CAIRO — Hate-filled and suspicious looks in the wake of July 11 train bombings in Bombay have added to the woes of Indian Muslims, who have been already decrying decades of negligence and discrimination, lamenting that West-styled Islamophobia has been set in motion.
"We are law-abiding citizens, but the whole community is being targeted with suspicion now," Azimuddin, 40, a physician who with dozens of neighbors rushed to help victims of one bombed train that had just pulled out of Nayanagar station, told The Washington Post on Monday, August 14.
"Every one of us is (now) a question mark."
Though the Indian police is not quite for sure that the grisly bombings were the work of Muslims, the cumulative impact of the bombings on Muslim communities is palpable.
"Of course I'm angry. I'm 52 years old, and I grew up in a Bombay of friendship and compassion. That's gone now," said Abdul Majid, who owns a small construction company.
"We are all against terrorism, but how are terrorists born? If you torture people and deny them jobs and education long enough, you create terrorists."
Muslims have been decrying for years that they comprise only a tiny percentage of police, army officers, public servants and public university students, blaming the Hindu-dominated government for marginalization and ill-treatment unlike other minorities.
Best-selling Indian weekly Outlook ran a cover story last week on a 15 percent literacy gap between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Most people interviewed by the Post said they believed the bombings were the work of sophisticated international terrorists, not the result of homegrown, pent-up Muslim frustrations.
Imported Islamophobia
Indians said Islamophobia was passed on to them by the West.
"This Islamophobia is being imported from the West and filtering like a poison into India's bloodstream," said Mahesh Bhatt, a Bollywood producer.
Bhatt complained that when his film crew flew to Dubai for a shoot last week, the sole Muslim, a choreographer, was singled out by police for questioning about his passport and travel.
Indian press reports said that the government had ordered special scrutiny of Muslims who travel abroad, including white-collar employees of multinational companies. The police denied the reports.
There have been numerous pre-dawn raids after the train bombings in a dozen of Muslim communities in Mombay, which led to the arrests of at several hundreds youths.
"I am a Hindu and I sit and eat together with the Muslims in the next shop. They are not terrorists, they are my friends," Shok Seth, 45, a pharmacist, told the American daily.
A senior government official in New Delhi, said it would be a grave mistake to equate India's sizable 140 million Muslims, making up make up about 15 percent of the population, with terrorism.
"To say that Indian Muslims are becoming terrorists, nothing could be a more dangerous assumption," the official, who requested anonymity, told the Post.
He said no Indian Muslims had been found to be involved in Al-Qaeda to date.
"There is a fundamental ethos shared by the majority of Muslims and Hindus," he said. "At the end of the day, the vast majority of both groups see through the game."
Everyone interviewed by the Post in the Muslim district of Mahin in Bombay, where one train was bombed, condemned the grisly attacks.
Residents have further rushed to help the victims.
"Some brand this as a terror spot, but they should have seen how people came out with bedsheets to carry the wounded and the dead," said Deepak Talwar, 46, a lawyer in Mahin.
Islam preaches harmony, and that is the only way for us all to survive."
I wouldn't call it Islamophobia, I would call it necessary suspicion. The bombers on the London trains seemed to be as normal as one could get. It is a normal reaction to events. If many Europeans in Arab countries started blowing up trains and buildings and killing quite a few people, would the Arabs in the countries begin to become suspicious of Europeans? The answer should be evident.
If many Europeans in Arab countries started blowing up trains and buildings and killing quite a few people, would the Arabs in the countries begin to become suspicious of Europeans? The answer should be evident.
I wouldn't call it Islamophobia, I would call it necessary suspicion. The bombers on the London trains seemed to be as normal as one could get. It is a normal reaction to events. If many Europeans in Arab countries started blowing up trains and buildings and killing quite a few people, would the Arabs in the countries begin to become suspicious of Europeans? The answer should be evident.
mmmm if by "Europeans" you mean, England, Australia, America and their only Alliance in the middle east Israel... then I say they have been blowing, raping pillaging and bombing and falsely imprisoning oh plenty....... yes, we are suspicious in fact ... most of what happens here or in England aren't isolated incidents ... they are in fact retaliations ... that is if they are not fudged up to boost ratings of the monkey bush and his poodle Blaire ... hatred can only breed hatred.... It isn't like America is minding its own business when all of a sudden untoward things happen from these insane Muslims ... try to reflect on bush's policies in the middle east....... and then please tell me what do you expect? Wreaths and flowers and open arms?
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
mmmm if by "Europeans" you mean, England, Australia, America and their only Alliance in the middle east Israel... then I say they have been blowing, raping pillaging and bombing and falsely imprisoning oh plenty....... yes, we are suspicious in fact ... most of what happens here or in England aren't isolated incidents ... they are in fact retaliations ... that is if they are not fudged up to boost ratings of the monkey bush and his poodle Blaire ... hatred can only breed hatred.... It isn't like America is minding its own business when all of a sudden untoward things happen from these insane Muslims ... try to reflect on bush's policies in the middle east....... and then please tell me what do you expect? Wreaths and flowers and open arms?
mmmmmmm that would be Westernphobia. I see it on this forum all the time.
A senior government official in New Delhi, said it would be a grave mistake to equate India's sizable 140 million Muslims, making up make up about 15 percent of the population, with terrorism.
This 15 percent Muslim population is just a government of india rate , but unofficial rate is much more higher . The things does not remains in how many , but it depends upon how much of these Indian Muslims are in fact Muslims . If one looks in india the majority of the indian muslims are muslims by name and are far away from the mainstream muslims . Yes there are muslim leaders but when elections comes they comes to muslims to beg for votes . And these very muslim leaders , when they are elected becomes much more secular than their counter part non-muslims. The Imams of the indian majids have become the pupets of the establishment i.e, the comunal hindutva, they have lost the very essence of Islamic dawa. Here I am not saying that all Indian muslims are these but come and have a look - than one can understand the conditions of Indian Muslims . I myself comes from the once muslim majority region Assam , but we have been reduced to miniroty in our own home land . Now a days in Assam / NE - a very special word is use to denote the muslims in assam - the magic word is Bangladesh . The local media together with the Govt suported some students organisation are spearing heading the very word " Bangladeshi " to muslims over here . The break point is Bangladesh as the history says is and was leberated with the help of the hindu India , even the bangladesh national song is writen by a hindu . The Indian muslims have a diverse problems, each and every region have their own problems . I think our problems should be solved by ourself with self determination in Islam .
If any one comes to Delhi and goes to the muslim locality , than one finds that it is the most poor and dirt locality - more over if you ask our own muslims from these locality ,they allways blames the Govt , but I do not understand one thing that - Why these peoples blames the Govt .
When I feel ashamed to be a Muslim!
Thursday August 17 2006 12:35 IST
IANS
As a Muslim, my head goes down in shame each time I find a Muslim name attached to insane acts of terror. I feel let down by such Muslims. It agonises me when I hear that Muslim tenants are refused accommodation in many cities. Recently, in London, a Muslim of Indian origin was arrested for suspected links to the terror plot aimed at blowing up planes flying from Britain to the US.
Sane Muslim voices aren't loudly heard. Even British Muslims condemning the July 7 London bombings added a "but" (root cause) to their denunciation. Killings of innocents cannot be justified for any reason. Many Muslims are guilty of not speaking out against what happened in Darfur while many are guilty of being sympathetic to Saddam Hussein who was responsible for the deaths of thousands. Many Muslims are guilty of not speaking out against the unjust acts of fellow Muslims against non-Muslims.
O terrorists! Whatever you do, however many of us you kill will not stop life where freedom is strong and people can live in harmony. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail. Extremist attacks anywhere are acts depravity and wickedness - planned to take innocent lives. It is not the weapon of the weak against the strong but one of the angry against the defenceless and innocent.
The terror attacks on the makeshift Ram temple at Ayodhya was aimed at derailing the India-Pakistan peace process besides damaging the country's secular fabric. Muslims must openly condemn terror attacks so that they do not get clubbed with the terrorists on account of their silence.
Note that 'jehad' is the most misunderstood and misconstrued concept by non-Muslims, and even Muslims. The true concept of jehad is not to be against other communities, groups or religions but against one's selfish nature, vices and shortcomings. First an individual wages jehad against himself to get cleansed. He then continues the efforts with his wife, family, locality and the entire community. This is Jehad-e-Akbar, the right meaning of jehad.
Muslims must come out openly on the streets against terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Sipah-e-Sahaba and such others.
Today Islam is under scanner because many people have come to believe that the religion advocates violence. Not all of them can be wrong as people judge by what they see. Today terrorists speak and act violently in the name of Islam.
The terrorists who struck on Mumbai's trains in July sought to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. Militants have no religion except death and destruction of the innocent.
At the same time, the government must find out if these tragedies take place because of security lapses or whether the fight against terrorism has slackened. It is perplexing how terrorists repeatedly gain entry into sensitive areas despite heavy security.
Indian Hindus and Muslims are to be congratulated for acting with restraint following the Mumbai disaster. Given the fluid communal situation in India, the saner elements in the communities should take adequate steps to thwart attempts by communalists to play up such incidents.
(Firoz Bakht Ahmed, writer of this article, is a commentator on social, educational and political issues. He can be reached at [email protected])
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