Poet of East: Dr. Mohammed Iqbal

www.nation.com.pk dated May 20th,2005... columns: Letters ....... . Hindu Brahmins, eh ? .... . . On Iqbal, poet of the East !!!!! . ..................Will some body throw light on the claim of an Indian blogger on Iqbal's ancestors? The claim is reproduced without addition of a single word. "Iqbal's family background is equally interesting as his grandfather Sahaj Ram Sapru was a Kashmiri Hindu Brahmin who as a revenue collector in Kashmir was accused by the then Afghan governor Azim Khan of allegedly embezzling state funds. The Afghan gave him the choice of death or conversion to Islam. Sahaj Ram Sapru chose life, and after assuming new names, he and his family moved to Punjab where the Iqbal of the future would change the course of history".-ZULFIQAR ALI BUTT, Lamar, USA, via e-mail, April