A Voice from the Margins: An Appraisal of Ubaid-Allah Sindhi's Mahabharat Sarvrajia Party and its Constitution
2013; Volume: 20; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1994-1080
Autores Tópico(s)Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies
ResumoAbstractUbaid-Allah Sindhi is among those very few political thinkers and activists of the twentieth-century India who were initially associated with the traditional theological seminaries but their political vision was marked by liberalism and openmindedness. He established a non-communal political party- Mahabharat Sarvrajia Party in 1924 in order to translate his political ideals into practice. The Party Constitution envisaged the idea of a unique form of confederal form of government for the country. It also presented an outline of a socio-economic order which was derived from a reconciliation of Socialist ideals with the Quran and Shah Wali-Allahi thought. However, he is among one of the least understood and often misinterpreted Muslim thinkers of India. Thus, there is a need to appreciate and reevaluate the political modernism in his thought and vision.Key-words: Ubaid-Allah Sindhi, Mahabharat Sarvrajia Party, The Constitution of the Federated Republics of India, Confederalism, SocialismUbaid-Allah Sindhi (1872-1944) of Deoband School is among those very few political thinkers and activists who were trained in traditional madrassahs or theological seminaries, but had a thorough understanding of their contemporary political and economic ideologies, and were endowed with a deep vision and tremendous political foresight. Unlike most of his fellow ulama or scholars and political leaders of Deoband School, he was receptive to modernism, though in a selective manner. It is for this very reason that he has been hailed as 'the most broad-minded Muslim scholar of South Asia after Shah Wali-Allah of Delhi' by Said Ahmad Akbarabadi, an illustrious pupil of Sindhi and a renowned scholar of Islam (see introduction in Aslam, n.d., p. 10). He was not only an exponent of the religious and political thought of Shah Wali-Allah of Delhi (1703-1762), Sindhi was himself a profound thinker, an activist and a revolutionary. Amid the reactionary environment of madrassahs where he was trained, he was the first religious and political thinker of the twentieth century who was able to break away from traditionalism, and embraced the various aspects of modernity, including political modernity. Unlike his contemporary ulama, he believed that the political system of the Pious Caliphate could not be revived in modern times, since the Caliphate was suitable for its coeval social and political environment. Therefore, for solving the political problems of India, he suggested a modern political system.In order to translate his political ideals in reality, Ubaid-Allah Sindhi established a political party with the name Mahabharat Sarvrajia Party in 1924, in which he envisaged the idea of a unique form of confederal form of government for the country. Nevertheless, he is among one of the least understood and often misinterpreted Muslim scholars of India. His political ideas and schemes have been evaluated and interpreted by the Muslim nationalist historians in an unsympathetic manner. In fact, the Muslim nationalist historiographical tradition tends to eulogize the efforts of only those Muslim leaders who struggled for the creation of Pakistan, while ignoring those who held political views opposed to the ideology of All India Muslim League. In the Muslim nationalist historiographical tradition, which forms a dominant discourse in the country, at least in the textbooks of history and Pakistan Studies, Sindhi's political modernism has not been adequately appreciated. Such a treatment of Sindhi's political philosophy and vision calls for a reevaluation of his political ideals.1. Political Biography of Ubaid-Allah Sindhi: A Brief OverviewBorn in a Sikh family in District Sialkot in 1872, Ubaid-Allah Sindhi (also spelled as Ubayd Allah or Ubaidullah) got converted to Islam from Sikhism by his own choice during his schooldays in Jampur, District Dera Ghazi Khan. He spent some time in the madrassahs of Bharchundi Sharif (three kilometers from the city of Daharki, District Ghotki, Sindh) and Dinpur Sharif (District Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab). …
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