Dancing with Dogs: India and Islam

India and Islam

Suman Palit has a very nice post in response to another blogger Aziz Poonawallah on his blog - A rootin, tootin, fresh 'n rootin..

Aziz is absolutely right to cry out against organized mayhem of Muslims in India. But those who we condemn carry within their hearts a blackness born of religous certainty, and reinforced by centuries of abuse, whether real or imagined. They are convinced that life is a series of zero-sum games, and that their side has lost one too many. It's payback time, and they are not leaving. What does the world have to offer them but sympathy? Pity? A call to keep taking the moral high ground in the midst of bloodshed? A slice of the pie when ten years down the road, Prez. Condi Rice redraws the map of Pakistan? I don't think so. They want their respect and they want it now. Not the genteel, sophisticated respect of their ex-colonial masters, now farting nervously in Brussels. They want the raw, real and fearful respect of their neighbors. They want to carve out a land recreated in a Vedic afterimage from their fevered dreams. They want a past that never was, to become the future of their children. And they are not going away anytime soon. As long as Islamic fundamentalism exists, so too will the Hinduvta reactionaries. Thrust, parry, counter-parry. A bloody point for every bloody counterpoint.

Suman makes a lot of good points in his post - he actually lists out a lot of historical events and points them out as the root causes of Hindu-Muslim problems in India. I would like to add a couple more things on the topic. Apart from Gujarat, another hotspot for religious violence used to the capital city of my state (Andhra Pradesh), Hyderabad. During the British rule, Andhra was controlled by Muslim rulers, who after the Independence, did not choose to be a part of India, and even though they were surrounded on all sides by India and the citizens wanted to part of India, refused to do so. This led to a threat of war against the state from the Central Government and a lot of carnage due to religious violence between Muslim thugs sponsored by the Nizam and the other people in the state who wanted to merge with India. Finally Andhra Pradesh did become part of India, but the legacy lasted a while.

Hyderabad had become a hotbed of religious conflicts and being a Muslim-majority city, provided no protection to the Hindus living in the city. Parties like the Congress (supposedly secular, but only concerned with vote banks) and Majlis (Muslims-only party), did nothing to alleviate the fears of the people of other relegions, and their sole savior was the BJP party, which actually taught the Hindus to fight back in their own country and helped them protect themselves. That was one of the reasons why, BJP has become a grass-root organization in India. Most Hindus in India have faced nothing but disillusionment about their Muslim neighbors since before the Independence. They have been oppressed by the minority, forced to convert, tortured and plundered and left helpless during the Muslim rule. Even though the Muslim leaders fought with the Hindus for Independence, they then demanded the separate state of Pakistan, and cut out the country into pieces because they felt Muslims cannot live in the same country as Hindus and prosper. The partition created wounds that have still not healed among most poeple, with the killings of hundreds and thousands of people, and the "forced evacuation" of many times more.

And after all this, Pakistan has fought 3 wars with India, and a 4th "almost war" in Kargil. Pakistan sponsors terrorists who wreak havoc in India. All this, and what do Indian Muslims do about it? Nothing. So how about looking at the Hindu root causes for a change? I agree that the VHP/BJP/RSS et al are definitely not the solution to the Hindu-Muslim problems, as they are almost at the same level as the Islamic terrorists that they claim to protect the people from. But what about the average Hindu? what about him, who wants nothing but three whole meals a day and shelter to raise his family in dignity? What is their attraction to the "Hindutva" parties?

I think it is is because many Hindus are fed up with the situation where the minority is still the king. Muslims still don't follow the same law as the Hindus - they cry "oppresion", everytime there is a mention of a "Uniform Civil Code". Moderate Muslim leaders do not condemn the Islamic terrorists that are such a threat to the country, and don't even say anything against terrorist Muslim organizations that penetrate the mainstream religion. In conclusion, I think that it is not just the duty of the majority to make sure the minority prospers - which is actually happening, since India has a bigger Muslim population now than Pakistan, and as a percentage, Muslims have grown in India since the Independence. What about the duties of the minority? When are they going to feel like true Indians and start condemning terrorism against their country instead of forgiving it since it is being committed by people who follow the same religion as them?

I am not saying every Muslim needs to prove his patriotism to be considered Indian. Being a Muslim automatically does not lay the burden of proof on one's head. But it is not too much to ask of the Muslims to stop complaining so much and start listening a little more. Let us take Babri Masjid for example, OK, no one really knows if Ram was born there, but we all do know there was a temple on the site that was broken up by Babar and the mosque itself has been locked up and has not been used. Ayodhya has an emotional connection to every Hindu who believes in Ram, but Babri Masjid is but another mosque to Muslims. How much good will would the community have garnered if they reached an amicable settlement with the Hindus over the issue, instead of throwing tantrums over it? I was in Kashi, one of the holiest places for Hindus, and saw that the "Nandi" (the bull that guards entrances to Shiva temples) was facing a mosque and away from the temple we were visiting. We were then told that the actual historic temple was under the mosque and was destroyed by the Islamic rulers. It is hard for the majority to take a sympathetic view of the minority's cause when such daily reminders of oppression, past and present are common place and are staring them in the face.

So, what is my point? All I am asking for is a little understanding for the community that has been nothing but peaceful throughout most of its history towards all minorities. I am saying that Muslims should stop being Muslims first and start being Indians first. They should start mingling with the general population a little more. That is how most Hindus are - they are more conerned about the country and economy in general, than their religion. There are still going to be problems between the religions, but when there is more understanding between the religions and less suspicious silence, things are definitely going to be better than what they are now.

Posted by shanti at December 2, 2002 01:52 PM