New Delhi: Polarisation is no longer just religious, but also political in India today, and identities are based on religions, caste and political allegiances, said Member of Parliament, author and former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor during a discussion on India’s syncretic past and its Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb—the composite culture of north India, representing a fusion of Hindu and Muslim cultural elements.
“If we don’t do something now to bring the elements of Hindutva movement closer to awareness of the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, we will lose out,” Tharoor said Thursday at an event—”Pehlu”—organised by Naadvistaar Foundation, music partner of the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ programme of UNESCO in Delhi. The Congress leader was in conversation with historian and author Rana Safwi.
The event was held against the backdrop of the passing of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha the night before. Hours later, the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, too.
Highlighting the speeches by Muslim politicians during the Lok Sabha session the previous night, Tharoor said that they directly asked the “other side” not to think of Muslims as “enemies”.
“I think it’s extremely important to underscore these messages. To let them know that convergence is still possible. We just need to keep talking to them,” he said, adding that it is “dismaying” to see for the first time in history that the ruling party does not have an elected Muslim MP. Tharoor said that if the polarisation continues, India might lose out as a culture, as a society and as a country since polarisation might have “no limits to the bottom”.
Meanwhile, referring to some conversations around the celebration of Holi on the last Friday of Ramadan this year, Safwi noted that festivals like Holi and Eid have long co-existed in India’s pluralistic fabric and such traditions must be preserved. “Why miss out on a beautiful festival?” she asked, urging people not to get provoked if colour is thrown on them. “If there is colour on your skin, just wash it off and do wudhu.”
However, certain thoughts articulated by Tharoor and Safwi did not sit well with the audience.
Tharoor said that there is a growing “rigidity” among people, calling the use of the term “un-Islamic” a “divisive trend”. “Thank God, we haven’t yet got to a stage where any Hindu priest or Sadhu has declared that it’s un-Hindu to go off to an Iftar or pray on Eid,” said Tharoor, adding that it is important to “push these narratives”.
Referring to protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Tharoor said that one of his messages to people was that they should not protest as Muslims, but as “citizens of India”. He said, “What’s wrong with this law is that it challenges your rights as Indian citizens. If that is the basis of your protest, all of us would stand with you. If you start making it all about Islam, then how does a non-Islamic person, be of any use to you?”
Responding to Tharoor’s view that asserting a strong Muslim identity during protests—through Quran recitations or prayer—might reinforce stereotypes against the community as “the other”, an audience member said, “As an Indian Muslim I am not responsible for the hatred that’s spreading… I want to be able to claim it [identity]… Why should I not be able to place my identity at the centre? Let’s say I’m from Punjab. Can’t my Sikh brother here assert his identity without being accused of supporting the Khalistan movement or something similar? I want to be strongly Muslim.”
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Lived realities
During the conversation, Safwi recalled that her grandfather served as the Diwan or prime minister of Benaras State, “Many of his ancestors were Diwans of Benaras. It was an accepted fact that the Diwans of Kashi would come from the Syed family of Kachgaon.”
Her nana (maternal grandfather) may not have been a legal guardian to Kashi Naresh, the titular Maharaja of Benaras, but he raised him like a son, ensuring even that Ganga water reached the boy when he studied in Mayo College, she said.
Similarly, from Akbar to Bahadur Shah Zafar, rulers drank water from the Ganga, calling it Zamzam (holy water drawn from a well in Mecca)—a fusion of Indian and Islamic sacredness. “In those days, it was the Ganga and Yamuna water, pure enough to drink, that was considered as Zamzam.”
Tharoor was quick to push back against the idea that Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb is “elitist”.
Highlighting stories from the South, he spoke about Vavar Swamy, a Muslim general honoured as a companion of Lord Ayyappan at the Sabarimala temple. “These aren’t royal or elite stories,” he said. “They come from the folk traditions, from the soil.”
These stories mirror others—of Hindus making taziyas for Muharram, Muslims sculpting idols for Ram Leela, temples offering iftar gatherings, and families crossing faith lines to raise adopted children as Hindus or Muslims.
The conversation also moved to language, particularly Urdu, which Safwi defended against its communal appropriation.
“Urdu is a language of communities, not religion,” she noted. Urdu itself, she insisted, is “a language that unites us”—a language born in Delhi, popularised by poets, like Amir Khusro, and used as the voice of Sufi mysticism across India.
Pehlu was organised by Contemporary Marketing, Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative, the NIV Art Center and Manzil Mystics Foundation. It was co-hosted by journalist Nihal J. Krishan, Naadvistaar executive director classical Indian vocalist Bilal Chishty, Contemporary Marketing founder Awnesh Gulati, and Ankush Seth, former national programme officer for culture, UNESCO in New Delhi.
Flute maestro Shivit Prasanna of the Banaras Gharana and tabla player Shariq Mustafa of the Farukhabad Gharana, performed at the event. The two gharanas have played a role in forming the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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