The Progressives AWKUM in collaboration with Critical Minds' Development Forum arranged a session on topic "The Rise of Muslim Nationalism" in India. The guest speaker was Mr. Attiq Ur Rahman, visiting lecturer at IR Department AWKUM who is a Gold Medalist in IR from Bahauddin Zakriya University Multan.
The guest speaker opened the session formally after recitation of Quran verses by Zia Ur Rahman.
He first explained nationalism in general, its forms and types. Afterwards he moved to Muslim Nationalism in India and its forms.
Sir Ayaz then raised the point of Muslim Nationalists and Nationalist Muslims.
Zeeshan put before few questions including the reasons behind the rise of Muslim Nationalism in India to which both the guest speaker and Sir Jawad offered their answers.
Sir jawad raised the question about Muslim Nationalism in India that It was really Islamic in its character?
Sir Akhtar Khan briefly explained the historical background and reasons behind Muslim Nationalism in India and its relations with the rest of the Muslim world especially Ottoman Empire.
A few disagreed with his point of "efforts for the unification of Christendom into a Christian state and the Muslim world into a Muslim state though aimed for the self interests of Charles V and Selim The Great respectively".
Munazza gave a short gist of the previous session and left it to be continued by Sir Akhtar from then on.
He gave a brief account of how the humanist forces information and technology first discovered and invented in Egypt, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, China, India and persia were adopted and developed by the Greeks, then by the Muslims and finally the Europeans. He also cleared his point of "the struggle for integration of Christian world into Christian state and Muslim world into Muslim state" that the two worlds were never monolithic and so the struggle failed. He concluded his point of view by saying that whoever control or exploit the forces of nature dominates and are superior overs others.
Zeeshan raised the question if Shah Wali Ullah, who adopted a confrontational attitude towards British imperialists, really knew about the Western world or was it Sir sayed Ahmad Khan, who adopted the accommodative attitude, knew about the western world.
Sir Ateeq was of the opinion that Nationalism whether in the Eastern hemisphere or in the Western hemisphere has been used to curb people's freedom by chaining them in artificial or unnatural boundaries.
Sir Azmat blamed the ignorance of Muslims about the organisational structure of Muslim empires of the past for their backwardness in the present times or at times when they adopted a negative attitude towards the Western World.