Deoband 30th annual session of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.

[Guest guest]

Anand Gupta

a2612gDeoband 30th annual session

of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.The meeting had a Hindu religious

scholar reciting from the Vedas and the very popular Baba Ramdev

preaching and demonstrating the benefits of pranayam. Actually a cosmetic coat.The 25 resolutions adopted at the meeting are a

throwback to the seventh and eighth centuries. Among other things, they

espouse no cinema, no television and no reservation for women in

legislatures since these are supposed to be ‘un-Islamic’. Cinema being

against the tenets of Islam is ridiculous as many of Bollywood’s

personalities are Muslims. From Shah Rukh Khan to Saif Ali Khan, the

Khans are the dominant actors in the film industry. Then there are

numerous Muslim writers, lyricists, music composers, directors, etc. The

worst display of ultra-orthodoxy has come in the form of the resolution

rejecting women’s representation in legislatures. The reason given is

that by bringing women into the mainstream various ‘social problems’

will crop up. The clerics are simply using religion as an excuse to

reject gender equality. While all this shameful display of

orthodoxy may be the Jamiat’s interpretation of Islam, the important

question is what was Union Home Minister P Chidambaram doing at the

meeting? His attendance has given the gathering a sort of Government

approval. Why did he remain silent when the clerics were challenging

and rejecting the fundamentals of Indian democracy? What was he doing

quietly listening to the antediluvian rhetoric at the event?True,

Mr Chidambaram did speak on the liberating influence of education and

how it empowers our children. He could have clarified that when he said

children he meant both boys and girls. He could have referred to the

widespread reluctance within the Muslim community to send girls to

secular schools after the age of 10. How could a Minister of this

Government that has time and again underlined its commitment to giving

33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures lend the prestige of

the Union Home Minister’s presence to a meeting that condemns this very

reservation as unacceptable? Then there is the resolution rejecting the singing of the National Song, Vande Mataram. The reiteration of an old fatwa

that the National Song is ‘un-Islamic’ has come as a snub to the

Congress which made the song the source of inspiration during the

freedom struggle. Thousands of Muslim patriots have participated in the

singing of this inspiring song, marching shoulder-to-shoulder with

others against India’s colonial rulers. AR Rahman, a Muslim, has

created a popular rendition of Vande Mataram. Asked

on a TV channel whether that makes the Oscar-winning Rahman less of a

Muslim, the moving spirit of the Jamiat, Maulana Mahmood Madani, ducked

the question. But can Mr Chidambaram answer as to how could a

Congressman and a Union Minister remain silent about the anti-National

Song rhetoric? And as for the clerics’ objection that the song deifies

the motherland, eminent scholars have refuted this charge. It only

personifies the nation as Mother India. The Union Home

Minister has spoken at Deoband about the majority community’s duty to

protect the minority community. No one can take exception to this call.

But why did he fail to point out that this rule has not been followed

where Muslims are in majority, as in the Kashmir Valley from where all

Hindu Pandits have been driven out? The selective application of this

principle of duty of the majority community to protect the minority

community is the fundamental shortcoming of our ‘secularists’ and their

organisations. It is this selective application of

‘secularism’ that is a greater threat to our national unity. This has

emboldened sectarian leaders to push their communal agenda at the

expense of nationalism. The Deoband meeting, for instance, has called

upon the Muslim youth to emphasise their separate Muslim identity. And

of all the people Mr Chidambaram should be aware as the Union Home

Minister how ‘separate identities’ often turn into separatism. The Jamiat clerics have no doubt condemned terrorism and drawn a line to separate the religious fervour of jihad

from terrorism. However, the fervour with which the Jamiat meeting has

called for local committees to enforce ‘social reform and religious

practices’ does not go so far as to ask them to isolate the preachers

of virulent jihadi doctrine and to identify those who recruit youth to turn them into terrorists. The

Union Home Minister was eloquent in condemning the demolition of Babri

Masjid. But he shied away from calling a spade a spade when the clerics

surrounding him were busy demolishing all symbols of national identity

while re-emphasising their separate identity not only in terms of dress

and language but even the manner in which Muslims should greet others.

Mr Chidambaram’s silence is in line with the attitude of our

‘secularists’ whose otherwise loud rhetoric goes mute in the face of

Islamic orthodoxy. Shri Baba Ramdeoji also attended this conference that made some hindus happy - but was it really a reason to rejoice?

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