Unity in diversity is an important aspect of Indian democracy. It was coined by Indian leaders to create an Indian society where all communities lived peacefully together. We dreamt after achieving independence to build our own prosperous nation. But the divisions that are created by hatemongers, in the guise of politicians, are growing deeper among some Indians and are hindering our way to peaceful coexistence.
The Hindu-Muslim unity that set India free from the clutches of British colonialism breathed its last when Pakistan was created. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel and other leaders of that time are to be blamed for the Partition. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Gandhiji and nationalist ulama had to only see their dream of a united India crashing. Indians, irrespective of their religions, who had fought shoulder to shoulder against the British, did not feel even a slight hesitation in massacring other fellow Indians. This was not the end.
More problems seem to have been destined for them. Sixty-three years have passed since the partition of India. Yet the wounds of partition have not healed. There has always been an effort to create a mutual understanding between communities so that they could live peacefully but it has lost to the mob mentality of communalists.
In today’s India, citizens are divided in different ways. Dalits even today cannot enter into a Mandir. They have to face humiliation and tyranny only because they were not born in an upper caste! Though the constitution of India provides equal status for all Indians the reality within the communities itself is quite different.
In today’s India, citizens are divided in different ways. Dalits even today cannot enter into a Mandir. They have to face humiliation and tyranny only because they were not born in an upper caste! Though the constitution of India provides equal status for all Indians the reality within the communities itself is quite different.
Then comes the plight of the minorities. They complain of discrimination on the basis of their religion. Muslims, Christians and the Sikhs are the largest religious minorities in India. The Hindus feel that because of their religion they have a stronger reason to be called the sons of the soil and the followers of other religions are not entitled to be the citizens of India. This attitude has always been hidden behind a veil of secularism. The minorities have learnt to live with this discrimination and in spite of it continue to survive and prosper in this country.
Muslims are almost one fifth of India’s population but employment in government or private institutions is never in proportion to their population and this situation is worsening by the passage of time. It is not that the young boys and girls do not aspire to join these services. It has been a result of a campaign to keep them out. Hence, the non-existence of Muslims from key portfolios raises questions whether any unpublicized agenda is on work against them.
Muslims who preferred India over Pakistan were the real patriots. They preferred democracy of India to the Islamic governments of Pakistan.
Muslims who preferred India over Pakistan were the real patriots. They preferred democracy of India to the Islamic governments of Pakistan. The promise made by the constitution of India of equal rights for all has never been achieved. The blame rests on the successive governments who in their zeal for economic development did not pay enough attention to social justice. “Is India divided on religious grounds?”The answer is Yes. It is being exploited fully by politicians of all parties.
Almost in the whole of India, which is proud of its characteristic of being multi¬¬--cultural, multi-lingual and of course multi-religious, there is an invisible line dividing Indians. The divide is due to religion, caste, sub caste, economic status, language, etc. But one state government is on the forefront in promoting this divide and benefitting from it.
This is the state which is called ‘vibrant’ Gujarat. Ahmedabad is today a divided city. When state terrorism killed thousands of Muslims in 2002, humanity was the biggest loser. There was condemnation from all over the world. But the killing of Muslims was a political advantage to the ruling government of Gujarat. Since then it has not lost this advantage it has got over other political parties and continues to strengthen its position by troubling Muslims anyway it possibly can.
Almost in the whole of India, which is proud of its characteristic of being multi¬¬--cultural, multi-lingual and of course multi-religious, there is an invisible line dividing Indians. The divide is due to religion, caste, sub caste, economic status, language, etc. But one state government is on the forefront in promoting this divide and benefitting from it.
More than eight years have passed since the Gujarat riots. The victims are yet to return to a normal life. In Ahmedabad, on one side reside fear and anxiety, helplessness and anger. Walk across Jamalpur, Mirzapur, Dani Limda, Kalopur, Lal Darwaza and other parts of the walled City. Go to Juhapura – one of the largest Muslim ghettos in India. Scratch a little, and people want to talk. An entire community feels under attack, with many resigned to their newfound fate of being second-class citizens. Equal Rights are a dream, and the sense of representation non-existent. What remains strong is the cry for justice, and the knowledge they will not get it – not in Gujarat. Why? “Because”, explains one elder in Shah Alam, “We pray to Allah. That is our transgression.” Hindus and Muslims are divided on religious basis.
What remains strong is the cry for justice, and the knowledge they will not get it – not in Gujarat. Why? “Because”, explains one elder in Shah Alam, “We pray to Allah. That is our transgression.” Hindus and Muslims are divided on religious basis.
There are borders everywhere. A patch of road, a wall, a turn across a street corner, a divider in the middle of a road – this is all it takes to polarise and segregate communities throughout Gujarat. Each town and city now has countless borders, forcibly making people conscious of their religious identity. Me Hindu, you Muslim. Or one could look at it differently: the borders on the ground merely reflect and reinforce the polarisation that has already taken place in the minds of ordinary Gujaratis. Yet nothing prepares you for the certitude on the streets of the other Ahmedabad – in Navrangpura, Vastrapur, MG Road, Judge’s Bungalow Road, Satellite, Vejalpur.
Many Gujarati Hindus think they have the answers to some of the most troubling questions of our times. The majority would say that the problems muslims face are self induced. Others argue that Muslims themselves are the problem. They look back fondly at the ‘Toofan’, of the 2002 riots, and their thoughts are the same. The Muslims deserved it. They are all bloody Pakistanis and criminals. If we had more time, we would have wiped them out. See, they are crushed and scared. We taught them a lesson. And now, the world should learn from Gujarat about how to deal with the miyas. The one sentiment that is almost wholly absent is remorse.
They look back fondly at the ‘Toofan’, of the 2002 riots, and their thoughts are the same. The Muslims deserved it. They are all bloody Pakistanis and criminals. If we had more time, we would have wiped them out. See, they are crushed and scared. We taught them a lesson. And now, the world should learn from Gujarat about how to deal with the miyas. The one sentiment that is almost wholly absent is remorse.
“They are all bloody Pakistanis and criminals” is not a notion specific to only Gujaratis. Almost all Muslims throughout Indian are thought to be so. Muslims demanded for a separate land and hence they are Pakistanis. It may be argued whether circumstances were created so that Muslims had to demand for a separate land for them. The man behind this demand Muhammad Ali Jinnah had withdrew his demand for Pakistan to agree upon the Interim Government proposed by British Cabinet Mission 1946. This government in which United India was to be administered under three groups— one comprising Hindu-dominated states, one comprising Muslim-dominated states and the third one comprising the states of Assam and Bengal. All the groups would be self-governing except in three central departments— was immensely opposed by Congress leaders while in this way India would have remained Akhand.
During the interim government established for some days—in which also key posts were in the hands of Congressmen: Pundit Nehru held home ministry and common wealth, Sardar Patel held home information, and broadcasting—writes ICS Qudratullah Shihab, the big Congress leaders experienced that with the leaders of Muslim league who had maintained their identity and refused to work under Congress pressure, it was impossible for them to govern on India as per their will. Hence, there was no hesitation to pacify the Muslim community by giving them a piece of land. Notably, the Congress which has always opposed the Partition had eventually agreed to partition plan. However, the whole blame of the partition has been put on Muslims.
They have been treacherous to India and hence cannot be appointed on key government posts. Even before the independence this notion was found.
If we were to believe the Qudratullah Shihab we will be shocked. In his book “Shihab Nama” before the partition took place, a 6-7 pages catalogue was issued to all Congress Chief Ministers with the instruction to keep it in their personal custody.
The salient features of the catalogue, according to Shihab were, “The partition is almost certain. Therefore, in the states with Congress ministries, Muslims should be sacked from key posts only to be replaced by trustworthy Hindu officers. This should be done specially in the departments of home, finance and information. DIG, SP and in-charge of police stations usually should be Hindus. In the police department and district administration Muslims should be removed from field work and be appointed on harmless official duties. In the police personnel, Muslim police should be disarmed gradually and appointed on ordinary posts in police line and police stations. The state Mounted Military Police should be broken immediately if they comprised of border areas Muslims; the officers and personnel thereof be paid remuneration in proportion to the ending time of their employment. Hindu guards should be appointed to protect the record offices of government treasury, armouries and finance department. Muslims with arms licence be kept under watch. Such emergency schemes be made that the arms of these license can be submitted to the nearest police station. A list of Muslims owners of bus, cars, taxis and trucks be prepared and they kept under intense watch. The license of Muslim fireworks be suspended and their combustible stock be taken in police protection. etc. etc. Every chief minister was given stern instruction to have this plan executed in such a manner that any sense of discrimination against any community be known.”
In Gujarat, people have to be limited to a certain place. They cannot reside anywhere as per their will. They will sell or purchase any immovable property, but if the collector thinks that the deal has been done illegally, the deal will be scrapped.
The planning of such nature seems to have been working in whole of the India. Again to take an example of Gujarat. The story of Gujarat as a whole, then, is a tale of pride and prejudice on the one side, victimhood and alienation on the other. In control of this divisive agenda is the fascist government of Narendra Modi, who happily builds on this evolving social reality, and reinforces it.
The high degree of alienation among Muslims, the stereotypes and discrimination they face, the fact that a substantial section of society is committed to the Hindutva agenda, the absence of justice and accountability, and the continued secession of the state from its basic constitutional obligations – these are all elements that go into making Gujarat, in the very words of the Hindu Right, its laboratory.
In Gujarat, people have to be limited to a certain place. They cannot reside anywhere as per their will. They will sell or purchase any immovable property, but if the collector thinks that the deal has been done illegally, the deal will be scrapped.
Muslims affected during riots or facing atrocities by dominating Hindus cannot leave their houses to shift to a safer locality. Recently the President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Singh Patil approved the Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from premises in Disturbed Areas Act (Amendment) bill which was passed by the Gujarat assembly in July 2009 and approved later by then governor of the sate Mr. S.C.Jamir.
The stated objective of this Act is to prohibit the illegal transfer of immovable property in the “disturbed areas” of the state; Ahmedabad and Vadodara. The recent amendment is supposed to pave way to effectively implement the law; earlier despite the existence of the law properties were transferred in contravention to the provisions of the law. The law has been in existence only in Ahmedabad since 1991 when there was Congress government in power in the state but now its area of effect has been increased.
Due to this law, both Hindus and Muslims have to confine themselves to certain areas where they are residing. If often happens that once an area is communally disturbed, the community in minority there wants to leave their houses to reside in a safer locality. But this law and especially the recent amendment makes it a near to impossible task for both Hindus and Muslims residing under constant fear of being misbehaved by the community members dominating their regions.
Though the Gujaratis do not have formally two separate states but practically they have. They are the citizens of one state but their residence, in practical terms, is restricted to only a certain part of that state. Activists see this move as an instrument to further harass Muslims who want to move to safer localities.
Visualize that during riots, in the Hindu-dominated areas Muslims are targeted and only a few families are spared. Due to the Act, no Muslim can easily buy the property of a Hindu. In the future that area where sometime the inhabitants were both Hindus and Muslims will be like a Hindu state. The same situation may occur in Muslim-dominated areas and they will become Muslim states. We Indians will live in a state called Gujarat but at the same time we will have our own Pakistan or Israel.
By: Abdul Hafiz Lakhani
lakhani63@yahoo.com
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