, according to them, denied his high place. If at all the BJP is serious about celebrating Raja Mahender, it should first try to learn from his life and ideals he lived by: secularism, liberalism, pluralism and scientific temper.
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