‘You must call me a Hindu’: Kerala governor recalls words of Aligarh Muslim University founder

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.