Moving away from his usual pragmatic political talk, BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan on Sunday poured scorn over renowned Urdu poet Iqbal and his famous composition Sare Jahan Se Achcha.
Speaking at a function to inaugurate the Law College Students Union office in the Rajasthan University premises here, Mahajan derided Iqbal's ‘bulbulein’ imagery in the song and said the words may be poetic but did not gel with the Indian character. “Our relationship with the motherland is that of a mother and son. It is certainly not about lovebirds (bulbulein) and garden (gulistan),” he said.
In a thinly veiled attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the BJP leader said the idea of a person of foreign origin ruling over Hindustan was a matter of ultimate shame. A person of foreign origin would bring upon the country dishonour and humiliation of the greatest order, Mahajan said.
Steering his thoughts towards rashtra nirman, Mahajan said, "Till the time we have someone from our country nourishing sympathies for Pakistan, India would never become a complete rashtra". One must realise the difference between a friend and an enemy, he said.
Mahajan then turned his attention to the British. It is a misconception that law was brought to India by the British, he said. "Manusmriti was the first original writing on law. It is another matter that leaders like Mayawati are now reading moneysmriti," he said.
The BJP leader also took potshots at ageing leaders of the country. He scoffed at being addressed as the 'eternal' youth leader. "You are right. Clinton is senior to me by two years. Twice he has been the president. Blair is five years younger to me. He is into his second term as well. I need to add another 20 years to my CV to be able to qualify as prime ministerial candidate," he said.
State BJP chief Vasundhara Raje, who was also present, spoke on the student movement in Rajasthan and the role of the educated youth.
Among others present were Rajasthan University vice-chancellor K.L. Sharma, Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha patron Gyan Prakash Pilania and Union Minister Subhash Mahariya.