By Ishtiaq Ahmed

Date:14-06-05

Source: Daily Times

Hindus would shower flowers on the Muharram procession while Muslims flocked to the great Ram Leela festival held in the Minto Park behind the Badshahi Masjid, and took part in the Diwali and Dusehra celebrations.

For all the lovers of Lahore, the announcement by the nazim, Mian Amer Mahmood, that his city government has decided not to go ahead with its idea to ‘Islamise Lahore’ by changing the names of 58 streets and roads which bear Hindu and Sikh names to Muslim ones is great relief indeed. Mian Sahib sought a feedback on the idea and received a resounding negative response from the people of Lahore.

The legendary origins of Lahore are traced to Lav or Loh a son of Rama, the king of Ayodhya and the hero of Ramayana, the second major Hindu epic from the pre-historical period. At the time of the first Ghaznavid invasion in the beginning of the 11th century a fortified city existed at the same place where the old Walled City is located today. From that time onwards, Lahore remained under Muslim rule and was a Muslim majority city, although Hindus and later Sikhs, Christians and Parsees also resided in it.

The interplay between various Sufi, Sadhu and Sant movements of those times created scope for peaceful co-existence between the various religious communities. The message of Guru Nanak also appealed to all sections of Punjabi society. The famous love affair between the Sufi-poet, Lal Hussain, and the Hindu Brahmin boy, Madho, during the 16th century is some indication of the pluralistic environment of that time. To this day an annual festival is held to commemorate their union. Both are buried in the same tomb and thousands of people flock to it.

Lahore also became the capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1799-1839) who initially used extreme force against the Muslims but later settled down into the typical South Asian mould of the ruler being the protector and benefactor of all communities. After his death in 1839 a battle of succession began among the various claimants to the throne. The British were waiting in the wings to march on to Lahore. On March 29, 1849 a treaty was signed between Maharaja Dalip Singh and the British whereby the kingdom passed into the possession of the English East India Company.

Lahore was in a state of chronic dilapidation, economic misery and overall decay as a result of 10 years of warfare and looting among Sikh chieftains. The buildings, streets, sewerage system and other facilities were in complete disrepair. Under British patronage Lahore again prospered and became the most important city of north-western India.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many modern government offices, public and private banks, insurance companies, warehouses and educational institutions were built by the British. In the rapid economic transformation Hindus and Sikhs enjoyed a head-start over Muslims because they had taken to modern education much earlier and were culturally attuned to accept the evolving capitalist economy. The more conscientious Hindu middle class contributed to the welfare of the people of the city. The Ganga Ram Hospital, Gulab Devi Hospital, Janki Devi Hospital and various minor charitable dispensaries such as the Dr Khera dispensary in Gowalmandi remind us of another type of Hindus than those we have been trained to despise.

The nationalist currents and communal revivals apace all over India invariably headed towards Lahore. Following the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13, 1919 there was a flurry of political activity in Lahore, which brought all the communities together. Hindu, Muslim and Sikh speakers addressed agitated crowds from the pulpit of the Badshahi Masjid. The radical phase did not last long. Punjab remained peaceful and stable under the leadership of Sir Fazle Hussain (died 1936) and later Sir Sikander Hyat (died 1942) of the Punjab Unionist Party.

The Indian National Congress had some following among intellectuals and anti-British elements from all communities. The Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Hindu Mahasabha, the RSS and many other Hindu organisations were active in Lahore. Among Muslims, until the mid-1930s the Muslim League had a presence among the gentry while the Ahrar and Khaksar attracted support from radical Muslims. The Singh Sabha and the Akali Dal echoed Sikh communal aspirations. Lahore was the hub of all political activity in the province.

There cannot be any denying that Hindu ideas of pollution and purity and the maulvis’ description of Hindus as kafirs drew sharp lines and carried divisive sociological implications, but until the beginning of the 1940s the various communities lived in peace. In a major autobiography, Mera Shehr Lahore (My City of Lahore), Yunas Adeeb covers the period from the late 1930s onwards. He notes that the people had evolved peculiar ways and means of circumventing the strictures of orthodox Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism and as a result a composite, heterodox way of life had emerged in the process.

In the local mohallas help and sympathy to the poor and distressed was given without reference to religious affiliation, although communal pride could sometimes prevent members of one group from accepting help from the other community. Commenting upon the inter-communal harmony of Lahore, he recalls that Hindus would shower flowers on the Muharram procession while Muslims flocked to the great Ram Leela festival held in the Minto Park behind the Badshahi Masjid, and took part in the Diwali and Dusehra celebrations. He personifies the city’s multiculturalism in the following inimitable words:

“I remember in particular Lala Gunpat Rai because of his typical Hindu dress and appearance. He wore narrow pajama-type trousers, a kurta (long shirt), a waist-coat and a black pointed cap on his head. Looking at his face one knew that he was extremely cordial and friendly. It was his routine that when he passed the mosque in Kucha Darzian (the tailors street) he would stop, bend down to touch the steps of the mosque with his hands, and then with both hands pressed together bow his head to show respect (page 163).

A road in Lahore is named after Gunpat Rai. Fortunately, it was not on the list of 58 streets and roads the city government wanted to change. In 1947 there was an exodus of Hindus and Sikhs to India from Lahore and it received even larger numbers of Muslims from East Punjab and elsewhere. Lahore became an almost entirely Muslim society. Only a tiny Christian minority and some Parsees continued to live on, as they were not party to the communal clash of 1947.