Head-on | A manifesto for secular Indian Muslims

Mohan Bhagwat, sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has set the cat among the pigeons. In an interview with Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, Bhagwat held forth on India’s Muslims. Bhagwat said: “Islam has nothing to fear in India.” But he added a caveat: “Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy. We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over this land and shall rule it again; only our path is right, rest everyone is wrong; we are different, therefore we will continue to be so; we cannot live together. Muslims must abandon this narrative.” Warming to the theme, Bhagwat pointed out: “Hindu society has been at war for over 1,000 years — this fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign influences and foreign conspiracies. Sangh has offered its support to this cause, so have others. There are many who have spoken about it. And it is because of all these that Hindu society has awakened. It is but natural for those at war to be aggressive.” To make sure everybody understood what he was saying, Bhagwat added: “The simple truth is this — Hindustan should remain Hindustan. There is no harm to the Muslims living today in Bharat. If they wish to stick to their faith, they can. If they want to return to the faith of their ancestors, they may. It is entirely their choice.” What should we make of Bhagwat’s comments? Ever since 2014, Indian Muslims have felt victimised by the Narendra Modi government. The BJP counters this by saying sabka saath, sabka vikas benefits all — Muslims included. The party’s argument is simple: when you get subsidised food, electricity in your home for the first time, a gas cylinder connection, Rs 5 lakh health insurance policy, water in your tap, Mudra loans and subsidised housing, no one asks your religion. All Indians receive these benefits. Where then is the discrimination that Muslims decry? Muslims have a ready answer. The BJP never puts up Muslim candidates in elections. Not one of the BJP’s 394 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs is a Muslim. The BJP says it doesn’t pick candidates for legislative elections on the basis of religion. It picks them on the basis of winnability. The points and counterpoints go on and on. There is no meeting ground. The key lies in understanding why the BJP is anathema to most Muslims. The animosity doesn’t spring from communal riots. There have been fewer Hindu-Muslim riots since the Narendra Modi government took office in 2014 than under previous administrations. “That’s because the rioters are in government,” says one Muslim intellectual. But if it’s not about communal riots, what is it about? What lies at the core of the hostility and mistrust between the BJP and India’s Muslims? The animosity cuts both ways. The Modi government makes conciliatory remarks about Muslims, but its followers make no secret of their distrust of the average Muslim. Where does the distrust spring from? What is its real source? In 2014, for the first time in 400 years, Muslims lost their privileged position as a community in India. During the Mughal Empire, they were part of the ruling hierarchy. Many Hindus were converted to Islam by force or allurement. When the British Empire displaced the Mughal Empire, Muslims were co-opted by the British. The colonial British knew their history. The Ottoman Empire was at the time a global force. Earlier, Muslim armies had defeated European armies in the last battle of the Crusades in 1396. The British treated India’s Muslims as a martial race. Hindus were seen as divided by caste, language and region. Muslims stuck together. Hindus did not. The British deliberately deepened the communal cleavage between Muslims and Hindus. During the freedom movement, relatively few Muslims fought to evict the British. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did not spend a day in jail. The All-India Muslim League played a duplicitous role through the freedom struggle. It successfully propagated the two-nation theory and was rewarded by the British with West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Under the Congress, those Muslims who had stayed back in India after Independence were treated deferentially by the ruling Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru made Muslim-first secularism the government’s credo. Muslims were allowed to keep Sharia personal law while Hindu personal law was codified in 1955. Rulers for 200 years under the Mughals, co-opted by the British for another 200 years and favoured for decades by the Congress, India’s Muslims were unprepared for life after 2014. Top Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan decried the growing atmosphere of intolerance. Ghar Wapsi and Love Jihad became part of the loaded lexicon. Hindus, suppressed for centuries in their own land, found their voice. This is the genesis of the polarisation we see today. Hindus argue that they have been the victims of polarisation through “minoritism” for over 400 years. Today’s majoritarianism is a direct reaction to that. What should ordinary Muslims do? Here’s a short six-point manifesto: One, be Indian first, Muslim second. Put nation above religion. You earn your livelihood from India. Respect that. Two, don’t pray on public roads in an attempt to show defiance. It’s counter-productive and reinforces stereotypes of didactic Islam. Three, integrate with the mainstream. Some madrassas recently began giving English language classes to their clerics. Emulate them. Four, denounce radical elements in the Muslim community. Organisations like the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its campus affiliates have ruined Muslim lives. Boycott them. Five, respect the fact that you have equal rights in a democracy where 80 percent of the population is Hindu. Six, stop voting in blocs for parties that have kept you poor and backward for 75 years while paying you lip service. They want your votes, not your welfare. The Modi government is not blameless. Many of its foot soldiers are brazenly communal. But if Muslims are reactively communal, Hindus will increasingly justify being anti-Muslim. Hindus too must put nation first, religion second. It takes two to clap. Similarly, it takes two to mistrust. Apart from a fringe, most Hindus are moderate and harbour no ill will against ordinary Muslims. That is why over half of all Hindus do not vote for the BJP. They lionise Muslim film stars and decry majoritarianism as well a minoritism. If Muslims strictly adhere to the six-point manifesto, the wide gulf between Hindus and Muslims can narrow. It will take wisdom but the benefits will accrue to all. The writer is editor, author and publisher. Views expressed here are per personal. 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