Present Political Reality of the Muslims of India with an Analysis of the Past by A.R.
The Past
We, the Muslims (Musalmans) of India, have a long and glorious history in South Asia. For more than one thousand years, we furthered Indians of all religions and our kings worked tirelessly to bring wealth and prestige to our people. In only two hundred years, we became from the masters of India to the most downtrodden of all India by the tireless efforts of Britain and her Indian supporters. Every cycle of violence, no matter from where it originated, was blamed on the Muslims. The British stripped us of our rule, heroes, scholars, education, lands, and eventually our pride. Great Muslim thinkers in the early 20th century emerged who saw this decadence of our people, analyzed our problems correctly, and attempted to start changing our political and social degradation starting with education and awareness of where India was heading. At this same time, the British relied more and more on their Hindu servants whom they raised to serve them. Not all Indians, however, desired to live under Britain indefinately. Our dear Quad e Azam (Great Leader) Muhammad Ali Jinnah emerged on the stage at this point. As an educated and dedicated lawyer, he worked hard for his fellow Indians and to bring to their attention the injustices Britain was doing to them. He also worked hard to secure Hindu and Muslim unity and stressed that all Indians owe themselves to all of India, not just one group in India. All Indian politics remained in the hands of moderate intellectuals until Gandhi became an activist. Gandhi encouraged Hindus to embrace their ancient past and rid themselves of Britain's influence, however he alienated many members of other religious groups and even compromised their livelihood for the sake of the Hindus. At this juncture, many Hindus began to become fanatical and atrocities against minorities, particularly the Muslims became more frequent (partly as a result of Gandhi's speeches against Muslim's past and Hindu propaganda). So, in this pretext, Quad e Azam saw the way Muslim security and Muslim rights were being compromised in the name of Hindu hegemony led by Gandhi's relentless preaching. So, he joined the Muslim league with the intention to achieve a compromise with the Hindu leaders to secure greater terms for the unrepresented Muslim masses. He made this his life goal, and gained the unfettered trust of an absolute majority of the Muslims of India, but he fought every day and every night for the realization of a goal which at many times seemed like a pipe dream. He bore the attacks of Gandhi, Nehru and the rest of the Congress, the Hindu press, the British and their lackeys, as well as a few Muslim leaders who either where traitors to their people working for the British or Hindus, and some Muslim leaders with good intentions but severely misguided to the goals and dreams of their people. Quad e Azam created Pakistan out of his selfless efforts, almost singlehandedly, for the Muslims of India to live in security and never have their culture or lives under attack from Hindus or outsiders. Every nation produces a few men who have become great heroes to serve their people, but to the best of my knowledge no one has produced the like of our Quad e Azam.
Articles
In this day and age, a few articles of importance shall be laid out for those interested in the present views of the Muslims of India:
1. Pakistan was created out of the selfless efforts of Muslim leaders for the benefit of the majority of Muslims of India
a. Pakistanis remain the most powerful Muslim community in South Asia, they have a duty to protect the other Muslims and of South Asia particularly
b. Pakistan was the first Islamic country based on Shariah law to achieve freedom
c. Pakistan is a Pan-Islamic state. Pakistan has been involved in protection of Muslims in Afghanistan, Muslim provinces in China (East Turkestan), Arabs in 1967 war, Kosovo, and Somalia
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2. Many Muslims still remain in India, but they are essentially lacking any real political power
a. Those Muslims who still remain in India, having faced untold suffering at the hands of Hindus, are in a dire situation (especially in Gujurat)
b. The government of India has refused to give Muslims a share of power, and discriminates in work, housing, political, and other aspirations of the Muslim minority
c. Indian Muslims are seen as traitors and agents of Pakistan in modern Hindu Indian society. They are forced to prove they are against Pakistan daily in the political realm
d. India is not a democracy as it represses the rights of 200 million Muslims of India to second citizen status
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3. The Kashmiri people have been occupied by an oppressive Hindu Indian military which murders its sons and exploits its daughters daily.
a. India invaded sovereign Pakistani territory when it occupied Kashmir. India broke the terms of the Treaty of Ascension when it invaded Junaghadh and Hyderabad. India forced Kashmir's ascension through military duress.
b. Pakistan is the only Islamic country to criticize India for its hard-handed approach to Kashmiri Muslims and Indian Muslims
c. Many Muslim countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Iran for example) still keep diplomatic and economic ties with India, sometimes even over Pakistan and other Muslim countries and despite oppression of Indian Muslims and Kashmiris
d. The Islamic world should stand on one platform and demand the end of hostilities of India against Kashmiri, Gujurati, and Pakistani Muslims. The Muslim oil producing countries have the power to bring India to these concessions immediately
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4. Far from its initial ideals, Pakistan has been ruled for most of its 60 year history by wealthy landowning aristocrats and military dictators
a. Our leader Quaid e Azam stressed the important of democratic and Islamic character of Pakistan as based on the teachings of our Prophet (s)
b. The majority of the rulers (whether democratic or military) in modern Pakistani history have been exceedingly pro-Western, to the extent of sacrificing the aspirations of the masses to satisfy foreign powers
c. Recent unrest (starting December 2007) is the result of anger at the way Pakistan has shifted from its ideals into a puppet state where individuals have no rights to select their leaders, or even to live in security
d. The present rulers and elite of Pakistan are not worthy of power. A true democracy must take shape, one based on adult franchise and the principles of equality in the Holy Quran
e. In achieving this goal of social upliftment, education and awareness of political reality is the main mechanism by which this can be achieved. There are many selfless leaders in Pakistan (such as Imran Khan, Dr. Israr Ahmad and Qazi Hussain Ahmad) working for this goal, though they are maligned by aristocratic and top military leaders
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5. The Muslims of South Asia are appalled at the treatment of Pakistanis and Indians, be they Muslim or Hindu, in the countries of their residence outside of their homeland
a. In the Gulf Countries of the Arab world (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates in particular), Muslims and Hindus of South Asian descent are subject to intense discrimination and many of them are underpaid, exploited, and forced to do work against their own will.
b. In America, Britain, Canada, and many European countries, Muslims are arrested, detained, and tortured for an undefined time without due process of law and usually with no justifiable charge or a minor immigration violation
c. This unjust treatment of minorities must come to an end. It would benefit India and Pakistan to work together to fight for the rights of their overseas citizens against injustice
Furthermore:
We, the Muslims of South Asia, reject servitude to any group in the world, be they the Indians, British, Arabs, Chinese, or the Americans. We are free to choose our own destiny, regardless of the opposition of foreign states. We are a sovereign, independent, and enlightened people who have shown many great achievements for the rest of the world in the fields of theology, science, society, athletics, entertainment, music and politics. For the last two hundred years, we have led the Muslim world in the scholarship of Islam and provided the world great scholars to preach and expound Islam based on the teachings of the Holy Prophet (s) which accepts all Muslims as one brotherhood, be they Sunni, Shia, or those who follow the Sufi paths of the two former. We, as the Muslim representatives of South Asia, are united in our stance against the oppression of our Indian Muslim and Kashmiri brethren from the hands of an exploitive Indian government. We are also distressed at the oppression and suffering of overseas South Asians due to the unconstitutional and heavy-handed approach of foreign government against them. We, the Muslims of Pakistan and India, consider ourselves brothers of our sister community, the Hindus, of India in the area of ethnicity, but affirm that the Muslims of India are a separate nation with our own culture, dress, language, and religion. We consider ourselves brothers of the Muslim nations throughout the world, and dedicate our support and wealth in the achievement of self-determination and justice of any Muslim group, anywhere. We shall continue to hold the banner of Islam high, and we shall deal with our Muslim brothers in a way which is compassionate and just, even if we are not dealt in this way from our fellow Muslims. We firmly believe the problems of the Islamic world, which have taken root and spread in the twentieth century, is the result of lack of cooperation and distrust among many Muslim nations on minor matters which can be resolved easily. This distrust has been exploited by our enemies and those who wish to see Muslim unity dissolved. Pakistan and India's Muslims have asked for the support of Muslim nations, but this has fallen on deaf ears. In this situation, we have resolved that we cannot trust any matter of importance to the Islamic world to wait on unity, and have attempted to awaken our brothers through our actions, singlehandedly if necessary in footsteps of our noble Quaid e Azam. We wish to further the cause of Islamic unity, and will join with any group who wishes for the same goal.