Indian Muslims Don't Need Certificates on Patriotism or Islam

Hindutva supporters and Pakistani nationalists both view Indian Muslims through their own majoritarian biases.

During the recent Indo-Pak conflict, Indian Muslims faced attacks from Hindutvawadis as well as Pakistani nationalists.

(Vibhushita/The Quint)

Being an Indian Muslim isn't easy even during an India-Pakistan cricket match. So, what is it like to be an Indian Muslim during an armed conflict between the two countries?

Consider these events that took place during the last few weeks in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and during Operation Sindoor.

• Colonel Sophia Qureshi won praise for the competent way in which she put forward India's point of view during Operation Sindoor. And yet she was called "sister of terrorists" by Kunwar Vijay Shah, a BJP leader and minister in the Madhya Pradesh government.

• Qari Mohammad Iqbal, a respected resident of Poonch, was killed in Pakistani shelling and yet he was called a "terrorist who has been eliminated" by Indian news channels.

• A doctor in Kolkata refused to treat a pregnant Muslim woman and even said that her "Hindus should kill" her husband.

There were over 100 hate incidents against Muslims in recent weeks in which the Pahalgam attack was cited as a pretext, according to a report by Association for the Protection of Civil Rights.

Yes, the terrorists at Pahalgam did target Hindus based on their religion. But India stood united in condemning it and in supporting Operation Sindoor. However, there were some who used the Pahalgam attack to spread hatred, as is clear from the surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes.

It didn't matter to them that Syed Adil Hussain was killed by terrorists trying to save Hindus at Pahalgam, BSF sub-inspector Mohammad Imtiyaz was killed in Pakistan shelling and Indian Army Havildar Jhantu Ali Shaikh was killed fighting insurgents in Kashmir.

Sadly, no matter how many Muslims sacrifice their lives, some people will never consider them equal citizens.

Trolling from Pakistan

On the other hand, Indian Muslims were also at the receiving end of hate comments from Pakistan-based trolls. Some of them used words like "murtad" for Indian Muslims, that is a term used for Muslims who have left Islam. A few others expressed satisfaction at the attacks on Muslims in India.

This isn't the first time such a trend has been observed. After any lynching or hate crime against Muslims in India, it is quite common to see Pakistan based trolls posting messages like "Thank you Jinnah".

Another quote attributed to MA Jinnah that Pakistani trolls often throw at Indian Muslims is "Muslims who are opposing Pakistan will spend rest of their lives proving loyalty to India".

It turns out that Jinnah never said this. There is no primary source - Jinnah's speeches, letters or public statements - that features this quote. Prominent scholars who have written on that period such as Ayesha Jalal and Ishtiaq Ahmad, make no reference of this quote.

A great deal of what Pakistani nationalists and Hindutvawadis believe about Indian Muslims, comprises such elaborate fictions and fantasies that reinforce their own beliefs.

It seems they are themselves suffering from insecurity regarding their own identity.

Be it pro-Hindutva people dancing in front of mosques during Hindu festivals or Pakistanis saying “Thank you, Jinnah” after an Indian Muslim's lynching - both are signs of this insecurity.

Indian Muslims' Patriotism

The truth is that both Hindutva supporters and Pakistani nationalists don't understand Indian Muslims. They make assumptions about them based on their own majoritarian viewpoints.

The Hindutva brigade wants Muslims to completely shed their identity and accept their viewpoint in totality. Sections of Pakistani nationalists, on the other hand, see Indian Muslims as nothing but sidekicks of Hindutva, perennially trying to prove their patriotism.

Nothing exemplifies this more than their view of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. Owaisi has been a hated figure for the Hindutva side until he said "Pakistan Murdabad" at a rally in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, which sparked an outpouring of support from the pro-Hindutva side. Pakistani nationalists on the other hand went to the extent of calling Owaisi a "murtad" and a "closet Hindu".

Asaduddin Owaisi received a great deal of hate from Pakistanis.

(Asaduddin Owaisi/Facebook)

I have no right to speak on behalf of 20 crore Indian Muslims. I would only like to make a limited point - that both sides don't understand that patriotic traditions of Indian Muslims pre-date both Hindutva as well as the idea of Pakistan.

There is an important story in this context, from the land where Islam first arrived in the subcontinent - Kerala. Kerala is the place where, according to local accounts, a king - Cheraman Perumal - is said to have witnessed the splitting of the moon by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and decided to embrace Islam. He is said to have tried to go to Mecca but died on the way. There is a grave by his name in Salalah in present-day Oman.

But the story we want to discuss is of a king in Kerala 900 years later. This was a time when the threat of cruel Portuguese invaders loomed large over India's western coast. The Portuguese had a notorious history of massacres and destroying temples and mosques wherever they went.

Kerala’s Malabar region was then ruled by the Zamorin, a Hindu king.

The Muslim Ulema of Malabar declared a Jihad against the Portuguese and urged Muslims to fight under the Zamorin's leadership. It is significant that a Hindu king was made the leader of a Jihad.

The explanation given was that the Zamorin was a just and wise ruler and had the qualities for leading such a war.

The Zamorin, too, reciprocated their loyalty.

When the Portuguese tried to blackmail the Zamorin by demanding that he expel Arab origin Muslims from his kingdom, he is said to have replied that these Muslims are not outsiders but natives and there was no question of expelling them.

(These details are from Mahmood Kooria's work 'An Abode of Islam under a Hindu King: Circuitous Imagination of Kingdoms among Muslims of Sixteenth-Century Malabar').

This was a time when neither Hindutva nor Pakistan existed. Right from this period through 1857 revolt and the freedom struggle, for many Indian Muslims, the love of the land stemmed from their faith.

This remains the case even now. In mosques across the country, it is common to hear the following duas during Friday prayers, "Allah hamary mulk ki hifazat farma" and "Allah hamary mulk mey Aman kaayam farma" (May Allah protect our country and May Allah ensure peace in our country).

In a gathering where everyone present is Muslim, it clearly has nothing to do with winning the majority's approval.

The main point is that Indian Muslims don’t need certificates of nationalism or of religion.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Indian Muslims are Indian enough to be killed in Pakistani shelling in Poonch but Muslim enough to be targeted in hate crimes by the Hindutva brigade or harassment by the police like Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad.