IS IT JUSTIFIED THAT MUSLIM COMMUNITY IS LOOKED UPON WITH SUSPICION?

As is common knowledge, it was when Congress leader Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India that Hindu fundamentalists including Sangha Parivar-BJP combine had demolished Babri Mazjhid situated in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.. Till that time, Muslim fundamentalists were confined to Jammu & Kashmir state only. However, consequent upon demolitionof Babri Mazjid, these Muslim fundamentalist groups working in Jammu & Kashmir had extended their activities to other states of the country. Interestingly, these Muslim fundamentalists lost no time in exploiting the sentiments of Muslim community who were hurt at the above heinous act of Hindu fundamentalists. Subsequently, they were bent on creating communal ruckus throughout the country. Unfortunately, a good number of young Muslims had fallen prey to the game plan of these Muslim fundamentalists owing to their animosty and hatred developed towards Hindu community. Both Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists tried their level best to foment communal hatred amongst members of their communities against each other.

As mentioned earlier, even though it was the handiwork of Hindu fundamentalists, the Hindu community as a whole was subjected to the  ire and revenge of Muslim fundamentalists. This had resulted in conducting bomb blasts at several cities in the country including Delhi, Mumba, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Pune so on so forth where scores of innocent persons belonging to Hindu community who were in no way even remotely connected with the demoltion of Babri Mazjid had lost their precious lives.Incidentally, those Muslim fundamentalists who had conducted bomb blasts in Bangalore turned out to be Keralites This can be equated with the sayng in Malayalam which goes thus: “for getting defeated in the market ire is shown on the mother”. In Kerala also the Muslim fundamentalists had started their activities by forming  a few organizations They had indulged in extremist activities in certain places of the state. Needless to state, the above incidents of bomb blasts had led to a situation wherein Muslim community was looked upon with suspicion. In consonance with this, people started refusing to even give houses on rent for Muslims in many cities including Bangalore and Delhi on the suspicion of being  fundamentalists.

In this connection it is apt to mention regarding the experience of many a person including super stars Mammootty and Sharookh Khan at New York Airport for being members of Muslm community. Understandably, this experience had even prompted the latter to make a film entitled “I am Khan”. It was very recently that a cricket player was detained at New York Airport taking him as a Muslim simply because his name had the surname ‘Azad’.

While the  majority of Muslm community are keeping aloof  from the influence of extremism by upholding secular credentials, it is  only a handful of Muslims who  are involved in the anti-Hindu activities including bomb blasts. Inspite of this, Muslim community as a whole is branded as extremists by certain quarters and looked upon with suspicion. To say the least, it is highly unjustified  and reprehensible to doubt the integtrity of a whole community for the mischief done by a handful of extremists belonging to that community..

It came as a rude shock to all the Keralites that a group of Muslim youngmen from Kerala who were in their twenties and who had turned fundamentalists had got killed by Indian army a few years back while crossing Jammu & Kashmir border for going to Pakistan.

It is not out of place to cite here the incident that had taken place when the dead bodies of those young Muslim fundamentalists who got killed by Indian Army while crossing Jammu & Kashmir border for going to Pakistan were brought to their respective homes in Kerala. At that time the parents of those deceased young men had informed the Army men that “we do not want to see the faces of these traitors though they are our dear sons.”. Moreover they refused to have even a look at the dead bodies and asked the Armymen to take the dead bodies away.

It can thus be stated without mincing words that the above  incident itself bears ample testimony to the secular credentials possessed  by the Muslim community at large in our country.

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