False Custodians

In the holy month of Ramadhan, when Muslims consciously occupy themselves tothank Allah for all He has given, some Muslims, in the name of the very sameAllah, claim to have killed and maimed innocents. In utter disregard to Islamicconvention which prohibits even hurting others during this month, the so-calledIndian Mujahideen showed no remorse in spilling blood on the streets of Delhi.This murderous bunch, through its mindless acts of terrorism, wants to give abad name to Islam and makes Muslims hang their heads in shame. 

Unknown to Muslims, it claims to act on their behalf to avenge the pogrom in inGujarat directed against Muslims and the many discriminations which it allegesMuslims face in this country. That Gujarat and incidents like it are blot on thepractice of Indian secularism is undeniable. But what is also undeniable is thatit caused a lot of pain to Indians of all denominations, not just Muslims.Limited in its understanding of the secular legacy of Indian people, theself-appointed Indian Mujahideen wants to convert Gujarat into specifically aMuslim issue. What happened in 20002 in Godhra and the rest of Gujaratthereafter was a shame and still remains a cause of serious concern for theentire nation, not for Muslims alone. In fact Muslim groups and its so calledleadership are not the ones who are at the forefront to demand justice forvictims of Gujarat riots. They are too busy with their third class agendas suchas protecting the outmoded Muslim Personal Law and unethically demandingreservation for all Muslims. 

The Indian Mujahideen also conveniently forgets that Indian Muslims have asstrong a stake in this country as any other community -- or it doesn't want thisto be the case. They forget that some Muslims of this country have scaled greatheights in this country which would not have been possible if India was asdiscriminatory towards Muslims as the Indian Mujahideen wants to have us believe.And that’s why the Indian Mujahideen will not succeed in polarizing Muslims andHindus. Most of India lives in shared spaces and partakes in each other's joyand sadness. The Indian Mujahideen seem to be the alienated city bred who havelived their lives in community specific ghettos. They forget that the majorityof Indian Muslims do not share their experiences. 

Quoting from the Quran to justify their nefarious ends is appalling. The IndianMujahideen claim to be Muslims but their selective quotation of Quranic verses istantamount to dismembering the sacred text. As the Indian Ulama were quick topoint out, if placed in their proper context, the verses quoted by the IndianMujahideen would not mean the same. Like the puritanical streak of a new convert,the Indian Mujahideen’s attempt to interpret Quranic verses is the work ofnovices and does violence and injustice to the collective conscience of IndianMuslims who regard their sacred text as the ultimate guide of ethics andcompassion. 

The attempt to appropriate Maulvi Ismail and Syed Ahmad Barelwi is equallybaffling. The Indian Mujahideen, in their intellectual ineptitude, seem to forgetthat the above mentioned leaders raised the banner of jihad against the British,not against their fellow countrymen. And, in any case, Maulvi Ismail and AhmadBarelwi remain marginal to the Indian Muslim religious imagination. Both thesemen advocated a puritanical reading of Islam, rejecting a mediated religiousexperience which was, and to a large measure still is, the dominant imagery ofIndian Islam. Their followers later on came to be known as the Ahl-e-Hadis,which -- despite the media hype surrounding it -- remains a marginal forcewithin the Indian Muslim community. The Ahl-e-Hadis, however, is one of the mostpotent killing machines in Pakistan and has spawned organizations like theLashkar-e-Toiba. It is not surprising then that these two men fire the murderousimaginations of the Indian Mujahideen. Despite their best efforts, the IndianMujahideen will never be able to convince Indian Muslims that their jihad is arightful one. If their inspiration comes from the two men named above, then theybetter know that for the majority of Indian Muslims, Maulvi Ismail and AhmadBarelwi remain accused of denigrating the Prophet, an idea which is repugnant tomost Muslims. 

The so-called Indian Mujahideen wants to gain Muslim sympathy by stating againand again that it is fighting against the RSS and Bajrang Dal. However, inequating RSS with the Hindus, it becomes the most ardent supporter of its avowedenemy. After all, it is also the fantastic claim of the RSS that it representsall Hindus, which it does not. The Indian Mujahideen gives the RSS thislegitimacy which has been denied to them time and again by the Indian people. Infact, it would seem that the Indian Mujahideen is helping the RSS. By targetinginnocents, it reinforces the RSS’ viewpoint that Islam and Muslims areincorrigibly fanatic and violent. The traditional religiosity of Indian people,both Hindu and Muslim will see to it that both the RSS and Indian Mujahideen’schauvinist and bigoted religious vision gets defeated.