Author: Tavleen Singh
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: September 21, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-divide-widens/363888/
With jihad having got unnervingly close to
the 'Z' security boundaries of Lutyens' Delhi, terrorism has finally become
the subject of high political concern. This is good. And if our intelligence
agencies and policing systems get the overhaul they badly need, it is better
still. But meanwhile, a new crisis is developing unnoticed that, in the end,
could be as dangerous as jihad. This is the growing disconnect between Hindus
and Muslims in cities, towns and villages across India. It widens with every
new terrorist attack. Having seen, up close, the vicious atmosphere that preceded
the demolition of the Babri Masjid, I would go so far as to say that not since
those terrible days have Hindus and Muslims been so far apart in the way they
view this country.
Indian Muslims see themselves as the real
victims of jihad, not just in India but everywhere. I have met educated, sophisticated
Muslims who believe that jihad, worldwide, is a creation of America's propaganda
machine. If I listed here the Indian Muslims I have met who believe 9/11 was
an 'inside job', the list would be longer than this column. Osama bin Laden
did not have the capability to plan such an operation, they argue, but Mossad
did. That is why thousands of Jews stayed away from work that day. It is a
view taken straight from the Arab street.
If you watched last week's shootout in Delhi's
Jamia Nagar, you would have noticed a large mob of angry Muslims shouting
slogans against the police. Even if this was because they thought that the
police had entered a mosque to kill the terrorists, it does not explain why
such anger is not directed against jihadis who plot their massacres from residential
areas like Jamia Nagar. When I try to get explanations from Muslim friends
and from ordinary Muslims I meet on my travels, I am told that the reason
why jihad does not bother Muslims as much as police investigations do is because
they perceive the Indian state as being unfair to Muslims.
I was shocked when I heard my old friend,
Mahesh Bhatt, announce on national television the day after the Delhi bombings
that he saw no difference between what happened in Delhi and what was happening
to Christians in Orissa. But, a worryingly large number of ordinary, non-jihadi
Muslims feel that local Islamist terrorism is only a reaction to the injustice
of the Indian state. If the state were even-handed there would be no problem,
they say; it cannot be considered terrorism when Hindus are killed and a mere
law and order problem when Muslims or Christians are the victims.
To the average Hindus this kind of talk is
not just bizarre but treasonous. They see jihadi terrorism as the biggest
problem they face as they go about the daily business of going to work, shopping
for groceries or taking the children to school. They are enraged at the inability
of political leaders to win the fight against terrorism and believe it is
because of the 'Muslim vote' that the terrorists are not dealt with more harshly.
They believe that the aim of jihad is to destroy what India has achieved economically
and to divide the country once more in the name of Islam.
The only thing that Hindus and Muslims share
is a distrust of the Government and the police. Neither community believes
that the police catch the right people and neither has any faith in the intelligence
systems the police rely on. In this dangerously fraught atmosphere of communal
suspicion and hatred, we have our 24-hour news channels adding Oil to the
blaze with inaccurate, immature reporting. An example of this is the way in
which the 'atrocities' against Christians in Orissa have been reported. If
you went by what you were told on your favourite news channel, you would think
that Hindu fanatics from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have
been allowed to rampage through the forests of Kandhamal, driving thousands
of Christians from their homes and churches.The reality is that the fight
is between Adivasis and Dalits and it is an old one based on the Dalits having
done better economically because of converting to Christianity.
When it comes to reporting jihad there are
divisions in the media now. Two camps exist. If you belong to the 'secular'
camp you try to understand the grievances of the Indian Mujahideen and the
reasons why the Kashmiris hate us and love Pakistan. If like your humble columnist,
you despise Islamism and do not believe that the Bajrang Dal is a mirror image
of the Indian Mujahideen, then you are 'communal'. The media divide is healthy.
The Hindu-Muslim divide is not.
