Suppression of democratic right to protest in free India very disturbing: Irfan Habib

By Naz Asghar

Jan 20, 2020

Aligarh: Deeply disturbed over the suppression of protests against CAA-NRC, eminent historian Prof Irfan Habib has deplored the shrinking space for dissent and described the state of democratic rights in the country today as worse than what it was in the British period.

Talking to India News Stream, Prof Habib, the Professor Emeritus in the History Department of the Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) said what happened at Aligarh, Jamia and JNU showed that the police and the civil administration were openly acting in a partisan manner and suppressing the democractic right to protest.

”It is strange that the Aligarh Administration allows BJP’s pro-CAA rally with a Central Minister’s participation, but when AMU students want to take out a procession to register their opposition to the Act, the civil and police administration come down heavily on them,” Prof Habib said.

He wondered why Section 144 was imposed and why was the AMU gate closed to prevent the students from taking out a march.

”Why should students in a democratic country be told that you cannot protest? What was the harm in the students going up to the district magistrate’s office to submit their memorandum. In the days of civil disobedience movement, Nehru and Gandhiji would address students meetings here, but the British did not mind. But today protest against any act or policy of the government was being taken as illegal and anti-national act,” he said.

The Professor Emeritus recalled that the police had been called in the AMU campus in the past too, but there have been no complaints of misbehaviour by their personnel.

He said that as the TV images had shown, the Police, besides brutalising students, also damaged vehicles and other property, but the administration had taken no action against such persons, which meant that they approved of their action.

So far no action had been initiated against the cops, but on the other hand, protesting students had been booked under the Goonda Act, and in other parts of Uttar Pradesh, the situation was worse as many innocent people, including minors, had been booked and jailed either without charge or with charge, just for taking part in the protest, he noted with anguish.

”That this is happening in a free India is quite disturbing,” the historian said.

Replying to a question, he described NRC as a fruitless exercise which was not needed in the country.” We all know how much distress the Assam experiment caused. How the people with no resources and money suffered.

Prof Habib is of the view that the action of the present government are a culmination of the long-held Jan Sangh-BJP stand that sees Muslims as opponents. The Atal Behari Vajpayee regime would talk of minority appeasment instead of Muslims appeasement and pseudo-secularism, but even that courtesy was now gone, and there was an open talk of Hindu Rashtra, he said.

”The lines were not so clear under the first BJP Government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee, but the mask is now off. Both Modi and Shah have done that,” he added.

To a question on the current unrest among a large section of the people, Prof Habib said there were desparate responses from those who are left out of nation as defined by Hindutva, and also from all those of other communities who did not want the country to become a Hindu Rashtra.

”So from secular side, there is considerable desperation seeing that India that we glorified does not exist or has been abandoned,” he said.

The Professor Emeritus also expressed his disappointment with the recent supreme court judgements as far as the support to the fight for a secular India was concerned.

”The trend of the Supreme Court judgements is very different from those of 1970s and 80s, so naturally those who belong to the point of view inherited from national movement are feeling very much disturbed and so are desperate,” he said.

He said whether it was racialism in Germany or religion in India, there was an initial advantage to fascism, and the BJP had that advantage and how long it would last will depend not only on economy but how far they were opposed.

”Today, the CAA is not the only issue. There is also the whole political approach, the reduction in the power of the states, the new normal that even if the BJP has lost election in a state, the state must tow the Central line, and the total economic slow down, the GST, demonitisation. How long mere cry of religion will stifle these sources of distress is another matter,” he said replying to a question.

Prof Habib also decried what he called attempt by the government to pressure historians to interpret history in line with its agenda.

The India History Congress(IHC) founded by professional historians in 1935, always promoted professional research and not any particular ideology, and RC Majummdar and DD Kosambi and all those inclimed to Hindu communalism or Muslim communalism or Marxism or whatever school all attended its sessions; and so it was a general body of historians, but it was sad that today historians were called upon to change their position by the kinds of statements made by RSS leaders, the Prime Minister and downwards–like talking of 1000 years of foreign rule, promoting particular rulers as communal or demons etc, he said

”This kind of communal approach, the kind of history RSS preaches has been rejected by historians, whether they are followers of Jadunath Sarkar or Kosambi. That’s why if you see the resolution passed by the recently concluded IHC, it mentions composite culture, emphasing that preserving the composite culture is a constitutional duty. It is mentioned in the Constitutiion, though vey few people realise it. It says history should not be wrongly interpreted , and I think it is actually mentioned there, the rejection of the theory of ‘the 1000 years of foreign rule’ which means Muslims are foreigners, to be equated with the British. It puts the position of IHC very clearly,” Prof Habib said.

He also expressed his strong opposition to the practice of shutting down of internet, and pointed out that there was resolution at the IHC on the blockage of this facility in Kashmir as it was against academic pursuit because by shutting down internet the government is stifling all research.

”It seems what the present regime wants is abandonment of one’s academic duty in social sciences also in science when you are called upon to exalt ancient Indian achievements.So clearly if one is loyal to one’s acdemic profession one can’t endorse the position of the present regime,” he said.

–India News Stream