– Khan Tahir
On the night of October 22, around 7:45 PM, chants reflecting the spirit of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (composite culture) suddenly rose from Gate No. 7 of Jamia Millia Islamia. These chants included “Allahu Akbar” and “JSR.” Hindus and Muslims, together, standing in the same place at the same time, raised their respective slogans in a way that made it seem as if the hatred fostered between Hindus and Muslims by the government over the past several years had been rendered meaningless.
After a while, noticing the police present, it became evident that something was amiss. Upon speaking to the students of the Diploma in Computer Science Engineering, whose classes are near Gate No. 7, it was revealed that Rashtriya Kala Manch (RKM), a wing of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), had obtained permission from JMI to celebrate Diwali on October 22. However, the celebration continued beyond the time for which permission was granted. Some ABVP and RSS members, who were not students of Jamia, were also present at this celebration inside Gate No. 7.
At the Jamia, entry at any gate requires a valid ID card from the university; if an ID is unavailable, at least a fee receipt is required. Since the Diwali celebration permission was granted only for Jamia students, questions arise as to why outsiders were allowed inside the university. If outsiders entered Jamia’s premises, on whose ID did they gain entry, or was their ID not checked? There are many questions for which the administration will need to provide answers.
Upon further investigation, it was found that some ABVP members started chanting “JSR” in front of Muslim students, to which the Muslim students responded by chanting “Palestine Zindabad” and “Allahu Akbar.”
Permission for the Diwali celebration was requested by students, as Diwali is considered a festival in the Hindu religion. However, it is worth noting that there is no mention of Diwali in ancient Hindu scriptures like the Ramayana, Mahabharata, or even the Vedas, which are regarded as the most sacred texts of Hinduism.
In this Diwali celebration, the slogan “JSR” was chanted. If we examine the “JSR” slogan, we find that the words “Jai Shree Ram” are not used in the Vedas, Upanishads, Valmiki’s Ramayana, or even in the Mahabharata.
According to some articles, the slogan “JSR” originated after the 1980s, while others claim it was introduced by the BJP. This implies that it might not be accurate to say that the slogan “JSR” is inherently a part of Hinduism; rather, it is used by people who follow a specific ideology.
So, during Hindu religious festivals, why is there a need for chants of a particular ideology, such as “JSR”?
Diwali is not mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures, which is why some Hindus do not celebrate it. While Diwali is mentioned in the Puranas, which say it should be celebrated over five days – two days before Diwali, on the day of Diwali, and two days after – Diwali is on October 29. Therefore, why was it necessary to celebrate it on October 22 on the Jamia campus?
It’s difficult to understand whether RKM sought permission to celebrate Diwali or to create controversy around it.
After this incident, FIRs were lodged against some individuals, which was shared on the official social media handle of the university. A wise person, whether celebrating Diwali or not, would have been afraid to go to Gate Number 7 of the Jamia after the police deployment following the disturbance. However, the ABVP was not willing to back down. On October 23, 50 sympathisers of the ABVP returned to JMI. Why? Because they wanted to celebrate Diwali. After several attempts by the police to explain the situation, and when they did not understand, the police had to chase them away for a considerable distance.
In this matter, the mainstream media seemed to fall prey to Islamophobia. From morning to evening, only Muslims were blamed by the mainstream media without any investigation, while ignoring other significant issues such as unemployment and hunger, as well as the elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. The organiser even wrote that celebrating Hindu festivals is considered Haram in Islam and that, for years, Islamists have actively opposed these celebrations, often resorting to violence.
If you are gathering information about Islam, so let’s gather a bit more information that in Islam, the Quran says, “Do not spread disorder on earth.” (Surah Al-Baqara, 60)
The question also arises: if Muslims wanted to take action, they could have done so before the event started or during the time it was permitted, but that didn’t happen. Consider this: if a person who borrowed money from you, and whom you haven’t heard from in years, is known to be attending an event for just two hours, and you know about this, what would you do? Naturally, you would meet him within those two hours to get your money back. Meeting him during that time would be essential because there’s no guarantee he will stay afterward. Similarly, if Muslims wanted to take action – if they didn’t want Hindus to celebrate their religious festival peacefully or if they intended to disrupt the Diwali celebration – they would have acted within the allowed time, as they wouldn’t know if the event would extend beyond the permitted duration.
Therefore, it is clear that this issue was not pre-planned by the Muslims; however, it can be assumed that the disturbance may have been pre-planned by the organisers who delayed the programme.
But in the video, we see that slogans of “Allahu Akbar” and “Palestine Zindabad” were chanted before or after the event. What was the need for these slogans there?
Almost a century ago, Allama Iqbal said:
اللہ سے کرے دور تو تعلیم بھی فتنہ
املاک بھی اولاد بھی جاگیر بھی فتنہ
ناحق کے لیے اٹھے تو شمشیر بھی فتنہ
شمشیر ہی کیا نعرہ تکبیر بھی فتنہ
(Far away from Allah, education is also a temptation,
Property, children, estates, temptations.
If you stand up for the unjust, the sword is also temptation.
Not just the sword; even the slogan of Allahu Akbar is also temptation.)
When we know that chanting “Allahu Akbar” will not be beneficial here and may, in fact, cause harm – harm to us and harm to Islam – then why is there a need to chant “Allahu Akbar” in such places? Allah was, is, and will always be Akbar (Great).
There are many ways to invite people to Islam, and a more effective approach is to build friendships with your non-Muslim friends and try to explain your religion while understanding theirs. With such slogans, people might misunderstand Islam because of us.
Similarly, what was the need to chant “Palestine Zindabad” at this gathering? Palestine was, is, and will always be Zindabad. There are many ways to show solidarity with Palestine. While living in India, a more effective approach would be to pray for Palestine’s victory from Allah and boycott Israeli products.
After October 22, it was reported that some sanitation workers at the Jamia were attempting to bring a Valmiki idol onto the campus, but they were stopped outside. We would like to thank the administration for reminding Hindus that idol worship is not permitted in Hinduism: न तस्य प्रतिमा अस्ति (Yajurveda, 32:3).
It is important to note that the university is not just named Jamia Millia; it is Jamia Millia Islamia. Since it is Islamia (Islamic), there is no need for any non-Muslim to feel tense. It would be better for you to follow your own religion, and if that does not happen, we hope that the administration will provide training according to your beliefs.
It seems that the government is pleased with the ABVP’s ‘achievements’, and this happiness is expressed by appointing Mazhar Asif, a former member of the ABVP, as the Vice Chancellor of the university.
Well, after almost a year, the university finally got a Vice Chancellor. In his first speech, Mazhar Asif recited a verse from the Quran, but he did not read it very well. Generally, when something is read after many years, there can be pronunciation errors. However, we understand our Vice Chancellor’s feelings and hope that وَاعۡتَصِمُوۡا بِحَبۡلِ اللّٰهِ جَمِيۡعًا وَّلَا تَفَرَّقُوۡا he will be able to act on what he could not recite.
