Aliran Monthly

40 Pages·2012·1.9 MB·English

PP3739/12/2006 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM4.00 / 2006:Vol.26No.6
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 1
COVER STORY
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Are we on a New Threshold?
by Johan Saravanamuttu
Sparks, fires
and civil strife
The metaphor of “sparks” and “fires” has come to
be used by scholars of ethnic relations to show how
incidents of ethnic strife could turn into violent con-
flicts such as riots and pogroms. The answer to this
perennial question would of course vary from con-
text to context, city to city, country to country, region
to region. To put the question across even more
plainly, how many sparks does it take to start a fire?
Or, how incendiary must the sparks be before a fire
would start? Needless to say, in Malaysia through-
out our modern history we have seen any number of
sparks and some major fires and near-fires in our
ethnic relations
Among the more significant events of ethnic strife
were the following: the post-war racial clashes in
1945, the 1957 Chingay riot in Penang, the 1964 ra-
cial riots in Singapore, the Hartal riots of Penang in
1967, the May 13 1969 riots of Kuala Lumpur, the
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Operasi Lalang event of 1987, the Kampong Rawa eeeeettttthhhhhnnnnniiiiiccccc cccccooooommmmmmmmmmuuuuunnnnniiiiitttttiiiiieeeeesssss uuuuunnnnndddddeeeeerrrrr TTTTTuuuuunnnnnkkkkkuuuuu AAAAAbbbbbddddduuuuulllll RRRRRaaaaahhhhhmmmmmaaaaannnnn.....
incident of 1998, and the
Kampong Medan incident of
2001.
As we head into the middle of
2006, I sense a precipitous rise in
the number of sparks in Malay-
sia’s ethnic relations. Are we on
the threshold of a fire? In the
course of this short essay I will
point to a number of recent worri-
some incidents which may give
some cause for alarm. However,
before this let me briefly review
how the character of ethnic rela-
tions may have changed over the
years and thereby also provided
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 2
EDITOR'S NOTE
Our cover story focuses on the slide in ethnic rela- C O N T E N T S
tions in Malaysia. Johan Abdullah senses a rise in
the number of worrying incidents that have affected
ethnic relations. He goes on to review how the char-
acter of ethnic relations may have changed over the
CCCCCOOOOOVVVVVEEEEERRRRR SSSSSTTTTTOOOOORRRRRYYYYY
years and provides a new context for understand-
ing ethnic relations. ••••• TTTTThhhhheeeee SSSSSllllliiiiidddddeeeee iiiiinnnnn EEEEEttttthhhhhnnnnniiiiiccccc RRRRReeeeelllllaaaaatttttiiiiiooooonnnnnsssss 22222
••••• RRRRReeeeefffffllllleeeeeccccctttttiiiiiooooonnnnn OOOOOnnnnn ttttthhhhheeeee EEEEEttttthhhhhnnnnniiiiiccccc RRRRReeeeelllllaaaaatttttiiiiiooooonnnnnsssss
To better manage ethnic relations, we need to be
CCCCCooooouuuuurrrrrssssseeeee 1111199999
aware of our own prejudices and to stretch the bor-
ders of the self. Reflecting on the controversial uni-
versity ethnic relations course guidebook, Wong FFFFFEEEEEAAAAATTTTTUUUUURRRRREEEEESSSSS
Soak Koon argues that the course should instead
••••• SSSSSeeeeecccccuuuuulllllaaaaarrrrriiiiisssssmmmmm IIIIInnnnn IIIIInnnnndddddiiiiiaaaaa 88888
stimulate critical thinking while examining the lega-
cies of history. ••••• FFFFFooooorrrrraaaaayyyyysssss IIIIInnnnntttttooooo FFFFFooooorrrrreeeeexxxxx 11111 22222
••••• PPPPPaaaaagggggaaaaarrrrr MMMMMaaaaakkkkkaaaaannnnn PPPPPaaaaadddddiiiii????? 22222 11111
There are some lessons we can learn from India
••••• BBBBBuuuuussssseeeeesssss WWWWWaaaaannnnnttttteeeeeddddd ––––– NNNNNooooottttt CCCCChhhhheeeeeaaaaappppp
whose medieval society was more religiously toler-
BBBBBuuuuusssss-----ssssstttttoooooppppp pppppooooossssstttttsssss 2222244444
ant and open, says Asghar Ali Engineer. But divide-
and-rule colonial tactics and politically divisive ••••• OOOOOiiiiilllll HHHHHaaaaabbbbbiiiiitttttsssss DDDDDiiiiieeeee HHHHHaaaaarrrrrddddd 2222299999
forces have created communal and religious divi- ••••• MMMMMooooorrrrreeeee DDDDDeeeeeccccclllllaaaaassssssssssiiiiifffffiiiiieeeeeddddd DDDDDooooocccccsssss 3333344444
sions in their competition for power, threatening
••••• TTTTThhhhheeeee IIIIInnnnnvvvvvaaaaasssssiiiiiooooonnnnn OOOOOfffff LLLLLeeeeebbbbbaaaaannnnnooooonnnnn 3333366666
India’s secularism in the process.
••••• BBBBBuuuuummmmmpppppyyyyy RRRRRoooooaaaaaddddd TTTTTooooo BBBBBaaaaannnnngggggsssssaaaaa MMMMMaaaaalllllaaaaayyyyysssssiiiiiaaaaa 4444400000
In Malaysia, we are some way off from realising our
vision of a Bangsa Malaysia. Ethnic-based economic
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policies are undermining this aspiration, warns
Terence Gomez. Government policies should be ••••• CCCCCuuuuurrrrrrrrrreeeeennnnnttttt CCCCCooooonnnnnccccceeeeerrrrrnnnnnsssss 2222266666
universal in orientation, aimed at helping all in
••••• LLLLLeeeeetttttttttteeeeerrrrrsssss 3333355555
need, regardless of their ethnicity.
So much money that could have been used to help OOOOOTTTTTHHHHHEEEEERRRRRSSSSS
the poor has been drained as a result of financial
scandals. K J Khoo takes a thorough look at Bank ••••• SSSSSuuuuubbbbbssssscccccrrrrriiiiippppptttttiiiiiooooonnnnn FFFFFooooorrrrrmmmmm 1111188888
Negara’s inexcusable and unexplained RM9.3 bil-
lion forex losses and raises several key questions
that demand answers.
Jeyakumar Devaraj, for his part, is perplexed by the
Perak state government’s decision to raise water tar-
iffs when the Perak Water Board has been making
PPPPPuuuuubbbbbllllliiiiissssshhhhheeeeeddddd bbbbbyyyyy
profits. Angeline Loh, meanwhile, points out that
Penangites are totally fed up with the empty prom- AAAAAllllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn KKKKKeeeeessssseeeeedddddaaaaarrrrraaaaannnnn NNNNNeeeeegggggaaaaarrrrraaaaa (((((AAAAALLLLLIIIIIRRRRRAAAAANNNNN)))))
ises to improve bus services in the state.
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aaaaallllllllll MMMMMaaaaalllllaaaaayyyyysssssiiiiiaaaaannnnnsssss aaaaabbbbbooooovvvvveeeee 2222211111 tttttooooo bbbbbeeeee mmmmmeeeeemmmmmbbbbbeeeeerrrrrsssss..... CCCCCooooonnnnntttttaaaaacccccttttt
ttttthhhhheeeee HHHHHooooonnnnn..... SSSSSeeeeecccccrrrrreeeeetttttaaaaarrrrryyyyy ooooorrrrr vvvvviiiiisssssiiiiittttt ooooouuuuurrrrr wwwwweeeeebbbbbpppppaaaaagggggeeeee..... Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd.
No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur.
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 3
a new context for what may be the of arson and 211 vehicles were de-
factors behind racial distur- stroyed or damaged. An estimated
bances, and hence, how we 6,000 Kuala Lumpur residents —
should understand and manage 90 per cent of them Chinese —
our ethnic relations in this day were made homeless.
and age.
Near Fire
Early Days
After May 13, there was what one
There have been different phases could call a new consociational
in Malaysia’s ethnic relations. As (inter-ethnic) pact, paradoxically
everyone has come to know, at the re-emphasing Malay or
point of Independence, a ‘politi- Bumiputera rights, or some would
cal bargain’ in ethnic relations say, Malay supremacy, under the
was struck by leaders or elites of Tun Abdul Razak government.
the various ethnic communities This took the form of the New Eco-
under the Tunku Abdul Rahman nomic Policy. This pact has held
government and much of it was up so far but in the 1987 Operasi tralia under the Mahathir govern-
incorporated into the 1957 Ma- Lalang – I would call this a near- ment. However, the action did
layan Constitution. Even at the eve fire— mass arrests were carried douse a series of highly incendi-
of Independence, a spark during out because Malay-Chinese eth- ary sparks which most certainly
a Chingay procession in Penang nic tensions had reached another would have caused a big fire had
in January 1957 caused Malay- breaking point in a situation al- the escalation of ethnic tensions
Chinese rioting and shut down most mimicking May 13. No one continued.
Penang for some 10 days. agrees with the disingenuous rea-
sons for the arrests of 106 promi- The next two events had different
Worse was to come in 1967, when nent politicians and social activ- complexions in terms of ethnic
the devaluation of the Straits dol- ists and why one Chinese minis- relations. The Kampong Rawa
lar led to the Hartal (an economic ter was able to abscond to Aus- incident in Penang turned out to
boycott) riots between Malays and be more of a conflict be-
Chinese, which ended with five tween mostly ‘Indian’
people killed and 92 injured. As Muslims and Hindus. It
many as 1,600 persons were de- saw the desecration or de-
tained and at various points, struction of some Hindu
Penang was on a 24-hour curfew. shrines in Penang. While
Lim Kean Siew, the Labour Party reportedly some 5,000
leader was among those detained. persons came from out-
The ethnic tensions also spread side Penang to support
to Perlis, Kedah and Perak where their Muslim brethren, the
curfews were also imposed. incident was defused by
the mediation of then
Despite these fires, the political deputy prime minister
bargain between the ethnic com- Anwar Ibrahim. In the
munities seemingly held firm un- Kampong Medan story,
til the watershed event of May 13, still sealed in a veil of se-
1969, which saw the worst out- crecy, despite an investi-
break of ethnic violence in the gation by the government,
country to date. According to offi- we can safely say that it
cial figures, 196 were killed, 149 was a conflict that in-
were wounded and many women volved Indians and Mus-
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were raped. There were 753 cases bbbbbyyyyy AAAAAnnnnnwwwwwaaaaarrrrr IIIIIbbbbbrrrrraaaaahhhhhiiiiimmmmm..... lims. The one-sided de-
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 4
piction of this event in the There is also a palpable change defeat of PAS in Terengganu.
Universiti Putra Malaysia ‘text- in character of civil society itself. However, I would argue that with
book’ has become the subject of While some of us in the 1980s Abdullah’s introduction of Islam
some controversy. One cannot un- and more recently during the Hadhari, sometimes the line be-
derstand why the government days of Reformasi were san- tween advocates of Islamisation
does not reveal the ‘true facts’ of guine that a ‘new politics’ had on the PAS side and the UMNO
the incident. emerged, melding together side has become rather blurred.
multi-ethnic and multi-class al-
Middle-class liances within civil society and The contestation at the level of
and all that the political class, this has all civil society has got particularly
but dissipated in the 2000s. In- ugly. Here, let me turn to look at a
Many events of the recent past may stead, civil society organisa- series of events that began with
give us pause for alarm. Some aca- tions have now more or less re- the objection to the formation of
demics such as Francis Loh, grouped into either the old eth- the Inter-Faith Commission lead-
Rahman Embong and I have writ- nic mould, or more tellingly, ing to the recent Muslim demon-
ten that, with the rise of a middle into new religious groupings, strations against the forums spon-
class among all the ethnic com- with Muslim organisations be- sored by the coalition of civil
munities, we have seen a reduc- coming particularly prominent. groups known as “Article 11”.
tion of “ethnic politics”. With
Malaysia’s impressive economic Contestation over From IFC ...
performance (despite all the eco- Islamisation
nomic scandals), a rising consum- Aliran Monthly has already carried
erism among all strata of society At one level, the contestation over articles and statements about the
has meant that ethnicity may have Islamisation reached a peak in the IFC episode. However, let me
taken a backseat or, at least, has post-Reformasi period after PAS briefly recall the event. The idea
not become as ‘troublesome’ as in had captured Kelantan and of an Inter-Faith Commission was
the past. Terengganu. Terengganu passed mooted by the Human Rights Sub-
legislation to introduce a full com- Committee of the Bar Council be-
That said, one cannot help but plement of Syariah laws includ- cause of a growing number of
sense that by the middle of 2006, ing its criminal aspects (Hudud knotty religious disputes and le-
ethnic relations have taken on a and Qisas) and their enactment gal cases. In April 2005, a confer-
more religious complexion these has only been stymied because ence was held with about 200 par-
days and that could be equally as federal enforcement agencies are ticipants representing all the ma-
explosive as the old ‘ethnic poli- not within PAS control. jor faith-based groups and vari-
tics’ of the past. Why do I say this? ous sectors of civil society. In the
In some sense, the Kampong To the further dismay of non-Mus- event, a coalition of 13 Muslim
Rawa and the Kampong Medan lims, then prime minister groups calling itself the Allied
incidents prefigure this new com- Mahathir got into the act by de- Coordinating Committee of Is-
plexion in ethnic relations but claring that Malaysia was already lamic NGOs (ACCIN) demanded
more so, the changed context is the an Islamic state in September that the government scuttle the
embedding of a policy of 2001. While this was clearly a idea of the IFC. The government
‘Islamisation’ on the part of the political ploy, PAS leaders were subsequently obliged. The tone of
government party, UMNO, and an able to easily ridicule Mahathir the protestation was rather trou-
even more thorough-going version with jibes of ‘instant café’ bling. The spokesperson of
of this by the opposition party, Islamisation. ACCIN, Mustapha Ma averred
PAS. The implementation of such that:
Islamisation policies tends to turn After the departure of Mahathir as
the attention and energies of po- prime minster, Abdulah Badawi “... Malaysia would have achieved
litical actors and civil society to- was successful in leading the BN Islamic state status if not for the
wards issues of religion rather government to an electoral victory interference of the colonial mas-
than those of ethnicity and class. in March 2004 which also saw the ters and the arrival of non-Mus-
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 5
lims. Are we now witnessing the The Kamariah Ali case ... to Article 11
regression of our country into a
secular state with Islam as a mere The 51-year-old Kamariah Ali The Article 11 coalition, which
ornament?” (Malaysiakini.com, publicly renounced Islam after has now held or sponsored three
March 1, 2005). being continually prosecuted and forums entitled “The Federal Con-
jailed by religious authorities in stitution: Protection for All”, have
Since the abandoning of the IFC Kelantan who accused her of de- made their objectives rather plain.
idea, there have been a number of viating from the faith. Her case is Referring to the cases above, they
significant unresolved legal tan- currently with the Terengganu seek constitutional and legal reso-
gles and controversies over the Syariah Court after a Federal lution on the issue of freedom of
question of Islam, conversions Court ruling that it had no juris- religion guaranteed by the Con-
and apostasy. The most promi- diction over her case. stitution and clarity in jurisdiction
nent cases, some still with pend- of the Syariah and Civil courts on
ing court rulings, are: The Nyonya Tahir case matters of religion. They have col-
lected 20,000 signatures and pre-
The Shamala case Nyonya Tahir was born in 1918 sented this to the government. The
and raised by her Malay grand- coalition’s stated objectives, based
This case revolves around the cus- mother and her Chinese grandfa- on the federal constitution, are
tody of children when one parent ther who had converted to Islam. pretty transparent but clearly not
becomes a Muslim. Using the rul- She married a Chinese man when acceptable to many Muslim or-
ing of the Syariah Court in May she was 18 and practised Bud- ganisations.
2003 Shamala’s husband was dhism most of her life. The Syariah
able to take custody of their two Court declared her to be a non- On two occasions when Article 11
children (2 years and 4 years) Muslim and she was buried ac- forums were held, one in Penang
whom he converted to Islam. The cording to Buddhist rites. and the other in Johor Baru, Mus-
present status of the case is that lims held demonstrations to pro-
Shamala is appealing to the Court The Lina Joy Case test the group’s alleged ‘hidden
of Appeal to nullify the conver- agenda’ to revive the moribund IFC.
sion. Both parents are applying for Lina Joy was a Muslim who em- Their own hidden agenda was
sole custody. braced Christianity in 1988. She perhaps to de-rail all the activities
applied to the National Regis- of the coalition. In Penang, protest-
The Moorthy case tration Department for a change ers heckled the panelists, which
of name and religious status in included speakers such as Shad
Kaliammal Sinnasamy, the 1997. In 1998, the NRD allowed Saleem Faruqi, professor of consti-
widow of M. Moorthy, sought the the name change, but not the tutional law at UiTM, Imtiaz Malik
right in the civil courts to bury her change of religion. Lina Joy ap- of the Bar Council and Zaid
husband according to Hindu pealed against this decision in Ibrahim, Kota Bharu Member of
burial rites on the grounds that he the High Court in 2001. The Parliament, and forced the forum
had been a practising Hindu de- High Court ruled against the to end early, without all the sched-
spite the contention by the Islamic change of religion stating that uled speakers having their say.
religious authorities that he had the jurisdiction in conversion Similarly, in Johor, the forum was
converted to Islam before his matters lies solely in the hands ended early but all speakers were
death. On 28 December, the Ap- of the Syariah Court. In 2004, able to deliver their talks.
pellate and Special Powers divi- Lina Joy’s case to the Court of
sion of the High Court ruled that Appeal was dismissed on the ... to no more forums
it had no jurisdiction over the grounds that her renunciation
Syariah Court decision, even of Islam was not confirmed by The prime minister has since or-
though it affected Kaliammal’s the Syariah Court or any other dered all future Article 11 forums
rights. Moorthy was buried on 28 Islamic authority. Her case is to be halted. This came on the
December 2005 according to Is- now with the Federal Court heels of a reported 10,000 gather-
lamic rites. pending a ruling. ing of Muslims at the Masjid
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 6
Wilayah on July 24. Among the framework of Islam, not ac- over questions of Islam.
personalities who spoke at the fo- cording to individual inclina-
rum titled ‘The Syariah and Cur- tions; Inevitably the implications of such
rent Issues’ were former Bar Coun- • All state and federal legislative a debate and its resolution or lack
cil presidents Sulaiman Abdullah assemblies should pass of resolution would impact on
and Zainur Zakaria, Perak mufti enactments that prevent the Muslim-non-Muslim (in the old
Harussani Zakaria, constitu- propagation to Muslims of re- mould, Malay-non-Malay) rela-
tional expert Abdul Aziz Bari and ligions other than Islam, and tions. Undeniably, Muslim-non-
Muslim Youth Movement of Ma- these should be implemented Muslim relations have also been
laysia (ABIM) president Yusri immediately. greatly strained because of such
Mohamad. Other speakers were • Statements of support by cer- cases as Moorthy, Shamala and
Syariah lawyer Kamar Ainiah tain Muslim leaders that Islam Nona Tahir as evidenced by the
Kamaruzaman, former Penang is an individual and private non-Malay Cabinet ministers pre-
mufti Sheikh Azmi Ahmad, and matter are of concern; senting a memorandum on these
forum chairperson Azmi Abdul • Malaysian Bar Council has inter-faith issues to the prime min-
Hamid, who heads the Malay- taken a partisan stand without ister. At the civil society level, the
advocacy group Teras. considering the views of Mus- Malaysian Consultative Council
lim lawyers who make up for Buddhism, Christianity, Hin-
According to a Malaysiakini report more than 40 percent of the duism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS)
(24 July 2006), the speakers called Malaysian Bar. The Council, in has also been highly concerned
on the authorities to continue with the name of human rights, has about such inter-faith controver-
what they said was the historic interfered in Islamic matters sies and has supported the forma-
tendency to strengthen the coun- and this goes against the ob- tion of the IFC. It is also a member
try’s Islamic institutions and not jectives of the founding of the of the group, Article 11.
weaken them. “We have every Council.
right to seek the continuation of If Malaysian society is at the new
this process of Islamisation,” said Sparks but no fires threshold of a changed context of
Teras’ Azmi Abdul Hamid, who ethnic relations, what then would
also accused certain quarters of Are we at a new threshold in eth- be plausible directions for a new
using apostasy to weaken that nic relations? I believe so. At the political understanding among
process. Among the resolutions core of this new context of ethnic the political class and within civil
passed at the forum were: relations is an intra-Malay, intra- society? The political leadership
• The Federal Constitution and Muslim debate and discourse over seemingly has no appetite or
other laws be strengthened to Islam and religious rights. One gumption to tackle the problem.
stop attempts to use the courts side says that Islam is getting too Instead the prime minister took
to weaken the position of Is- strong and is impinging nega- umbrage over his non-Malay min-
lam; tively on the lives and rights of isters’ memorandum and ‘re-
• All Muslims should act in uni- ordinary Malaysians and we solved’ it in the usual authoritar-
son in defence of Islam; should look to the constitution for ian manner. By putting the lid on
• Every threat to Islam signifies guarantees of civil liberties and further discussion by Article 11,
a threat to the dignity and po- freedom of religion. Contrariwise, the prime minister seems to have
sition of the Malay Rulers who the other side says that there has given the Muslim forces reason to
are the heads of Islam in every been an erosion of the status of believe they have succeeded in
state and to the integrity of the Islam and all questions of reli- winning this round of the debate.
Islamic institutions; gious rights and freedoms must This changed context of ethnic re-
• Efforts to overhaul and erode be cast in terms of the dominant lations suggests that a new con-
the position of Islam in the status of Islam as official religion servative political ideology may
Constitution and national of the state. The second group of- become embedded in Malaysia’s
laws should be stopped; ten refers to the amendment to plural society. In the old days, it
• Religious rights and freedoms Article 121 (1A), which gives was ‘ketuanan Melayu’. Is it now
should be understood in the Syariah Courts full jurisdiction `ketuanan Islam’? q
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 7
RELIGION & DEMOCRACY
Secularism in India
Secularism in India meant equal respect for all religions and
cultures and non-interference of religion in government affairs.
by Asghar Ali Engineer
SSSSS ecularism has never
been used in the Indian
context in the sense in
which it has been used
in Western countries i.e. in the
sense of atheism, or a purely “this
worldly” approach, rejecting the
“other-worldly” beliefs.

India is a country where religion
is very central to the life of the peo-
ple. India’s age-old philosophy as
expounded in Hindu scriptures
called the Upanishad is sarva
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dharma samabhava, which means
equal respect for all religions. The dynamics in Indian life, even in Tradition of
reason behind this approach is the Christian and Islamic societies, Religious Tolerance
fact that India has never been a plays a larger than life role. Since
mono-religious country. Even be- most of the conversions to Chris- There was also a tradition of tol-
erance between religions due to
fore the Aryan invasion, India was tianity and Islam took place from
the state policies of Ashoka and
not a mono-religious country. lower caste Hindus, these two
world religions also developed Akbar. Ashoka’s edicts clearly
spell out a policy of religious tol-
Even before the advent of Christi- caste structure. There are lower
erance, and Akbar used to hold
anity and Islam, India was al- caste churches and mosques in
ready multi-religious in nature. several places. inter-religious dialogue among
followers of different religions. He
Christianity and Islam added
also followed the policy of toler-
more religious traditions to the Under the feudal system, there
existing Indian traditions. Thus it was no competition between the ance and even withdrew the jizya
tax, (the poll tax on Hindus which
would be correct to say that India different religious traditions as
was an irritant). Thus both
is a bewilderingly diverse coun- authority resided in the sword,
try in every respect – religious, and generally, there were no in- Ashoka and Akbar have places
of great significance in the reli-
cultural, ethnic and caste. ter-religious tensions among the
gious life of India. No doubt they
people of different religions. They
India is one country where caste co-existed in peace and harmony have been designated as ‘great’
i.e. they are referred to as Ashoka
rigidity and the concept of though at times inter-religious
the Great and Akbar the Great.
untouchability evolved and still controversies did arise. However,
plays a major role in religious, there was no bloodshed in the
Also, India had Sufi and Bhakti
social and cultural matters. Caste name of religion.
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 8
traditions in Islam and Hinduism Emergence of Secularism in Multi-
respectively. Both Sufism and Competitive Politics religious India
Bhakti traditions were based on
respect for different religions. The However, the entire social, eco- Initially the Hindu and Muslim
poorer and lower caste Hindus nomic and political scenario elite cooperated with each other
and Muslims were greatly influ- changed after the advent of the and Syed Ahmad Khan always
enced by these traditions. Unlike British rule in the 19th century. emphasised Hindu-Muslim
the ulama and the Brahmins, the Differences between Hindu and unity. But the competitive nature
Sufi and Bhakti saints were highly Muslim elite began to emerge for of political and economic power
tolerant and open to the truth in various reasons – socio-cultural, drove a wedge between the two
other faiths. They never adopted economic and political. The Brit- groups of elites and communal
sectarian attitudes and were ish rulers adopted a policy of di- tensions began to emerge. When
never involved in power struggles. vide and rule, and distorted me- the Indian National Congress was
They kept away from power struc- dieval Indian history to make formed in 1885, it adopted secu-
tures. Muslim rulers appear as tyrants larism as its anchor sheet in view
to the Hindu elites. This dis- of multi-religious nature of Indian
Nizamuddin Awliya, a great Sufi torted history was taught in the society.
saint of the 13-14th century lived new school system, which was
through the times of five different established by the British rulers. India could not head towards a
Sultans but never paid court to a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) as
single one. When the last Sultan Also, there developed economic India was not simply a Hindu
of his life sent a message request- and political competition be- country. In the pre-partition pe-
ing him to come to the court, he tween the Hindu and Muslim riod Muslims added up to 25%
refused. Then when he sent the elites leading to communal ten- besides the Christians, Sikhs,
message that if Nizamuddin does sions. The Hindu elite was Buddhists and Jains. However,
not come to my court, I (the Sul- quick to adjust to the new reali- Hindu society was a highly frag-
tan) will come to his hospice, ties and took to modern educa- mented society and far from mono-
Nizamuddin replied that “there tion and commerce and indus- lithic. The dalits (low caste peo-
are two doors to my hospice; if the tries. The Muslim ruling elite ple) refused to call themselves as
Sultan enters by one, I will leave resisted new secular education Hindus; subsequently, their
by the other”. Such was the ap- system and also could not take leader B.R.Ambedkar, adopted
proach of the Sufis and Saints to to commerce and industry. They Buddhism in protest.
the power structure of their time. were thus left far behind in the
race for progress. Hence, the Indian National Con-
Dara Shikoh, was heir apparent gress adopted secularism, not as
to Shajahan, the Moghul Emperor Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had a a worldly philosophy but more as
but had a Sufi bent of mind. He perceptive mind. He understood a political arrangement between
was also a great scholar of Islam the importance of the modern the different religious communi-
and Hinduism. He wrote a book education system and founded ties. As a power-sharing arrange-
Majmau’l Bahrayn (the Co-min- Mohammedan Anglo Oriental ment could not be satisfactorily
gling of Two Oceans, Islam and College (MAO College) which worked out between the Hindu
Hinduism). Quoting from Hindu became the fulcrum of modern and Muslim elite, the country was
and Islamic scriptures, he education for the North Indian divided into two independent
showed that both religions had Muslim elites. The orthodox states of India and Pakistan.
similar teachings. The difference Ulama, however, vehemently
was one of languages (Arabic and opposed modern secular educa- However, even after independ-
Sanskrit) and not teachings. Thus tion and declared Syed Ahmad ence and partition, a large body
Dara Shikoh also contributed Khan as kafir (unbeliever) as he of Muslims were left in India.
richly to inter-religious harmony was supporting modern secular Hence, leaders like Gandhi and
in India. education. Nehru preferred to keep India

Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 9
secular in the sense that the In- Minister of India, was a great Its leaders also have to take the
dian state will have no religion champion of secularism and secu- pledge of secularism before con-
though the people of India will be lar politics. Theoretically speak- testing elections. In fact, all secu-
free to follow any religion of their ing, the Congress Party was also lar forces in India consider the BJP
birth or adoption. Thus, India re- committed to secularism. How- as a communal party. It always
mained politically secular but its ever, the Congress Party consisted takes an anti-minority stance and
people continued to be deeply re- of several members and leaders accuses the Congress, supposedly
ligious. whose secularism was in doubt. a secular party, of ‘appeasement’
But it was due to Mahatma Gan- of minorities. It also describes the
Secularism versus dhi, Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Congress and other secular par-
Communalism Azad and B.R.Ambedkar that In- ties as indulging in ‘pseudo-secu-
dia committed itself to secularism larism’.
In India, right from the British pe- and its Constitution was drafted
riod, the main contradiction was on secular lines. The RSS and the BJP, also known
not between “religious and secu- as the Sangh Parivar, not only re-
lar”, but it was between “secular Equal Respect for All ject secularism but provoke vio-
and communal”. In the western lence against minorities. Since in-
world, the main struggle was be- Secularism in India meant equal dependence, several major com-
tween “church and state” and respect for all religions and cul- munal riots have taken place in
“church and civil society”. How- tures and non-interference of reli- India. The first such riot took place
ever, in India, neither Hinduism gion in government affairs. Also, in Jabalpur in Central India. In
nor Islam had any church-like according to the Indian Constitu- 2002 a major riot took place in
structure. Hence there never was tion, no discrimination will be Gujarat in Western India in which
any such struggle between secu- made on the basis of caste, creed, more than 2000 Muslims were
lar and religious power structure. gender and class. Similarly all citi- killed and several women were
zens of India irrespective of one's raped. When the Gujarat carnage
The main struggle was between religion, caste or gender have the took place in 2002, the BJP was
secularism and communalism. right to vote. According to articles ruling over Gujarat.
The communal forces from among 14 to 21, all will enjoy the same
Hindus and Muslims fought for a rights without any discrimination Secular and
share of power; they used their on any ground. Unsecular People
respective religions for their strug-
gle for power. According to Article 25 all those How many Indian people are
who reside in India are free to con- secular and how many
Even after partition, communal fess, practice and propagate the unsecular? Since secularism does
problem did not die out. It raised religion of one’s choice, subject, of not mean being “this worldly” in
its ugly head again within a few course, to social health and law India, one cannot say how many
years. The RSS (Rashtriya and order. Thus even conversion are believers and how many un-
Swayam Sevak Sangh), which is to any religion of one’s choice is a believers. On the contrary in the
the mainspring of the Hindu right fundamental right. But the BJP Indian context what is more per-
remained in existence and spon- (Bhartiya Janta Party) and RSS are tinent is how many people are
sored the formation of a new po- opposed to all this. According to against people of minority reli-
litical outfit, which was commu- them there should be a Hindu gions like Islam and Christianity,
nal in nature, called the Jan Rashtra (Hindu Nation) in India, and how many people respect
Sangh. It is the Jan Sangh that has and Muslims and Sikhs should be them?
kept on denouncing secularism as secondary citizens without any
a western concept alien to the In- political right. In fact, an overwhelming major-
dian ethos. ity of Indian people are religious
Since the BJP is a political party it but tolerant and respectful of other
Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime cannot say so openly and publicly. religions, and are thus ‘secular’
Aliran Monthly : Vol.26(6) Page 10