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

[anupam chakravartty]

i apologise for not being clear. the problem is, alqaeda prefers identity
politics as means of explaining the wrong doings directed against weaker
sections ( economically and socially). similarly you have also played into
their hands by making the plea to "indian muslims" to ask al-qaeda to "stop
hurting and threatening india."




On 2/11/09, Aman Shanti <peaceshantiaman at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Anupam
> Sorry, but your message is a bit unclear on exactly what your problem
> is. Especially these sentence: could you please explain in detail as
> to what you mean:
>
> [what is the difference between al-qaeda and you? both of you judging
> > the plight of the identities ignoring the fact that conflicts are
> directed
> > against weaker sections.]
>
> and
>
> [Yes, but you prefer mossad and FBI coming over as your security agencies
> are
> > not adequately equipped to investigate any case. Dont you?]
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 11:36 AM, anupam chakravartty
> <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
> > dear aman, shanti, peace and other such things,
> >
> > i would have supported this appeal had it not used these words:
> >
> > "Indian Muslims (and everyone else) must appeal to Al-Qaeda and its
> > allies to stop their activities of terror and violence in the world."
> >
> > why do indian muslims always have to give a certificate that they are
> clean?
> > why? what is the difference between al-qaeda and you? both of you judging
> > the plight of the identities ignoring the fact that conflicts are
> directed
> > against weaker sections.
> >
> > and then you go on to say:
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > Yes, but you prefer mossad and FBI coming over as your security agencies
> are
> > not adequately equipped to investigate any case. Dont you?
> >
> > with best wishes,
> >
> > anupam
> >
> >
> >
> > On 2/11/09, Aman Shanti <peaceshantiaman at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> 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
> >> ------
> >>
> >> 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.
> >> ====
> >>
> >> Please join our facebook group to participate in this campaign:
> >> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124494910211
> >> _________________________________________
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