MUSLIM INDIA: The pain & the agony

I have been familiar with the writings of Professsor Mushirul Hasan, eminent social historian, where he comes across as an intellectual and a humanitarian. He is also the same sensitive and brave human being who dared to oppose the ban on The Satanic Verses, and as a historian he has inspired newer generations of researchers with his writings on communalism, nationalism and secularism. Nowhere in his writings, does Prof. Hasan present himself as a 'Muslim'. So when I came across his piece reprinted from the Indian Express in the Voices section of Himal (December 2001, "Test for a citizen"), I was granted a small window into the scholar's personal/political sensitivities as a member of a 'minority' in the country that I happen to share with him as one from the 'majority' community. The article was hard-hitting without being aggressive, and revealed the pain and agony of Indian Muslims living under the constant suspicion of being pro-Pakistani, the disillusionment and weariness of time and again having to prove one's loyalties and regenerate patriotic fervour, particularly during times of political crises. The present is such a time, with yet-again heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, and the region at the brink of war. Has anyone in power seriously considered the renewal yet again of the pain and agony of 11 percent of India's population?

This piece by Prof. Hasan reminds one of another article, written some 30 years ago, by another 'Muslim' academic, Professor Imtiaz Ahmad of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. That article, penned soon after the Bangladesh war of liberation of 1971, delved into how, despite the destiny of Indian Muslims being inextricably tied up with India, Pakistan has been a conspicuous factor in their continuing distress and insecurity and an obstacle to their integration into national society. Prof. Ahmad elaborated on how Pakistan enters the life of Indian Muslims in a variety of ways: "Even twenty-five years after the Partition, the stereotype of the Indian Muslim as a Pakistani expatriate, a fifth columnist, or simply as someone whose basic loyalties are outside the country persists and affects his life chances fundamentally. The stereotype is usually latent during normal times, but it comes up to the surface in times of crisis." During the series of India- Pakistan confrontations, Indian Muslims would find their homes watched closely by the otherwise friendly and cordial neighbours, as possible saboteurs. Even a dim ray of light emanating from their houses during blackouts would be interpreted as a signal for invading Pakistani pilots.