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Journalism of Courage
With jihad having got unnervingly close to the 8216;Z8217; security boundaries of Lutyens8217; Delhi, terrorism has finally become the subject of high political concern. This is good.nbsp;And if our intelligence agencies and policing systems get the overhaul they badly need, it is better still. But meanwhile, a new crisis is developing unnoticed that, in the end, could be as dangerous as jihad. This is the growing disconnect between Hindus and Muslims in cities, towns and villages across India. It widens with every new terrorist attack. Having seen, up close, the vicious atmosphere that preceded the demolition of the Babri Masjid, I would go so far as to say that not since those terrible days have Hindus and Muslims been so far apart in the way they view this country.
Indian Muslims see themselves as the real victims of jihad, not just in India but everywhere. I have met educated, sophisticated Muslims who believe that jihad, worldwide, is a creation of America8217;s propaganda machine. If I listed here the Indian Muslims I have met who believe 9/11 was an 8216;inside job8217;, the list would be longer than this column. Osama bin Laden did not have the capability to plan such an operation, they argue, but Mossad did. That is why thousands of Jews stayed away from work that day. It is a view taken straight from the Arab street.
I was shocked when I heard my old friend, Mahesh Bhatt, announce on national television the day after the Delhi bombings that he saw no difference between what happened in Delhi and what was happening to Christians in Orissa. But, a worryingly large number of ordinary, non-jihadi Muslims feel that local Islamist terrorism is only a reaction to the injustice of the Indian state. If the state were even-handed there would be no problem, they say; it cannot be considered terrorism when Hindus are killed and a mere law and order problem when Muslims or Christians are the victims.
To the average Hindus this kind of talk is not just bizarre but treasonous. They see jihadi terrorism as the biggest problem they face as they go about the daily business of going to work, shopping for groceries or taking the children to school. They are enraged at the inability of political leaders to win the fight against terrorism and believe it is because of the 8216;Muslim vote8217; that the terrorists are not dealt with more harshly. Theynbsp;believe that the aim of jihad is to destroy what India has achieved economically and to divide the country once more in the name of Islam.
The only thing that Hindus and Muslims share is a distrust of the government and the police. Neither community believes that the police catch the right people and neither has any faith in the intelligence systems the police rely on. In this dangerously fraught atmosphere of communal suspicion and hatred, we have our 24-hour news channels adding oil to the blaze with inaccurate, immature reporting. An example of this is the way in which the 8216;atrocities8217; against Christians in Orissa have been reported. If you went by what you were told on your favourite news channel, you would think that Hindu fanatics from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have been allowed to rampage through the forests of Kandhamal, driving thousands of Christians from their homes and churches.The reality is that the fight is between Adivasis and Dalits and it is an old one based on the Dalits having done better economically because of converting to Christianity.
When it comes to reporting jihad there are divisions in the media now. Two camps exist. If you belong to the 8216;secular8217; camp you try to understand the grievances of the Indian Mujahideen and the reasons why the Kashmiris hate us and love Pakistan. If like your humble columnist, you despise Islamism and do not believe that the Bajrang Dal is a mirror image of the Indian Mujahideen, then you are 8216;communal8217;. The media divide is healthy. The Hindu-Muslim divide is not.
