India
oi-Deepika S
Khan
said
he
had
asked
the
Samaj
members
why
they
didn’t
call
him
a
Hindu
and
made
it
clear
that
he
did
not
consider
“Hindu”
as
a
religious
term.
Thiruvananthapuram,
Jan
29:
Kerala
Governor
Arif
Mohammed
Khan
has
said
that
everybody
born
in
India
should
be
referred
to
as
a
Hindu
and
that
he
should
be
called
Hindu
too.
While
speaking
at
a
Hindu
conclave
here,
the
Governor
quoted
the
reported
words
of
Sir
Syed
Khan
that
“you
must
call
me
a
Hindu”
which
he
had
made
during
an
Arya
Samaj
meeting.
Khan
said
Sir
Syed
was
given
a
reception
by
the
Samaj
members
when
he
completed
his
tenure
in
the
Legislative
Council
during
the
colonial
regime.
Recalling
the
words
of
the
reformer-educationalist,
Khan
said
he
had
asked
the
Samaj
members
why
they
didn’t
call
him
a
Hindu
and
made
it
clear
that
he
did
not
consider
“Hindu”
as
a
religious
term.
“But,
my
serious
complaint
against
you
(Arya
Samaj
members)
is
that
why
don’t
you
call
me
a
Hindu?
I
do
not
consider
Hindu
as
a
religious
term…Hindu
is
a
geographical
term,”
the
Governor
said
recalling
Syed
Ahmed
Khan’s
words.
Anybody
who
is
born
in
India,
anybody
who
lives
on
the
food
which
is
produced
in
India,
anybody
who
drinks
water
from
the
rivers
of
India
is
entitled
to
call
himself
a
Hindu
and
so
“you
must
call
me
a
Hindu”,
Khan
said
quoting
the
Aligarh
University
founder’s
words.
Arif
Mohammed
Khan
also
said
it
was
“perfectly
fine”
to
use
the
terminology
like
Hindu,
Muslim
and
Sikh
during
the
colonial
era
because
the
Britishers
had
made
the
communities
as
the
basis
for
deciding
even
the
ordinary
rights
of
citizens.
Story first published: Sunday, January 29, 2023, 10:09 [IST]