Dear Mr. Kulkarni,
Your recent two articles in The Indian Express (27th May and 3rd June) came as a breath of fresh air coming from someone from inside BJP and someone who has worked closely with the two topmost leaders – Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani. It would be a great achievement if a sincere dialog could be opened between the Muslim community and the BJP.
The pre-requisite of a sincere dialog is to lend an ear to the other party completely. It cannot be done by stretching a friendly hand at one end but acting in a completely different way at the other end. I writing as an Indian Muslim can put together some of my thoughts about the most fundamental reasons of the Muslims wariness with the BJP. And they add towards the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity. These are very relevant questions because they take us to the heart of the animosities that lurk in our subconsciousness.
The difference between BJP and other parties is the large dose of pedagogy that comes with it. The Indian Muslim wants to be accepted as he is. We don’t want pedagogical lessons in civilization. That is the departure point. Other political parties talk with Muslims on as what we are. On the contrary BJP or the wider Sangh Parivar is ready to question every element of it; culture, history, belief, social codes, culinary habits, and sometimes even the presence in the country. Needless to say the whole community feels threatened or at least uncomfortable.
When Mr. Golwalkar or anyone from the Sangh Parivar talked about accepting Muslims as a part of India it needs some further analysis. More than once it has been clear that what was meant. Many from within the Sangh Parivar – most notably the RSS Chief and the BJP Chief – have called for assimilation of Indian Muslims. That is a call for assimilation and not integration. There is a sea of difference between these two terms. For the RSS and the BJP it has meant asking the Muslims to become ‘Muhammadi Hindus’ considering Ram as their Hero and picking up the various threads of the Hindu culture. The Muslims very correctly take this as disrespect to them.
As you have very well written in your first article about the Indian Islam you would be well aware that the Indian Muslim culture is distinct in its language, cuisine, dress, music, art, social codes from the other Muslim cultures (Arab, African, Far Eastern, etc). It is in essence an Indian culture but which is not exactly a Hindu culture. By making a call to become ‘Muhammadi Hindus’ we feel disrespect to this rich heritage of ours.
Similarly the Muslims are obliged by their religion to respect Ram and Krishna (which I admit many do not do). It is further supported by the Quranic verse that to every nation Messengers were sent and by the Prophetic saying that there were more than a hundred thousand Messengers in the history of mankind. The corollary of which is that there have been thousands in India itself. The Muslims due to their religion are obliged to respect Ram and Krishna as there is a huge possibility of them being Messengers from the Islamic point of view. We accept Jesus Christ as a Messenger and respect him but we take Prophet Muhammad as our role model. We need to acknowledge these belief boundaries and not push a personal belief in the throat of others as a pre-requisite for integration.
At the same time the Muslims need to acknowledge the rich heritage of the Sanskrit language, the beauty of Yoga and the Ayurvedic medicine which is a common heritage of India. Belittling any of these is more out of ignorance than anything else. In the past the Muslims have worked as the interface between India and Europe to collect, sift and pass such critical knowledge as the numerical system and zero which is the pre-requisite tool for all modern scientific advancement. Those were the times when they were more self assured which is not the case now as they feel threatened by anti-Muslim rhetoric from all ends.
The second is this notion about Muslims coming from outside India. When this assumption is made then even the presence of Muslims in this country is taken by the most extreme elements as a favour. The fact, as you would be well aware, is that more than 90% of the Muslims in India are of the Aryan or Dravidian stock. Their ancestory has been for thousands of years. The only difference is that at different points in time many of their ancestors started following Islam. They have a birthright to live in India on equal terms without anyone considering it as a favour. In the modern context it is often a shame to hear such things where people are migrating to various countries and taking the citizenship of those countries calling it their own. On the contrary the Muslims having ancestry of thousands of years in this country are questioned on their patriotism and their belonging.
I agree with the thought that those Muslims who are more concerned for other countries than India and above India deserve to be criticized vehemently. But on the same hand we need to accept that being co-religionists Muslims will be concerned for other Muslims in the world. For Hindus this issue does not arise as Hinduism is rooted within India.
The third is the question of anything Muslim being considered foreign. The rule by the Muslim rulers in the past is often termed as ‘foreign rule’. Just as an example the Mughals ruled for 325 years. This period is longer than the existence of United States as a country. Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan, Aurangzeb and all the later rulers were born and died in India. The mothers of Jahangir and Shahjahan were Hindus. They never exploited the economy to take the wealth out of India as the British did. We can question the use of the wealth. We can understand if one criticizes some of these rulers as unjust or harsh. But so were many of the Hindu rulers too. But how in the world can they be termed as foreign? This clearly differentiates from the many hordes that came to loot and run away like Mohammad Ghori, Nadir Shah or Timur Lane. I have no qualms in calling the later as foreigners attacking India.
It is these questions which are lurking in the subconscious that often get inflamated and result in inter-communal acts. These result in discrimination and security issues.
In the past some Muslims subscribed to a theory that Muslims may be most safe in a BJP rule. The assumption was that many of the Hindutva issues are raised just for political ends and once BJP comes to power it will not let law and order to break. That myth was gloriously broken during the Gujarat 2002 violence when the Modi administration abetted the violence rather than stopping it.
The most recent act has been the anti-Muslim CD in the UP polls. The fact that while the BJP leadership was washing its hands from the CD at the ‘official’ level, at the other hand in the public talks some leaders were accepting it in an undertone.
In your resignation letter to the BJP President you wrote “The party must make concerted and principled attempts to reach out to Indian Muslims. The fear that this would displease our ‘core voters’ is misplaced. In any case, isn’t it our duty to change the mindset of our ‘core voters’? We may not get substantial Muslim support, but our sincere and sustained effort itself will make a winning difference.” I can assure you that if the RSS and BJP take a sincere effort in tackling these questions and remove anti-Muslim rhetoric not only from their tongues but also from their hearts, BJP will actually get substantial Muslim support.
I look forward to more of your articles on the subject. It would be a watershed in the history of this nation if the core of RSS and BJP ‘heart’ gets transformed to your heart. It is only with mutual respect and love that we can avoid social problems and join together to take the country forward. Its a tall call. But, InshaAllah!
Sincerely,
Mirza Faisal Beg
1con, yoga should be done under the guidance of a capable and experienced teacher only, and some pranayam exercises are not advised for beginners – I didn’t learn pranayam till I’d been practicing asanas for almost a year, as pranayam techniques are quite powerful and need to be practiced carefully. I don’t know what your particular situation was and how you hurt yourself, but it is quite possible to injure oneself if there’s no proper teacher, or if someone is over-enthusiastic, or doesn’t practice properly.
I have only had positive experience with yoga and I was lucky enough to get an experienced and caring teacher. So, it’s no tall claim – all speaking from personal experience.
As for the scientific proof, when you can give me scientific proof of the phenomenon of love, I’ll give you one for how yoga can help attain a state of mind that I mentioned above. It’s a bit like swimming – no amount of reading scientific theory and books on swimming techniques can make you learn how to swim. You have to get into the water and try it yourself, and it may take a while, so patience is necessary.
If someone nearly drowns while learning to swim, it’s not the fault of swimming per se.
I’d encourage you to find an experienced teacher with good repute and give it another try – do some research on which school of yoga is good and best suited for you. And yes, if you are one of those logical, rational kind who is always looking for scientific proof first and a double-blind study, yoga may not be for you. Not everyone who practices yoga will get the exact same results – it doesn’t work that way.
Amit,
Points largely taken, however I am of the belief that Yoga largely does for you what any other aerobic physical exercise does. It could also well be that certain asans & pranayams may have other bodily benefits. But the basic principle is that of a sound mind in a sound body, isn’t it?
Sahil,
A couple of points:
- hindutva has been on display on Valentine’s Day, in Gujarat, Orissa & Karnataka. Is that “loyalty to India” on display? Or loyalty to their idea of India on display? The Nazis also claimed to be nationalists! Come off it dude!
- The “inventor” of hindutva, the not so veer sarvarkar, was also a supporter of the 2 nation theory. That puts him on par with the pakistani radical thinkers.
I don’t think hindutva has managed to influence me, so I think there is an equally minimal chance of pakistani or talibani thought influencing me. They’ve always looked wrong to me & to the generations before me and God willing, to the generations after me.
- I’ve met quite a few of the sangh supporters too. Some of them have been nice, even some of their leaders from the past had insisted upon equal treatment to all communities. They chose to go against what their leaders said. That is representative of either one extremist faction being stronger or total disregard for what their leader once said.
Some of them on the other hand are obsessed with “the threat that non-Hindu communities pose to their very existence”! They’re xenophobic, they’re Islamophobic, they’re Christianophobic & they’re conversion-phobic. Face it, they’re of extremist thought & mindset!
- At best what you’re suggesting is a political divide. The moderate bjp voice is with the bjp only because he doesn’t want to align himself with the Congress. This anti-Congress feeling is probably the reason why you will find some (not all) moderates attached to the bjp. The mistake they’re making is not recoginizing the origins & real face of hindutva, and the bjp’s continued association with it. As Milind pointed out, the point you were right at was when you suggested a distancing. Now that you notice an unwillingness to distance, would you still say that their intentions are honourable?
Would you call the “gujarat experiment” being repeated in Orissa & Karnataka, honourable intent?
Do you still think anyone should work alongside them???
Please remember that even Gandhiji sidelined the extremists in the party because he knew that they would prove detrimental to our freedom movement.
At one level, this movement may also be to regain that lost ground.
- The thing to do as you say is to make them understand. That can happen without working alongside them. Engaging them in dialogue, yes. I am all for that, but to fraternize with them will send out the message that they are right, that their past sins are right. THAT one cannot do. That is equivalent to hanging godse’s potrait on the wall in parliment one day, saying “He had a point!”
- pakistan again? Let’s not go there. The Muslims in India didn’t go there. They stayed back here & had that legacy handed down to them from their forefathers. Only the very illiterate believe that Islam & pakistan are the same thing! Just like only the very illiterate (or the very bigoted) believe that Hinduism & loyalty to India are the same thing!!! What utter balderdash!
- I am personally not at all afraid of being perceived as anti-national by a bunch of facist killers & goons. They’re unimportant to me. I will oppose them tooth & nail. It is opposing them that has kept our country safe from what it could become otherwise. I think the real danger lies in us becoming a religious state of any sort. All religious states face challenges in the international community. If that is to be avoided, we must sideline the bjp & it’s agenda actively! That’s what Gandhiji would’ve done!
- The “some” you speak of need to be talked to, dialogue, explainations, facts unmisrepresented need to be given to them. I’m sure you know that they’re the victims of active propaganda. Don’t tell me that you’re not aware that the rss has been teaching “alternative history” in their schools (much like the pakistan you keep bringing up). HOW THEN, are you still saying that there is a need to work alongside them? The only need I see is to spread awareness about what they’ve been trying for the last 60 years: to undermine India, Her Constitution, Her thought processes & ideals.
- Ever ask yourself why they’re so opposed to Gandhi?
Sahil,
Also, please read this:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne171107STRANDEDWHEELS.asp
Please read the last one, on Ahmedabad, 1969. India’s version of Summer of ’69, huh?
Iconoclast, I am never a supporter of any political party as everyone ultimately is here for politics. The issue is to understand where RSS is coming from and without understanding the cause symptoms will never be cured. I am an Indian and a Muslim and I proudly display both my identities. I 100% agree that being Hindu may not be guarantee that you are a great law abiding citizen. As Mohib says somewhere in a post that by sheer numbers the maximum numbers of criminals in this country will be Hindus. Similarly no guarantee that they might be nationalists as the naxalites tell us.
However, to make a deaf person understand he is deaf you wont go to him and abuse him of his deafness. I may not be worried that he may harm me but I should be worried that my sarcasm will leave a long lasting impression of hate in him.
To make anyone understand you have to open a dialogue with him and you will have to do it in a peaceful friendly atmosphere. If their committment is to stronger India then they will need to understand that this violence, anger and goondaism is detrimental to national interests.
There are hardliners in every community, faction and ideology. Even arguments for sake of arguments is being a hardliner. If someone is talking about wife beating or slaves in the current western society and starts explaining him religious sermons I feel he is being a hardliner. Not because his intention are wrong but because he is talking to a far liberal society where all this is barbarism. Similarly Naxalites/Maoists are hardline versions of communism. Bajrang Dal is hardline version of RSS. And Muslims also have few hardliners.
This country will have to decide whether all hardliners need to be thrown in the Indian Ocean for peace and prosperity or to become a hotbed of extremism just like all the failed states surounding us. Pakistan created Taliban only to be destroyed themselves. RSS created Bajrang Dal and no wonder even their leaders are running disowning them. Its high time to make them realise that to create a monster is easy but to tame him and keep him as pet not easy. And there lies my hope.
Infact from party politics this country needs to move into nationalistic politics where all parties are present in the goverment. Maybe that way politics will be less. Anyways this is far too much hope.
”I DO NOT SUPPORT BJP” but I should not be opposed to them just for sake of attacking them.Everyone needs to understand that politics is one thing and nation building another. To create monster is different and to feed him another. To divide societies is easier but to bring them together difficult. To cut a finger easier but to join it difficlut. To create hate is easy but love is difficult.
And its not that its only they who have to understand because the first understanding should come with us(me). Otherwise all sarcasms and hate will be complemeted. Defending Islamic Zealots will only encourage others to create Hindu zealots. And if I need them to shed their zealousy then I need to be pure enough to do that. And that is Jih ad . If I need to save innocents then I should never side with guilty. And if this understanding is not there and the idea is only for the other party to understand peace then there can never be any peace.
So we need to talk and definitely work alongside. If there is our mistake we need to accept it. I see that article from Tehelka but I have seen various other articles from history, current affairs, Kashmir, Bangladesh which makes me realise that all these articles need to be burnt down. These articles do not create a feeling of forgive but only create a further zeal to fight. Enemy is not Modi, enemy is this hatred pulsating in our bloods.
Sahil Khan,
I’m all for dialogue. Recent history has shown that dialogue has resulted in quite a few of our extremism problems being resolved.
One mustn’t forget that the rss is actually responsible for some of our extremism problems.
Your saying that the bajrang dal is the hardline faction of the rss or that the rss is distancing themselves from the dal smacks of naivete!!! The rss themselves are the hardline faction within Hinduism. They did set out as a reformist movement, but lost their way somewhere. A little like the simi?
I really suggest that you read up a little about them before offering insights into their workings.
I like your pacifist stance. I too would like to go that way, but you must remember 2 things:
1. Zulm dekh ke chup rehna bhi paap hai!
2. Gandhiji adopted a pacifist approach to our Independence movement. He held “dialogue” with the Brits. That didn’t preclude his criticism of their excesses, did it? That is the approach we need to adopt. Talk to them yes, but everytime they step out of line, the secular Indian must agitate!
2 more things:
a. Did anyone say anything about defending Islamic zealots? I think the discussion here has always been around either denouncing them or engaging them in “dialogue”.
b. modi is the enemy sir… please recognize that! Unless you’re adopting a Gandhian “Hate the sin, not the sinner” approach. Gandhiji didn’t say anything about not jailing the sinner, did he?
Icon,
“Did anyone say anything about defending Islamic zealots?”. You don’t do it overtly but your same pathological hatred(against RSS) is missing for their Muslim counterparts. And the kind of soft-pedalling you do for the serious wrong doings of Congress is not difficult to miss. Your state of denial about the creation of Bhindrawale and the initial abetting of the LTTE by the Congress and the role of Congress in the 1984 Sikh riots(“When a big tree falls, the earth shakes”), makes you look more like a Congress apparatchik than some one who calls a spade a spade.
Iconoclast, I agree to many of your parts.
However just for summary:-
”I really suggest that you read up a little about them before offering insights into their workings.”
I read them and I disagree with many of their writings.
”Zulm dekh ke chup rehna bhi paap hai!”
This is what these guys are also saying. And all of us have done paap at some point in our lives.
”Did anyone say anything about defending Islamic zealots?”
There are only zealots. I was wrong when I said Islamic zealot.
”modi is the enemy sir”
Maybe! But so what? The biggest enemy is the self which is far away from Allah. Gandhi recognised that and thats what matters. Everyone needs to clear his aqeeda, his neeyat, his own rooh. Because whoever points a finger at other points 4 fingers back to himself.
These are things which I dont understand about muslims. Why dont they acept a uniform civil code which is a basic need for every nation. I am sure the govt will have representatives from every religious faith in a committee that will come up with a uniform civil code. Also, the whole nation ridiculed Modi and the Guj govt for the riots. Why didnt the muslims speak against the genocide against the kashmiri hindus? I still remember the Imam of Delhi exhorting the kashmiris muslims at the prime of militancy to fight for their rights. How about one word sympathising with the kashmiri pandits.
Also, as some others have brought out these issues- every muslim majority region in the sub-continent- pak/B’desh and the only muslim majority state of india- kashmir has wiped out their minority population and here we are talking of gujarat endlessly. Why is it that whenever muslims become a majority they tend to radicalize the state into a theocratic one?
Muslims in india should thank that hinduism does not fundamentally believ in conversions. I have head stories of hindus in pakistan where the daughters are kidnapped and converted to islam and married to some muslim who divorces her after a few months. The same has been reported in all the human rights reports from bangladesh. How is it that muslims can conveniently hide behind the ‘islamic extermism’ label when whole sections of ppl have committed attrocities in the name of islam.
I hate to say this because i have heard from many open minded muslims on this thread and kudos to them. But, based on the track record from pak/b’desh and in the state of kashmir in india, I believe hindus can only survive peacefully as long as they are in the majority in any land.
The fact that indian muslims have survived this long in a hindu dominated country is proof of the religions tolerance to other faiths. Sure there are extermists amongst hindus too. But it is not widespread as in islam IMO.
I was stunned when some of the so called ‘moderate muslims’ in my community still believe its their duty to islam to convert ‘kafirs’ into believers…
1conoclast,
I agree with you that zealots of every hue need to be denounced. However, for that there has to be a strong political will.
The politicians who control the masses need to make this happen. We are a miniscule portion of the intelligentsia who can be articulate in expression, but can probably manage to do little else.
Each of us in our daily life must practice the kind of things we preach in this forum.
Iconclast, we all are busy in seeing the OTHER”S paap and that is not any solution. Even the educated Delhi Bombers thought that that they were against Zulm. But what they did? More Zulm. More Paap.
The same sentiments were echoed by people carrying Godhra Victims bodies. What did they do? More Atyachaar.
What does the educated Hindu Middle class talks? They also say that you can’t forget a Modi but you want us to forget the history, kashmir, Bangladesh, Godhra. Is anyone getting near to winning?
Need is future and not revenge. And that is what RSS will need to understand and that is what hardliners of all hues will also need to understand.
Ah kafir#01…
After pretty long huh? Not that you were missed.
Anyway. Look I have learned that quite a few of us are quick to misjudge. I too have been guilty of misjudging Girish earlier.
Could you too be making the same mistake?
I’ll say it again for your benefit. Islamic zealots (or of any other religion) are a bunch of idiots as much in need of an education as you are!!!
I may be guilty of being a Congress fan, but I never backtrack from questioning their wrong-doings. I defend them, because all people seem to want to do these days is focus on their misdeeds, without acknowledging their contributions. I believe (& I could be wrong here) that their contributions far outnumber if not outweigh, their misdemeanours.
The reason I question every claim & ask for proof is because of two reasons:
a) I do not know for sure & would like to someone to confirm it for me &
b) With so much propaganda flying around against Gandhiji, Nehruji, the Congress in general, Indira etc., it is imperative that I demand solid proof rather than use the comments on a web forum as proof.
I don’t have a problem admitting my possible ignorance. I don’t have a problem questioning everything, from my heroes to your utterly laughable ones!
If you would display the same thirst for knowledge & humility, maybe we’d have less to argue about & more to agree upon.
There! Did I call a spade a spade?
Sahil,
I may be getting your point. I hope you’re getting mine.
If your point is Christ turning the other cheek & Muhammad asking the woman who used to dump her trash on him, about her health, I think I get you.
If your point is the same as Buddha’s forgiving angulimaal, I get it.
If your point is the same as the Dalai Lama’s saying that if you view everything & everyone with compassion, you will find peace within. If you’re saying that this peace will help us perceive our opponents differently, I get it.
You do realize that you’re asking for a lot, don’t you?
Remember that someday and sometime we all have to realise to stop pushing down each other. When I rise in the morning I do not have Modi as my problem standing on me. I do not have advani stopping my way of my daily chores. I have my daily issues to deal with. We need to open a sincere dialogue within the society without calling anyone enemies unless until we are into serious politics and are about to fight as a candidate.
I do understand you Iconoclast. I agree to what you are saying as well. And none of us can be near to all those great men.
All we need to do is however not become hard stuck on a person or issue. Any aberrations need to be improved and modified so that the future for us and generations to come is safer.
Inspite of all the liberals and secularists saying Modi is an enemy he is emerging as a big leader. And my point is that if as a leader he realises his mistake and extends a hand to Muslims allthough as hard and as difficult it may sound the communication should be completely open. He needs to be enrolled that Muslims are not against Hindus or India. And you should always hope and dream . Progress and peace can only happen if communities live side by side to each other.
But I sincerely do want that before he does becomes any more popular he should be enrolled fast. And that can happen if we stop attacking and start talking.
Girish,
Hats off to your perceptive observations of events and the articulation of the same!
Sahil,
Greatly appreciate your level- headedness and forthrightness about sensitive issues. Keep writing!
JB…
You had some questions… You can ask them on my blog. I will respond & sort out all your confusions.
Sahil…
Even Hitler was a great leader. Aurungzeb too was a mega-Emperor. Did they eventually fall? Are they remembered today for their sins?
All this borderline spiritual awakening talk with you has made me realize this one more thing: That we can afford to ignore these people. If they’re inching closer to power, to perpetrating a mass genocide in the country, despite our best efforts to thwart them, we still shouldn’t feel bad.
Today is Dusshera. A day that represents the victory of good over evil.
Thanks for your inputs. You may have helped me make the move from hating him to ignoring him. I’m still in doubt as to how right that is. I wonder what Gandhiji or Prophet Muhammad would’ve done in such a situation?
I really feel that Gandhiji would’ve called for a boycott of the man.