Mohammed Yussouff, Retired Professor from IIT, Kanpur
The Indian Nation has been traumatized by the recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai.
It is clear by now that these attacks using mercenaries have been organized by people who want war between India and Pakistan. One option for India is to go down that path, attack Pakistan and may be totally destroy it once for all. But what does India gain from it. Revenge? Sure! Peace of mind? Hardly! Will Islam disappear from the face of the earth? No, because Pakistan is not Islam. Will everyone in the world convert to Hindu religion? Perhaps not! After Mahabharata, did Hindus live in peace? No, the Hindu kings were fighting each other. A similar situation exists for Muslims. They are as fragmented as Hindus. Whatever happens to Kashmir, the Muslims will never be united!
A clear analysis of the situation is necessary before taking action. Look at the past, the present and the future. Before looking at the past, let us ask a few simple questions. Can one billion people be defeated by ten terrorists with heinous designs? Let us remember one physically frail man who stood against the mighty British Empire with no weapons in his hand? Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian nation, won by the power of his ideas and ideals. But he was defeated by the rise of communalism. At the time of independence and soon afterwards, the Indian nation ignored him and ultimately killed him. The virulent communalism brought his demise. The payback has been coming in various stages and the Mumbai attack of 2008 can also be viewed as just another one of them.
Gandhiji was against communalism and partition of the country. He was against hatred and violence. His ways influenced many great leaders of the world. But Indian politicians soon started to deviate from the path shown by him. He opposed the creation of the monstrous entity called Pakistan which was based on religion. Only a few other countries including Israel are similarly formed and face many contradictions and difficulties due to their inherently absurd foundations. For example, Israel is trying to define who is Jewish?
Pakistan does not know who is a real Muslim? Muslims are fighting and killing Muslims inside Pakistan. Yet the struggle for Kashmir continues and they want Kashmiri Muslims in the mix.
Had Indians accepted Gandiji’s ideas of religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence, a whole lot of problems in the Indian sub-continent could have been avoided. This is not to say that other problems like corruption, poverty, exploitation etc. would have gone away. But two nuclear armed neighbors coming to near war situations is by far the greatest threat to the subcontinent.
If religion is not at the root of this problem, then the only other reason is military occupation and suppression. With Chandrayaan in orbit and all the scientific advances and globalization, India has reached a stage where Gandhian ideas of tolerance and peaceful co-existence can be implemented from a position of strength. If you follow that path, the present situation offers a wonderful opportunity to defeat terrorism and correct the grave mistake of the past.
Let India, Pakistan and perhaps Bangladesh recombine into a single entity with distributed power base like the European Union. In that case, only the Union government will have defense and finance and rest of the states will have a lot of autonomy. The nuclear arms will be controlled by the union government and the Western nations do not have to worry about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Gandhiji’s dream was a multi religious, multiethnic, free and prosperous united India. The present situation gives the possibility of uniting the Indian subcontinent of Gandhiji’s dream.
A lot of work must be done to achieve this dream. First step has to be the mass mobilization for unity. The religious fanatics must be neutralized by proper media blitz and education. Open debates and proper mobilization of the public opinion are essential as starting points of such a “revolution” in the subcontinent. Many people will say that it is impossible. Similar reservations were present during Gandhiji’s time. But in the fast developing world, regimes are changing under public pressure. Once people have a will, it is possible to bring about change. So, why not try it out?
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