B P Singhal in his learned Monograph ?Minorities and Social Justice: Problems & Policy Options? has convincingly argued that the most serious obstacle to bridging the divide between the Muslims and Hindus of India lies in the average Muslim’s religious belief that the Indian Muslims are living in ‘DARUL HARAB’ and not ‘DAR-US-SALAM’. The pity is that a vast majority of them do not even know what is ‘DARUL HARAB’. Darul-harab means land of the enemy. The Urdu dictionary defines it as a ?State governed by a non-Muslim AND where the Ruler does not permit the Muslims to perform their religious duties?. The whole world knows that now in India no Muslim is ever prevented from performing his religious duties. All Muslims freely and enthusiastically celebrate all the religious festivals and are free to pray five (5) times a day wherever they desire and even in public places and on roads when the mosques get packed to capacity. Obviously then, no part of India is ‘DARUL HARAB’ in any way whatever. It is clear that Indian Muslims believe that if a country is not declared an Islamic State and is not governed by the Laws of Shariat, then it has to be viewed as ‘DARUL HARAB’. Viewed in this light, the Muslims of India are no different from the Muslims of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
According to B P Singhal, the Muslim Scholars, Ulemas and all the Imams need to educate the Muslim masses of India about the definition of ‘DAR-US-SALAM’ as defined by none other than Mohamed, the Prophet himself. In the first place, the Indian Muslims have to be told the meaning of ‘Dar-Us-Salam’ which is ?a place where there is PEACE, heaven ? like?. Who is the Ruler of the place has no relevance whatsoever, what Laws prevail in that land also has no relevance in defining the term ‘Dar-Us-Salam’. The only requirement is that there should be a peaceful, heaven-like environment. The Prophet himself has defined ‘DAR-US-SALAM’ as ?a country (place) where there is freedom to the Muslims to practice the fundamentals of Islam? Based on this definition, no enlightened Muslim can dispute the fact that India is a land of ‘DAR-US-SALAM’ only ? a peaceful country where freedom to pursue his religious duties is available to every Muslim living here. This is also guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, which accords a special ‘Minority’ status to all the Muslims.
Muslims of India suffer from a persecution mania without any valid reasons whatesoever. To show that they are enjoying a very Special Status in India as superior citizens, Singhal has adduced the following arguments based on solid facts:
A. In 1993 when Muslims organized the Quami Nazeem (Muslim Community conclave at Delhi) the Vigyan Bhawan was placed at their disposal by the then Government and the Prime Minister Sri Narasimha Rao spent 5 hours with them. But whenever a Hindu Community conclave ? the Dharm Sansad ? is convened by the Hindu Dharmacharyas, a net work of Intelligence Bureau sleuths is laid out to spy on them. Every act of Islamic terrorism is viewed as beneficent and useful; every peaceful act rooted in Hindu Sanathana Dharma is viewed as unpatriotic and anti-national. Singhal, by implication, seems to ask or suggest this straight question: ?Don’t Indian Muslims as Special Class Citizens deserve extraordinarily special class arrangements under the personal supervision of any impotently important Prime Minister of India in every situation, in every context and on every occasion everywhere?? As Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, he is talking not arid theory but crunchy wisdom based on his long experience of having dealt with riots, law and order problems, acts of terrorism, etc.
B. In 2001, in the Internet edition of Jamat?e?Islami’s ?JASARAT? an angry article from a Pakistan Daily was published which castigated President Parvez Musharraf for ordering the expunction of certain AYATS of the Holy Quran from the text books of Pakistan Madarsas which call upon Muslims to wage Jehad against the Infidels. Later, on 30 November, 2001, Indian Express in New Delhi carried a news item to the effect that ?Pakistan Government has decided to close down religious Seminaries or Madarsas in their country providing Military Training to their students?. BUT, despite being an enthusiastic victim of Islamic terrorism for over 20 years, no State Government or the Central Government in India took similar steps to protect its citizens against the terrorist marauders. Singhal comes to the conclusion that unrestrained freedom is available to the Indian Muslims as Special Class Citizens which is not available even to the first class Muslim citizens of Pakistan. Unlike our pitiable, partisan and pitiless Prime Minister, President Parvez Musharraf is never reported to have shed any tear whatsoever, whenever and wherever any terrorist acting against the Government of Pakistan was arrested either inside or outside his country. Pakistan President, unlike our pseudo-secular Prime Minister rooted in unshakable shakiness, seems to show no compassion towards most of the terrorists.
C. The Intelligence Bureau (IB), RAW, and several other security agencies of the Government of India have during the last 15 years consistently brought it to the notice of the Union Home Ministry in the Government of India that they are noticing the ‘highly ominous’ appearance of a string of Madarasas and Mosques at an average distance of 3.75 kilometres each ALL ALONG INDIA’S INTERNATIONAL BORDERS FROM GUJARAT-RAJASTHAN IN THE WEST TO WEST BENGAL-TRIPURA IN THE EAST. This continuous warning has been totally ignored by the Government of India. What is shocking is that the Government of India have been in a state of self-chosen coma, merrily arming themselves with the grandiloquent umbrella of Islam-embracing, Christianity-coveting and Hindu-hating pseudo secularism wedded to communal vote-bank politics. After the dismemberment of Soviet Russia in 1990, the anti-national Communist Parties of India shifted their paramour-like infatuation to China. Even when Buddadev Battacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal expressed his anxiety over the sudden mushrooming of Madarasas and Mosques on the international borders of West Bengal some years ago, his own party ‘High Command’ silenced him effectively in the interest of vote bank politics.
D. A few years ago, some of the Corporate Organizations in USA, acting under the invisible command of some Christian Agencies, deliberately put up outright pornographic pictures of Lord Ganesh on an Audio Cassette. Later, they also printed portraits of Lord Rama, Bhagavati, Sita, and Sri Krishna on the plastic seat covers of toilet commodes. But despite repeated requests from NRI Hindus in USA, Europe and Asia, the Government of India never sent any protest letter to the U.S. Government regarding this religious sacrilege. The same Government of India, however, saw to it that an official protest was lodged with the Government of Denmark on the publication of Cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. Thus, the Government of India made it clear that they are not concerned with the religious sentiments of the majority Hindus of India, dismissing them as ‘Second Class Citizens’. At the same time, they gave a signal to the effect that the sentiment of Muslim Minorities can never be ignored since they are all ‘Special Class Citizens’. This attitude of the Government of India has become more brazen and blatant ever since Sonia Gandhi took over as Chairman of the UPA Coordination Committee.
E. When the Best Bakery Arson Case accused were acquitted, the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (HRC) took special interest in the apparent violation of ?Rule of Law? and went to the Supreme Court?an unprecedented step?to get the case re-tried by the Supreme Court. If such steps can promote justice, then they have to be welcomed with open arms. But when a formal complaint was lodged with the same Chairman, National Human Rights Commission about the brazen violation of the ?Rule of Law? by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir by neither sanctioning nor rejecting to prosecute 32 dreaded Islamic terrorists involved in 14 different TADA cases, the Chairman, NHRC, sat on it for more than 3 years despite continuous and repeated reminders and still continues to do so. In the meantime, all the 32 terrorists have long since been enlarged on bail. And yet, the file is gathering dust in the partisan and partial office of the National HRC (National HRC).
F. The whole country now knows that the office of the National Human Rights Commission is not impartial in its approach to disposal of public complaints. When the attention of Chairman, NHRC was drawn to the inhuman treatment being meted out to little children studying in a Madarasa in a village of Bulandshahar District in U.P. and also to the fact that the Maulvi was keeping the children chained to a 20 metre chain all the 24 hours for weeks on end, the Office of the National Human Rights Commission took no action against the Maulvi and slept over it despite the fact that it was brought to their notice that this charge was substantiated through a joint enquiry conducted by the local Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). The most cutting and poignant point is that this enquiry itself was done at the behest of the National Human Rights Commission. Thus the Maulvi was allowed to go scot-free. It is clear that even the Chairman, NHRC acts with extraordinary speed on the complaints of the Muslims but turns a blind eye when the complaint is from the Hindus. This clearly shows that the Special Class Status enjoyed by the Muslims in India is denied to the Hindus of India who only enjoy a Second Class Status.
Next B P Singhal goes on to show that even all our Courts of Law, including the Supreme Court of India vie with one another in denying ordinary human rights to the Hindus of India.
(To be contd...)
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)
e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com
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