courtesy https://indusscrolls.com
Guru-Student: A Conversation
1
Student: Guruji, are the Muslims of India outsiders?
Guru: Yes, they are outsiders.
Student: Where did they come from?
Guru: They came from Iran, Turkey and Arabia.
Student: But they are citizens of which country now?
Guru: India.
Student: What languages do they speak?
Guru: They speak the languages of India.
Student: Does their culture, ways of living and thinking resemble that of other people?
Guru: No, culturally they are Indian.
Student: How can you then call them outsiders?
Guru: Because their religion is not Indian.
Student: Is Buddhism Indian, Guruji?
Guru: Yes, of course it is Indian.
Student: Should all the Chinese, Japanese and Thai Buddhists migrate to India?
Guru: No, no, of course not!
Student: Then why should Indian Muslims migrate to Iran, Turkey or Arabia?
2
Guru: Listen, Hindus and Muslims cannot live together.
Student: Why, Guruji?
Guru: They are radically different from each other.
Student: How?
Guru: They speak a different language…we speak a different language.
Student: Do the Muslims only speak Urdu?…Do they not speak Hindi, Kashmiri, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali etc.?
Guru: Well… actually…That’s not what I meant. Their religion is different.
Student: You mean people with different religions cannot live in the same country?
Guru: Yes…India is for Hindus.
Student: Then Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Parses, Jews should be thrown out of India.
Guru: Yes, they should be thrown out of India.
Student: Then who will be left in India?
Guru: Only the Hindus…and they will live in peace and harmony.
Student: Like the Muslims in Pakistan live in peace and harmony.
3
Guru: Listen, You should hate the Muslims.
Student: Why Gurudev?
Guru: Because they are dirty, illiterate and criminal.
Student: I understand, Gurudev. You mean, we should hate people who are dirty, illiterate and criminal.
Guru: No…no. You should hate the Muslims because they are religious fundamentalists.
Student: I hate religious fundamentalists, Gurudev.
Guru: No…no. You don’t understand. You should hate the Muslims because they had once ruled over us.
Student: Oh, then we should also hate the Christians.
Guru: No…no. Listen, the real reason for hating the Muslims is that they were responsible for the partition of India.
Student: So, I should hate people who were responsible for the partition of India.
Guru: Yes…Absolutely. You should hate those who were responsible for the partition of India.
Student: How should we treat those who divide the people of India?
4
Student: Guruji, who are the people killed in communal riots?
Guru: Important pundits, maulavis, businessmen, administrators and politicians are killed in communal riots.
Student: And who are the ones that are never killed?
Guru: Ordinary people…artisans, craftsmen, rickshaw-pullers, street-vendors, workers etc. are never killed in communal riots.
Student: Then, why does no one stop these communal riots?
Guru: That’s obvious, isn’t it?…Ordinary people have absolutely no interest in stopping communal riots.
Student: And, what about the important people?
Guru: Important people do try to stop communal riots…Pundits and Maulvis invoke religious principles…leaders of different political parties work hard to end these riots…rich businessmen give donations to stop them…government servants and police officers do what they can to prevent these conflicts.
Student: Why do these communal riots continue despite their efforts?
Guru: That is the real mystery, my son…if you solve it…you’ll be killed in one of the riots.
5
Student: Guruji, why doesn’t the law punish those who kill others in a communal riot?
Guru: That’s the greatness of our legal system!
Student: How?
Guru: Our courts understand the feelings, the sentiments of those who kill in the riots.
Student: Understand what?
Guru: Listen, those who die during communal riots go straight to heaven, don’t they?
Student: Yes, they do?
Guru: So, who does them the favour of sending them to heaven?
Student: The murderers.
Guru: Absolutely correct! Our law isn’t so shameless as to send such kind people to the gallows.
6
Student: Guruji, how can the riots be prevented?
Guru: No one in the country has an answer to that question…Neither the President nor the Prime Minster…neither any Cabinet minister nor any intellectual…
Student: Guruji…Human beings have reached the moon…have controlled nature…The impossible has become possible…Why not give the responsibility of finding an answer to the question to the scientists?
Guru: Oh, the scientists were asked to work on the problem…they said it was a religious issue.
Student: Then why not ask the priests for an answer?
Guru: The priests were also asked to find an answer…they said it was a social problem.
Student: What about the sociologists?
Guru: They said it was a political issue?
Student: What about the political scientists?
Guru: They said there was no problem at all.
7
Student: Guruji, is the Prime Minister responsible for communal riots?
Guru: No.
Student: Is the Chief Minister?
Guru: No.
Student: The Home Minister?
Guru: No.
Student: The Parliament or the elected member of the Parliament?
Guru: No.
Student: A Local administrative officer or a Police officer?
Guru: No.
Student: Then who is responsible for the communal riots?
Guru: The people.
Student: Meaning…?
Guru: Meaning, we are responsible.
Student: Meaning…?
Guru: Meaning…No one is responsible.
***
Are You My Enemy?
1
‘Are you my enemy?’
‘No, not at all.’
‘No?’
‘No!’
‘Never were?’
‘No!’
‘Never will be?’
‘Never will be.’
‘Will you swear?
‘Yes, I’ll swear by anyone you like.’
‘Alright, are you one of us?’
‘Yes, I am one of you.’
‘With your whole being?’
‘Yes, with my whole being.’
‘Do you agree with what we say?’
‘Yes, I agree with what you say.’
‘Do you agree with what we think?’
‘Yes, I agree with what you think.’
‘Do you agree with what we do?’
‘Yes, I agree with what you do,’
‘Do you agree with what we have done?’
‘Yes, I agree with what you have done.’
‘Will you accept what we may do?’
‘Yes, I’ll accept what you may do.’
‘Will you accept what we may not do?’
‘Yes, I’ll accept what you may not do.’
‘No, you do not agree with us.’
‘How can you say that?’
‘We can say what we like…you do not agree with us!’
‘No, no how can you say that…I agree with you.’
‘So, you do not agree with us.’
‘But…’
‘You oppose us.’
‘But…’
‘You are our enemy.’
‘But…’
‘You are our greatest enemy.’
‘But…’
‘You are responsible for all the problems in the country.’
‘But…’
‘If you do not exist all the problems would be solved.’
‘But…’
‘But you must stay.’
‘What do you mean…must stay?’
‘Yes, must stay.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘You must stay.
‘Alright…but I don’t understand.’
‘No, you don’t understand…But, believe me, you are our enemy.’
‘But…’
‘Our enemy from the beginning and forever.’
‘But…why?’
‘If you’re not our enemy, we’ll cease to be.’
2
Listen.’
‘Yes.’
‘Continue to be our enemy.’
‘Why not your friend?’
‘It’s easier to be an enemy.’
‘Why not a friend?’
‘Friendship is very difficult.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s easier to kill an enemy.’
‘And a friend?’
‘Friendship is more complicated.’
3
‘Listen.’
‘Yes.’
‘Continue to be our enemy.’
‘Why?’
‘So that we continue to be afraid.’
‘What are the advantages of fear?’
‘Fear has many advantages.’
‘What advantages?’
‘Shall I tell you the biggest advantage?’
‘Yes, tell me.’
‘The biggest advantage is that as long as we are afraid we’ll not hold each other’s hands.’
4
‘Listen.’
‘Yes.’
‘Continue to be our enemy.’
‘Why?’
‘So that we can be angry.’
‘What’s the use of being angry?’
‘Anger has many advantages.’
‘What advantages?’
‘It helps us move our hands and feet, digest our food, control our blood-pressure and forget everything else.’
5
‘Hey enemy! Is what you think about yourself correct?’
‘Yes, it is correct.’
‘Who told you that what you think about yourself is correct?’
‘No one.’
‘Then it is wrong.’
‘Why?’
‘Because, what you think about yourself is wrong.’
‘Who knows what is correct?’
‘I do…That’s why what you know about yourself is wrong.’
‘Then how do I know what is correct?’
‘What I tell you is correct.’
*******
Ashgar Wajahat is a fiction writer, novelist, playwright, an independent documentary filmmaker and a television scriptwriter, most known for his work, 'Saat Aasmaan' and his acclaimed play, 'Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya, O Jamyai Nai', based on the story of an old Punjabi Hindu woman who gets left behind in Lahore, after Partition and then refuses to leave. He has published five collections of short stories, six collections of plays and street plays, and four novels.
—Asghar Wajahat in The Beacon
Alok Bhalla is at present, a visiting professor of English at Jamia Millia Islamia. He is the author of Stories About the Partition of India (3 Vols.). He has also translated Dharamvir Bharati’s Andha Yug, Intizar Husain’s A Chronicle of the Peacocks (both from OUP) and Ram Kumar’s The Sea and Other Stories into English.
Alok Bhalla in The Beacon
Translated into English very neatly and effectively, Alok Bhalla has done a great service by presenting before us the mind of a top Hindi writer, who happens to be a Muslim. Asghar Wajahat has completely and daringly uncovered the hidden truth of the contemporary reality. Maybe it is the very first time that he has brought in the so-called Dharam Gurus, whose religious ideology does not go an inch beyond the sectarianism, hatred against the others and fundamentalism of the kind that was almost unknown to us till only a few years back. Asghar has also addressed his anguish directly to common people of India. No
sane reader will miss the anguish and anger of the writer who has served, for whole of his life, the students and readers of Hindi language and literature through his teaching and the writings. What an irony that today this most valuable man of letters himself feels to be victim of a political and social environment that would never have been a part of even his most dreaded dreams.
But dear Asghar, we don’t have options but to be hopeful. This too will pass, but sadly, after taking it’s toll.