This is deemed as an era of rationale mind but what is being served today on the social plate is rancour. The circus reveals intellectuals and illiterates are competing in spreading rage and hate with equal vigour. That is why the recent report about actor Nawazuddin Siddique not being allowed to enact a role in the Ramleela in his home town did not come as a surprise.
Contrary to stated principles of our Constitution, the vitriolic behaviour highlighted writer Javed Akhtar’s recent lament that “contrarian views are now met with hostility, stifling arena of creativity.” Though clarifications not approving the commotion came from concerned political quarters, musicologist Trinetra Bajpai asserts, “Damage was done by planting seeds of distrust and tearing our tender secular fabric.”
Ponder and we find it is secular and pluralistic philosophy that gave us our unique identity apart, of course, our supreme creations of art, literature and culture. Some of the best verses on Lord Krishna were penned by Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana, popularly known as poet Rahim. Imagine what joy would have been denied if Rahim, being a Muslim, had been ordered not to write about Krishna, the greatest character in history and literature of the globe.
It is our spirit of peaceful co-existence that allowed popular Hindu singers Shankar-Shambhu to enter every Islamic shrine and enliven Ramzan with their magnificent qawwalis. Our pluralist culture allowed Bismillah Khan and his shehnai go unhindered in to the sanctum sanctorum of Vishwanath Temple of Banaras just as roses grown by Hindu farmers of Pushkar have been enhancing the fragrance of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisthi’s shrine in Ajmer. Our secularism allowed, as per historian Ramchandra Guha, “a delicious paradox that can only be Indian” that “the man who best embodied the spirit of the holy Hindu city of Banaras was a Muslim”. That is why the deliberate mischief in numerous cases, akin to one stated above, mock our legacy of brotherhood especially as one of the reasons Ramleelas spread in India was the generous patronage provided by Nawabs of Awadh.
Maulana Hasrat Mohani isn’t too well known to youngsters today but scholars remember him as the Haji (a Muslim who has been to Mecca for sacred pilgrimage) who was a devout Krishna scholar and gave us the clarion call of “Inquilaab Zindabad” in 1920. So do we now discard “Inquilaab Zindabad” as a Muslim slogan and term his Krishna verses as blasphemous just because of jingoistic anarchy that reigns in the garb of nationalism today? While the secular contributions enriching the arena of painting, handicrafts, music and textiles are too numerous to elaborate in one article, one shudders the “blessings” we would have been deprived of, if such diktats had been imposed upon the film industry.
But for our film makers liberal thought and deed, we wouldn’t have seen our greatest actor Dilip Kumar give credence to Hindu faith and worship with his magnificent temple scenes from “Amar” to “Naya Daur” and “Gopi”. This Punjabi Pathaan, who enacted only one Muslim character on screen in “Mughal-e-Azam”, is solely responsible for giving Indian cinema its abiding symbol of a hero with a heart of gold. Similarly, hats off to V. Shantaram’s vision of communal harmony that gave us the outstanding pre-Partition film “Padosi”. Shantaram has to be commended for his conviction and humanism since he made the Hindu actor Gajanan Jagirdar play the Muslim character Mirza while giving the role of Hindu Thakur to Muslim actor Mazhar Khan!
Following Shantaram’s footsteps, many others had guts to portray Ashok Kumar, Manmohan Krishna, Raj Kumar and Sunil Dutt in Muslim roles (“Bahu Begum”, “Dhool Ka Phool”, “Pakeezah” and “Ghazal”) just as Anwar Hussain, Iftekhar, Jayant, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan have brought alive many Hindu and Sikh characters on screen. It is because audiences were tolerant to nuances of delicate situations that creative people like Salim-Javed could write the comical scene of “Sholay” wherein Dharmendra dupes Hema Malini as the voice of a Hindu God! All of us have played such wonderful pranks in our teens but as Akthar sadly opines, similar scenes today could lead to banning of a film or even rioting on streets since people have become too parochial in their outlook!
There are numerous examples of diverse number of people enriching the secular film fabric. But one shudders to think what enormous damage could have occurred to the musical gems that are part of folklore as well as our existence today. Quoting just two examples from the rich array of songs would suffice to put in perspective how secularism has given us our greatest gifts. The prayer song “Parwar Digare Alam” from “Hatim Tai” is an enchanting synthesis of Islamic mythology but was written by B. D. Mishra and composed by S. N. Tripathi. But if Hindus could do themselves proud, could Muslims be left behind? Not at all, as proven by soul soothing bhajans “Man Tadpat” and “O Duniya Ke Rakhwale” of “Baiju Bawra” that were created by Shakeel Badayuni-Naushad combine which continue to enthral listeners even after six decades.
The common thread between the compositions was Mohammed Rafi who till date has not been surpassed in devotional singing by any singer in the world. Like Kabir, Rafi belongs to everyone and is the finest symbol of our secular foundation, someone whom we dare not classify with any caste, community or religion on account of his overwhelming contribution as a supreme artist and sublime human being. It is this greatness that Mahatma Gandhi propounded and which we need to practice. We all need to connect with each other since insulating ourselves from others’ pain only begets more pain.
