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INDIAN MUSLIMS - AN OPPRESSED
MINORITY
By Abdul Haq
India has a unique
experience of Muslim minority. A dominant minority in the medieval
period became a dominated minority, all of a sudden with the advent
of British rule in India. This sudden change resulted into complex
problems. Partition of sub-continent in Aug 47 converted the Muslim
community of India into ‘Pakistani Muslims’ and ‘Indian Muslims’.
This was a great shock as far as Indian Muslims are concerned. The
rulers of Yesterday, now had to live under the ‘Hindu rule’. Fifty
years having passed, the Muslims who opted to stay in India are
still getting a raw deal in every sphere of life. They are still
drowned in the scourge of poverty and backwardness. They continue
fighting the ever-hunting spectra of communal riots and threats to
their religious and cultural identity. The sense of insecurity
experienced by the Indian Muslims in the post partition period has
been compounded in recent years by the state repression and
terrorism under the ‘draconian’, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities
(Prevention) Act (TADA). Under this act 7,9332 people, mostly
Muslims were detained and tortured during 1990-95 across the
country. Though the Act has been repealed, yet about 5000 persons,
mostly Muslims, are still in jails.
Hinduism and Islam.
Dr Balraj Madhok,
former Professor of history at Delhi University while explaining the
term ‘Hindu’ said, "Everyone living in India is a Hindu. Hinduism is
no religion, it is the name of a civilization (Tahzib), a way of
life." He further said that, "Whereas his (Madhok’s) nationality is
Hindu, his (Madhok’s) religion is Vedic Dharmi". While giving an
interview to ‘New York Times’ correspondent at Delhi in 1966, he
said, "In this country we have never insisted on religious
conformity and we are not going to start now. However, one thing we
do insist on, is that Muslims become Indians. They can worship as
they like, but they must adopt this country’s customs as their
customs." What all it means for Muslims is that Hinduism is not so
much a religion as it is a way of life. It prescribes not only how a
man must pray, but also how he must eat, dress, converse, work and
die. On the other hand Islam is much more than this. While asking a
Muslim to give up all but his mosque and adopt the Indian way of
life, is virtually demanding that he should give up Islam and become
Hindu. Nobody can dispute that the Muslims have individually and
collectively the duty and responsibility to mould their personal and
social lives in accordance with the dictates of Islam, which is a
perfect way of life, better than any religion in the world.
Birth of Hindu Revivalism.
The Hindu
reformers of the 19th century were the pioneers of Hindu
renaissance. foremost among them was Raja Rammohan Roy (1772-1833)
the founder of Brahmo Samaj, which represented the first throb of
modernism in Hinduism. A great admirer of Muslim thought, he had
been deeply influenced by his study of Islamic works (including
Quran) and by Sufism. Yet at heart he was a staunch Hindu. His
deepest yearnings were to turn the Hindus back to the Vedas. He was
thus one of the founders of modern Hindu nationalism. The message of
Rammohan Roy was carried further by Dayananda-Saraswati, a Gujrati
Brahman (1824-1883), who openly raised the slogan ‘India for the
Hindus.’ According to him, Hinduism was to be the sole religion of
the sub-continent, and the Hindus its sole masters. The Muslims were
foreigners and must be pushed out. He devised a new weapon to fight
the Muslims. It was the weapon of ‘Shuddhi’ or individual conversion
of Muslims to Hindu faith. After the partition of India in Aug 47,
thousands of Muslims were butchered cold blooded and forced to leave
India. Since then, Hindu militant Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena and
other militant Hindu organizations are of the opinion that Muslims
have their own homeland in the shape of Pakistan (though they do not
accept it from their hearts), therefore they have no right to live
in India.
Alienation of Muslims.
In terms of
numbers, the Muslims are only next to the Hindus, totaling 95.2
million (1991 census) and constituting about 12 percent of the
population, yet they are considered by the Hindus even less
important than the Jains and Buddhists who are only 0.43 and 0.41
percent of the population respectively (1991 census). A prominent
Hindu writer S. Harrison admits that the dominant note in the Hindu
attitude towards Muslim today is that, "Hindus have a natural right
to rule in modern India as a form of long overdue retribution for
the sins of the Mughal overlords. It is not enough that unified
state with a Hindu majority, clearly dominant over a Muslim minority
now reduced to 12 percent, has been established at long last in the
Indian sub-continent. The fulfillment of Indian nationalism requires
an assertion of Hindu hegemony over the Muslims of the subcontinent
in one form or the other." The cumulative outcome of all this is
that according to Jai Prakash Narayan, "The Muslim population has
been so much cowed and demoralized that they are not acting
according to their convictions. They are afraid that if they
expressed their real feelings, their loyalty will be suspected."
Interference in Muslim Religion.
Apart from being
made to suffer a host of disabilities, political, cultural and
economic; the Indian Muslims have often been subjected to a campaign
of interference with their religion as well. It usually takes the
form of slanderous attacks on Islam made in school text books, or in
the press, desecration of mosques and shrines, or deliberate
incitement of feelings of religious hatred against the Muslims. In
most of the Hindu dominated Indian states, Hindu religious beliefs,
philosophy and methodology have been introduced into the text books
in the name of Indian culture. This is to an extent that a glance
through the officially prescribed school text books leaves an
impression that those responsible for them regard India (a multi
religious country) as the home of Brahmans and attach value only to
their deities, temples, religious customs and practices.
Adverse propaganda against Islam.
The books dealing
with the heritage of India exclusively enumerate Hindu heritage and
gloss over everything Muslim. The Muslim heroes in medieval Indian
history have been treated as ‘aliens’ and ‘strangers’, the book
‘Hamara Purwaj’ prescribed for classes VI, VII and VIII in the state
of Uttar Pradesh is an instance of such unfair treatment. A text
book on history approved by Bihar State Government entitled ‘Gayania
Uday Basic Itihas’ carries an alleged picture of the Holy Prophet
under the caption ‘Eishwar Ke Peghamber-Hazrat Mohammad.’ The author
makes the statement that the Quran was written by the Prophet
himself. It is not only contrary to the Muslim belief but also an
adverse propaganda against Islam. The book also makes indecent
remarks about Hazrat Khadija, one of the Prophet’s wives. In
Rajasthan as well, text book prescribed in Schools contain
derogatory references against the Holy Prophet. The Director of
education Rajasthan, issued instructions to authors to see, "That
lessons in India and other subjects deal with the importance of cow
at all stages in a suitable manner." The content of prayers recited
in state schools is also very objectionable, grossly violating the
constitutional guarantee of religious freedom so far as Muslims are
concerned.
Desecration of Mosques and Shrines.
Countless
incidents can be cited of the desecration of mosques by the Hindu
communalists during the last few decades. In 1961, the Indian
Rehabilitation Minister made the claim that all the mosques and
graveyards had been resorted to the Muslims. Refuting this
statement, Maulana Hifzur Rahman produced a long list of mosques and
graveyards not restored to the Muslims but had been auctioned by the
Rehabilitation department. Some of the names of mosques and shrines
mentioned in the list are Masjid Qazi Serai (near Thana Mehrauli),
Masjid Begampur Khurd (near Kalu Serai), Masjid Chuna Mandi, Masjid
Mantola Pahrargang (Delhi), Masjid Qabrastan Golebazar, (Thana
Reading road, Delhi), Masjid Thana Civil Lines Delhi.Qabrastan
village Ladha Serai, Mehrauli, Qabrastan near Dargah Hazrat Khwaja
Qutbuddin), Qabrastan behind Thana corporation office, (Mehrauli),
Qabrastan East of Eidgah, (Mehrauli), Qabrastan Gurgaon road,
Qabrastan Gole Market, Thana Reading Road, (Delhi), and Qabrastan
Motia Khan, Pahargang (Delhi).
Tragedy of Babri Mosque.
The 16th century
historic Babri mosque was razed to ground by thousands of Hindu
fanatics in Ayodhya, (UP) on 16th Dec 92. According to Indian media
reports, the Hindu Zealots and India’s one of the largest Hindu
fundamentalist political party BJP are again threatening to build a
grand temple on the rubble of this mosque. Hindu fundamentalists
openly announce that they would, "Purify India of Muslim remnants."
It was during 1949 when Babri Masjid was first raided. A group of
vandals entered the mosque and placed the idol of Ramlallah. The
successive Indian governments patronized the Hindu fundamentalists
under different garbs, which ultimately turned into an
uncontrollable demon.
Responsibility of the tragedy
It is an
established fact that the government of India did not take any
action to disperse the mob despite the fact that it was aware of the
heinous designs of the unholy gathering. Instead of saving the
mosque from destruction a number of government officials were
reported to have watched the scene gleefully, inciting the mob to
deliver a final blow to bring down the structure. The reluctance of
government to either call in the army or Central Reserve Police to
protect the mosque, spoke of understanding between Shiv Sena and the
Union government of the Congress. Reports indicated that the assault
on the mosque was effectively abetted by the guards. An Indian
journalist Yuvraj Mohite, while recording his statement in the court
of Mumbai said, "Bal Thackeray, founder of Shiva Sena ordered the
massacre in Dec 1992 after the demolition of Babri Mosque. The
double-dealing Congress Ministry of the then Prime Minister
Narasimha Rao at the centre did almost nothing to Prevent the
destruction of 450 years old Babri Mosque by the BJP-VHP and other
anti Muslim elements". ‘The Statesman’ of new Delhi (2 Dec 92)
reported, "The VHP and Bajrang dal cadres were taught demolition
methods by a retired Brig of the Indian Army in a month long
training camp in a Hindu village in Gujarat State and that the State
government had full Knowledge of it". Some Indian Newspapers
reported that India’s intelligence agencies had informed Narasimha
Rao government’s Home Ministry about the specially trained squads
raised by the BJP and VHP cohorts to destroy the mosque but the then
Home Minister, Chavan, showed utter indifference and hypocrisy.
BJP vs. Indian Muslims.
The Upsurge of
Hindu fundamentalism in the states under the BJP’s rule, Rajasthan,
Haryana, East Punjab and Delhi has been a source of serious concern
to the Muslim minority there. But the resurrection of the BJP’s rule
over Utter Pradesh, India’s most populous state with a sizable
Muslim community, since late Sep this year has sent a shiver of
apprehensions among the Muslim minority. As the top ranking BJP
leader and the man behind the tragedy of Babri Mosque, Kalyan Singh
is now again in power in this state. The hard line Chief Minister of
Maharashtra, Manohar Joshi, a member of the BJP’s ruling echelon,
punished the state government secretary for cultural affairs, Govind
Swaroop, a broadminded civil servant, for including Mr. Jinnah
(Quaid-e-Azam) in a list of India’s freedom fighters for a TV
documentary film and for ranking him with Mr.Gandhi and Nehru in the
fight against the British. Shiv Sena, is a Nazi style communal
outfit so intense in its hatred towards Muslims that its fascist
guru, Bal Thackeray, forbade the Pakistani cricket team from playing
in its power base city of Mumbai a few years ago. In order to
promote the Hindutva brand of militant Hindu fundamentalism, the BJP
led state government of Rajasthan organized a massive celebration on
18 Jun 97 of the 421st anniversary of the ‘Battle of Haldighat’ to
honour Maharana pratab as a Hindu hero for his war against Akbar,
the Mughal emperor. An Indian Hindu journalist, C.P Bhambhri, in New
Delhi’s ‘Hindustan Times’ of 31 Jul 97 comments, "The BJP, RSS, VHP
and other allied organisations, without any shadow of doubts are
using the culture and history of India to Promote the concept of a
Hindu nation which was a victim of Muslim rulers and their purpose
is to consolidate Hinduism around a specific religious ethos
selectively chosen by political leaders" .He further writes that
"The BJP hate list of Muslims continues to unify the Hindus against
their religious enemy as revealed by Indian history, the BJP will
like to re-write the constitution for establishing a strong Hindu
state".
Replacement of Muslim names by Hindus’.
The Maharashtra
government’s hostility to Muslims under the BJP- Shiv Sena ministry
has been so blatant in recent years that the old towns bearing
Muslim names are being systematically given Hindu colour. The
historic city of Aurangabad, once ruled by Muslims has been named as
‘Sambhajinagar’ to honour the family of the anti Mughal Shivaji.
Similarly a very old city of Osmanabad is being given a Hindu name.
Eliminating the Muslim names of many other towns is on the Shiv
Sena’s agenda.
Discrimination against Muslim community in services:
According to 1991
nationwide census., Muslims constitute 12.60 percent of the total
Indian population. However, the representation of Muslims in the
parliament, state legislatures, administrative services, armed
forces, police and para military forces, educational institutions
and the private and public sectors is far below their proportion.
The percentage of the Muslims in the civil and foreign services is
less than a quarter of their population. According to a white paper,
prepared by All India Milli council (AIMC) and presented to Prime
Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, on the performance of Indian Union
during last 50 years, there were only 116 Muslims out of a total of
3883 administrative officers (2.98%), 45 out of 1433 police service
officers (3.14%) and 57 out of 2159 foreign service officers
(2.64%). In central government, Muslims constitute 1.6% of all class
I officers, 3.9% of all class II officers and 4.4% of the technical
supervisory staff. According to an official report prepared by Dr.
Gopal Singh Committee, there is a marked disparity between Hindus
and Muslims in economic, social and educational field. The
committee’s report based on a sample survey of 80 districts across
the country, found that there were only 92 Muslims out of 2698
students in Engineering colleges. The number of Muslim students in
the MBBS course in 8 universities of eight states was only 98 out of
2895.
Conclusion
The Muslims of
India are in a state of dilemma, whether to accept humility in the
form of Indian nationalism (based on secular ideas) or to preserve
their Muslim identity. They have to rationalise whether by accepting
the secular nationalism they will be given equal status like Hindus
or will they remain aliens as they are. The Hindu desire to absorb
the Muslims into Hinduism through Indian nationalism still persists.
They have already done this with Jainism and Budhism and they are
working on other communities living in India as well.
MODERN MUSLIMS AGENDA
By ZAFAR JUNG
EQUALITY, justice and dignity form the bedrock on which the Indian
constitution rests and from which the concept of democracy flows.
Unfortunately, today, there is increasing evidence of bias and
injustice against the minorities in this country. Even as the rest
of the world makes rapid progress in science and technology, we
Indians continue to fight over issues like personal laws, language
and religion. Though facts prove this to be untrue, a myth has been
successfully created about Muslim appeasement.
Census figures
place Muslim population at 14 per cent. It will be worthwhile to
examine the gradual drop in Muslim share in government jobs,
representation in Parliament and state assemblies etc. The plight of
Muslims today is a matter of great concern and anguish for all
Indians. No country can progress till all segments of its population
prosper and lead a life of dignity and this is true as much for the
majority Hindus as the minority Muslims and Christians. Ironically,
the minorities are at the receiving end of a campaign launched by
people who claim to speak on behalf of a religion that was once the
torch-bearer of spiritualism. What can the minority communities do
in the face of these attacks? As a first step, a dialogue could
begin between the non-political leaders of the minorities.
The Muslim who
chose to stay back in India post-Partition is as much Indian as
anyone else. His belief in secularism is as firm as his faith in the
Constitution of the land. Noted Islamic Scholar and thinker Maulana
Ali Mian has been at pains to reiterate his faith in secularism,
democracy and non-violence. Unfortunately, the sangh parivar,
instead of respecting this position, has been projecting
non-descript Muslim clergy to garner support for its larger Hindu
agenda. Such gimmicks can only further lower the prestige of the
country at a time its image has already taken a downturn. Not to
speak of the negative impressions in the West, even the NRIs seem
disinclined to invest here in the current climate.
Modern Muslim Mind
It is a pity,
then, that the Muslims are falling into the trap of the sangh
parivar. The call to withdraw Muslim wards from government schools
in Uttar Pradesh following the Saraswati Vandana controversy was
avoidable. Muslims must realise that piety includes prayer (to allah)
as well as knowledge. The most pious Muslims have also been the most
knowledgeable; so the quest for truth via piety/and or knowledge,
revelation or science, remains the highest bliss for a Muslim. Thus
a Muslim should regard science as integral to Islam and equivalent
to piety. In the Holy Qur`an, Allah commands: "Allah changes not
what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves.
Further, "Your knowledge is not complete until you have acted upon
it."
Education and
knowledge will open new vistas for the community's development.
Economic pursuit and progress have been encouraged in Islam. While
the country has witnessed development in education and economic
fields, Muslims as a community have not attained desired results. If
a survey is to be believed then at least four out of five Muslim
women are illiterate which, needless to say, calls for urgent,
serious and concerted efforts. The hurdles that lie in the way of
our education should be removed, starting with meeting requirements
at the primary level. Primary education is the vital first step in
shaping the personality of the child to enable him to stand on his
feet. This would, of course, mean reforming Madrasa education and
imparting special training to teachers so that they can be the
architect of the modern Muslim mind.
Nation Partitioned
It is unfortunate
that Muslims are not included in national literacy programmes. I
would, in these circumstances, strongly advocate the constitution of
committee of Ulema and non-political leaders of Muslims so that they
can dispassionately suggest immediate solutions to these problems.
The government, for its part, should also introspect official
shortcomings in the area of Muslim development, though it is
doubtful if the present dispensation will rise to the occasion.
There is no time
to lose. The politics of communalism saw the nation partitioned. We
cannot afford to have that happen again. To believe that 140 million
Muslims or 12 Million Christians can be beaten into submission is to
believe in the impossible.
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