[sacw] SACW Dispatch 28 July 1999

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch
28 Jul 1999
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Contents:
#1. Secularism and the Muslim identity [in India]
# 2. Invitation by Global Peace March [India]
# 3. Muslim celebrity wrestles with Hindu animosity in India
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#1.
http://www.hinduonline.com/today/stories/05282524.htm
The Hindu
Wednesday, July 28, 1999
Op-Ed.

Secularism and the Muslim identity

By V. Krishna Ananth

``THERE IS a hot wind blowing here,'' murmurs the tongawallah (driver
of a horse-carriage) as he slackens his hold over the reins. And as
the tonga traverses the bylanes around the Agra fort, Salim Mirza, a
middle-aged Muslim, assures himself and also the tongawallah that
Gandhiji's sacrifice will not go in vain. This is a scene from an M. S.
Satyu, made in the early Seventies; Garam Hawa,' a brilliant film on
Partition.

The tongawallah's reference to the ``hot wind'' was just literal; it was
one of those hot afternoons in the north. But to Balraj Sahni, who plays
Salim Mirza in the film, the ``hot wind,'' meant more; it meant the
exodus to Pakistan and the distrust all over the north Indian towns among
Hindus; it also meant the agony of a whole generation of participants in
the freedom struggle, after witnessing the mindless killings that
accompanied Independence.

Salim Mirza represented the hundreds and thousands of Muslims of that
generation to whom Mahatma Gandhi, and not Jinnah, was the leader. They
were aware at one level that Pakistan, to which they were herded in
special trains, was already being appropriated by the elite among
their own community. But more than this pragmatism, they had faith
in Gandhiji and in the commitment of several others in the Indian
National Congress to the pluralist and liberal ethos; in other words,
this was the spirit of the freedom struggle.

How the Partition wounds healed and how civil society was freed from
the sense of revenge that marked inter-personal relations in the wake of
Partition within a few years clearly established that Salim Mirza's
confidence that ``Gandhiji's sacrifice will not go in vain'' was
well-placed.

This confidence, which perhaps helped douse the communal fire at that
time, is being shaken today. And one is beginning to witness the rise of
organisations that declare as their objective the construction of a
pan-Muslim identity on the lines of the post- 1940 Muslim League of
Jinnah; for instance, the TMMK in Tamil Nadu, the PDP (formerly the
ISS) in Kerala or groups such as those which blasted the stock
exchange building and carried out riots in Mumbai in March 1993.

The birth of these groups was inspired by the aggressive campaign of the
Sangh Parivar outfits at various levels through the Eighties. But
it is necessary to go beyond the Sangh Parivar campaigns to understand
the siege mentality that is now gripping the average Muslim in many parts
of the country.

In this context, December 6, 1992 was only the sad culmination of a phase
in the national political discourse in which the secular foundations of
the social fabric came to be symbolised, and tragically so, by a
dilapidated structure at Faizabad belonging to the medieval ages. But the
fact is that the loss of confidence on the part of the average Muslim in
the secular credentials of the Indian state was the consequence of a
process spread over a period of time.

What began as instances of anti-Muslim violence across the
northern States in the early Eighties - Meerut, Malliana,
Bhiwandi, Bhagalpur, Biharshareef, Aurangabad and Hyderabad and small
towns (where there was a substantial Muslim population) - took the shape
of full-blown anti-Muslim pogroms, in the wake of the Babri Masjid
demolition, in which many parts of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra,
including Mumbai, went up in flames.

In all these instances, the civil administration under the
Congress(I)-led Governments either stood as a mute witness or in some
cases even participated in the violence against the Muslims. The violence
in Meerut (1982) or the Bhiwandi riots later or in Bhagalpur and the
Biharshareef carnage (1989) are a few examples. There was no-let up in
this trend through the Nineties too.

Even Tamil Nadu, where the Hindu-Muslim divide did not exist, was shaken
by well-organised violence against Muslims in Coimbatore in November
1997; the number of dead was 18 (all of them Muslims) and most of the
property damaged and looted belonged to the Muslims. This was
followed by a series of bomb blasts in the city, sending shock waves
across the State and elsewhere.

While the perpetrators of the November 1997 crime have not even been
identified even after 18 months, the administration could identify and
prosecute those behind the February 1998 blasts in Coimbatore. The same
is the case with the two different phases of violence in Mumbai; while the
mighty state machinery has not even initiated steps to prosecute the
perpetrators of the December 1992 anti-Muslim pogrom, no such hesitation
was shown in handling the March 1993 serial blasts.

Indeed, there is hardly any record of the Indian state
prosecuting even one person for involvement in anyone of the riots
in which the Muslims were at the receiving end. The same holds true of
attacks against Dalits in many parts. It is also a fact that the public,
whose opinion is structured predominantly by the middle class
intelligentsia, seldom remember the riots and killings.

And for some strange reasons, these aspects are being sought to be
glossed over by a large section of the secular and progressive
intellectuals; instead, the tendency is to look at the entire problem
as a creation of the BJP and its political allies. At another level,
the middle class intelligentsia - now the BJP's conscience-keepers -
wants to point a finger at the TMMK, the Dawood gang or Abdul Nasser
Madani to remind the nation that ``they cannot be trusted.''

The sense of insecurity that has gripped the average Muslim seems to be
coming to the aid of both the secular and communal platforms.
While the secular groups are more than willing to condone the attempt
to forge a pan-Muslim identity and are even prepared to hitch a ride
with such groups, the Hindutva brigade finds in such mobilisation an
opportunity to further consolidate its agenda. In other words, both
brands of communalism - majority and minority - are thriving on each
other.

Indeed, the BJP is certainly larger than another political party;
ideologically, it has a lot in common with the fascists - its
anti-Muslim campaign is similar to Hitler's anti-Semitism, which not
only distorted the democratic discourse but also drove the world to a
disastrous war between 1939 and 1945. But then, not only were the
fascists allowed by the ``others'' in Europe to do what they wanted but
the ``others'' too began echoing the same slogans, contributing
immensely to the building up of a siege mentality among the Jews and the
democrats.

In India, too, the ``others'', primarily the Congress(I), sought to
appropriate the Hindutva agenda from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. And
this remains the primary cause for the sense of insecurity among the
Muslims today.

A close look at the Congress(I)'s approach to politics through the
Seventies will better illustrate this. Learning its lessons from the
electoral reverses due to the Emergency, the party, on its return to
power in 1980, changed tack and began appropriating the right-wing
political slogans - Hindutva - in a big way. And this led to a spurt in
anti-Muslim violence. The BJP had only to sharpen its campaign to
further vitiate the atmosphere with communal poison.

All these have put civil society in a spot, with a sense of
insecurity gripping the Muslims, particularly youth. But letting this be
used by groups to construct a pan-Muslim identity will not only
strengthen the Hindutva brigade but also result in a civil war.

And this being the truth, the way out must be a democratic and
positive mobilisation of the Muslims as citizens rather than allowing
a pan-Muslim identity to be built up; it is far more dangerous to affix
to this project the label of secularism, as is being done by most
mainstream parties.

Copyrights =A9 1999 The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc.
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#2.
INVITATION

Dear Friends,

As you might know a Global Peace March is being presently taken out with the
objective of total nuclear disarmament, a weapons free society and for
establishment of a just and humane global order. A world-wide signature
campaign is simultaneously going on, in support of this march. The march is
also making people aware about the dangers of radioactivity and seeking
abandonment of nuclear energy programme too.

WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO JOIN US DURING THE END OF THE MARCH, AUGUST
6, 1999, (HIROSHIMA DAY) FROM VARANASI TO SARNATH, AND FOR A DAY-LONG
PROGRAMME ON THE SAME DAY AFTER REACHING SARNATH. Kindly reach Varanasi by
August 5, 1999 in order to participate in this historic event and join the
march from Varanasi to Sarnath on early morning of August 6, 1999.

Please contact Ajit Singh, S-8/395, Khajuri Colony, Varanasi, Phone: (0542)
342253, in Varanasi. The public meeting on August 6 will take place in
Tibetan Institute, Sarnath, where the contact person is Prof. Rimpoche.

Admiral L Ram Das, Arundhati Roy, Prof. S. Rimpoche, Kishen Patnaik,
Siddharaj Dhadda, Narayan Desai, Thomas Kochery, Kuldip Nayar, Anand
Patwardhan and numerous others will participate in the Hiroshima day event
at Sarnath. Fuzikawa San, second generation Hibakusha from Hiroshima Japan,
will also personally join the march to acquaint the gathering about the
horrors of Atom Bomb tragedy which spelled doom for Hiroshima residents.
The residents of Khetolai (Pokaran, where India conducted it=EDs nuclear
tests), Rawatbhata (nuclear power plant), Jadugoda (Uranium mining area in
Bihar), will also join in to narrate the horrifying hazards of nuclear
radiations to the assembled people.

On August 7, 1999, a meeting will be organized to discuss further action
plans on the issues of disarmament and peace.

You are also requested to be present in New Delhi on August 9, 1999
(Nagasaki Day) to participate in the events, including handing over of
signatures to representatives of all nuclear weapons nations and the United
Nations organization to mark the formal close of the Global Peace March.

Arundhati Dhuru
A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow =F1 226 016, Phone: (0522) 347365
Email: asha@l...

Web site for the peace march:
http://www.aidindia.org/peace

Web site for electronic signature campaign:
http://www/indiatogether.org/petitions/gpm.htm

IF YOU HAVE COLLECTED SIGNATURES PLEASE MAIL THEM SOON AT THE LUCKNOW
ADDRESS MENTIONED ABOVE.
-----------------------------------------------

#3.

Christian Science Monitor
July 25, 1999

Muslim celebrity wrestles with Hindu animosity in India
By ROBERT MARQUAND

NEW DELHI, India -- In Indian terms, Dilip Kumar is Marlon Brando, Clint
Eastwood, and Humphrey Bogart rolled into one -- an "actor's actor"
respected and loved for 50 years by hundreds of millions of Indian
filmgoers.

Yet as the bitter fight between Pakistan and India over Kashmir has
largely ended, Kumar, a Muslim whose real name is Yusuf Khan, suddenly
found his patriotism attacked and questioned. Kumar, born in Pakistan but
an Indian citizen since the 1950s, was pressured by Hindu groups to return
a lifetime award given to him last year by Pakistan.

Kumar, now in his 80s, was hurt to find few Indians defending him. But he
agreed to give up the award if asked "because nothing is more important
than my country."

=46or Muslims in India today, the Kumar drama - which played out on Page 1
for weeks - is a small example of a worrying problem. At 120 million, the
largest minority group in the world, Muslims here find their status and
security in a delicate bind. It comes in the aftermath of an emotionally
charged war between India and Muslim Pakistan (the first televised war in
India), and with a steady rise of Hindu nationalism in the 1990s that will
be tested in high-stakes national elections Sept. 4.

The real issue, experts say, goes past immediate Hindu-Muslim relations,
and the questions of social stability it involves - to the heart of
India's own identity and promise as a secular state and the world's
largest democracy.

=46or years, Indian Muslims have complained of living under a cloud of
suspicion, and of being castigated as pro-Pakistani, or worse, as
potential traitors. Now, after the war, they worry about a tendency - in
Indian media and in village-level relations - to equate the word
"Pakistani" with "Muslim."

"Kargil has acted as a catalyst to revive the old bogey of the disloyal
Muslim," says Mushirul Hasan, a leading historian at Jamia Milia Islamia,
a college in Delhi. "Every time Pakistan does something silly, it rebounds
against the Muslims here. We take the heat."

=46or example, in a popular new Hindi film, "Sarfarosh," the villain is a
Muslim who by day is a talented, successful poet and singer. But by night,
he works for the Pakistani secret service as a nefarious underminer of the
Indian state.

Such films are a contrast with the wide array of prominent Indian Muslims
who this summer publicly opposed the war sponsored by Pakistan, where many
have family and friends. Muslims often cited the virtues of India's
secular ideals. Muslims in the Indian Army fought and died in the past two
months of intense fighting in the mountains above the Kashmir town of
Kargil. The first service for a Muslim officer killed at Kargil was held
in Delhi this week.

"Unlike the 1971 war and other events, we saw a genuine demonstration of
anger against Pakistan by Indian Muslims," says Teesta Setalvad of
Combating Communalism, an advocacy group in Bombay. "Yet with elections in
September, Muslims are on guard since the BJP has been a sword against
them in many local communities."

The BJP refers to the Bharatiya Janata Party of the current caretaker
government, which is a leading contender in the coming elections. The
origins of the BJP are associated with a tradition of communalism - the
term of art to describe anti-Muslim sentiments.

Still, no major violence has taken place in recent years, including under
the nearly year-long rule of the BJP. This is a contrast with the early
1990s, when cities around the country erupted in riots and burnings after
Hindu gangs tore down a Muslim mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya.
Many Muslims and Hindus say relations today are more mature and settled.

What concerns moderate Indians is an election season that will whip up
patriotic sentiments at the expense of minorities. Many of the Hindu
groups who get the most attention are on the extreme right - such as the
Shiv Sena of Bombay whose leader, Bal Thackeray, led the call for Kumar to
return his award. Yet playing the "Muslim card," as Dr. Hasan puts it, has
an impact in the Indian Muslim community far in excess of the realization
of the average Hindu.

One such example took place earlier this month in Lucknow. After a highly
publicized Indian Army victory in Kashmir, Hindu students rampaged through
a local Muslim college, throwing bricks, destroying part of a building,
and terrifying Muslim students.

The riot started when a local journalist for the national Hindi language
newspaper Jansatta wrote a story stating that Ali Mian, a renowned
emeritus scholar who lives in Lucknow, had, among other "anti-Indian"
activities, exhorted Muslims not to pray for Indian soldiers. Ali's
international stature, which earned him a visit this spring by Prime
Minister Vajpayee, is such that his position on the war created a scandal.

Yet when the Indian Express, which owns Jansatta, dispatched its own
reporter to Lucknow, the entire story was recanted. Not only had it been
"concocted" says Raman Kirpal, the Express reporter, in an interview with
the Monitor, but it turns out Ali himself was bedridden and has been
unable to speak in complete sentences for five months. When questioned,
according to Kirpal, Ali had only said, "peace must prevail" and allowed
his picture to be taken. "The elections are around the corner, the Indian
troops had just scored a big victory in Kashmir, so the reporter wanted to
paint a bad picture of Muslims," Kirpal says.

The Kumar episode ended inconclusively. Kumar met in Delhi with the prime
minister and asked if he should return the award, called the
Nishan-e-Pakistan award, Pakistan's highest civilian honor. Vajpayee
stated it was Kumar's, and he could do with it what he wanted. So far,
Kumar has not said whether he will return the Nishan or not.