WE TOO ARE RESPONSIBLE

Shamsul Huda Qasmi
Editor: The Light (Magazine)
hudaqasmi@gmail.com

As 15th August drew near, a great patriotic fervour gripped India to celebrate the 69th Independence Anniversary.  India got freedom from the British rule on this day in the year 1947, after going through various sorts of struggle and mass movement - some non-violent and some revolutionary and confrontational in nature. Muslims and Hindus alike fought against the foreign oppression and their inhuman policies, enforced arbitrarily on peace loving people. Our leaders, scholars, poets and writers used their speeches, poetic themes and literary write-ups for political awareness and to infuse revolutionary zeal.  Muslim scholars and poets were prime movers and in the forefront amongst those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of independence of our beloved country, India. The student of Darul Uloom Deoband, Maulana Mahmood Hasan Deobandi, was the first amongst those who stirred a disobedience movement against the oppressive British rule through leaflets.  This movement is popularly known in history as "Silken Letters Movement". Later on the movement was exposed and Maulana Mahmood Hasan along with his associates i.e. Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani, Maulana Ozair Gul and others got arrested.  They were exiled and kept under detention in the island of Malta for many years. His disciples, Maulana Ubaydullah Sindhi and Maulana Mansoor Ansari had to bear the pain and pang of exile for a very long period.

In the year 1919, Jami'atul-Ulama-e-Hind, an assembly of religious scholars, was formed by our great forefathers to give an impetus to the independence movements.  This organization since its inception spent its energy in awakening the people of the country socially as well as politically. Maulana  Hussain Ahmad Madani, Maulana Mufti Kifayatullah Dehlavi, Maulana Sayyid Fakhruddeen Ahmad, and later on Maulana Hifzur-Rahman, Mufti Ateequr-Rahman Usmani, Maulana Minnatullah Rahmani, Maulana Habibur-Rahman Ludhyanvi, Maulana Sayyed Muhammad Miyan Deobandi and many other scholars not only remained in the forefront in freedom struggle but also gave birth to several socio-politico-religious movements. As a consequence of opposing a foreign rule in India, they had to
suffer great hardships of imprisonment and exile for several years. The list of our elders who fought against the yoke of imperialism is endless and indeed hard to recount in an article. The
country owes a huge debt of gratitude to scholars like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mulana Hasrat Mohani and Muhammad Ali Jauhar, who were shining stars in liberating the nation from hands of foreign rule and oppression.

Through the passage of time, however, Muslims intellectuals have begun to feel and question on the utter ignorance of our new generation about the role played by our great freedom fighters. For apparent reason, recently, the syllabus and non-syllabus books alike have been saffronized and the history of the great deeds of our forefathers are not being given due place in books taught is state run schools. There has been a constant conspiracy against Muslims in India in order to obliterate the vital roles played by Muslim leaders and intellectuals. Some elements in the country are actively striving to take the credit of everything into their accounts. It’s a grave issue and a matter of great concern too for Muslims leadership to deal with. In the new list of freedom fighters, being patronized to be re-written by saffron brigades,  true freedom fighters and  brave hearts of Mother India have no place. And those accountable for dismal performance are to be patronized and given prominent place in revised history books. 

Raising issues alone and coming up with no sensible solution has become a fashion of present day Muslim leadership. Mere forming organizations and giving them new names are not going to solve the problems. A solemn duty lies upon our shoulders to educate our young generations with the true human values that Islam teaches us. It is incumbent upon enlightened youth of new generation to come to the fore and take the leadership of the community in order to awake them from long slumber.  If we don’t awake today and strive to take our share in nation building, not only that we will be relegated to the second class citizens but our distinct Islamic culture and heritage will come under attack. May Allah (swt) give us foresightedness to understand the purpose of being sent on this planet as Ashraful Makhluqa't. May Allah show us the true path, the path on whose those tread get salvation in this world and the hereafter!
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