Is ‘Islamophobia’ an anti-Muslim sentiment or an old rancour towards Islam? The Runnymede Trust was the first official organisation to provide an institutional definition of Islamophobia. It defines Islamophobia as an unbound hostility towards Islam with a close view about this religion. In a report titled “Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All” Runnymede Trust’s definition of the terminology is limited. Its multidimensional aspect is ignored. The trust’s analysis is general. In modern social context, Islamophobia is indirect and more psychological. The fear and rejection of Islam and Muslims lead to develop Isalmphobia.
Yes, it is observed that many hate crimes, riots andterror attacks are religiously connected. There are many instances where some wrongdoings are done in the guise of Islam and Muslims. Crimes and criminals have no religion and no morality. We are not going to the substances or social conditions that instigate crime. The major concern is that, a particular community across the world i.e. Muslim is stigmatising as a deviant community. People reflect their fear, hate and negative imagination on Islam and make it is an insidious religion. There is a process called as “Racialisation of Muslims.”
It defines Muslim community as a race but not as religious or cultural identifiers. This new identification catalogues Muslims as a different community which is identified by their biological or physical aspects. Islamphobia is dangerous when the State induces the process of racialisation. When the process is State-sponsored, then it aims at psycho-social control.
Psychosocial control is equal as verbal assault, tirade of speech or dominant actions. The result of the action leads to organise Muslims into two categories, such as acceptable Muslims and unacceptable Muslims. These two types of Muslims are defined by the State actors. Such a classification is made by a point of view that Muslims whom State can trust and Muslims whom the State can’t. The process of categorisation pressurises Muslims to prove their normality with the society. Population growth is a major problem in India. We are 1.37 billions now. Shortly, we are going to surpass China.
The population growth in India is now linked with Muslims. There are many campaigns and plenty of messages floating in social media like Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp relating to Muslims and population growth. Some messages in social media are apocryphal in saying that “Muslims are trying to overtake Hindus in numbers of population”. This is also Islamophobia. Both hatred and fear for Muslims exist in this message.
In popular social media apps a false conspiracy theory says that the number of Muslims in India is 200 million and it will surpass 966 million soon. It means Muslims will become stronger.
But out of these narratives, we have our own census and Government data. The Indian Government data shows a different picture of Muslim population. The population of Muslim is less than a fifth of population of Hindus. According to 2011 Census, Muslim population is only 14.2per cent of India’s population. The population of Muslims have grown by 0.8per cent while Hindus grow by 0.7per cent. This deficit of growth between Hindu and Muslim population lies in the infant mortality rate. In economics of health, it is called as “Muslim Mortality Paradox.” This puzzle was named by economists like Sonia Bhalotra, Christine Valente and Arthur van Soest.
Using Indian Government’s National Family Health Survey data, they said that Muslim babies in India are more likely than Hindu babies in India to survive the childhood. All four NFHS surveys have been conducted under the flagship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. The MoHFW designated the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, as the nodal agency for all of the surveys. The latest report shows the infant mortality rate among Hindus is in higher side than Muslims since 1988. The data is not tragic but merely paradoxical. Muslims are the minorities and poor and still the chances of survival of their babies are more than Hindus! See, what we understand is that rich babies are more likely to survive and poor babies are likely to die. But what makes Muslim morality rate lower? In the book “ Where India Goes –Abandoned Toilets, Stunted Development and Costs of Caste”, Diane Coffey and Dean Spears emphasize that it is the poor sanitation and open defecation that make this difference of morality.
According to them Muslims in India are less likely to defecate in the open than Hindus. In rural areas in India, diarrhoea is the killer for babies and open defecation spreads this disease. The relevance of Gandhian thought is important here to eradicate Islamophobia from our mind and from nation.
Mahatma Gandhi had said if both the Hindu and Muslim communities share each other’s sorrows and have a common goal and a common purpose, then India can be united. There are many good people and pure in characters in Hinduism and Islam. These people are guided and controlled by hooligan elements. We must control those elements. Each religion must respect the others and must refrain from even secretly thinking ill of other. Honest public opinion should be created. No propaganda can be allowed which revilesn other religions.
(Dr Parida is an Assistant Professor in Sociology, email id-abash.parida@gmail.com)
