The maulana and US intelligence

Given the US8217;s current preoccupations in the arc of crisis, my submission is that the denial of entry to Kalbe Sadiq is, from America8217;s point of view, more consequential than the withdrawal of visa to Narendra Modi. Since iftars at the White House and multi-billion dollar PR efforts, including brand new Arabic channels, are designed to contain anger at unthinking US behaviour in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, insensitivity and carelessness with such respected and harmless individuals as Maulana Kalbe Sadiq nullifies whatever effort is made at damage control. In crude, monetary terms, millions of dollars worth of PR has been wasted with this one avoidable insult.

The Chicago mishap is part of the exponential growth in collateral damage the US continues to inflict, indirectly on itself, in the absence of any or faulty intelligence.

Since we are coping with the world8217;s greatest military power ever, catastrophically equipped with the most inadequate intelligence system, let me place Maulana Kalbe Sadiq in a suitable perspective. Since the early 18th century, Lucknow has been a centre of Shia Islam with strong links with other Shia centres like Mashad, Qom, Najaf, Karbala and Samara. Since the nawabs of Awadh were patrons of Indian arts, composite culture became the hallmark of Awadh culture which did not leave the great maulanas untouched.

Maulana, in fact, is a misunderstood title. There were distinguished families of 8220;ulemas8221; learned ones, and Kalbe Sadiq happens to be from one such family. In Lucknow8217;s cultural ambience the 8220;aalim8221;, poet, hakeem, administrator, landlord and sundry 8220;genteels8221; were occasionally part of the same social group where philosophy, theology, history, poetry were all strung together, with extra care on diction, as part of the most exquisite art of conversation. That is where Kalbe Sadiq comes from.

A more soft-spoken and secular person one will have difficulty finding. In recent years, he has dedicated himself to education at all levels and for all communities, with one special emphasis on education 8212; for Muslim women. He has incurred the wrath of the traditional Muslim leaders for his liberal views. He has also been a bit of an NRI maulana, delivering sermons during the month of Moharram in all parts of the world. Knowing him as I do, I do not see how he can do any harm on his foreign circuit. Indeed, his is the sort of moderation the Americans need most.

Naturally, there has been considerable anger in Lucknow and distant Shia centres the Americans are trying to comprehend. Najaf, for instance. His advice to his friends has been not to react to the Chicago incident. 8220;Americans have every right to implement their laws,8221; he said, 8220;I shall know why the law has been applied to me only when I return.8221; He returns to Lucknow after a few days in London, Geneva and Dubai.

As evidence of Lucknow being an important centre of Shia Islam, it is often cited that ancestors of Iran8217;s Ayotallah Khomeini were from Kintur near Barabanki. Those dealing with Iran in the MEA may like to refresh memories about an amusing initiative South Block mounted in 1979. When the Shah of Iran was ousted by Khomeini, New Delhi, located a maulana from Lucknow who claimed to be Khomeini8217;s representative. Vajpayee was the foreign minister of the Janata government.

A high-powered delegation under the late Socialist leader, Asoke Mehta, Badruddin Tayyabji and the maulana was dispatched to Tehran. As soon as the delegation was in the ayotallah8217;s presence, Khomeini showered the choicest curses on the maulana. The great Indian initiative had collapsed because the Iranians feared the nascent Islamic revolution would be vulnerable if any doubts were spread about Khomeini8217;s indigenous antecedents. New Delhi paid the price for having put together an initiative in a tearing hurry.

Americans, too, have over the past decade been lurching from one mistake to another in the Muslim world. They should have been careful not to transform an innocuous maulana8217;s journey into a problem for themselves. And all because of inadequate of intelligence.