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SAEED NAQVI

HAQEEQAT-e-Abadior the eternal truth of the nationwide protests will only be energised by thePolice Zindabad shouting country pistol shooter who fired into a protestoutside Jamia Millia Islamia, not far from the peaceful Shaheen Bagh that I hadleft behind just an hour ago. A row of policemen, arms folded, or leaning ontheir lathis must have been disappointed by the pistol-mans poor marksmanship.He hit a student on his wrist. But expected TV channels went to town, which wasthe purpose.

Away from this nasty distraction (which only shows up thepresent regime for what is) a much bigger reality is unfolding, on an epicscale: the entire Indian Opposition is being bypassed by the biggest protestssince Independence led by women, students and youth, ostensibly against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act, the national register of citizens and the nationalpopulation register but, as they gather momentum, the whole establishmenttrembles.

History will record the Jamia Millia as the point ofignition for this avalanche which, in a sense, completes a circle. Threebrilliant students Dr Zakir Hussain, Dr Abid Hussain and Prof Mohammad Mujeeb met in Germany and decided to join Jamia Millia to enlarge the reservoir ofenlightened, progressive Muslims in the national movements. In todays BJPparlance they would be called the tukde-tukde gang or urban Naxals. Itwould have been difficult to foist Pakistan on them because that country hadnot been formed then. In fact, opposition to the two-nation theory was anarticle of faith with this batch.

In that enlightened stream were Anwar Jamal Kidwai andShahid Mehdi. Prof Mushirul Hasan had seen the worst of Jamia as its provice-chancellor, when he was beaten up by university goons linked to a Congressleader who was riled over Prof Mushirs stand on banning books.

Rajiv Gandhi had banned Salman Rushdies SatanicVerses. Prof Mushirs position was that books should be challenged, ignoredbut not banned. There must be something good in the system that Arjun Singh, asHRD minister gave Prof Mushir (by now elevated as vice-chancellor) more freedomthan any vice-chancellor since has ever had. The result was a mushroom growthof centres named after unlikely figures: Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Mir AnisHall and Mir Taqi Mir hall, M F Hussain Art Gallery and so on. Who knows, themovement may put fresh life into all of this.

Prof Mushir explained his Left trajectory in terms ofJamias origins as an institution of the enlightened against colonialism andimperialism. Bringing about course corrections on that count (as has beenattempted) ran the risk of being sucked into communal and identity politics.Peoples issues are overlooked. This is the dilemma of todays liberals face:they cannot give up on capitalism (therefore imperialism) even in itspost-globalisation, post-2008 avatar. They often find themselves standing withthe powerful establishments which redirect popular resentment againstinequality, for instance, towards issues of immigration, ethnic identities. Soyou have Viktor Orban in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen inFrance, Nigel Farage in the UK and kindred souls elsewhere including JairBolsonaro, the Pinochet copycat in Brazil. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modihandpicked him to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade, it must beassumed that Modi probably nurses him as a model. This lot is clearly what theprotests are arrayed against.

The eager-beavers looking for a suitable and urgentoutcome have not noticed that the movement has already altered the scene. Amovement that can provoke stalwarts of the BJP into such glorious absurdities,deserves a trophy. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, Shaheen Baghprotest is offering a platform to tukde-tukde gang. Delhi should have noplace for such people. Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, BJP MP in Delhi, has goneone better. What happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen inDelhi also. Lakhs of people enter Shaheen Bagh. They will enter houses, rapeand kill our sisters and daughters.

He sends a shiver down the spine with his threat. If theBJP comes to power on February 11, you will not find a single protester withinan hour. And within a month we will not spare a single mosque built ongovernment land.

Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance andCorporate Affairs, is even more inspiring: Desh ke ghaddaron ko, he exhorts,the crowd. On cue comes the response, goli maro sa***n ko (shoot thebastards). This goes on for minutes. If a peaceful nationwide movement candrive the BJP to such reckless intemperance, it has clearly achieved a greatdeal. Above all, this shaky behaviour has been aggravated by the protestscoming so soon after reversals in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Maharashtra and, God forbid, Delhi too? Union Home Minister AmitShah will not give up on his incantation of revenge politics easily.

Another great achievement of the protests has been thesecularisation of the Muslim ghetto. The docile, homebound Muslim woman has forthe first time being seen in her public avatar, articulate, dignified,involved. The hijab and the bindi are mingling an elegant sight.

This is not a simple phenomenon. It is not without asociological readjustment within the family and community. Across communities,it has promoted a new bonhomie. Batla House, Jamia Nagar and Jama Masjid arethat much more accessible because sheer exposure of different communities in acommon cause has helped remove cobwebs of an uninstitutionalised apartheid.

The Opposition will never be in a position to takeadvantage so long as its national parties hold onto their respective obsessions the Congress urge to revive nationally and the Communist urge to revive in WestBengal. These aspirations will remain road blocks. Yes, Congress presidentSonia Gandhi may be able to sing a nicer swansong if she could somehow revivethe spirit of 2004 when the Left was not an anathema. That plus a commitment tofederalism will work. Soft Saffron has no future. IANS

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Anatomy Of A Shootout At Jamia - The Navhind Times