With the skies darkening with terrorism, it is time that India encouraged its Shia citizens, more so after their warm gesture on Ayodhya. The country would benefit by offering a balance between the Shias and the Sunnis
The Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board’s suggestion to the Supreme Court that the erstwhile disputed Babri mosque site at Ayodhya was the “most revered place of birth of Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram” is yet another signal — a reminder that the Shias do not wish to be mixed up with the Sunnis. They are different, with a distinct perception of Hindustan and their commitment to the country.
That the Shias are not only distinct and nurse antagonism towards the Sunnis is well-known for centuries. In the Hindu view, the difference got blurred possibly due to Aga Khan, who lead the All-India Muslim league in the beginning of the 20th century and Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the final creator of Pakistan. Jawaharlal Nehru’s biased policies for the Muslims, euphemistically called the minority, and his inclusion of Articles 25 to 30 into the Constitution to ensure minority rights, further confused the Hindus into lumping the Muslims together.
An advanced nail in the coffin was hammered by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he repeatedly declared ‘Muslim first’ and promised them the first claim to the country’s resources. At the same time, the Shias did little to distance themselves from the Sunnis in the Hindu eyes, partly because their leaders felt that they would not carry credibility because Jinnah was still a reminder of seperation in the memory of the Hindus. Every time they saw a Pakistani President addressing on television, Jinnah’s portrait was prominent as the green flag. And the quaid (leader) was as Shia as he could be. To begin with, he was an Ismaili Khoja, some of whose womenfolk still perform Swami Narayana puja at home.
This writer had, years ago, met an Abbasbhai Rambhai in his shop in Panaji. Except for scholars and the interested, few Hindus are aware that the Shias and the Sunnis fell apart during the same seventh century era when Islam was born. The belief goes that Husayn ibn Ali was an outstanding person and deserved to succeed his father, Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliphate who was murdered in 661 AD. There were those who felt that ideally the Caliphate should belong to Prophet Muhammad’s bloodline. Husayn ibn Ali was his nephew and son-in-law, and was known as a Shia. Instead, old man Muawiyah I became the fifth Caliph who in turn ensured that his son Yazid would succeed him. Husayn ibn Ali was denied the privilege which angered the followers of Husayn ibn Ali and his successors.
The animosity climaxed into the battle of Karbala, some 80 kilometres from Baghdad where Husayn ibn Ali, his brother Hasan and their male sons and followers were killed. The enmity grew with time. In India, Sunni-Shia riots during the Muharram month were an annual feature in lucknow until a few years ago. Shia Islam is the official religion of Iran and nearly all its people. Saudi Arabia represents the opposite pole of Islam, namely the majority Sunni faith. The world’s Sunnis regarded the Caliph as spiritual as well as temporal head of Islam until Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey abolished the institution in 1924 and exiled its head, the whole Ottoman family from Istambul.
The Shias did not follow the Caliphate and did not harbour any transnational loyalty. Uncannily, if one watched an India-Pakistan cricket match with a group of Muslims, those who applauded Indian batsmen scoring boundaries, were mostly Shias. With the skies darkening with terrorism, it is time India encouraged its Shia citizens, more so after their warm, welcome attitude on Ayodhya. The intensifying antagonism against Shias in Pakistan and scattered sentiments that this minority be ostracised out of Islam should widen the intra-Islamic gulf in India. The civil war in Syria has not helped matters either. The Government and the people of both Pakistan and Bangladesh will remain dominantly Sunni.
India would benefit by offering a balance between the two sections. Another sector which is beginning to cry out for help are the women folk. We cannot be satisfied with a court striking down the triple talaq, nikah and halala. Polygamy could be more difficult to abolish in India as it is prescribed in the scriptures. A Uniform Civil Code would find communal resistance. But the proposal to legislate a Muslim Code Bill parallel to the Hindu Code Bill should find wide support among the women folk among minorities. With women released from the potentially constant threat of unilateral divorce, men as well as the entire community would undergo a revolution.
Such steps should help bring significant sections of the minority into the mainstream. It is sad that outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari, having done so well in life as to reach the second highest position in the country’s executive authority, should make accusations. To say that there is a breakdown of Indian values and also of the Government’s inability to enforce the law and that the Indianness of any citizen questioned, is disturbing.
If India was always a pluralistic society, why did the partition take placeIJ Evidently, there were recent Aurangzebs who demanded partition and divided the country. Born of the same father and mother, Dara Shukoh was a truer embodiment of India’s ethos. The national goal must be to induce as many Muslims as possible to adopt the example set by Dara Shukoh and move away from his younger brother’s worldview. India has given a hospitable shelter to everyone who came here. Would that have been possible if Indians were bigotedIJ On the other hand, look around the world and see how Europe and America are finding it difficult to welcome refugees and migrants.
(The writer is former Member of Rajya Sabha)