This is an unedited version of a piece that appeared in the Times of India, Mumbai, Februay 25, 2004
Renaming institutions to ostensibly bring back lost glory and to weed out foreign elements in Indian society has been a favourite pastime of the saffron brigade. The recent move to rechristen the Ustad Allauddin Khan Sangeet Academy, Bhopal, by Anup Mishra, Minister for Culture in the Madhya Pradesh BJP Government, therefore does not come as a complete surprise (TT 7/2/2004). The move prompted by the Minister’s grand discovery of the Ustad’s so-called Bangladeshi origins, smacks of ignorance and intolerance. Classical musicians across gharanas are angered by this total disregard for the respect that Ustad Allauddin Khan commands to this day. The Minister, who happens to be the poet Prime Minister’s nephew, has obviously not bothered to check facts before making this ridiculous demand. What could have prompted this ill-informed behaviour? Is it the mad race to win more votes in the next general elections on just about any agenda, is it a craving for cheap publicity, or is it part of a more sinister plot to change history to suit a sectarian and parochial view of Indian society much in the same vein as is being done through changes being introduced in school text-books?
The Minister for Culture in his haste to turn the issue into a contentious one has got his dates wrong. Bangladesh did not exist when Ustad Allauddin Khan moved from his hometown Shibpur to Kolkata, Rampur, and thereafter to Maihar in Madhya Pradesh. It is common knowledge that many people including reputed artistes residing in erstwhile East Bengal or present-day Bangladesh, moved to West Bengal before Partition. However, Ustad Allauddin Khan migrated to Kolkata much earlier to pursue his study of music. If the Minister for Culture had only consulted with the Sangh Parivar, he would have learnt that Ustad Allauddin Khan also studied music with Habu Dutt, the brother of Swami Vivekananda. Later, the Ustad spent several decades of his life as court musician in Maihar and died there a year after the formation of Bangladesh. The issue of his being Bangladeshi is therefore redundant.
Students of music and music lovers are familiar with the monumental contribution of Ustad Allauddin Khan to the world of sarod and to Indian music. His musical legacy has been popularised by eminent disciples Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Smt. Annapurna Devi, Pandit Pannalal Ghosh, Pandit Nikhil Bannerjee, and a host of others. The Maihar Band started by Ustad Allauddin Khan, incorporating Indian and Western instruments, was a milestone in Indian ensemble music. Indeed, Ustad Allauddin Khan’s genius has placed Maihar on the global music map, a fact that the Culture Minister should have realised before launching his tirade.
And if indeed Ustad Allauddin Khan was a Bangladeshi, why was the Padma Vibhushan, one of the India’s highest civilian awards bestowed upon him? Of course, BJP leader Pramod Mahajan would lead the chorus against this honour for different reasons. For, was it not Mahajan, who publicly denounced the bestowing of these civilian awards on musicians who he chose to denigrate as gaanewalas and bajaanewalas? If Ustad Allauddin Khan was indeed some run-of-the-mill “gayak” as the Minister for Culture chooses to describe him, why did the government issue a stamp commemorating the Ustad in 1999?
Ustad Allauddin Khan does not need certificates to prove his Indianness from anyone, much less from the Minister for Culture in the Madhya Pradesh government. Quite clearly, the Ustad’s deep respect for Islam and Hinduism prevented the Minister from playing the communal card. The Minister has for some inexplicable reason remembered the musical worth of Tansen and now wants the Academy to be renamed as Tansen Academy. One wonders whether we will continue to be mute witnesses when the Minister informs us in the years to come that even Tansen is not to be regarded Indian, because of his purported conversion to Islam and because of his service in the Mughal durbar.
