Why unease among Indian Muslims precedes Modi government

Forget for a moment the politics, or even the possible prejudice, and also ignore the questionable timing and inappropriate occasion; focus only on the substance of former Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s remarks about the growing sense of unease among Indian Muslims. An objective analysis of the mood among many Indian Muslims would probably endorse the remarks of Ansari.

Insecurity

The issue isn’t whether the sense of disquiet, even insecurity, in the Muslim community is based on any real and valid concerns, but that its existence is undeniable. Worse, it seems to be only increasing, fuelled of course in large part by the hysterics of the "secular" and "liberal" mafia which tends to overblow incidents in which Muslims are victims and underplay incidents in which they threaten or indulge in violence. 

For instance, the left-liberal media goes ballistic over the fulminations of some obscure Sadhvi linked with the ruling party, but are mealy-mouthed when it comes to diatribes of an Owaisi or a Barkati or even some half-wit Muslim politician from UP. 

The Sikhs worked themselves up into a psychosis, today many in the Muslim community also seem to be working themselves up into a psychosis and developing a siege mentality. Although this process might have gathered pace under the current dispensation, it didn’t start with Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister or BJP becoming the dominant political party of Indian politics. 

This process precedes the rise of BJP by at least a couple of decades, and it won’t end if Modi is no longer Prime Minister and BJP loses political dominance. At one level it is linked to the Islamic revivalist movements which have not only unleashed great tumult that has torn apart Muslim societies and ravaged Muslim countries but has also given rise to militant millenarian movements around the world. The

The destabilisation and devastation in the Islamic world caused by all sorts of wars has infused in Muslims a victim complex — a sense that Muslims are being hounded, discriminated against, oppressed, their lands occupied, their resources captured and their religion and culture challenged and scoffed at. 

All sorts of bizarre conspiracy theories were woven to explain the sorry state of Muslims, which further added to the sense of being boxed into a corner. The attacks by jihadi terror groups in non-Muslim majority countries, and the consequent reaction, including the profiling of Muslims, has only made matters worse.

Indian Muslims, in particular, the youth, haven’t remained untouched by these global trends. 

Exclusivism 

Fortunately, even though many Indian Muslims today are extremely concerned over and agitated by what is happening in the Islamic world, very few have actually made a beeline to join the ranks of the combatants, or if you will terrorists.

Even so, more than any time in the last seven decades, today there are many more Muslim voices raised in support of not just Kashmiri militants but also terrorists and criminals like Ishrat Jehan, Yakub Memon, Afzal Guru and those killed in the Batla House encounter. 

There is also a very worrying rise in quasi-militant organisations and individuals espousing the cause of Islamist assertiveness, exceptionalism, and even exclusivism. Not surprisingly, sections of Muslim youth are getting seduced by radical Islamist ideologies. 

Even those having little use for extremist and radical ideas are becoming aggressive about their religious identity, which in turn impacts on how they relate with rest of society. 

This in-your-face assertiveness, which is often backed by pseudo-secular political parties in places like Kerala, Bengal, UP etc, is manifesting itself on social media platforms and is leading to a counter reaction and an unrestrained pushback which is unconciliatory and instead of engaging the other side often descends into an exchange of abuse. The resulting social tensions in turn only adds to restiveness among the Muslims, more so because of the growing irrelevance of the Muslim vote in recent elections. 

Catch-22 

A sort of Catch-22 situation is confronting Muslims: if they consolidate, it could lead to a counter-consolidation which will leave them out in the cold; if they don’t consolidate, their vote will lose its relevance.

Breaking out of this trap is not easy because both "secular" political parties, as well as the media, promote only the most antediluvian and reactionary Muslim — they have no use for an enlightened, progressive, modern and syncretic Muslim — as the only true representative of the community, establishing a Muslim stereotype not just within the community but also rest of the society. 

The biggest challenge of the 21st century for the Indian Muslim is the growing disconnect between his revivalist urgings and quest for asserting his identity on the one hand, and on the other hand, the imperatives of living and assimilating with other sections of society in a diverse and plural melting pot of cultures. For many Muslim youth, the challenge is also that they are no longer able to connect with the traditional leadership of the community. 

Without addressing these disconnects, the Muslim community will increasingly find it difficult to relate to and become part of the national mainstream and consequently will continue to draw itself into a shell. What is required is introspection and reform instead of complaints and laments.

Equally importantly, instead of ululating about the state of Muslims in other lands, the Indian Muslim needs to rediscover and reassert his Indian identity, something that they often do when they travel out of India, including to Muslim countries. This, more than anything else, will address the sense of unease among Indian Muslims.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

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