Date:09/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/09/stories/2008060951060900.htm

Opinion - Interviews

‘We are fighting to defend Islam’

Praveen Swami

- PHOTO: PRAVEEN SWAM

Mehmood Madani . "Islam is categorical in its rejection of violence against innocents."

“DOGS”, “a bunch of cowards” and “puppets of Hinduism” were among the epithets the Islamists who attacked Jaipur last month have reserved for a group of clerics who have confronted terrorism head-on. Since February, clerics from across India have held conferences and even rallies to condemn terrorism. Member of Parliament Mehmood Madani, who heads the India’s largest party of clerics, the Jamiat Ullema-e-Islam, is the central figure driving the clerics’ campaign. “We are fighting to defend Islam”, he says, “not to play politics. Today, even the ullema of the Binori Town Masjid in Karachi, who are accused of giving birth to the Taliban, are willing to join us”.

My first question is: why now? After all, the problem of terrorism has been around for a long time. Why are the clerics speaking out against it now?

As you are well aware, we haven’t just started speaking out. The clerics of Deoband have long condemned terrorism, no matter what its form. Few people listened to us. However, the tide was starting to rise over our heads, and we felt it was time to shout a little louder. Certain ideological tendencies which claim Islam and Muslims were hostile to India, or inherently violent, had started to acquire a strong position across the world. We therefore had to speak out, and make clear Islam neither sanctions nor supports the violence that is being perpetrated in its name.

In what ways is terrorism hurting India’s Muslims?

Islam’s enemies have used terrorism to defame the religion all over the world. Muslims everywhere are subject to the worst kinds of profiling. Even apparently sensible people seem to have been persuaded that the acts of violence carried out by some people have something to do with religion, or have their genesis in the Koran. This sort of thing first appeared in the western press, but you see a lot of it in Indian newspapers and television now — and I must add that The Hindu is an exception! So, given the existence of this ideological project to defame Islam, it became incumbent on the Muslim ullema to speak up.

What are the factors that, in your view, have drawn some young Indian Muslims to jihadist groups?

Well, let me first of all say that it is far from clear that any Indian Muslims who might be involved in one or the other crime are driven by Islam. So, there is someone who happens to be Muslim who carries out a certain action. In my view, those who have done so are agents of certain foreign powers. Everyone knows who these foreign powers are, and understands that they are enemies of India’s progress. Now, these agents are simply acting on the orders of their masters, not because of their faith in Islam. It should be noted that there are people who are Hindus and of other religions who are also involved in horrific acts of violence against India and Indians. They are also agents of these same powers.

Isn’t it true that some young people have been incensed by atrocities like the Gujarat pogrom?

But isn’t it also true that almost no Indian Muslims have been involved in terrorist activities? I mean, if out a community of millions and millions of people, only a couple of dozen are even alleged to have committed terrorist crimes, you can hardly say that Muslims as a whole are becoming terrorists. Islam is categorical in its rejection of violence against innocents.

What needs to be done to help build a consensus against terrorism?

In my view, the biggest challenge before Muslim leaders is to move away from a destructive and pointless emotionalism towards framing a constructive agenda for the community. Young Muslims are doing very well today in fields as diverse as the media, the sciences, engineering and sports. How can we work to broaden these gains for the widest possible section of the community? How can we make common cause with Hindus, Sikhs Christians and others to solve problems like unemployment, housing and health? There is a challenge for the media, too. Muslims are only reported on when they are victims of some tragedy, or when someone who is Muslim commits an atrocity. When will you understand and report on the community—and when will Urdu journalists do the same for their readers?

In an e-mail sent out by the terrorists who attacked Jaipur, you and other ullema were attacked in no uncertain terms. Are you afraid of being targeted?

Isn’t it ironic, though, that we are being attacked by communalists for supporting terrorism, and at once by terrorists for not supporting them? In the future, we plan to hold more conferences and conventions to build a consensus against terrorism. I am not afraid.