M A I L B A G

It was just an uprising, not a war

I READ the interview of William Dalrymple by Vishal Arora, “The 1857 uprising wasn’t a coherent political War of Independence” (Spectrum, Nov 19). The uprising was not the result of national awareness against the British. It was confined only to the Army men who were sentimental due to religious beliefs.

The objective of the mutineers was neither to gain political power nor organise a fight against British atrocities. Sir Jadu Nath Sarkar described the uprising in the following words, “It was not a fight for freedom, it was in fact King Cobra superstition’s last bite before its head was smashed”. Maulana Azad described thus: “Bahadur Shah was a puppet who had neither the army nor the treasure nor influence”. Jawaharlal Nehru, in Discovery of India, said that “It is clear however that there was a lack of nationalistic feeling that might have brought the people of India together”. Mughals never extended a helping hand to the Marathas and Sikhs in their fight against the British.

The uprising had no effect in the entire South, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Those who sided with the mutineers were Maharajas and Maharanis, including Bahadur Shah, who had been fighting unsuccessfully for an increase in their pension. Dalrymple is right when he says that “The 1857 uprising wasn’t a coherent political war”.

Narinder Singh Jallo, Mohali

God and religion

This refers to Khushwant Singh’s “Question of God” (Saturday Extra, November 4). God is an eternal reality. He is the Creator, the controller of the universe. Guru Nanak has described Him as Ajooni (never incarnated) and Saibhang (self-existent). His joyous presence lies everywhere. Allama Iqbal satirically said; Bitha key arsh pe rakha hai too ney ai vaaiz / Khuda voh kya hai jo bandon sey ehtiraaz karey (O religious preacher! You have installed Him in the empyrean. What sort of God He is, who avoids people?)

Even many diehard people, who question His existence, sooner or later, become believers. An atheist (I have forgotten his name) wrote “God is nowhere” on the walls of his room. At the last gasp, he asked someone to bifurcate “nowhere” into “now here”. The line read “God is now here”.

Religion is the spiritual attitude of pious people, who worship God, practise philanthropy and love fellow human beings. No religion exhorts its adherents to hate followers of other faiths. Those who indulge in fanaticism are irreligiously religious. A Persian poet said: Dar hairatam ke dushmani-e-kufr-o-dean chrast/ Az yak chiraagh Kaaba-o-butkhaana raushan ast (I wonder why there is enmity between heathenism and religion, when both Kaaba and the temple are illuminated by the same divine light?). I wonder, why God, Who is Absolute in power, does not punish the killers of innocent people. Poet Ayub Asar rues: Zameen pe baitha hai insaaniyyat ka Khoon/Asar/ Aur aasman pe baitha hua Khuda chup hai.

Recently, some Ulema said that a person, who became a terrorist, ceased to be a Muslim. I say he ceases to be a man and becomes a ruthless minion of Satan.

BHAGWAN SINGH, Qadian

Lost childhood

In the article, “No work, no play for child labour, (Spectrum, Nov 12), abuse and exploitation has been thoroughly discussed by Vibha Sharma. No country where the child is deprived of opportunities can develop. For the sake of a bright future for the country, maximum opportunities should be provided to children.

C.R. JINDAL, Chandigarh

Allama Iqbal

In his letter “Allama Iqbal was against pluralist society”, Bhagwan Singh has mentioned the Shaheed Ganj Gurdwara (Lahore) case and Firaq Gorakhpuri’s comments.

I also want to quote some more remarks of this famous poet and literary critic on Iqbal: “The philosophy, which in Nietzche was rooted in a sense of German superiority over the entire non-German world, became in Iqbal the belief in Islam’s superiority and in the superiority of the ‘Islamic millat’ over everything non-Islamic”.

As regards the Gurdwara case, Iqbal put pressure on the All-India Muslim League not only to start direct action to get it as a mosque, but also to hold its annual session at Lahore.

However, the then Punjab Premier, Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, requested its high command not to disturb peace and communal harmony in the province.

The session was thus held at Calcutta. Bilal Ahmad Shamim’s remarks that Iqbal was not against a plural society are baseless. n

N.P. SHARMA, Batala

It’s a personal matter I read the piece, “The two sides of faith” by Khushwant Singh (Saturday Extra, Dec 2). Religions have always been systems of flattery of and bribes to God, euphemistically called prayers and offerings. The objective of founders of religions was to start and spread their hegemony. At present, religion is the most lucrative industry, spinning oodles of pelf. The ‘industry’ is not answerable to any department of the government. The flip side of the religion these days is its exploitation by the publicmen to carve out vote-banks. True religion is a purely personal rather private matter. The organisation of religion is pursued for purely political purposes. It must be rooted out. If traders, middlemen et al are dispensed with religions, may turn to spirituality which is totally absent now. Spirituality cleanses one’s heart and mind of the mire of mundane matters. GEETANJALI KORPAL, Amritsar