By Md. Ali, twoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Ayodhya verdict delivered by the Allahabad High Court on September 30 was judicial preference of faith over law and belief over fact, which has ultimately paved the way for a theocratic state, said Navaid Hamid, prominent Muslim thinker and also a member of National Integration Council (NIC).
Speaking to TwoCircles.net at his office at Gali Qasimjan in Old Delhi, Mr. Hamid said that at this stage the matter is not Hindus vs. Muslims or Mandir vs. Masjid; instead it is state vs. faith. Now it’s the duty of the Indian state to intervene in this whole issue and correct what is going to be a disastrous for the secular ethos of India.
For Mr. Hamid, the verdict is disastrous for the pluralism and diversity of Indian culture precisely because it has legalized the Hindutva and Brahmanical way of looking at culture, history and nation.
He came down heavily upon the response by the government to the Ayodhya verdict. He calls it no less than “abdication of its responsibility” by the Indian state which can have “implication beyond its immediate realm.”
What should Muslims do now?
First of all, Mr. Hamid suggests that the “entire Muslim leadership should get united in pressurizing the government of India to intervene in this matter” because he sees “some scope of government’s intervention in this case like many other precedents from history and recent past.”
“The government has adopted a proactive role on the issue of honor killing, Sati and many other issues. This case is a fitting instance which urgently deserves intervention by the Union government,” pointed out this resident of Old Delhi.
As per Mr. Hamid, second option for the community is to approach the Supreme Court as the AIMPLB has rightly decided but very importantly added that there they should “challenge the basis of this judgment, which is faith and not evidence.”
He pointed out that it’s very important to challenge the very basis of this verdict because once the apex court annuls the basis, the whole judgment will collapse.
Dialogue is euphemism for surrender
Mr. Hamid doesn’t favor dialogue with the Hindu groups at this stage because for him dialogue at this stage would be asking for “surrender in disguise.”
Hitting at those who want to move on and favor surrendering of the one-third land, Mr. Hamid replied that “instead of surrendering on the name of moving on or because of fear of communal violence, it’s better that we surrender, saying that we are surrendering the land because we don’t have trust in the Judiciary”, the only institution which was the hope for justice.
Verdict anti-Dalits, women and minorities
Mr. Hamid considered the Ayodhya verdict against the interests of all marginalized groups be they Dalits, women or minorities, because he considered the judicial pronouncements as a culmination of Brahmanical and Hindutva approach towards the idea of Justice.
Political leadership has failed Muslims
Mr. Hamid, who is also Secretary of South Asian Council for Minorities (SACM), was not very happy with the political leadership of Muslims.
Navaid Hamid
Mincing no words, he said that no political party wants any mass Muslim leader among Muslims because it is against their interests. So the parties make sure that they don’t groom any Muslim leader which can have identity and politics of his or her own.
According to him, in keeping with their interests, the political parties choose, select, use and throw some people with small political clout and a Muslim name.
On the other hand for the so called political representatives of Muslim, the community has never been the priority but the interests of their political masters are, further added Mr. Hamid.
A silver line
But this Muslim thinker hasn’t lost hope and believes that there is a silver lining even in this entire rather very grim and disturbing pattern of events; which is the educated emerging class of youngsters.
“In a decade and two you will see that Indian Muslim and their politics are coming of age,” Mr. Hamid told this correspondent with a smile and twinkle in his eyes, betraying the overwhelming emotions of his heart.