[Reader-list] India Muslims in 'torture' rally (???)

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear all

It seems that the nonsense is still on. Please read the BBC story below for
more. Once again the ghost of  the 'Indian Muslim' is called up to
articulate, a demonstration by 2000 people, who were basically from UP,
which is a Samajwadi Party base and one might argue that in the light of
up-coming general elections, any demonstration like this one works as a good
PR exercise.

The story has same-stereotyped images of Muslim male with beards, skull caps
underlined by narrative of victimization and so on.  This is, I think, one
more instance of irresponsible communal profiling by big media which must
provoke us to ask more questions like- Who is this mythical guy called
'Indian Muslim'? What does one mean by this Maulana Risley's inventive
socio-religious category called 'Indian Muslim'?

Please read this completely incoherent excerpt from the story-

The group warned of the risks of stigmatising and alienating "an entire
community".

Now could I ask what does the ' entire community' stands for or means? For
in my limited knowledge of the practise of Islam in India, the Bohars are
different Ahmadis who are different from Barelvies who are different from
Deobandis who are different from Wahabis who are different from Hanafis and
so on. At the same time one could also assume them to be  Indians who happen
to follow one of the many interpretations of Islam, like it is there in
every religion. I wonder why did Joana Jolly or who ever it was at BBC
choose to frame a small demonstration at Jantar Mantar as 'Indian Mulims'
holding a 'Mass demontration'. Maybe by Oxford street standards it was
'Mass' but it was certainly not the voice of 'Indian Muslims'.

Regards

Taha




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7857468.stm

*Indian Muslims are holding a mass demonstration in the capital, Delhi, to
protest against alleged harassment of Muslims by security forces.*

Most of them arrived in Delhi on Thursday morning in a special train.

The train travelled from Azamgarh in northern Uttar Pradesh state and picked
up more passengers en route to Delhi.

The organisers are also seeking a meeting with the interior minister. Indian
police have been blamed by the community for torturing Muslims.

Security agencies, for example, have arrested 10 men from Azamgarh district
in Uttar Pradesh in the past two years - all as suspects in different
attacks.

One of the protest organisers, Maulana Amir Rashadi, said Muslim youths were
being falsely targeted as terrorists.

The protesters arrived in Delhi carrying banners which said: "Let the truth
prevail, bring the innocents out of jail" and "Give us security, not tears
and blood".

The BBC's Joana Jolly in Delhi says more than 2,000 people gathered at the
protest at Jantar Mantar, a popular forum for demonstrations.

*'Justice'*

Amik Jamai, an activist and documentary film maker who joined the protest,
said Muslims were feeling "uncomfortable".

"The Muslims here are proud to be patriotic, they have promoted the concept
of peace here, they live together in harmony," he told the BBC.

"We are hoping for justice. We are hoping for transparency."

In November, Human Rights Watch said police in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh should be prosecuted for torturing Muslims detained after bomb
blasts last year.

The group warned of the risks of stigmatising and alienating "an entire
community".

The state government had admitted that 21 men had been tortured and would
each receive $600 in compensation.
A series of blasts in May and August 2007 killed nearly 60 people in the
state capital, Hyderabad.