RSS-BJP to promote spiritual legacy of Dara Shikoh

A symposium on the spiritual legacy of Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh will see the participation of eminent leaders of RSS and BJP including Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi besides newly appointed Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in the national capital on Wednesday.

The symposium named "Dara Shikoh: A hero of the Indian syncretist traditions", which will be addressed by RSS Joint General Secretary Krishna Gopal is being organised by Academics for Nation, an RSS-backed newly formed group of academicians.

Syed Ainul Hasan, a professor of Persian and Central Asian Studies School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, will also share the dais on the occasion.

Promoting Dara Shikoh as the good Muslim has been part of the RSS project for many years and the scheduled program is being seen as Sangh's effort of building a cohesive social and cultural edifice of India.

The event comes days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat met Jamiat leader Maulana Arshad Madani at headquarters in Delhi. The one-and-half-hours long meeting discussed the Hindu-Muslim unity.

The BJP has always been exploring the personality that was Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, as the good Muslim.

In 2017, Dalhousie Road in the national capital was named after Dara Shikoh, the elder brother of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Later Aurangzeb road was named after former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

"The objective of the conference is to present Dara Shikoh's contribution and initiatives in bringing about spiritual homogenisation of Hinduism and Islam and thereby building a cohesive social and cultural edifice of India," one of the organisers told ANI.

Born on March 20, 1615, at Taragarh Fort Ajmer, he was the eldest son of Shah Jahan. He took the throne succeeded by his father and his eldest sister Princess Jahanara Begum. He took initiative to unite Hindus and Muslims.

Shikoh was beheaded in 1659 in a struggle for succession by his younger brother Aurangzeb, who then became king and appended the title Alamgir (Conqueror of the World) to his name.