No terrorism, please

"We reject all forms of terrorism. Terrorism is completely wrong and an unthoughtful act whoever commits it, irrespective of his association to whatever religion, community and class. Terrorism negates completely the teachings of Islam as it is the faith of love and peace, and any terrorist activity which targets innocent people directly contradicts Islam's concept of peace," says Rector Maulana Marghoobur Rahman of the Deoband school. The importance of this unequivocal declaration arises from the unique standing and influence that Deoband enjoys. Its word may not be law but it can, on occasion, come pretty close to it. Hopefully, this will be one of those occasions, especially since the declaration specifically says that the present situation demands joint and constant efforts to denounce terrorism.

But if the condemnation of terrorism is one strand, the other is the denunciation of the government's handling of Muslims. The declaration says that Muslims are being targeted merely because they are Muslims. Strong words have been used: "... every Indian Muslim, particularly those associated with madarsas, is gripped by the fear of being framed by the police any time..." For a government trying desperately to reach out to the Muslim community, this can't be very comforting. For the truth is that even if government policy is not to discriminate, its agents, mostly the police, do tend to treat Muslims as suspects "" just as countries in the Western hemisphere treat all West Asians as potential terrorists. As for the BJP's persistent claim that the government is "soft" on the Muslims, that doesn't seem to be the way the Muslims see it.

A heartening feature of the declaration, which seems to have been drawn up with care and perhaps some liberal urging, is the lament that "while all communities are marching ahead, the Muslims are standing at the crossroads with a begging bowl". This is a clear reference to the way in which the poorer Muslims, who had been left behind by their rich co-religionists after Partition, have not managed to join the national mainstream. In many ways, this is perhaps more important than the condemnation of terrorism. On a long view, it is this that is the bigger problem for the Muslims of India, and the question is whether the community will address the reasons "" the failure to acquire a modern education, the consequent failure to have a professional class that can change the community's image and perhaps offer it a different kind of leadership, and the willingness to be led by religious rather than secular leaders. These are issues that have to be addressed over a sustained period if they are to help bring about change.