10-31-2008, 09:25 AM
<b>Islamists block social reform</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Balbir K Punj
The encounter death of four Kerala-based terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir has revealed the multi-State ramifications of the jihadi terror network across the country. Typically, the Kerala link of the terrorists killed by the security forces in Jammu & Kashmir was initially denied by the State police and subsequently confirmed.
Over just a week not only have many more Kerala-based jihadi terrorists been apprehended, the police have admitted that a huge network has been in operation for quite some years in the State. The arrest of Abdul Jalil and Muhammed Faizal near the north Kerala town of Kannur has led to the disclosure that 80 young men have been recruited, brainwashed in State-level camps, and sent to terror training camps on the other side of the Line of Control.
For the record, the Left Democratic Front Governmentâs Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has instructed the State security forces that they should go ahead and unearth the entire jihadi network. This is just a red herring, accuses Muslim Youth League president KM Shaji. In fact, the State Home Minister has been close to the ultra-conservative and extremist National Democratic Front one of whose associates, Abdul Nasser Madani, was the main accused in the 1999 serial bombings at Coimbatore that were meant to eliminate BJP leader LK Advani. Madani was released after a long term in jail following his acquittal in the case due to âtechnicalâ reasons. Kerala politicians have been competing with each other to pay obeisance to this extremist ever since his acquittal.
Mr Shaji has revealed that the first place where Mr Kodiyeri Balakrishnan went after taking his oath of office was to an NDF leaderâs house. Several NDF leaders are believed to have been his guests at his official residence for long. He hails from Tallacheri, the north Malabar hub of jihadi politics. In the last Parliament and Assembly elections, the LDF had secured the NDFâs support that helped the Left to defeat candidates of the Indian Union Muslim League which is part of the Congress-led UDF. Some months ago the Kerala Police had revealed that after it came to know about a jihadi camp and launched inquiries, it was stopped in the tracks due to political pressure.
The Kerala link of the jihadis killed in Jammu & Kashmir was exposed when voter identity cards were found in their pockets. It was a resident of Kannur, 24-year-old Faizal, who had taken the now slain Malayalee Muhammad Faiz and Muhammed Fayas to Bangalore en route to Hyderabad. Military intelligence sources had told the Kerala Police that a large number of youngsters from the State had managed to reach Jammu & Kashmir and crossed the LoC to participate in militancy. Abdul Jalil, also a resident of Kannur, was picked up after electronic surveillance showed he was receiving telephone calls from militants in Jammu & Kashmir.
Kannur will ring a bell for all those who have been following recent events in Kerala. It is the most powerful base of the Marxists. In the entire north Malabar region Marxists are guided from Kannur in their periodic attacks on those opposed to the CPI(M), including workers and leaders of the RSS and the BJP. Despite claims to the contrary, the fact remains that many people continue to be killed in political clashes in Kannur due to the Marxists who impose their diktat with an iron fist. Even local leaders of the CPI have suffered at the hands of the Marxist cadre.
Both Marxism and Islamism reject democracy and the rule of law. While the Marxists swear by their party ideology, Islamists swear by shariâah and demand that the state impose and implement Islamic law. For the latter, the state cannot frame any law inconsistent with shariâah. Any discussion on the validity of shariâah is forbidden. Therefore, there is no scope for socio-economic reform of the kind seen in democratic and plural societies.
This is vastly different from what the BJP practices. For instance, the party and organisations that take a pro-Hindutva stand do not claim to know the ultimate truth or the only truth. Nor are they opposed to socio-economic reforms. For instance, they do not ask for return to what is normally identified with Hindu orthodoxy â untouchability, caste discrimination, permanent widowhood or denial of property rights to daughters, etc. So long as a religion does not claim to exclusive ownership of truth, it has scope for reform. And reform cannot be achieved except through discussion, debate and democracy.
In this context, it would be instructive to recall a recent article written by Mr Arif Mohammed Khan, who resigned from Rajiv Gandhiâs Government and the Congress after the Muslim Womenâs Bill was introduced and adopted to reverse the Supreme Courtâs ruling in the Shah Bano case. In that article, penned to commemorate the great 19th century Indian educationist Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, he has recalled how the Muslim clergy and orthodox Hindus reacted to the introduction of education in English.
When the British authorities announced a programme in 1835 to introduce English in schools, a huge majority of Muslim clerics signed a petition to oppose the move; they claimed the philosophy of such education imparted in English was at variance with the tenets of Islam. Mr Arif Mohammed Khan has also recalled the opposition that Sir Syed had to encounter when he started education in English for Muslims and how fatwas were issued against him.
On the other hand, when in 1829 the British set up a Sanskrit College in Kolkata, orthodox Hindus strongly opposed the decision, asking the British to set up English medium schools instead. Obviously, this contrasting attitude resulted in more Hindus learning English and moving forward with it while the reverse held true for Muslims even 100 years later.
Mr Arif Mohammed Khan recalls how <b>Sir Syed reacted to the opposition to his persistence with reforms in his community. He believed âthe way to reform lies through discord and not through unity. It is for the reformer boldly to violate the customs of his groupâ¦â From Raja Rammohun Roy to Swami Vivekananda, KB Hedgewar to Veer Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi, Hinduism benefited from socio-economic reforms. The resistance to reform, on the other hand, has now been elevated to loyalty to faith in Islam and a tribute to âsecularismâ in Indian politics. This sums up the two contrasting situations and responses</b>.
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The encounter death of four Kerala-based terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir has revealed the multi-State ramifications of the jihadi terror network across the country. Typically, the Kerala link of the terrorists killed by the security forces in Jammu & Kashmir was initially denied by the State police and subsequently confirmed.
Over just a week not only have many more Kerala-based jihadi terrorists been apprehended, the police have admitted that a huge network has been in operation for quite some years in the State. The arrest of Abdul Jalil and Muhammed Faizal near the north Kerala town of Kannur has led to the disclosure that 80 young men have been recruited, brainwashed in State-level camps, and sent to terror training camps on the other side of the Line of Control.
For the record, the Left Democratic Front Governmentâs Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has instructed the State security forces that they should go ahead and unearth the entire jihadi network. This is just a red herring, accuses Muslim Youth League president KM Shaji. In fact, the State Home Minister has been close to the ultra-conservative and extremist National Democratic Front one of whose associates, Abdul Nasser Madani, was the main accused in the 1999 serial bombings at Coimbatore that were meant to eliminate BJP leader LK Advani. Madani was released after a long term in jail following his acquittal in the case due to âtechnicalâ reasons. Kerala politicians have been competing with each other to pay obeisance to this extremist ever since his acquittal.
Mr Shaji has revealed that the first place where Mr Kodiyeri Balakrishnan went after taking his oath of office was to an NDF leaderâs house. Several NDF leaders are believed to have been his guests at his official residence for long. He hails from Tallacheri, the north Malabar hub of jihadi politics. In the last Parliament and Assembly elections, the LDF had secured the NDFâs support that helped the Left to defeat candidates of the Indian Union Muslim League which is part of the Congress-led UDF. Some months ago the Kerala Police had revealed that after it came to know about a jihadi camp and launched inquiries, it was stopped in the tracks due to political pressure.
The Kerala link of the jihadis killed in Jammu & Kashmir was exposed when voter identity cards were found in their pockets. It was a resident of Kannur, 24-year-old Faizal, who had taken the now slain Malayalee Muhammad Faiz and Muhammed Fayas to Bangalore en route to Hyderabad. Military intelligence sources had told the Kerala Police that a large number of youngsters from the State had managed to reach Jammu & Kashmir and crossed the LoC to participate in militancy. Abdul Jalil, also a resident of Kannur, was picked up after electronic surveillance showed he was receiving telephone calls from militants in Jammu & Kashmir.
Kannur will ring a bell for all those who have been following recent events in Kerala. It is the most powerful base of the Marxists. In the entire north Malabar region Marxists are guided from Kannur in their periodic attacks on those opposed to the CPI(M), including workers and leaders of the RSS and the BJP. Despite claims to the contrary, the fact remains that many people continue to be killed in political clashes in Kannur due to the Marxists who impose their diktat with an iron fist. Even local leaders of the CPI have suffered at the hands of the Marxist cadre.
Both Marxism and Islamism reject democracy and the rule of law. While the Marxists swear by their party ideology, Islamists swear by shariâah and demand that the state impose and implement Islamic law. For the latter, the state cannot frame any law inconsistent with shariâah. Any discussion on the validity of shariâah is forbidden. Therefore, there is no scope for socio-economic reform of the kind seen in democratic and plural societies.
This is vastly different from what the BJP practices. For instance, the party and organisations that take a pro-Hindutva stand do not claim to know the ultimate truth or the only truth. Nor are they opposed to socio-economic reforms. For instance, they do not ask for return to what is normally identified with Hindu orthodoxy â untouchability, caste discrimination, permanent widowhood or denial of property rights to daughters, etc. So long as a religion does not claim to exclusive ownership of truth, it has scope for reform. And reform cannot be achieved except through discussion, debate and democracy.
In this context, it would be instructive to recall a recent article written by Mr Arif Mohammed Khan, who resigned from Rajiv Gandhiâs Government and the Congress after the Muslim Womenâs Bill was introduced and adopted to reverse the Supreme Courtâs ruling in the Shah Bano case. In that article, penned to commemorate the great 19th century Indian educationist Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, he has recalled how the Muslim clergy and orthodox Hindus reacted to the introduction of education in English.
When the British authorities announced a programme in 1835 to introduce English in schools, a huge majority of Muslim clerics signed a petition to oppose the move; they claimed the philosophy of such education imparted in English was at variance with the tenets of Islam. Mr Arif Mohammed Khan has also recalled the opposition that Sir Syed had to encounter when he started education in English for Muslims and how fatwas were issued against him.
On the other hand, when in 1829 the British set up a Sanskrit College in Kolkata, orthodox Hindus strongly opposed the decision, asking the British to set up English medium schools instead. Obviously, this contrasting attitude resulted in more Hindus learning English and moving forward with it while the reverse held true for Muslims even 100 years later.
Mr Arif Mohammed Khan recalls how <b>Sir Syed reacted to the opposition to his persistence with reforms in his community. He believed âthe way to reform lies through discord and not through unity. It is for the reformer boldly to violate the customs of his groupâ¦â From Raja Rammohun Roy to Swami Vivekananda, KB Hedgewar to Veer Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi, Hinduism benefited from socio-economic reforms. The resistance to reform, on the other hand, has now been elevated to loyalty to faith in Islam and a tribute to âsecularismâ in Indian politics. This sums up the two contrasting situations and responses</b>.
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