Conservative and divisive forces will be surprised to read the views expressed by a Muslim in the Hindustan Times. Of course, the writer Mr. Khan, does not want to be known as only a Muslim. He would rather be thought of as an educated Indian. Mind you, not as a minority-group Indian or as even a ‘mainstream’ Indian. He sees India as one and rather than whining what the country has not done for him, he focuses on what an average Indian can achieve in today’s vibrant times of opportunity and multi-tasking. He squarely blames the average Indian-Muslim’s ghetto-mentality and over-dependence on exclusive religious rituals for the backwardness of the Muslims in India. Unlike others who point out the plight of Muslims in India, here we have a solution given for arising out of this shameful state. The way out is secular education and nothing else.
It is easy to say offhand that liberal non-Islamic education is the best way to help integrate Muslims to the New India whose daughters and sons are scientists, philosophers, astronauts and excellent surgeons. But why should anyone agree with such a thing? Is it not better for a Muslim to study his sacred Scriptures, to know well the strictures of his religion? Nobody denies that such knowledge is unnecessary but it is no longer enough for anyone; leave alone only a Muslim, to be bound by the boundaries of religion. The root of the problem lies not in the Indian Muslim but in the way the British applied their policies of ‘divide and rule’. A section of British indologists studied Islam and another studied Hinduism. The scholars who studied Islam degraded Hinduism to Muslims and the other group told the Hindus how bad Islam was. And they encouraged each religious community to study well its own religion. This was not for preserving either the Islamic or Hindu heritage but rather to make sure that one group did not win over the other. This false sense of isolated pride inculcated by the British as part of their colonial project has undone our nation. The command of the Holy Quran, Iqra (Read), is the right way for anyone who wants to find his way out from the dead desert of habit and poverty. In his article, Mr. Khan emphasizes the need to study not only Islamic Sharia laws but also everything that can possibly affect a normal citizen of a secular country.
Today when many maulvis casually declare hundreds of various fatwas, when the RSS gets angry for the slightest of reasons and the courts of the country want one common law for all; I am certain Mr. Khan’s views provide a much needed corrective to our national situation. More importantly, his voice is one of the few voices of the silent sobriety, which characterizes our nation but is silenced by self-centered aggressive politicians and clerics of all religions. It is not in their interests that Muslims and Hindus live in peace.
Image: Copland
Via: Hindustan Times
Comments
i agree with u. neither muslims nor hindus can live together in peace if they refuse to look behind their religious ’fatwas’.
yes,i agree with u.even high level education can’t make this.remember UK suiside bomber case,they are well educated people.
Both the communities need to be broad-minded. boasting of one’s own religion only proves his ignorance regarding other religions. as i said they need to look beyond their religious fatwas....after all we must remember what Ramkrishna Mahaprabhu said- all religions are but different paths to the same God.
Just forget the British ’Divide and Rule’ policy... Secular personality like MK Gandhi also talked about ”Ram-Rajya” in pre-Independence time as his most important dream for Independent India. Political leaders (from both pre and post Independent period) are equally responsible for growing insecure mindset among common Muslims in India. Earlier, the Muslim community was being used in the name of participation in the government and now it is being used by different political parties for vote bank politics. Conservative mind is the result of conservative environment where people grow.
Some people are digging the old horrible stories of Gujarat riots of 2002 in 2007 just for taking political advantages in upcoming elections. Is there any need to do this again and again which force the victims to remember horrible past? This is the real problem.