Recent events that have shown albeit inconclusively the links of Indian educated doctors to a botched attempt to blow up public sites in the UK have thrown Indians all over the world into a state of denial. The response of the intellectual elite in all the countries has been to state that these are the actions of a fringe group in Islam rather than the views held by the majority. I would like to explore in some depth if our attempts to add such a spin to events is facile.
It has become the standard response of Indians as well as others in the world to react to such incidents with the same nonchalance as any other. Whether it is Hindus desecrating mosques or Muslims joining the Global Jihad, our response has been that it is the fanatical few that are bringing disrepute to the overwhelming majority. Is this really true or do we want to stay in this state of suspended disbelief for ever? None of these events would have happened in a vigilant and aware civil society.
To brush these things under the carpet by saying that these are exceptions rather than the rule brings us to a more fundamental question? Why is it that these exceptions are not caught by the civil society or the law enforcing agencies early enough in India? Is it because we will be accused of prejudice if we act fairly? Is it because our views on religion transcend the views that we hold about our country? These seem to be some of the arguments that educated Muslims seem to be putting forward to justify these actions. I cannot still understand why Muslims in India should feel a deep sense of injustice towards what is happening in Chechnya? If they interpret this as a massacre of Muslims then what should be said about the nerve gassing of Shias and Kurds by Saddam-a Muslim himself? Are we so naive that we believe this so called theory of a global conspiracy against a community?
It has become the standard response of Indians as well as others in the world to react to such incidents with the same nonchalance as any other. Whether it is Hindus desecrating mosques or Muslims joining the Global Jihad, our response has been that it is the fanatical few that are bringing disrepute to the overwhelming majority. Is this really true or do we want to stay in this state of suspended disbelief for ever? None of these events would have happened in a vigilant and aware civil society.
To brush these things under the carpet by saying that these are exceptions rather than the rule brings us to a more fundamental question? Why is it that these exceptions are not caught by the civil society or the law enforcing agencies early enough in India? Is it because we will be accused of prejudice if we act fairly? Is it because our views on religion transcend the views that we hold about our country? These seem to be some of the arguments that educated Muslims seem to be putting forward to justify these actions. I cannot still understand why Muslims in India should feel a deep sense of injustice towards what is happening in Chechnya? If they interpret this as a massacre of Muslims then what should be said about the nerve gassing of Shias and Kurds by Saddam-a Muslim himself? Are we so naive that we believe this so called theory of a global conspiracy against a community?
The only solution to prevent such problems from occurring in the future is to encourage a tolerant and aware yet vigilant civil society. None of these events could have happened without atleast a few of us in the know. Unless we stand up and confront these deep seated prejudices, we will only be saying the same thing for ever. Let us change so that we can prevent a repeat of the bombings that took place in Mumbai?
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