Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—What made the 79-year-old Roop Rekha Verma, former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University, come out of the comforts of her airconditioned house and distribute copies of a handbill to the people in the streets in Lucknow’s sweltering heat on July 5? Many of her colleagues including Prof. Ramesh Dixit, Vandana Mishra, R S Bajpai, Madhu Garg, ,Rajiv Dhyani, Mohammed Rashid and Athar Hussain descended in the streets.
If she is to be believed she wanted to send a message to the youth to save the country from the path of destruction toward which it is currently headed to.
She explains that it is the politics of division based on hate, targeting and othering of Muslims, atrocities on Dalits, increasing unemployment and steep rise in inflation, and devaluation of the rupee are among the major factors driving the country towards its annihilation.
But why did she choose July 5 to raise this issue? She told India Tomorrow that it was on July 5, 1857, that Hindus and Muslims had jointly crowned Birjis Qadra as Nawab of Awadh after defeating the Britishers in the Battle of Chinhat, a place which has now become a part of Lucknow city.
“We want to tell the people that India will progress and become strong only when all the communities, Hindus and Muslims, remain united and work shoulder to shoulder with each other in the same way they collectively fought the Britishers and won freedom for India,” she told this scribe, adding “politics of divide” would not take the country forward.
She expressed concern over the call for genocide against Muslims, arresting people like Muhammad Zubair without any offence, bulldozing the houses of peaceful protesters, and honouring and giving bail to lynchers.
She regretted that some people were following the British legacy of divide and rule and hatching a plot to continue in power through politics of hate and violence against each other that will ultimately weaken the country. “And what is most disturbing is that this plot is being hatched by the same people who themselves claim to be the biggest nationalists and patriots,” she says.
“My biggest message to all is that all the citizens of India, irrespective of their faith, have equal rights in this country,” she points out, admonishing people “to be watchful of divisive forces.”
“History is a witness that India was not inhabited by Hindus alone even during the Vedic period; there were also people of other cultures but all of them lived in peace and harmony. One culture never dominated India. People of different cultures and traditions came to and settled down in India. All of them contributed to what is India today with their hard work. Hindus contributed to India, Muslims contributed to India, and Dravidians contributed, though Britishers persecuted Indians a lot they also contributed to the building of India. Even Dalits, who have been tormented and humiliated a lot have also contributed to the growth of India. There is no community that did not take part in the freedom struggle. Hindus and Muslims in particular sacrificed too much for achieving freedom for India. I can provide 1000 Muslim names who endured the atrocities inflicted on them by the Britishers due to their support for the freedom movement. They fought shoulder to shoulder with everyone for freedom of India,” she points out.
To oft-repeated allegations that Muslim rulers committed excesses on their Hindu subjects, she says that rulers of all hues, irrespective of faiths, committed atrocities on their subjects. “Were our Hindu Rajas good to their “Praja” (subjects)? Rajas are known to have committed excesses,”, she replies.
“But now there is democracy in the country. So, cruelty on any community cannot be justified,” she clarifies.
Appealing to the youth, she says: “I and those of my generation have completed our innings. But it is for the youth to think about what kind of India they want. If we want to save India, then we will have to safeguard the honour and respect of every citizen and recognize their contribution and take the country forward with the support of everybody. But if you want a New India based on hate and violence against each other, then it is your choice.”
