EDITS | Friday, November 6, 2009 | Email | Print | 
An assault on secularism
BK Verma
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind’s reiteration of a 2006 fatwa issued by the Darul Uloom, Deoband, calling upon Muslims not to sing the National Song Vande Mataram is a grim reminder that fundamentalist Islam is not only very much alive in India but getting stronger by the day, thanks to the encouragement being provided by the so-called secular political parties. The Pioneer’s editorial, “Jamiat’s insidious agenda” (November 5) crisply summarises the 25 highly objectionable resolutions that were passed at the recent Jamiat convention. They are nothing short of declaring Muslims a separate nation within our state.
In this day and age the call for Muslims to abstain from watching cinema or television, or the imposition of sharia’h rules for girls above 10 years of age is akin to pushing the Muslim community five centuries back. From time to time we conveniently forget that Islam is a militant, imperialist ideology that cannot tolerate any other world view. It preaches hatred towards those outside the faith. It frowns upon any kind of entertainment. As Ayatollah Khomeini had said, “There is no fun in Islam”.
It would be fitting to remind readers of what Winston Churchill had said in his book, The River War: “How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries…wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.”
What is really worrisome is that the Jamiat convention was attended by the Union Home Minister who did not condemn the insidious resolutions. The resolutions must be roundly condemned by the Government at the first available opportunity. There can be no compromise on our secular integrity.
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