Islam in India

Taken from www.indpride.com

Islam What Islam needs is an introspective leadership, a leadership which is prepared to have a fresh look at its traditional doctrines and approach. It must give up its religious arrogance and its fundamentalism, its basic categories of believers and infidels, its imperialist theories of Zimmis and Jazia, its belief that it has appeared with a divine mission to replace all other religions and modes of worship.

- Ram Swarup (Indian Express, 2.1.91)

Fourteen hundred years ago, a new faith burst out of the Arabian deserts and exploded like forked lightning onto three continents. Under the oasis green banner of the Prophet, the warriors of Islam converted whole civilizations to their holy book, their way of life and their world view. Today a reconstructed idea of Islam is spreading at what often appears to be the same speed over much the same territory. From the North African coast to the steppes of Central Asia, the Prophet’s precepts interpreted as a code of earthly behaviour are galvanizing Muslim societies with hope for renewal and fear of upheaval. The whole world is watching and wondering about the impact of this tectonic shift, as represented by the Islamic Jehad.

Terrorism, intolerance and revolution for export – the revival movement’s three scourges, have become a matter of grave concern to liberal societies all over the world. Islamic thought today is a closed system that admits no analysis, no debate of what are today common interpretations of the revealed word. The Muslim talent for riot, rape, murder, loot and arson is a historical fact. It is a tragic heirloom of Muslim history. No one can escape it.

Since August 15, 1947, the Muslims of India have been causing communal riots at regular intervals, disrupting the country's secular and peaceful life. They have been successful in keeping up the terrific communal tension which was a sad and tragic feature of Indian politics before partition and independence. The Muslim masses, with their inherent background of racial hatred and suspicion, have been misguided by their leadership and media and led to believe that they and their religion are not secure in India. Right from black flag demonstrations and processions of protest shouting slogans like "Hindustan Murdabad", "Pakistan Zindabad"; pasting the towns with abusive and inflammatory posters in Urdu exciting the Muslim masses to riot and murder; observing the Independence Day as a mourning day; insulting India's national flag and hoisting Pakistan's flag on public buildings on Independence Day; celebrating when India suffers defeat at the hands of Pakistan in a cricket or hockey match; desecrating Hindu shrines and attacking Hindu processions to joining the ISI in plotting and executing bomb blasts killing hundreds of innocent Indians, the Indian Muslims have been engaged in anti-social and anti-national activities without the least necessity or provocation from anyone.

The question, however, is : how long are the Muslims going to hold our secular state to ransom with their seasonal riots and murders over trifling issues? In granting Pakistan, we have already paid a terrific price. After granting Pakistan, Muslim blackmail ought to have ended and we should have been left in peace to work out our destiny as a secular nation with the help of our Muslim brothers. Seeing that the Muslims are happier in India than in Pakistan, why do our Muslims want to destroy our peace and secularity and ruin our nation?

If the Muslims won't answer this question, the State must do so because no one can expect a population of 800 million Hindus to be indifferent. While our peaceful Muslim citizens must get all the benefits of a secular democratic state, nothing less and nothing more than anyone else, we must also erect a few fences around the communal goondas and stop them in time from sabotaging our nation.

Nothing, be it a religion or a political ideology, will survive long if it is charged with fanaticism and thrust upon the people with murder and violence. Fascism, imperialism, Hitlerism and Communism died ignoble deaths. And so will fanatic Islam.