INDIAN ARMY : CAREER FOR MUSLIM YOUTH

From the lists of various officer alumni who have done the Indian Military Academy proud, it is obvious that Muslims are few and far between. Only six Muslim officers, who have passed out of the IMA so far, have made the supreme sacrifice for the country since the 1971 War. Only one, late Captain Haneefuddin of Kargil fame, has been awarded a higher gallan-try medal, a Vir Chakra, ever since then. Only one Muslim Gentleman Cadet has won the Academy’s Sword of Honour post-independence, with the award being won way back in 1973.

These achievements appear somewhat meagre in the light of the Indian Muslims forming the country’s largest minority numbering over 175 million. It naturally raises the question: Why?

An answer can seen in a further set of statistics gleaned from the biannual magazines of the Indian Military Academy, published at the end of the Spring and the Autumn terms respectively. In the magazines a one-line pen-portrait is given of each Gentleman Cadet (GC) passing out, below the course photo of each company (equivalent of a House in schools). From the two magazine issues in 2005, it is evident that only eight Muslims passed out of the portals of the institution to become commissioned officers. In the Spring Term 2006, there were eight Muslims commissioned. In the Spring Term 2007, nine Muslims took the ‘Antim Pag’ or ‘Last Step’ as GCs but their first step as commissioned officers out of the 555 taking commission that term. The following Spring Term, 11 Muslim GCs passed out of 611. In the Autumn Term 2011, the latest one for which the magazine is available, 14 Muslims passed out. However, this last figure includes those from friendly foreign countries such as Afghanistan, the numbers for which have gone up since the strategic agreement with that country.

In other words, of the six magazines perused for ascertaining the numbers of Muslims gaining the officer commission from the IMA, 45 have made the grade. Assuming some were from foreign countries, less than 40 Indian Muslims have made it over two-and-a-half years into the Army from the IMA, that commissions more than 1200 officers a year. This compares somewhat poorly with the civil services yearly list on which 30 Muslims figured this year amongst about 900 who ‘made it’. Admittedly, there are other routes for officer commission these days into the Army, such as through the Officers Training Academy and through the Technical Officer 12th class entry stream. This means that the numbers making it into the Army are marginally higher and must be viewed against the total getting commissioned in a year, which a back-of-the-envelope calculation puts at 1800 plus a year.

Clearly, the overall number can only be as abysmal as the statistics accessed here reveal. While reckonings elsewhere place the percentage of Muslims at three per cent of the overall total of Muslims in the Army, the statistics in regard to officer numbers have been uninformed guesses at best. It is perhaps for the first time here that a figure of about 1.1 per cent of officer commissions being of Indian Muslims has been arrived at. The numbers of Muslim women officers can easily be imagined, with the OTA magazine being the right place to look for exact numbers in the absence of the government owing up to a problem.

The absence of information suggests that the statistics that are no doubt known to the government are somewhat embarrassing to reveal from the point of view of India’s and its Army’s secular credentials. It is no wonder then that a former Chief, General J.J. Singh, had put his foot down in revealing the details of Muslim representation in the Army when approached by the Sachar Committee for its report. The laconic answer given then was that the Army, being a secular institution, does not maintain such records. This explanation begged the question of how the mortal remains of dead soldiers were to be disposed-off in a war if the community to which a dead soldier belonged was not known?!

The intake being so limited into the commissioned ranks, it is no wonder then that the martial achievements of Muslim officers can be covered in less than a paragraph as in the first paragraph here. The Autumn Term 2011 issue can be mined for more telling statistics. For instance, not a single Muslim name occurs in the list of names below the group photos of the Academy faculty, the administrative staff, the training team and, worse, even the academic department. This is the same case in the Spring Term 2008. Among the non-officer instructor staff in the drill, physical training, weapons training and equitation sections, there are nine Muslim instructors. Incidentally, even at this non-officer level there are no Muslims in the consequential Training section. The relative absence of Muslims is of a piece with the fact given in the Platinum Number that the IMA has had only one Muslim Commandant and one Muslim Subedar Major post-independence. (For the record the National Defence Academy, a feeder institution to the IMA, has had two Muslim Commandants.)

WHILE the numbers are few, the performance of Muslims at the Academy is also revealing. All six magazines carry photos and write-ups of the 34 top GC appointments, no doubt as incentive. Of the 136 appointments scanned only one was Muslim. Beginning with this leadership deficit, it is easy to reckon as to why there were no officer instructors in the two terms examined, 2008 and 2016. Not tenanting such prestigious appointments early on, the problem persists with very few making it to the higher ranks. This is accentuated by the steep pyramidal structure that the Army has. In other words, there is a cascading effect of the deficit of Muslim youth making it to the Indian Military Academy and beyond.

It is therefore recommended here that the telling statistic of a mere one-to-two per cent of officers being Muslim be taken seriously by both the state and Muslim community. As a first step, the pattern of intake must be ascertained in-house to find out if what is surmised here carries water. Its implications, as discussed, can also be thought through. The Army, if the reasoning given in the previous paragraph is persuasive, must for its own reasons carry out a campaign to make itself attractive to a whole host of communities that are under-represented. These include those from the North-East and South India, leave alone Muslims. Civil-military liaison conferences in these States must be geared to energising the State administration to take corrective measures. This could include establishing Sainik Schools, increasing the representativeness of Sainik and Military school intake etc.

Additionally, commu-nities, such as India’s various Muslim communities across the country, can rig up swotting classes to help its youth qualify and clear the induction hurdles. This is how States over-represented in the officer cadre prepare the youth. The Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia and the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim Universities, coincidentally being military men, can guide the community’s reaction. Affirmative action is not being suggested here, only targeted advertisement campaigns being followed up suitably by state and civil society action.

Veterans & Nation Building

When personnel of the defence forces cease to be on the active list, either because of superannuation, retirement or being boarded out on medical grounds, they step into a somewhat alien world, where re-integration with the civil society is not easy. They find that there is a mismatch between the veteran’s aspirations from the society and in turn, the society’s expectations from the veterans in contributing to the well being of the community.

The Indian Army is over 1.1 million strong today. As the strength of the Army increases, so does the strength of the veterans. Added to that is the increase in longevity, which further adds to the strength of the veterans and their families. For a veteran’s population of this size, the number and extent of plans, both for their welfare and using their talents are abysmally low. The existing policies and plans touch peripheral areas, which do not give much satisfaction or joy. Most professional militaries do have elaborate policies and schemes for their veterans, but in India, neither the central government, nor the state governments, nor indeed the service headquarters focus adequately on the veterans. Resultantly, the situation today is that the veterans are playing little role in nation building; neither is their considerable talent being tapped.

BACKGROUND

Nearly sixty thousand personnel of the defence forces retire annually and revert to the civil society from where they had joined the service two, three or four decades back. Our jawans retire in their late thirties; the junior commissioned officers (JCO’s) in their mid-to-late forties and the bulk of the officers retire in their mid-fifties. These are young ages indeed. Even the 15 to 18 three star officers (lieutenant generals and equivalent), retiring annually, do so at the age of 60, which also is a comparatively young age. They still have many productive years ahead.

The veterans bring with them a lot of talent, but find that there are no takers for their expertise, not only in the area of security, but in many diverse fields. The army teaches us many skills, which not only make us win battles and wars, but makes personnel outstanding leaders, managers and administrators, whether they go home as majors or major generals or as a naik or a subedar. Till a few years back, the problem lay with us, as we could not project our skills and worth to the corporate world, as well as others who could have used the military in their ventures, in the language they understood. We have now changed that by translating all skills into corporate language, but the malaise persists.

Most veterans are young and have many family liabilities. Although they get a pension from the government for services rendered to the nation, it is obviously not enough and hence most are under pressure to look for a second career. This is applicable to both officers and men. However, till the last few years, there were no jobs for them. For the jawans, both the central and state governments have reserved some Group C and Group D posts. The reservation in the central government ministries and departments is 10 and 20 per cent in Group C and Group D posts; in public sector undertakings (PSU’s) and banks it stands at 14.5 per cent in Group C and 24.5 per cent in Group D posts. They look nice on paper, but are never fully filled. Only a token are taken and the others rejected on flimsy grounds. The statistics speak for themselves. In 2007, a total of 4, 222 veterans were given employment in civil jobs. The figures for 2006 and 2005 are 7,230 and 3,677 respectively. In any case, there are no reserved jobs in the government, the PSU’s or the private sectors for officers and JCO’s.

Society has vast expectations that the veterans will play a vital role in ‘nation building’ activities. Before we proceed further, there is a need to understand what we mean by the term ‘nation building’. Nation-building, as it is commonly referred to, is a broad effort to promote political and economic reforms with the objective of transforming the society. The aim of such efforts is to redirect the competition for wealth and power, which takes place within any society. Nation building tasks include security in all its manifestations; humanitarian relief, if needed; good governance; economic stabilisation; sustaining democracy; and developmental tasks, which include fostering economic growth, poverty reduction, and infrastructure improvements. The ultimate objective of any nation-building mission is to create a society, which remains at peace with itself. Such tasks take time, energy and funds to accomplish.

Nation-building includes the creation of superficial national paraphernalia, like flags, symbols and so on, but at a deeper level, national identity needs to be deliberately created by moulding different groups into a nation, especially since colonialism had used divide and rule tactics to maintain its domination. Even after 60 years of Independence, this aspect continues to be important.

One may well say that these are tasks for the government, as it has many instruments to perform these tasks. This is theoretically correct, but governments by themselves cannot achieve them, unless the civil society joins in wholeheartedly. Within the civil society, the veterans are the most suitable group that can motivate the others and act as catalysts for this important task. We will revert to this subject a little later, after I have covered some factual details.

It is unfortunate that there are no schemes or plans of the government for involving the veterans in the process of ‘nation building’. In fact, the ground situation today is that the three entities who should have such plans, viz. the army or the defence forces, the central government and the state governments have formulated practically no plans for the veterans. 

Let me now briefly focus on the veterans’ organisation in USA, as a comparison.The United States has the most comprehensive system of assistance for veterans of any nation in the world. The Veterans Administration (VA) was established in 1930, by the Congress enacting a law. The responsibilities and benefits programmes of the Veterans Administration grew enormously during the following six decades. World War II resulted in not only a vast increase in the veteran population, but also in large number of new benefits enacted by the Congress for veterans of the war. The World War II GI Bill, signed into law on June 22, 1944, is said to have had more impact on the American way of life than any other law in the previous 100 years. Further educational assistance acts were passed for the benefit of veterans of the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, Persian Gulf War, and the All-Volunteer Force.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established as a Cabinet-level position on March 15, 1989. President Bush hailed the creation of the new Department saying, “There is only one place for the veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at the table with the President of the United States of America.”

The VA health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930, to include 171 medical centres; more than 350 out patient, community, and outreach clinics; 126 nursing home care units; and 35 domiciliaries. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical and rehabilitative care. For Financial Year 2009, the budget proposal for the veterans is $ 93.7 billion. There are many other details, but it is not possible to include them here.  

Let me now make some recommendations. First, what can the army do? Soldiers make a life-long commitment to the army. Consequently, there is need to maintain a continued sense of belonging. The army needs to foster these ties and provide adequate opportunities to continue the link between the veterans and serving personnel, in terms of camaraderie, consultations, concern for their welfare and support. Our personnel need a sense of belonging even more after they leave the army. One answer is to set up an Army Association, with chapters in each state. The Indian Air Force already has an Air Force Association. The Navy too has The Naval Foundation.

There is also a need for the army to aggressively market the competence of all ranks of the army. The army has a major shortage, but for some reason I am unable to fathom, the army avoids using the services of retired officers to fill at least some of the voids. Such suggestions are superficially heard, but dismissed as impracticable. Can retired officers fill vacancies in training establishments, static headquarters, specialised technical appointments in projects where continuity is a major requirement, like war gaming or components evolving various systems for net-centric warfare and so on? I strongly feel they can. There are other places too, where the veterans can be employed within the army. Some of the major inhibitions of the army are considerations of seniority, demands for equal facilities, lack of control and so on. All these are minor issues, easily resolvable. One solution is to employ the veterans on a contractual basis for specified periods. I would urge the army to give this a serious thought.

Let me now briefly focus on the veterans’ organisation in USA, as a comparison. The United States has the most comprehensive system of assistance for veterans of any nation in the world. The Veterans Administration (VA) was established in 1930, by the Congress enacting a law. The responsibilities and benefits programmes of the Veterans Administration grew enormously during the following six decades. World War II resulted in not only a vast increase in the veteran population, but also in large number of new benefits enacted by the Congress for veterans of the war. The World War II GI Bill, signed into law on June 22, 1944, is said to have had more impact on the American way of life than any other law in the previous 100 years. Further educational assistance acts were passed for the benefit of veterans of the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, Persian Gulf War, and the All-Volunteer Force.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established as a Cabinet-level position on March 15, 1989. President Bush hailed the creation of the new Department saying, “There is only one place for the veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at the table with the President of the United States of America.”

The VA health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930, to include 171 medical centers; more than 350 outpatient, community, and outreach clinics; 126 nursing home care units; and 35 domiciliaries. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical and rehabilitative care. For Financial Year 2009, the budget proposal for the veterans is $ 93.7 billion. There are many other details, but it is not possible to include them here.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Let me now make some recommendations. First, what can the army do? Soldiers make a life-long commitment to the army. Consequently, there is need to maintain a continued sense of belonging. The army needs to foster these ties and provide adequate opportunities to continue the link between the veterans and serving personnel, in terms of camaraderie, consultations, concern for their welfare and support. Our personnel need a sense of belonging even more after they leave the army. One answer is to set up an Army Association, with chapters in each state. The Indian Air Force already has an Air Force Association. The Navy too has The Naval Foundation.

There is also a need for the army to aggressively market the competence of all ranks of the army. The army has a major shortage, but for some reason I am unable to fathom, the army avoids using the services of retired officers to fill at least some of the voids. Such suggestions are superficially heard, but dismissed as impracticable. Can retired officers fill vacancies in training establishments, static headquarters, specialised technical appointments in projects where continuity is a major requirement, like war gaming or components evolving various systems for net-centric warfare and so on? I strongly feel they can. There are other places too, where the veterans can be employed within the army. Some of the major inhibitions of the army are considerations of seniority, demands for equal facilities, lack of control and so on. All these are minor issues, easily resolvable. One solution is to employ the veterans on a contractual basis for specified periods. I would urge the army to give this a serious thought.

At Government Level

Secondly, at the government level, there is an imperative need to ensure that the large manpower of highly disciplined, motivated and skilled personnel that leaves the army every year is gainfully utilised during the productive years of the soldiers, when they have maximum potential to contribute their worth. An assured placement after leaving the army would provide greater confidence to officers and soldiers and this knowledge itself would motivate them to do better even in service. It will also be a major incentive to attract better individuals to the army, which is reeling under major shortages of officers today. Massive media effort needs to be generated to make both the private and public sectors change their attitude to soldiers and employ them, in accordance with their considerable and varied skills.

Nation Building Tasks

Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, is the need for the central and state governments to involve the veterans in nation building tasks. Precedents already exist, where the contributions of the army have been outstanding. Training imparted in the Services to the officers, Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO’s) and men, not only makes them good leaders and soldiers, but inculcates skills and more importantly values which they imbibe during their service, which make them ideal material for carrying out developmental activities and employment in developmental schemes.

The need is to set up hierarchical organisations, on the lines of army structures, for carrying out developmental activities in towns and villages. The manning of the organisation at successive levels should largely be by the veterans.

The examples of Land Armies, which did excellent work in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, can be cited. The Karnataka Land Army was constituted in the 1970’s to tackle the problems of unemployed youth of rural areas. The main objectives of the scheme were:-

            a. To inculcate a sense of discipline in youth.

            b. To train them in the art of working together as a body.

c. To make use of the labor force thus available, for the creation of permanent productive assets.

“Our main asset was the practical application of the knowledge of man-management we had acquired during our service. The officers from the armed forces have one distinct advantage over bureaucrats. They are trained to take decisions and habituated to see that orders from these decisions are carried out. The bureaucrats do not like taking decisions, and once orders are passed, take little care in implementing them”.

The positive traits of the veterans do need to be exploited for the good of the nation. Although the bulk of our population is still rural-based, our villages have not developed, are poor, and lack even the basic necessities of life. The employment of veterans in projects, which would substantially enhance infrastructure and bring prosperity to our villages would be greatly beneficial and would add to ‘nation building’.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme that has been recently launched is one scheme where the veterans can play a major role. The scheme promises that one member from each of the country’s 60 million rural households is guaranteed 100 days of work each year. They will receive a minimum wage of 60 rupees ($1.35) or an unemployment allowance if there is no work. It is the biggest social security net ever provided in India. But will it succeed or go the same way as many major schemes launched in the past?

A large number of schemes and programmes initiated by the Government in the past, for employment, housing, area development and so on, like Jawahar Rozgar Yojna, Million Wells Scheme, Self-employment and Entrepreneurial Development Programme, Ganga Kalyan Yojna, Indira Awas Yojna and so on have largely been failures. It is not that the schemes were flawed, but they failed on account of lack of effective monitoring, implementation and accountability. The new schemes will also suffer the same fate, if we do not revamp the entire work force. The present implementers are the same senior and junior bureaucrats, corrupt to the core, who will siphon away all the funds and the poor rural folk will continue to remain poor. Neither will any meaningful infrastructural improvement take place. We need to create self-reliant villages and an organisation composed of veterans from top to bottom, for the effective monitoring, implementation and accountability of such schemes for rural areas. I strongly make a plea that special purpose vehicles like the Land Armies of the past be formed.

Suggestions for the Veterans 

Having highlighted what the three concerned institutions in our country – the defence forces, the central government and the state governments are doing or not doing about veterans, it would be appropriate to say a few words about the veterans themselves.

In the later years of my service in the army, I always felt and sometimes articulated that some veterans were the biggest pain in the neck for serving persons. After I demitted service and joined the ranks of the veterans, this view, instead of diminishing, has been further reinforced. Aspirations of some veterans are akin to the proverbial bottomless well, for they seem never to be satisfied. Perhaps there are good reasons for this, which my limited intelligence is unable to comprehend. Be as it may, let me make a few quick points.

The first is that the veterans must accept the fact that they are no longer serving personnel and consequently there has to be a reduction, if not elimination of the perks and privileges they had enjoyed earlier. The earliest this sinks in, the better would be your quality of life as well as peace of mind. You must have expectations, of course, but these must be commensurate with your new station in life.

My second point relates to your behaviour and life style as a veteran. In the defence forces, you had led an extremely active life, working hard, ready for operations at short notice, training hard, participating in sports and partying hard when time and resources permitted. Can you suddenly change and become a civilian? Obviously not! Therefore, remain a soldier, sailor or airman and do not succumb, whether it is in the field of deportment, character, turnout, adhering to time, disciplined approach to life, obeying orders and so on. There is a lot of respect for soldiers, both serving and veterans amongst the citizens of this country. We need to be worthy of this respect by our actions.

Thirdly, ‘Izzat’ or honour is probably the most important single value that a soldier seeks. It must continue to occupy that position of pre-eminence when you join the ranks of the veterans. I would also urge the bureaucracy and people from other walks of life to bear in mind the importance soldiers of all categories attach to this.

Fourthly, veterans must find their rightful place in national development. Veterans the world over have been accepted as important pillars of the nations polity. Although ‘nation building’ by the veterans finds acceptability amongst the public, there is also hostility. A large number of veterans have done highly creditable work in reviving and turning around dying or dead organisations, both in the public and private sectors. They have found opposition from bureaucrats and technocrats, who feel the veterans are intruding in their domains. This hostility needs to be contained in the interest of the nation. Veterans need to rise to meet the aspiration of millions of our poor people. Merely living in the small realm of your own fraternity will make you both tired and retired, when in actuality you are neither.

Fifthly, get united. In the milieu in which we live, your voice will only be heard if it is the voice of the group, not disparate individuals. It should not be like this, but the sad fact is that it is.

Many veterans, without waiting for plans and schemes to be floated by governments, have commenced working for the people on their own or by forming or joining NGO’s, which are carrying out useful work for the betterment of those of our compatriots who have needs or come under the category of “weaker sections of society”. I know many who are deeply involved in such welfare work, in both cities and villages. I am myself heading an institution – the War Wounded Foundation – which has been set up to assist our comrades who have been disabled in war or war like conflicts. You too can choose a cause, which appeals to you.

My last suggestion to the veterans is to remain busy and do so in the area that appeals to you most. It is the panacea for a healthy life. Please remember that there is also a world beyond the golf course, which beckons you. According to the Indian way of life, “karma is dharma”. It is as much applicable to the veterans as to every one else. So do your dharma for the nation and the society.

CONCLUSION

Personnel of the defence forces learn many skills during their service. These include leadership skills of a very high order, even amongst our non-commissioned officers (NCO’s). Depending on their Arms and Corps, as well as their trades and specializations, they have a large variety of skills, both technical and non-technical.

It is unfortunate that the Nation has been unable to utilise these considerable skills and talents, because of lack of will and focus, as well as suitable organisations, which can voice their aspirations and bring forth their availability to the attention of the policy makers of our country, as also to the captains of our industry. The Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare is supposed to do this, but our experience with this organisation or its earlier ‘avatar’ has been less than satisfactory.

Review: Text And Context, Quran & Contemporary Challenges by Arif Mohammed Khan

It was a  simply a coincidence that while I was driving to Lucknow to board flight to Delhi for a seminar, I stopped by at my friend Omar Farooq’s residence where my friend Irshad Ilmi gave me a book meant for someone to read and return while I am travelling to use my time. The book was Arif Mohammed’s Text and Context: Quran and contemporary Challenges. My review is as follows:-

The book was an interesting and timely collection of mostly newspapers articles written by the author over a period from 2008 to 2010. Taken together, the articles convey a statement of the author’s conviction and understanding of Islam as a religion in modern India. It is the voice of someone who has served the Indian state in a number of capacities and breaks with the dominant Muslim establishment positions on Muslim personal law (Shah Bano case and others) and the general tendency towards marginalization and ghettoization. The book is appropriately dedicated to Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, the nineteenth-century Indian modernist, and may be read as a continuation of that tradition. In general, it appeals for a direct reading of the Qur’an for its values and its teachings, with only occasional reference to the history of its exegesis or some of the other ways in which the meaning of Islam developed in the past and present (jurisprudence, exegesis, theology, mysticism or philosophy).

The articles together arguably constitute a statement told partly, but not wholly, in response to the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008.  A large number of articles are directed against the idea of Islam as a foundation of a nation such as Pakistan; and against terror in the name of Islam to which such religious nationalisms are indelibly linked in the view of the author. The author says relatively little on Muslims and other minorities as targets of Hindu nationalism, except as reactions to how Muslims, or the religious establishment in particular, have chosen to identify themselves as a distinct and embattled minority. Khan focuses much more on the Indian state’s effort to keep its secular direction on course, and little about its own embattled history with religion. Thus, for example, he recalls Indhira Ghandi’s reminder to the Deoband theological school in 1980 that they belong to India rather than her own more controversial political record on religion and nationalism. The longer history of religion and the Congress is not touched by the author.

More than three hundred pages, the book covers a large number of entries and topics. Helpfully, they are divided into seven sections: Education and Knowledge (5 essays); History (4); India (26); Islam (12); Muslim society (5); Pakistan (6); Terror and Jihad (12). The number of essays on India clearly dominates the book. This number may be increased if other essays focusing entirely on India are added to the twenty-six. Most of the essays are fairly short (2 or 3 pages), sharply-written and to the point. Often, it seems that they are they much too short for the important issues being raised. But they are very successful in putting forward a point for the reader to reflect upon. Some of the issues raised are repeated, but this is not surprisingly given the nature of the original publication. There are two fairly long entries that stand out. The first is a review of an Atlantic Report on the need to support Pakistan in its fight against terrorism and radicalism, in which the author dilates on his views on the foundation of Pakistan and that connect (inevitable according to the author) with radicalism.  The second long entry in the book is an interview with Abu ‘l-Kalam Azad on India, Islam and the impending partition. The interview is much welcomed as a perspective on Islam and the state in its own right.

The first section (Education and Knowledge) opens the author’s central focus on India. It extols India as the home of human scientific enquiry. Furthermore, it also introduces the author’s model of Islamic scholarship and vision in the person of Mawlana Abu ‘l-Kalam Azad. And it also decries the division of sciences into religious and non-religious sciences. The last-mentioned topic opens the first of many salvo against his adversaries, the ulema, who have ironically thrived on this clearly modernist division of the sciences between the secular and the religious. Ironically, modernity inaugurated and promoted the clear separation of religion from other spheres of human activity. The next section on history sheds light on the record of religious pluralism that Muslims promoted. There were, of courses, other approaches as well. The author reflects on the Khilafat Movement that introduced a new kind of religious politics for the modern period; “command politics” which instrumentalized religion. This legacy has sadly continued into the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

The central section on India covers many topics. There are two central issues that are prominent. The first is that Muslim historians (such as the great historian al-Tabari (d, 923) were familiar with India and were writing very appreciably about its scholars and tradition. And the second point relates to the author’s central view on religion in a state. The main argument here for Khan is that religious identity is very similar to other social identities such as language and culture. All these identities are very different from national identity. All Indians share a national identity even as they differ from each other in other respects. In support of his arguments, he reflects on religious reformers within India that stressed the unity and convergence of religions; on the British who emphasized these identities in order to secure power; and the mistake of Muslims to demand special favours on the basis of their religious affiliation. With respect to the latter, he supports special measures for the disadvantaged, but not for groups such as Muslim who include both privileged and the under-privileged persons. Khan displays’ great erudition as he also turns to Ibn Khaldun’s theory of the state to support his argument. In his correct reading of the latter’s famous Muqaddima (Prolegomena), tribal and religious solidarity were clearly separated. He uses this insight to suggest a foundation for arguably the different matter of the separation of religious and national identities. Such suggestive readings abound in the book, but the congruence between the solidarities of Ibn Khaldun and modern identities remains to be unraveled. He also touches on the history of Islam in India, pointing to the vast gap between the rulers and the ruled. Less convincing is his cursory treatment on Kashmir where India and Pakistan are presented as neatly divided good and evil national intentions respectively.

The next two sections, Islam and Muslim Society, captures Khan’s view on Islam. Islam is derived mainly from the general teachings of the Qur’an, and not in specifics. Values of reasoning, generosity and tolerance form the cornerstone of Islam. Sir Sayyid Khan comes up as the model reformer, but Azad’s idea of ‘shared truth’ (mushtarak haq) seems to capture an important foundational principal. These were thwarted by politicians in the history of Islam, but most importantly by religious leaders (ulema). And in independent India, in particular, the latter were preserving a culture and mode of life that perpetuated abuse and injustice. Personal status convictions, symbolized in the Shah Banoo Case, created a barrier between the state and individuals. The state in this scenario was a source of justice and liberation. I felt myself ambivalent in Khan’s presentation. On the one hand, I could not agree less that Personal Status law in India (and elsewhere) were sheltering and covering up family abuse (particularly directed at women). At the same time, the success of the ulama was guaranteed by the generally invasive instruments of the modern state. This function of the ulema needed more careful attention to detail to ascertain the balance between communities and the state, particularly in comparison with other apparently benign projects of the state.

The penultimate section gets into Pakistan. This section is also about India, since it creates a binary opposition with the two countries. Pakistan is clearly founded, according to the author, on a policy of hatred towards the other. India, on the other hand, is based on a shared Indian heritage. Khan also draws a direct link between this founding policy and the rise of militancy and terrorism. The section contains the interview with Abu ‘l-Kalam Azad that I have mentioned before. The interview is telling, both against those who founded Pakistan on the basis of Islam, and in my opinion, also against Khan. Azad does not seem to have such clear idea of a secular polity and private belief system as Khan. The interview brings out the complex way in Islam was conceptualized by these early Muslim leaders. On the other hand, it may be an important statement of how secularism has come to be supported by Muslims in India as it is more extensively discussed by Irfan Ahmad in a recent book.

 The final section, Terror and Jihad, consists of short essays mostly on the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Apart from reiterating his conviction of religious values, Khan brings out an important way in which Muslims are usually addressed in global discourse. He points out that in all the references to peoples and groups in the American President’s address, only Muslims are singled out by their religious identities. He reminds the readers that Sir Sayyid opposed the pan-Islamic values of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, suggesting an unlikely link between all modern Islamic political activism and radicalism. In this final section, Khan does include an important point on rejecting the use of jihadis, preferring the use of fasadis (sowers of anarchy) to deprive them of their legitimacy but also using a Qur’anic term to label them.

In general, this is a useful set of articles on which there will be much disagreement. There is no doubt, however, that the issues raised by the author needs attention by all South Asians. In conclusion, I want to turn to the title of the book for a final comment. This pair (text and context) has become very widely used in local and global discourse since it was raised by the Pakistani intellectual Fazlur Rahman more than half a century ago. It has become a slogan for the reform of Islam to solve the problems of Muslims in the modern world. The author does not deal with the issue directly, but readers may read these essays as an expression of Indian Islam (to be clearly contrasted with Pakistani Islam). From an observer’s perspective, this reading would not be too far off the mark.

However, it is not clear if the author would agree with this judgment. Khan is more adamant about some permanent values for Islam that in his view have too often been hijacked in the past and present. His is appealing to a fundamental core of an Islamic essence, rather than the contextual articulation of someone living in a particular time and place. Khan is not alone, and his conviction was shared by all modern Muslims since Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan. It was a sentiment shared particularly by those who argued for change and reform within Islamic tradtions. They formulated a new essence and a new social project which they declared embodied the real, true Islam. Like Khan in this book, they offered some good advice and made some good suggestions. However, they could have presented their new conceptions with a little more self-reflexivity. In the spirit of ijtihad, they often forgot to repeat the phrase “And God knows better.”

The book presents an excellent window into another voice of Islam in India. I am tempted to put it aside as a glib Indian apology, but feel attracted to its perspectives that are too often overlooked and ignored. In 2010, however, I would have loved to see some self-reflexivity on the modern Islamic project as its critical vision on the Islamic nationalistic and ghettoized one. And God knows Better.

Muslims & Education

It is generally thought that Muslims do not prefer to send their children, especially girl child to school. They   are mainly concerned about religious education and therefore are inclined to open more and more madrasas.

This stereotype was further reinforced when in seventies and eighties when number of madrasas  were opened, especially in northern, western and central India. This was mainly because it was in seventies that oil revolution took place in the Arab world and they began to give money to poorer Muslim countries including for religious education. Many Ulama from India succeeded in getting financial aid for starting new madrasas and also expanding existing madrasas. It is undoubtedly true that during seventies and in subsequent decades quite a few madrasas were established in India. However, there are many reasons for expansion of madrasas, which must be understood. It should not be reduced to a stereotype, which is often done. First, we would like to throw some light on the prevalence of madrasa education among Muslims in India.

Firstly, it should be noted that during Muslim rule in medieval ages these madrasas were centers of higher knowledge and these madrasas provided religious as well as then available scientific knowledge known as ‘ulum-i-‘aqliyah (intellectual knowledge). These centers of learning were naturally patronized by the kings, nawwabs and jagirdars (feudal lords). Thus what is known as Dars-i-Nizamiyah synthesised both religious and natural sciences of the time. However, with the decline of the Mughal rule and establishment of British rule these centre’s of higher knowledge fast declined and were left with no resources to grow and imbibe the modern knowledge. Now small madrasas came into existence in different localities, which were run by donations from local communities and catered to elementary religious knowledge. The biggest institution of Islamic learning which came into existence in the post-Mughal period in north India was Darul ‘Ulum Deoband. This institution founded by Maulana Qasim Ahmed Nanotvi and others also had very humble beginning. It was founded in nineteenth century after failure of 1857 war of independence.

This madrasa had come into existence during period of great crisis for north Indian Muslims when Muslims were facing British wrath and the ‘Ulama were in the forefront of anti-British struggle much before Indian national Congress came into existence and national freedom movement started. These ‘Ulama remained steadfast in their struggle for freedom and also became allies of the Congress and firmly opposed two nation theory and partition of the country. These ‘Ulama led by Maulana Mahmudul Hasan opposed modern education not so much because it was modern and secular but more so as it was British imperialist system. Sir Syed on the other hand became founder of the modern educational institution in Aligarh known as MAO College, which subsequently became Aligarh Muslim University. In a way both Sir Syed and the ‘Ulama of Deoband school were complimenting each other rather than contradicting. Both systems of education were needed in that period of acute crisis. It was, for Muslims, also a period of an acute identity crisis.

Modern secular education alone would not have sufficed for Muslims during that period of crisis. It was very difficult for the Muslim elite to come to terms with total eclipse of their power. And it was for this reason the ‘Ulama played far more significant role in freedom struggle to drive the British out than the secular Muslim elite. The secular elite were far more interested in making a deal with the Britishers to safeguard their own interests. The ‘Ulama at the same time were more worried about religious identity and hence madrasa education flourished under their patronage. Also, it was in keeping with the requirement of Muslims as there was glaring poverty among them since most of them were converted from lower Hindu castes. Modern western education made not much sense to them nor could they afford it as they faced stark poverty. Many sociologists have pointed out that among Indian Muslims before independence there was either feudal class or the poor class. Thus either there were very rich Muslims (mostly from feudal class) or very poor Muslims, middle class being very weak. The ‘Ulama catered to the poorer classes by opening madrasas where free religious education was imparted and many madrasas also offered free food and clothing. The period immediately after partition was also full of crisis for Muslims.

The educated rich and middle classes migrated to Pakistan for greener pastures and poor illiterate masses were left behind. Once again it was madrasa education which came to their rescue and fulfilled their psychological and intellectual need. The Government of India could not open even enough primary schools to fulfill need for schooling for the poor. Muslims being among extremely poor had to fall back on madrasa education. And those who somehow could make it to government schools dropped out before completing primary education as the poor parents would like them to work somewhere to supplement family income. But even after dropout they would continue madrasa education due to convenient timings either early morning or late evening. All this put together accounts for lack of secular education among the Muslims and flourishing of madrasa education. The ‘Ulama also saw an opportunity to run more madrasas after oil revolution and many more madrasas came into existence including those of higher learning which catered to increased Muslim population in the post independence period.

Now the girls also began to join both primary and higher centers of Islamic learning. There are courses being run for girls in places like Malegaon in Maharashtra and other places. However, having said this about the madrasa education I would like to discuss the situation about the modern secular education. It is necessary to dispel the stereotype that Muslims resist modern secular education and opt for madrasa education only. Such stereotypes, besides being unreal, are also dangerous as they intensify communal attitudes. Madrasas are looked upon as centers of fundamentalism and also now generally dubbed as centers of ISI &ISIS activities. This is, to say the least, highly politically motivated. It is highly regrettable that few politicians and political parties  announced that madrasa education is a security risk. There may be a few black sheep but such sweeping statements are very dangerous and amount to condemning whole community. Those, which indulge in such activities should be isolated and punished under the law of the land.

 Apart from madrasa education there is growing trend today among Muslims to go for secular education. So far the socio-cultural factors rather than religious one kept Muslim girls away from modern school education. Today, with the growth of middle class among the Muslims the trend for modern education is on the rise.  According to 2015 survey there are 0.4% graduates now among Muslims which is still very low but better than before. Compared to others it may appear dismal figure but nevertheless it shows changing trend among Muslims. According to a survey in UP, the number of Muslim girls passing matriculation in first class has jumped 13 times. Though the base may not be very high still the jump of 13 percent is no mean figure. The same survey indicates that in different colleges in U.P. there is great increase in the success rate of Muslim girls. Also, all over India one finds increasing number of Muslim colleges, particularly girl colleges coming into existence. It is highly encouraging trends. Syed Hamid,  ex vice President of India & ex-vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, has taken it as his life mission to popularize modern secular education among Muslims. He had taken out a Talimi Caravan (educational caravan) through various cities and towns of north India to urge upon Muslims to go for modern education.

It has had considerable impact on Muslim mind. There is great difference between stereotypes and ground reality. While stereotype remains static the ground reality changes. Muslims are still very backward as all social, economic and educational indicators bear out. Yet, the new middle class which is emerging on the Muslim horizon is realizing that the community must advance in educational field in this information technology era. Azim Premji, the only high ranking industrialist among Muslims in India has declared that his foundation will educate 80 thousand students every year and he also declared that education is the best gift one can give to children. The Government of India had announced to give Rs.500 crores to Maulana Azad Foundation for educational and other needs of the community. However, the government gave only Rs. 100 crores.

If the government fulfils its promises which are generally unfulfilled and left only for announcements, Muslims can achieve much higher rate of literacy. The main problem for education among Muslims is poverty, not religion or lack of will. There are not many industrialists or businessmen among Indian Muslims like Azim Premji to come to their rescue. Now there seems to be will among Muslims but no resources. There is also a trend for imparting modern education in the madrasas. But again the lack of resources stares in the face of Muslims. Some madrasas have, however, adopted modern sciences as part of their curriculum.

Political Islam and Its Proponents

A terrorist is not created in his mother’s womb. It takes an environment of hatred, a whole jungle of hatred-to bring him into existence. The present-day community of Muslims has unfortunately provided such an environment. How did this jungle of hatred grow? For one it has been cultivated by the extensive proliferation of a particular ideology among Muslims, a political interpretation of Islam, which offered Muslim the status of God’s vicegerents on earth with the right to rule the entire world on His behalf.

Islam was the leading civilization of the world in the period between the decline of ancient civilization and the ascent of modern European ones. But ultimately, western colonial powers established their dominance over the Muslim world; it was in reaction to his domination that political movements began to be launched in the name of Islam. The objective of these movements was to free Muslim countries from western rule and to re-establish Muslim rule.

It was Syed Jamaluddin Afghani, born in Iran in 1838, who probably developed the concept of Islamic nationalism for the first time. During his lifetime, the colonial expansion of the west was at its peak and almost the entire Muslim world had, directly or indirectly, come under its rule. Jamaluddin Afghani made it his mission to bring down the colonial system and restore the political power of Muslim nations. Towards this end, he launched the movement know as pan-Islamism. It aimed at bringing together the Muslims of entire world to form a united international power, which would defeat western nation and set the Muslim world free from their clutches.

Jamaluddin Afghani failed to achieve his political target, but what he did successfully was to show the seeds of hatred for western nations in Muslims minds all over the world. As a result, Muslims in general came to regard western nations as their enemies. Almost all the Muslim leaders of his time began to think in negative and political terms. The more prominent of these were Sayyid Qutb and Amir Shaqib Arsalan in the Arab World, Muhammad Iqbal and Sayyed abul Ala Maududi  in the Indian subcontinent, and later ayatollah Khomeini in Iran.

Initially, the movement focused on the expulsion of western forces from the Muslims world. More appropriately, it was an initiative to gain political freedom. Thus, in the times of Afghani, this movement was more political than religious in nature, which its slogan being the east for easterners’’.

After Afghani, this revolutionary movement entered another phase. Now it was given an ideological form. The movement, which had been described in communal terms (with reference to the global Muslim community), was now given an Islamic hue. An attempt was made to Islamize their communal thinking by developing a complete ideology based on the political interpretation of Islam. If earlier the thinking had been that the western nations were usurpers and that a restitution of Muslims’political  rights must be demanded from them in the next phase ideologists developed the theory that Islam had a system covering the whole of human life and that this include politics. The Muslims were, therefore, duty-bound to capture political power b y force so that Islam might be implemented as a total system. The promoters of this movement held that so long as Islam was not adopted by the believers in toto, as a complete system, their faith would not be acceptable to God. It following that bringing about a political revolution became a binding obligation, like prayers and fasting.

In this second phase, two Muslim leaders figured most prominently: the Egyptian intellectual Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966) and Sayyed Abul Ala maududi (d.1979), a Muslim ideologue from the Indian subcontinent. Both these leaders found themselves in a very favorable environment- an environment  that now made it possible for their books to be translated into many language and thus for their ideas to spread over almost the entire Muslim world. As a consequence, Muslims in almost all part of the globe were directly influenced by their political ideology. Some became actively involved, while the thinking of others, shaped by this ideology, centred on political Islam. All dreamed of the political glory of Islam.

This movement, designed to establish political Islam, gave rise to various other movements. Two of these movements grew in to prominence: all Ikhwan al –Muslimun, or the Muslim Brotherhood, established in 1928 in the Arab world and the Jamat- e Islami established in 1941on the subcontinent. Both were highly organized movements and subsequently launched campaigns to establish Islamic rule in Muslim countries such as Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Algeria, Tunisia and Malaysia.  

At first these movements sought to establish Muslim rule by spreading their ideology of political Islam. When they failed on this score, they started taking part in the national election in the countries here they were active. When they failed on this front too, they resorted to militancy. This political movement of the Muslims intensified in the latter half on the twentieth country. It was during these days that the Jews established their rule in Palestine in the name of Israel. Now Muslims believe that they Jews are rejected by God, while the Muslims themselves are the chosen people. So finding the dominance of the Jews over the Muslims intolerable, they made a frantic bid to obliterate the Jews from the face of the earth. The pro-Islam movement of the first half of the twentieth century ultimately turned into an anti-Jewish movement in the second half century.

Events have demonstrated that, in spite of making every conceivable effort, Muslims have failed in their campaign against the Jews. On every front, right from the united nation to the Aqsa Mosque of Jerusalem, they have had total defeat inflicted upon them. It is the ensuing build-up of a defeatist mentality which has culminated perforce in the phenomenon of ‘Islamic terrorism’. Though ostensibly aimed at re-establishing Islamic rule. The political Islam movement actually grew as a political reaction to the circumstances in which Muslims found themselves at that particular point in time. Its inspiration and its impact were totally negative. The movement was the result of anti- western rather than pro-Islam feelings, and for precisely this reason it rapidly turned violent.

According to Islam, a truly Islamic movement arise out of feelings of benevolence for all the humanity. Its target being neither land nor power, it is always carried out through peaceful means. It never adopts violence. If Muslims movements of the modern age opted for the way of extremism, it was because they were not genuinely Islamic in nature. The truth is that these Muslim social movements, which had only the community agenda in mind, adopted the name of Islam purely as a means of self- Justification. If you read the Quran, nowhere in it will you find any mention of ‘political Islam’. They Quran contains neither information nor injunction which could lead to the setting up of a political system. The eighteenth- century French thinker Rousseau, who was greatly concerned with the human condition, wrote a treatise called the social contract (1762). He opened his book with this arresting statement: man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.’

This is the language of a political book, a book which was to contribute to the ideas and policies of the leaders of the French revolution and which ultimately gained worldwide currency. But if you read the Quran, you will see that it begins not with a diatribe against human inequality with its implied criticism of wrong governance, but simply with praises of God, and it ends with the necessity to seek refuge in God against Satan. In the Quran and the Hadith, there is no mention of the system of state. Nor is there any mention of revolt against nay existing system neither is there any indication as to how a political ruler or khalifah is to be appointed or selected. No such principles are set forth in Islam, neither from an ideological nor from a practical point of view. In short, it is clear that no aspect of political Islam is dealt with anywhere in the Quran and the Hadith.   

At more than one place in the Quran we are told what the Prophet’s tasks were in accordance with the divine plan. These were recitation of the verses of the Quran; purification of man; teaching of the scriptures; and teaching of wisdom. In none of the verses are we told that the task of the Prophet was to establish Islamic rule in the world. Such verses of the Quran as presented by the champions of political Islamic in support of their cause were distorted to serve their own ends.

The truth is that giving a political interpretation to Islam is a despicable act and in no way serves the higher aims of the religion.

Islam & Political Extremism

The Quran teaches us not be extremist in our religion. Its exact words are: ‘People of the book! Do not go to extremes in your religion.’(4:171). We also learn from a saying of Prophet Muhammad that extremist tendencies have always been the chief reason for religious group going astray. That is why the prophet once observed: ‘Sedulously refrain from extremism, for the previous communities were destroyed only because of their extremist tendencies in religious matters.’

“Ghulu” meaning extremism is engendered in a religious community when it goes in to a state of decline, and I in fact, a sign of its degeneration. There is a tradition of Prophet Muhammad which forewarns his followers of the rot that can set in. he said that all those evils which had arisen in previous communities would also arise, but on a greater scale in his own community.  To make his meaning clear, he said:

‘Where previous communities were divided into 72 sects, Muslims will be divided into 73Sects.

There are innumerable cases of ideological extremism in Islamic history. But we also find among Muslims another kind of extremism which probably never existed in previous communities. When the prophet said that while the Israelites were divided into seventy-two sects and the Muslim would be divided into seventy-three sects, he was giving an example of this other kind of ghulu (extremism) which can be described as political extremism.  No previous community had ever been crowned by such political glory as was enjoyed by the Muslims for almost a thousand years after the emergence of Islam. Political glory was not however, a part of Islamic creed, but a part of history. But Muslims stressed this fact of political glory to such an extent that, for all intents and purposes, it became incorporated in their religious creed. The result of this political extremism is the violent jihad we experience in the Muslim world of today.

Ultimately, extremist concepts such as ‘Muslims are God’s vicegerents on earth and, as such, they have the right to rule over other communities ‘were developed. Religion came to be regarded as synonymous with a complete state. And a religion of this nature could not be fully observed unless it was established as the basis and framework of the state. Those promoting these ideologies and politicizing Islam believed that Muslims were a superior community, which the right to treat other communities as inferior. As a result, to this day, Muslims find it difficult to relocate any sort of dominance. They believe that their religious obligation can never be fully discharged just by performing prayers and observing fasting. They imagine it is incumbent upon them to strive to establish diving rule on earth.

A set of beliefs such as these has nothing to do with the religion as revealed by God. It is nothing but a case of political extremism. But present-day Muslims are largely under the influence of this extremist way of thinking – some consciously, others unconsciously.

Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, achieved considerable political success while he was still alive; and this was built on rapidly by his successors, the caliphs. Unfortunately, along with success comes the opportunity to abuse it, that is why, according to the hadith, the Muslims were divided, in terms of ideological extremism, in to seventy- two sects, while the seventy-third sects was concerned with the political extremism. Of course, the evil of ideological extremism is the found as much in Muslim as in other communities, but it is the former’s bent of political extremism that has aggravated this issue further.

Congregation led by earlier prophets did not achieve political success during their prophets’ lifetime. Their prophets only left them an ideological legacy. That is why we find political extremism absent in them. At the most, the can indulge only in ideological extremism.

According to the Quran (22:78) and the hadith, the greatest duty of Muslim community –shahadat ‘alannaas-is to spread the diving message of Islam peacefully among other nation. But because of their  extremist political approach, present –day Muslim have abandoned this missionary duty. The most dangerous  aspect of their labeling of non –missionary activities as missionary work, for instance, debates, political protest, Muslim- reform activities, community work are all  termed missionary work by today’s Muslim.

The most urgent task today is to inculcate this consciousness of the mission and to set up an educational system on the principals of this mission. Muslims should be raised as a missionary group- or witnesses (22:78) as it is called in the Quran- and should be prevented from indulging in non- missionary activities. Without taking such a step, missionary work cannot be effectively performed.

The Quran (5:67) tells us that the secret of protection from enemy plots lies in the performance of dawah. That is, if Muslims engage in dawah work, their lives properties and wealth will be protected by God. In short, the communication of the religious message is the responsibility of Muslim, while the protection of their worldly interests rest with God.

According to a famous tradition, our action are judge by our intention’. Intention here is the equivalent of what is generally called spirit. This means that although there are many actions which in form appear to be morally acceptable. It is to the spirit of these acts rather than their external form that Islam attaches real importance.

From a Hadith we learn the Prophet Muhammad speaking of the Muslim of the future, predicted that only the external spirit, and only the outer form of Islamic action would survive.

That is to say, the action of the Muslims of the future would be lacking in internal spirit, and only the outer form of their religious observance would persist. People will remain ignorant of the true spirit of Islam so long as they are conversant only with its forms and attach importance only to the externals.

It is easy to understand how extremism or ghulu stems from this flawed perception. In the early days of Islam, the spirit was alive and was accorded full attention. But when in later generation degeneration set in, external rituals began to be given more importance. This is a frequent occurrence.

Let me explain this with an example from the world of business, the phrase ‘customer- friendly behavior’ is often used in business jargon. It means if a businessman is to be successful, he must appear to be friendly to his customers. Now let us compare this with behavior in the family. You will not hear any parents say that their behavior towards their children is ‘child- friendly’. The reason for this difference is that the spirit of love for their children wells up naturally in parents, and so they do not need to talk about it or make a display of it.

The case of a businessman is totally different. A businessman has no love or compassion for his customers. It is solely the desire for commercial gain that inspires him to make a display of these qualities. Is human nature that wherever the internal   spirit is alive, no importance will be attached to the externals, while in the absence of spirit, the maximum attention will be paid to formal etiquette.

 This is the human mentality that produces the phenomenon called ghulu. It is a fact that ghulu, or extremism, is invariably relevant to externals and do not to internal realities.

When we look at the Muslim of today, we find that the prediction of the Prophet has come true. One kind of ghulu that has developed among Muslims is the one pertaining to ideology, for instance, the concept of spiritual leaders being intermediate between God and man, and the concept of sacredness of graves. Today, violent activities are going on in the name of jihad all over the world. There are some who are directly involved, while others justify these acts in their speeches and writings. A third group consists of those who are silent. But according to the sharing principal, they too are involved for silence is not enough- it is their duty to publicly condemn such un-Islamic acts.

This is political ghulu is the greatest weakness of Muslim; it has overridden all the human qualities that qualify a community for a position of honour and glory – qualities such as benevolence, universality of approach (that is, looking at all human being as gold’s family), positive thinking, keeping abreast of the changing times, thinking realistically, acknowledgement of others, fostering the dawah spirit, giving importance to the value of peace, and objective thinking.

The greatest harm done by political extremism is that it deters Muslims from emerging from the shell of the past. This is the cause of their failure to understand to present. In the past, war something which decide the fate of communities. But in modern times, peaceful resources have become much more powerful. Yet Muslims seem unaware of these resources. In the past, the economy was based on agriculture. Now it is based on industry. Electronic communications just did not exist in the past, whereas today, communications have become one of the greatest strengths of mankind. But Muslims are blissfully unaware of all these developments. That is why they have not been able to take advantage of all the blessing of the modern age. Moreover in the past, all resources were in the hands of the king, but today is the age of institutions.

 The violent jihad, prevalent in modern times, dates back to Tipu Sultan (d.1799). this has been a 200-year long jihad without any positive result, and with no real movement directed as yet at reassessment of values, aims or objective. The reason lies in the Muslims, lack of awareness. Today the greatest task is to remedy this shortcoming, without which there is no possibility of any positive change.

About seventy years ago, Amir Shakib Arsalan published a book titled our Decline: its Cause and Remedies. The author concluded that the reason for Muslim backwardness lay in abandoning jihad. He quoted an Arabic couplet in support. ‘I refrained from taking part in war, so that I might live. But I did not find in it life. Life was for those who went ahead and waged the war.

This point has been made repeatedly by Muslim leaders over the last two centuries. The result has been that this militant ideology has spread among Muslims all over the world. The jihadi model has become the sole inspiration for action. But when we take stock of the outcome, we find that this has proved to be counterproductive. In such a situation, it would be more appropriate to modify the couplet and say: ‘ I adopted the path of war for life and survival, but finally I learnt that life and survival are only for those who abandon the militant course in favour of a peaceful course of action.’

BANNING COW SLAUGHTER

I am against all kinds of slaughter, so the question of my favoring cow slaughter does not arise. But whether I am for or against it, cow slaughter is not going to stop. The conditions of our life are such that the cow will continue to be killed. I am against meat eating, but it is not going to make a difference. Under the present conditions meat eating cannot go. We are not yet in a position to provide the entire population of the country with an adequate amount of vegetarian food. People will simply die of starvation if we decide to go vegetarian. Unless we have enough food grains and vegetables and milk to feed the whole country, non-vegetarianism will continue to predominate. There is no way out at the moment. It is a necessary evil. So is cow slaughter.

It is ironic that people who are anxious to ban cow slaughter are doing nothing to create the necessary conditions to make the society vegetarian. So cow slaughter is not going to end because of these people. If it ends someday, it will end because of the efforts of those who are not at all anxious to do away with cow slaughter. Slogan mongering and agitation are not going to end it, nor is it going to end through legislation. Though we have the largest number of cows, they are the most uncared for; they are as good as dead and useless. On the other hand, beef eating countries have the best kinds of cows, healthy and strong. While a single cow in the West yields forty to fifty kilos of milk per day, it would be too much for an Indian cow to give half a kilo. We have only skeletons in the name of cows, and we make such a hullabaloo about them.

The production of vegetarian food, of nutritive and health-giving vegetarian food, is the first imperative if you want to abolish cow slaughter. Supporters of vegetarianism have yet to meet the argument of the non-vegetarians that the world is much too short of vegetarian food to provide nutrition and health to mankind. There is logic in their argument.

It is very interesting that both cow and monkey are vegetarians. Man inherits his body and soul from vegetarian sources. It is another thing that a monkey sometimes swallows a few ants, but by and large he is a vegetarian. The cow is wholly vegetarian; it will eat meat only when it is forced to. Under the circumstances it is strange how man has turned non-vegetarian, because his whole physical and psychic system is derived from vegetarian sources. The structure of his stomach is such as only vegetarian animals have, and so is his mental makeup. Obviously man must have been forced by circumstances to become non-vegetarian. And even today he cannot do without animal food.
It seems to me that cow slaughter will continue in spite of all our good intentions to stop it. In my view, it will only stop when we make provisions for adequate synthetic food for all. And then people have to be persuaded to take to synthetic food on a large scale. Synthetic food is the only alternative to non-vegetarianism. The day man accepts living on scientific food, meat eating will disappear, not before.

The day is not far off when we will leave behind this agitation against cow slaughter and will instead be agitating for a large scale slaughter of men. The day is not distant when man will eat man, because you cannot argue with hunger. As we now ask a dying man to donate his eyes or kidneys, we will soon ask him to donate his flesh for the hungry. And we will honor him who donates his flesh, as today we honor one who donates his heart or lungs. There is going to be such a population explosion one day.

Very soon we will begin to think it is unjust to cremate dead bodies, they should be saved for food – and it will not be something new and extraordinary; cannibalism has been known to man since ancient times. There have been tribes where man ate man to satiate his hunger. Once again we are coming close to that situation when cannibalism will be revived. In view of it, it is just stupid to agitate for a ban on cow slaughter. It is utterly unscientific to do so.

I don’t suggest that cow slaughter should not and cannot go. It can go. Not only the killing of cows, all kinds of killing can go. But then we will have to take a revolutionary step in the direction of our food and food habits. I am not in favor of cow slaughter, but I am also not in favor of those who shout out against it. All their talk is sheer nonsense. They don’t have a correct perspective and a right plan to stop cow slaughter. But it must stop; the cow should be the last animal to be killed. She is the highest in animal evolution; she is the connecting link between man and animal. She deserves all our care and compassion; we are connected with her in an innate and intimate manner. We have to take every care for her.

But remember, caring is possible only when you are in a position to take care. Without the facilities and the wherewithal, caring is impossible. We have to be pragmatic; it is no use being sentimental.
Life is lived according to its needs and exigencies, not according to ideas and theories. The cow cannot be saved when man himself is facing death. To save the cow it is necessary for man to become so affluent that he can afford it. Then, along with the cow, other animals will be saved too. The cow is, of course, nearest to us as an animal, but other animals are not that distant. Even the fish is our kin, although a distant kin. Life really began with the fish. So, as man grows affluent he will not only save the cow, he will save the fish too.


We have to be clear in our view that the cow and, for that matter, all other animals have to be saved. But it is sheer stupidity to insist on saving them even when the conditions necessary to do so are lacking.