Saturday, November 26, 2011

In 1922, Khwaja Nizami set upon a futuristic world tour to gauge the impact of Mahatma Gandhi

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The relevance of Gandhi is still a relevant topic. Even in Gandhi’s own lifetime, people made fantastic conjectures as to how he would be judged by posterity.

One such contemporary of the Mahatma was Khwaja Hasan Nizami (1878-1955) of Delhi who occupies a place of distinction as a Urdu writer, thinker and religious head. Gandhinama, a collection of his articles on Gandhi was published in 1922 in which he had written an article about recognition of the Mahatma in 2050. He writes: Except God, no one knows as to what opinion would the future generations hold with respect to Mahatma Gandhi… The year 2050 is one such time which will come after one hundred and twenty eight years from now. And in this period, probably every person of the present world would be dead. Therefore, let us imagine this year and hear about the opinions that are held in the world about Mahatma Gandhi.

Unlike H.G. Wells, Nizami did not have a time machine to travel to 2050. Instead, angel Khijra blessed him with a long life of 250 years. Nizami writes: On January 1, 2050, I started on foot from Delhi, because rail, electric cable, cars etc. are now absent in this country, owing to the commands of Mahatma Gandhi.

But let me tell you that everything is very expensive. Wheat sells at the rate of four mounds to a rupee. No one eats meat. Every vegetable is prohibited because life has been discovered in it. Public eats nothing except ghee, milk, bread, jaggery, molasses and salt. Everyone has to consume five sers of milk daily, as per the law. And if a person does not consume five ser milk and is unable to produce evidence of his illness or any other legal excuse, he has to spend five days in jail. Everywhere, ghee and milk is distributed free to travellers because according to Gandhian law to sell ghee, milk, curd and butter milk is a grave crime, while to distribute these free is considered to be a very noble deed.

When I started from Delhi, a dress made of cotton yarn spurned by my own hands was on my body because it is also a law that every person has to wear cloths spurned by his own hands. In Muradnagar, I had to labour for an hour because this too is a law that no one can remain idle. While milk and ghee is given free, flour and salt is earned through labour.

Travelling from Muradnagar and passing through Meerut, Thana Bhawan, Saharanpur and Qadiyan, Nizami reaches Afghanistan. This country is now-a-days under the influence of India. Though its rulers are Muslims, the laws of Gandhiji prevail here. Eating of meat is a crime here as well, though people eat fruits, and considering the condition of that country, they have been legally permitted to do so. From Afghanistan via Bukhara, Nizami travels to Iran and then Russia. He writes: Everywhere on the way, I met believers of Gandhi. In entire west Asia, the laws, traditions and practices of India are current, keeping of arms is illegal; murders take place very rarely. Starting from Iran, I went to Russia. There too at several places, the memory of Gandhi was manifest. Though people of Bolshevik principles lived there but they too have given up the use of arms in memory of Gandhi and they do not have any need for fighting.

From Russia, Nizami travels to Turkey, Germany and comes to France. From Russia, I went to Turkey. There too every Turk was an extoller of Gandhi. They said, ‘In a very difficult time, Gandhi had helped us. For this reason we have promulgated his doctrines in our country. Eating of meat is a crime in our country too, same as it is a crime in India, Afghanistan, Iran and Russia... From Turkey I came to Germany. The Germans have established cheeps in the name of Gandhi, at different places, where I used to be invited and was asked to give discourses on Gandhi… From Germany I came to France. There too I saw the prevalence of Gandhi’s laws, and people welcomed me with a great fervour.

In Paris, Nizami hears the news of disappearance of London. In Paris, I heard that the city of London has disappeared somewhere, and great experts are reaching for it but it is nowhere to be found. I was very surprised at this news. Immediately from Paris I went there and in fact saw that on the banks of the river Thames, where London was situated, the city is not visible. I too reached for it a lot but I could not locate it. Nevertheless, I travelled a lot in other cities of England and everywhere I heard the praise of Mahatma Gandhi. The strange thing is this that though now England does not have any connection with India, every child remembers the events of India, and they breathe a cold sigh when the topic of this country comes up.

After completing this imaginary tour of the world, Nizami returns to Delhi. The conclusion of the general opinion of this world tour was this, that now the fighting and the craze for arms-worship has almost disappeared from the world. Everywhere the women are free and without veil. Idle people are totally extinct. Inhibitions have been shed. Even in Europe the consumption of wine and meat has gone down. There is not so much emphasis on luxurious life. People abhor the electric light. The manual work, as compared to the machines, is considered respectable… If this travelogue were real and true, even then one had to believe that the impact of Gandhi has now become so much popular that his fame would last for centuries. The veracity of Nizami’s prophecy lies in history, albeit in parts.

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