[nukkad] Still banking on hope

[Gireesh Dixit - PCS <>]

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Still banking on hope
If Rediff's vast web reach is any indication, there's hope still, Inshallah,
for communal amity to prevail in the land where, not very long ago, hundreds
of thousands Hindus and Muslims exclaimed "Vande Mataram!" with unabashed
ardour. That is the essence of the thumping, warm response to Dr Rafiq
Zakaria's plea to Muslims briefly enumerated in this column
<http:www.rediff.com/news/2002/dec/17arvind.htm> last week. 
Barring just a couple, the readers accepted Zakaria's views, albeit for
varying reasons. And there were some who felt that Hindus too needed to
reform in several directions -- a point well taken, probably. Particularly
heartening was that several readers with Muslim names in their emails
supported the Muslim scholar's need for an introspection. Here below are
excerpts from some of them:
*	"I respect Dr Zakaria for saying what he did and agree with him
100%". Abbasi Najmi 
*	"As a Muslim who has experienced the real world and knows what Islam
really teaches, I fully comply with Mr Zakaria's thought." Zafar Shaikh 
*	"All Muslims should read and adopt the mind-set as envisaged by Dr
Zakaria... Vande Mataram. Jai Hind." Mohammad Afzal 
*	"The media need to promote and respect the views of Dr Zakaria.
Unfortunately, the media is giving more attention to Bukharis and Owaisis.
As a Muslim, I keep on advocating a negotiated settlement with government
and prominent Hindus to hand over the Ayodhya site. Muslims will not loose
their paradise for handing over the site. Who is there to support people
like Zakaria and us?" Akbar Batcha 
*	"Certainly a million thanks to Dr Zakaria -- his recommendations are
certainly a bombshell." Munaz Haider 
*	"This is a very important information. If I get the same in Hindi,
it will help lots of people who don't understand English." Aslam Attar 
*	"I 100% agree with the ideas and thoughts put forward by Dr Zakaria.
I am of the opinion that Muslims should come forward and join the mainstream
and should work together with all their non-Muslim brothers and sisters to
strengthen our great nation." Shahid Mubeen 
*	"Heartiest congratulations to Dr Zakaria for coming up with the
issue which each sensible Muslim in this country would support... how long
will one of the largest Muslim community in this world keep behaving
irresponsibly under the sham of being called the minority community. The
first step towards the normalisation would be that the Indian Muslims start
thinking of the nation." Fahad Khan 
*	I am personally happy that Dr Rafiq Zakaria has taken the issue head
on and advised the Muslim community of the changes that should take place to
bring integration with the mainstream. Let me remind the author that a lot
of introspection is going on within the community and things have taken a
more constructive path." Maj Khan.
	·	In fact, one Mujtaba Syed, while endorsing everything that
Zakaria has advocated, adds the following additional to-dos for Muslims:
*	"We should amicably agree to the construction of the Ram temple at
Ayodhya. The Ram temple to Hindus is like the Kaaba for Muslims. We have to
respect the sentiments of our Hindu brothers and sisters to get respected in
turn. 
*	We should rise vociferously against Pakistan's proxy war and jihadi
terrorism in other parts of our country to send a clear message that Indian
Muslims have nothing to do with Pakistan. 
*	We should stop using words like Kafir -- which have been used to
describe anyone who doesn't follow Islam. A fundamental tenet of Islam is
equality of mankind. 
*	We should not seclude ourselves in the backlash of Hindutva inspired
terror. We will suffer more if we go in a shell. The only way to kill the
hatred that is growing in Hindu hearts is to get closer to them, make more
friends with them, do more business with them, give them a better share then
we give ourselves, celebrate their festival with more fervor than we do
ours, and love them like brothers. Hinduism is one of the most fantastic
religions of this world and we should tell this to our Hindu brothers. 
*	We should unequivocally say and prove our Indian-ness. India is our
country and we should be prepared to lay down our lives for it." 
		·	A common streak of the very fulsome feedback was
that it was the Indian media which was the villain in driving the wedge
between the two major communities. Thus the expressed hope that the
newspapers and television will give the widest possible exposure to
Zakaria's views. 
		·	A change, however faint and fleeting, is discernible
in that direction. The Indian Express, in its Mumbai edition of December 19,
2002, carried an article by J K Bandukwala who teaches nuclear physics at a
Vadodara university. In that article, the professor makes the following
points:
*	"Muslims will have to change their way of life to adjust to the
emerging crisis. No words are too strong to condemn the fatwa on the eve of
the (Gujarat) elections. Ulema have no business to dabble in politics. They
must go back to their mosques and only preach the Koran and the Shariat. 
*	"Socio-economic transformation is a must if the community is to
avoid becoming the new untouchables of India. Each and every Muslim boy and
girl must get the best and highest education possible. 
*	"Our future lies as a business community. The ideal example is that
of the Jews in America. 
*	"We must know that women have to be treated with maximum respect and
dignity. Triple talaq must be treated as un-Islamic."
Having thus essentially reiterated what Zakaria believes is necessary for
communal harmony and national advancement, Bandukwala spoils it all by
stating that "Muslims will always treat the BJP as poison." This, alas, is
the old imp raising its ugly head that must be severed once and for all. 
The professor was obviously unaware of the comparative Muslim Women's Survey
of 9,541 women (20 per cent Hindus) administered in 2000-2001 by ORG.
According to a report published in same The Indian Express issue that
carried Bandukwala's views, the survey revealed that "Muslims, 50 years
after independence, on the whole have an average standard of living less
than even the OBCs and well below upper caste Hindus. On the whole they are,
they are just slightly better off than the scheduled caste population." The
BJP surely can't be blamed for that shocker, Professor Bandukwala. Nor can
Hindutva be blamed for the fact that, according to the survey, 60 per cent
Muslim women reported themselves being illiterate, 17 per cent Muslim women
completed eight years of schooling, 10 per cent Muslim women completed
higher secondary schooling and just 3.56 per cent Muslim women are in higher
education.
The villain may well be the mullahs and the moulvis whose views are sent
down to ordinary Muslims from prayer pulpits and through the Urdu newspapers
that have a very very large readership. 
This brings one to fatwas and back to Zakaria. In his book, he writes, 'It
must be admitted that in recent times some of the clerics have been misusing
the grant of fatwas more for earning some money than performing a religious
duty. In the process they have exploited the poor and illiterate Muslims.'
Who, then, is to uplift the poor, illiterate Muslims? Who is to ensure the
massive uplift of Muslim women invisible behind the veil? Who is to enhance
the economic status of Muslims? Only the well-placed Muslims -- the MPs, the
MLAs, the artistes, the few entrepreneurs, and the professionals -- can do
the job with the help of the activists in the community as facilitators and
catalysts. And, of course, the Hindus will help ungrudgingly and bountifully
as indicated by several Rediff readers who responded to Zakaria's
prescription by recalling their happy emotional relations with Muslim
friends and families, old and new. But, as Rediff's readership has shown,
there will be a caveat to that help and many Muslims are as conscious of
that as Dr Zakaria.
Yes, there is hope still for communal amity if only the 'secularists' will
desist spreading their patented poison of 50 years and instead provide the
antidote. All of us must realise that the superpower potential of our nation
will be realised only with great teamwork from one hundred-odd billion
players. If only the current President of India's belief that the nation is
above the individual can become this team's slogan, then, Inshallah, India
will surely become a superpower, sooner rather than later.


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