Sunday, September 14, 2008

How an Intelligent Indian Muslim thinks ?

After the recent blasts in Delhi, I tried to look around for any comments or reactions from the Indian muslim community. So, I came across this interesting website: http://indianmuslims.in/

First, see the funniest part of it, in the “About Us” section, this is what they say …

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mission Statement:
A platform that engages all Indians in a constructive dialog on issues concerning Indian Muslims

If you are an Indian Muslim and interested in writing for this blog, please drop us a mail at editor[at]indianmuslims.in.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite evidently, on one hand they want to engage all Indians BUT only allow Indian Muslim to blog on their site !

Now, some of the excerpts (italized) one of the leading blogs on “terrorism” written in the aftermath of Delhi blasts.:-

Blog Name:- It’s the Intelligence, Stupid!

First, blog blames the Intelligence agencies ...

"The latest terrorist act in Delhi killing more than 20 people and claimed by ‘Indian Mujahideen’ just reinforces and reminds that the whole way in which these investigations have been pursued till now are completely ineffective."

Second, as far as strong anti-terror law is concerned,  blog says they are NOT needed ...

"Narendra Modi and Sheila Dixit have called for more stringent anti-terrorist laws. It is a useless demand and any such law will end up subjugating innocents more as we have seen under POTA and TADA than stopping the terrorists. Innumerable detentions throughout India after each blast has shown most of those apprehended have nothing to do with the blasts."

Third, blog suggest some measures to improve working of Intelligence agencies ...

"The Indian intelligence system needs to build contacts with the local Muslim communities, with the imams of mosques and community leaders with honour and respect. They need to bring them on-board and give a sense to the community that we are all in it together. They also need to ensure that the focus is on stopping unlawful activities rather than making the whole community suspect."

My comments are as below one each of the above :-

First, 

If we don't listen to WHAT Intelligence agencies need, then how can we blame them ! NSA says that anti-terror law is needed. Remember these were his views before the Delhi blasts. 

Second,

You are politicizing the “war against terrorism”, Why do you associate politicians to it ? DO NOT POLITICIZE THE MATTER …. I say don’t hear what the elected representatives say! But go ahead and ask from the law enforcement agencies and if they say that anti-terror law isn’t needed then so be it.

As far as efficiency of these laws goes, I must remind here that 100 of the 129 finally accused were found to be guilty and were convicted by the specially designated TADA court. Read here . I was listening to the then Police Commissioner of Mumbai during ’93 Bomb Blasts during one of the discussion after the '93 Blasts verdict was announced in 2006 and he was strongly advocating the need for stringent laws and said that 100 out of 129 means that TADA had one of best conviction rates, without which the terrorist would have easily escaped .

Third,

Unlawful activities” … it is not some petty crimes which we are discussing here my friend, it is the anti-national terrorist activities which are being discussed.

Is the above suggestion practical? You want the Intelligence to build publically visible contacts with the Muslim leaders … They do make contacts within the muslim community covertly and you want to steal away the stealthiest weapon of covertness from Intelligence agencies. Which side are you standing ? I am sorry to say that you don't sound naïve but certainly foolish …

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

We actually do engage fellow Indians and more than half of the comments at Indian Muslims Blog are made by non-Muslims. We feature guest posts by non-Muslims on a very regular basis and currently there are four posts on the homepage by people like Yoginder Sikand, Ram Puniyani and Mayank Austen Soofi. We have featured other authors in the past too.

Thanks,
Mohib Ahmad
Editor, Indian Muslims Blog

Rishabh Kaushal said...

Hello Mohib,

Thanks for information, though I would suggest that you could allow non-Muslims as regular bloggers rather than as guests.

Regards,
Rishabh.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rishabh,

Your original point was about not sticking to our mission statement vis-a-vis engaging fellow Indians. That is certainly not the case.

I have made a note of your suggestion.

Best,
Mohib