Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: December 3, 2001
Going through the articles missed
while abroad, I found this nugget by that high priest of liberals, Mushirul
Hasan, in The Indian Express: "For Gandhi, non-violence consisted in refraining
from exercising the power to hit back and was a virtue of the brave...
He would have, therefore, appealed to the American people to eschew the
path of retribution. What good does it serve to target people of Middle
Eastern and South Asian descent under pressure to track down suspects in
the terrorist attack?"
This had provoked a sharp response
(CC'ed to me) from Bhalchandrarao Patwardhan, which I reproduce here, knowing
that newspapers which campaign for reinstating without revision in kiddy
textbooks the pinko idea that the Hindu pantheon is mere mythology, can't
possibly have the mettle to disseminate modern, documented history:
"If Gandhi was indeed alive today,
he would surely have advocated non-violence and restraint to the US...
just as he had advised the British in a letter he wrote in 1940 during
World War II to 'Invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they
want of the countries you call your possessions. Let them take possession
of your beautiful island with your many beautiful buildings. You will give
all these but not your souls or your mind' Or, like he had offered similar
advice to Hindu and Sikh victims of the bloodbath of the Partition in 1947,
he might have simply asked President Bush and all Americans to pray. In
his own words (September 1947), 'I asked them why they all came here. Why
did they not die there?... Even if our men are killed, why should we feel
angry with anybody, you should realize that even if they are killed, they
have had a good and proper end... It is true they were murdered but then
some others die of cholera or due to other causes'."
Hehehe, couldn't have made the point
better myself. Imagine a Britain where Herr Hitler had taken over -- Harrods
converted into Dachau and more Jews snuffed out. As for pressurising Hindus
and Sikhs to blissfully submit to the sword of Islam, it's enough for me
to be grateful to Nathuram Godse.
Such is the ideal that other countries
expect India to follow, even as they eschew everything remotely like it.
And very correctly, too! For nations aren't sustained by succumbing to
evil like Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden. So, to answer those asking
why I've become "a cheerleader for America," here goes: . America responded
to an external aggression like India should have ten years ago -- and that
gets my respect.
. The US is obliterating the very
elements that have been laying waste Jammu & Kashmir, the north-east
and every other limb of India - and that gets my full-throated support.
. I do not care how many innocents
are killed in the process of destroying the Taliban and the Al Qaeda --
"collateral damage" is a concept I fully understand and accept; which is
why I'm still furious about Masood Azhar's release. If a people cannot
stomach the death of a few civilians -- even as they merrily send in legions
of volunteers, the soldiers, to die -- they have no right to survive.
Back to pathetic pleas. In his response,
Mr Rao ignored that which strips the "liberal" cover off Mushirul Hasan.
To wit: "The US administration has drawn up a list of 'rogue states,' but
does that include Israel? If not, why not? 'Barq girti hai to bechare Mussalmanon
par' (Lightning strikes, always, the beleaguered Muslims)."
Meaning:
. Examining the root cause of violence
is a luxury allowed only to Muslims. Therefore, the destruction of the
WTC towers -- killing thousands -- is due to Israel's injustice. Naturally,
Hindus may not mention why the derelict structure in Ayodhya was destroyed
-- sans casualties.
. The ritual of differentiating
between the radical and the moderate elements of Islam - a requisite for
all non-Muslim writers -- vanishes into thin air. Whether it's the Hammas,
Hizbollah or Al Qaeda on the US hit-list, all are now just plain old Mussalman.
. No matter where he is or what
heinous acts he commits, the Muslim is forever bechara, battered and besieged...
Don't blame me if I see the hallmarks
of the closet khilafat-supporter in such outpourings. And this closet variety,
I loathe and will further exemplify:
The November 16 issue of The Milli
Gazette, the preferred journal of the Islamist gentleman, informs us that
Mushirul Hasan, speaking at an international seminar on terrorism in New
Delhi, asserted that "it is totally wrong to say that madrasas in India
are producing terrorists... Citing the example of Darul Uloom, Deoband,
he said that this institution has always provided nationalist ideologies.
About Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, he said that whenever there was any case
of Islamic terrorism, parents and students of this madrassa were disturbed
and worried and members of Sangh Parivar used to make a beeline for this
institution. He said that RSS is indulging in propaganda that madrasas
in India are functioning on the lines of those in Pakistan."
Apparently, Hasan's been in non-reading
mode all through the 90s, when it was noticed that the burgeoning of madarsas
coincided with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in India. I'll give just
a few excerpts from newspapers which apparently are instruments for RSS
propaganda:
"The rapid growth of masjids and
madarsas on the adjoining sides of the Indo-Nepal border has caused deep
concern... The agents of Harkut-ul-Ansar selected the bordering areas as
their safe haven for anti-India activities... The training camps are mostly
held on the farm houses with high boundary walls and madarsas which are
strictly guarded. The local functionaries could not dare to enter their
premises." (The Times of India, May 7, 1999)
"Last year a secret service agent
noted in his records that on August 14 in a madarsa near Khawda [in Kutch],
teachers have coerced students into singing songs showing affinity towards
Pakistan and having words like 'Our Kutch, Our Pakistan'... Many fundamentalists
on the border of Kutch worship Masood [Azhar] as God. In one madarsa...
the photograph of Maulana Masood has been put up." (Chitralekha, October
16, 2000)
"The Darul Uloom Deoband has never
hogged so much media attention as it did last week... Who are their icons?
No, not Gandhi, Nehru, not even Jinnah. Their heroes hail from the Islamic
world: Imam Abu Hanifa and Qaari Siddiqui of Banda. This is hardly surprising
in an institution whose vice-chancellor holds the century-old fatwa declaring
India a Darul Harb (country of conflict) valid even today." (ToI, March
18, 2001)
"In this crowded, fly-infested town
where the Taliban was born, Islamic seminarians see the Afghan rulers as
heroes... 'The Taliban are our heroes and we have nothing against the fact
that they bombed the stone Buddhas. The American media has maligned the
Taliban, but how bad could they be? After all, their ideology comes from
here. I would like to meet them personally and shake their hand,' says
Wasi Zama, 25, rocking back and forth on his heels, sweeping his arm across
the perfectly manicured gardens and the historic complex of buildings called
Dar-ul-Uloom [Deoband]." (The Washington Times, April 10)
In the madarsas across Kashmir valley,
"the Deoband school of thought is the driving force, the same force that
feeds the Taliban in Afghanistan and jehadi groups in Pakistan, including
the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. And although Deobandis
deny that these religious schools are potential jehad factories... they
admit that much of what is taught here overlaps with the hardline philosophy
of the Taliban." (The Indian Express, April 12)
"According to the Intelligence Bureau
study obtained by The Hindustan Times, Pakistan is brainwashing Muslims
in some of the border states and clandestinely funding mosques and madrasas...
The study identifies the number of mosques and madrasas along a 10-km border
stretch in a few districts in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat... The teaching
imparted in madrasas here has acquired a 'militant tone.' The note says
ISI holds sway over some of these madrasas frequented by Muslim theologians
from Nepal, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia." (HT, August 27)
"Delhi police officials who have
interrogated SIMI activists say funds for the thousands of the new madrassas
comes from a very wide network of agencies concentrated in the Arab world...
Officials also point out that even before the government banned SIMI, the
madrassas were hailing Saudi exile and now No. 1 suspect in the US Sept.
11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, as a religious guru." (Newspaper Today, September
30)
Darul Uloom Deoband provides "nationalist
ideologies"? As in the talib's glee at the destruction of the Bamian Buddhas?
As in upholding the fatwa declaring India a Darul Harb - a "country of
war" to be conquered by Islam...? Such, then, is our liberal, non-religious
intelligentsia of Muslim origin.
No matter what the evidence, all
the problems, even the thirst to blow up people, are due to the flaws in
non-Muslims. For Hasan, it's the Sangh Parivar. Just as for Hamid Gul --
and three-quarters of the Islamic world -- the 9-11 attacks were effected
by either Zionist air traffic controllers who guided the aircrafts into
the WTC towers, or the hijackers who were Arab traitors brainwashed by
Mossad. As one of our mostly-moderates wrote to ToI: "Mossad, Israeli intelligence
has very carefully executed this operation to discredit its enemies on
a global level but in the process it made a very crucial mistake. They
did everything too perfectly!"
The Islamist sees the entire non-Muslim
world, and not just Israel, as the archenemy. He seeks an Islamic revival
through which the infidel must be vanquished. He wraps himself in global
grievances to cloak his khilafat objectives. His aim is not merely to destroy
Israel or America - it is to create a fundamentalist Islamic state across
the world. His is a jihad to liberate the world from kaffirs. Like Marxism,
this Islamic fantasy aims to impose its vision on others and call it "peace."
It is the war against this factor that I'm rooting for whole-heartedly:
Rah, rah, RAH!
Will Al Qaeda be placated if --
instead of bombing Afghanistan -- the US forced Israel to withdraw all
Jewish settlers from Palestinian territories? The problem with that scenario
is, delusions don't disappear with appeasement, for they're crucial to
the militant's cause: Fanatics *need* to feel victimised. And it's in the
interest of those who seek influence to further fuel such "hurt sentiments"
- witness the decades-old modus operandi of the Congress and the Leftists.
What did Israel have to do with the jihad against Christians in Nigeria?
What does Israel have to do with the jihad in western China, the CARs,
Turkey, the Balkans and the Philippines...? Or in Kashmir...?
Haan ji haan, barq girti hai to
sirf bechare Mussalmanon par. Like hell it does.
