India’s Muslims and liberals are withering in each other’s embrace. The liberal discourse in India has come in for sharp criticism not only from the Right-wing but also the non-partisan centrists for being unprincipled in its tacit indulgence of minorityism, which might have widened the chasm between the majority and minority communities where the former is always a bully and the latter always has its back to the wall.
It has been often said that despite mouthing the platitude of mainstreaming the minority, liberals helped in institutionalising minorityism. It cocooned liberals in a paternalistic aura.
The situation was further exacerbated when the middle caste’s electoral assertion piggybacked on the Muslim vote. OBCs and minority politics were found cosying up in the bed of secularism. This was a marriage of convenience.
How did liberalism come to this when it had been the byword for everything progressive, humanistic, secular, democratic, reformative and transformative; and a default opposite of obscurantism, regression and totalitarianism? It is for these reasons that Indian Muslims’ relationship with so-called liberals has started yielding diminishing returns in politics today. Either liberalism gets a makeover, or the relationship is re-invented, or the Muslim community begins to invest in its own liberals.
Also read: New India has a solution to all its problems — Blame the Muslim
Different trajectories
But how could the ascendant Hindutva politics blame liberals of political opportunism and cultural deracination? It’s another surprise that these accusations also began to stick. To understand this, let’s trace its trajectory.
A dialectic tussle between the agents of change and the votaries of status quo is the hallmark of a living society. As the colonial impetus stirred India into a new life, the first generation of Hindus in modern education devoted themselves to religious and social reformation. This laid the foundation for a liberal nationalist politics in India.
The Muslim trajectory was different. They were latecomers to modern education which, again, had come at the cost of abandoning religious critique and social reform. A superficial modernity without its moral and intellectual values could be the right instrument for revivalism. The two politics, Hindu and Muslim, because of the different preparatory grounds they stood on, went in different directions. While one aimed at forming India into a nation and winning independence for it, the other wanted to make the Muslim community into a separate nation.
However, the intrinsic sincerity of the liberal political class and the exigency to put up a united front against colonialism made it accommodate the separatist tendencies in order to forge a composite territorial nationalism. This template endured for a century. It had some quaint tropes, which left no urge among Muslims to liberalise.
Also read: Not Kunal Kamra, the real test for Indian liberals is Sharjeel Imam
Century-old tropes
The first instance of mollycoddling was to sanitise the history of Muslim rule. In the history books, the testimony of contemporary chroniclers such as Ziauddin Barani, Abdul Malik Isami and Ferishta, etc. was ignored in order to paint an idyllic picture of cultural confluence. In a travesty of secularisation, acts of temple destruction, Jizya tax imposition, and forced conversion would be presented as inspired by political exigency, not religious fanaticism. It was as if desecration for political reasons would be less obnoxious. It gave a clean chit to the principle of statecraft that would permit such a sacrilege even if it were actually a pretext.
Although done with the good intention of not letting the bad blood of the past spill onto the present, a total whitewashing didn’t let the people develop the maturity to face up the past and recognise its wrongs. One is not answerable for what their real or adopted ancestors did, but they shape their own attitude towards the past. If one sees glories in the good of it, they would have to partake of its bad too.
The second trope was the romanticisation of Islam as an egalitarian religion and Muslims as a casteless society. Conversion to Islam was credited to the equality in Muslim society. The fact, however, was that people carried their caste into the new religion and remained at the same level as earlier. The Muslim ruling class adopted the caste system and placed itself at the apex. In fact, their emphasis on foreign lineage as a mark of superiority infused a fresh racial element into it.
Besides caste, gender issue was the main area of social reform in Hindu society. True, Muslims didn’t have a Sati system, but they had all other patriarchal discriminations. In fact, purdah among the Hindu upper class was an influence of Muslims.
It became conventional wisdom that Muslims didn’t need to introspect, reform or liberalise. And so, when independent India’s most ambitious social reform programme was undertaken, and Hindu Code Bills were introduced, the Muslim Personal Law was left untouched on the plea that the push for reform had to come from within the community. It never came, and instead became the basis of identitarian politics as was seen during the Shah Bano and triple talaq cases.
Also read: UP Police didn’t become anti-Muslim under Yogi. Look at secular Congress’ bloody past
Mere tactical allies
The sanitised history repeated itself first as a tragedy and next as a farce. The tragedy was the liberal argument in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case that there was no proof that the mosque in Ayodhya was built on a demolished temple. Its implication for such mosques as were clearly built on demolished temples was not weighed in. And, the farce was in the revisionist historiography of Partition, which invisibilised the fact that, in the end, it was the Muslim League that demanded Pakistan, and had it. Such historiography helped in reviving the same old pernicious narrative.
The dictum that minority communalism was a lesser evil was myopic inasmuch as it ignored its ability to inflame majoritarian. The paternalistic minorityism of liberals made them equivocate on burning issues. So, in one kind of bomb blast, terror had no religion; but in another, it did. The discourse of ‘hurt sentiment’ became normalised as demands to ban now a book and now a movie became the norm. The Right-wing learnt fast, and how.
In spite of all this, no organic relationship could develop between liberals and Muslims. Both treated each other as tactical allies rather than ideological kin. In the Muslim repertoire of grievances against the present dispensation, there is hardly one that has not been levelled against liberals since the late 19th century (Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s speech at Meerut, 16 March 1888 ). The Islam-in-danger rhetoric, paranoia of subjugation by Hindus, neglect of Urdu, under-representation in services, bias in the behaviour of state machinery, particularly that of police during riots, and myriad other complaints of discriminations are century-old tropes.
Also read: Indian Muslims must rewrite their victim mindset to be indispensable in India’s rise
Aatmanirbhar Musalman
Muslims love Hindu liberals conditionally, and together they hate the microscopic Muslim liberals unconditionally. Muslims love liberals because the latter don’t question their narratives, and liberals value Muslims because they are their only support left. In an India where two kinds of Hindus are debating how to engage with Muslims, the liberals represent them without questioning why Muslims are unable to represent themselves, and whether the 200-year-long liberal hegemony of public discourse has any responsibility for it.
There is no redemption for Muslims unless they develop their own liberal intelligentsia, and no comeback for liberals unless they become more scrupulous about their avowed principles. True, Muslims are not represented in all sectors of the national life in proportion to their population. It not only reflects their lag in modern education but also the lack of drive and initiative in their corporate life.
At about 20 crore, the Muslim population is so huge that even a minuscule percentage of its educated and affluent would be humongous enough to constitute the critical mass for a big social change. One reason why this has not happened is the community’s utter dependence on the liberal establishment for representing them. Muslims could represent themselves in the idiom of the modern nation state only if they had crafted their own discourse and coined their own vocabulary. It’s very much doable. An Aatmanirbhar Musalman could be the pride of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Najmul Hoda is an IPS officer. Views are personal.
Tank you sir. Muslims like you may save muslims of India. Acknoeledging the truth is the first step.
Would like to read a follow up article from writer, how should liberals have acted rather. Rather than objective history, if history books had plain facts that temples were razed by Muslims. How it would have rather shaped politics of this day. Also I think equating liberals with acts of Congress party is not appropriate. Congress is a political party with no ideological morrings but to stay in power but liberals have their own world view.
He also does not mention if liberals have in any way attacked Muslim liberals. Liberals would like like liberals irrespective of religion, the conclusion that Hindu liberals have love for conservative Muslims seems ridiculous.
Great article
This Indian Police Service officer, the author who happens to be a Muslim, appears to have very relevant points to make — both to his fellow Muslims and to the Indian intelligentsia /intellectuals. Unfortunately, he got trapped in a semantic cobweb and couldn’t bring clarity in his thesis entirely. If I were his editor, I would have asked him to make his statements simple and less loaded with cliches and rhetoric. In his next submission, I would urge him to be as straightforward and reader-friendly as possible. Nearly 185 million Indian Muslims really need an educator like the writer of this article, Najmul Hoda.
The only lesson I get from this article is that Najmul is trying to tell his Muslim brothers: “Be a Hindustani Muslim and liberate yourself from the clutches of the political forces who have kept you for all these years illiterate, uneducated, unskilled, untrained and, therefore, unemployable — to use you as their perpetual vote bank.” This is a familiar story. It needs advocates from the Muslim community.
An excellent and objective assessment. I am totally convinced of your central thesis of your essay. Thank you writing with such lucidity.
This article should also mention about clay feet of minority intellectuals. Who never opposed fundamentalism in their own community.
This is the best article I read in times. I hope that busy media and citizens pay attention to it once they are done screwing with Ssushant singh case. As a neutral observer I believe that certain parts of it apply to both sides of extremists in general. Extremist Hindus are big fans of Tahir Hussain because of his one sided Muslim bashing and showing other religions as victims and noting else. However, they hate Javed Akhtar because he is as much unkind to Hindu extremism as Muslim one. The need of the time however, is that both sides of liberals come forward together to break the narratives created by Muslim(“We are oppressed”) and Hindu(“We are taken advantage of because of our soft attitude”) propaganda machinery.
Excellent article, I always used to wonder why don’t people from muslim community show them the truth. It becomes ugly when others try to explain . But again you are a bureaucrat not a politician you will have very little impact. And more thing language could have been simpler for common class to understand. It took multiple readings for me
This is one of the finest editorial I have read in the long time. Take a bow sir !!
A very balanced and introspective article. Deserves to be translated to all indian languages . Centrists should take a lead to discuss.
A whiff of fresh air.
never thought that such an article would see the light of day in present toxic atmosphere.
What a load of tosh.
Instead of speaking up for Muslims under the Jackboot of RSS fascism, you choose to write all this mumbo-jumbo.
Get a grip of yourself man. Do something for the Muslim community which is suffering in India. People like you need a kick up the backside
He write article for people like u who wants to Liberals not Muslim liberals
if muslims are suffering they can leave india.
india would fare well everywhere if muslims leave
Mr Abhimanyu: Dalits too are suffering at the hands of upper caste Hindus. Should they also leave India?
And don’t forget Sikhs. They too were suffering and their solution was not to leave India but make a part of India their own country, Khalistan, Bhindranwale ring a bell Sir?
You go on to bray:
“.. india would fare well everywhere if muslims leave..”
Well, let us hope that the Middle-East, which employs more than 10 million indians and shores up the Indian economy through remittances does not take “intellectuals” like you seriously . Because, there would then be a problem in India – Modi’s much ballyhooed “achche din” will become more elusive than ever !
This article is one of the best I have read in a long time. Indias liberal gatekeepers don’t exhibit liberal characteristics ..for them caste based parties are secular and bjp is communal…aimim is secular and now even shiv sena is secular. The point is that pandering to minority communalism is also bad never entered their vocabulary. Today most of these liberal gatekeepers (like Barkha Dutt etc) have lost their face because of their entrenched hypocrisy. Attacking hinduism or bjp became their obsession instead of truly projecting secular and liberal values. A new breed of true liberals are required who can call out any agenda that divides people on any lines irrespective of caste, religion or creed. Muslims in India need to get a new generation of leaders who are more inclined to work towards progress of their community while remaining liberal and secular in their outlook for muslims to proper and move forward.
The BJP strikes again! A foul interpretation of history. The writer is clearly a anti-Muslim bigot who is scapegoating them along with liberal thinkers. Why does the BJP always go back in history? We live in the present and should focus on the future not the past. This BJP spokes person wants to go back in history as usual to make up stories! Stop trying to demean others and focus on creating a country where all can live prosperous and peacefully no matter what religion you have! Stop with the hatred of those that do not have the same belief as you do!
“focus on future” look who is saying that.
muslims are quite excited about shows like ertugrul and teach hindus to focus on future.
Excellent write up and a correct view.
Wonder at places, simple English is used so that one need not refer to dictionary.
One of the best analysis I have come across…. Thanks.
I can’t believe my eyes that this truth is finally being articulated, finding some resonance, and able to forge space even in ‘liberal’ media like ThePrint.
Thank you so so much Najmul Ji, Mera Bharat Badal Raha Hai!
History (and Geography) shows Muslims will never become liberals. Show one country where they are liberals. They are a menace to themselves and to others.
I fully agree that the muslims in india need to invest in muslim liberal leaders and not to depend on the hindhu liberals. asduddin owasi is the best you have as of now. more liberal muslims should come forward. unfortunately arif mohammed khan did not get his due during his time.
Looks like the liberals are damned. This day of reckoning was going to come. The writing was on the wall in invisible ink. The liberals could not see it. They will be shunned like the pariahs they have made themselves into. The word liberalism in India stands for Muslim appeasement.
A group that held the help of rule in India cannot seem to pull itself up from its bootstraps. That should tell us something. 200 million of them and still shamelessly call themselves a minority. I am a bit shocked. Stop calling yourselves that and move on.
The author is a remarkable realist and writes well. I believe he is a muslim and his views could not be more authentic especially regarding muslims think and act. My take away is that his point about India’s muslims to develop own brand of liberalism is the best; because he clearly points to them as educated and thinking. The whole world needs more of them, but more so among India’s muslims who have no identity in the world and are struggling to define themselves. I would even say that liberal muslims should re-examine the origins of their beliefs, context and history and become spiritual rather than islamic as required by their mullahs. Each muslim should think for himself and put their women folk above and at the top to educate and learn from their compassion, motherly love, and simply put their wisdom. They will be happy they did when they see the results.
An honest writeup very candidly summarised, which many might have felt but very few wrote about. Most moderate enlightened Muslims remain silent at the divisive and misleading narratives of their less educated brethren, perhaps either fearful of a presumptive backlash or justfying their silence due to the neo aggressive Hindutva vigilantism. Najbul’s writeup breaks the icy barrier. I donot think a similar writeup in our aggressive neighbouring nation would be too different about the cause and effect relation. Well done dear Najbul.
My only suggestion is to make your sentences a bit simpler which would have increased the reach to a much wider audience, especially as a call to Muslims, unless you would want it not to. But I personally feel all Muslims also should read it, liberal or not.
Muslims should move away from Madrassa education and instead adopt normal education system with open mind. They should join BJP in large numbers to make their presence felt n put forward their issues , instead of blindly opposing it. BJP is the party which is genuinely working for theirs as well as all Indians upliftment. Secularism word is not helping anyone except vested interests. Hindus n Muslims must understand each other’s genuine apprehensions n concerns with open arms.
Liberals n leftists are hurting our country.
It needs courage to write and present something that has been evident but never really written down.
Great article but do not generalize on liberals. They too come in different shades. A genuine liberal (Hindu or Muslim) fights fanaticism (Hindu or Muslim) without appeasement. In our schoolbooks, Gazanavi, Aurangjeb were clearly villains, Akbar, Ashok were the heroes. Demolition of temples by Muslim invaders was taught but demolition of Buddhist sites by fanatic Hindu kings was not. It is found in Kalhan’s Raj Tarangini & travelogues of Chinese, Tibetan scholars of that period.
A total trash
The writer seems to be a drop out of saraswati shishu mandir and now mentored by Arif Khan.
He is dangerously ignorant of history and ground realities , he is advised best to concentrate on policing rather than trying in vague to become a thinker.
A total waste of time.
Blunt and forthright comment! Kudos to you Mr Qazi Muhammed.
Very erudite commentary.
Another issue not spoken of is that of a chimera called ” Muslim ummah” – latent but being verbalised more often nowadays. As if for muslims, as per the dominant sunni versions, country of ansectors holds no value.
This so called Muslim brotherhood is the single biggest impediment in the real assimilation of indian muslims.
But the million dollar question is – where is the breed of muslim liberals? Why are they always renegades in the muslim community? Do the muslim youth’s narrative of us vs them has any place for musl liberals? See the reactions to sane voices like arif mohd khan and handful others and u know what is wrong with the dominant muslim narrative nowadays. This also calcifies the detest of multitudes of hindus who r tolerant to the core and makes them gravitate towards a more hard-line narrative. That’s exactly what the recent CAA protest led to….As the writer said, it rewinds the islam in danger narrative of a century ago….
If the muslim community in 70 yrs can’t throw a truly liberal class who can ingrain in muslims the superiority of the nation before religion, then, the narrative will be wrested by more hard-line stance of the hindus, who surely can’t let another partition happen.
In all, though, I emphathise with writer’s angst and hope, however, seeing the herd nature of intolerant islam throughout the globe, I see this as a mere hope against reality.
The biggest blame lies with the so called hindu pseudo-liberals and leftists. What this BJP govt has done is to bring out in open the deep seated fissures and the visceral hatred the Pseudos have for hindu culture and revival.
Has Shekhar Gupta read it. It destroys Aundre Truschke’s Aurangzeb in so many words.. Bravo
Well Muslims must realize that we the Hindus want real Hindustan like when muslim nations called their countries Islamic where people of other religions are harassed.Same fate will come to them.Liberals are very few and they will be sidelined so either join us to make India great or leave.
Very enlightening article by Mr Hoda. Muslims like liberals until they are not questioned. Till now Hindus were busy in taking care about their well being and moving up the social ladder. They did not have time to criticize, question the liberals and radical Muslim elements. After economic reforms many peoples standard have increased and after one generation, people are seeing the liberals and radical Muslim elements hypocrisies.
Congratulations!
Finally the truth is beginning to dawn on the perpetual hate mongers portraying themselves as agrieved and victimized along with their intellectal cover providers.
the pleasant surprise is the fact that these views are published in “The Print” which will surely force many, including yours truly , to re calibrate their long held assumptions about this publication.
Thanks!
Great article sir
Pleasantly surprised that the truth has started to dawn on those who portray themseves as agrieved and victims .
To have such views aired in a publication ‘The Print’ is another pleasant surprise worthy of recalibrating my own assumptions.
Thanks andCongratulations!
Very apt and practical thoughts. for a change, ThePrint.in sounds sensible
Best analysis
Great article. Not because I agree with it but because it reminded me of a time where I held similar views. Now, like Modiji can tell them from their clothes, I can by their clothes and how they smell. K2tuas just gives very weird odour, you know.
Anyway, my point is, had they realises this year’s ago, tensions on religious lines would’ve subsidized and become a rarity. Now, an avg hindi is already awakened enough to not fall for this theathrical argument and articles. There is no trust. It’s Hindu Rastra or bust. Ciao, inbreeds.
Very important and interesting words. This article says that the history textbooks that even today distort Indian history by white-washing Muslim invasions and atrocities against Muslims were not inherited from the British, but created deliberately by Hindu Liberals.
“The first instance of mollycoddling (by HIndu Liberals toward the under-educated Muslims) was to sanitise the history of Muslim rule. In the history books, the testimony of contemporary chroniclers such as Ziauddin Barani, Abdul Malik Isami and Ferishta, etc. was ignored in order to paint an idyllic picture of cultural confluence. In a travesty of secularisation, acts of temple destruction, Jizya tax imposition, and forced conversion were presented as inspired by political exigency, not religious fanaticism.”
Very sensible and mature views, away from the hit jobs especially by The Print journos on this platform. This should drill some sense into those who spew communal venom every alternate day here. Wish there were more sane voices on either side of the divide. Perhaps things might improve then.
Very enlightening article by Mr Hoda. Muslims like liberals until they are not questioned. Till now Hindus were busy in taking care about their well being and moving up the social ladder. They did not have time to criticize, question the liberals and radical Muslim elements. After economic reforms many peoples standard have increased and after one generation, people are seeing the liberals and radical Muslim elements hypocrisies.
Please see the condition of other minorities like Sikhs, Christians, paresis etc. Many Sikhs had to move from Pakistan after independence and yet they built their life and they are one of the influential communities in India. Muslims are trapped in their ruling mentality. They think that they were once rulers and want to be treated like that. They carry heavy baggage of early Islamic hegemony baggage.
During 7th century when all other religion/communities were rather stagnant, Islam came with new ideas. Because of that , new water started to flow in Islamic world and then they started to flourish. Now Islam is like a stagnant water, where there is no room for new and critical thinking.
When water is stagnant for long time,its starts to smell causing inconvenience to the people who are carrying it and for the near by people.
Very accurate assessment. Stated facts as they are. A society which cannot accept certain hard truths & learn from it is doomed forever.
Have not seen an open critic of the minority by the minority for a long time. As they say, ‘charity begins at home’. Can you comment on why the society is still in love with break away pakistan though not like traitors. The mere excitement that pak cric team brings to the heart of minority is always in conflict with the majority. Also openly write about why and how sania mirza got to know a pak cricketer and fell in love.
Great article, now liberal Nacala and Muslims will hunt this writer
More then anything this picture is whats wrong with muslims in India. This road is a public property and should not be blocked for your religious rights. Its understood if its a festival like moharram or something else but this is so wrong!
Superb article Mr. Najmul. A true patriotic Indian.
A sobering critique that everyone needs to look at. A mirror has been shown. The question is, will the so called psuedo liberals listen? And will the muslims actually start supporting their actual liberals? I hope the answer is yes to both.
I also congratulate thePrint for emerging as a largely-centrist media platform giving space to all narratives. This is become a luxury in polarised world where politics is right wind and media has been held hostage by left wing.
The author here certainly has made valid points – though they are not new. Sir Syed, who established AMU, was urging Muslims to get a modern English education but did not press for religio-social reform within the Muslim community simultaneously – something which Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others in Bengal and later Wodeyar in Mysore and Ramaswamy Iyer in Travancore pressed onto their ordinary subjects. The elite Hindus and Muslims like Nehru and Jinnah were well educated and egalitarian of course. But both Jinnah (in Pakistan) and Nehru’s Congress did not press the point among Muslims after partition. Result is that the Muslims of the sub-continent have the smallest liberal community representation in political life which has arisen from within their own community. This absence of the liberal Muslim has allowed rise of rabid pan-Islamism and pushed sub-continental inclusive Islam to the margins.
I have 2 issues where I disagree with the author
1. The Mughals during their long rule were not all temple destroyers – sure some did – but by and large were quite inclusive and had a great number of Hindu subjects in top positions of their kingdom as did the Deccan Sultans and Hyder Ali’s Mysore. This was definitely a departure from the standards of that time where non-majority religious subjects used to be excluded from high office in other multi-religious kingdoms like say the Ottoman empire or Safavid Persia or even Jews in Christian France or Spain. So it was not just Hindus who were “secular” even the Muslim rulers of pre-British India were by and large “secular.” The historians just wished to bring out this point which perhaps they thought helped in uniting the 2 biggest communities of independent India.
2. Where will this “liberal Muslim” arise from? Who amongst Muslims (or non-Muslims) would vote for such a person? Will he have the courage to tell Muslims that their religion needs to look inwards as well to reform? After having said that will he still continue to command the affection of the Muslim masses or will he be vulnerable to the Muslim right wing? Even so called educated Muslims like Asaduddin Owaisi do not seem to be urging Muslim Reformation and instead just encourage more identity politics and feeling of victimhood within the Muslim community. This makes me pessimistic as to the practical usefulness of your otherwise excellent advice.
Agree with your second point, disagree with the first.Let’s assume the premise of the first is valid – that is Muslim rulers employed non Muslims in high positions in the courts – when you compare with Ottomans and Safavids – the corresponding percentage of non Muslim population in their respective countries (now Turkey and Iran respectively) was miniscule compared to Muslims. So you’re not making an apples to apples comparison. Statistically speaking non Muslim representation in Muslim courts was even less than Muslim ministers in all of the BJP governments.
Also this is the only sensible comment I’ve seen so far in the comment board.
I am glad that at last a Muslim enlightened person admits sanitisation of Indian history of Muslim era, responsibility for partitioin of India on Muslims, unprincipled alliance of Muslims and Hindu liberals, to name some. But, is the majority Hindu community really bully? Are the minority Muslims really standing with their wall to be back as noted in the opening para? Look at vicious Delhi Riots and Bengaluru Riots, with clear links to extremists organisations. Well organised and well funded riots, hardly expression of spontaneous outrage. It is a case where the minority attacks the majority and cries like a victim. It is high time that this hypocricy is given up.
Calling these dynasty-crazed, corrupt and favour seeking crowd “liberals” is itself a travesty. Invent a better name to make the discussion understandable.
Very refreshing article. India needs more intellectually honest people like you.
No truer words could have been said in a long long time….It is time, some of the muslims and the liberaties are shown the mirror…..The muslims have to realize, nobody is going to throw them out of this country…this country belongs to them as much to others… their enemy is none other than themselves…they have to educate themselves, inform themselves…they themselves have to pull themselves up from the bootstraps…. nobody is going to do the lifting for them…i hope they have the wisdom to do so….
very brilliantly said. Even a moderate expression favoring minorities gets branded as liberalism in our country, which not true. Muslims claiming – they will be thrown out of the nation is a huge dramatic statement. Hope we all will balance this circus at some point in the history.
Very, very well put, my dear Sir!
For too long, they’ve been led up the garden path by psuedo secularists like the Cong.(I.).
If anything, the Modi Govt. has done more for them than the lip service offered by the Cong. (I.) during its long tenures.
Mr Kannan Unni M N: Clearly, you seem to be peering at the world through your saffron tinted glasses, completely oblivious to developments such as CAA, the construction of Nazi style internment camps in Assam, assertions by Amit Shah that Muslims – “termites” – to be thrown into the Bay of Bengal and other manifestations of Hindutva when you pontificate:
“.. muslims have to realize, nobody is going to throw them out of this country ..”
Well, the NRC process in Assam does precisely that. As The Economist of July 11, 2019 “India is declaring millions of its citizens to be foreigners” (ref: econ.st/34JDgx59) reveals, RSS & BJP sympathisers have to merely send a letter to the effect that any random Muslim person is a foreigner for this person to be treated as a foreigner. Thus even if you are an Indian Muslim and your name figures in the NRC i.e. you are an Indian citizen, a mere letter gets you thrown out of the list. For instance, the same name “Debajit Goswami“ has apparently sent out letters denouncing thousands of Muslims as foreigners. And the onus to prove citizenship is now vested with the accused, not the accuser. That is how fragile the position of the Indian Muslim in BJP run India is.
Get rid of your saffron tinted glasses Mr Kannan Unni M N !!
It is up to Muslims to join mainstream and reform their life-style to modern era by accepting equal rights & gender equality. The first step is championing uniform civil code for all and take leadership in progressive ideas and create Kamal Pasha Atatürk and marginalize Erdogan type Muslim leaders. Then they will find rapid acceptance in Indian society like Zoroastrians, Jews etc.
Mr Harry: Thanks for the response.
You suggest:
“.. Muslims to join mainstream and reform their life-style to modern era .. Then they will find rapid acceptance in Indian society ..”
Well Mohammad Akhlaq (RIP) led a normal life in Dadri in UP, had never harmed anyone and was a law-abiding man. His son Mohammad Sartaj was a corporal in the Indian Air Force, protecting people like you. That is a fairly mainstream life right ?
Did that prevent Akhlaq from getting lynched by a mob of BJP thugs Mr Harry ?
That is one case. How about 55 Hindus burnt alive by Muslim mob in Godhra? did you way prevented them from being burnt alive?
What about Muslim mobs burning alive 55 Hindus at Godhra?
Muslims are in catch-22 situation. This is because of opportunistic secularist Hindu. Secularist Hindus have no qualms about aligning with most regressive element of Muslim society. But if a progressive Muslim, ignored by secularist parties, aligns with BJP to promote his agenda of helping his community from clutches of regressive elements, same secularist parties will go for his blood claiming him as traitor to Muslim community. Good example is Arif Mohammed Khan,
Mr Harry: Thanks for the response.
Let me assume for a moment that some Muslims were responsible for the fire that resulted in 55 Hindus being burnt in the train. These persons then are the culprits that need to be caught and prosecuted in a court of law. No ifs and buts there.
But does that initial act of violence by some Muslims justify attacks on other Muslims who had utterly nothing to do with the first act of violence? But in your warped worldview Mr Harris, it is perfectly OK to attack innocent members of a given community merely because a few individuals from that community committed a crime.
Thus, according to you Mr Harris, it was perfectly OK to rape Ms Bilkis Bano, a pregnant Muslim lady fleeing the riots with her extended family. The mob that pounced upon Ms Bano took her 3 year old daughter away from her and smashed that child’s head on a rock, instantly killing the child in front of Ms Bano. And according to you Mr Harris, justice was served when Ms Bano’s mother and other womenfolk in her family were gang-raped and later killed by your dear friends from the RSS and the Bajrang Dal. And by extension, the killings of innocent Muslims in Naroda Patiya by Babu Bajrangi – presumably someone you admire – was also correct. After all Mr Harris, in your book, if one person commits a crime, then the entire community should pay.
Incidentally, that sort of punishment is called “collective punishment” and was widely used by the Nazis during World War 2. It is today prohibited in International Law – not that such niceties matter to people like you..
You say that the lynching of Akhlaq was a one-off event. Well, what about the lynchings of Junaid Khan, Pehlu Khan, Alimuddin Ansari, Sirabuddin Ansari, Zainul Ansari, Azhar Khan and many many others Mr Harris?
And then you had the murderous attacks and pogroms on innocent Sikhs in 1984 because Ms Gandhi was killed by 2 Sikh bodyguards. Was that justified as well Mr Harris?
The Godhra pogroms and the Sikh pogroms and the lynchings of Muslims in today’s Modistan have all been initiated and instigated by political parties and their surrogates. And when educated people like unquestioningly trust these rabble-rousing politicians and demagogues allow these thugs to control your thinking, well, you too will soon indulge in violence.
As the French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) said:
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”
Hindus paid back Muslims in their own coin. This is what Muslims did to non-Muslims in Punjab, Sindh and Bengal.
They got away with help of Taquiyyas like Nehru, who got PM ‘s position. Both India and Pakistan declared themselves secular in 1947. So treatment of non-Muslims in Pakistan should have been linked with treatment of Muslims in India. But Nehru with monkey like behavior did not do that so Hindus faced double loss. Ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Pakistan, while keeping fanatic Muslims in India.
To think that India Muslims in general , with few exceptions, believe in higher ideal like equality, democracy is nonsense. If they did they would have followed Atutrk and ask legislation to prohibit polygmy, triple talaq and Burkha like Atutrk did in Turkey , prohibiting niqab.
There are no large scale Hindu killings anywhere in India in21 century is only because of Gujarat riots. before that Hindus were kicked out of Pakistan, Kashmir and even some part of Bengal & Assam. Muslims seem to understand only language of force.
Mr Harry: You bray:
“.. Hindus paid back Muslims in their own coin ..”
As an adherent of the vile doctrine of collective punishment, you are digging your own grave Mr Harry. Let me apply apply your pathetic logic Mr Harry. When on one fine day someone from your community commits a crime, you are essentially saying that it would be OK if you get beaten up and killed and your womenfolk get raped.
Bravo !
I have read your few comments here, Mr. Harry. And based on their contents that consist of spouting hatred and prejudices against others, especially, Muslims, I am finding it extremely difficult now to place you in the progressive category, which you think where you belong to. You would do well, Mr Harry, to stop judging and classifying other people- they being regressive or progressive- and get back into the exercise of learning lessons on humanity and human values together with acquiring some good traits that would further the cause of a peaceful society, particularly in India, and the world over, in general.
“and get back into the exercise of learning lessons on humanity and human values”
Equal rights to both sex is central ideas for humanity. As person from India you should also learn the higher ideal of respecting the rights of animal life. What we need is to follow the higher ideal of living in symbiotic & harmonious relationships with all animals. Therefore we should educate people to move away from eating meat and sacrifice animals and replace that by slicing coconut or something like that symbolizing sacrifice.
MANKIND HAS TO LEARN TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH NATURE AND MOVE AWAY FROM SPECIESISM.
Mr Harry: Reading your bizarre response to Mr Murtada, one cannot but conclude that you are either drunk, or demented or perhaps both !
Once again, like the 4 legged creature you remind me of, you go on to bray:
“.. we should educate people to move away from eating meat and sacrifice animals ..”
Well Mr Harry, the vast majority of Indians are meat eaters and that includes Hindus. Beef is eaten by Hindus in Kerala, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur etc. Likewise Bengali Brahmins who are 100% vegetarian, nonetheless eat fish. Additionally, beef is a cheap source of protein for the poor, particularly Dalits. You want to deny these people their right to choose what they want to eat? Do you think that Indian soldiers fighting in the high altitudes of Siachen glacier can subsist on idli and sambar ?
You advise Mr Murtada to espouse:
“.. the higher ideal of respecting the rights of animal life. ..”
Now tell me Mr Harry, don’t you use leather belts, slippers, shoes, wallets etc.? Doesn’t your demand for leather not lead to slaughter of cows? See the hypocrisy in your stance Mr Harry?
Talking of leather, none other than the BJP and PM Modi promote the Leather Sector through their flagship Make in India scheme. Indeed, the website of Make in India, Leather (ref: bit.ly/3bkkQUY) sector brags:
– The Leather industry in India is an employment-focused industry, providing jobs to about 4.42 Mn people.
– India is the 2nd largest producer of footwear, 2nd largest exporter of Leather Garments, the 5th largest exporter of Leather Goods and 3rd Largest Exporter of Saddlery and Harness items.5
– huge domestic market in India: The domestic market is expected to reach USD 18 Bn by 2020.
So tell me Mr Harry, shouldn’t your beloved BJP not shut down this industry that provides work to about 4.42 million Indians and plunge the economy into an even steeper dive to the bottom? Although there might the slight inconvenience in that you might not get your leather shoes but then, you would have attained the
“.. the higher ideal of respecting the rights of animal life. ..”
Surely, that is what we need in Ram Rajya right Mr Harry ?
As a centric,this article deserves to be the best
I don’t remember such a balanced ,to the fact and honest analysis. Its liberals who has papmered and created a false facade and maliciously tried to segregate muslims from rest of the countrymen by making them exclusive. More you shield, more you alienates from rest.