At a time when Indians were trying to remember and forget the gory carnage of 26/11, the leaders of the Muslim community were discussing a silly issue that calls for all-round condemnation. According to a report in The Pioneer, the community leaders were debating whether any Muslim marriage can be solemnized or not on December 6 as it is observed by some in the community as a ‘black day’.
For those who do not immediately connect, December 6 is the anniversary of the falling of the Babri structure in Ayodhya, erected over one of the holiest places for the Hindus-the birthplace of Sri Ram. While countless terrorist attacks perpetrated by those belonging to the Muslim community have taken the lives of hundreds of Indians, including the brave jawans and security personnel, the leaders of the community, not even once thought it fit to issue a fatwa condemning it or call for a ‘black day’ against those murderers who were bringing bad name to the religion itself. So much so that the common Hindu believes that the community condones the acts of terror.
These very leaders of the community are most vocal when it comes to the death of terrorists and terror suspects in police encounters. They then remember the human rights and civil rights and paint the entire police force in the country as being biased.
Now the issue of December 6. What is the significance of the dome structure to the Muslims in India or elsewhere? Ayodhya is not a holy city for them, nor is the birthplace of Ram sacred for most of them. It is for us, the Hindus. And it is natural that we want a grand temple on the site. We have not been able to do it all these centuries because the rulers were all inimical to Hindu sentiments. But in independent secular India, where the governments are committed to respecting all religions and their sentiments equally, the task of rebuilding a temple in Ayodhya should have been done by the government. But here is the queer situation where the political parties support the case of one against another. Or at best send it into a legal tangle. How can the demolition of the structure in Ayodhya be considered an act of violation against the Muslim community? It was not even a mosque where worship was going on.
There are several serious issues facing the Muslim community that are crying for attention from its leaders. The lack of literacy, modern education, social issues like condition of women and civil issues like divorce-women are at a disadvantage in all these-are aspects that need attention and resolving. The Sachar Committee (we are not in agreement with its inference) has pointed out the problems faced by this community. While most of these are problems they share with Hindus, their resolution is in the hands of the religious and political leaders of the community. And they are the real culprits, filling minds with fake fear so that the people will not slip out of their stranglehold.
These leaders decide for the entire population whether they should sing Vande Mataram, do yoga, get modern education, open doors to social reforms, etc. They do not let their people decide for themselves what is good for them. From their pulpits they never give a call to the faithful to love the motherland, join the forces to defend the country, send their girls to schools or stop living in ghettos.
It is high time the community threw away the current leadership and emerged on its own. Decide their path themselves and the road ahead. And this would involve living with the majority Hindus in a secular nation as equal citizens-with equal commitment and equal responsibilities and duties. Remove the tag ‘minority’ from their necks and become Indians first and Indians last.
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