It is reassuring to see some noted Indian Muslim intellectuals and scholars including a few Ulema come out and call spade a spade. Signed and endorsed by progressive Muslim thinkers, writers and social activists, the statement released by Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has condemned the continuing rioting and post-protest incidents of violence wreaked against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh in the most candid and categorical manner.
This year in March, while this writer was serving as a short-term resident scholar in New York, an MA Class student of Islamic studies at New York University (NYU), posted an online request for “prayers for Bangladesh”. The NYU student wrote:
“We request prayers for the easing of hardships faced by Bangladeshi students. At Dhaka University, a long-standing tradition among Muslim boys to break their fast (iftaar) in the halls were physically assaulted because they were consuming beef as part of their meal. One student even sustained injuries and began bleeding due to the violence inflicted upon him”. This set me thinking and pondering about what was going to happen in Bangladesh. Far from my country, I was doing a prognosis: what in the near future would be the fate of the nation I have always known as “the most moderate Muslim polity” in the Indian neighbourhood. In light of the violent incidents in March, the student fraternity in Bangladesh backed by an alleged support from some foreign forces (read American) student unions were getting more and more mobilised. This gave them an enabling environment to create an uproar in their country which has now resulted into the regime change. This is precisely what was behind the change of guard in Bangladesh on the 5th August of 2024.
Now when Bangladesh has accepted the regime change after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned following a mass rebellion that killed nearly 300 people, my bewilderment, which worries me more than before, is: what if the crisis would spill over to India? Amid the anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh, be it politically or religiously motivated, the change of guard in bleeding Bangladesh could be bad news for Indian Muslims too.
This change comes as very difficult to many moderate and mainstream Indian Muslims who adhere to the religiously pluralist, peaceful and culture-friendly Islam. The political unrest and communal violence and radical Islamist rise among the Bangladesh people is a serious threat to the Indian Hindu-Muslims’ historically healthy relations back home.
Therefore, most significantly, speaking up for the victims of violence and fostering peace and tranquillity amidst the crisis and multifaceted challenges in Bangladesh is more sagacious and essential on part of us Muslims. It will consequently help mitigate the continuing or potential communal tensions in the South Asian region.
In an unequivocal, strong press statement, IMSD has condemned the attacks on the life and property of Bangladeshi Hindus. The Daily Star published from Dacca, and other newspapers reported that on the day the students’ movement declared “independence” from the Awami League’s authoritarian regime, at least 142 people were killed in attacks and clashes around the country, with hundreds injured. Hindu houses and businesses were looted and torched in at least 27 districts. “In the anarchic situation that prevails in the country, fearing for their lives, a large number of Hindus living close to the border have been attempting to cross over to India leaving behind their homes, businesses and motherland”, the IMSD said.
The strongly-worded statement supported and endorsed by over 50 Indian Muslim intellectuals further reads: “The attack on temples, Hindu homes and businesses, and the targeting of Rahul Ananda’s secular musical space is clear indication that some fanatical Islamist groups — there is no dearth of them in Bangladesh — are pursuing their own intolerant agenda”.
Most significantly, the statement in its conclusion exhorts and urges the majority of Muslims in India and Bangladesh not to be mute and silent spectators. It rather awakens them and says: “Bangladesh politics must not be allowed to degenerate into majoritarianism as India’s has. Communalism is a sub-continental malaise and must be fought across borders. We call upon Muslim organisations and individuals in India to strongly condemn the targeting of minorities in Bangladesh.”
Not that no Islamic organisation or conventional Muslim outfit in India or Bangladesh is speaking out against the lynch mobs, arsonists looters and fanatics. We have heard and seen how a human chain was built by some Madrasa students to protect Hindu places of worship in Bangladesh. Even some of the Islamist preachers who otherwise played a communal and sometimes viciously divisive role in the past have showed a totally different face of theirs standing up for the Hindu victims of violence.
Most strikingly, the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh (Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami) and even Jama’at-e-Islami Hind (JeI) in India have condemned the attacks on Hindus. The JeI’s wing in Delhi-NCR (Faridabad) issued a press release in Urdu newspapers in which Maulana Jamaluddin of JeI has been quoted as saying: “Targeting any community or religious group is condemnable; we must condemn it unequivocally or this disquiet will spread.…We have urged all leaders of the community to come together to address this issue and promote a harmonious culture of understanding”.
It would not have been surprising if these words were to come from the Sufi Sunni ulema and clerics who repeatedly issued clichés like these. Astonishingly, even the Salafis and Ahl-e-Hadith as well as the Jama’at-e Islami, Hind have been known for non-tolerant attitudes towards non-Muslims and their places of worship have condemned the anti-Hindu attacks. More surprisingly, they came out to condemn these acts of violence targeting the minorities in Bangladesh with several verses from the Qur’an, as well as Ahadith and Asaar-e-Sahaba (sayings and actions attributed to the Prophet’s companions).
For instance, Assam’s well-known Deobandi scholar, Maulana Nurul Amin Qasmi who is famous for his distinct da’awah (preaching) style, went as far as to say: “We cannot comment on the internal issue of the neighbouring country. But as an Indian Muslim, I urge the Bangladeshis not to target the minorities in their country. Whether they are Hindus, Christians or Buddhists, any form of attack on innocent minority communities goes against the teaching of Islam and traditions of the holy Prophet (pbuh). Maulana Qasmi has extensively quoted from the Qur’an and Hadith to substantiate the point.
Syed Muhammad Ashraf Kichauchwi, President of All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board and chairman of World Sufi Forum, who has a huge following in Bangladeshi Sufi-Sunni pockets, especially in Chittagong, remarkably told this writer:
“The extremist fundamentalists who were in jails in Bangladesh and were banned from preaching also came out on the streets and they were doing their job under the cover of protesters, which emerged as a grave threat to the peace of the entire region. The basic idea of Bangladesh was about tolerating everyone with an all-embracing faith based on love and peace, but now people with an ideology of deep-seated hatred are active. They are taking advantage of the situation to further their nefarious ends.”
He continued: In such a situation, people with the philosophy of love and acceptance should be more cautious now and should maximise their efforts to restore peace. We cannot be among those who silently watch the crisis as onlookers. He appealed to the people of Bangladesh not to give a new impetus to the ongoing riots and work for the restoration of peace on the ground. He also asked the people in India active on social media to act with restraint.
There is an urgent note of caution here. People spreading the agenda of communal hatred in our country also try to take advantage of bleeding Bangladesh to further spoil the sensitive environment and communal atmosphere in India. The way videos and pictures coming from Bangladesh are floating on the internet and the kind of provocation they are creating, pose serious threat to peace and harmony. The Indian government should put every possible check on this. It will have to think deeply and devise a decisive policy for the mitigation of the communal clash and tensions snowballing from the neighbouring country. The state agencies will have to keep an eye so that the fundamentalist ideology does not get nourished and nurtured in this backdrop. Otherwise it will be fatal for both: the country as well as the community.
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is Sufi Mystic Indo-Islamic Scholar & Author based in Delhi. He can be reached at grdehlavi@gmail.com