Chidambaram reaches out to Muslims in India

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today reached out to Muslims, saying that India could not view Islam as an alien faith and assured them that they were honoured citizens of the country.

"This is the land of your forbears; this is the land of your birth; and this is where you will live and work. It is a matter of pride for us that all major religions of the world, including Islam, exist and thrive in India," he said in his address at the 30th annual conference of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Chidambaram also said communalism must be deplored whenever and wherever it manifested itself in word or action and described the December 6, 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid as a manifestation of relgious fanaticism and an act of extreme prejudice.

"Communalism is the negation of pluralism. Communalism also opposes modernity, rejects the idea of civil society, and opposes political freedom to the people," he said

The conference is being attended by about 10,000 Ulemas from all over India, and the Home Minister noted that the JUH was founded in 1919 to lend the support of the Muslim clergy to the anti-British movement. He said it was among the first organisations that stood firmly on the nationalist forces and resolutely opposed the two-nation theory espoused by the Muslim League.

Mr Chidambaram said the birth of free India was under circumstances that could only be described as traumatic.

"The scars of partition and of the largest migration in human history still remain. Post-Independence too, the country has witnessed numerous conflicts – caste against caste, religion against religion, language against language," he said.

He stressed that pluralism was India's inheritance and should be the country's strength. "It is only due to the thoughtless words and actions of some that we have, sadly, allowed our diversity to become differences," he remarked.

The Home Minister talked about the advent of Islam in the sub-continent that might have occurred during the liftime of the Prophet himself and mentioned the Cheruman Juma Masjid in Kodungallur in Kerala, constructed in 629 AD and believed to be the oldest mosque in the country. He said that, according to historians, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 A.D.

"India had always welcomed men imbued with high moral and spiritual ideas. It was a sign of our confidence in our innate strength. India thus became the most diverse multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-lingual society in human history. That is a matter of pride, especially when we see some countries struggling to come to terms with their new-found diversity," he observed.

Mr Chidambaram said India should not turn its back on its history and its heritage and should not discount or diminish its unique strength. It should not view its pluralism as a source of perennial conflict.

He dwelt at length on the contribution of Muslims to the freedom struggle as well as in modern India.

He stressed that a nation could ignore its minorities only at its peril. "The golden rule in a democracy is that it is the duty of the majority to protect the minority, be it religious, racial or linguistic. It is a self-evident rule. It is a rule that is firmly rooted in the universality of human rights. Hence, we have no hesitation in invoking that rule when Tamils are denied their rights in Sri Lanka or Indian students are assaulted in Australia," he said.

He pointed out that this golden rule also applied to Muslims and Sikhs, who were in a majority in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, respectively.

Mr Chidambaram regretted that some people thought this rule was dispensable or that it could be applied selectively, saying that it was a pernicious thought which sowed the seeds of communalism.

He said there were three lessons that flowed from a true assessment of the perils of communalism.

"Firstly, we must strive to build a modern nation. Secondly, we must reiterate the concepts of a civil society. And thirdly, we must expand the political freedoms and ensure that every person enjoys those undeniable and inalienable freedoms," he explained.

"I believe that all Indians share a common cause – to fight communalism. That cause cannot be advanced by rhetoric alone. We must confront communalism with the instruments that will defeat communalism," he said.

Underlining that moral and spiritual values formed the core of a civilisation, he said the education system must instill these values in its citizens, especially in its children.

"Education, however, has a larger purpose. It must empower the child. The education system must turn the wonder of the child into inquiry and the bewilderment of the adolescent into discovery. It is mathematics and science, and that fruit of a historical conjunction, English, that will equip our children to build a modern India. The implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, especially the Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM) and Infrastructure Development in Minority Institutions (IDMI) and the setting up of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) provide the best assurance of quality education to Muslim children," he said.

Mr Chidambaram emphasised the importance of tolerance in civil society. "The sharper the differences, the greater must be the degree of tolerance. When this compact is eroded, the foundations of civil society are shaken. It is our duty to spread the message of tolerance and strengthen the strands that bind civil society," he said.

According to him, it is the assurance of political freedom, and all the rights associated with such freedom, that will defeat communalism.

"Equality, equal status, personal liberty, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, right to education, right to work, right to property, right to information, and the other freedoms are the hallmark of a civilized nation. The Prime Minister’s 15-point programme is intended to ensure that these freedoms are enjoyed by all minority communities, including the Muslim community," he said.

The Home Minister said the worst kind of communalism was unleashing communal violence. Violence and violent means to achieve any objective was the anti-thesis of a civilised society governed by the rule of law, he stated.

"The demolition of the Babri Masjid was a manifestation of religious fanaticism and an act of extreme prejudice. Likewise, taking to the path of violence in the name of religion must also be deplored in unequivocal terms," he said.

He expressed happiness over the fact that the Darul Ulloom at Deoband had issued a "fatwa" against terrorism on February 25, 2008 and categorically stated that "Islam rejects all kinds of unwarranted violence, breach of peace, bloodshed, killing and plunder and does not allow it in any form."

"I regard that decree as a call to duty to not only Muslims but to all right thinking people. I would urge that more voices be raised, loudly and clearly, against terrorism and all forms of violence," he added.

NNN