In the name of Allah - The Pioneer

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It is 10.45 in the morning, and Mushirul Hasan is immacu-
lately dressed, ready to go to office. But he does not
have to travel far - all he has to do is to enter the
living room of his house where are seated two men from
the administrative staff of Jamia Millia Islamia, holding
a clutch of files that need to be perused through and
initialled by the Acting Vice Chancellor of the Universi-
ty.

Mushirul Hasan's sartorial elegance is in sharp contrast
to the carefully cultivated carelessness of men who
people the academia. The crease of his trousers fall
perfectly on shoes polished glistening black, the shirt
neatly tucked in, and the lock of grey hair on his temple
provide a hint of seriousness to his chubby, baby face.
"Ha, ha," he says with a puckish grin, engrossed in
talking over the phone, "You are looking for a job in
Delhi. There is one available at Jamia - the post of
Vice Chancellor."

Four years is indeed long enough to transform even the
most tragic and horrendous circumstance into a comedy,
tickling the hapless to smile and laugh only because of
the sheer absurdity of his fate. Or Hasan, probably, in
the manner of the protagonist of Salman Rushdie's The
Moor's Last Sigh, has courted and embraced h is misfor-
tune thereby reconciling himself to the injustice of his
own suffering. Laughter, don't they say, is the best
weapon against intolerance, suppression and naked author-
itarianism.

But the poignant mirth in the living room cannot, even
for a minute, conceal the supineness of the political
class and those who administer the academia - here is a
person who was banished from the University campus four
years back only because he was intellectually honest to
criticise the ban on The Satanic Verses, despite his
personal dislike and disapproval of the sneering and
contemptuous portrayal of the Prophet in the book. The
moral police of Jamia Millia Islamia were quick to hound
him out of the campus - and in all these 48 months Hasan
has neither taken a class nor seen the office of Pro Vice
Chancellor; the sudden death of Bashiruddin Ahmed has now
catapulted Hasan to the top post.

But underneath the absurdity of his situation are con-
cealed several ironies. For one, he belongs to a social
group which though perturbed and perplexed at the majori-
tarian politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been
singularly intolerant towards Hasan for voicing what is
regarded the minority opinion in the community. So, what
does he say about this glaring hypocrisy?

He answers, "The message that must go across is, there is
a strong body of liberal and secular Muslims who, while
remaining true to their faith, have an equal stake in the
democratic and secular values that a large section of
society is wedded to. The people must be sensitised to
the need for a dialogue between different positions in
the community, and convinced to repeat the historical
experience of the debate and discussion that had taken

place between the Aligarh school, representing modernism,
and the Deoband ulema, symbolising tradition, in the
earlier decades."

To yet another irony Hasan himself sadly testifies.
"This person who has been hounded out too has played a
role in reconstructing Jamia's nationalist past, by
publishing biographies of stalwarts associated with the
institution. Social scientists are generally preoccupied
with the fundamentalist and separatist strands, but my
agenda has been to ensure that lost causes and defeated
men are not reduced to mere footnotes in history. The
fact that Jinnah and the Muslim League won Pakistan
cannot gloss over the efforts of, say, Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad. And yet..." his voice trails off.

Hasan says there has been a perceptible change in the
ground reality at Jamia there is a growing consensus
among teachers and students on the need to recall him. to
bring an end to the trauma the University has been sub-
jected to and refurbish the tarnished image of the insti-
tution. "Do you know," he says incredulously, "students
have told me that at job interviews they are told that
given their background they could cause disruption in the
company."

But why doesn't he move the court for the restitution of
his right to take classes on the campus? The historian
replies, "Jamia Millia is not a legal issue, it is an
ideological issue. The Government has an exaggerated
notion of the intensity of opposition to my returning to
the campus. It has wrongly assumed that such a step will
have considerable repercussions. And I have been insist-
ing on the need to call the bluff of a minority group of
fundamentalists at Jamia."

I can't fathom his reply - why doesn't Mushirul Hasan
simply drive down to the campus considering the support
to the secular cause existing there; or, why doesn't e
ring up the local ACP, demand police protection and hold
classes in the shadow of guns and lathis? He is not
flustered, willing in the manner of schoolteachers to
answer even the most difficult query. "First thing first,
and I must tell you, even though I have no documentary
proof, that every decision of Bashiruddin Ahmad had the
backing of the Government. It is not in the hands of the
university authorities, otherwise why should four Min-
isters have called me after the United Front Government
came to power."

Ministers? Yes, - Indrajit Gupta, IK Gujral, CM Ibrahim,
and SR Bommai, each called Hasan to listen to his version
and perception of the situation. And on all four occa-
sions Hasan stressed on the need to take a stance: a
handful of students, under the leadership of their polit-
ical patrons, can't be allowed to browbeat or threaten a
teacher from staying away from the classroom, that the
trend of inflicting extra-judicial punishment must be
countered and checked.

Hasan says he wrote a letter to Human Resource Minister S
R Bommai, arguing that since the Front won the election
on the secular agenda, couldn't he and his colleagues
uphold and protect his right. Well, well, well, let us
not ask for the answer, but Hasan himself encapsulates
the struggle at Jamia thus: "Why do You think a handful

of fundamentalists can hold the university to ransom?
You see, liberal forces are fragmented, diffused, their
worldview is differentiated. In contrast the fervour of
the communal forces stems from their sharing a cohesive
ideology that caters to fundamentals."

In my mind surfaces suddenly the recondite lines of
Martin Luther King Jr: lie ultimate tragedy of mankind is
not the brutality of the bad but the silence of the good.
Could it really be true that there exist no person or
leader in the Muslim community willing to stand up and be
counted? Inshallah, did I hear them say.

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