[Reader-list] Muslims must appeal to Al-Qaeda: Stop hurting and threatening India

[Aman Shanti]

Dear friends
Please see this news item, and also our appeal below. Kindly support
our appeal by sending the message across to many friends so that a
better sense prevails in this world:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Al_Qaeda_threatens_to_attack_India_for_the_first_time/articleshow/4109243.cms
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Indian Muslims (and everyone else) must appeal to Al-Qaeda and its
allies to stop their activities of terror and violence in the world.
Islam does not approve the killing of innocent people. Peace-loving
Muslims must join hands to convince these extremist elements to desist
from their path of terror. Here is an appeal (which is also available
on facebook) that needs your support:

Indian Muslims Against Terrorism
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124494910211

Why only Indian Muslims – everyone should be against terrorism. Yes,
true - but this group has a certain mandate that related mostly to
Indian Muslims (although all others are welcome to join and
participate in this forum). We wish to focus on a few specific points
that are important to address the issue of regional terrorism. There
are two basic claims (made by some), which we want to address here:

1. The claim that "Indian Muslims are persecuted by Hindus, thus
world's Muslims need to save them". No, Thank you. We don't need the
outside saviors.

2. The claim that "now there are home-bred Muslim terrorists in India
that need to be nabbed." Ok, if this is true, then please involve
sincere and peace-loving Indian Muslims in the search for such
extremist elements in India's Muslim localities, instead of randomly
arresting and killing them in encounters.

The above two points are detailed here:

(1) There is an assumption or discourse coming out of some Muslim
countries (such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and others)
that "Muslims in India are being victimized and tortured by the Hindus
(for example in Gujarat, Kashmir, Ayodhya etc.), and since they are in
great danger and helpless in the hands of Hindu extremists, it is the
duty of Muslims all over the world to go and save them, and revenge
their killings and persecution, by terrorizing the Hindus and damaging
the economic might of India." It has been reported that such discourse
is part of the training given to the terrorists who allegedly carry
out attacks in India. While we don't know for sure if the "terrorists"
are given such propaganda, but we assume that many Muslims outside
India may certainly have such an impression about India, as one can
see in some of the media in the Muslim world.

We agree that Muslims in India have been subjected to a lot of
violence, torture, prejudice and injustice at various times, probably
in the same way as other minorities like dalits (low-caste Hindus),
tribals, and women etc. have been treated. But we wish to convey to
the "Islamic world" that WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF SAVIOURS FROM
OUTSIDE India to fight our struggles. (By struggle, we don't mean
violent revenge for the injustice, but a simple struggle for survival,
and recourse to the law, which luckily is not hopeless in India).
Muslims have been living in India for last one millennium, sometimes
peacefully and sometimes in conflict, but most of the times trying to
carve out ways to co-exist with fellow Indians, and make India a
progressive country. The contribution of Muslims to the progress of
India need not be repeated here. The bottom-line is: They cannot go
anywhere else – India is their home, and they have to struggle here
like everyone else. So, please don't meddle into our affairs.

This plea is especially for those powerful institutions/organizations
in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan who deliberately support
terrorism and violence against India and Hindus. You don't realize
that every time there is a terrorist attack in India, although a lot
of non-Muslims get killed or affected, but the ultimate loss is that
of Indian Muslims. They are the ones who are seen more and more as
culprits and a subject of hate and prejudice. It is our children (with
Muslim names) who are taunted in Indian schools as "Pakistanis", and
it is we who cannot rent a house in a mainstream colony because of our
Muslim tag, all because of you. So, our Islamic brothers, YOU ARE NOT
HELPING US come out of our suffering at all. You are actually pushing
us further into a furnace by carrying out the terrorist attacks on
"Hindus". We request and plead you to have mercy on this beautiful
country and the world, and stop your senseless jihad. If you are told
that you will to go to heaven (and get houris) when you die for the
cause of Islam, you are highly mistaken and misled. You will surely
burn in hell for harming innocent people. This world is not only for
Muslims – it is for everyone; whatever religion or culture they may
follow. So, live and let live.

(2) The above message was meant for the "terrorists" infiltrating from
outside India and their supporters/sympathizers. And now for the
"home-grown" breed of terrorists. After the horrific 9/11 attacks, it
was reported by many that among the Muslim terrorists operating all
over the world, there are actually no Indian Muslims involved.
(Although Indian media and intelligence department had been claiming
since many years that Muslim madrasas are the breeding grounds of
terrorism, but not a single Indian madrasa has so far been found to be
involved in such activity). Every one was happy and proud about the
news of India Muslims' non-involvement in terrorism. But suddenly,
after the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, it was reported that Muslims residing
in India are becoming terrorists too, and many of them highly
educated-ones (engineers, doctors, IT professionals, etc.). They use
new technology of Internet, cell-phones and deadly explosive material
supplied by their counterparts from across the border.

Subsequently, hundreds of young boys from Muslim localities have been
arrested and tortured by the Indian police, some even killed in
encounters. But most of them so far have only been accused and almost
none ultimately convicted or punished for an act of terrorism, due to
a lack of substantial evidence against them. Most Muslims and some
human rights activists argue that those arrested or killed Muslim boys
have nothing to do with terrorist activities and have been framed
wrongly. After seeing the adverse role of the police in recent
incidents such as an encounter at Batla House (Delhi) in September
2008 where 2 such accused (and a police inspector) were killed, the
Muslim community has lost all faith in the police and intelligence
agencies, fearing that due to their prejudice they could arrest and
kill any Muslim at will in their war against terror. Their
investigations are not transparent, their proofs are not convincing,
and their encounters with terrorists look stage-managed.

However, such a reaction from Muslims is also considered by some as a
"denial mode", and it is suggested (especially by the mainstream
media) that Muslims need to come out of this mode and accept the
reality that home-bred terrorists do exist in the community,
especially since those who carried out the recent blasts (in 2008) did
claim that they are "home-bred" terrorists. If the internal Muslims
are truly involved in such activities, and if we are serious about
nabbing and punishing them, it would be good for the peace-loving
Muslims themselves to come forward and make a strategy to help
eradicate this menace, rather than to leave it only to the
state-forces. Here is some advices worth considering:

It is accepted by the media and the police that all Muslims are not
terrorists, but some Muslims do resort to extremism and violence, and
that the peace-loving intelligentsia among the Muslim community should
take responsibility to root out the bad elements. This is often
repeated on every news channel and newspaper after every attack:
Secular and elite Muslims need to sift out the extremist elements in
their community. Well, no right thinking Muslim can deny this
responsibility and there are many who are eagerly ready to play that
role. But terrorism or extremist elements of the society cannot be
eradicated by only their efforts, if the govt. and the police
themselves have been unable to do so. They need the same logistical
support and resources to bring out any change in the community, which
the authorities use. In fact, a more practical idea today would be an
active coordination between the intelligence agencies, the police, the
judiciary and the responsible people in the Muslim community. But for
that to happen, the first and foremost requirement is for the
officials to TRUST THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY. It is a widely known fact
that the number and ratio of Muslims in Indian security forces,
police, intelligence, ministries and other important institutions is
very abysmal – at least not proportionate to their population.
Moreover, in the war against the terror, the authorities never talk to
the responsible people from the community leave aside involving them
actively.

A specific recent case that can serve as an example:

Take the case of the recent police-terrorist encounter at Jamia Nagar,
Delhi. The Delhi Police (and its Special Cell) not only did not inform
any of the local citizens of the area before or during the operation
(while they gave prior information to the media), but also made no
effort to communicate to the frightened local residents afterwards
(even during their further arrests of youngsters from the locality),
while the theories of the encounter being fake were spreading in the
locality. Their encounter of 19th September 2008 was like a very
specialized surgical operation done on the body without giving it
anesthesia or stitching it back, or allowing it to heal. This simply
shows that they either look at the entire community with prejudice and
suspicion (of harbouring the terror within), or they are not genuinely
interested in uprooting the nuisance of terror, and only want to
continue showing to the world that Muslim terrorists exist. They
further infuriated many Muslims the next day by showcasing the three
arrested suspects to the media by covering their faces/heads in the
stereotypical pink Arab scarves, which is a clichéd symbol of orthodox
Muslims or Palestinian extremists.

If the authorities start trusting the community and seriously involve
them in uprooting the internal terrorism, it may show better results
than secret raids and encounters. Some residents of Batla House
gathered outside the encounter site the next day said "even if there
were terrorists holed up in the flat, with weapons, there was a way to
peacefully flush them out. After all they were not holding any
hostages. The police knew their location in advance. It could have
taken some neighbours into confidence, emptied the entire
neighbourhood, blocked all exit paths from the flat, and then waited
(even if for days) until the boys got fed up or famished, and
surrendered. There were lots of possibilities, if there was a will."
What is required today is a confidence building between the police and
the people, and some kind citizen's initiatives or neighbourhood-watch
schemes, (which already exist in some of the posh areas of Indian
towns).

The smaller towns (such as Azamgarh) or ghettoized localities (such as
Batla House) in the cities, where such initiatives are required more,
are unfortunately left to rot by our civic authorities. They could be
the breeding grounds of a lot of anti-social elements, but the
authorities are equally responsible for their sorry state. Thus, a
long-term solution to the mushrooming of internal terror is possible
only with a multi-pronged approach, the first requirement of which is
to eradicate the corruption and communal bias in the police
department, and make them people-friendly. They need to involve senior
and serious citizens of a locality to nab the likely culprits of
terror in their area. But this effort should not mean vigilance and
security measures so strict that they affect the privacy and trust
between people in a locality.
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Please join our facebook group to participate in this campaign:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124494910211