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Aren't Muslims Indians?

V C Bhaskaran

All of a sudden, the report of a judicial commission has become sacrosanct. That is the impression one gets from the hue and cry made over the summary rejection of the Srikrishna Commission report.

One certainly has a duty to raise one's voice against the communal frenzy that might result from the partisan attitude of the Joshi government. The Babri Masjid demolition was bad enough. Worse was the carnage and conflagration that ensued. It was simply a case of total failure of leadership. And it was the Congress party that ruled both at the Centre and in Bombay when the riots broke out.

To point the accusing finger solely at the Shiv Sena is sheer abdication of responsibility by all concerned. What was the Sudhakar Naik government of the Congress doing in Bombay when the city was burning? And what was the role played by Sharad Pawar, then defence minister under P V Narasimha Rao? In such emergencies, the armed forces are supposed to come to the rescue of the civilian authorities. Perhaps the response was inadequate or untimely.

It is generally believed that the Shiv Sena members led the riot teams to burn and loot property belonging to Muslims. It cannot be denied that nothing was done to prevent Muslims from expressing their anger in a violent form. We, as citizens of this country, have to hang our heads in shame. We are first Indians and then, and only then, anything else -- Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Parsi. The Mahatma often used to say that he was a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Sikh etc. The followers of the Mahatma, notably, the Congress party, chose to ignore that great son of India, when power came into their hands.

It cannot be denied that goons and policemen under Congress rule perpetrated the most brutal attacks on Muslims during the riots. One only needs to pursue the inquiry reports on the rioting in Jamshedpur, Bhiwandi and Jalgoan, and later in Maharashtra to know this.

The reports contain graphic description of policemen committing terrible atrocities on Muslim women during the Bhiwandi and Jalgaon riots. It was the Congress in power during that time. So also during the Jamshedpur riots. The Bihar military police and the provincial armed constabulary of Uttar Pradesh came to be identified as symbols of atrocity.

The same divisive mindset is being fostered even now. Aren't Muslims Indians?

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