Modi can learn from Adil Shahis: Sudheendra

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Former BJP leader and Vajpayee era Director of Operations at the Prime Minister’s Office Sudheendra Kulkarni on Sunday said PM Narendra Modi could learn a thing or two from the erstwhile Adil Shahi dynasty.

The Adil Shahis had practised ‘raj dharma’ while treating religious minorities with fairness and equity, said Kulkarni on the sidelines of a book release of Adil Shahi age Persian, Arabic and Dakhani Urdu literature, translated into 19 Kannada volumes.

“Prime Minister Modi keeps talking about India as the mother of democracies in the world. As the mother of democracy and as the democratically-elected leader of India, he has a moral duty and a constitutional duty to follow ‘raj dharma’ (the ruler’s duty), which means there should be no discrimination on the grounds of religion or on any other grounds as far as the government’s treatment of its citizens is concerned. All should be treated well. All should be ensured dignity and justice. This is what we learn from the kings of the Adil Shahi dynasty,” Kulkarni said 

“I give the example of Ibrahim Adil Shah (a Sunni monarch). He told people of a different religious sect (Shias) that you are free to follow your religion. Don’t do anything just to please me. Similarly, another king, Mohammad Adil Shah issued a ‘firman’ (decree) saying if a Hindu dies and he has no warizdaar, no heirs, then that person’s property should not be attached to the (state) exchequer, rather it should be used for the betterment of the poor Hindus. Now this is ‘raj dharma’,” he added.

Kulkarni bemoaned that so little was known about such an important part of India’s medieval history. He said that his association with the scholarly work was due to his friendship with people involved with the task such as historian Krishna Kolhar Kulkarni, MLA MB Patil and former Union minister Rahman Khan. I am also from Athani taluk in Belagavi district, which is quite close to Bijapur, he said, adding that the translations could help Hindu-Muslim harmony