Paranoid about the bogeyman in saffron

As many poll surveys predict a victory to the BJP alliance, the paranoia of Muslim leaders seems to transcend all limits. Syed Shahabuddi...

As many poll surveys predict a victory to the BJP alliance, the paranoia of Muslim leaders seems to transcend all limits. Syed Shahabuddin, for instance, has recently created what he called a chilling scenario of what is in store for the nation, particularly Muslims, if the monster of Hindutva comes to power with an increased mandate. The BJP is not just another political party, in his view, it is the political arm of an ideological mission whose objective is total Hinduisation. The general election of 1999 is not just another election; it is a decisive round in the struggle between Hindu nationalism and Indian nationalism, between Hindutva and multi-culturalism, between Godse and Gandhi.

If I had not known Syed Shahabuddin as a normal person, I would have characterised all this as the ravings of a manic depressive. The BJP has gone into these elections without a manifesto of its own. It is morally bound to abide by the NDA manifesto if it comes back to power, even more so than in the last instance, when it had come out with its own distinctive programme. But even if we suppose that the BJP, too, would go the Congress way and bid goodbye to its manifesto once it is firmly in the saddle, what exactly is going to happen that so scares the Muslim leaders?

Syed Shahabuddin talks of gas chambers a la Nazi Germany. This is truly absurd, if not irresponsible. The past 52 years of independence show that Muslims have been massacred only in Congress-ruled states. All non-Congress governments, regardless of their ideologies and levels of administrative competence, have been able to provide security of life and limb to Muslims and other minorities. Even today, the only state where Muslims and Christians are the butt of dastardly violence is a Congress-ruled state.

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Not one person belonging to the Sangh parivar has been indicted or even arrested in connection with this violence that has been raging in Orissa for months. And yet the Sangh parivar is held responsible. If the Sangh is indeed such a communal monster, why has the secular Congress allowed it to unleash violence on hapless minorities for the last half-a-century? How come that the overwhelming majority of those arrested and tortured in police lock-ups for unleashing violence on Muslims during the Congress rule were Muslims themselves? This has been very well documented by police officer Vidbhuti Narain Rai in his recent book Combating Communal Conflicts.

Hinduisation. This is another fear. What exactly does it imply? Well, we will be forced, I suppose, to sing Vande Mataram or maybe bow down before a photograph of Bharat Mata. Even if this were to happen, how does this endanger Islam is difficult for me to understand. If this fiercely monotheistic faith we believe in does not suffer any injury when we bow down to pray and seek intercession before the mazars of our numerous revered saints, if this fiercely moralistic religion does not suffer when we lie, steal, cheat, murder and rape, I am sure it is strong and resilient enough to withstand a dose of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata. In fact, those who know Islam know that love of motherland is a part of Islam and is certainly very much a Muslim practice all over the world.

The ideologue and founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Abul Al Maudoodi, believed that 99.9 percent Muslims of India (pre-Partition) had little to do with Islam and did not deserve to be called Muslims. I have no idea how the late Maulana had arrived at this precise figure. But I do know that most Muslims are merely hereditary Muslims, Islam is just a part of our emotional make-up. Most of us love Islam just as we love an heirloom. What we have forgotten is that Hinduism, too, is part of our heritage.

Our forefathers were as emotionally attached to Hinduism as we are to Islam. They had as little faith in Hinduism as we have in Islam. They converted to Islam; we might convert to some new religion or maybe go back to Hinduism.

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Who can say for sure, what is in store for us? The point is there is no point in fighting, dying or killing for a faith in which we have little or no faith. Heavens did not fall when our ancestors left Hinduism and got Islamised and heavens won’t fall if we leave Islam and get Hinduised. Not that I think Hinduisation is in store for us with the BJP in power. But I don’t think Hinduism is something to be feared. Let us remember we were all Hindus once, not very long ago.

The writer specialises in Muslim politics and culture