Modi govt intensifies efforts to erase Muslim legacy from India’s history
New Delhi: Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the BJP-led Hindutva government is intensifying its systematic campaign to erase Muslim figures and their cultural, intellectual, and literary contributions from the history of India.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in the latest move, the Delhi University, which operated under government patronage, has decided to remove the poetry of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, one of South Asia’s most celebrated philosophers and poets, from its curriculum. Allama Iqbal, who iconic anthem ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara” has inspired generations across the subcontinent, is now being labeled “anti-India” on the very soil he once elevated. Delhi University’s Vice-Chancellor, Yogesh Singh, claimed that while Allama Iqbal wrote the famous anthem in 1910, his views later turned anti-India, prompting the university to exclude his works from the syllabus. The controversial move was announced during a program organized by the university’s Centre for Independence and Partition Studies, which focused on the history and consequences of the partition of India and Pakistan.
Reflecting the Modi government’s Hindutva ideology, Singh stated that since Allama Iqbal’s views supposedly changed after writing the anthem, it was no longer inappropriate to include his works in the university curriculum.
However, the crucial question remains: Should the works of a distinguished thinker be erased from academia simply due to ideological differences with the current regime’s narrative? Isn’t this move a deliberate attempt to mentally subjugate the younger generation and reshape their understanding of histroy?
Experts argue that removing Allama Iqbal from the curriculum is not just a symbolic step, but part of a broader strategy to gradually wipe out the intellectual and cultural contributions of Muslims in India. Erasing such voices from education is not an academic decision but a politically motivated act of ideological exclusion. This move does not only target on Iqbal’s poetry, but also the very essence of a diverse thought, a nation, and a rich cultural history that shaped India’s identity.
