(13 votes, average: 2.69 out of 5)
Loading ...1,015 views
The role of police in democratic society is very different from that of police in colonial society. However, it is 61 years now that India became independent and there is no change in the role of police a wee bit. Today our police have become even more colonial in its attitude. The British colonial rulers had enacted the police an act in 1861 to use the police for suppression of people’s movement and to terrorize colonized people. Our police too is terrorizing innocent people fighting for their rights.
Though human rights are really very central to functioning of democracy, and, human dignity even more important for functioning of any secular democratic set up, irrespective of caste, creed or color. Yet our police are highly caste conscious and communal in attitude with few honorable exception. Over and above all this corruption has deeply seeped into the force. Also, our IPS officers are totally subservient to political bosses who use them for their own political interests. They are even ready to kill in false encounters innocent people at the instances of political bosses without any compunction as we saw in Gujarat.
I am writing this article because of gross misuse of office by the police in many cases of arrest of innocent people after bomb explosions and open cases of partisanship in communal violence in recent riots. It is my considered opinion that if ruling authorities do not take these cases of police excesses, it will have serious consequences and would create serious problems. There is no sense of fairness and respect for law the way police has been working in India in almost all the states.
First I would refer to the public hearing of the victims of police excesses in the name of ’solving’ the bomb blast cases. The organizers of public hearing Anhad, Human Rights Law Network and PEACE, Delhi had constituted a jury comprising distinguished people. Justice S.N.Bhargava (retired Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court), Justice Sardar Ali Khan, retired High Court Judge, Asghar Ali Engineer, K.G.Kannabiran (National president, PUCL), Prashant Bhushan, Advocate Supreme Court, Dr. Ram Puniyani (retired professor IIT, Mumbai) Prof. Rooprekha Verma (retired Vice Chancellor, Lucknow University, Mr. Kingsukh Nag, Editor Times of India and Lalit Surjan, Editor Deshbandhu, Raipur. This was indeed very distinguished jury and cases of police excesses and torture we heard were really very disturbing.
Since there were distinguished judges and an eminent lawyer on the panel well conversant with law they cross examined the victims and satisfied themselves. Every case appeared to be of false arrests and torture by police for confession. The interim observations of the jury were that the testimonies showed that a large number of innocent young Muslims have been and are being victimized by the police on the charge of being involved in various terrorist acts across the country. This is particularly in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, though not limited to these states.
The panel of jury also observed that “In most cases, the persons picked up are not shown to be arrested by the police until many days after their arrest in gross violations of the law. Their families are also not informed about their arrest. In many cases they have been tortured in police custody and made to ‘confess’ and sign blank papers. The police has been often humiliating Muslim detainees on the ground of their religion. The testimonies show widespread communalization of the police across states in the country.”
The jury also observed that in most of these cases, the Courts are routines allowing police remand and not granting bail, merely on the police statements that they are required for further investigations. They do not examine whether there is any evidence against the accused. Unfortunately, the media too uncritically publicizes the charge and allegations leveled by the police. This has resulted in the destruction of the lives and reputation of a large number of persons so picked up by the police who have later been found to be innocent.
This is alienating the community besides allowing real culprits to escape and it has grave consequence in the sense that bomb explosions continue as real culprits are never nabbed. The communal discrimination is also very obvious when persons belonging to Sangh Parivar like VHP or Bajrang Dal are found making bombs, they are either not arrested or if arrested, easily released on bail. Though Bajrang Dal and VHP cadres have been found involved in number of violent activities, the political set-up headed by the Congress, has never thought of banning these organizations.
One can say it is becoming world -wide phenomenon as Muslims are being treated like this even in USA, UK etc. Though it is true but that cannot be an excuse for the police of a secular democratic country like India to behave in this lawless manner. On top of it the Sangh Parivar is demanding re-imposing draconic laws like the POTA which will prove to be an absolute disaster. In this law self-confession is treated as valid proof and we all know how the police obtain such ‘confessions’. If such laws are ever brought the innocent citizens who are tortured to obtain confession will have no legal remedy and police will run amok.
It is high time the Central Government gives serious thought to such mal-functioning of the police and lawlessness in this force which is supposed to be guardian of law. It may be too late. And if it is true (though by means proved) that bomb explosions in Ahmedabad or earlier blasts in train in Mumbai were acts of revenge, one can imagine the consequences of such unlawful acts of police in states above named. Not only that real culprits will escape for failure of police to nab real culprits and finding easy solutions by arresting innocent people, but also those tortured by the police and harassed may seek their own revenge. In any case, even if that does not happen, it does not bode well for future of our democracy.
Police And Communal Riots
The partisan behavior of police in communal riots is a well-known phenomenon. The government has never taken serious steps to remedy the situation. I have myself investigated several communal riots and found the police behavior towards Muslims totally unacceptable. What happened recently in Digras and Pusad towns of Yewatmal district of Vidarbha is an hair raising story of police behavior towards Muslims.
In fact these riots were provoked by members of Sangh Parivar after some Muslim youth attacked some shops of Hindus after a copy of the Qur’an was found on the road with shoes kept on it. The Sangh Parivar took out procession shouting provocative slogans and police never tried to stop them. The Parivar members attacked Muslim shops and communal violence broke out. Before that many Muslims had gathered outside Jama’ Masjid Digras and were quite excited.
But Sheher Qazi Syed Bashiruddin pacified them and asked them to disperse peacefully. He saved a bad situation from worsening. But when Sangh Parivar people attacked Muslim shops some Muslim boys from Gauripara and Sambhajinagar came out with swords but were stopped by the police on the bridge on Dhavda River. And then the police launched an offensive on Gavdipada and Sambhajinagar where there are 80 per cent Muslims.
They crashed into Muslim houses and looted everything there and even smashed TV sets fridges and everything that there was in their houses. They even smashed drinking water pots and disconnected water connection to these two areas. It is Hindu neighbor who provided drinking water to these Muslims. From one house the police took away 80,000 rupees which a poor man had saved for his daughter’s marriage.
The police smashed Skoda vehicle of Noor Mohammad who is ex-president of Digras Municipality. Besides that they smashed many other vehicles etc. belonging to Muslims. This police operation was ordered by SP Police Shri, Shivaji Rao Bokhade and boasted before Mr. Suresh Khairnar, a human rights activist who had gone there for investigation that I have taught them (Muslims) a proper lesson and for coming 10 years they dare not raise their head again.
What is more shocking is that RAF and SRP people crashed into the house of Sheher Qazi who had pacified the Muslim crowd and disperse peacefully and beat up his brother who was dumb and smashed his sewing machine and struck blows to his son Maulana Zafar and broke his hand. The Muslims of Digras said there is no problem between Hindus and Muslims but between Police and Muslims. Hindus actually helped us and took care of us.
Chief Minister Deshmukh was made aware of all this by a delegation of Muslims from Digras but he took no action at all and today (i.e. 30th August) he went for a function to Yewatmahal but did not bother to go to Digras which is in that district despite knowing fully well what the police did there. As pointed out before police is the most lawless force in our country. I am simply horrified by all this.
The role of police in Orissa has been equally shameful. It stood by when Bajrang Dal and VHP hoodlums attacked Christians and looted or burnt their properties. Not only that the Police remained mere spectators when these hoodlums did all this when curfew was in force. Our police force is highly communalized and these prejudices become powerful block in preventing any violation of law. Our secular democracy is indeed is in grave danger at the hands of the police force more than the communalists themselves.
I had seen all this during Jabalpur riots in 1961 how brutally police had behaved with poor Muslims there and how PAV had looted Muslim houses. It was then that I had resolved to fight against communalism and devote my life for inter-religious harmony. And after 47 years same thing is happening in our country. Did I achieve anything?
Photo: Abid Bhat
{ 21 comments }
Do you want peacekeeping forces from UN in the situation like Gujarat and Orissa to tackle the problems ?
Our forces including police are strong enough to tackle all the problems, but the politicians are using them for their political gain and giving colours to each and every issue.
Name one politician who has been convicted after so many roits ?
…”In fact these riots were provoked by members of Sangh Parivar after some Muslim youth attacked some shops of Hindus after a copy of the Qur’an was found on the road with shoes kept on it….”
I almost missed it while going through the article. From the way the article has been written, it ‘appears’ – the real instigators have been given a free pass (those Muslim youth who attacked shops of Hindus) . If one wants to be fair – the blame should be equally if not more on the instigators as well as those who retaliated with violence. Why not focus half the section of the article pertaining to this incident on ‘those Muslim youth’ – who seem to be mischief mongers or equally culpable of the sad incident?
The Hindus who were attacked initially might not have disrespected the Quran or they might have done it without even knowing it. ( Since I don’t understand Arabic – I too cannot tell Quran from another Arabic book – unless it has an English sub-title. Lot of shop keepers place stones or slippers on papers to prevent them taking to wind)
One of the things that peeves Hindus to no end, is this constant habit of focusing only on the retaliation, while conveniently downplaying or ignoring the real instigators of the riots.
Just to be clear – i am not here justifying the marauding or supporting the destruction.
To follow up on my earlier comment – I have to say :
Seeing Ram Puniyani’s name as one of the Human Right Jury members discredited the exercise substantially – at least in my view. Personally I don’t know others (except Asghar sir- through his writings on IM) nor have I read about them or from them.
My Question to Ashgar Sir:
1. Why don’t we get Police reps (SPs/DIGs/IGs) or members from BJP/RSS/VHP to sit through these confessions? (there are ways to circumvent the possibility of retaliation – my main point being – any human being would succumb to the horror stories, no matter how hardened he is. Nazi’s felt it by seeing the corpses of Jews; Afrikaners felt it by listening to South African blacks)
2. Didn’t South Africa use similar tactics for reconciliation?
Also – I would not want you to feel dejected or let down. Yes – your good intentions & sincere efforts might not have yielded expected results; but by God, you may have prevented it from getting worse and your contribution towards encouraging youths from across the sections to come together – however small that group might be – is priceless & invaluable.
I may not have agreed with your approach or comments in your earlier articles, but trust me – RESPECT & AWE is still fresh and rising. It has nothing to do with our disagreements here.
@Suraj,
It is difficult to comment on which community starts the riots more often. However, one thing is very clear. The police plays a markedly partisan role when riots break out.
This is the precise reason that in a riot situation, Muslims always prefer sceurity forces rather than the police to handle the situation.
Indeed Sad Asghar if what you state is TRUE!
My first question ”How does muslim youths attacking hindu shops is justified after copy of Quran is found in such a state”? I respect Quran and Islamic teachings and condemn that situation. However this attack is uncalled for. I am not justifying any retaliation which can be understood as default.
Police and security forces in this country have in general come under heavy scrutiny always. But they are biased towards Muslim is untrue. If anyone and take anyone just down the road tangles with a policeman he or she will know his fate. But in all fairness they are also doin their duty sometimes under heavy pressure which you or me even can not imagine. Sometimes away from their families for months, years. They are jeered and humilated by their seniors and at times by people. Let us take their side of story as well without uselessly blaming them.
I have come across many incidents where if police goes to arrest someone in a Muslim area the local people gather, shout slogans, prevent police people from making such arrests even when they have warrants. Sometimes stones and sometimes acid is thrown at them. Political pressure, Muslim leaders, journalists by default villify even police people who have been helping Muslims. Transfer of officials who sometimes try to gather intelligence on Wrong Muslims in name of their communal attitude is rampant. All in all the Muslim ghettos in this country have little respect of the police or law of the land. They believe attacking and getting excited is their whole right in case of minor incidents but someone retaliating or even protecting themselves is wrong.
Even terrorist attacks find symapthy among prominent Muslim writers like you because after all they are a retaliation against an unjust society which is making Muslims victim but if a police person on whom acid is being thrown tries to defend himself then he is a person with a communal attitude.
Asghar, I believe Muslims should first stop being like guests in this country. Either they want Islam as a system as Geelani wants in Kashmir or Ayub argues on this web site or they will always be in unrest because Democracy to them is comparible to Islamism. Its all about Muslim victims, Muslims, Poor Muslims, Killed Muslims, Raped Muslims, etc etc. Have you ever noticed that almost all citizens of this country have at times faced similar situations? Have you ever inquired why Police develops this attitude? No because you are a Muslim and by default you understand that everyone in this nation is biased. That also when this country has faced a partition, seperatist movement, terrorism and killing of hindus all in name of Islam. And you want Hindus to UNDERSTAND.
Let us start having a rational dialogue. Please analyse and work to change attitude of people towards the police. Do not see only one side of story always.
Large numbers of Muslims in various parts of India continue to languish in jails on trumped-up terror charges, suffering brutal torture as well as routine insults to their religion by police officials. Meanwhile, Hindu terrorists, often in league with the police and the state machinery, are allowed to run riot, unleashing violence and bloodshed on a frightening scale, while the state, the police and the courts take no firm action against them.
Bomb blasts that are now occurring with frightening frequency, whose perpetrators remain unknown, are automatically blamed on Muslims, while some of these might possibly be engineered by Hindutva outfits or by elements within the state apparatus, or even by foreign intelligence agencies like the CIA or the Israeli Mossad who have a vested interest in demonizing Muslims and thereby driving India closer into the deadly American-Israeli embrace.
That, in brief, was what numerous social activists as well as dozens of Muslim victims of police and state terror testified to at a public hearing on brutalities against Muslims in the name of countering ‘terrorism’ recently organised in Hyderabad by a group of noted human rights’ activists.
Going by their depositions and the verdict of the jury of eminent social activists, journalists and retired judges, it appears that powerful elements within the state apparatus are deeply implicated, along with Hindu terrorist groups, in a witch-hunt of India’s Muslim citizens.
27 year-old Yakoob Khan from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, was arrested at the age of 17, accused of being involved in the Coimbatore blasts in 1998, a charge that he vehemently denies.
‘On the day of the blast I attended class at the Industrial Training Institute where I was enrolled, and when I was returning home I heard about the blasts’. In the wake of the blasts, the police went on a rampage, indiscriminately picking up Muslim youth. Some days later, Yakoob found himself in prison, where he was to spend almost the next ten years, much of it in solitary confinement in a small cage-like cell. ‘I was accused of being in possession of explosive material, and of being associated with the Islamic group Al-Ummah, although I had never even heard its name.’ In addition to routine torture, while in jail he was often abused for his religion.
‘I would be beaten up if I wanted to say namaz. My torturers would tell me to face them while praying, rather than the Kaaba. They tore my Quran, and while beating me they would scream “Bharat Mata ki Jai”‘. ‘They ruined ten precious years of my life, my youth, falsely branding me as a terrorist’, he says.
Yakoob Khan’s friend, 34 year-old Shiv Kumar, alias Abdul Hamid, is a Hindu convert to Islam. He eked out as livelihood selling old newspapers and utensils for recycling. He was accused of being involved in the Coimbatore blasts, a charge that he denies. The police forced him to sign a blank piece of paper which they later filled out themselves, threatening him that if he refused to do so they would arrest his family as well.
He was remanded to the Coimbatore jail on the basis of this forced ‘confession’ and his repeated applications for bails were rejected. Because he was the sole earner in his family, his wife was forced to beg in order to survive. He was finally acquitted only recently, after almost ten years in incarceration. ‘I was mercilessly tortured in prison. I was constantly told that if I had not become a Muslim and had remained a Hindu I would not have been beaten like this’, he says.
Shabbir Masiulllah Ansari was picked up by the Mumbai Crime Branch in August 2006, but he was soon released on bail for ‘lack of evidence’.
Yet, he was charged anew for being allegedly the ‘mastermind’ of the Malegaon mosque blasts, while, it is said, that at the time the blasts took place he was actually in police custody. He continues to languish in jail and has suffered routine torture, including acid being thrown on his private parts. In the course of torture he was coerced into making a forced confession, but he later retracted this in court.
Maulana Muhammad Zahid is originally from Malegaon. Some two years ago, at the time of the Malegaon bomb blast, he was in Phul Savangi, a village 500 km away from Malegaon, where he used to lead the prayers in a mosque. The police implicated him in the blast, although his relatives insist he is innocent.
When he was produced before the magistrate in Mumbai Esplanade Court, he gave a statement listing the torture that was done to him and also the false statement on which the police had taken his signature. The magistrate ignored his plea and asked for the police produced statement and accepted that as evidence. He still languishes in prison.
Faisal Attaur Shaikh and Muzammil Attaur Rehman Shaikh are among the thirteen Muslims charged for the 11 July 2006 Bombay local train blasts. The police accused Faisal of being a commander of Lashkar-e Tayyeba and of setting off the blast.
They also claimed to have recovered maps of Mumbai and some CDS from Muzammil. In October 2006, 11 out of the 13 accused in the case gave their confession, but later retracted it in the sessions’ court. It is alleged that almost all the accused were subjected to brutal torture, which forced them to confess to crimes they said they had not committed. It is claimed that 11 out of the 13 accused could not endure the torture and finally agreed to whatever story the police fabricated. This is why their confession stands retracted.
33 year-old Kalim Ahmed Karimi used to manage a small radio repair business in Ahmedabad. On 3rd April, 2003 he had gone out to get some medicines for his pregnant wife who was unwell.
The police picked him up and he never came back. Although Kalim was arrested on the 3rd April from Ahmedabad, the CBI states that they arrested him on the 26th of April in Andhra Pradesh. He was charged with being allegedly involved in the Tiffin Bomb Blast case, the Haren Pandya murder case and a ‘jihadi’ conspiracy. Thereafter, he was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for the Haren Pandya murder case and to 10 years in the Tiffin Bomb Blast case.
Says his 70 year-old father, Habib Karimi, ‘My son is innocent. Officials of the crime branch picked me up for questioning. Under duress, I was forced to sign some blank papers that they presented me with.
They told me that I should not contact any lawyer and that they had men keeping an eye on me. I was also told not to forget that they had my signatures on blank sheets. My son has been tortured brutally and he has been forced to sign a confession. He and some others have narrated the experience of torture and forced confessions before the POTA Judge Sonia Gokani.’
Junaid is a final year student at Unani Medical College, Hyderabad, and president of the student union. He was picked up on the 3rd of September 2007 while returning to his home. He was produced before the magistrate on 8th of September 2007. Police claim that he was apprehended at Nampally railway station on the 8th of September.
He was accused of conspiring against the state, which he vehemently denied. The argument given by the police was that some literature was found in his possession. While in custody he was subjected to heavy electric shocks, including on his private parts, and was coerced into making a forced confession.
During his interrogation he was constantly rebuked for having shouted slogans against police violence. They asked him why he raised questions regarding the Sohrabuddin fake encounter and why he attended a conference against it. They even asked him why Muslims have so many children.
For two days he was not given anything to eat. His face was kept covered in a black cloth throughout this ordeal. A shoe was stuffed in his mouth and he was told to read the Quran in that condition. In order to further humiliate him he was forced to shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
24 year-old Aftab Alam Ansari, the only bread-earner in his 10-member lower middle class family, and an employee of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, was picked up by the police and taken to Lucknow.
‘I was badly tortured with iron rods by drunken policemen who accused me of being a Bangladeshi. I was forced to declare that my name was actually Altaf Muletar and that I was responsible for the bombings in Sankat Mochan Mandir and the Courts in Lucknow. Of course I had nothing whatsoever to do with these.’
Aftab was then sent to the civil jail in Lucknow where he was stripped and was imprisoned for twenty two days. ‘I was accused of being the area commander of the Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami, although I had never even heard of this outfit. My interrogators heaped abuses on Muslims and Islam.’
‘They are targeting us just because we are Muslims’, Aftab says. ‘They want to falsely implicate us in terror cases so that our image gets tarnished and people start hating Muslims.
‘ Like many other innocent Muslim youths who have been picked up and brutally tortured by interrogating agencies and then released for lack of any evidence, Aftab received no compensation for the enormous amount of money his family spent on securing his release. Nor has the state compensated him in any way for the damage to his health caused by the torture in prison. Nor has he received any sort of apology.
Scores more Muslim men and women testified at this public hearing, narrating the harrowing brutalities that they or their relatives have been subjected to, being, so they insisted, unfairly blamed for various terror acts.
Predictably, though, the so-called mainstream Indian media took little notice of the hearing, the first of its kind in the country. Nor, for their part, did major political parties and state authorities. As Ghadr, the popular cultural activist from Andhra Pradesh who addressed the gathering, rightly put it, ‘To expect anything else from the media and the establishment is folly. The answer lies not in simply narrating our woes but initiating a mass movement against this sort of oppression.’
IM , the only one solution comes to mind is that you must move to any Islamic country which provide justice, safety and other entitlements for just being a Muslim. God bless, this will make both you and Indians very happy.
Asghar, can I ask a question of you (and probably other readers too)?
How many of you:
1. know the name of your elected representative at local, state and national level? Meaning, the person who is representing you/your locality (MLA, MP, etc.).
2. interact with such person on a regular-to-semi-regular basis, either through phone/mail or in person, to let them know of issues affecting you or your neighborhood?
If our public servants have become uncaring masters, then we need to remind them that this is a democracy and they need to start paying attention to the citizens. And not just during the elections.
@IM,
I have noted all the things that you have put forward in your post. Police brutality and misuse of authority is not something new.
However, some questions that Muslims need to ask themselves is, “How many Muslims who are MPS/MLAs/Ministers take up such issues strongly? How many Muslim mediapersons highlight this?”
It again and again veers around to the fact that both education and unity are sorely lacking in the Muslim Ummah
Milind,
How can you forget that it is taboo to speak of unity and the word “Muslim Ummah” itself is free castigation tool.
So, when somebody narrates a tale of injustices and cruelty perpetrated against them, it should be discarded just because it is not something new. So, muslim should now get used to this harrassment and oppression by media, administration and government on national level because our masses are uneducated and we dont have a leader. Hmmm….
@ IM,
Listen, no point in crying that this discrimination happened or that harassment happened without finding out why its happening….
All your so-called innocent muslims who were harassed in coimbatore blasts…..they might be innocents and it is horrible what they went thro…
but the whole thing started when a police constable was hacked in broad daylight by three muslims who were riding on a scooter….now, what do you really expect the police to do after that? Do you know that al-umma bombed a hospital amidst the riots? of all places a hospital….coz thats where the injured policemen were….
There is a pattern emerging in both coimbatore and gujarat riots…..both were started by muslims….and then they cry when they are given back ten fold.
I am not saying that tit for tat works…..but accept your mistakes when it is commited…instead of harping on victim mentality.
I dont understand one thing.
Why is this “muslim” part required in all the conversations. Why is it that whenever there is an injustice or any other thing to non-muslim, it is said a person, an indian, a maharastian, a tamil or like-wise, but when it comes to muslim, no matter what cast, region, he is called muslim n that too never refered as indian only. Why is that??? Why i dont hear parsis, sikhs, jains, hindus being mentioned as being a identity from themselves but muslims will always try to say they are muslims. Why????? May be its not harmful but why do u discriminate yourselves from other indians…??? Remember, there not everybody but majority do, and now even media have started saying this…..but I have been around for long to notice that it was muslims who started referring themselves as muslims even for mentioning their good achievements. Why i dont hear this “A hindu from mumbai selected for Haward” but I will hear “A muslim from mumbai selected for haward” and that guy himself will be honoured at being called muslim instead of indian…..why???
This may be a small point, but it is this small point which makes one start thinking about difference between religions. May be i am too small for this comment but i have been through this in my own conscience where now I have started taking notice if a person is muslim or not. I am apposed to even calling ourselves like maharastrian, punjabi, gujarati…..but they are basically coz of language which we get to speak if we find fellow from our region, but my differentiating between religion is really unwanted.
Other thing I hate is bringing allah, ram n other gods in conversation with others. Also, speaking “allah hafiz, jai shri krishna…..etc” to people from other religions. Why this show-off??? Why can’t you keep your religion to yourrselves and respect others religion by eliminating such words from your vocubilary while takling with people from other religion or while giving speech to a crowd with people with mix religion. And if you can say words like god, almighty etc which means “The one” and everybody understands and interprets accordingly.
“You cannot expect change in others behaviour without changing yourselves” – I learnt this in class 6th. And its time people step back and introspect and take some lessons from whatever we learnt as a child. I make effort to keep my conversation free of religion, cast and region, etc and its high time everybody do that. Yes, its tough to clear everything but if you make conscious effort to not potray your self on basis of religion, region or whatever time will come when people will start repecting your effort and will start not differentiating your from others. And also make effort to not differentiate others too.
I am indian and I liked to be mentioned as India. I have no other entity. If you show this feeling there will be peace in india, till then people will keep on fighting about religion, region and cast. Time is ripe to get our act clean.
@Banu ,
There is nothing wrong in speaking about the unity of the Muslim Ummah.
However, there is a need for action rather than despondency. Just because the masses are uneducated and there is no proper leader does not mean that this is a situation that needs to perpetuate itself. Intelligent and influential people have to head the Muslim Ummah in India.
Even if we talk of religious leaders, they have to strive to achieve the level of excellence of Ayatollah Seestani, Ayatollah Fadhlullah, Ayatollah Khamenei, or at least Hojatelislam Musawi.
God never changes the situation of a people till they change it themselves.
Indian:
Do you not see the inherent contradiction in your statement.
When North Indians are targeted in Mumbai for being, well North Indians, then no one asks them whether they are Hindus or Muslims. Ditto for Biharis in Assam. Or Tamils in Karnataka.
Sometime groups are targeted on a linguistic basis, sometimes on a regional basis and sometimes on a religious basis. They respond accordingly, sometimes as Gujaratis, sometimes as Tamils and sometimes as Muslims. Just FYI sometimes they respond as Hindus too.
Also, I think you are taking “keeping religion to yourself” to a bit of extreme.
Indian, aren’t you being somewhat fundamentalist (or knee-jerk) in your thinking in this context – that everyone needs to stop saying “allah hafiz, jai shri krishna” just because *you* think that’s the best and only way? How is saying those terms harming someone? And how do you know that it’s a show-off?? If people use such terms for wishing each other, that’s their freedom – it’s an expression of wishing someone well. What would you prefer, that everyone used only “hello” and “goodbye” because you think those are the only appropriate ways? If you don’t like using such words, then don’t use them. But let others have the same freedom that you have to decide for themselves which terms they want to use or not.
If there are problems in the society because either people misunderstand and misapply their religious teachings, or because politics and religion are mixed, then there’s a need to educate people about these issues. I’m quite sure that banning the use of terms as you propose is *not* going to remove such problems.
In 1941,Director Shantaram made a Hindi film for PrabhatTalkies,styled “Padosi”(Neighbour)!It was a big hit!
It dealt with a Hindu and his Muslim neighbour and their mutual love and goodwill.That reflected the centuries old harmonious relations between the two principal communities.Luckily it is still prevalent in many parts of this vast country.
Unfortunately,one regional and another national party are striving their utmost to polarize the polity and rake in larger community votes.
@Mohib
I do not agree completely with your argument that there are groups that are targeted. That is not the point. The point here is that most of the times it is pointed out that “one” is a “muslim” to drive home a different point of view which is not even needed. Sometimes it is the muslim himself who points out that he is muslim to show a pro-muslim point or sometimes its pointed out the muslim angle to show some anti-muslim point though there is no need to point out that the person in question is muslim or not whatsoever. I object to this act of putting light on someone’s religion which is not required in some cases and thus to avoid controversies. And its mostly about “muslims” in all religion that is put under scanner – pro or anti does not matter. Both parties are to be blamed for this.
@Amit
You totally missed my point. I am not against the utterance of religious words like “allah hafiz” “Jai Shri Krishna”. I am against the trend lately of using it in conversation with somebody from different faith and also while addressing a crowd containing people from different religion. Though there is a need to teach people of torelance, there is a need to have tolerance in one self to stop this growing trend. Though nobody stops you from using your religion for yourself, do not take it for granted that it is okay to use the words in conversation with people of other faith. That’s criminal. And I am against the trend of wearing your religion on your sleeves all the time.
What is so wrong with saying Assalam-u-Alaikum or Namaste to somebody from another religion? I don’t understand what is “criminal” about it. I am not a Muslim, but I find the Islamic greeting to be a beautiful one. The same with Namaste. Don’t people in India naturally say Namaste to others, even if they are not Hindus? I don’t find anything offensive about the use of these terms. On the other hand, if somebody comes and berates Hinduism or the religious practices of Hindus (whether in the presence of Hindus or not) or starts spewing something offensive about Prophet Muhammad, that can be considered hate-speech in some circumstances (when it is meant to incite hatred against other people). Even in such cases, I consider the right to free speech as an absolute right that any liberal society must protect. The right does not free somebody from its consequences, in this instance hate laws (just as freedom of expression is not a good defence for libel or slander), but the right itself is protected.
Overall, I find nothing wrong if somebody wears their religion on their sleeves, as long as they do not infringe or cause the infringement of anybody else’s rights.
Comments on this entry are closed.