The Other Side of “Sare Jahan Se Accha”

The Other Side of “Sare Jahan Se Accha” 

Shrikant G. Talageri 

 

Muhammad Iqbal is still known in India mainly as the composer of the patriotic song “Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara” which has also featured in at least two Hindi film versions (strangely both times with music by N.Dutta): 

Asha Bhosle (film Bhai Behen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh-mhkRXwo8 

Asha Bhosle, Mohd.Rafi (film Dharmaputra)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoaYhrpwdag

Also, see the song sung live in the Rajya Sabha in 1997  by Lata Mangeshkar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU8kzITRTY4

 

The full words and English translation of the song:

Original “Sare Jahan Se Accha”: Sāre jahāṉ se acchā, Hindositāṉ[4] hamārā Ham bulbuleṉ haiṉ is kī, yih gulsitāṉ[4] hamārā  G̱ẖurbat meṉ hoṉ agar ham, rahtā hai dil wat̤an meṉ Samjho wuhīṉ hameṉ bhī dil ho jahāṉ hamārā  Parbat wuh sab se ūṉchā, hamsāyah āsmāṉ kā Wuh santarī hamārā, wuh pāsbāṉ hamārā  Godī meṉ kheltī haiṉ is kī hazāroṉ nadiyāṉ Guls̱ẖan hai jin ke dam se ras̱ẖk-i janāṉ hamārā  Ai āb-i rūd-i Gangā! wuh din haiṉ yād tujh ko? Utrā tire[5] kināre jab kārwāṉ hamārā  Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā  Yūnān o-Miṣr o-Rūmā, sab miṭ ga'e jahāṉ se Ab tak magar hai bāqī, nām o-nis̱ẖaṉ hamārā  Kuch bāt hai kih hastī, miṭtī nahīṉ hamārī Ṣadiyoṉ rahā hai dus̱ẖman daur-i zamāṉ hamārā  Iqbāl! ko'ī maḥram apnā nahīṉ jahāṉ meṉ Maʿlūm kyā kisī ko dard-i nihāṉ hamārā! English Translation of “Sare Jahan Se Accha”: Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode.   If we are in an alien place, the heart remains in the homeland, consider us too [to be] right there where our heart would be.   That tallest mountain, that shade-sharer of the sky, It (is) our sentry, it (is) our watchman   In its lap where frolic thousands of the rivers, Whose vitality makes our garden the envy of Paradise.   O the flowing waters of the Ganga, do you remember that day When our caravan first disembarked on your waterfront?   Religion does not teach us to bear animosity among ourselves We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan   In a world in which ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome have all vanished Our own attributes (name and sign) live on today.   There is something about our existence for it doesn't get wiped Even though, for centuries, the time-cycle of the world has been our enemy.   Iqbal! We have no confidant in this world What does anyone know of our hidden pain?

Can anyone deny the power and beauty of the way in which this song expresses its love for India (note especially the underlined words)?

 

But few people know the other side of this story (i.e. of Iqbal): the above song “Sare Jahan Se Achha" was written in 1904 and first published in the weekly journal “Ittehad” on August 16, 1904. Clearly Iqbal was a passionate and heartfelt patriot at that time.

However, within a few years, he turned into a fanatical Jihadi and Islamist, and in 1908/1910 he penned a completely new poem expressing his new ideology. This song was “Chin-o-Arab Hamara”. In 1910, he wrote "Tarana-e-Milli", declaring that the global Muslim community (Ummah) transcended geography. The opening lines changed from loving one’s country to claiming the entire world for Islam:

 

Original “Chin-o-Arab Hamara”:

chīn-o-arab hamārā hindostāñ hamārā

muslim haiñ ham vatan hai sārā jahāñ hamārā

tauhīd kī amānat sīnoñ meñ hai hamāre

āsāñ nahīñ miṭānā nām-o-nishāñ hamārā

 

duniyā ke but-kadoñ meñ pahlā vo ghar ḳhudā kā

ham is ke pāsbāñ haiñ vo pāsbāñ hamārā

 

teġhoñ ke sāye meñ ham pal kar javāñ hue haiñ

ḳhanjar hilāl kā hai qaumī nishāñ hamārā

 

maġhrib kī vādiyoñ meñ gūñjī azāñ hamārī

thamtā na thā kisī se sail-e-ravāñ hamārā

 

bātil se dabne vāle ai āsmāñ nahīñ ham

sau bār kar chukā hai tū imtihāñ hamārā

 

ai gulistān-e-undulus vo din haiñ yād tujh ko

thā terī Dāliyoñ meñ jab āshiyāñ hamārā

 

ai mauj-e-dajla tū bhī pahchāntī hai ham ko

ab tak hai terā dariyā afsāna-ḳhvāñ hamārā

 

ai arz-e-pāk terī hurmat pe kaT mare ham

hai ḳhuuñ tirī ragoñ meñ ab tak ravāñ hamārā

 

sālār-e-kārvāñ hai mīr-e-hijāz apnā

is nām se hai bāqī ārām-e-jāñ hamārā

 

'iqbāl' kā tarāna bāñg-e-darā hai goyā

hotā hai jāda-paimā phir kārvāñ hamārā

 

English Translation of “Chin-o-Arab Hamara”:

China is ours, Arabia is ours, India is ours

We are Muslims, the whole world is our homeland

The trust of monotheism is in our hearts

It is not easy to erase our name and mark

 

Among the idol-houses of the world, that first house of God

We are its guardians, it is our guardian

 

In the shadow of swords we grew up and came of age

The crescent's dagger is our national emblem

 

In the valleys of the West our call to prayer echoed

Our flowing flood could not be stopped by anyone

 

We are not those who are crushed by falsehood, O sky

A hundred times you have already tested us

 

O garden of Andalusia, do you remember those days

When our nest was in your branches

 

O wave of the Tigris, you too recognize us

Even now your river tells our story

 

O sacred land**, may we be cut down and die for your honor

Our blood still flows in your veins

 

The leader of the caravan is the chief of Hijaz*

By this name the peace of our soul endures

[*Prophet Mohammad]

[**All Islamic territory, including for example Andalusia and the Tigris in Iraq]

 

Iqbal’s incredible and total transformation is expressed succinctly in the following Google AI Overview reply to the question: “Iqbal as a proponent of Pakistan”:

“Allama Muhammad Iqbal provided the core philosophical and ideological foundation for the creation of Pakistan by articulating the Two-Nation Theory advocating for a consolidated Muslim-majority region in northwestern India.

The 1930 Allahabad Address: In his presidential address to the All-India Muslim League, Iqbal formally proposed the creation of a unified North-West Indian Muslim state—incorporating the Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan—stating that the destiny of Muslims was best served in an autonomous home within or outside the British Empire.

Philosophical Separation: Rejecting western secular nationalism, he argued that Islam was not just a private faith but a social and political order capable of unifying the community (Ummah) and safeguarding Muslim identity from domination in a Hindu-majority India.

Mentorship of Jinnah: During the 1930s, Iqbal wrote critical letters to Muhammad Ali Jinnah urging him to return from London to lead the All-India Muslim League and mobilize the Muslim masses toward the realization of this separate homeland.”

Iqbal (who died in 1938 in Lahore) was honored posthumously as Mufakkir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan") and the National Poet of Pakistan.

[Incidentally, the poet Sahir Ludhianvi, in a composition parodying India’s economic priorities at the time as he saw them, composed the following song in the 1958 film “Phir Subah Hogi”, sung by Mukesh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYFpioyOsOM

This song had lines like:

“Chin-o-Arab hamara, Hindustan hamara

Rehne ko ghar nahi hai, sara jahaan hamara
(China and Arabia are ours, India is ours / We don't even have a roof over our heads, yet the entire world is ours!) [1, 2]

Kholi bhi chhin gayi hai, benchein bhi chhin gayi hain

Sadkon pe ghoomta hai, ab karvaan hamara

(Our tiny rooms have been snatched away, the park benches too / Now our caravan wanders the open streets)”.]

 

In short: No-one can deny that “Sare Jahan Se Accha” is an extremely beautiful song and must become well-known to every Indian as one of the great patriotic songs of India.

But it also has another and perhaps more important and useful purpose. The full history of this song, and its aftermath, should be known to every Indian as a reminder of how the religious fanaticism and hatred-of-other-religions preached by Abrahamic religions can transform the writer of a song like “Sare Jahan Se Accha” into a hater of India who mentored a Jinnah, also originally a secularist until he also got transformed into a (at least Political) Islamist and declared: “We will either have a divided India or a destroyed India”.

Iqbal and his two poems are the most classical examples of the powerful transformative abilities of hate-ideologies like Islam and Evangelist Christianity.

 

Do India or Israel “Persecute” Their Muslim Citizens?

 

Do India or Israel “Persecute” Their Muslim Citizens? 

Shrikant G. Talageri 

 

To get the answer to the question “Do India or Israel “Persecute” Their Muslim Citizens?”, a simple examination of the facts is sufficient. Or even a Google search, as the following questions put to Google and the “AI Overview” answers to those questions shows:

 

Q.1.  What is the nation-of-origin-wise number of Muslim refugees in Europe?

Google Answer:

“Official and exhaustive continent-wide statistical breakdowns tracking European refugees specifically by both nationality and religion simultaneously are not published as a single consolidated dataset by bodies like Eurostat or the UNHCR.

However, major demographic studies from research groups like the Pew Research Center and asylum trend reports provide clear data on the primary nations of origin for Muslim refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Europe:

·         Syria: Syria is the largest single source of Muslim refugees in Europe, driven by the ongoing conflict that led hundreds of thousands to seek asylum (particularly during peak migration waves). [1, 2]

·         Afghanistan: Afghanistan represents the second-largest source of recent Muslim refugees and asylum seekers, with estimates showing upwards of 180,000 arrivals from conflict-driven displacement in major Western European intake waves. [1]

·         Iraq: Iraq accounts for approximately 150,000 recent conflict-related refugees, an overwhelming majority of whom are practicing Muslims. [1]

Other Origins: Significant numbers of Muslim asylum seekers and migrants originate from countries such as Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Iran, though proportions vary by host country and specific legal definitions between economic migrants and recognized refugees.”

 

Q.2. How many Palestinian Refugees from Gaza and the West Bank and Israel in different European countries?

Google Answer:

“When discussing Muslim refugees from the Israel mainland (referring to Arab citizens of Israel who are Muslim), the official global count is extremely low—virtually near zero in terms of recognized refugee populations.

The demographic breakdown explains why this figure is minimal, along with how specific exceptions are tracked:

1. Demographic Reality of the Israeli Mainland

Within the internationally recognized borders of Israel (the mainland), Arab citizens make up about 21% of the population, the vast majority of whom are Muslim. [1]

·         Citizenship status: Arab citizens of Israel hold full Israeli passports, have voting rights, and hold seats in the Israeli parliament (Knesset).

·         No mass displacement: Because they hold citizenship and reside within stable, internationally recognized borders, they have not experienced a mass exodus or forced displacement causing them to become refugees.

2. Rare Individual Asylum Claims

While there is no community-wide population of refugees from mainland Israel, there are incredibly rare, isolated cases where individual Arab citizens of Israel have applied for and been granted asylum abroad: [1]

·         Precedent-setting cases: In very rare instances, Western governments have granted asylum to individual Arab-Israelis. For example, the United Kingdom granted refugee status to an Arab-Israeli activist who successfully argued they would face a specific, individualized threat of political persecution if returned. [1, 2]

·         Statistical footprint: These cases are handled entirely on an individual basis by foreign governments and are so rare that they do not register as a distinct statistical group in international refugee databases.

3. Distinction from Palestinian Refugees

It is vital to distinguish between Muslim citizens living within the Israeli mainland and Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories (the West Bank and Gaza) or descendants of the 1948 exodus: [1]

·         Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank do not hold Israeli citizenship and face entirely different legal, territorial, and conflict-driven displacements.

Millions of those individuals are registered as refugees under UNRWA or the UNHCR, whereas Muslim citizens of mainland Israel do not fall under these categories.”

 

Q.3. How many Muslim Refugees from India in different European countries?

Google Answer:

“There are no official or specific statistical breakdowns tracking the exact number of Muslim refugees from India residing in different European countries, as Indian nationals rarely constitute a significant refugee or asylum-seeking population in Europe. [1]

General Context on Indian Migration

·         Overall Emigration: Data from organizations like the Pew Research Center indicates that while India has a large global diaspora, most international migrants from India move for economic or educational reasons rather than as refugees. [1]

·         Primary Destinations: The majority of Indian Muslim migrants move to countries with close economic ties and job opportunities, predominantly in the Middle East—such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Oman—rather than to Europe. [1]

European Asylum Trends: Official reports from Eurostat and the European Union Agency for Asylum show that asylum applications from Indian citizens in Europe are very low compared to those from conflict zones like Syria, Afghanistan, or Ukraine, and distinct religious breakdowns of these small numbers are not published”.

 

In short: 

1. Muslims actually face almost zero discrimination and persecution in India and Israel so that they feel no desire at all to escape from these two countries and seek asylum in Europe (the main hub of “asylum refugees”).

India in particular (of the two) goes out of its way to have special laws giving Muslims more rights, privileges and facilities than Hindus. And, at the very least, both India and Israel have the same special schemes and facilities for its Muslim citizens as for its Hindu/Jew citizens: in fact even the allegedy “Hindu-minded” BJP government boasts in public advertisements that Muslims, who constitute around 14% of its populations, get over 30%, at least, of all special schemes and facilities.

Strangely, there are millions of Muslim refugees in Europe who are from all kinds of Muslim countries ranging from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq to countries such as Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Iran. Instead of drawing the correct conclusions from all this − that Hindu India and Jewish Israel treat their Muslim citizens and inhabitants so well that these Muslim citizens and inhabitants feel absolutely no desire to flee India and Israel for their life and safety and seek asylum in Europe as refugees, whereas Muslims in their multi-millions are so badly persecuted in Muslim countries that they become desperate to flee those countries for their life and safety, and that therefore India and Israel are the last countries which should be accused of persecuting people on racial/religious grounds − it is in fact India and Israel which are the most targeted by the wokes who have a stranglehold over international media, academia and political power.

2, The fact that Muslims are happy, and flowering in full bloom, in both Israel and India is also indirectly indicated by the fact that the Muslim percentage in the population is on a continuous upward tangent: Far from migrating out of these two countries to avoid persecution,  Muslims are increasing in numbers in leaps and bounds:

India   1951 9.8%,   2011 14.2%

Israel   1948 13.8%,   2023 18 to 21%

It is because of this factual situation that both India and Israel are targeted on the basis of how they allegedly “treat” Muslims who are not their citizens: India for its CAA which “failed” to give automatic citizenship rights in India for non-Indian Muslims, and Israel for refusing to allow "Palestinian" Muslims to wipe Israel out of existence! 

Every day we hear fake and hypocritical western politicians, academicians, media personalities, “intellectuals” and even actors and sportspersons showing their moral courage and heroism by condemning Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, or even Indian atrocities against Muslims/“minorities”, but how many of these people have shown similar courage in speaking about Hindus and Jews in Muslim countries, or even about, for example, about Tibetans or even the Muslim Uyghurs in China?

This fake attitude does not indicate “concern” for anyone: it only indicates hatred for Jews and Hindus.

 

The International Khap Panchayat or Taliban/ISIS Court Called “the U.N.”

The International Khap Panchayat or Taliban/ISIS Court Called “the U.N.”

 

Shrikant G Talageri 

 

The United Nations has 193 member states (not counting Palestine and the Vatican City which are considered “non-member observer states”).

 

The Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a speech to the UN on 24 September 2026. 94 countries (or “member states”) boycotted the speech, and 90 were present during the speech. The status of 9 (for some reason) does not seem known even to Google (at least till my moment of checking).

 

Of course, the countries present also include many countries (like Russia and China) who are against Israel, and countries (like many of the western European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.) who have strongly criticized Israel in recent times on Palestine, as also many “friendly countries” who nevertheless (for various reasons) also affect sympathy for the Palestinians. So the 90 “present” are not necessarily friends of Israel in its conflict with Palestine. But those who staged the boycott very definitely represent countries which hate Israel and want to see it exterminated.

 

For this International Khap Panchayat or Taliban/ISIS Court called “the U.N.”, there is only one villain or sinner country in the world: Israel, and only one race of victim people who are facing constant attack, Palestinians (but also, of course, Muslims in India!). Others (whether the Hindus of Bangladesh or Kashmir, the Buddhists of Tibet, or even the Muslims of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) are not victims to be concerned about, even if they are sometimes convenient for chance references once in a while.

 

Just for reference here is a complete list of the countries whose delegates in the UN listened to the Israeli PM, and of those who boycotted his speech.

 

Interesting facts can be noticed from them. For example, in the Greater Indian cultural area, four Muslim countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh) boycotted his speech and four non-Muslim countries (India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka) did not. Likewise, in Southeast Asia,  three Muslim and one non-Muslim countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, but also Myanmar) boycotted his speech, and six non-Muslim countries  (Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand) did not.

[The reason for the exception, Myanmar, is interesting. The official Myanmar delegate to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun (who casts the vote) was appointed by the former democratically elected government of Myanmar, and his representation is not recognized by the present ruling “Junta” in Myanmar. His continued presence as the Myanmar delegate to the UN is dependent on his toeing the official UN line].

 

So, just for reference: 

 

Who walked out of Netanyahu’s speech- 94 

Afghanistan

Algeria

Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Bahamas

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belize

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei Darussalam

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Comoros

Cuba

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Dominica

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Eswatini

Ghana

Grenada

Guyana

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Jordan

Kenya

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Mauritania

Mauritius

Montenegro

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nicaragua

Niger

North Korea

North Macedonia

Oman

Pakistan

Panama

Peru

Portugal

Qatar

Republic of Congo

Russian Federation

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

San Marino

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Seychelles

Slovenia

Somalia

South Africa

South Sudan

Spain

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden

Syria

Tonga

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Uzbekistan

Venezuela

Yemen 

 

Countries Present in the Hall- 90

Albania

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijania

Bahrain

Belgium

Bhutan

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

China

Croatia

Costa Rica

Cote d’Ivoire

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Equador

Estonia

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau [1]

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Kazakhstan

Kiribati

Liechtenstein

Laos

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malawi

Marshall Islands

Mexico

Micronesia

Mongolia

Morocco

Naoero

Nederlands

Nepal

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Philippines

Poland

Republic of Moldova

Romania

Rwanda

Samoa

Sao Tome and Principe

Serbia

Singapore

Slovakia

Solomon Islands

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Switzerland

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Togo

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

Viet Nam

Zambia

Zimbabwe 

 

For Some Reason Presence/Absence Unknown- 9 

Armenia

Benin

Gabon

Haiti

Monaco

Sierra Leone

Timor-Leste

Trinidad and Tobago

Vanuatu