IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
INDIA AT THE CROSSROAD
[Written at the eve of Indian Elections in April-May, 2004]
[Shamim A Siddiqi, New York]
India is a vast country and by virtue of that, it is called
as a sub-continent with various regions, climates, high mountains, deep valleys
and majestic rivers like Ganges. Its population is exceeding 1.2 billion. It
is heterogeneous in its formation and is rich in mineral and agricultural
resources. Its history is quite ancient and dates back to the most primitive
time of human civilization. Its original nationals were called Dravidians who
were driven back to the South when the Arians attacked and occupied plane and
fertile lands of the North. The Arian’s culture, religion and myths dominated
the Indian socio-economic-political scene until the arrival of Muslims in the
sub-continent from both the North and South in Malabar with their own distinct
civilization – religion, name and nomenclature and a complete system of life
and code of conduct in every walk of life. Both the Arian and Muslim culture
flourished in India side by
side for about a thousand years until the appearance of British people through
the waters of the Bay of Bengal. British
dominated the scene of Indian politics for about two hundred years. They were
forced to give it up by granting Independence
to Indo-Pak subcontinent on August 14/15, 1947.
Throughout
the above scenario, the high cast Hindus were trying to establish the
“dictatorship” of Brahmanism and keep the “untouchables” under their “feet” as
serfdoms, clearly violating the fair name of “Mother India” promoting and
perpetuating the tutelage of unholy cast system. The stalwarts of Hindu culture
were always trying their best to absorb all the minorities, including Muslims
as the integral part of the main streamline of Hinduism. The Indian National
Congress always claimed to be the representative of all. The elections of March
1946 under British India were held just to
ascertain that which party represents whom and to what extent. As such, the
Constitution of India recognized their separate existence and gave a total
secular outlook to Indian politics with guarantees of human and representative
rights to minorities. The dream of “Akhand Bharat” retreated for the time being
in the background.
After
independence, Indian National Congress dominated the Indian politics, under the
leadership of Nehru “dynasty” which was secular in behavior but mockingly
pro-Hindu at heart. As such, secularism in its truest form could not be established
in India.
The hypocritical role of Congress with Indian minorities, including Muslims disbalanced
the political system of India
and gradually tilted it towards sectarian Hinduism, which is now better known
as “Hinduta”. It gave open opportunity to breed Hinduism in its most naked
form. The dreamers of Akhand Bharat, the cherishers of “cow-protectors”, the
slogan raisers of “Bandai matram”, the advocates of “returning back to the
civilization of “Paracheen call” [old civilization of Arians] , were all
smoldering with their underground and open efforts under the well organized
efforts of Rashtria Savok Sing and its various militant offshoots. BJP is nothing
but the political denomination of all these trends under whose umbrella all the
protagonists of Hinduism are flourishing in their respective ‘hide-outs’. When
the writer of this article was secular in his outlook, believing in
Hindu-Muslim Unity, attended a public meeting of RSS in Bahraich, UP in 1946
and heard the vision of its leader Golwalker, it looked odd to me. He presented
his vision to transform India
into a Hindu dominated country where all the minorities will be amalgamated
like tea in the melting pot. It opened my eyes and I gradually drifted towards
Islam in due course.
India currently is passing through a transition from total
secularism to total Hinduism. Within the next decade or so, the BJP and its
constituent parties are likely to unfurl their hidden agenda of Hinduta and “Saffron”
culture. The current agenda of BJP is to recapture power in the forthcoming
elections by hook or by crook. Unfortunately, under the “pressure” of President
Bush, General Musharraff of Pakistan
has become a “party” to this game. Under a deep “diplomacy”, Pakistan had “lost”
both one-day and the Test match cricket series to India just to “facilitate”
BJP to win over the scheduled general elections in April-May 2004 by capturing
the “swinging” votes of Muslims and getting an offer of “temptation” from India
to start “meaningful” dialogue over the outstanding issues in June-July 2004.
What a fool are the people at the helm of affairs in Pakistan. India will “dictate” term to Pakistan, if BJP succeeds and Pakistan will have no choice but to
surrender to the “good wishes” of Bush-Vajpayee. The agenda of RSS will come
into operation and there will be nobody to stop it except the will of the Creator
and Sustainer.
The
cat has already come out of the bag. In India, this election is being
fought on the same issues of sentimentalism as pinpointed above. Let us have a
look over the issues that have already been adopted by RSS, BJP, and Sangh
Parivar as their vision for the future. That is the agenda of Vishwa Hindu
Parishad and it is as under:
*
Protecting the Hindu culture and Hindu society from the aggressive designs of “Jihadi”
movements;
* Building of Ram temple in Ayodhiya and abolishing
the enquiry procedure in that respect;
* Abolishing the especial
Provision Act of 1991 for protecting the places of worship;
*
Declaring cow as sacred national animal and should not be allowed to be
slaughtered under any circumstances;
*
Promulgation of Common Civil Code and inclusion of Sanskrit, stories of Ramain
and Mahabharat in the educational courses;
* Imposing total restriction
over the change of religion;
* Abolishing the Article 370
about Kashmir from the Indian Constitution;
These
and many other items from the manifesto of Hindu Parisad that are being
patronized by BJP and its constituent alliance are sufficient prove to foretell
the future political set up of India.
The entire secularism of “Bapu”, “Nehru” and “JPN” is at stake. It is
projecting the emergence of a Hindu dynasty of “Chankiya” once more in India
in the next decade. What India
has gained through secularism in the West, by claiming to be the largest
secular democracy of the world will be dismantled at the altar of Hindu myth
and mythology. The minorities that are in much more large number than the
dominant Brahmans are to take notice of these silent but most violent realities
of Indian politics. If BJP attains power in the forthcoming elections in Center
and most of the states, it will try to establish a “Ramraj” in India
where the untouchable, the Dalits, the Muslims and the Christians will have to
survive at the “wishes” of the philosophy of RSS and its allied forces. India
is fast heading towards the crossroad where it is likely to depart from its
secular constitution and political set up to a theocratic state where only the
Hindu religion will dominate in every phase of life. It may endeavor to fulfill
its centuries-old dream of “Akhand Bharat”, if persons like Musharraff or
secular regimes remain in power in Pakistan
with the active support of Bush-Vajpayee-Sharon and their conspicuous
hegemonies to dismantle, dislodge or destabilize Pakistan.
At
this critical juncture of Indian politics, the Muslims of India have a very
important role to play. At one side, they are to advocate that the good of India lies in promoting and establishing the family
values of love and respect for each other, advocating brotherhood and goodwill
for each and every citizen with dignity and strictly observing no
“cast-gender-religious” discrimination within the body politics of India.
On the other hand, they must make every possible effort to develop a common platform
of all the minority groups to support only those candidates in the forthcoming
election who uphold these values and commit to honor and preserve the
fundamentals of the Indian constitution that guarantees the secular set up in India.
Votes of minorities, especially those of Muslims and scheduled cast, must not
be divided. Time is very short at their disposal. However, let us hope for the
best but be prepared for the worst that is visible as the logical outcome of different
alliances, manifestoes and political hegemonies both at home and abroad. India
today stands at a crossroad: either to remain as a secular tolerant country or becomes
an unbearable Hindu country for the minorities to be doomed for good.
In
return, India
will get nothing but stiff opposition from the scheduled cast people and other
minorities who constitute about 80% of its population. It may create
dislocation or may put in reverse gear its modern development. The current
campaign of BJP Government of “feel-good” will become “feel-bad” for decades
together. India
will become a closed society and its inhabitants will be pinpointed as
religious fanatics wherever they will go and whom they will meet.
Shamim A Siddiqi
April 15, 2004