Not everyone critical is an enemy, read this Indian journalists account
Khaleej Times Online
Are Muslims in India Being Pushed to the Corner?
Syed Qamar Hasan (ISSUES)
28 September 2008
Last week at a 'Barza' (majlis-Ramdhania) of a prominent UAE businessman, I was introduced to an Arab diplomat. When told I am a journalist from India living and working in the UAE for more than two decades, he shot a question at me, 'hat is happening in your country: bombs, violence, places of worship being burnt, terrorism is getting worse by the day, this is not 'Gandis' India?
I said, sir, with all due respect it is Gandhi and not Gandi, you missed the H.
Forget the H, your country is facing a very serious and dangerous situation that need to be corrected rather than my pronunciation.
I told him it is not that serious as it has become with our neighbours or Iraq. Ufortunately, a few misguided youth from the Muslim community are alleged to be involved in bomb explosions in various cities of India, and the police claims to have nabbed them. We all hope this is the end. He did not agree, telling me that he knew India quite well, having spent couple of years as a student and later on an assignment for his country in Delhi. What is happening In India does not augur well, the situation can get ugly and even more dangerous.
He sighted the example of Iraq where initially roadside bombs meant to hurt and kill US soldiers turning into suicide bombers killing innocent civilians. The situation got worse and more dangerous while the frequency of roadside bombings increased, a new dimension began to surface, the deadly suicide bombers turning the country into a living hell, killing innocent men and women.
I said, there is no comparison between the two countries. There are no occupying forces in India, ours is a free democratic and pluralistic society, all citizens have equal rights; we are a nation of over a billion people of various faiths, cultures and languages living together from years and for years. It is only at times nearing general elections that the right-wing Hindu fundamentalist parties and other like-minded groups give nightmares to minorities, especially the largest, the 200 million Muslims.
You know why I am comparing the bombing incidents in your country to Iraq? In Iraq the American Army responded brutally to the roadside bombings, making indiscriminate arrests of the innocent on slightest suspicion, torturing them to get information, breaking into their homes at middle of the night, violating the privacy of families, keeping innocent men and women in prison without any charges, gunning down motorists, etc., in the belief and hope that this will put an end to the roadside attacks.
Instead of putting an end to the roadside bombings, the humiliation, the torture and family pride hurt led more and more men and women to opt for violent methods as a reactionary measure.
The callous and brutal behaviour of US forces created suicide bombers in Iraq. And from what I see on television channels and newspapers, police in India is resorting to more or less the same tactics in dealing with the bomb blasts: bungled arrests of the innocent, torturing for confession, mid-night arrests, entering homes and taking away young men for interrogations.
I do not know if his predictions that the situation could get worse turning destructive terrorism into suicide terrorism are proved right. (Two of the three terms, Professor Robert A. Pape, Director of the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism at the University of Chicago, uses to describe the types of terrorism being faced by people around the globe, the third is demonstrative terrorism).
I sincerely pray and wish the government of India, the law-enforcing agencies and the television channels show wisdom and foresight and come up with a code of conduct and laws that can put an end to this madness. I hold all the three equally responsible for mishandling and inflaming the issue.
However, given the manner in which Indian Police is conducting itself in apprehending the bomb blast suspects gives enough reason to fear what this diplomat predicts.
Making indiscriminate arrests of innocent Muslim youth, producing new master minds every 24 hours, presenting arrested persons before the media with faces covered with the traditional checkered headscarves worn by Arabs and Muslims, producing sensational background information and evidences within 24 hours of arrest the first day the accused are shown as members of HUJI (Harkatul Jihad Islami), the next day they are SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) members and finally associated with IM (Indian Mujahedeen).
Classifying destruction of churches claimed by Bajrang Dal goons as thefts, is giving wrong signals that could damage the communal harmony and alienate the minorities. Professor Robert A. Pape in his best-selling book on the psychology of suicide terrorism titled, Dying to Win says, one strong reason among several others for terrorism to grow into suicide terrorism is revenge.
Revenge seeking to lash out against those whom they believe are responsible for the unjust arrests, tortures, deaths of family members, close friends and humiliation of family and religion.
His theory fits like a glove with the situation in India, vis-a-vis the Muslim youth arrested on suspicion and ******* in Indian jails, suffering torture in police lock-ups and undisclosed locations.
Human rights and civil activists say many of these young men are picked up in the middle of night from their homes or places of work in a KGB style operation; taken to remote places and kept in custody for days without being produced in any court of law.
Those set free by courts for lack of evidence face another kind of torture and torment as they are rejected and shunned by the society becoming pariahs, finding refuge in terrorist outfits. Many brilliant young Muslim men pursuing professional courses at universities and many successfully employed have suffered to this day.
Apathy, alienation and disillusionment seem to have gripped the Muslims. So much so that secular elites among the community and intellectuals like Professor Mushirul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Milia University are voicing their concern.
The Co-ordination Committee of Indian Muslims, an association of 11 Muslim organizations, which usually maintains a silence has come out against the Police conduct.
Mushirul Hasan has expressed his doubts on the veracity of the police encounter in which two of his students suspected to be involved in the Delhi, Jaipur and Gujarat bombings were killed.
Civil rights activists who have visited the Batla House apartment where one Atif said to the mastermind behind the blasts was killed, are contesting the police claim that two of the suspects had escaped. They say the flat has only one exit and there is no way any one can escape. Even the death of police officer, M.C. Sharma, in encounter is being questioned.
Let criminals be punished, but not innocents and the police cannot be allowed to hide their incompetence. Brutal treatment by the police of suspects to get confessions will not bring about the desired results. Men accused of involvement in the bomb blasts are no mindless miscreants from slums and hovels. They are smart, intelligent, IT savvy chaps pursuing professional studies they have to be dealt in a manner which should help in finding the root cause of their action if at all they are guilty.
Police brutality will never help to get to the bottom. Trained psychiatrics and councilors can help bring the truth out and help rehabilitate the guilty in society.
Syed Qamar Hasan is a Abu Dhabi-based journalist
its not good . I like Tamil Nadu.
