New Delhi, October 14: Muslim community leaders are a bit relieved — Maoists seem to have replaced extremists as the country’s enemy No. 1.
“We are glad the attention has shifted from Islamic terrorists to Maoists, at least for the time being. This will save many innocent Muslim youths from being picked up in the name of terror,” said Zafarul Islam Khan, president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an apex forum of Muslim organisations.
“The Indian state took a long time to realise the potential threat posed by the Maoists as they were too busy with the so-called threat posed by Islamic terrorism. It’s a good sign as far as the Muslim community is concerned,” Khan, who also edits the magazine Milli Gazette, added.
But Khan said the community was sympathetic towards the issues raised by the Maoists. “We don’t think the Maoists are anti-national…. Their modus operandi may be wrong but demanding land for the landless is no crime.”
The violent measures being adopted by the government, he said, were equally wrong. “The Maoists can be tackled only if the issues raised by them are tackled.”
Another community leader, Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind general secretary A.H. Noomani, said the Maoists were “fighting a war against social inequalities”.
“What they raise is a big issue in the Indian social context. But the Jamiat does not agree with the path of violence they have resorted to,” Noomani said, adding that Islamic terrorists, too, have made the same mistake.
“Violence has never been a solution to any issue. Both Islamic terrorists and Maoists should realise this,” Noomani, who represents one of the largest and moderate Muslim groups in the country, said.
Mujtaba Farooqh of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a radical outfit, said Maoists as well as Muslims were “victims” of a state, which is “not bold enough to defy America, which considers Muslims and poor people its enemies”. He said half the country lives in poverty and the Maoists were just “letting out” the frustration of society.
Farooqh said the Malegaon arrests had relieved the community a bit as they “did establish that every terrorist need not be a Muslim”. Among those arrested for the Malegaon blasts is a sadhvi.
Tasleem Rehmani, of the Muslim Political Council, said he did not agree with the move to brand Maoists as terrorists. “Demanding equality for all or land for the landless does not make one a terrorist though the method they have used may be wrong,” Rehmani said.
“The state always wants a villain so that it can divert attention from issues like poverty and social injustices. At first it was Khalistanis, then came Islamic terrorists, now it is the turn of the Maoists.”
-Agencies