Conspiracy in India to Diminish Muslims Economically?

I consider myself to be fortunate enough to be brought up in a family environment where religion was not important.  As a family we rarely talked about religion.  Although a skeptic myself I am very fascinated by the history of religion, the mythologies that are part of it and the reasons why religion still plays a significant role in the world today in spite of the mounting evidence against it provided to us by science.

Religion is an explosive issue in India and many politicians, gurus and others have exploited it for their own personal gain.  Of late two leaders from totally opposite sides of the spectrum have started political parties.  One is the popular guru Swami Ramdev who has started a party (Bharat Swabhiman Andolan) that will focus on “nationalism” and a “yoga-oriented” nation among other things (the fact that nationalism could mean different things to different Indians based on their background is a different matter).

On the other side of religious spectrum, E Abubacker and others have formed the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).  When asked why a party that has a history in South India wants to also enter North Indian politics E Abubacker explained “We are neither South Indians nor North Indians, we are only Indians. When Sonia from Italy and Advani from Sindh were given political space, why not we?”  Abubacker contradicted himself in once sentence.  Sonia Gandhi and Advani are also Indians!!

But the SDPI and Abubacker have made some statements recently that are not only false but also show the difference between how they think of themselves and what they actually preach.  Speaking at a district convention in Udupi the national president of SDPI said that “Dalits are being exploited across the country, but governments failed to prevent this. The Government, which has not provided basic needs for aboriginals, is exploiting them in the pretext of operation against Naxals”.

It is true that Dalits are exploited in India by fellow Indians although there are strict laws against caste based discrimination in the books.  Caste based discrimination in India will last until the Indian society reforms itself.  This reform is happening but it is painfully slow.  But this does not mean that the Indian governments (Central and State) are exploiting these disadvantaged people.

The Indian central government and the vast majority of the states in India are ruled by left of center parties who pay a great deal of attention and allocate vast amount of resources for uplifting these poor people.  To indicate that the battle against the Naxals is somehow part of a deliberate scheme by the Indian government to exploit the Dalits and other tribals is false and disingenuous to say the least.

E. Abubakkar then went on to add “No representation has been given for Muslims in Government Services. After Independence since last 60 years, Muslims have been facing communal violence, but no development plans are made to uplift them. Conspiracies are made to diminish Muslims economically by creating communal violence”.  Do you know what the word conspiracy means?

One of the definitions of the word is “an agreement between persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights, or to gain an unfair advantage”.  Violence between Hindus and Muslims in India is one of the black marks on Indian society.  There has been Hindu Muslim violence long before the British left India.  This violence and other disagreements lead to the partition of India.  But to attempt to portray the Muslims as victims alone is not historically accurate or fair.  Both sides are in the wrong and there are no winners.

But if we look back at history we will realize that every passing decade has seen dramatic positive changes in the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in India.  Although there are still sporadic incidents violence is clearly on the decline.  There is more communal harmony in India today than it ever had since independence.  Is this the right moment to make very inflammatory speeches indicating that there is a conspiracy to diminish Muslims economically by creating communal violence?  Does Abubakkar have any proof for this charge or is he just playing the communal card?

India’s economic boom in the past twenty years has left many Indians who were not ready for this change in the dust.  These people who have been left behind include Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, atheists, tribals, Dalits, Brahmins, straight people, homosexuals, tall people, short people, light skinned people, dark skinned people etc.  Let us not try to further divide and exploit these people who are already lagging behind.  Let us work together towards meaningful change for everyone.

Related posts:

1. Halal Internet Search Engine For Muslims
2. American Official: Muslims in India are Not Terrorists
3. Is Shiv Sena a Threat to India?
4. Terrorists Have No Caste, Creed or Religion?
5. Muslim Board to Dissuade Divorces Among Indian Muslims

Tags: Advani, Bharat Swabhiman Andolan, British, Caste, Conspiracy, Dalits, E Abubacker, economically, Hindu, India, Muslim, Muslims, Naxals, religion, SDPI, Sindh, Sonia, South India, Swami Ramdev, Udupi, Yoga

Category: Culture & Religion