Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Saturday recalled the words of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, founder of the Aligarh Muslim University who was said to have urged to call him a “Hindu” over a century ago.
He quoted Syed Ahmed Khan as saying “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. Anyone who is born in India, eats food grown in India or drinks water from Indian rivers is entitled to call himself a Hindu and so “you must call me a Hindu”.
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”, the Governor quoted Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as saying. He added that Sir Syed was given a reception by the Samaj members when he completed his tenure in the Legislative Council during the colonial regime
