Underlining the Sufi path to brotherhood
At the crux of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the World Sufi Forum on Thursday was the universal message of peace and harmony, underlining how faith can bind people from distant lands and help build a global collective that is tolerant and progressive. In doing so, the Prime Minister placed Sufism within an Indian as well as a global framework, describing in detail how Islam travelled around the world, mixing and evolving with different cultures and civilisations, and in the process producing some of the most prized gems for mankind, in fields as diverse as art and poetry, science and medicine, engineering and architecture. In this context, his emphasis on India's own Islamic history served as a special outreach to this country’s Muslim community sections of which have feared being ‘othered' under the current Government, which is wrongly portrayed by vested elements as anti-Muslim. Equally importantly, the outreach was a stern rebuke to fringe elements, irrespective of their political persuasion, who carry the impression that India, especially post-Partition, has no reason to be a homeland for Muslims. This messaging from the Prime Minister also helps counter the growing perception that such characters had been emboldened with the BJP coming to power.
In the global context, the reference to the many achievements of Islamic civilisation was followed by a detailed commentary on the contemporary challenge of jihadi terror, though the Prime Minister didn't use the J-word. To underscore the gravity of this challenge and how it threatens world peace, clichéd as that may sound, the Prime Minister covered a wide canvas: From the battlefields of Iraq and Syria, where incidentally much Islamic architectural heritage is being destroyed by the rapacious Islamic State terror group; through much of West Asia where even previously stable countries are now threatened by war and poverty; across the cities and villages of Africa where innocents are routinely slaughtered not just in the war-torn areas but even in pockets of prosperity; and then closer home, terrorists who use Islam to cover their tracks as they do the dirty work for their political masters. Notably, the Prime Minister also spoke of, even if indirectly, of how Islamist terror has affected even Muslim populations he spoke of the violence that often follows Friday prayers, of attacks on the faithful at mosques, and how prayer gatherings are often turned into funeral processions.
Finally, he sought to emphatically reject the link between terrorism and religion. But instead of just underlining the hackneyed idea that terrorists have no religion, he also called for introspection and reform from within. Making it clear that terrorism cannot be eliminated militarily, he put the onus on “societies, sages and scholars” and argued that it is “social values”, more than “constitutional provisions” or “legal safeguards”, that build an inclusive and peaceful society.