New Delhi: A high-profile conference at Delhi University’s historic Vice-Regal Lodge saw sharp commentary from two key figures on Thursday, with Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi alleging a “strategic” large-scale infiltration in the Northeast aimed at engineering a second partition of India, and DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh urging universities to drop poet Muhammad Iqbal from their syllabi. The remarks were made during the inaugural session of “Seema Vimarsh,” a two-day international conference on cross-border infiltration.
Governor Ravi stated that the significant infiltration occurring in states like West Bengal and Assam is not merely a search for economic opportunities but a “work in progress” for another partition. “No army can stop this,” he cautioned, stressing the threat to “Bharat’s unity and integrity.” Ravi criticised past governments for treating the Northeast as a distant frontier and leaving the people of the region to fend for themselves, which he claimed led to internal conflicts. He credited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for its work in strengthening a sense of inclusion among the people of the region.
The DU Vice-Chancellor, Yogesh Singh, weighed in on the issue of national identity and security, singling out the poet Muhammad Iqbal. Singh asserted that Iqbal, who wrote the popular song ‘Sare jahan se acha Hindustan hamara,’ held beliefs that were culturally incompatible with a united India, as he had advised Jinnah on the incompatibility of Hindus and Muslims. He called on the Indian Army to stop playing the song, stating that Iqbal himself never believed in the sentiment it expressed. Singh urged other university Vice-Chancellors attending the event to consider removing Iqbal from their academic syllabi. He also touched upon the Indus Water Treaty, expressing his view that India’s interests were not adequately considered when the 1960 agreement was signed, and praised the current government for having put it in abeyance. The DU V-C underscored the need for academic debates on border security, referencing India’s long history of external attacks and the partition of 1947.
The conference, themed “Cross-Border Infiltration: Impact on Socio-Economic, Cultural, and Milieu,” is a joint effort by Seema Jagran Manch, Motilal Nehru College (Evening), and the Centre for Independence and Partition Studies, DU. It is being attended by a diverse group of academics, government officials, military veterans, and foreign delegates.
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