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Saturday, September 09, 2006
Malegaon Blasts put spotlight on Muslim Ghetto Towns of India OffStumped For All Things Right of Center, Bringing a Right of Centre Reality Check to Indian Politics, News Media Reporting and Opinion through Blogs and Podcasts. --- The day after the deadly blasts in Malegaon which killed more than 30 people all Muslims and injured over a 100 the spotlight has been turned on the Muslim Ghetto that Malegaon had become over the years. The BBC's Zubair Ahmed visited what he called the Taleban town to obtain some very astounding remarks from angry Muslims which go to reflect the deep radicalization of this non-descrpit town in interior Maharashtra. Some of the comments captured by Zubair Ahmed "What goes around comes around," said a local police officer. "If a needle is pierced in any part of your body the whole body hurts, doesn't it? The Muslims all over the world are like a human body." "It's an obligation by Islam to support Muslims and we do our Islamic duty." The above remarks were made by Muslim residents of Malegaon when queried about why the Taleban government of Afghanistan had enjoyed immense support in Malegaon. The background to this ghettoization of Malegaon can be traced back to the declining political fortunes of one Nihal Ahmed , a controversial Janata Dal MLA who's won six times from Malegaon who was was blamed for inciting the worst riots in Malegaon in 2001 by mobilizing pro-Afghanistan and pro Bin Laden mobs. The economic decay of Malegaon over the years meant more recruits for radical Islamic politics of Nihal Ahmed. Malegaon epitomizes how treating Muslims as vote banks and conducting politics on pan-Islamic issues can foment terrorism. Offstumped had earlier pointed out that condoning Muslim Fundamentalist violence over Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan Cartoon Issues and Pan Islamic Political Mobilization over these issues contributes to the creation of an environment where it is ok to encourage, shelter and patronise those whose loyalties to a Global Islamic cause are stronger than their respect to the Laws of their Motherland. This creates Institutional Safe Havens where Islamic Terrorism can germinate and flourish with no fear of consequences because there are many layers of Secular Cover that they can operate under. Nothing exemplifies this better than the incidents of May 10 2006, when in a huge haul, 30 kgs of RDX was found in Ellora, near Aurangabad. A few days later, a smaller quantity was recovered in Malegaon from a local doctor's residence. Several people were also arrested in this connection. Malegaon is a classic test case confirming Offstumped's hypothesis that Islamic Vote Bank politics portends ominously for India. While Malegaon is in the news on account of the dastardly bomb blasts that claimed many Muslim lives, from Coimbatore to North Kerala to Telangana to Maharashtra to Bihar, ghetoissation of muslim majority towns is radicalizing muslim youth who have fallen behind on economic opportunities. While the fifth economic census released earlier this year showed that rural India saw free enterprise flourish it is clear that this growth has not created sufficient workforce mobility to de-ghettoise muslim majority towns of rural India. The Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi lead UPA Government while swearing by secularism and fostering Minority interests is doing a great disservice to the religious Minorities of India and Muslims in particular. While to its allies like the CPI-M, RJD and Samajwadi Party protecting Minority or Muslim interests starts with exploiting Muslim sentiments on Pan-Ismalic issues and ends with Haj Subsidy and Wakf Board politics, the Manmohan Singh Congress attempted a few policy initiatives which while novel were both misguided and counterproductive. The first being the national commission to study the economic and social conditions of Muslims which while being a meaningful academic exercise acquired perverse overtones when it went on a Muslim headcount fishing expedition in public services and armed forces. The second initiative around reserving development funds out of Central Government initiatives specifically for religious minorities also acquired a perverse political overtone with its focus on prevention and control of communal riots. Unless the government's policy focus is firmly on de-ghettoization and workforce mobility any initiatives targetting religious Minorities will be mere lip service and will lead to further institutionalization of vote bank politics which we have seen fuels radicalization and shelters terrorism. When one looks at an Azim Premji heading WIPRO, an Abdul Kalam heading India, an Azharudding heading the Indian Cricket Team, an Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan captivating minds and hearts, one sees a succesful Indian professional not a Muslim. One has to only travel to Hyderabad to see how scores of Muslim I.T. professionals have done well for themselves in a Microsoft or a Infosys rendering religious identity irrelavant. By bringing in religion into development the so called secular parties have violated the basic tenets of the Indian Constitution - Secularism by giving institutional credibility to myths that the Majority religion has grabbed a lion's share of development funds and that the Minority religions have suffered in the areas of development on account of their smaller population share. By constantly pandering to local politicians like Nihal Ahmed of Malegaon who attempt to protect so called Minority interests these secular parties have only deepend the insecurity of the Minority religion as the victim. Offstumped Bottomline: This brand of secularism that preserves religious identities and exploits them to political advantage has lead to vote bank politics and radicalized ghettoes. India needs to reject this brand of secularism and focus firmly on policies and politics that will de-ghettoize the Muslim Community and foster social mobility in the pursuit of economic opportunities. That is the only way forward for Malegaon and its sister towns across India. Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Yossarin at 1:38 PM |
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1 Comments:
Even though you have not discussed the bombing incident itself your article eloquently addresses well known problems with minority ghettos.
So agreed that Muslims must be de-ghettoised, de-fundamentalised, de-Islamised, whatever...
Would blasts at places of worship, police action during riots, scare these traitors into falling in line with the will of the patriotic majority?
Earlier attempts towards chastising these elements at "worship" on Fridays were not done very professionally:
A brief re-cap:
1.In November 21 2003, an explosion took place outside the Mohammediya masjid in Parbhani city. It was a Friday around 2 pm and the namaaz had just got over when a crude bomb was flung at the entrance. Thirty-five people were injured and one killed.
2.In August 27, 2004, a crude bomb was thrown outside the Kadaria masjid in Jalna city. No one was killed.At the same time a similar blast took place outside the Railway Colony masjid in Purna in Parbhani district, and a few people were injured.
The last attack in Malegaon, was much more professional.So some one is getting better! Knocked up a score of 37 !
What next? Could we consider a "final solution" of sorts such as taking the ghetto dwellers to Pokhran and storing them in underground bunkers while conducting our nuclear test !
Cheers !
ConcernedNRI
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