The term terrorism has become a synonym to Islam and Muslims. While for the US, the war against terrorism means to subjugate Muslim countries and to make them its colony; for India, it means to target the Muslim community – prove them, traitor and terrorist. One of the methods adopted to meet the end is to self-inflict and hold the target responsible in order to move ahead with a nefarious design with a full support of media.
War on terror pregnant with political motives
9/11 is one of such examples, which many allege, was masterminded by US administration. The burning alive of Kar Sevaks in S 6 Coach in Sabarmati Express in Gujarat and 26/11 in India are another such examples. Self-infliction helps them gather sympathy and provides justification for revenge and operation. Only too late we come to know the politics and motive behind them. This phenomenon is latest in the dubious war against terrorism.
The drama of 26/11 was mischievously planned and brutally executed but it was partially successful. It was to kill two birds with one stone. The short term goal was to kill Hemant Karkare, wherein they succeeded. For the first time, the people of India came to know that Hindutva was behind terror attacks. The arrest of Sadhvi Pragya, Purohit, Major Ramaesh Upadhyay and others was just the tip of the iceberg. Soon the entire network of the masterminds sitting in parliament and government offices were to be exposed, and the real masterminds behind all terror attacks in India were to be dragged out, but the hero who dared to expose them was eliminated, resulting in the near closure of this chapter. The plot of 26/11 failed drastically on the long-term target. It was to prove that UPA government was not successful in handling terrorism. But the people of India read between the lines and voted in UPA again with a huge margin in the election soon after.
The bogus war on terrorism in India is pregnant with political motives. The abuse of encounter in India has a long history to narrate. Today, the encounter has come handy to the fascists in the so-called war against terrorism.Encounterof Muslim youths one after another terrorized the community and made every Indian Muslim feel a sense of guilt. To deprive Muslims by all means, segregate them, prove them to betraitorand terrorist and make their existence threat to society are among the agendas of Hindutva. Hundreds of killings of Muslims won’t do what a Muslim name behind a terror attack can do. In recent past, educated Muslim youths are implicated and targeted so thatthe entire lotof Muslims inmarketare looked upon with suspicion and debarred fromjob. Presently, it is next to impossible for Muslims to purchase a house or rent a flat inHindu-dominatedlocality. Even Shabana Azmi was denied buying a house in a posh area in Mumbai.
Staged encounters of Muslim youth
The Batla House Encounter is nothing new in the series of fake encounters of Muslims in India. We made demonstrations and went on hunger strike to demandjudicialinquiry into this case to unravel the mystery. The demand is justified. A large number of people have doubted the authenticity of the encounter because of many apparent loopholes being surfaced. What is wrong in the demand to probe the Batla House encounter case, especially against the background of many encounters being proved fake and police officers being sent to jails? Why don’t UPA government set up an inquiry into this case and let the truth come out? Is UPA afraid of the RSS lobby within Congress or is it its soft Hindutva? Indians have grown wise. They want peace, security, prosperity and progress. Even instatelike Bihar, though late but people realized how important was peace and progress for them and voted out Laloo. Sheila Dikshit won for the third time in Delhi only because of her progress. No party can befool Indian mass now either in the name of religion or terrorism or any issue that is politically motivated. The Indian mass made BJP a national party in the name of Mandir issue. BJP rose from two seats in parliament in ’84 to a party of opposition. The same mass shattered the dream of Advani of becoming PM of India in the recent election. It was a mandate against the politics of hatred. I wish to tell the UPA government that the judicial inquiry into Batla House encounter case will be received with warm welcome by all Indians, except a few, for it will be an attempt to find the fact. Even if a section of people dislike it, the morale of police is put down and Delhi police is given a clean chit, this is a demand to see the truth and get justice which must be fulfilled. This inquiry, if set up, will add a chapter to the enhancing character of UPA, especially Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. In fact, this is what satyameo Jayte stands for- an upper hand of truth.
If the demand of the Muslims is fulfilled and the encounter is proved to be fake, it will be an another occasion for Indians to know the deeply rooted politics and conspiracy going on against Muslims in the name of fighting terrorism. Let’s grow with the incidents and politics around us. I ask you who Shahid Azmi was and what killed him? Azmi was a young advocate dedicated to bringing justice to those falsely accused of terrorism. He won cases one after another demolishing the constructs on terrorism. He had been preparing for the defense of the dozens arrested in Gujarat on charges of masterminding and carrying out terror attacks and arrested as members of the Indian Mujahideen.
Azmi’s success had a two-fold impact. One, he proved many accused of terrorism to be innocent and sparked a ray of hope for many such victims and their families who had lost hope. Two, he exposed the reality of baseless arrests, which were made without any proof. In many of the cases, the arrested one is indicted on the basis of false documents and forced confessions. Azmi’s success was a challenge and a slap on the face of Intelligence Bureau and Indian Police, and a great blow to those benefiting from the politics of terrorism. Finally, Shahid Azmi was assassinated on February 11 ‘10.
What should Muslims do?
Our demands and demonstrations won’t bother the fascists in our country unless we unveil them before the mass. This is what Shahid Azmi and Hemant Karkare were doing and were eliminated.
Apart from demonstrations and strikes, we should also have long term and more result oriented planning. Contributions have to be made from individual to organizational level to stop maligning the image of Muslims and Islam. I wish to offer few suggestions here.
First, we should not think little of the contribution an individual can make. I wish to quote here an example of my senior colleague, Dr. Shah Ebadurrahman, who left the university last year. While he was leaving, the landlord in his written statement to the university expressed, ‘the departure of Dr. Shah is a loss not only to the university but to the entire region’. What I mean to say here is that every Muslim should be an example of a good human being. A Muslim’s good character would impress the near and dear ones in the society and may clear one’s misconception about Islam.
Second, What Shahid Azmi did, I think, has paved a way for us to think and act. Let’s take up his mission with the broaderconcept. We can have a national level association of advocates with its website and each one’s email id. It will have a representationof advocates from each state, forming a chain from a lower court to the Supreme Court. Cases handled by the association will be better than handled by an individual. The operation will be under one umbrella keeping all the records of the cases in an organized mannerasrecordfor any reference. If any Muslim youth is picked up on the terroristground from any part of India, the advocate from the respective area will follow the case immediately with local support and will put all the details on its website, which will be updated as needed. The advocates will share, discuss and exchange ideas on any complexity of case for smooth sailing. This association may have seminars in different cities and aware mass of the legal aspect of arrest, detention, confession and all about human rights.
Third, once the innocence of the accused is proved, let’s bring it to the nation. The association will have its voice and carry weight. It will hold a press conference and try to reach each and every unit of media to let the nation know the reality.
Fourth, we should take along with us all social and human rights activists irrespective of caste and religion because it is an issue of a great concern for the nation. Indian mass is secular and they will surely welcome this initiative. Our dig into truth will unveil the real culprits and help the nation really combat terrorism.
Lastly, we need a huge amount of money to translate this idea into practicality. We can generate fund for this national cause. While we are generating funds fororphanage, for sponsoring poor children, for running free coachingcentresetc., we can also generate fund for this great cause. This cause should be given prime importance now. It is not only to save an individual, but it is to save the image of Muslims and Islam from the most nefarious conspiracy at the disposal of a few fascists, whose existence is bound to be wiped out from the surface of the earth, sooner or later.
