Is it the beginning of... THE SUMMER OF DISCONTENT?

WHILE THE objectionable cartoons in a Danish daily against Prophet Mohammad has thrown the Muslim world in the throes of a crisis, in UP it has taken a politico-communal turn. The agitation is, of course, reminiscent of the uprising against Salman Rushdie against his ?The Satanic Verses?. Already, communally sensitive Muzaffarnagar has witnessed a law and order problem. In fact, an issue, which was avowedly religious, has taken political dimensions to suit the interest of the ruling establishment, because it has been cleverly mixed with the Iran issue. Forces behind the movement are distinctly identified with the ruling Samajwadi Party.

As the Muslim community’s tempers run high over the objectionable cartoons printed in a Danish daily, political parties have grabbed the issue with both hands to leverage votes of the community in their favour.

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WHILE THE objectionable cartoons in a Danish daily against Prophet Mohammad has thrown the Muslim world in the throes of a crisis, in UP it has taken a politico-communal turn. The agitation is, of course, reminiscent of the uprising against Salman Rushdie against his ‘The Satanic Verses’.

Already, communally sensitive Muzaffarnagar has witnessed a law and order problem. In fact, an issue, which was avowedly religious, has taken political dimensions to suit the interest of the ruling establishment, because it has been cleverly mixed with the Iran issue. Forces behind the movement are distinctly identified with the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Though the Samajwadi Party has been trying to tap Muslim anger on the cartoons and Iran, to keep them in good humour, it has taken a turn for the worse with the announcement of a reward on the head of cartoonist by Haj and Minorities Welfare Minister Haji Yaqoob Quereshi in Meerut. The Lucknow rally on February 19 on the “cartoon-Iran” issue has shaken the anti-SP forces in the State.

BSP chief Mayawati, who had been maintaining a stoic silence on the twin issues, suddenly demanded a recall of India’s envoy to Denmark and review of the UPA Government’s stand on Iran. On the eve of the arrival of the US president George Bush in India, the SP has also planned an anti-US rally in Delhi on March 2. Certainly, under the prevailing situation anything anti-US goes well with the Muslim community in the State.

The attack on two eating joints in Hazratganj during the rally was a result of the mistaken belief that they belonged to multinationals. Thus the twin issues have created anti-US and anti-West hatred in the well-entrenched Muslim community in the State.

Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad has announced not to perform ‘Aqda’ (marriage ceremony) if two soft drinks Coca-Cola and Pepsi were served at the function.

While it could be music to the ears of the Samajwadi Party, which has been carrying out a tirade against MNCs, it’s a wake up call for these giants in the State. “Use of Coke and Pepsi is anti-Islamic”, commented Jawad, while Hashim Kachauchvi and Imam Tilewali Masjid Maulana Shah Fazlur Rahman Nadvi and others nodded in unison. The impact of Jawad’s anti-Coca-Cola-Pesi call on the community would now be watched with interest. It may well be the summer of discontent for these MNCs.

Though there had been agitations against the cartoons all over the country, in UP the tone and tenor was absolutely different. Presumably for this reason the spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Qasim Rasool Ilyas said that Haji Yaqoob’s award on the head of cartoonists could benefit a political party but it was not in the interest of the community. Other Ulema (clerics) have simply stated the Islamic legal position on the cartoon issue. For blasphemy of the prophet there was no need of a fatwa (edict), as it only calls for the head of the accused, explained Naib Imam Eidgah Khalid Rashid. But he said it was possible only in an Islamic country. To him such calls in secular democratic countries like India was absurd.

The arguments and counter arguments about the publication of cartoons has further worsened the situation. While violence on the issue could not be justified, communal forces are out to take advantage and boost their political agenda in the State. Even the Vatican has accepted that freedom of expression did not mean hurting the sentiments of others.

However, there are the forces, which have been trying to precipitate the crisis.

The US-based writer Irshad Manji has recently tried to question the infallibility of the Prophet. Efforts are on to create confusion by wrongly defining the concept of Ijtihad (application of reasoning and rationalism on religious issues). The circulation of a fake Quran entitled “al Furqan walhaq” on the Internet, has already been agitating the mind of Muslims. The Congress-led UPA Government has already banned the 340-page book originated in the US.

Though there is need of Ijtihad to rectify aberrations that have crept into the religion through Arab imperial history, it could be done only by consensus. The resumption of Ijtihad on those issues, which are not clear, could go a long way in solving the prevailing problems in the community. No doubt the ban on Ijtihad had done irrevocable damage to the Muslim world. It provides an opportunity for balanced thinking on an undeveloped situation. The practice of Ijtihad was stopped in second century Hijra (8th AD). Mohd Rashid Raza in his book “Al Wahidatul Islamia (page 112) had written that the ban on “Ijtihad was not an act of Shariat but it was politically motivated”. Allama Al Ghazali and Al Aziz bin Abdus Salam even had declared the “ban was aimed at cheap publicity, support to government and getting the posts of Qazis”.

In the early 20th century, philosopher-poet Allama Mohd Iqbal wrote, “during the last 500 years religious thought in Islam has been practically stationary. There was a time when European thought received inspiration from the world of Islam”, (Reconstruction of religious thoughts in Islam, p 6). “With the reawakening of Islam, therefore it is necessary to examine, in an independent spirit, the revision and if necessary, reconstruction of theological thought in Islam”. Allama Iqbal noted. However, apostles of modern “Jihad” movement have derailed the whole process.