Syed Ali Mujtaba
India is undergoing a rhetorical shift. This trend is glaringly
visible since the nation is engaged in the Covid-19 war and the communal virus bubbling
across the length and breadth of the country. It appears that while government is
fighting the Covid war, the Hindus and Muslims have their own scores to settle.
Ever since Markaz – Corona linkage has surfaced, the Hindu-
Muslim hatred is blatantly at display. All and sundry are rebuking at Muslims as
if the entire community is responsible for the Markaz lapses. If one goes by
the media reports, one gets the impression that Muslims have become the biggest
headache for the Hindu community.
The Mrakaz- Corona debate has made it evident how the charade
of secularism was overlaid on the Indian society for so long time. Now that cloak is shed and beneath it the
societal truth of bitter social relationship is out in open. As one can see the
social tension in India is bursting at its seams. And to such developments the blind eye of the ruling
elite is quite puzzling. Their conspiracy of silence has made many think where
is this Muslim game heading in India?
There is a long history to it that goes back to 1947, but
ever since the current government has come to power in 2014, Indian Muslims are
drifting at a much faster pace.
It all started with the condoning the crime of mob lynching
of Muslims for the cow protection. The triple
talaq’ issue torpedoes the Muslim personal law. The Babar Masjid judgment
was an appeasement to the majority community. The abrogation of article 370 and
35 A, and then the announcement of the promulgation of the citizenship laws
were all part of the same chain events that points to a rhetorical shift India
is making with a clear agenda to marginalize the Indian Muslims.
Some equate these developments in India with those in Spain some
500 years ago when Muslims were exterminated from that country in 1612. How that was done is being studied by some radical
Hindus who want to replicate the ‘Spanish model’ on the Indian Muslims and
exterminate them from India.
What is Spanish model
and how it is being implemented in India?
Muslims ruled over Spain for 780 years from 712 AD to 1492
AD. Subsequently, political power slipped out of their hands and in next 120
years they had to Spain where they lived for almost 800 years.
In order to understand this we have to have a clear knowledge
about the Spanish society. Muslims in Spain were divided into three categories:
(i) the descendants of the Arabs, (ii) descendants of Muslim fathers and
Spanish mothers (iii) and locals who adopted Islamic faith.
In India some similar categorization of Muslims exists. 1) descendants
of those who came from foreign lands ii) offspring of Muslims and locals iii) and
locals who adopted Islamic faith.
In Spain after the “Granada War” ended the Nasrid dynasty the
last relic of Islamic rule. After that some among the top category of Muslims
left Spain, and some chose to live in Spain. They were subsequently targeted as
'foreigners" as it is happening in India and are called ‘Babur ke aulad.’
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In the third category Spanish Muslims who converted from
Christianity to Islam were persuaded to reconvert to Christianity. They were
told that since their ancestors were forced to become Muslims they should
revert to their old faith as there was no coercion or fear left. It is the same kind of thing happening in India
and its echo are found in ‘Ghar Wapsi’ campaign.
In Spain, the government made deliberate policies for the marginalization
of Muslims. Arabic was removed from the administration; schools attached to
mosques were only asked to give religious teachings. Lessons in history were rewritten.
Muslim rule was dubbed as barbaric. Contribution of Muslims to the development
of Spain was blacked out. Muslim houses
were constantly searched for anti-national activity. Islamic law was declared
illegal. Marriages performed in the Islamic way were directed to be registered.
In Spain there was no political leadership of the Muslim, no
organization to protect them, the Muslim intelligentsia left the country due to
hostile environment. Only religious
leaders were left but due to adverse situation they had to leave Spain in 1612.
In compare the method adopted by Spain’s rulers it can be said
that many developments taking place in India looks like a complete replica of
the Spanish model.
The periodic communal riots in India are one such example. In the
earlier years of communal riots, Muslims resisted and fought pitched battles on
the streets with police coming late to the scene. Then gradually the riots
became one-sided affair, Muslims being the losers as police playing partisan role.
Muslims history is disappearing from the Indian syllabus. A
great martyr like Tippu Sultan who fought against the colonial rule is now made
a controversial figure. Whereas the name of Tantia Tope, who fought not for
India but for his own pension, and Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, who fought for her
adopted son's heir-ship to the throne, are being glorified.
Urdu, which holds the same place in India as Arabic was in
Spain, has been eased out. In north India where Urdu is the mother tongue of
the Muslims, are making the children learn Hindi so they can be assimilated with
the larger society. Some Muslims who are voluntarily going to madrasas
to study Urdu and Arabic are taking refuge in religious activities and have distanced themselves from the common Muslims.
to study Urdu and Arabic are taking refuge in religious activities and have distanced themselves from the common Muslims.
There is no middle class among the Muslims in India. Muslim
elite are away from the Muslim masses. They are more comfortable with the Hindus,
living in non-Muslim localities and cutting themselves away from the Muslims masses.
As such the gulf between the educated rich Muslims and poor Muslim masses is
widening every day in India.
On the political front, Muslim electoral constituencies are
divided horizontally and vertically in India so that Muslims don't have an
effective voting power anywhere in the country. Any move to organize Muslims is
branded as communal and any one flirting with such idea is called ‘anti-national’.
Such mockery of democracy goes on in India.
Muslim masses are left rudderless. Among them leadership is
not allowed to flourish. Their ultra-secular Muslim leaders are holding on to the
tails of the Hindu leadership to survive in the so called secular political parties.
What is left in India is the theological leadership that is trying
to maintain the cultural identity of the Muslims. But they are also under
constant attack. The cries of Personal Law amendment and its replacement with common
civil code pose a big challenge to the theological leadership and they are facing
pressure from both within and outside the community. Remember what happened to
‘Desh Bacho, Deen Bacho tehrik.’ 
It is high time the Muslim intelligentsia rises to the
occasion and come up with some counter measures to check the Spanish model
being replicated in India. It has to be understood that religion does not
protect its followers; it is the followers that protect the religion.
In the
given situation it is the Indian Muslims who alone can save themselves from the
incursion of the Spanish model being thrust upon them. How they will do it is
another tale for another day to tell.
Note: This is a summary of a long
editorial in ‘Dalit Voice,’ May 16-31, of 1999 with substantial changes being
made to make it contextual.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be
contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
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