The
Discourse On Terrorism
And The Missing Muslim Voice
By Yoginder Sikand
29 September, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Addressing
a recently-held conclave of Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states,
the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, warned of a possible spurt
in suicide attacks by terrorists targeting religious, economic and sensitive
institutions in the country. He possibly had certain militant Islamist
groups in mind, for he spoke in this context of 'fidayeen elements'.
To prevent these possible attacks, Singh called for stricter and more
efficient intelligence gathering, right from the Central and State levels
down to the level of local police stations.
Singh's concern about 'fidayeen'
terrorists is well taken, and he is right about the need for concerted
efforts to counter them. And, although the 'mainstream' media may not
highlight this, the average Indian Muslim would agree with Singh here
for most Muslims realize that the 'fidayeen elements' are only making
their position immeasurably more precarious and vulnerable. However,
while on the subject of 'fidayeen elements' or Islamist militants, it
is striking how general discourse on terrorism in India, as elsewhere
as well, is now so heavily lopsided, focusing, as it does, largely on
militant acts committed by some Muslims. Terrorism in India is now talked
about almost wholly in the context of fringe Islamist or Muslim militant
groups, whereas similar acts of terrorism by other actors, including
the state or by Hindutva outfits, are rarely described as such in the
'mainstream' media or by politicians. Hindu mobs and Hindu extremist
groups, in several cases in league with agencies of the state, have
been responsible for the deaths of literally tens of thousands of Muslims
in India since 1947, but, curiously, this does not seem to qualify as
'terrorism' for large sections of the 'mainstream' Indian media and
the political class.
Indian newspapers are now
awash with stories of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, the handiwork of some
Muslims. The courts are delivering their judgments and meting out punishments
to the accused, and this the media is giving considerable attention
to. While justice in this instance, as in similar cases, ought to be
swift and severe and should be prominently highlighted, why, one must
ask, are the courts, the media and India's ruling class displaying nothing
even remotely approximating such concern for the numerous Muslim victims
of pogroms unleashed by Hindutva terrorists, in many cases instigated
by agencies of the state, whose numbers no one seems to remember? While
the victims of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts certainly deserve justice
as well as media coverage, do not the thousands of Muslim victims of
violence in India, including those several hundred Muslims slaughtered
by Hindu mobs abetted by the police in the orgy of violence that engulfed
Mumbai immediately preceding the blasts, to avenge whose brutal murders
the blasts were apparently set off, merit the same concern? And so,
too, the innumerable Muslims slaughtered in cold blood in Nellie, Hyderabad,
Jamshedpur, Ayodhya, Gujarat and so on? And, so, as well, the several
thousand Sikhs slain in the pogroms of 1984 and the innumerable victims
of periodic bouts of anti-Dalit violence in large parts of India? And,
further, the Muslim victims of the recent Malegoan blasts, who have
almost completely been consigned to oblivion by the media, having quickly
slipped off from television screens and the pages of newspapers? Do
these all not deserve similar justice and media attention?
The literally thousands of
Muslims who have lost their lives and properties at the hands of Hindutva
terrorists ever since 1947 have all been almost completely effaced from
public memory. Hardly any of those responsible for these deaths have
been given exemplary punishment. Numerous erring government officials
and complicit politicians remain unpunished and the 'mainstream' media
remains unfazed. Mass violence against Muslims rarely invites stern
punishment for those who engage in it. This indifference to widespread
anti-Muslim violence and its victims, it must be recognized, is breeding
widespread fear and despair among Muslims. And the possible consequences
of that can only be imagined.
Discontent and injustice,
almost always, lie at the root of militancy, as the case of Palestine,
Iraq and Afghanistan so tragically suggest. But this basic fact the
advocates of a simple law-and-order approach to countering militancy
often appear to ignore. Hence, if the 'fidayeen elements' that Manmohan
Singh warns rightly against are to be preempted, surely the burning
issue of injustice to Muslims must also be seriously addressed, by the
courts, the political class as well as the media. Tragically, however,
there is little evidence to suggest that this is seriously happening
on any noticeable scale. Islamophobia has today become a fashion in
large circles and demands for justice to Muslims are quickly branded
as 'communal' and 'anti-national' by those who mistakenly see 'Islamist
terrorism' in a political vacuum, as mindless violence without any social,
economic and political roots and causes. In such a climate, even genuine
Muslim concerns and grievances are often brutally ignored.
Justice to Muslims means
not only bringing to book and meting out exemplary punishment to all
those involved in anti-Muslim violence, although this is most crucial.
Justice demands that Hindutva militants be treated with the same severity
as their Islamist counterparts. Justice also requires that the pathetic
economic and educational conditions of the Indian Muslims in general,
and the growing marginalization of large sections of the Muslim community,
be treated with seriousness and urgency by the state. Besides instituting
periodic commissions charged with the ostensible purpose of addressing
Muslim marginalization, the state has, in actual fact, done precious
little about the issue. Nor is the 'mainstream' media, by and large,
at all concerned about the pathetic living conditions of most Indian
Muslims and the discrimination that they face. How Muslims can be expected
to be happy and secure and uncomplaining when the state and the wider
society appear to be indifferent, if not hostile, to their overall lamentable
conditions as well as to periodic instances of anti-Muslim violence
is a question that, of course, requires no answer.
Muslim and Hindu militancy
feed on each other, and the one cannot be tackled with tackling the
other as well. This may appear obvious to anyone, but the Indian political
class and the media, in general, seem quite oblivious of this basic
truth. Furthermore, given that militancy is most often a result and
an expression of despair, rooted in oppression and injustice, real or
perceived, it can only be effectively countered in the long-run by addressing
these concerns seriously. In the absence of this, a mere law-and-order
approach, as is now being so forcefully advocated in influential circles,
can result in tragic consequences for inter-community relations in India
and for the overall welfare of the country and all the communities that
constitute it. If the state and the 'mainstream' media are seriously
concerned about tackling terrorism, surely all forms of terror, engaged
in by Hindu, Muslim or other groups as well as the state, need to be
countered with equal passion and determination. Further, the obvious
fact of injustice and marginalization that most Muslims share with other
similarly placed communities, such as Dalits and Adivasis, needs to
be urgently addressed. Ignoring the genuine concerns of the Indian Muslims—150
million strong—is a sure recipe for national disaster.
The author works with the
Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia. He moderates
an online discussion group called South Asian Leftists Dialoguing With
Religion, which can be accessed on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saldwr/