MODERN INDIA AND THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
These lines are composed by the great Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. In these lines, he has depicted the pain of a subordinate country, a country that has been subjugated by another one and made a slave. The poem delivers the message of humanity, it tells us there is love for truth and knowledge, it tells us the history of Indian culture of devotion to truth and knowledge, and requests the Supreme Lord to maintain a graceful gaze on the country. There is nothing in this poem that hurts any religion nor there is something that hurts the sentiments of the religious group of any kind. And everyone excepts this except……., The Indian Muslims. For them, it does hurt their religious sentiments because the words used in this poem do not match the Islamic culture they want.
It has also been clearly explained in the constitution of India that India is a secular country. According to it, the state will not promote any religion, and the government will treat all religious groups equally and provide them with equal opportunities.
Islam is an imperialist ideology of Arabia and has its own terminology.
Most of the Muslims in India feel that the secular constitution of India is against the basic spirit of Islam. Most Muslims believe that the so-called BOOK OF HEAVEN ~ AASMANI KITAB (KORAN) is supreme.
1 .THEY WANT FREEDOM FROM INDIAN CONSTITUTION:-
The Muslims of India want any dispute to be resolved according to Islamic law, which is not possible in a progressive, democracy. Imagine that tomorrow if all religions like – Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, and Buddhist start demanding special rights for their religions, then what kind of disorder will spread in the society. The entire constitutional structure of India will collapse and the whole country will become a victim of anarchy. To keep the country united, it is a must to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution. Muslims believe that the constitution is man-made and they draw inspiration from the Koran. Not only this, Muslim organizations and religious leaders also advocate for the followers of other religions to accept the supremacy of Islam.
2. THEY WANT FREEDOM FROM NON-ISLAMIC RULE
Many Muslims of India are still living under the illusion that other Muslim countries will help them, especially the Gulf countries, in converting India into a Muslim nation. Good education, clean drinking water, and better hospitals are never a part of Muslim demands. A true Muslim feels that the root of all his problems is the rule of non-Islamic people, as a result, he opposes the democratic system and democratic government every time, everywhere.
MADARASAS:-
Maulana has the right to solve people’s doubts on religious-related issues. All these Maulanas, Maulvis are educated in madarasas. The curriculum of madarasas has been running unchanged since the time of Aurangzeb(a ruthless Islamic ruler in the history of India who is known to have destroyed tonnes of Hindu temples, built mosques from temple ruins, and imposed jizya tax on Hindus.) In addition to religious education, madarasas also claim to have modern education for show, but that is only to deceive the government agencies. In fact, madrasas are just the nurseries of fanatical ideology which are only creating hatred in the society.
They believe that Sharia is the only solution to all the problems.
Most of the Muslims of India describe Aurangzeb’s rule as the Golden Age of Islam. Muslims are of the view that according to Islamic law, Islamic state must be established over India because the native Hindus here are a defeated civilization, an inferior race and it is necessary to have superior rule over them.
They try to show that they are more Muslim than actual Muslims:-
When women from some Muslim countries were protesting against the mandatory requirement to wear the niqab, Muslim girls from the Indian state of Karnataka were protesting across the state demanding permission to wear burqa in classrooms.
Hamid Ansari, the 12th vice president of India, had also advocated the establishment of Islamic Courts in every city of India. How dangerous such expressions can prove to be for a country, made by a person who has held one of the highest constitutional posts of the democratic system. Isn’t this the formation of a parallel government on the basis of religion? How justified is the demand for a separate judiciary on the basis of Islamic laws in a democratic country? Will it be limited to the separate judiciary only? Recently, the Madras Court has expressed concern over Muslim intolerance. In one incident, people from areas where Muslims were in majority wanted that other non-Islamic religious activities such as religious processions of Hindus should be banned as it hurts their religious sentiments.
Can the country, which has been a victim of Islamic terrorism for centuries, face Islamic terrorism again? The Muslims of India should understand one thing clearly that after the partition of India-Pakistan on religious grounds, the Muslims who have accepted to live in India, have to accept the democratic system of India. India is not an Islamic nation. And two types of law systems, that too one based on the interests of a single religious group can’t coexist in a country, it is everyone’s responsibility to maintain the supremacy of the constitution.
TO INDIAN MUSLIMS I WANT TO ASK ONLY ONE QUESTION. in the recent all-India Muslim conference, why did they not open their mouths on the Kashmir issue? Why did you not condemn the action of Pakistan? These things create doubts in the mind of people. So as a friend of Muslims, I want to say a word and it is the duty of a good friend to speak frankly. It is your duty now to sail in the same boat and sink or swim together. I want to tell you very frankly that you cannot ride on two horses. Select one horse whichever you like best. Those who want to go to Pakistan can go there and live in peace! Let us live here in peace to work for ourselves……
Sardar Patel 6th January 1948
Sardar Patel’s words are equally true even today. Nation is supreme. And respecting the sovereignty of the nation is a must. The Muslims of India will have to accept the nation as paramount.
Originally published by the author, Nitin Singh on 4th June, 2022 @ https://nithinks.com/2022/06/04/what-does-freedom-mean-to-indian-muslims/
Nitin Singh
- What Does Freedom Mean to Indian Muslims? - June 6, 2022