KARACHI: Prof Dr M. Aslam Jawed laughs when asked whether there is any professional rivalry between him and his wife, Dr Ajeet Jawed.

“No, we help each other out. There is no professional rivalry. When people applaud my wife it makes me proud, and vice-versa. Our domestic life is heaven on earth,” comes the answer in chaste Urdu.

Prof Jawed and his wife are both New Delhi-based Indian political scientists. While the husband has retired as a professor from Delhi University after 40 years of teaching, the wife still teaches at the varsity. His specialisation is the philosophy of political science; hers the Indian independence movement and the rise of nationalist movements.

The couple were recently in Karachi to present papers at an international conference on the All India Muslim League’s centenary.

Prof Jawed also publishes a weekly newspaper, Altamash, and has written extensively on Allama Mohammed Iqbal. The couple has two children, a doctor and an engineer, while his other areas of interest include finding solutions to communal problems and the issues faced by teachers.

“I’ve never been part of the darbari halqas. As a matter of fact, I’ve always criticised them,” he quips.

Dr Ajeet, whose father hailed from Lahore, says that research is a passion for her. She has authored several books, including Left Politics in Punjab (1935-1947) (published in 1987) and Heritage of Harmony, about medieval India, in which she argues that this was a period of enlightenment, harmony and prosperity.

“That’s why forces like the British East India Company came to India to establish trading links. We didn’t go to them, they came to us!,” she says.

But perhaps her book Secular and Nationalist Jinnah would prove most interesting to Pakistanis, as it looks at Mr Jinnah through very different eyes, especially considering the fact most Indian scholars have been less than charitable to the Quaid. “In this book I have proved, on the basis of primary sources, that Mr Jinnah didn’t want the division of India. For 40 years of his life he struggled for a united India. For 40 years he struggled as a secular and nationalist leader. He was a great national leader. He was not confined to the Muslim community only. He left the Congress because of the non-cooperation and Khilafat issues. He was against mixing religion with politics; that’s what Gandhi had done by supporting the Khilafat Movement,” Dr Ajeet Jawed claims.

“Congress’ stand was rigid. The Congress viewpoint was that the communal issues (between Muslims and Hindus) could be solved after independence. Jinnah said that the issues must be solved prior to independence. He said that if the Congress could sign the 1925 Poona Pact with Dr Ambedkar (for Dalit rights), why did it not negotiate with Muslims?” she adds.

What has the response to the book been like in India?

“Indians are not aware of these facts. When I wrote the book I thought that people would not be able to digest this viewpoint. But surprisingly I’ve had a great response in my country,” says the scholar.

The book has been translated into Urdu and Hindi, while a Malayalam translation is in the works.

Regarding the post-partition situation of Indian Muslims, Prof Jawed has some interesting observations.

“Partition has had a psychological, social and economic impact on people. The situation for Muslims has gotten better, but it has not reached total betterment. There is a specific section which has existed since before independence, that has always targeted the Muslim community. They say Muslims are being appeased. But the recent Sachar committee has found that in some instances, today, Muslims in India are even worse off than the Dalits.

“But the state is making efforts to improve the situation, often with the aid of the left. The left has made a lot of efforts for Muslim uplift and wherever there are left-leaning governments in power, there are never any anti-Muslim riots,” he claims.

Economics, he says, is the primary engine of change helping improve the lot of Indian Muslims.

“The economic situation of the new generation of Muslims has improved greatly. Yet we lag far behind in the field of education. What is happening is that we (Muslims) are encouraging our sons to take over the family business or learn trades, while girls are pursuing higher education. This is creating an imbalance. We’re adopting all of society’s negative trends, but are lax when it comes to education,” he points out.

In conclusion, Dr Ajeet has this message for the people of both nations: “Even though we cannot become one again, at least we can live together in harmony and wish each other well instead of creating discord and fighting.”—QAM