| Published on 23-09-2008 In General | | Viewed 2421 times | Written by Girish Nikam | | A Muslim? Must be a terrorist, A Christian? Must be a proselytiser! |
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The events in the last one week from Delhi to Karnataka have brought to the fore again one particularly dangerous tendency which we as a nation seem to be afflicted with. Jumping to conclusions.
If one keeps one's ears open and alert while walking in a park, down the street or in a market place, one can hear the way people keep jumping to conclusions. It is seen in a more macabre form if one browses through the net and various news web sites, and reads the insane and highly provocative comments.
Even when you talk to colleagues in your work place or overhear conversations, nowadays it is full of people jumping to conclusions. "All Muslims 'may' not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims", is one of the pet theories of people who feel that India is being run over by Muslims. "May" is a concession shown grudgingly. How does one come to this conclusion? A question like this if asked will draw ire and glares, which clearly says, "You pseudo-secular b----d grrr, you are also part of this conspiracy".
The other day a mail landed in the Gmail inbox, from an ex-student. "Do you know most of the terrorists caught after the Delhi blasts are from Azamgarh, which has produced most wanted criminals like Abu Salem, Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel? Now what do you think about Muslim miscreants from Azamgarh?". The last line, the question, is obviously almost accusatory in tone.
Now look at some of the conclusions the sender of the mail has jumped into. "most of the terrorists caught", he says. Even before the investigations are complete, even when there are so many contradictions between the UP, Gujarat and Delhi police about who is the mastermind and who was behind which blast, our friend has come to the conclusion that "terrorists" have been caught! There is no iota of doubt left in the minds of many that they are terrorists, many of whom are studious students with high marks in their previous exams. And "Muslim miscreants of Azamgarh". So all the Muslims of Azamgarh have now been dubbed as "miscreants"!
One can understand an uninformed or semi-informed ordinary citizen with the burden of inherited biases towards the minorities jumping to conclusions this way. But how does one stomach these biases popping up on your TV screens with alarming regularity. "Two terrorists killed, two more terrorists escape", the TV screens went berserk all through that morning and day when the encounter in Jamia Nagar in Delhi took place. "Two terrorists killed"? "Two more terrorists escape"?? There was not even that minimum and basic journalistic caution employed, which has taught us all, that till someone is proved guilty, one has to use the word "suspected" and "alleged". But no such journalistic niceties for our TV channels. Sorry, such niceties will spoil the excitement, you see.
On the other hand, deep down south in Karnataka, we have been witnessing how the Christians are being terrorized by sister organisations of the ruling BJP, like the Bajrang Dal, Sri Rama sena, VHP and others. But never has anyone come to the conclusion that "terrorists" are involved. They are of course the "soldiers", who are trying to protect their religion from being overridden by Christian proselytisers.
Pray, how many Hindus have been proselytized, against their will (the law bans conversions against the will, not willing conversions)?
None of these organisations, who are going berserk, under the benign gaze of the Government in Karnataka, are willing to give authentic figures. Incidentally, Christian population which was 1.91 percent of the total population in Karnataka in 1991 has remained the same according to 2001 census. And its decadal growth rate at 16.1 percent is lesser than the state average of 17.5 percent.
So where is the proof of large scale conversions into Christianity, as claimed by even the Ministers and Chief Minister? Yet, many people are jumping to conclusions that all the violence against Christians are a result of conversions.
The Bajrang Dal goons who make these claims of conversions and justify letting themselves loose in the State and are even loudly proclaiming on TV that they are responsible for the attacks, are not arrested. When they are finally and reluctantly arrested, after the Centre threatens with two directives, Mahendra Kumar, the chief Bajrangi goon, is let off on bail two days later. Yeddyurappa talks of employing anti-goonda act against those creating trouble, but before that his brother-in-arms, Mahendra Kumar is already released.
But those who are jumping to conclusions about the Azamgarh boys don't see any conspiracy in this. On the other hand, Yeddyurappa and his bosses in Delhi see what's happening against the Christians in Karnataka as a conspiracy against his Government. Pray who is conspiring against Yeddyurappa? The Bajrangi, Mahendra Kumar and his ilk??
Obviously, from Advani or Yeddyurappa or his Home Minister, V.S.Acharya's point of view, law for Mahendra Kumar and his goons has to presume that they are innocent before they are proved guilty. Perfectly alright. But when Mahendra Kumar goes on TV and confesses he and his goons are behind the attacks, a Karnataka minister says he said it in an "emotional outburst" and didn't mean it.
But when it comes to the boys of Azamgarh, the extensive leaks by the police, about these boys having "confessed" about their role in the blasts across the country, is good enough to dub them "terrorists". Any doubts being raised about these "confessions" are immediately dubbed as pseudo-secular balderdash, and vote bank politics!
Just to set the record straight finally, one is not attempting to make out a case for terrorists who have gone on killing innocent people. But as a nation if only we can wait before jumping to conclusions, we would have controlled a lot of these terrorist acts. Let not the burden of proving their innocence be on one community, by presuming their guilt. While the majority community expects its innocence to be presumed until it is found guilty.
Let us not presume that if Christian churches and prayer halls are attacked, it was because they asked for it. And if the Muslims talk about being targeted, profiled and stereotyped, they are imagining it and are suffering from a sense of victimhood. What one is asking for is that let law be applied equally and fairly. And let the dictum, "innocent until proven guilty" be applied to all. And let's not jump to conclusions conveniently. Is that too much to ask? |
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