Remember the beautiful song “Saare jahaan sei accha,Hindustan hammara”? No one ever thought the person who penned these beautiful lines would inspire Jinnah and the Muslim League to fight for a separate nation.
Muhammad Iqbal (November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938) popularly known as Allama Iqbal, was a philosopher, poet and politician who inspired the ‘Do Quomi Nazariya'(Two nation theory) movement. So, what made him change from singing praises of his motherland to dividing it? Before that a little background of his, born to a Kashmiri Muslim family of Brahmin ancestry in Punjab who had converted to Islam around 200 years ago in the time of Bud Shah.
In 1904 he wrote the famous “Sarre Jahaan se accha” which was formally called ‘Tarana-e-Hindi’(Anthem of India) the sixth stanza of the song reflects the essence of India
Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā Hindī haiṉ ham,
wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā
(Religion doesn’t teach enmity amongst us Hindi we are,
Hindustan is our nation)
Hindi was considered translation of the word Indian in those days.
It was 1910, Iqbal penned another song named ‘Tarana-e –Milli’ (Anthem of Muslims) a polar opposite of his views back in 1904, a stanza from the song reads
Chin o Arab hamaraa hindostaan hamaara
Muslim hain hum; watan hai saara jahaan hamaara
(China and Arab are ours, Hindustan too
We are muslims , and the world is our nation)
Tarana-E-Hind that praises pre-partition India and it’s people;it also implied that people shouldn’t be divided by religious barriers and should instead come together under a common national identity of India. Tarana-E-Milli, on the other hand, argues that a worldwide, Islamic community should come above all things and looks down upon a nationalistic world view. This reflects the dramatic change in Iqbal’s views, and his support for the Pakistani movement.
It is not exactly known which specific incident led to the change of his views, perhaps it was the influence of Sir Syed Ahmad who is regarded as the architect of ‘Two nation theory’ which argues Hindus and Muslims are different, separated by religion and way of life.
Allama Iqbal during 1930 Muslim League presidential address event taking place in Allahabad spoke of the North West Frontier,Punjab ,Sindh and Balochistan be united in a single state.He envisioned India without the British rule. He also presented some long terms and short terms solution for the independence and his struggle from words was first promoted from the platform of Muslim League.
According to Iqbal: “I remained the supporter of this idea but now I am of the view that preservation of separate Nationhood is useful for Hindus and Muslims birth. To have the concept of single nation In India is no doubt poetic and beautiful but impractical regarding present circumstances”.
Iqbal passed away on 21 April 1938 never to see Pakistan become reality in his lifetime but he provided the philosophical exposition to Muhammad Ali Jinnah who translated it into a political reality of separate nation state named Pakistan on 14 August 1947.
The idea ‘Two nation theory’ failed on 26 March 1971, the day Bangladesh was born and the idea of united Muslim nation in Indian sub-continent ceased to exist. Also, the fact that India, a secular nation where a Muslim can become a President, famous sports personality or an actor having a huge fan following from all people belonging to different religions busts the absurd idea that Hindus and Muslims can’t live together. Today India has reached Mars while Pakistan is still trying to get Kashmir.
Citations-
1-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sare_Jahan_se_Accha
2-)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarana-e-Milli
3-)https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/the-two-nation-theory-and-demand-of-pakistan.php