Delhi varsity decides to expunge Iqbal chapter from syllabus

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities are mulling excluding a chapter on Pakistan’s national poet Muhammad Iqbal, popularly known as Allama Iqbal, from the syllabus of the bachelor’s sixth year, NDTV reported Saturday.

The publication stated that the Academic Council of Delhi University has passed a motion to drop the chapter, which is part of the political science books. The history-phobic and anti-Pakistan approach has been welcomed by a right-wing student body.

“Delhi University academic council decided to scrap fanatic theological scholar Mohmmad Iqbal from DU’s (Delhi University) political science syllabus. It was previously included in BA’s sixth-semester paper titled ‘Modern Indian political thought,” the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said in a statement.

“Mohammad Iqbal is called the ‘philosophical father of Pakistan’. He was the key player in establishing Jinnah as a leader in Muslim League. Mohammad Iqbal is as responsible for India’s partition as Mohammad Ali Jinnah is,” it added.

“The course has been designed to give students a glimpse into the richness and diversity within the Indian political thought,” the syllabus mentions.

It may be noted that “Saare Jahan se Accha” is one of the iconic pieces of patriotic poetry by Allama Iqbal and India has kept the song very dear as its main verse involves praise to the country. The song was written during the start of the 20th Century in pre-partition India as an ode to Hindustan — present day Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.