Delhi University drops Allama Iqbal from syllabus
The chapter titled ‘Modern Indian Political Thought’ is part of BA’s sixth-semester paper, officials said, adding that the matter will now be presented before the executive council of the university that will take the final call, according to PTI news agency.
“A motion was brought regarding a change in the syllabus of political science. As per the motion, there was a chapter on Iqbal that has been removed from the syllabus,” said an academic council member.
Other thinkers that are also part of the course include Rammohan Roy, Pandita Ramabai, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Bhimrao Ambedkar.
“The course has been designed to give students a glimpse into the richness and diversity within the Indian political thought,” the syllabus mentions.
The course is aimed to equip students with a critical understanding of modern Indian thought, it adds.
Born in 1877 in Sialkot in undivided India, Allama Iqbal wrote the famous song ‘Saare jahan se achha’. His poetry has inspired and is still a source of inspiration for millions around the world.
Allama Iqbal’s Shikwa and Jawab e Shikwa became so famous that writer and journalist Khushwant Singh translated them into English. The translation titled Shikwa and Jawab-i-Shikwa: Iqbal’s Dialogue with Aallah is among the best sellers.
Iqbal’s famous ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara’ is one of the most popular poems, sung especially on the occasion of the Independence Day and Republic Day of India.
Formally known as “Tarānah-e-Hindi”, “Sare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara” was first published in the weekly journal ‘Ittehad’ on August 16, 1904.
Allama Iqbal publicly recited it the following year at Government College, Lahore (now in Pakistan) where he was a lecturer. It later quickly became an anthem of opposition to the British regime.
