Just read these statements and ask yourself honestly if you have not uttered any one of them:
“Some of my best friends are Muslims, but…”
“Muslims always support the Pakistani cricket team”
“There is no historical record of Muslim invaders destroying any temple in India”
“Muslims are being systematically and deliberately discriminated against by both the State and the society in India”
Each one of these misleading, prejudiced and dangerous statements reflects the troubled nature of a special relationship between Islam and India, a relationship that could well be destroyed by the twin forces of bigotry and victimhood. Muslims and Islam in India are always seen through eyes that have been blinded by either prejudice, or denial. This has prevented a dispassionate discourse and is threatening to destroy a dispassionate discourse between the two largest communities of India – Hindus and Muslims. The future of India is tied inextricably with the future of Islam in India and it is time for both Hindus and Muslims to shed the rotting baggage of prejudiced history and look inwards. Without this, Islam in India will have an even more troubled future and India will then have no future.
Let''s start with the first two statements. Both are so laughably prejudiced that it should be easy for citizens of a modern, functional democracy to dismiss them outright. But the problem is that India is not a functional democracy in the true sense. Politics in India is still all about identities – caste, ethnicity, region and religion – while politics in a true functional democracy is about fulfilling the aspirations of citizens. The biggest challenge is for both Hindus and Muslims to transcend the politics of identity. And mere education will not suffice – some of the most bigoted Hindus and Muslims I have met are highly educated. As India keeps getting hit by terror attacks, it will be easy for bigoted Hindus to propagate the first two statements. But, the good news is that an overwhelming majority of Hindus have never subscribed to such views and it is for Muslims to recognise this as a fact when so called protectors of ‘Muslim’ rights push them further into imagined and real ghettos.
The partition of India and the creation of Pakistan has done virtually irreparable damage to Muslims who opted to stay back in India. As Pakistan descends even further into a vortex of neo-fascist and neo-military jehad, things will become even more difficult for Muslims in India. But there is nothing much that either Hindus or Muslims of India can do with Pakistan. What they can do is reaffirm in small simple ways the idea of India being an open society where all religions have an equal status. The bigger role in this task has to be performed by Hindus. It is only through repeated ‘actions’ that Hindus and the Indian society can convince the Muslim that the very talk of Islam being in danger in India is ridiculous.
If the onus is on Hindus when it comes to the first two statements, it shifts to Muslims when it comes to the later two. Denial and victimhood are two dangerous diseases that Muslims have to cure, albeit with the help of Hindus and Indian society. Thanks to a particular breed of Marxist historians (many of whom viscerally hate the very idea of India as a nation), the history of Islam in India is propagated as a glorious example of co-existence. Sure, co-existence has been the leitmotif for a larger share of India’s relationship with Islam. But it would be foolish to deny that the relationship also involved conquest, plunder and destruction of temples. Sure Islam in India as reflected through the Sufi tradition is a glorious legacy. But also sordid is the destruction of temples. That is a fact; a historical fact. Muslims must acknowledge that and both Hindus and Muslims must acknowledge that such practices (Babri Masjid being a modern day shame) have no place in contemporary India.
But the most pernicious and dangerous disease that Muslims need to tackle is a sense of victimhood. That is what led to the creation of Pakistan and that is what could destroy the future of India – including the future of the 160 million Muslims who live in the country. Even a child in India knows that the organs of the Indian state – particularly the police – are cruel, oppressive and brazenly undemocratic. For most cops, religion is less important than the status of the person they target. The police routinely pick up poor suspects and give them third degree even in cases of minor theft. If community-wise data on victims of police torture were kept, I wouldn’t be surprised if more than 80 per cent were Hindus. That’s a fact. What both Hindu and Muslim Indians need is police reforms. Sure there have been cases where innocent Muslims have been arrested and tortured after a terror attack. But to jump to the conclusion that there is a planned and systematic conspiracy by the Indian society to discriminate against Muslims is false and ridiculous.
Both Muslims and Hindus in India need to look more at Indonesia and Malaysia rather than Pakistan and West Asia.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article“Some of my best friends are Muslims, but…”
“Muslims always support the Pakistani cricket team”
“There is no historical record of Muslim invaders destroying any temple in India”
“Muslims are being systematically and deliberately discriminated against by both the State and the society in India”
Each one of these misleading, prejudiced and dangerous statements reflects the troubled nature of a special relationship between Islam and India, a relationship that could well be destroyed by the twin forces of bigotry and victimhood. Muslims and Islam in India are always seen through eyes that have been blinded by either prejudice, or denial. This has prevented a dispassionate discourse and is threatening to destroy a dispassionate discourse between the two largest communities of India – Hindus and Muslims. The future of India is tied inextricably with the future of Islam in India and it is time for both Hindus and Muslims to shed the rotting baggage of prejudiced history and look inwards. Without this, Islam in India will have an even more troubled future and India will then have no future.
Let''s start with the first two statements. Both are so laughably prejudiced that it should be easy for citizens of a modern, functional democracy to dismiss them outright. But the problem is that India is not a functional democracy in the true sense. Politics in India is still all about identities – caste, ethnicity, region and religion – while politics in a true functional democracy is about fulfilling the aspirations of citizens. The biggest challenge is for both Hindus and Muslims to transcend the politics of identity. And mere education will not suffice – some of the most bigoted Hindus and Muslims I have met are highly educated. As India keeps getting hit by terror attacks, it will be easy for bigoted Hindus to propagate the first two statements. But, the good news is that an overwhelming majority of Hindus have never subscribed to such views and it is for Muslims to recognise this as a fact when so called protectors of ‘Muslim’ rights push them further into imagined and real ghettos.
The partition of India and the creation of Pakistan has done virtually irreparable damage to Muslims who opted to stay back in India. As Pakistan descends even further into a vortex of neo-fascist and neo-military jehad, things will become even more difficult for Muslims in India. But there is nothing much that either Hindus or Muslims of India can do with Pakistan. What they can do is reaffirm in small simple ways the idea of India being an open society where all religions have an equal status. The bigger role in this task has to be performed by Hindus. It is only through repeated ‘actions’ that Hindus and the Indian society can convince the Muslim that the very talk of Islam being in danger in India is ridiculous.
If the onus is on Hindus when it comes to the first two statements, it shifts to Muslims when it comes to the later two. Denial and victimhood are two dangerous diseases that Muslims have to cure, albeit with the help of Hindus and Indian society. Thanks to a particular breed of Marxist historians (many of whom viscerally hate the very idea of India as a nation), the history of Islam in India is propagated as a glorious example of co-existence. Sure, co-existence has been the leitmotif for a larger share of India’s relationship with Islam. But it would be foolish to deny that the relationship also involved conquest, plunder and destruction of temples. Sure Islam in India as reflected through the Sufi tradition is a glorious legacy. But also sordid is the destruction of temples. That is a fact; a historical fact. Muslims must acknowledge that and both Hindus and Muslims must acknowledge that such practices (Babri Masjid being a modern day shame) have no place in contemporary India.
But the most pernicious and dangerous disease that Muslims need to tackle is a sense of victimhood. That is what led to the creation of Pakistan and that is what could destroy the future of India – including the future of the 160 million Muslims who live in the country. Even a child in India knows that the organs of the Indian state – particularly the police – are cruel, oppressive and brazenly undemocratic. For most cops, religion is less important than the status of the person they target. The police routinely pick up poor suspects and give them third degree even in cases of minor theft. If community-wise data on victims of police torture were kept, I wouldn’t be surprised if more than 80 per cent were Hindus. That’s a fact. What both Hindu and Muslim Indians need is police reforms. Sure there have been cases where innocent Muslims have been arrested and tortured after a terror attack. But to jump to the conclusion that there is a planned and systematic conspiracy by the Indian society to discriminate against Muslims is false and ridiculous.
Both Muslims and Hindus in India need to look more at Indonesia and Malaysia rather than Pakistan and West Asia.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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