V.D. Savarkar. That name elicits a broad range of responses from individuals across the Indian polity. From a strong sense of distaste to rabid worship, Savarkar perhaps is a wonderful illustration of the fate that now awaits Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College and spiritual figurehead of AMU.
An educated individual of high caste birth, fealty to the British at crucial points of the Indian rebellion against the British Imperialists and a distaste for those of lower ‘birth’ are shared traits of both these ‘historic’ figures.
However, just like Churchill or Lord Nelson or any of the imperialist murderers who pillaged and looted the world and its indigenous communities of all their resources in the name of ‘superiority’, their actions have been given a veneer of respectability by academics, historians and chroniclers of the Dominant classes.
AMU has been at the forefront of ignoring the wicked ideals held by the man who played a crucial role in founding the University. Like the deaf Savarkarites, Ahmed Khan Jiyalas have refused to entertain the notion that behind the man and mask bestowed upon him is a large collection of his works and ideas that are and should be abhorrent to any right minded individual, leave alone anybody who believes in Human Dignity.
The views he held and espoused are by no means an enigma. Numerous sources have cataloged Ahmed Khan’s opinions on the majority of the Indian Muslim Community, which are wildly offensive to put it diplomatically. Unfortunately for the Ahmed Khan cheer squad, with the increased participation of Pasmanda Muslims in Higher Education, thinking individuals will question the Halo bestowed upon a man who wasn’t just shamelessly casteist, but spoke about it at every turn possible. A man who happily went about his job as a loyal East India Company employee while the 1857 Mutiny raged around him. A man who wanted only the Ashraf’s to inculcate a scientific temper in order to ensure that their preeminence doesn’t get threatened.
Some say that judging individuals of an earlier age by modern standards isn’t a valid logical or academic exercise as societal norms and ideas are fluid and change. I concede that point. However, this isn’t about being judged and condemned, the man is far too dead for far too long now for that to be of any real consequence. So what then drives this inability to revisit historical figures to present them in a more human light, with flaws and achievements? The need for these Jiyalas to exalt Ahmed Khan isn’t just baffling, it’s illuminating.
The USA has recently begun to grapple with its own discussions on history, race, supremacy and the systemic oppression of marginalized peoples of color. From Yale University trying to make amends for having accepted proceeds of Human trafficking, to the pulling down of Memorials that are dedicated to viciously racist Murderers aimed at demonstrating which group owns not just public discourse, but public spaces entirely. Why now? Purely because it took time for the groups that were disenfranchised to gain access to archives, to critical thought and to higher education in order to learn what these grotesque installations were actually signaling to marginalized communities.
In fact, despite the losses suffered by the South after the Civil War, White Supremacists never went away, they just rejuvenated themselves and revised their tactics. And evidence of that? Is everywhere in American political discourse today. Apart from a few ‘House Niggers’ as African American Revolutionary Malcom X would call them, entire communities are now rallying to correct this distortion of history that continues to feed into their current malaise. And more than anything else? See how the Southern Slavers have embraced the “Lost Cause” as a driver of the Civil War. What is that Lost Cause? Nobody including rabid white supremacists know the details, they just know that there was one.
AMU has tried to present itself over the years as an institution for the intellectual growth of the Indian Muslim community. A valid and praise worthy notion, except it gets horrendously hobbled by the denial of the dominant groups within the University of the Casteism of Ahmed Khan or its own internalized hate against members of Pasmanda groups, which isn’t shocking since they refuse to hold up a light to abhorrent ideas, and instead ask that Ahmed Khan become a deity beyond reproach or discussion, much like Mr. Modi today.
If there is any group of people today within the AMU community that truly can lay a claim to a “Lost Cause” it is the Pasmanda Muslims who have dedicated years and expended superhuman efforts to pick themselves up by their own struggles but keep getting ignored by dominant caste Muslim’s despite the empty homilies of ‘Muslim Bhaichara’ and ‘Unity’.
It is a matter of time before this cleavage between Ahmed Khan Jiyalas and the rest come to a head. Unfortunately for the Jiyalas and Ashraf’s, by refusing to revisit history and historical figures, they are about to consign their own hero to the fate of V.D Savarkar or Churchill.
Condemned and Mocked except by a few rabidly irrational ‘believers’ who represent the old order and the oppression of a large majority of the populace. However, they are up against a rising tide. And it will not be turned back till Ahmed Khan and his fellow travelers like Savarkar, Churchill et al are consigned to the rubbish heap of time.
The Ashraf’s now have an option. Discuss the concerns of Pasmanda’s, condemn Ahmed Khan’s casteism and pledge to working towards an AMU that is truly representative of all communities it claims to be the standard bearer of. Historical Revisionism isn’t just an academic exercise. For us? It’s the only way to Dignity.
Note: I am a second Generation Learner
I haven’t attended AMU but my first generation learner father and his brothers (4 in total including him) are all Alumni, and one is still a Professor there, so this isn’t about the University at all or the avenues it has allowed, but about Justice and Dignity to the largest section of the Muslim community.
