Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—India is passing through the most difficult phase in its history since 1947. Democracy and secularism in the country have come under a serious threat from radical elements in the majority community. Speculations are that the world’s biggest democracy might turn into fascism if not resisted forcefully now. While the masses have been badly hit by the anti-people policies of the government, life has been made extremely difficult for the minorities, particularly the Muslim community. To quote Delhi University professor Apoorvanand, India never faced such a grave situation in its 70 years of history since Independence as it faces now. “This is the most serious moment of Indian democracy,” DU professor opined while speaking at the opening of a two-day national convention on “Current Situation in the Country: Our Response” organized by the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) and attended by Muslim intellectuals, social activists, academicians, religious and political leaders from across 18 states. AIMMM is an umbrella body of Indian Muslims.
The observations of Prof. Apoorvanand carriy truth. If we look at the developments of the last few years in various states, particularly those under BJP rule as also those under the direct administrative control of the central government, we will find that a war has been unleashed against the Muslim community. “And this war has been declared by the State itself,” Prof. Apoorvanand alleged. “Shobha yatra”, or religious processions that were earlier used to glorify the Hindu religion, have become occasions to publicly terrorize and demonize Muslims, and the police and other state agencies just look the other way.
When a Muslim youth married an adult Hindu girl in Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh two months ago, his parental house and shops were bulldozed as a punishment for daring to marry a Hindu woman though it is permitted under the existing law. District collector Ratnakar Jha took pride in the illegal act of levelling the house and shops of the Muslim youth which he shared on social media through a tweet. BJP state chief ministers are publicly taking pride in removing loudspeakers from mosques and preventing Eid and Bakrid namaz on roads and public grounds. During February 2020 anti-Muslim riots in Delhi, Hindu mobs raised slogans “Delhi police tum danda chalao, hum tumhare saath hain”, appealing police to attack Muslims along with the mob.
On the pretext of Muslim women’s emancipation, Narendra Modi government criminalized triple talaq, creating immense problems for Muslim men as also the women. Modi government abrogated Article 370 in Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir to send a message that Muslims can’t now think of becoming chief minister in any state. Muslims all over the country are being harassed on the pretext of cow slaughter. Bangladeshi and Rohingya have become the code words to secretly target Muslims. Media is running day and night defamation campaign against Muslims. Hindu radical groups can enter Muslim houses and vandalize them with impunity. Courts don’t seem to give relief to Muslims. The idols in Babri Masjid in 1949 were installed surreptitiously in the darkness of night. While Supreme Court in its judgment accepted that demolition of the Babri Masjid was a crime, it strangely handed over the Babri Masjid land to the party of the accused involved in demolition. The situation has changed so much now that the status of Gyanvapi Masjid was altered in broad daylight and despite the matter being sub-judice in courts. New demands have been made to convert Shahi Idgah Masjid at Mathura and Delhi’s Qutub Minar into temples despite the existence of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991. The 1991 Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and to provide for maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. But this law is being openly flouted now.
While RSS is targeting Muslims and Christians to change the secular nature of the country, attempts are also being made to widen the gap between Hindus and Muslims so that the two communities cannot unite. The radicals with ulterior political motives feel that they cannot succeed in their evil designs if Muslims and Hindus, the two biggest religious communities, remain united. And hence, the “hate-Muslim” project is continuously going on.
A very serious situation has, therefore, developed in the country. These developments seem to have generated fear and hopelessness in the Muslim community because even the opposition parties are also silent on persecution and intimidation of Muslims. No political party wants to stand openly with the Muslim cause in the present political situation when there is an intense communal polarization. Opposition parties are scared that they may lose support of the majority community in elections if they identify themselves with the Muslim cause. No community can progress if it remains in a perpetual state of fear and despondency. Muslims find themselves in a catch-22 situation in India.
So, the big question before the community leaders and intellectuals is how to break this “chakravyuh” of fear and hopelessness, free the Muslims from the social and political isolation, change the situation for the better for the community and how to take the country out of the present situation? Though different speakers at AIMMM programme gave different suggestions, the best response came from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) President Syed Sadatullah Hussaini. He gave three suggestions. The primary recommendation was “to drive away the fear from among the Muslims and instill a sense of self-confidence and courage among them to peacefully resist the onslaught from the forces of violence.” Based on the Quranic teaching, he said that “it is Satan who creates fear and hence, Muslims need not be afraid of anyone.” The Muslims, he said, had faced a similar or even a worse situation in 1857 but they overcame it 160 years ago through sheer courage and conviction of their faith.
Stating that this conflict may sometimes escalate or even diminish, he said that the most significant thing was to take the community out of this state of affairs. “If we live in fear, even a small thing can create awe and fear,” he pointed out.
But how to remove fear and develop self-confidence to resist the ongoing persecution? The JIH president advised to develop the habit of “isteqamat” or perseverance as suggested in the Quran which means to make efforts despite difficulties and continue doing it till the end even if the task is very hard. However, he said that this could be achieved only by practicing Imaan and following the Islamic principles.
In his Eid message a few weeks ago, the JIH chief had said that “awe and fear are the anti-thesis of Imaan. A Muslim neither accepts fear nor is disappointed from the circumstances around him because fear and despondency, according to Quran, are the ploy of Shaitan. The biggest enemy of Muslims are the elements of fear and disappointment. Those who are targeting Muslims, want them to develop fear-psychosis among them, make them despondent and lose hope. Unfortunately, some Muslims are also deliberately or indeliberately engaged in developing fear and disappointment in the community. The biggest cause of annihilation of a community is fear and loss of hope. Difficult times are always short-lived. Today, the time may be difficult for us. But this will certainly change for the better afterwards. But, if hopelessness and fear get embedded in our general psyche, it will leave a long-lasting negative impact on the entire society. It will snatch away the excitement and enthusiasm of life and make us dull and lethargic.”
“We must, therefore, launch a nationwide drive to remove fear and disappointment from the mind of the community,” he suggested.
The second recommendation the JIH chief made was “to win over the members of the majority community because he felt that only a small group had hijacked the entire nation.”
“We must tell the people that these fringe elements are taking the country on a very dangerous path and they need to be defeated,” he opined.
He said that AIMMM was formed decades ago when the country faced similar situations. At that time, Muslim leaders under the banner of AIMMM toured various parts of the country, met Muslims and Hindus that resulted in improvement of the situation. “A similar campaign needs to be launched now as well to create awareness among people about the dangers of the activities of the fringe elements and make an appeal for unity and harmony in the society,” he told the audience.
The third proposal given by him was establishing unity among various Muslim organizations and schools of thought on common issues and hold a meeting at least once a week to find out how to face the situation before the community. “Only such an initiative will give hope to the Muslim community and also send a message to the powers-that-be in the country,” he asserted.
AIMMM president Navaid Hamid said that despondency could not be allowed among Muslims in India. “The future of Muslims is the future of India. If you harass Muslims, you are enemy of the nation,” he said in his conclusion speech.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Yasin Usmani also expressed the need to remove fear and disappointment from among Muslims.
Others who spoke included Tauqeer Raza Khan, Welfare Party of India presideent Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas and BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali.
