The resolution passed by the Executive Council of the Barkatullah University of Bhopal asking for Barkatullah’s name to be substituted by that of Ma Vagdevi (another name for Goddess of Learning Saraswati), and of Bhopal to Bhojpal, not only reflects a narrow sectarian mindset, but also an ignorance of the history of India’s freedom movement. Barkatullah was one of the eight founding members of the Ghadar Party in 1913 at San Francisco; the others were Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna, Lala Har Dayal, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Pandit Kanshi Ram, Bhai Parmanand, and Baba Jawala Singh. Within just six months of its launch, the Ghadar newspaper reached over 12 countries, and Barkatullah’s efforts helped mobilise nearly 8,000 Indian expatriates who returned to India and joined the freedom struggle. Two years later the first Provisional Government of India was formed in Kabul with Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh as the President, and Barkatullah Khan as the Prime Minister. This was also the template on which a precursor to future international efforts to liberate India, such as Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA) in 1943, were organised.
Does Barkatullah not belong to Bhopal? Does the denomination of a person deprive him of his identity, contribution and legacy solely because the current dispensation wants to send an electoral signal? It is true that, legally speaking, the EC of the University, the legislature of the state and the Governor have the power to change the name, but this begs the question: is the process fair to Barkatullah? Is it fair to our freedom fighters? Is it fair to history? Is it fair to the Indian Constitution which says that the nation belongs to all of us irrespective of caste, creed and identity?
Last, but not the least, the Executive Council’s mistaken belief that doing this is an honour to Vagdevi is ironical. Does the Goddess of Learning need another university to be named after her? Would she wish to be dragged into this ungainly controversy? Rather than just a formal nod to her name, would Ma Vagdevi not prefer that the spirit of learning she embodies should instead inform the academic, social and cultural ethos of this University, and indeed all other educational institutions in the country?
This newspaper makes an earnest appeal to academics, freedom fighters, historians and members of our civil society to write to the President of India and the Governor of Madhya Pradesh that universities should not be renamed to meet the short-term objectives of whoever is in power at that temporal time. If need be, another university or centre for learning can be established, but changing names like the drop of a hat is an unhealthy precedent which does not befit the spirit of our Constitution.
