• The play Dara by the Ajoka theatre group of Lahore celebrates the life of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s eldest son, Dara Shikoh —  a practicing Sufi, scholar and painter. Writer and director Shahid Nadeem’s script tells the story of this unsung hero who won the hearts of the people on the streets, but was brutally beheaded by his brother in an infamous power struggle. 

Dara was a champion of religion and cultural syncretism who constantly strove to bridge Hinduism and Islam (he translated 50 Upanishads from Sanskrit into Persian and suggested that the Kitab al-maknun, or hidden book, referred to in the Quran was in fact the Upanishads). Dara’s journey, meeting scholars from Christianity and Hinduism in order to develop his philosophy, is one of the critical scenes in the play.

The play contains Nadeem’s reflections on the fate of the subcontinent had Dara Shikoh been emperor in place of his brother Aurangzeb. He believes that under Dara’s patronage and vision, the subcontinent could have turned into an empire where heterogeneous religions co-existed in harmony and there was social and scientific progress.

The plot is extremely pertinent to the Pakistan of today where religious extremism, intolerance and sectarian hatred are wreaking havoc. Through the character of Dara, the play seeks to highlight the importance of tolerance and the intermingling of cultures. 

Nadeem says there has been an organised attempt in Pakistan to erase the secular prince from history books. “Muslim clerics justify the creation of Pakistan based on the fear of the enemy, more specifically, the fear of India,” he says. “Having figures like Dara Shikoh,  who spoke of universal brotherhood and syncretic cultures, will hamper their project. There is, naturally, the need to obliterate them from public memory.”

Dara, according to Nadeem, is a “role model for the true face of Islam” that Pakistan and Islamic society as a whole need. “He needs to be brought back into the history books, and that is the only way forward for Muslims in Pakistan and Muslims everywhere,” he says.

Dara will be staged on Friday at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi.

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