Communal sores in secular India

Pressure must be mounted on the Indian government to become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi Hardnews

"Muslims have to, time and again, prove their multicultural traits to be heard in India," Mahesh Bhatt, film director, said here on Monday. He was speaking at a convention, What it means to be a Muslim in India today, organised by ANHAD, an NGO, in New Delhi.

According to Bhatt, discrimination is a reality and nobody can deny it. This malaise has penetrated deep into the system and the society. He cited the recent case of his nephew and Bollywood star, Emraan Hashmi, who was denied accommodation in a residential society because of his religion.

Bhatt said, "This was his first brush with reality. Until then, he thought that discrimination does not exist." He went on to add that most of the people don't talk openly about these issues, because there is always a fear of a backlash by the dominant Hindu groups. Worse, the whole matter was trivialised by the media. So, the problem remains intact.

Prashant Bhushan, senior Supreme Court lawyer, was worried about the communal problems that dog the country. "The dream of a secular India lies shattered," he complained. He narrated how elections are won by stoking communal frenzy and by dividing people on religious lines. He cited the case of election after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi when even the RSS backed the Congress in alienating the Sikhs. It's a criminal offence if any party resorts to such practises. But the implementing agencies lack the will to act. He said communalisation of these agencies could be a reason for this.

Launching an attack on the media, Bhushan said that a new kind of embedded journalism has emerged today. There are journalists in almost all media houses who plant stories fed to them by the State agencies.

Zoya Hasan, professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, felt that there is a need to focus on three basic issues - deprivation, discrimination and inequalities. "Now, the Sachar Committee has shown that Muslims are extremely poor and the growth rate that India is proud of is only catering to 20 per cent of the population," she said. Successive governments including that of the Congress have failed to live up to the expectations, she added.

Hasan also reminded that there is a need for the Muslim MPs to question and mount pressure on the government, which so far they have failed to do. She said that the mandate for the UPA in the 2009 general elections is historic in the sense that Muslims have returned to the Congress party. There is no reason for the Congress party and the UPA government to desert them and not draft plans for the development of the community.

Several suggestions were put forth in the session to curb discrimination and communal violence. Bhushan felt the need of strong institutions to keep a check on the working of the State agencies. He said that if these institutions also fail and become saffronised then we should have the cover of international institutions like the International Criminal Court (ICC). There is a need to pressurise the government to become a member of the ICC.

Hasan suggested a targeted intervention for Muslims. She said welfare policies adopted by the UPA government are not even a drop in the ocean. "What is needed is affirmative action for Muslims, with anti-communal violence and anti-discrimination bills," she said.

The three-day convention was attended by human rights activists from across the country who listened to the testimonies of victims of communal disharmony and the partisan attitude of State agencies.