While Sir Syed’s advocacy for realism and scientific thinking drew attacks such as being labelled a ‘satan’ and ‘a leader of thieves,’ Altaf Hussain Hali’s poetry, which promoted reason and advised moving away from artificial metaphors, was largely deemed un-Islamic.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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