People's Democracy

VOICING the concern of the intelligentsia, more particularly the Muslim intelligentsia, regarding the misconcieved notion that the Imam Bukhari of Jama Masjid, Delhi represents the sole voice of Muslims as a community, Professor Mushirul Hasan (former Pro- vice chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia), Professor Imtiaz Ahmed (Political Science at JNU), Shabana Azmi (MP and actress), Javed Akhtar (lyricist) and Zafar Agha (senior journalist) held a press conference in Delhi on October 19, 2001.

A statement signed by over 250 artists, scholars and media personalities was issued at the conference. All the speakers emphasised that to generalise and paint one community as a whole as being terrorists was totally wrong. They appealed to the media to give enough space to the sane voices in the Muslim community. The following is the text of the statement :

As citizens of India committed to democratic values, we feel concerned at a highly slanted representation in India of a number of issues following the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001.

We condemn without any qualifications the abominable terrorist attacks in the US. Serious note of similar attacks which have taken place in many parts of the world, should have awakened international conscience to such dastardly acts and brought nations together to fight the menace they signified. It is fortuitous that after September 11, 2001 the international conscience has rallied against terrorism.

We also condemn those who have rallied to the ignominious task of open demonstration of support for the terrorists or glorifying them, characterising any campaign by them as jihad. Even if they constitute a tiny fringe of Muslim societies the world over, including India, we wish to state that there can never be any justification for terrorist violence. Those supporting the terrorists, or otherwise glorifying them, in the name of a wholly distorted interpretation of Islam-and this includes figures like the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Delhi as well as the extremist clerics in Pakistan -are misguided and deserve outright condemnation.

We condemn at the same time the growing intolerence in the country leading to attempts at stifling all voices of criticism against US motivations in its current campaign against Afghanistan or to characterise such criticism as anti-national. Our citizens have a constitutional right to raise such questions and doubts. In any society, as indeed in our own, there are likely to be certain sections that would be hostile to such exercise of democratic rights in a free country. We are aghast at the action by the administration to bring non-bailable warrants against six students who were merely exercising their simple democratic right in a sovereign state. In the same vein we condemn the statements of those leaders, threatening that whosoever criticises the US policies/actions would be put behind bars.

While, any group supporting the terrorists, whether those active in Kashmir or those who struck on September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington, is condemnable, we strongly deplore expressions of support of fringe elements for September 11 attacks to be the view of Muslims at large. Statements of figures like the Shahi Imam, and his supporters, cannot be attributed to Muslims as a community. We deem it absolutely necessary to condemn attempts to communalise by representing the views of fringe groups to be the views of a whole community as much as we condemn those voicing support for the terrorists, whether in the name of religion or otherwise.

Finally, while we strongly condemn the blatant anti-women and inhuman practices and polices of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, we are firmly opposed to the US’s declaration of war against Afghanistan. We hold the conviction that hegemonic state violence provides no solution to terrorist violence. War, like terrorism, is only inflicting needless sufferings on innocent civilians.