HVK Archives: Secular Muslims - a letter
Secular Muslims - a letter - Times of India
M H Moosa, Mumbai
()
5 September 1996
Title : Secular Muslims
Author : M H Moosa, Mumbai
Publication : Times of India
Date : September 5, 1996
Sir, - Although belated, former cabinet secretary Zafar
Saifullah's exhortations to Muslims to think not only
about their rights but also their duties towards their
country (August 20) is very sound advice indeed.
About 25 years ago, Prof Khusro, former member of the
Planning Commission and ex-Vice Chancellor of Aligarh
Muslim University, while speaking at a Muslim Education
Conference in Mumbai, had presented what he called the
'Law of Communalism' where he pointed out through a
mathematical model that if Muslim communalism increased
by arithmetical progression, the impact of the same on
Hindu communalism would be such that it would grow in
geometrical progression. What he implied was that
Muslims should strictly follow the secular approach in
their day-to-day dealings with non-Muslims in secular
India, otherwise the consequences would be terrible.
The demolition of the Babri Masjid followed by
countrywide communal riots confirms Prof Khusro's warning
to Muslims 25 years back.
The point I want to make, however, is that sporadic
advice by Muslim intellectuals will have no significant
impact on the illiterate Muslim masses who have been
playing into the hands of communal leaders for the last
50 years. The need of the hour is for Muslim opinion
leaders to jointly take up the task of systematically
spreading a secular ethic among the Muslim masses. I am
sure adequate cooperation and support from Hindu opinion-
makers and the media will always be available to this
group.
M. H. MOOSA
Mumbai.
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