Lesson
From The Malegaon Carnage: Price Of Alienating A Community
By
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
15 September, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Malegoan, infamous for communal
disturbances came back to haunt the entire nation when several bomb
exploded on last Friday killing around 38 people and injuring more than
200 people. After the Mumbai blasts, this was the first major incident
in the country and since it happened in Maharastra raises many uncomfortable
questions.
While last time, the blast
occurred in the local trains of Mumbai killing over 200 people, the
Malegoan explosions were clearly aimed at targeting the Muslim community.
It was the occasion of not only the usual Friday prayers but also Sabe-barat,
an occasion to remember their dead ones. And therefore the blasts not
only occurred inside the mosques but also the burial grounds killing
the innocents particularly the children who died in the stampede that
happened in the aftermath of the blasts.
It is not strange in these
hours of crisis that the role of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence
was willfully highlighted by the media and 'security experts some of
them are now the members of the think tank of the Sangh Parivar. These
'security experts' have not ever attempted to ask the Parivar and its
goons to have an introspection on their own role in masterminding a
large number of communal riots in the country. It is therefore more
than unfortunate that the security agencies are working with single
minded pursuit of a Pakistani hand in these blasts. While no body deny
these facts for which ISI is notorious yet would it be wise to ignore
our own communal organizations. Is it because that in these terror times,
it has become fashionable to dub only Muslims as terrorists. The police
and other organisations got a sigh of relief in Mumbai when the Ganesh
Chaturthi festivals passed off peacefully. Yet no body of them could
think that the Muslims or Christians could also become target of another
willful group, which might take revenge from them.
It is more unfortunate that
in the past few months after the British police 'exposed' the biggest
terror attack to explode 10 US aero planes, the Muslims became the softest
target of willful campaign to deny them not only basic human rights
but also dignity. Keeping beard or Purdah and speaking in Arabic or
reading Urdu has become somewhat a crime. Societies, which considered
themselves the most civilized ones, soon became the most fanatic and
idiotically fearing a dissenting voice and face, which was not necessarily
European or American.
Any news about Muslims and
their involvement in terror activities is big news in India. Therefore
news coming out of London is picked up with more vigor here than in
Britain itself. Even London Police was more careful in declaring the
entire community as terrorists but here in India our 'security' experts
start discussing the issue in totally communal terms. No questions are
ever raised about those who communalized India and created communal
disturbances. A former DG of Uttar-Pradesh police Prakash Singh openly
said in a TV interview as what could he do all the terrorists happen
to be Muslims? Yes, Prakash Singh either does not know history or pretend
not to know it. Hopefully, he will read text of Israel's terror regime
in Gaza and other parts of the Palestine.
After the Malegaon, the political
leaders started making visit to the town and news channels started campaign
for 'united India'. One does not know how India could be united with
out participation of a community, which is being singled out for such
an atrocious treatment. Just by lighting a candle in your house for
India's unity would not bring unity of mind between the Hindus and Muslims
or for that matter other communities in India. It is essential that
any plural society can only function when there is a fare representation
of it in every sector of governance and public life. Had there been
more Muslims in our newspapers and TV channels, the stories like terming
them terrorists would have never been there because you realize the
other side of the story.
In Britain when things went
out of hand the government tried to found out whether the Asian community
is feeling alienated and tried their best to bring them to the mainstream.
In India any posit ive effort made by any government in the direction
of bringing the marginalized to the mainstream is opposed to death.
We have seen the protest against the Mandal Commission recommendations.
The Hindutva's political outfits do not oppose Mandal openly though
their love for an Indian state based on the 'high' ideals of Manu is
an 'open secret'. Yet, in the matter of Muslims, any effort, even if
it is half hearted, is fiercely opposed as 'appeasement' by the Hindu
fundamentalists.
Not only Mumbai but Malegoan
had also become notorious for its malfunctioning for the past few years.
Power looms are closed like other parts of the country when Muslims
happened to work on. Studies show how the criminal activities increases
when one lose its livelihood. It is nobody's guess that Muslims in India
survived because of their own hard work and entrepreneurship whether
it was small industries or hard work. Had they been depended on the
mercy of the government, they would have not survived more than a few
years. It is the great spirit of the community that starvation, hunger
and female feticide are least found in the community. And see the irony,
those preach us the 'merit', 'tehjeeb', liberlism and morality, are
worst offender of violating all these norms of a civil society. The
Hindutva and its theorists should ponder over their misdeeds and try
to learn from the Muslims a few good things to take care of their children
and families.
However, I am not amused
by the response of the Muslim leadership either. While rightfully, they
expressed doubt over the involvement of the 'communal outfits', they
simply have not accepted that the Kashmiri militants or terrorists organisations
outside the country cannot do it. Why? One must realize that people
are just pawns in the larger game of politics. International politics
is as dirty as the domestic one. When one read document related to Palestine,
it is no doubt that Israel did its best to finish the spirit of that
great country which has perhaps the best bankers as well as economy
in the middle east but very few now realize that Yasser Arafat was equally
responsible for the current crisis in that country. The chaos as well
as corruption in that region is the result of the crisis of Palestine
leadership. What I mean to say here is that in the game between India
and Pakistan, Muslims simply are being used to justify stated positions.
Muslim leadership has to be careful. The Kashimiri Muslims leadership
want to go to Pakistan and perhaps has no linkages the Muslim groups
in other parts of the country while the mainstream Muslim leadership
has little time to persuade their Kashimri brothers to condemn the ethnic
cleansing in that state. The Pakistanis are interested in the conditions
of Muslims here in India while refuses to provide democratic set up
to their own Kashmiris and Baloochis. At least India did not toe the
American line that easily and this country has still have the resilience
to teach lessons to those government which have crawled in front of
the alien government at the cost of national interests but what about
the governments in middle east, Pakistan and elsewhere. Despite, Muslims
being branded as terrorists and extremists, the government of the Middle
Eastern countries remain thoroughly impotent. The only exceptions were
Iraq and now Iran. The democracy of Iran is the real 'threat' for the
western world. The puppet government which export Mullahism elsewhere
are the best friends of the American Administration. What could be bigger
irony than this that a progressive state of Iran is considered as fundamentalist
and the biggest exporter of Mullahism to the world, the Sauds are the
best friends of the biggest democracies of the world.
In his wonderful book ' Secrets of the Kingdom', American writer Gerald
Posner, has exposed the linkages between the American administration
and the Saudi royal family. In his remarkable
investigations into various oil and arms deal, Posner reveal how American
companies started acquiring the assets in Saudi Arabia during the period
of Richard Nixon and how the Sauds always played the Jew card to blackmail
the Americans.India has to learn its lesson from the past. Its Muslim
population here is living here over 400 years. In fact, much before
George Bush's country bcame Christian, India had Christianity at the
sore of Kerala. These communities have distinct culture habits and they
are completely submerged to Indian nationalism. Ofcourse, their religious
practices prohibit them to follow certain things, which they consider
against the basic ethos of their values. Except for those, all these
communities have contributed tremendously to India's growth. How can
one forget that India's best architecture comes from Muslims? Not only
this, the contribution of Muslims to India's culture, music, political
life and religious values is unparallel. They fought against the British
for Indian freedom. It is
therefore more important for the government and political parties to
consider certain things carefully with out politicizing the issue. How
much has India given to the Muslims? Do they have a right to demand
a job reservation or fare representation for them in the services or
not?
There need to be more inter community exchanges. How would it be possible
? Not just for the photo- oop of the TV cameras or newspapers. Not with
the usual business of the NGOs for Holi, Diwali and Eids. Not even by
the gimmickery of the new 'sharva dharma' businessman who bring all
the 'faltu' 'conservative' 'orthodox' religious heads over our head
to preach. We all know that it is only possible by more participation
in our daily lives. The Muslims-Hindu and others are depended on each
other. Their economies thrive together. More such initiatives privately
are available but no prticipation of the community in the governance.
This is a dire need of the hour to bring the faith of the Muslim community
to the national law makers by providing space in the governance. Communal
disturbances, threatening calls of political gangs ghettoize communities
and pitch them against each other. The rule of the law must prevail
and the administration must remain secular. Can we say these things
are adhered to very well in this country. Will the government of Maharastra,
West Bengal, Uttar-Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, ask their
police officials to remain secular and cannot have a 'Hanuman temple
or a Kali temple' in the police station. Ofcourse, the Muslims should
also reject government's dole out on the Haj. Rather, they have the
capacity to organize these trips at their own. Government's dole out
gives opportunity to the Hindu fundamentalist organisations to term
it as an appeasement. There is no appeasement when the police force
guards your temples, and take you to the Amarnath Yatra or provide you
facilities for Kailash Man Sarovar Yatra.
Those who did not care for the promise to the Supreme Court on the Babari
Masjid issue and got a heroic welcome after one-day jail level these
charges of appeasements. More paradox when you see that media would
be broadcasting live from Mumbai the judgment in 1993 Mumbai blast.
Since a majority of the names would Muslims therefore media does its
work well in projecting a community as a terrorist without saying so.
The same media has no time to focus and repeatedly as why the same aggression
is not shown in filing cases who were responsible for killing of Muslims
during the post Babari riots in Mumbai. What happened to those who were
responsible for Bhagalpur, Meerut or Kanpur riots, not to speak of Gujarat
riots. Where is our Judiciary and governance and fair play. Let some
of those also go to jail and face life and death sentences who were
responsible for some of these biggest carnage in post independent India.
Let us not make the murders from the upper caste Hindus as the champion
of Indian nationalism and those from minorities as villain. A murder
is a murder irrespective of his religion and caste. If we are a true
democracy and believe in fair play, let us send to gallows to all those
who work against this secular fabric, who are against the idea of an
idea of Bhagat Singh and Ashfaq Ullah, where all of us could live with
liberty and freedom, without fear and caste and religious discrimination.
Criticism based on communal and caste interest will take India nowhere.
Let us not give a license of patriotism and anti nationalism to people
on the basis of their castes and religion. An Indian has to defend the
secular values of the country and believe in fair play. A country denying
dignity and right to its minorities cannot remain peaceful and would
rarely progress if it alienates its second majority, the Muslims.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat Visit my blog at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com
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