– Maaz Ahmed Javed (M.Tech. AMU)
Regionalism is one of the major causes of wars and bloodshed in human history. Marking this, Iqbal has said that “if someone remains a captive and prisoner of a certain region of the earth, then its logical result is nothing but destruction and ruin”. Whether it is the wars of Rome and Persia in the distant past, the blood-sucking stories of Genghis Khan and Halaku Khan, or the world wars of the last century, all were the result of the same evil. But in spite of so many deaths, it seems that the thirst of those who take this name is still not quenched, so this theory is still laying eggs in a new way. Although the world has become a global village and a global civilization has made the East and the West its favorites. But in many areas there is rebellion against this civilization. One of the manifestations of this is the efforts to revive Hindu nationalism under the guise of Indian nationalism in our country India. In this effort, two types of ideologies have existed since the past. Savarkar was the founder of the extreme ideology in this aspect, represented today by the RSS. And Gandhi and Nehru, the founders of the moderate ideology are represented by the Congress today. We will examine both trends comparatively.
Since the BJP government came to power in 2014, the nationalism debate in the country has taken an aggressive approach. In the rush to implement one civilization, an attempt is being made to uproot all the other civilizations. A clear line of demarcation has been drawn from eating and drinking, wearing veils to religious symbols and slogans to insert this discussion into daily routines. The possessors of such an aggressive culture believe that everything that does not belong to India is rejected and should be picked up and thrown into the Arabian Sea. It is also the practice of the holders of this theory to identify their enemies with the special symbols of eating, drinking, and wearing clothes. Therefore, there has been a clear increase in the incidents of violence in the last ten years. The extremity of aggression is that these people want to expel the people against their ideology from the country or challenge them with different names. Seeing this trend of violent nationalism, many people have started saying that to counter this extreme attitude, it is necessary to nurture the moderate trend of nationalism. Although those people have already eaten its “sweet” fruits too.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the flag-bearer of the so-called ‘Hard-Hindutva’ Ideology in India
The difference between these two extreme or moderate nationalism is that one is sweet in taste and the other is bitter, but the result of both is the same. Every era of divided India seems to bear witness to this. Remember September of 1948, the wounds of partition had not yet healed, the Muslims of India had not yet forgotten the grief of their loss, that a plan was made in Delhi to invade Hyderabad and integrate it into India. Millions of Muslims were put to eternal sleep by police action. While this heartbreaking incident took place in one part of the country, in the other part of the country, some miscreants entered the Babri Masjid and under a conspiracy, it was converted into a shrine and locked. This is not just the incident of one mosque but at that time dozens of mosques were locked or converted into stables in Punjab and Haryana. After that an endless series of riots started. Looking at the number of riots, it can be said without exaggeration that the history of divided India is a history of riots. A link in the same chain is the riots before and after the martyrdom of the Babri Masjid. Apart from loss of life and property, Muslim family law was also targeted. These were some of the major anti-Muslim measures which gradually marginalized Muslims socially, politically and communally after partition. These measures are mentioned a lot but no one talks about these silent measures due to which Muslims were kept out of the government institutions and administration. Partition hit the Muslim population of the country the most. Especially the Muslims of North India were socially helpless.
Babri Masjid Demolition – One of the many anti-Muslim incidents to have happened in the Congress Regime
But in the name of so-called religious tolerance, what actions did the Muslims finally take, due to which Muslims became the most oppressed in the social spectrum? All this happened in the golden age of the same party which we consider to have a moderate approach of nationalism. That is, both streams of nationalism want to dominate a particular culture and a particular religion in this country. It is worth noting that moderate nationalism is more deadly than violent nationalism because it has been achieving its goals with great silence and swiftness.
Keeping this scenario in front of us, we should think about our future in the country. Lest it happen that we easily drink poison as sugar. Let us keep our position clear. That we believe in Islam above any regional nationalism. The basis of which is the word of Allah i.e. the Quran . The purpose of which is the pleasure of Allah SWT. The center of which is Baitullah Sharif. And whose leader is Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. We consider every Muslim as our brother. Our heart longs for the cause of Islam. We are not convinced of the division of humanity on the basis of man-made boundaries and limitations. It is our belief that Allah Almighty has divided humans into separate regions and tribes only so that they can be recognized. No one is better than anyone else on the basis of race, caste and community. The criterion of superiority is only piety. Let us build a relationship with everyone as a Dawah nation. Let us be the defenders of our religious and national identity and start the struggle to raise the word of Allah Almighty. This is the way of salvation for us. Our forefathers in India have been making the same effort since day one and we will carry this concern forward. According to Iqbal:
بازو تیرا توحید کی قوت سے قوی ہے
اسلام تیرا دیس ہے تو مصطفوی ہے
(Your arm is stronger by the power of Tawheed, Islam is your country, you are the Mustafawi)
