HVK Archives: Muslim Indian's future is the future of India
Muslim Indian's future is the future of India - The Pioneer
Syed Shahabuddin
()
27 September 1996
Title : Muslim Indian's future is the future of India
Author : Syed Shahabuddin
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : September 27, 1996
I am constantly asked, "Do the Muslims of India have a
future?" or, "What future lies in store for Muslim Indi-
ans?" These questions reflect not only a sense of frus-
tration, insecurity and pessimism, but a fatal lack of
'faith' and self-confidence. I say faith because the
Muslim Indians-individually or collectively had no con-
trol on being born in India and Allah, in His benign
wisdom, made them Indians by birth and thus established
an unbreakable link between the two. "Self-confidence",
because otherwise a religious community, which is the
second biggest in the country and third biggest Muslim
community in the world, should not be questioning its
future, its destiny, its role.
Since the advent of Islam on the coasts of Malabar,
Gujarat and Sind, much before the Turkish-Afghan hordes
galloped through the Khyber Pass, crossed the Indus, took
Delhi, established a powerful Muslim state, which sought
legitimacy in Islam but which was hardly Islamic, one
must differentiate substantially between the ruling elite
which were largely of foreign descent and the common
Muslims who were local converts or their descendants.
Muslim India has passed through many ups and downs,
developed much social stratification, seen sectarian
struggle, risen and fallen economically, commanded and
lost high prestige in the Muslim world and passed through
both fraternisation and conflict within the country.
They have faced Invasions, massacres, migrations, depri-
vation, impoverishment, repression, and humiliation.
They have sacrificed life and property, faced bullets and
gallows with a smile and defended their faith and their
motherland with their blood. But they have continued to
grow. They have maintained, all said and done, their
religious identity and a sense of brotherhood and unity.
How can a community, so rich in collective experience,
feel despondent and question its future? How can a
creative community, which played a historical role in the
evolution of Indian culture and the making of the Indian
civilsation, indeed, building the country and the nation-
state, feel so overwhelmed by one tragic event, or even a
series of tragic events over a short period of time, one
act of injustice, one thrust of the poisoned rapier, one
show of bad manners, one word of abuse, one show of
"Shanti", to begin questioning its very survival?
Yes, since Partition it has suffered in many ways; its
elite having turned its back for greener pastures across
the line drawn in tears and blood, it became a target of
discrimination in public and private employment; it was
deprived of its due share in the fruits of development,
it fell increasingly left behind in education, it had to
gulp humiliation in religious matters; in the areas in
which it was dependent on land and official patronage, it
faced pauperisation. Above all, the sense of guilt over
having supporters for the demand for Pakistan and the
inability to adjust to the politics of democracy in a
multidimensional society, the psychological shock over-
whelmed one whole generation. The spell was broken in
1971-with the emergence of Bangladesh; a new generation
appeared on the scene which had no mental hangovers, no
chips on its shoulders; it was committed to secularism
and democracy. It was prepared to struggle for its
rights but also ready to participate in development and
to receive due share. Undoubtedly, this assertiveness
was not always welcome in a society which had denied
equality, justice, freedom and fraternity to the masses
for thousands of years. So there was a hostile reaction-
a sharpening of the knives.
The glory ahead
But who can wish away the Muslim Indians? They are there
and they shall always he there. The option of territorial
migration or transplantation voluntary or forced, does
not exist. Enough gas chambers cannot he installed.
Millions cannot be driven into the Arabian Sea or the Bay
of Bengal. Nor can they be assimilated or absorbed-not in
the world where suppressed identities are surfacing
everywhere. So the only solution which is in fact being
implemented by all concerned, sometimes consciously,
sometimes unconsciously, is political and economic inte-
gration with social and cultural autonomy, in a democracy
based on rule of law and social and cultural autonomy, in
a democracy based on social justice.
Many trends and tendencies during the last 50 years
support this great experiment in composite living, in
peaceful coexistence, in creative cooperation, indeed the
biggest in the world, that we have launched. Every
identity, religious, linguistic, cultural, racial, re-
gional, every ethnicity is to be accommodated on mutually
acceptable and beneficial terms, to create a beautiful
mosaic-a model for the rest of mankind.
Human race stands today on the threshold of self-discov-
ery-quality of man and respect for man's multi-dimension-
al identity. As the twentieth century comes to a close
(Bosnia, Rwanda-Burundi, Somalia, Afghanistan, Kampuchea
notwithstanding) there is growing consciousness of Human
Rights. And increasingly human rights take into account
not only the rights of the individual but of the group.
There is growing understanding of Minority Rights. The
nation-state in a plural society cannot be majoritarian;
it has to respect the rights of minority groups and at
multiple functional levels if it has a big area and a
large population as it is in our case, to give every
group a sense of participation.
Muslim-Indians, with few exceptions, like the political
demagogues who continue to sigh for the lost glory and
wait for the Second Coming, have jettisoned the useless
emotional baggage the attachment to Pakistan or to pan-
Islamic or to Khilafat's revival. There is a sense of
belonging to the larger world of Islam but there is no
element of political extra-territoriality in their mental
make-up. They know that no Muslim state is an Islamic
state and none will lift even a finger for them! This
has liberated them from old bondage to the arid concepts
of yesteryear and made them strive to strike roots in
their motherland, identify themselves with the country of
their birth which is the only place for them, in life and
in death! Muslim Indians have also been influenced by
the emergence of their country as the regional power,
pre-eminent in the subcontinent, and they share the
glorious vision of India's role in the New World Order.
Muslim Indians, if they are really anxious about their
future, must identify themselves with the common struggle
of the people for a life of dignity and the right for
equality and justice. They have to guard against apathy
and disinterestedness, withdrawal and non-participation.'
On the one hand, they cannot ignore the rise of fascism
under the slogans of Hindutva. On the other, they have
to strengthen and support and unite the secular forces,
by acting as the catalyst and the cement. They have to
invest in education and enterprise and acquire proficien-
cy in all modern Indian languages and in English. They
have to reduce the areas of conflict and confrontation
and manage the interface, in the face of all provocation,
through prudence and dialogue.
The Muslim Indian has to open the doors and windows of
his dark room and look at the shining vista and step out
to join the marching millions towards the future. His
future is the future of India and the future of India is
his future. It is a glorious future.
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