Violence In Malda: What Muslims Should Not Do

By Parvin Sultana

13 January, 2016
Countercurrents.org

In an age of trivial politics and name calling, it has become a norm that somebody will make a shallow comment about a religious icon just to grab attention. It will be immediately followed by members of the targeted community taking to streets baying for blood. While it is true in case of most communities, lets talk about this problem inflicting the Muslim community, in the context of the recent violence in West Bengal’s Malda.

The recent episode goes back to an incident that happened almost a month ago in Uttar Pradesh. Kamlesh Tiwari, a lesser known Hindu Mahasabha leader calling the Prophet Muhammad a homosexual. This comment was deemed by many as insulting to the prophet and was followed by protests by Muslims all across the country. In the aftermath of the incident Tiwari has been arrested by the UP police and a case has been registered in his name. Even the Hindu Mahasabha has distanced itself from the statement.

Despite this the protests continued and the protesters disagreed to be placated. On 3rd January, 2016 the Anjuman Ahle Sunnatul Jamaat organized a rally in Malda protesting against the comments made by Kamlesh Tiwari. The rally turned violent and the mob went on rampage. It torched police vehicles including a vehicle of BSF. They then proceeded to attack and ransack the Kaliachak police station before setting it alight. The crowd is also reported to have torched several homes in the area. The reaction to such protests is that Kamlesh Tiwari gained some misplaced fame and some notorious hindutva groups are demanding to put him up for a by election to cash on this media coverage. The outbursts of Muslims have portrayed Tiwari as a victim rather than an offender of inciting communal violence.

Many cite Islamophobia as the cause of such derogatory comments. Islamophobia is a reality and the phenomenon has worsened post 9/11 attacks. Many innocent Muslims are persecuted all over the world because of this prejudice. A few months ago what happened to Ahmed who was arrested on the suspicion of having created an explosive device is an example of such blind prejudice. He bore the brunt of racism as well as Islamophobia.

Islamophobes often heap abuse on Prophet and others revered by Muslims. And the response from Muslims is often too predictable and irrational. The incidents in Paris where Charlie Hebdo employees were murdered, the Danish cartoonist who was attacked proves this.

Islamophobia must be condemned as it puts a cloud of suspicion on people merely on the basis of their religion. However, the violent outbursts often go ahead to reiterate such wrong and hateful assumptions about Muslims. Islamophobia must be countered at the discourse level through well worked out arguments, not only on the streets.

In case of the comments of Kamlesh Tiwari, no doubt it must be condemned and he must be booked under the law of the land for his devious plans of disrupting communal harmony. But protests need not necessarily mean vandalism. It is a sad fact that the community that lags behind on a number of socio-economic parameters often come on streets condemning statements, films, books which they find offensive but are quite apathetic to asserting demands for development of the community.

We have never seen such strong assertion against gender inequality which is often justified in the name of personal laws. The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan which has been demanding an end to triple talaq, criminalizing polygamy, maintenance of divorced women, scrapping medieval and inhuman practices like halala is yet to see much support from the Muslim clergy. When a journalist talked about sexual harassment in madrasas, rather than looking into the matter seriously there was blatant indulgence in victim shaming. This was done despite the fact that Madrasas continue to be the sole source of education for a large number of poor Muslim children.

Riots in India does not happen in a vacuum, we cannot completely overlook the fact that West Bengal is poll bound for 2016 and in our country riots and religious polarization continue to deliver political dividends. In such a scenario, the responsibility of the leaders of all community becomes building stronger bridges of dialogue and not burning them down on silly pretexts and playing into the hands of politicians who translates communal violence to votes.
Muslims don’t have to look far for examples of communal harmony. The very life of Prophet Muhammad and his followers is exemplary of such utmost sacrifice at the face of rigorous opposition. As kids we used to hear such stories from our grandmother.

Prophet Muhammad was boycotted by his own tribe Qureysh when he started propagating Islam. He faced obstacles at every step. Abuses and physical assault was common. A very popular story that speaks of his ordeals goes like this. There was an old woman who used to throw rubbish on the Prophet from her home everyday he passed her house on his way to mosque. The prophet never responded and went on his way. But one day the woman was not at her usual place. The prophet asked her neighbor and got to know that she was sick and bedridden. Hearing this Prophet Muhammad went to her house to check on her. Seeing the prophet the old woman thought he was there to take revenge of her act. But the prophet assured her that he was there to nurse her and take care of her. Such an act touched the old woman deeply.

There are many such stories and incidents from the life of prophet which shows his respect for other religions and his assertion of peaceful coexistence. However violent outbursts in the name of restoring the honour of the Prophet reflect very poorly on this much respected persona.

Responsibility for such misplaced priorities must also be put squarely on the so called leaders of the community who have failed to channelize the community’s energy in a proper productive fashion. Rather than ensuring that Muslim youth are more empowered to participate in mainstream society, such leaders often create a panic situation by talking about conspiracy theories putting Islam in danger. This ensures their continued presence in privileged positions.

Despite such crisis, there is a beacon of hope in a moderate voice emerging from Muslims which condemn Islamophobia and its manifestations at the same time disowning violence in the name of Islam. This becomes evident when Muslims come out in large number condemning the activities of ISIS and other terrorist groups against humanity.

As two wrongs does not make a right, Kamlesh Tiwari’s hatred of Muslims cannot be countered by hatred of Hindus. What is required is a respect for the law of the land and not giving centre-stage to the rabble rousers. Muslims should not indulge in such violence in the name of avenging the honour of the Prophet. All those who believe in the idea of a secular nation based on mutual respect should condemn both Kamlesh Tiwari’s comments and violent protests at one go.

Parvin Sultana is an Assistant Professor in P B College of Assam. Her research interest includes Muslims in Assam, development and northeast, gender etc.