Again on the topic of secularism: When I say I expect and demand higher moral, ethical and behavioural standards from the majority community, my stand is not a condescending one. It is one that does justice to our great civilization. In my humble view, it is incumbent on the Hindus, who wax eloquent on Vasudhaiva Kudumbakam, to understand the problems of other communities in a manner that is in tune with the civilizational values that they claim to uphold. What I find instead is a sense of persecution and the assertion that Muslims get more than they deserve and that they get away with murder. Yes, some of them do get more than they deserve and, yes, get away with murder. But such things happen far more frequently and in a much more organized manner in the Hindu domain too. Communalism is no doubt being used as a jack for power by both the communities. But the Hindu jack is far more dangerous because of its heft. This doesn’t mean that one should be blind to minority communalism. The much maligned Nehru clearly saw the dangers of minority communalism as far back as 1937. In his letter to Khaliquzzaman, he says, “ Do you not see that this communal policy which the Muslim League has fathered is a policy that would be more injurious to the Muslims of India than anything the majority could do would be?”. He says this on Akali communalism: If these ideas spread India will suffer. But the Sikhs will obviously suffer more. Thus, I would certainly condemn minority communalism, but my condemnation will be less shrill than the one I use for Hindu communalism. Today, Indian Muslims are struggling to find answers to several problems. There is little doubt that many of them have arisen because of the community’s own short-comings and certainly not because of Hindu machinations. But we must let them sort out their problems on their own without mocking at them or creating a hullabaloo that the Hindus are being threatened. This has nothing to do with Modi coming to power. This has everything to do with that India which our founding fathers imagined.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 18:58:39 +0000
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