Along with the rest of the society the Muslims too gave vent to their patriotic feelings, even though the larger society has not been able to look upon the Muslims' sense of duty towards the country with conviction ...

What stole the show was the meeting of the All India Imams' Association in Delhi in early June ... Some of the speakers expressed the desire to go to Kargil to fight the enemy if they were given arms. While everything was going well, just then the dust of doubt was raised (about Ali Mian and Dilip Kumar) ... The logic of compelling anybody to furnish the proof of one's patriotism is flawed.

The Muslims of the previous generation too had to undergo much the same experience when not the zealots of today's Hindutva brigade but nationalists used to entertain similar misgivings about them. Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India, for instance told the Muslims on January 6, 1948, that mere declarations of loyalty to India would not be sufficient, as "only practical proof" would do. He also said, "You cannot ride two horses. You select one horse, whichever you like the best." What Sardar Patel did not realise was that the other horse was not the choice of an average Muslim.

... Historically speaking, therefore, the opinion of a little more than one tenth of the Muslims, particularly the elite was imposed on the rest of them and falsely described as the collective decision of the community ... With the partition, Indian Muslims found themselves benumbed and caught in a crisis of sorts ... Gradually they gathered courage to take a decision for themselves and chose the horse which would take them to a common destiny with the rest of the people of the country; even though they knew that the road ahead was bumpy they clung to it fast.

Despite having travelled such a long distance of more than half a century if their patriotic credentials are doubted, it agitates the minds of the Muslims, more so of the younger generation. This is because they suffer from no guilty conscience and know that the good of the community can only be in consonance with the larger good of the country. (Source: The Hindustan Times, 31 July, 1999)

Shahabuddin's Letter to The Hindustan Times, 2 August, 1999

With reference to Rizwan Qaiser's article "Loyalty of Indian Muslims" (31 July), the author begins with conceding that the larger society has not been able to look upon the Muslims' sense of duty towards the country with conviction.

No doubt, the reason lies in both the continuing identification of the Muslim Indians with Pakistan in the Hindu mind and the continuing fear and insecurity in the Muslim mind in the communally charged environment.

That the Muslim Indians have undergone a psychological transition in 1971 has gone unnoticed and the Hindu Indians have not yet forgiven them for the sins of their fathers, even though they go on repeating their plea of not guilty for the creation of Pakistan.

But the fault also lies with the Muslim community which overdues its show of patriotism and thereby loses credibility. 'The lady protesleth too much', as Shakespeare puts it.

I wish the Imams were taken at their word, given arms and packed off to the Kargil front. Even now they can be deputed to the LOC. On the other hand, I wish the Muslim youth had queued up en masse at the recruitment centres and admitted to the honour of defending their motherland.