OVERVIEW

Asghar Ali Engineer on the Image of the Muslim Indians

Minorities in all countries face problems. There is hardly any country, developed or developing, secular or theocratic, democratic or authoritarian, in which minorities, whether religious, linguistic, racial or cultural, do not face any problem. The degree of problems of course can vary. There may be cases of genocide in some countries, there may be cases of repeated violence in some others and there may be discrimination and unequal treatment. Also, the prejudices are not found merely among the people but also become part of the administration. The police in Europe are as prejudiced against the racial minorities as the police in India are against Muslims or Dalits.

Pakistan was created apparently on the basis of religious solidarity. This solidarity melted like thin ice, no sooner than Pakistan was formed. Ethnic conflicts between Sindhis and Mohajirs, West Pakistanis and (then) East Pakistanis and between Punjabis and non- Punjabis came to the fore. Ultimately, East Pakistan separated to form Bangladesh. There is acute ethnic and religious conflict in Pakistan today. The Mohajirs, who were instrumental in the formation of Pakistan, are being treated as aliens. They are at the receiving end today, their loyalty to Pakistan is suspect. According to the Pakistan National Human Rights Commission, on an average six Mohajirs were killed every day in Karachi in 1995. The Mohajirs felt persecuted as a religious minority in India before 1947 and hence vigorously supported the Pakistan movement. However, now in Pakistan the Mohajirs though most of them are Sunni Muslims a majority community in Pakistan - are an Urdu-speaking ethnic minority facing persecution at the hands of Punjabis and Sindhis. Minorities (are) judged by certain stereotypes which, at best, are partially true. Thus, the African Americans in the US, and Muslims in India are believed to be crime prone. Very few Whites, for example, dare to walk through Harlem in New York.

In India, most of the middle-class members of the majority community think that the rate of crime is much higher among the Muslims and that it has something to do with their Muslimness. The Muslims think the Hindus are cowards, cunning and unreliable. It is thought that Muslims are much more fanatical and that they never practice family planning.

Such stereotypes about a community, especially about a minority community, are formed during conflict situations. It will be difficult to find the prevalence of such stereotypes about Muslims in pre-British India as there was no conflict between Hindus and Muslims on religious or communal lines. This conflict began with the advent of the British and intensified until the unfortunate partition of the country.

It is totally wrong to believe that more Muslims are in crime than Hindus. First, we accept a stereotype and then draw sustenance for it from selective reading of the sources. As Muslims are poorer and backward, and have less economic opportunities, it is likely that some of them take to crime. But one will find a much higher proportion of white-collar crime among the economically affluent communities! The reason, in fact, is economic, and not religious. One cannot damn the whole community (and no community is really homogeneous) what a few people of that community do. But this is precisely what happens in conflict situations. Even an individual is seen as "representative" of the community.

It has also not been borne out by field studies that Muslims do not practice family planning because of their "Muslimness". Again, family planning is basically an economic phenomenon. Well to do and educated Muslims practice family planning like their Hindu counterparts.It is equally wrong to believe that Muslims are more aggressive and fanatical. All riots’ studies in independent India have shown that more Muslims have been killed and injured.

The demolition of the Babari Masjid was certainly an act of religious fanaticism. But it will be squally wrong to blame Hinduism or all Hindus for what happened. The responsibility lies with certain political parties and groups, not with the entire community. This distinction is very vital to understand the problem. In order to combat ethnic or communal conflict the first and most vital step is to combat these stereotypes. This battle also, like others, begins in the human mind.

(Source: The Hindu, 14 March, 1995)

Sardar Patel's Views on Secession

Interview with the Daily Worker, London

Correspondent Palme Dutt, 10 April, 1946

 Question: Would you clarify further the position of the Congress in regard to the right to self-determination, including the right of secession, by any territorial unit in India if there is a clearly proved democratic wish?

Answer: The Congress position is that if the League feels that the Muslim community is hampered in its growth in the manner it likes, the Congress is prepared to agree to a redistribution of the provinces in such a manner as to allow them fullest possible autonomy in areas in which they are predominantly in a majority, subject to their agreeing to a common policy in regard to subjects of common interest as may be agreed. The Congress cannot, under any circumstances, think of partitioning India.

The Congress does not think in terms of forcing any area to remain in the Union against the declared wish of its population (emphasis added).

At the same time, the Congress will not agree in any way to give its voluntary consent to such a separation. It would reserve its own right to continue to persuade, by non-violent means, the people of that area to remain in the Indian Union."

(Source: The Hindu, 11 April, 1996)