On April 3, 1967, Chaudhary Charan Singh became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. At that time, there were two Muslims in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
One day, a legislator named Kamal Yusuf said to Chaudhary Charan Singh, “Chaudhary Sahab, you didn’t become the Chief Minister solely with Hindu votes. We also voted for you, now you must heed our demands!”
Chaudhary Sahab replied, “What will you do if I don’t accept your demands?” The Muslim legislator said, “Muslims are born fighters, they are brave. If you don’t accept our demands, we will fight and get them fulfilled!”
Chaudhary Sahab said, “Sit down, otherwise I will put you down as much as you are standing up! Since when have you become brave? Muslims are not brave at all, they are cowards! If you were brave, why did you convert to Islam? All those who became Muslims from Hindus did so under the threat of the sword! How can someone be brave who can abandon their religion just by seeing the tip of a sword and become an apostate?”
“We are the brave ones because our ancestors fought with Muslims for 700 years! Millions sacrificed their lives! But they didn’t become Muslims, so who is brave, us or you? If you became Muslim just by looking at a sword, you should call yourselves cowards. And whoever became a Muslim from Hindus is definitely a coward because you accepted Islam, and I won’t accept any of your demands. Do what you have to do, I want to see how brave you are.”
Chaudhary Charan Singh truly was a worthy recipient of the Bharat Ratna.
You must be logged in to post a comment.