Author: Tavleen Singh
Publication: India Today
Date: October 15, 2001
There is no politically correct
way to say what I am about to, so I shall say it plainly: it is time for
India's Muslims to distance themselves from the kind of Islam the Taliban
preaches. And those who urge Muslims to join Osama bin Laden's jehad should
either be made to desist or be locked up for preaching sedition. If our
Government is serious about joining the international coalition against
terrorism, it could begin by making the imam of Delhi's jama Masjid behave
himself. Once more at Friday prayers he urged Indian Muslims to "destroy
the enemies of Islam" and identified these as Israel and America. "If America
attacks Afghanistan," he said, "Muslims throughout the world would consider
it an attack on Islam and so would not hesitate to sacrifice all they have
in protecting their religion. "
Interestingly, the day after Syed
Ahmed Bukhari identified himself publicly with the Taliban's cause, a documentary
on Afghanistan called Behind the Veil was screened on CNN. If the imam
is a true believer in the Taliban's version of Islam he would consider
television too evil to watch, but CNN would be doing the rest of us a huge
favour if it would translate the film into Urdu and show it over and over
again so that more sensible Indian Muslims would see for themselves the
horror of what has happened to Afghanistan in the name of Islam. Please
remember that bin Laden, hero to a disturbingly large number of Muslims,
believes that Afghanistan is the only country that is truly Islamic in
the world.
In this truly Islamic country policed
by vice squads, women can be arrested for daring to work, little girls
for going to school and men for not growing long enough beards. Television,
music, movies, singing, dancing and, of course, drinking are all forbidden.
So, Afghanistan has become one of the most joyless, perverted societies
in the world. A place where shooting women in the back of their heads-without
allowing them to remove their burqas-is considered justice and wearing
nail polish, a crime. Is this the sort of country Indian Muslims want to
fight for?
If it is, then it needs to be made
clear that this fight cannot be fought from Indian soil because we have
seen enough terrorism disguised as jehad in the Kashmir Valley not to want
the idea to spread. Speaking of Kashmir, it would be most interesting to
see what the average Kashmiri thinks of the Tailban's methods of governance.
The freedom movement in the valley began, please remember, because of India's
denial of democratic rights to Kashmir. A rigged-or an allegedly rigged-election
was sufficient reason for Kashmiri youth to cross into Pakistan and train
to become terrorists. Fine. But what of a country in which democracy is
considered evil, in which justice is something that comes out of the barrel
of a mullah's gun? How does Indian repression compare with that? For that
matter, how does India compare with Afghanistan, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia?
It is time to start answering these
questions and stop apologising for India. In the name of some kind of twisted
version of secularism we have allowed Indian Muslims to nurture a huge
sense of grievance that is ably exploited by trouble-making clerics, "secular"
politicians and, of late, terrorist groups. Look, for instance, at the
hue and cry raised by leftist and supposedly secular parties over the recent
ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India. An organisation that openly
preaches sedition and distributes subversive literature glorifying the
likes of bin Laden should have been banned years ago. If the Government
needs to be criticised, it is for not doing it soon enough. Would an organisation
of this kind be allowed to function in any other country?
India has always been one of the
most tolerant countries in the world. It has allowed other religions to
not just exist but flourish. The earliest Christians and Jews came here
to escape religious persecution as did the Zoroastrians, but-again because
of our twisted idea of secularism-we have allowed minority groups to convince
themselves of India's intolerance.
Well, enough is enough. It is time
for Indian Muslims to face the reality that India looks quite good when
compared to any of the wondrous Islamic republics they so clearly admire.
Those who remain unconvinced of this need to start looking for greener,
more Islamic pastures because there can be no room here for the sort of
Islam the Taliban practices.
This is India, not Afghanistan or
Saudi Arabia. We do not veil our women. We do not shoot them in football
stadiums turned into public execution grounds. We consider television an
engine of change and modernity. We are proud of our traditions of music
and dance. And we do not make minority groups identify themselves by wearing
distinctive colours-as Hindus and Sikhs now have to in Afghanistan. We
need to be proud that India is India and should do our best to keep it
that way.
