Report details bias against India's Muslims

[sonz]

Although India has the second-largest population of Muslims in the world, a report published by The Sunday Express newspaper found that the country’s jails hold a disproportionate number of Muslims, which shows the extent of discrimination the country’s Muslims are subjected to.

According to the report, 32.4 percent of prisoners held in jails in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, are Muslims.

In New Delhi, the report further stated, 27.9% of prisoners are Muslims. And in Gujarat state, Muslims make up 25.1% of those imprisoned.

There are around 174 million Muslims living in India.

It's noteworthy that Muslims contributed hugely to the religious, artistic, philosophical, cultural, social and political development of the Indian history, heritage and life, but they continue to face discrimination and alienation in the country where Hindus form about 76.5% of the population.

Wherever Muslims live as minorities they increasingly face problems of discrimination, specially in the West and in countries like India. This could be attributed to two main reasons:

First reason has to do with historical and political factors.

Second reason is linked to the media bias towards Muslims.

Also some experts suggest that in countries where Muslims live as minority, most non-Muslim have an image of themselves as plural, secular and modern societies.

[justahumane]

Although India has the second-largest population of Muslims in the world, a report published by The Sunday Express newspaper found that the country’s jails hold a disproportionate number of Muslims, which shows the extent of discrimination the country’s Muslims are subjected to.

According to the report, 32.4 percent of prisoners held in jails in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, are Muslims.

In New Delhi, the report further stated, 27.9% of prisoners are Muslims. And in Gujarat state, Muslims make up 25.1% of those imprisoned.

There are around 174 million Muslims living in India.

It's noteworthy that Muslims contributed hugely to the religious, artistic, philosophical, cultural, social and political development of the Indian history, heritage and life, but they continue to face discrimination and alienation in the country where Hindus form about 76.5% of the population.

Wherever Muslims live as minorities they increasingly face problems of discrimination, specially in the West and in countries like India. This could be attributed to two main reasons:

First reason has to do with historical and political factors.

Second reason is linked to the media bias towards Muslims.

Also some experts suggest that in countries where Muslims live as minority, most non-Muslim have an image of themselves as plural, secular and modern societies.

Brother before accusing India of discrimination towards muslims, plz know some facts about India in terms of its secular status.

At least 3 muslims have reached to the post of President of India, the highest post of the country, At least 3 muslims have reached to the post of Chief Justice of Supreme court, the highest judicial post of the country, At least 2 muslims have reached to the post of speaker of upper house of Parliament of India or Rajya Sabha, the highest constitutional post In the country.

In India, muslims have their own Muslim Personal Laws which allows them to live according to Islamic laws.

Now show me any other country in the world where muslims, living as minorities, have been given that much political and social rights. Muslims in India feel that they are better in India as compared to muslims in various Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan where muslims have been given lesser religious and political rights as compared to kufr regiem of India. How pathetic.

I expect U to delete ur post which is nothing but a small bundle of hate propoganda for a country which as much belongs to muslims as to any other community.

BTW have u ever tried to know how much rights non-muslims have been given in Islamic country over the world?

Thanks.

[Dawud_uk]

i am a feeling the muslims of gujarat and kashmir might not agree with you their rights being respected by the authorities there

[wilberhum]

i am a feeling the muslims of gujarat and kashmir might not agree with you their rights being respected by the authorities there

I am a feeling the Hindus of gujarat and kashmir might not agree with you their rights being respected by the authorities there.

But this is all based on assumptions. There is the assumption that the only factor involved is religion. It may be a facter but you can bet that there are many and complex factors.

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[Dawud_uk]

yes such as the govt in gunjarat being hindu nationalists and driving the crowds into muslim killing frenzies.

they also used the muslims higher birth rate and said they were trying to breed the hindus out of india, consequently these religious riots were one of the first in india to have such a much higher rate of violence against women, rape and mutilation to attack the muslims for this.

may Allah give guidence to every evil hindu nationalist who took part in those riots or we know the punishment they will recieve in the next life will be far more than we could ever punish them with

Abu Abdullah

[justahumane]

i am a feeling the muslims of gujarat and kashmir might not agree with you their rights being respected by the authorities there

Brother, Gujrat did happened in year 2002, and it shocked the whole nation. No doubt it was a blot on our face as Indians. But mistakes do happen. We have to make sure that Gujrati muslims and their rights are protected and I m happy to tell U that it is being done by Government of India. No Gujrati Muslim have to leave his home after Gujrat riots. What U have to understand that riots like this happen in such mixed societies, its unfortunate, but it happens. We have facist elements in both societies.

Talking about Kashmir, its only state of India where muslims are in majority. Out of 28 states. What makes u think that kashmiri muslims's rights are not being respected? I hope that U are getting carried away by anti-India propoganda that over half a million Indian army is doing atrocities on innocent muslims of Kashmir? But reality is very much different brother. I dont deny that some human rights violations have been done there, but do u think that these violations are only done on muslims? What Kashmiri muslims have done to their Kashmiri hindu neibhours? They have selectively driven them(Kashmiri Hindus) out of their homes, inspite of presence of half million hindu army there. Who, the propoganda mongers say, are killling and raping Innocent Kashmiri muslims at will. How disgusting? Real victims are not Kashmiri Muslims but Kashmiri Hindus who are forced to live as refugees in their own country. This is true face of innocent kashmiri muslims. But who cares? do U?

For ur kind information, Kashmir is a democratic state of India, not theocracy like Islamic nations.

And my question is still unanswered.

These kind of conflicts are bound to happen where 1/6 of world population, consisting of litrally all religions, live. But can anyone show me any other country where muslims living as minority have been given equal political rights and opportunities as in India?

It should be enough to satisfy U and all if U can leave ur muslim bias.

[justahumane]

yes such as the govt in gunjarat being hindu nationalists and driving the crowds into muslim killing frenzies.

they also used the muslims higher birth rate and said they were trying to breed the hindus out of india, consequently these religious riots were one of the first in india to have such a much higher rate of violence against women, rape and mutilation to attack the muslims for this.

may Allah give guidence to every evil hindu nationalist who took part in those riots or we know the punishment they will recieve in the next life will be far more than we could ever punish them with

Abu Abdullah

I agree brother, those who were behind the killings of innocents should condemed in strongest possible ways. Be it hindu or muslim.

[Bittersteel]

is it true that some Islamic group in UK is telling Muslim males to marry Hindu girls ?
well that 's what extreme hindus worried about right now,lol!

[Dawud_uk]

is it true that some Islamic group in UK is telling Muslim males to marry Hindu girls ?
well that 's what extreme hindus worried about right now,lol!

no it is a silly idea propegated on various desi sites but it is not permissable as they are mushrik's and disbelievers. maybe it is something certain cultural muslims advocate but never heard anyone else mention it but hindus and sikhs who are paranoid over the large numbers of their young, especially women reverting to islam.

assalaamu alaykum,
Abu Abdullah

[AFDAL]

Kashmir, its only state of India where muslims are in majority. Out of 28 states.

Assam/NE and Lakshawadeep - also is a muslim majority region in India.

[GARY]

Although India has the second-largest population of Muslims in the world, a report published by The Sunday Express newspaper found that the country’s jails hold a disproportionate number of Muslims, which shows the extent of discrimination the country’s Muslims are subjected to.

It does not show that at all, it is a simple statistic. What a rediculous statement. It may quite possibly show a disproportionate amount of bad behaviour by the minority group of muslims.

[GARY]

I think the victim role is getting a little old.

[GARY]

I wonder if you would mind providing the link to this report so that the rest of us can see what context the information was provided in.

Not that any of us would think that you would be biased.

[AFDAL]

Mayhem in Mangalore
By Yoginder Sikand



For some years now, Hindutva forces have been very active in the Dakshina Kannada district, where Mangalore is located. Although a semblance of peace has now been restored, tension remains, as I discovered after a recent trip to the area.


Early last month, a series of violent incidents rocked Mangalore and several nearby towns and villages in coastal Karnataka. Two people were killed, dozens injured and property worth several lakhs was destroyed. Although a semblance of peace has now been restored, tension remains, as I discovered after a recent trip to the area along with some social activists from Bangalore.


For some years now, Hindutva forces have been very active in the Dakshina Kannada district, where Mangalore is located. The MP from the area and most of the local MLAs are from the BJP. The road leading to Mangalore is strewn with saffron banners and flags, indicating the presence of numerous Hindutva outfits. Economic factors such as competition between Muslim and Hindu traders and contradictions between some sections of the fishermen community and Muslim traders have been used by Hindutva forces to whip up anti-Muslim sentiments and consolidate their presence. Consequently, relations between Hindus and Muslims have been badly affected, an outcome of which was what many locals believe, were the pre-planned riots of early October, in which BJP and Bajrang Dal leaders including some occupying top positions in the present Karnataka government, are said to have played a leading role.


Madrasat ul-Badariya is a small mosque-cum-madrasa recently constructed in Bejai, a locality in Mangalore. There are around a dozen Muslim houses in this largely Christian and Hindu area. On the evening of the 6th of October, some young men entered the area in a car, scaled the wall of the Christian locality and barged into the madrasa. The only person inside the madrasa was Abdul Ghafur, the imam. They are said to have pelted the imam with stones, plunged swords into his body while raising slogans hailing the Bajrang Dal and then fled from the scene. The muezzin, who was in the adjacent bathroom while this was happening, fled to a nearby house to inform people of the attack. The imam was rushed to the hospital, where he died.


Says Noor (name changed), a local youth, ‘There has never been any communal tension in this area. Even in the 1992 and 1998 violence, our locality remained tension-free. This incident was clearly motivated to terrorise us. But what can we do? We have to live and die here’. The imam was just 23 years-old and from a very poor family, he tells me. He is survived by his aged father, who is almost blind, his mother and three sisters of marriageable age. He was the sole breadwinner of his family.


In Unity Hospital, Mangalore, a young Muslim man writhes in pain on his hospital bed as he tells us about how his cousin Ibrahim, who, while travelling in an ambulance to the airport was laid upon by a Hindu mob, and was killed. The young man and six others were also in the vehicle and they too were attacked with lethal weapons but escaped. The mob pelted his genitals with large stones and he does not know if he can ever fully recover. He is a daily-wage earner and does not know how or when he can go back to work.


It is clear that the police too, actively engaged in this campaign of terror directed against the Muslims. In several Muslim localities in Mangalore and in nearby BC Road and Ullal that we visited, evidence of police brutality was amply evident. Rows upon rows of houses were set upon by the police in the dark of the night. They barged into several dozen houses breaking down doors and shattering windowpanes. Inside, they went on a rampage on the pretext of searching for miscreants, smashing television sets, wrenching open almirahs and abusing and physically manhandling womenfolk. Scores of Muslim men, most of them said to be innocent, were arrested and, it is alleged, false cases slapped on them. Many of them have been sent to jails in far-off places, some as distant as Bellary, over 400 kilometres from Mangalore. Their children and womenfolk have had no news of them. We met numerous Muslims who said they sought to file cases, but the police refused to register them.


Says Fatima (name changed), whose husband and son have been in jail for the last fifteen days, ‘My husband was a poor daily wage earner. He had nothing to do with the violence. The police forced themselves into our house, stole my jewellery and took my husband away. For fifteen days we have had no source of income. We are surviving thanks to the help of our neighbours’.


Uncontrollably sobbing, Najma (name changed), another Muslim housewife, says, ‘My husband is a heart patient. He is on medication. He was at home when this happened. The police broke down our door and grabbed him and dragged him off with them. He is perfectly innocent. I have no idea when he will come back’.


Looting and destruction of Muslim shops, in many cases said to have been abetted by the police, has resulted in loss of property running into several lakhs. In Ullal some Hindu shops too were attacked, following a rumour, proved later to have been false, that the police had fired on Muslims in the vicinity of the famous dargah located in the town.


A rumour of the imminent slaughter of cows by a Muslim butcher is said to have sparked off the recent violence in Mangalore. Apparently, over the past four years there have been several incidents of Bajrang Dal activists manhandling Muslim butchers. Last year, the Bajrang Dal even took over the slaughterhouse in an auction in a bid to keep the Muslims out. However, they could not run the slaughterhouse for long and so it was once again taken over by a group of Muslims. Yet, they managed to get it closed down for several days on the grounds of lack of hygiene. This time, Bajrang Dal leaders decided to use the issue of animal slaughter to engineer anti-Muslim violence in the town.


According to some reports, this was pre-planned. And so when a Muslim butcher was transporting what some say were buffaloes (and not cows) that he had bought for slaughter from a Hindu, Bajrang Dal activists pounced on the opportunity to set off a wave of attacks on Muslims in Mangalore. Some local Kannada newspapers, whose Hindutva connections are well-known, played a major role in further instigating the violence by publishing false reports of Muslim attacks on Hindus.


As of now, a semblance of peace prevails, but for the families of the scores of people killed or injured in the violence, whose houses and properties were attacked by mobs and the police and whose men folk languish in jail, many on trumped up charges,mostly Muslims, things can never be the same again. Says Mohammad, a Muslim youth from Mangalore, “Hindutva leaders and some newspapers have made the ridiculous claim of SIMI or the Laskhar-i-Tayyeba being behind the violence. Not even an idiot will believe this. The Hindu fascist forces started the violence, and those responsible for it still remain largely scot-free, while scores of innocent Muslims have been arrested and terrorised.


What sort of democracy and justice is this?’. ‘Hindutva forces want to plunge India into the throes of civil war’, says Mohammad’s friend Hussain. ‘Inter-communal relations have largely been good here’, he adds, ‘but the Hindutva fascists want to destroy that, and are trying to do that all over Karnataka, now that they are in a coalition government in the state. Only Allah knows what the future holds for us’.

[AFDAL]

“I have devoted my life to the struggle against communalism”…. Naseem Mohammad Sheikh


Naseem Mohammad Sheikh is an activist working with victims of the state -sponsored anti-Muslim carnage in Gujarat in 2002, in which more than 3000 people were killed. She is based in the Qasimabad Colony, near Kalol in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat. Eleven members of her own family, including her daughter and husband, were slaughtered in this most large-scale wave of anti-Muslim violence in India in recent times, the victims of which are yet to get justice.


Here, she narrates to Azim A. Khan Sherwani the traumatic murder of her family, her struggle for survival and her present involvement in seeking to promote peace and communal harmony in communally-polarised Gujarat.


I was born in a fairly well-off family. I grew up with my grand-parents and parents. My grandfather wanted me to marry in the same village. So he found a boy of my own village who was my cousin from my mother’s side. He had done his secondary schooling, but the economic condition of his family was not very sound. I was 13 at that time and told my family that I would commit suicide if they forced me to marry him, but they did so. Initially, I hated to live with my husband’s family, but my grandfather convinced me and emotionally blackmailed me. I started supporting my husband by helping him sell vegetables. Once my husband had an offer of a government job, but he was asked to pay a hefty bribe. My parents were willing to pay the bribe to help my husband have a better future, but he refused. He felt it was against his honour to borrow from his in-laws to pay the bribe. He promised me a good life with his hard labour. Because of our hard work, our business flourished and finally we had to employ some local youth as helping hands in the business.


On 27th February 2002, I had a gynecological operation. I was in the nursing home. The next day my husband told me about the burning of the train coach in Godhra. I was frightened, but he told me that police had been deployed and that nothing untoward would happen. He told the doctors to take care of me and not to worry about the money, promising to be back the next morning.


On 1st March, a Hindu mob attacked the Muslim houses in my village Dahlol. I intuitively did not want my husband to go to the village but, owing to his repeated insistence that the children were alone, I could not stop him. A Hindu customer of ours sheltered my husband and the children in his house when the mob went on a rampage. He insisted on sending our children to the hospital, which he thought to be a safer place. My husband reluctantly agreed. My 13-year old daughter stayed with her father. The Hindu customer dropped my son Suhail at the nursing home. I was worried. I wanted to know where my family was. He told me not to worry. Very soon, he said, everybody would join me, and he assured me that they were safe in his house.


In the evening, this Hindu man took my family with him, telling them that he was arranging for safe passage for them. He took them towards the river and on the way started shouting that there were Muslims around. This was a trap that he had laid. All at once, a Hindu mob armed with sharp weapons, surrounded my family members. One of my nephews ran to save his life and hid behind huge bushes. But the mob killed everybody one by one. They begged for their life to be spared, but in vain. My 13 year-old daughter was gang-raped and cut into pieces. After killing everybody they burnt their bodies. My nephew, who narrowly escaped, was watching everything, shaking with fear. He fled the place when the mob went back to the village. He came to the main road which connects Kalol, a town with a substantial Muslim population. The police found him, and asked him to remove his trousers to see if he was a Muslim. They kicked him and abused him for being a Muslim. He was thrown out of the police jeep. Upon arriving in Kalol, he narrated the incident to our relatives and family friends.


I was still in the hospital and was not told anything by our relatives. The next day the mob came to the hospital in search of me. The doctor told them that I had been discharged and had left the hospital. After this incident, the doctor was afraid that the mob might come again in search of me. He provided a set of clothes normally worn by Hindu women to hide my identity in case I was stopped on my way to a safer place. After 15 days, I was sent to a relief camp in Qasimabad in an Army vehicle. When I reached the camp, my sister and other people started crying. I wanted to know about my husband, daughter and other family members. They told me that they were in a different relief camp. I insisted that I want to speak to them. One of my family friends phoned me, pretending that he was my husband, but I could easily make out that it was a different voice. I guessed that I had lost everything. My life was completely destroyed. My brother-in-law started crying and revealed to me that only three members of our family of 11 had survived.


The atmosphere in the relief camp was depre-ssing and frustrating. I had lost everything, but I had to live for my son Suhail. We had to face so many problems. We could not go back home. My brother-in-law wanted the compensation money to be deposited in his name. He thought I might take the money and get married to someone else and might not take care of my son. I convinced him that I would take care of my son for he was everything to me now. In case I got married again, I said, I would deposit the money in his account.


I had so much pain in my heart and was worried that I might go mad. I started volunteering in the camp. At that time, some women’s group and an NGO came to work for the rehabilitation and access to justice for the victims of the carnage. I joined them as a volunteer initially. There was a lot of opposition from some conservative maulvis. They tried to force me not to go out because I was a widow and I had to perform the religious duty of being isolated from men for four months. I told them categorically that I needed to work for women like me who had lost everything in the carnage. They needed my support. There was also some opposition from some of my distant relatives.


It was really difficult to engage Hindus, Dalits and Muslims in peace-building initiatives. There was complete mistrust and hatred for each other. Muslims said that the Hindus had destroyed their life. What kind of reconciliation, they asked, is possible? But some people started appreciating our work. They would tell me, ‘You lost everything in the carnage, but you still don’t hate Hindus. Rather, you try to engage them. So, we should follow your path of trying to promote peace and counter hatred’.


Today, I have no one in my life except Suhail. I am sad, but now I am a confident woman. I can relate to and understand the problems of all other women, Hindus, Dalits and Muslims.


Constant preaching of hatred against Muslims for political purposes is the root cause of communal violence in Gujarat. During the mass violence against Muslims, there were some good Hindus who helped their Muslim neighbours in providing shelter or safe passage. Unfortunately, however, in Gujarat today the communal divide has increased. We need to work hard in engaging youth, women, Dalits and Adivasis to mobilise for communal harmony.


At times I ask myself that if the different religions were made to serve humanity, then why are people all over the world killing each other in the name of religion?


I have devoted my life to the struggle against communalism and for empowering women. This and the hope for a better future of my son are my strength. I want to educate my son and would like him to join the government service in Gujarat. There is so much pain in my heart, but I want to channelise it to prevent a repeat of what happened in Gujarat in 2002.


(Azim A. Khan Sherwani can be reached at azimsherwani @gmail.com)