Doom for Muslim identity politics
by Irfan Ali Engineer
The Daily Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
2007/12/09
posted in full since site does not archive
On December 6, 2007 we looked back on the 15 years that have passed since the incident of the demolition of the Babri Masjid with a lot of mixed feelings. It was undoubtedly an attack on secularism and democracy. But, who can deny that a lot has changed since that infamous day for Muslim politics.
An unfortunate repercussion of the demolition and the communal riots that followed it is the increase in the influence of the ISI. Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and gold smuggler Tiger Memon conspired with the ISI to carry out serial bombings in Mumbai on March 12, 1993. The Muslim youth, who were victims of communal riots that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid, were successfully goaded into undertaking training in Pakistan to carry out the bombings in which over 287 people died. Anti-social elements among the Muslim community in south India were also attracted to religious fundamentalism after 1992 and a plethora of communal organisations like the Al-Umma sprang up there for the first time.
The RSS headquarters in Tamil Nadu was bomb to extract revenge for the demolition of the Babri Masjid. In 1998 there was communal violence in Coimbatore, something unprecedented in Tamil Nadu, in which 27 Muslims were killed when the police fired on an unarmed crowd that had collected to protest an attack by the Hindu Munani. The unilateral attack on Muslims was followed by bomb blasts in the same year in Coimbatore.
In Kerala, Maulana Madani started a militant organisation, the Islamic Service Society (ISS), to counter the RSS. The ISS attracted hundreds of youth in its fold. Madani was ultimately jailed and spent several years in prison for his role in the Coimbatore blasts, but was acquitted recently.
The list of ISI-backed terror incidents is long indeed. It cannot be denied that most of these bombing were motivated by the spirit Muslim victimhood for a series of wrongs committed on the community beginning from the demolition in 1992 to the Gujarat violence of 2002. The ISI capitalised on this victimhood and provided training, weapons and money to hoist up terrorist cells.
The most striking aspect about Muslim politics since 1992, however, is a positive one. The old, confrontationist strategy of the Babri Masjid Coordination Committee and the Babri Masjid Action Committee is now perceived as unworkable. The Muslim leadership that thrived on emotional and identity-related issues collapsed with the Babri Masjid. Today, the community is very cautious in responding emotive issues. There is a feeling within the community that education is the only salvation. Many organisations focussing on secular education have sprung up and their popularity is growing. This is a positive fallout of the Babri demolition.
Now, we are seeing Muslim girls topping the Secondary School Certificate examinations in Maharashtra. Recently, in Mumbai, two girl students defied the edict of few conservative elements to attend college and sought police protection for the purpose. So, the post-1992 period has seen increased awareness and an urge for secular education within the community.
Some Islamist organisations have begun to have a second thought on their ideology and are now working for communal harmony, secularism and justice for all. Jamaat-e-Islami is one such organisation to have reviewed its stand on the issue of an Islamic state. It has formed organisations to promote communal harmony. The organisations related with the Jamaat are working for peace and justice for all sections of society.
The backward classes among Muslims are now organising for extension of benefits of affirmative actions to the backward classes to them. In doing so, they emphasise their regional identity and seek to know what caste their pre-Islamic forefathers belonged to before converting. The Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (Forum of Backward Muslims) is another such group, with branches in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It is a welcome expansion of the Muslim identity, putting a much-need emphasis on pluralism within Islam.
The religious component makes up for only a small part of the overall Islamic identity, but is, nevertheless, important. The backward Muslims, by claiming their former caste identities, are today proud of not only being Muslims but also part of the local milieu. It acts as a bridge between an international religion like Islam and a regional culture. The backward sections among Muslims are quite at home with both aspects. It connects them to their Hindu brethren and builds harmonious relations with them.
Claiming backward Muslim identity, the backward communities among Muslims also engage with the state to be more democratic and extend affirmative action to them on the ground that they are backward classes and, therefore, should not be discriminated against in respect of quotas. The Andhra Pradesh Government has recently added some Muslim communities to the list of backward classes and has passed legislation to extend 4 per cent reservation to these groups.
The Sachar Committee Report has once again focussed the attention of the community to the issues of socio-economic backwardness and unity with the backward sections of society, irrespective of religion. It will be a formidable challenge for the secular-democratic leadership within the Muslim community to stay focussed on issues of social justice and equality in spite of all the discriminations, atrocities, human right violations that members of the community and Islam being targeted by the media and inimical forces.
The writer is Director, Center for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai
