The Ministry of Minority Affairs will stage a play based on the life of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan's son Dara Shikoh in various parts of the country to promote his inclusive ideas, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Wednesday. Addressing a symposium on Dara Shikoh organised by 'Academics for Nation' group at Constitution Club here, Naqvi said the Mughal prince was a victim of a planned conspiracy by some historians who committed a sin of erasing and destroying his message and thinking of "Hindustani culture and tradition" from the pages of history.

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Play to be performed to promote Shikoh's inclusive ideas

Dara Shikoh, during his lifetime, was a victim of the "brutality of fanatics" influenced by his brother and Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's thinking, and later a victim of "intolerance of so-called secular historians", the minister said. He said violence and oppression were committed by "anarchist, violent and cruel ruler like Aurangzeb was glorified by group of Islamist fanatics, leftist and so-called secular historians".

Dara Shikoh's brother Aurangzeb's philosophy was to destroy human values and India's "Sanatan Sanskriti", Naqvi said, adding to it, he said that this same thinking gave birth to terror organisations. He said that Dara Shikoh's message of peace was based on the co-existence of Hindutva and Islam. The ministry will stage a play based on the life of Dara Shikoh in various parts of the country to promote his inclusive ideas, he said. 

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About Dara Shikoh:

Muhammad Dara Shikoh was born on March 11, 1615, in Ajmer, Rajasthan. Dara Shikoh was the first son and the third child of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim unlike his father and his younger brother Aurangzeb. The Emperor and Shikoh’s sister Princess Jahanara Begum favoured Dara Shikoh over Aurangazeb to succeed to the throne. In the war of succession that ensued upon Shah Jahan’s illness in 1657, Shikoh was defeated by his younger brother and was executed in 1659.

Dara Shikoh unlike his brother Aurangazeb was a believer of peace and harmony amongst the people of his empire. He learnt, read and accepted the various holy texts across various cultures and from other religions apart from Islam. He was learned in various philosophies and worked for the combination of the Hindu and Islamic cultures.

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 (Inputs from PTI)