Mosque Ruling Angers India Muslims

Tight security in Ayodhya (Pic Courtesy: Reuters)

MUMBAI – A court ruling over the site of a demolished mosque that largely favored the majority Hindus has angered India’s Muslims, raising fears of a new bout of ethnic tension in the Asian country.

 “The judgment is inextricably confusing because it is not a straight two-to-one judgment,” Syed Shahabuddin, President of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM), told OnIslam.net on Saturday, October 2.

 “There are in fact three judgments and they go on shifting their verdict on vital issues. Therefore essentially the judgment does not settle or resolve the issues.”

 A court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday ruled that the site of the Babri mosque to be divided between the Hindus and Muslims.

The 2-1 majority verdict gave Muslims one-third of the land, while two-thirds were given to two Hindu groups.

“The judgment is extra-legal based on myths and legends, ‘faith’ and superstitions, and not on the evidence on record,” said Shahabuddin.

“The judgment ignores the fact that the Supreme Court order of 1994 treated the disputed site as one entity and did not envisage any division,” he said.

Thousands of Indian Muslims rallied Friday after the weekly prayers to denounce the mosque verdict.

Despite the anger, the Muslim reaction was measured with no violent protests reported.

The 16th century-mosque was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992.

More than 2,000 people were killed in ensuing ethnic violence between Hindus and Muslims over the mosque demolition.

Muslims want the ancient mosque to be rebuilt, while Hindus want the lands to build a temple.

Extra-legal

Muslim leaders and political analysts lamented that the verdict lacked legal grounds and largely favored the majority Hindus.

“First Hindus installed idols in Babri Masjid in 1949, and then they demolished the Masjid in 1992. What is the fault of Indian Muslims,” Dr. Rehan Ansari, a political commentator, told OnIslam.net.

“Nobody asked for the one-third share in the disputed site yet the court has ordered trifurcation of the land.”

Navaid Hamid, member of the National Integration Council, was also critical.

“I am crying for my future generations, what they would respond when they will be teased that they have demolished a temple and an Indian court proved that they were guilty,” he said.

“Indian Muslims need to seriously think of surrendering all rights in Ayodhya and announce that they would not accept any land of piece as given by court because they think that this country would be run on astha (belief) rather than judicial rationale.”

Muslim leaders warned that the ruling risks to fuel sectarian tension in the country, vowing to appeal against the verdict.

“It (verdict) will only mean a mini-Masjid and a mini-Temple next to each other giving rise to constant friction,” Shahabuddin said.

“The Muslim community is dissatisfied and shocked by the judgment and is determined to exercise its right of appeal to the Supreme Court with a view to reverse the judicial stand from the mythological to the legal.

“The Muslim community is ready to accept the final judicial verdict of the Supreme Court as it is committed to the Constitution and the rule of law. It does not see any scope for negotiations among the parties until the final judicial verdict establishes the rights and status of parties concerned,” he said.

Muslims make up 13 percent of India’s 1.1 billion population, while Hindus account for 80 percent.

OnIslam.net October 2, 2010 

Note: This story which I wrote for Egyptian website OnIslam.net has been badly edited thus omitting some of the positive comments by members of Muslim community. 

Vande Mataram and Rise of Religiosity

30th General Session of Jamiat Ulema at Deoband

Jamiat Ulema has breathed a fresh leash of life into a decaying body called Sangh Parivar. The legitimate and illegitimate babies of the Sangh Parivar, who were on a deathbed, have suddenly discovered the art of resurrection and are on a revival path – thanks to Jamiat’s endorsement of an old fatwa of Darul Uloom Deoband against singing of the controversial song Vande Mataram. It’s akin to activating the dying cells of BJP! One doesn’t intend to question the validity of fatwa since it has already been settled by Darul Uloom. The subsequent endorsement by Jamiat and its timing are questionable since the matter has been decided by Supreme Court and it’s not mandatory. Also the issue of Vande Mataram was not at all being discussed!

Before we discuss the historical significance of Vande Mataram; three important issues must be made clear. First, the song is completely Un-Islamic. One may not agree with the second issue but many Muslims believe that Jamiat has always been the stooge of Congress. And thirdly the sound health of ‘Hindutva forces’ is a pre-requisite condition for the so-called secular parties to entice Muslim community on emotional issues, so that it may forget its legitimate demands and throw them into oblivion. The strengthening of Hindutva forces means that Muslims will be likely to go with the so-called ‘secular’ parties. This creates a conducive environment and greater prospects for secular parties to capture Muslim votes through false slogan of ‘secularism’.

One may recall that a few years ago, it was Arjun Singh, the then HRD Minister, who declared that the centenary of Vande Mataram would be celebrated with its singing in all institutions. Muslims reacted aggressively giving an opportunity to Hindutva forces to spew venom against the community. Arjun Singh later withdrew the circular and emerged a secular figure in the eyes of the Muslims! The purpose, perhaps, was served: to divert community’s attention from its main problems!

The unholy nexus between ‘Hindutva forces’ and the ‘fictitious secularism’ is the most effective instrument since independence to deceive Muslims.

Indian Muslims must understand the fact that Vande Mataram is more than a hundred year old-trap.

The controversial song Vande Mataram occurs in Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s novel Anand Math which was published in 1882. The song was originally written in 1876. Bhavananda, the hero of the novel plans an armed struggle against Muslims of Bengal. While reciting the song, he meets Mahendra. When Mahendra asks the meaning the song, Bhavananda replies, “Our religion is gone, our caste is gone, our honour is gone. Can the Hindus preserve their Hinduism unless these drunken Nereys (a term of contempt for Muslims) are driven away?” When Mahendra is not convinced, he is taken to temple and shown four-armed Vishu, with two decapitated and bloody heads in front. The priest tells Mahendra, “She is the Mother. We are her children Say ‘Bande Mataram’. The same procedure is repeated at the temple of Kali and Durga. Others have been portrayed as saying, “Will the day come when we shall break mosques and build temples on their sites”? The land of Bengal has been identified with a Hindu deity. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that Vande Mataram is a religious homage rather than national tribute to ‘Mother India.’

Nirad C. Chaudhuri describes the times in which the song was written. “The historical romances of Bankim Chatterjee and Ramesh Chandra Dutt glorified Hindu rebellion against Muslim rule and showed the Muslims in a correspondingly poor light. Chatterjee was positively and fiercely anti-Muslim. We were eager readers of these romances and we readily absorbed their spirit.”

Congress Working Committee which met on October 26, 1937 decided that the first two stanzas out of five will be sung (The last three stanzas have got religious connotation and therefore considered controversial). The first two stanzas began to be sung in some provinces and gradually it became associated with India’s freedom struggle. Commenting on this noted jurist and writer A.G. Noorani wrote in 1999, “’National’ songs do not need political surgery; the songs which do, do not win national acceptance.”

A.G. Noorani has termed Vande Mataram as “unconstitutional” citing Article 28 (1) and (3) of the Constitution which read:

(1) No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds.

(3) No person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto.

Should a particular religion play any role in a secular democracy like India? The question is obviously rhetorical. The deadly mixture of majority religion with India’s democratic framework has acquired frightening proportions.

Why do public servants break coconuts inaugurating new buildings? Why are religious mantras recited in the presence of bearers of public office? Why do judges invoke goddess Saraswati inaugurating a new court building? What has goddess Saraswati’s picture got to do with Indian judiciary? All this has happened recently at the inauguration of new court building in Malegaon in the presence of Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.

All this injures the spirit of world’s longest Constitution whose preamble contains words “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic.” It is the duty of judiciary and law enforcement agencies to check potent mixture of religion and public life.

Since singing Vande Mataram is not compulsory, Supreme Court must take suo moto cognizance of Bal Thackeray’s utterance that those who refuse to sing it, their tongues must be chopped off. Thackeray’s statement amounts to contempt of court. KG Balakrishanan, Chief Justice of India, must intervene to reassure that India does not believe and practice jungle law.

Sunday Inquilab, November 8, 2009

Hindu Iftar for Malegaon Muslims

Muslims at the Hindu-hosted Iftar

MALEGAON – Hastimal Vardera, a Hindu, is busy preparing iftar for fasting Muslims in the northwestern Indian city of Malegaon, setting an example of communal harmony in the Hindu-majority Asian country.
“I arrange Iftar party for our Muslim brethren once every Ramadan with the help of my Hindu friends and some members of Malegaon Lions club,” Vardera, a businessman, told IslamOnline.net.
Every year, the Hindu trader leads a team of 50 colleagues to host the iftar in the communally sensitive city.
At least 600 Muslim weavers attend the iftar every year.
“The basic purpose of organizing such an Iftar party is to strengthen our business relations so the society can live amicably,” said Vardera.
Muslim weavers dominate the grey cloth production in Malegaon while Hindu traders act as intermediaries who sell the finished product outside the city.
The idea of hosting iftar for his Muslim neighbors first came to the Hindu trader in 1992.
“Earlier, it used to be a close affair with Muslim weaver friends. Only a handful of people used to attend it,” he said.
It was only in 2002 that Vedera decided to expand the iftar.
“Initially the idea of inviting hundreds of Muslim for Iftar was difficult but slowly I picked it up.”

Malegaon, in the northern state of Maharashtra, has a long history of Muslim-Hindu tension.
The city was rocked by two deadly blasts in 2006 and 2008, leaving many Muslims dead.
Eleven Hindus, including a serving army colonel and a retired general, were accused of masterminding the attacks.
“Ramadan provides an opportunity for Iftar and this exercise helps to improve business relations as there is a lively inter-community dialogue which rarely takes place in a town like Malegaon,” Vadera said.
In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.
Most dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through self-restraint, good deeds and prayer.
“We earn from our Muslim brother so it is our duty to give them back even if it is in the form of an Iftar party,” said Vedera.

Praise

The Hindus-hosted iftar is drawing praise across the city.
“This Iftar is very special,” Sanjay Patil, additional superintendent of police, told IOL.
“It improves Hindu-Muslim relations between weavers and traders and both act as the lifeline of this town.”
Outbreaks of communal violence between Hindus and Muslims are not uncommon in India.
Last year, hundreds of Muslim homes and shops were burnt to ashes by Hindu mobs in different areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
The unrest was triggered by the local government's decision to donate local land to a Hindu pilgrimage trust, a decision opposed by Muslims.
In 2002, at least 2,000 Muslims were hacked or burned to death by Hindu mobs in Gujarat after 59 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire first blamed on Muslims but which a later inquiry concluded was accidental.
“The fate of Hindus and Muslims is linked to each other,” said Patil.
“The inter-dependency factor is like two wheels of the same cart.”
Aziz-ur-Rahman, a businessman, shares the same view.
“Iftar acts as a meeting point for the two communities,” he said, adding that the iftar also helps local authorities to deal with sensitive Hindu-Muslim relationship.
“People to people interaction in any form must be welcomed.”
IslamOnline.net September 18 2009

Indian memorizers ready for Taraweeh Test

Qur'an memorizers ready for special prayers of Ramadan


MALEGAON – Shabbir Ahmed, 45, has been leading the Tarawih, a special night prayer during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in this small town of Maharashtra state for more than twenty years.
For him, this honor is the culmination of tireless study and practice throughout the year.
“I do daily and rigorous preparation for 11 months so that I can lead the special night prayer in the month of Ramadan,” Ahmed, who sat cross-legged on a clean mat, told IslamOnline.net.
“I devote at least two hours daily for recitation of the Qur’an.”
In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.
Most dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through self-restraint, good deeds and prayer.
The Tarawih prayer usually includes the recitation of the entire 114 surah and 6,666 verses of the Qur'an divided on the days of the month.
Ahmed says that just 15 days before the beginning of Ramadan, he recites the entire Qur’an in one sitting without looking in the book.
“This is the longest and final revision call.”
Ahmed, who is not a full-time imam, says that during Ramadan itself he usually recites the assigned chapters of the holy book at least ten times in a single day.
“When I go onto the prayer mat to lead the special night prayer, it’s the eleventh time.”
Ahmed does not understand Arabic but this has never been an obstacle.
“I don’t know Arabic. But that has very little to do with memorization of the Qur’an.”
He asserts that memorizing the Qur’an is the easy part, while preserving the Word of Allah in human heart is that makes a difference.
“What matters is your intent. If your intentions are pure, then Allah will guide and help you to memorize His Book.”

Awaited

Qari Rizwan, a mosque imam, says he has been eagerly waiting for the beginning of Ramadan.
“Ramadan is our most beloved month,” he told IOL.
“We, memorizers of Qur’an, prepare for months to recite the holy book in the special night prayer,” he explained.
“Ramadan is a month to bear the fruits of labor.”
Hafiz Ibrahim, one of the most senior memorizers, recalls the old days when there were very few people who would come forward to brace this uphill task.
“There was a time when very few families would volunteer to devote their sons for memorization of the Qur’an but now things have changed,” he told IOL.
“Malegaon alone has thousands of such persons.”
Ibrahim feels blessed to have led fifty five Tarawih prayers before his retirement because of his age.
“All you need to do is stay calm and not panic,” he advises the younger generation of Qur’an memorizers.
“The key to successful recital lies in daily practice,” he explains.
Ahmed sums up the mood for him and fellow Qur’an memorizers.
“It is like our examination,” he says cheerfully.
IslamOnline.net August 20 2009

Unveiling Nicholas Sarkozy

Naked Truth: Nicolas Sarkozy is a hypocrite of secular liberalism. His problem is not that he can't accept Eastern tradition of convervatism in the form of burqa but his inability to come to terms with Western culrure of secularism liberalism.


French President Nicolas Sarkozy is the finest living example of Western hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, bias and double-standard are intrinsic in human nature and Sarkozy is no exception. Sarkozy’s racist, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant speech at Chateau of Versailles, south-west of Paris on Monday, is bound to draw criticism from the Muslim World. When one dissects Sarkozy and his personal life with the help of a literary and secular knife, he emerges as a confused personality whose hostility against Islam is steeped in his ascendancy; his Jewish origin. His language was quite similar to the one used by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu recently. The draft of Sarkozy’s speech itself narrates a tale of his outlook towards Islam in general and Muslims in particular.

The tone of his language must be understood clearly, it is only when one can draw conclusion about his intentions. “The burqa”, he said, “is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement—I want to say it solemnly. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic….In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity.”

Sarkozy is a self-appointed representative of the same West that believes in the doctrine of freedom. The definition of freedom in Western parlance is absolute. It includes freedom of choice rather than freedom of chance. The expression of freedom has been abused and used to suit Western convenience. So when it comes to freedom to choose one’s dress, they have no qualms about bikini but they would always have problem with burqa. A bikini is viewed as a symbol of women’s emancipation while a burqa is looked at a form of forced slavery. To men like Sarkozy, the bodily form of liberation is more important than the mental form of liberation. What more, when bodily form of liberation extends their desired limitation, they take the help of a flaccid morality evaporating slowly from the Western geography. So when an old nude photo of Sarkozy’s super-model wife Carla Bruni was leaked on the internet, Sarkozy left no stone unturned that it doesn’t get republished in any of the French magazine and tabloids!

Will an enlightened West question Sarkozy’s definition of secular liberalism? If he really believed in the doctrine that freedom is absolute then he should have allowed his wife’s photo to be published. That would have made him an icon and torchbearer of absolute freedom of expression!

Sarkozy’s comparison of burqa as a “prison sentence” can be understood if it is forced and made compulsory in a free Western society. But what if a woman chooses to wear burqa voluntarily? Won’t the same freedom to wear a bikini be extended to a lady who wants to don a burqa? In this hypothesis lies the irony of the West. This irony looks like an ugly and a repulsive creature on the mirror wall. The Western leaders claiming to be secular need to take a hard look in the mirror. There they will encounter a bitter pill hard to swallow.

The main problem of Sarlozy is not burqa but his inability to do nothing to stop the rise of Islam in his own country. According to one independent report, Islam is spreading most rapidly in France in the entire Europe. France is the only country in Europe which has the largest number of Muslims, 6 million to be precise.

Sarkozy need to understand the definition of secularism in the Indian context where multicultural and heterogeneous society is flourishing. Noted lawyer Fali S. Nariman has rightly defined secularism as, “secularism in India means the ability to comprehend and tolerate an infinite variety of social problems.”

The present Century is going to be a Century of soft power. In dress code, if a bikini is manifestation of West’s soft-power, then burqa is an Islamic symbol of soft-power. Men like Sarkozy fear that in this bikini-burqa collision, the latter may emerge as a winner given the rise of burqa in the West.

Sarkozy may be comfortable with his wife in a bikini on a beach front but the same will not be true in Eastern countries especially India. No seasoned Indian politician will ever do such a thing. He will not be comfortable in a bikini or a mini-skirt even with his wife. Therefore, if a burqa is a statement of separation as believed by Sarkozy, then a mini-skirt is not an invitation to familiarity.

The ongoing debate about separation of church and state raises some interesting points. If we apply that logic then the Church of England should be disestablished, the blasphemy laws abolished, and religious education in schools replaced by an objective consideration of the role of the various religions as a part of History and Social Studies.

Nicolas Sarkozy is a product of secular hypocrisy. He would do well to remember what a British scholar once wrote, “My old mother, a very proper Christian lady, used to wear a headscarf – whether to quell lust or just in order to look respectable I don’t know. The ‘simple fact’ is that in the customs of most societies men and women dress differently.”

Sunday Inquilab, June 28, 2009