Prof.M.K.Bhat
Today it is Saharanpur, yesterday it was Muzzafar Nagar and tomorrow there may be some other place. How long will this menace of communal violence go on? We have never thought seriously on the reasons for the recurrence of such incidents, other than blaming police or a politician, sometimes both. We have failed time and again to understand the agony of those who are looted, raped or burned alive. People cannot absolve themselves of their responsibilities. They have to hang their heads in shame every time for such incidents.
Since 1947, more than 5000 communal riots have taken place in our country and every second incident was more horrible than the first one. We shirk to debate these things and put them simply under carpet, which helps the anti social elements. It is no solution to this disease. Time has come when we shall rise above hypocrisy and prove to the world that we are mature enough to find a solution to such problems.
Communal riots generally develop stereotype reactions from our administration, politicians and so called dignified people at large. The rumor mills work 24 by 7, certain people in lower level of bureaucracy are transferred and become scapegoat of the incident, a judicial commission of enquiry is established whose enquiry rarely becomes public. Law will take its own course and no one will be spared goes into air as breaking news from any Minister in the Government. Opposition parties fish in the murky water for their self interest by entering into a brawl with the party in power, the latter also comes out with counter allegations.
Government boasts of everything under control after a day or two, and if things worsened further, a junior Minister may put the whole blame on ISI or Pakistan without any seriousness or investigation. The irony is that there is hardly anyone to question the concerned politician; if this is because of Pakistan where was Indian intelligence? The big claim that law will take its own course mellows down, the Mantriji grants an ex gratia as per his own thinking without any consideration as if it is out of his own pocket, not from the hard earned income of the tax payer. The police turns into a mute spectator, army silences the town, journalists get their head lines and after a few days everything calms down. There is no one to wipe the tears of one who actually bore the brunt of the whole trauma. No one cares for who died, or lost his bread earner or property. Mostly innocents have to bear the wrath of the murderous crowd and the perpetrators easily slip from the scene.
Communalism arises when a religious group tries to promote its own interests at the expense of others. It has nothing to do with, whether the group is in majority or minority. One who thinks about the betterment of the country or accepts India as the pious country of his forefathers, or abides as per constitution can never be communal despite his faith in any religion. Communalism is a menace not only for the community against which it is targeted but also in whose name it is played. It only brings disrepute to that religion and distils its true spirit.
Communalism is a British legacy. They had adopted the principle of divide and rule. They favored one community and put a cold shoulder against the other, thereby spread hatred among people and thus sowed the seeds of communalism in India. The Hindu Muslim disunity made easy for Britishers to rule India. We may have to shed away this legacy of Britishers and it may not be out of way to mention that practically we have done little in this direction despite our glorious history of oneness.
The biggest reason for such incidents is the amalgamation of politics with religion. Howsoever superficial we may try to be, but the hard core fact is that we as citizens of free India vote on the lines of caste or religion of the candidate. Politicians exploit this thinking for getting votes. People should be conscious about whom they are making their representative and shall not get into their trap. These days, communal tag is also used by people for those who are religious or speak for their people. Certain parties use it to degrade others in the eyes of public or to outdo with their competitor. This helps them to get the sympathy of so called secularists.
Political parties sometimes create sense of insecurity among minorities and then resort to appeasements to grab their votes. These appeasements only deepen the sense of insecurity and make the protected section vulnerable to the ire of the other community. There is an utmost need of applying the principle of justice to all and appeasement to none. It would have been prudent to ban persons indulging in inciting communal riot from politics throughout their lives. If courts take time and fail to judge the things, it becomes the duty of voters not to vote such a person to the legislature.
We blame the district administration for delay or inaction but have we ever tried to castigate those who are involved in organizing big congregations? Perhaps not, all those responsible for gathering a big crowd should be made accountable for any mishappening. The priest of religious organization/place where people gather and resort to unlawful activity should be held accountable. These things recur, for there is no fear of law and the culprits roam freely rather at times get elevated to a higher level by projecting themselves as the protectors of their caste or religion. There is an utmost need of fast track courts to deal with such cases and those responsible should be brought to book.
The things were made more malicious by certain history scholars who treated things on religious lines thereby lead to communal thinking in children. These scholars termed ancient history as Hindu era medieval era as Muslim history neglecting rulers from other communities. This lead to sectarian heroes of Indian history and created a wedge between two communities.
Partition of the country on religious lines further deepened the differences. Pakistan termed itself as a Muslim nation and indirectly instigated Indian Muslims who had refused to be part of the theocratic state. The elite among the community left in 1947 and thereby created a vacuum in Indian Muslims who took some time to regain their position. This vacuum was treated as indifference.
Communalism is a bigger challenge before country than poverty, economic disparity and corruption at all levels. It acts as the breeding ground for all terror related activities and onus falls on every one of us. Let us resolve not to think in sectarian ways. We as responsible citizens shall denounce actions of terrorists and their perpetrators to overcome the problem. Let the minority leave fear from their mind and act as equal partners in nation building.
India can develop economically or socially only when it will become free from communal violence. No one shall feel himself or herself as alien or special in this country -that is the true spirit of a democracy.
(The author is Deputy Director (Maims) Guru Gobind Singh, Indraprastha Univesity Delhi)
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