The Noble Dr. Z

A passionate scholar of Islam and a flag bearer for secularism, Dr. Rafiq Zakaria was a peace-loving politician who dreamt of a united India

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Amidst the Battle for Independence, Rafiq Zakaria was born, witnessing nothing but division, hatred, and violence. Despite being a victim of prevailing disharmony, he was gifted with a pure heart who had a deep love for his motherland.

Since his youth, Zakaria was academically inclined, for he passed out with flying colors and won the chancellor’s gold medal in the MA exam of the University of Bombay, providing further justification to his award by publishing his doctoral thesis titled: Muslims in India: a political analysis (from 1885–1906).

Zakaria loved to dive into the works of history, law, Islamic poetry, and philosophies, and if you ever met him, he would surely recite one of his favourite verses from Allama Iqbal’s Naya Shivala - “Pather ki moorton mein samjha hai tu khuda hai/khake watan ka mujhko har zarra devta hai.” Ordinarily, anyone found to be consumed deeply by their own religion is considered to be a person who is aversive towards the rest, however, Dr Z ( a name given to him by his beloved), proved to be an example for all Indian Muslims against the irrational accusations of being extremists in their own land.

Akin to every Indian of his era, the background noise of his life was too loud, as the ongoing colonial rule and the horrific partition of India robbed peace from the minds of many, instilling hatred for each other. This is reflected in his critically acclaimed works such as The Price of Partition and Communal Rage in Secular India. Mohammad Jinnah’s call for a separate country for Pakistan was enticing to a number of people, yet completely shattering for Dr Z, as his lifelong wish of having a united India- a home for Hindu and Muslims alike, began to seem unreachable.

He did not shy away from criticizing Jinnah, as can be observed in many of his works, where he directly called him out for misleading the subcontinent's Muslims for his selfish dream, going as far as describing him as a pork and whiskey lover.

Contrary to popular beliefs, Dr Z and many other Indian Muslims were thoroughly against the idea of carving out a separate nation, for they believed in a secular India, where the nation comes before religion.

Although he was unsuccessful in preventing the partition of India, Dr Z never went back on his word and became a noteworthy politician who shared the same values of secularism. He served as the Deputy of Indira Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and went on to represent India abroad in various conferences. In the heated debate over Kashmir, he impressively countered the arguments of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the then Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the United Nations. He further proved his unbreakable faith in the stance on Kashmir by writing a poem expressing his love for the valley and its need to remain within India.

However, a profound belief in secularism wasn’t all that Dr Z had up his sleeve. For the newly created state of Maharashtra in 1962, he was elected the Minister for Urban Development where he wonderfully guided the crafting of the new city of Aurangabad. His love for scholarship was never lost despite being engulfed in politics, as a number of schools and colleges were founded under him.

Sadly, Dr Z’s soul departed on this day in 2005, leaving an absence that seems unlikely to be ever filled again. The rise of extremist groups in the current scenario advocating for separate nations, once again leading to a political climate of catastrophe, shows the dire need for defenders of unity like him.