Rays of hope amidst the darkness

Yay, Kerala ftw!

Let’s see if Arundhati Roy, other feminists of her ilk as well as moderate/liberal Muslims write a scathing essay criticizing the stand of these Kerala Muslim leaders who are against equality and women rights by opposing the abolition of polygamy. I’m not going to hold my breath, but one never knows…

From a friend:

QUOTE

I was going through a debate at a website where the topic of discussion was “whether there is a state-sponsored bias in denying Muslims’ induction in India’s security forces”.

It was a lively chat. Most of the Muslims (probably who have had not much idea about security establishments, etc.) participating in that debate were finding state conspiracy behind the community’s backwardness. Then came the input
from Raza ……(Let me copy and paste the details of his input)

. Raza …………….
Was going through this interesting debate on Muslims in the Indian Army. Let me take this opportunity to tell you that I am a Muslim serving in an Infantry Battalion in the IA (Indian Army). For obvious reasons, it would not be prudent of me to give specific details such as name, rank or serial number or even the name of the unit.

Till seven months ago, we were deployed in the North-East and have also served out a tenure in the Kashmir Valley. There is absolutely no question of Muslims not serving their country – if 1400 years of tradition says that religion is above your country then that tradition should go straight to the dustbin. Even for a moment, I do not believe that such as tradition can exist – the only problem is that the interpretation of Islam by religious teachers is way off the mark and caters purely to selfish interests.

I commanded a company comprising almost entirely Hindus from North India in the Valley and none of them ever looked upon me as a Muslim. My Btn. CO also had complete faith in me while conducting counter-insurgency ops in the valley. And no, it is simply not true that there is any bias within the army against any person on the basis of his religion. I have seen Muslim and Sikh officers doing exactly the same tasks as their Hindu counterparts and getting the same rewards. It is a pleasure to serve in the IA. I can only thank my ancestors for not making the awful decision of going to Pakistan in 1947 – I can’t imagine being in the Pakistani Army with an Army Chief who doesn’t know what to do for his country. Tomorrow if I were to lose my life in action, my country will accept me as its own unlike the Pakistanis who did not even accept their dead soldiers.

Jai Hind!

· Raza …………………….
Thanks, ……… Would like to go further from my earlier comments and dwell briefly on the root cause of the problems.

I think all religions and societies need to change with the times and reform. That process of reform has not swept through the Muslim community in India. Among most Hindus, it happened in the 19th century when horrific traditions such as Sati were first condemned and then banned by law. Now, I am sure Sati was not mentioned anywhere in the Hindu religious texts but was a practice that was brought in due to brahminical tyranny. Similarly, there are many strange practices in Islam which the religion itself does not talk about but have been brought in the the clergy in their attempt to keep control of the community and the minds of the people. Unfortunately, whenever some Muslim condemns these practices in India, someone takes a fatwa against him. If a non-Muslim criticises these strange practices, he is labelled ‘communal’. Someone has to be bold enough to change it and that change needs to come from within.

Let me talk specifically of a few issues. Recently, I heard of some religious body ‘permitting’ Muslims to have colour televisions. Why on earth do we need to seek anyone’s permission to use Colour TVs. Nowhere in the Holy Book is there any mention of Colour TVs, so who are these people to ‘interpret’ the book to me as a Muslim?

Similarly, regarding the protest on the Danish cartoons. No doubt, it was in very bad taste and hurt the sentiments of the deeply religious minded. But the amount of publicity the cartoons got AFTER the protests was nothing in comparison to what it would have got HAD THE PROTESTS BEEN LESS HYSTERICAL. By jumping into the street in thousands, we Muslims actually defeated the purpose. There is great merit in the Gandhain way of protest if one were to use it.

To come back to the main theme, if the army and other military, para-military organizations have to see more Muslims coming in, Muslims themselves will have to evolve to better education levels. If they spend all their childhood in a madrasa, then all they will get is a clerical position in the waqf board. That process of educational reform will come only when parents wake up and start sending their children to proper (read English Medium, CBSE and equivalent) schools. From what I have been able to make out on visits to my ancestoral town, that process may have begun. Inshallah, I hope it goes on.

.

UNQUOTE