By Aliya Sultana (the writer lives in Boston, Massachusetts)
The mass killings of Muslims in Bihar and other states of India has shocked the world. Muslims have held street demonstrations at the Indian diplomatic missions in several countries. The Muslim media has condemned the massacres. Political activists in the Islamic world have issued press statements deploring the senseless genocide by the Hindu police in Bihar and other places. All this is very familiar to the observers of the Indian Muslim scene since independence in 1947. What is new are the statements of Muslim governments in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. All four governments have strongly deplored the violence directed by the police against unarmed civilians. The statement of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was the strongest when she caned the killing of Muslims “reprehensible,” and the desecration of Babari Masjid as “a matter of concern to the Muslim Ummah at large.” For the first time in recent memory, the Iranian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the Indian government’s failure to protect its Muslim citizens. Expressions of “distress” at the premediated violence was expressed from – the official quarters in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. To the Muslims in India in general and Bihari Muslims in particular, the expression of sympathy from Bangladesh was extremely heartwarming. It demonstrated to the Hindu fanatics in India that despite bitter differences among them, Muslims of South Asia are one and indivisible. For no matter how unpleasant the recent history of Bengali-Bihari relations – the Muslims of the two regions will be united against their common enemy – the upper-caste Hindus who have oppressed Muslims, untouchables and the tribals.
The feelings of the Muslim Ummah at large were succinctly expressed in a statement of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) issued at the time of Bhagalpur massacre. “The Muslim world is outraged at the willful murder of hundreds of innocent Muslims at the hands of armed police,” it said. But one must ask, is the expression of outrage enough? Now that Muslim governments have broken their long silence on the butchery of their fellow faithful, is it not time to match action with words? One would even say that it is time to match rhetoric with swift and effective retribution against states neglecting the safety of their Muslim citizens. Muslim countries, specially the oil-rich countries, ought to know that India is far more vulnerable to their pressure than they realize. Anytime there is an outbreak of violence against Muslims, Muslim governments should take whatever punitive measures are at their disposal against the offending states. India received subsidized oil, financial aid and grants, employment for its large labor force, and contracts for its public and private sector from the Arab world and Iran. All of these economic ties should be reviewed in light of India’s deplorable record of human rights.
