Bombs Bombs Everywhere

As most of us watch in horror, as every hour a new bomb is found in Surat, and in some other parts of Gujarat, a far bigger problem stares at us and at the new generation of India.

A few weeks ago I had visited my sister’s house in Mulund (Mumbai’s Central suburb), where several affluent Muslim families reside. I had causally gone down with my nephew to the building gardens where a few Muslim kids were playing. They had made a replica of a temple with the sand which looked very nice. I was impressed with its detailing and shape. However to my horror, one of boys actually brought a cracker( small one) and placed it on the top of the replica and lit it. Most of the other kids clapped and cheered him on as the cracker shattered the temple ( Mandir ).That incident disturbed me and would stay with me probably rest of my life.

The feeling of alienation amongst the Muslims in this country and in the world at large is total. The more we deny it, we would be faced with graver consequences. An entire new generation of Muslims have grown with a feeling of isolation and coercion from 1992 onwards since the Babri Masjid demolition. The Gujarat riots in 2002 have furthered that feeling from almost a point of no return. We are seeing the manifestations of that seething anger towards the majority and the state, in several terrorists’ acts.We should be very inclined to believe that to execute the mass explosions in Bangalore or in Gujarat you need a vast network of people who are deeply motivated with a strong sense of anger and frustration with the Indian State and its people.

History has proven again and again that when the state fails its people, it breeds rebellion and finally Civil war. We in India would be fooling ourselves if we don’t see that coming in the next 5 years, if this situation continues.

Islam is a religion which fosters brotherhood and that is the cornerstone on which it survives and breeds. And any political ideology or faith which subscribes to the belief that only stringent laws will curb terrorism is obviously living in a fool’s paradise. And comparison to West is again foolhardy, since we have the second largest population of Muslims after Indonesia in the world. So we need radically new thinking minds to first understand and then solve this problem.

Now if the majority of educated Indians retrospect I am sure they would agree with me that bringing down Babri Masjid was a colossus mistake.For one, it has not even fulfilled even the Hindu urge ( again of a small minority) of a glorious Ram temple hence a pilgrimage identity a la Vatican or Mecca. So it was an exercise in futility with such grave after effects.

The political fraternity needs to introspect and introspect fast and for starters we need to identify Muslim community as a family member. And when one family member pursues a wrong path...we first have a dialogue.

The time for dialogue has come and if it means to say sorry...then so be it. By acknowledging ones own mistake is the first step towards any meaningful process of integrating Muslims into mainstream society.