Muslim problem is about justice

Some of the killers were jailed briefly for the crimes they admit to on Tehelka8217;s hidden camera, but apparently had no difficulty in obtaining bail. Why? There have been many, many reports on the Gujarat violence. Commissions of inquiry continue to ponder over various angles of the violence that began with the attack on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station in which kar sevaks returning from a pilgrimage to Ayodhya were killed. The commissions will probably continue pondering for years before they produce voluminous, unreadable reports, but what about justice? When can we expect to see killers in jail? When can we expect to see some hanged? Why does it always take so long?

Next week will mark the 24th anniversary of the massacre of more than 3,000 Sikhs in a pogrom that was to become Modi8217;s model after Godhra. Nearly all the killers walk free and remain faceless because in the days before 24-hour news channels the Indian state made an art out of ensuring that justice was never done after communal violence.

Governments changed, prime ministers came and went, and still justice remained elusive because the state protected itself by rising above political differences.

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Hashimpura massacre in which more than 70 Muslim men some children, some very old were rounded up in a Meerut bazaar, taken to a lonely spot on the banks of the Ganga canal and shot to death in the truck into which they had been crammed. The killers were policemen. Nobody has been punished.

Nobody ever is after a communal riot, which is the main reason why we continued to have this kind of violence till Gujarat 2002. Then, Narendra Modi did the country a favour by not realising that television had made it impossible for the state to get away with murder and Tehelka8217;s investigation shown on Aaj Tak is proof of this.

But the question of justice remains and unless the Indian state can convince Muslims that they will not be denied justice and equal opportunity we will continue to have a Muslim problem.

It is not just about the punishment of crimes against the community but also about social justice. What is needed is a sincere and dedicated effort to help ordinary Muslims out of the morass of illiteracy and poverty in which the vast majority remain mired. In areas where the problem is acute what will make a real difference are schools, skills training programmes and economic assistance. The task is massive and requires honesty and commitment. But because this is something our political class 8212; whether secular or communal 8212; is incapable of, what we get instead are the political games in which the winner secures the Muslim vote bank.

The Sachar Committee and its report are typical of this approach. It recommends sops in the form of jobs in the police and administration which are unlikely to do more than help the Hindutva case. What also helps the Hindutva case is our 8216;secular8217; government8217;s reluctance to deal firmly with Islamist terrorism because it fears that this will further alienate a community that is already alienated.

This amounts to admitting that every Indian Muslim is secretly a jihadi in his heart. He is not. But the jihad has an allure that becomes irresistable to those who see India as a country in which there are one set of rules and one kind of justice for Hindus and another kind for Muslims. This perception exists and will only change when the Indian state proves that it does not take sides, not whether it is secular or communal. Both words have become meaningless with overuse. What is important is that we acknowledge that we have a Muslim problem and it is in India8217;s interest that we solve it.