#LA_ILAHA_ILLALLAH at Jamia Millia

It is a fact that Indian Muslims have major grievances, and after the Modi government came into power these have escalated to a level that Muslims are out protesting on the streets in major parts of the country against the citizen amendment act (CAA). Kashmir has seen intense abuse of human rights abuse since the new Modi Government took over.

From a political representation perspective, though Muslims make up 20% of the population, the representation in the current Loksabha is well under 5%.

Muslims in India exist in various shades; from the mildly Muslim to the wildly Muslim and the barely Muslim to ex- Muslims; from poverty stricken streets to bungalows; from puncturewalas to Bollywood heroes, as software professionals and physicians and as NRI laborers and NRI business men. The Muslim experience in India also varies drastically from Kashmir to Kerala.

The recent CAA protests brought out some of these shades of green at Sheen Bagh,JNU,and nationwide, but in a different manner especially at Jamia Milia due to the La Ilaha chanting and heckling of Shashi Tharoor, MP who had visited the University to support the students and the cause i.e #AntiCAAprotest The heckling of Tharoor did not stop there, I saw a doubling down on the stance on social media as well leading, to an unwanted and avoidable distraction, losing many supporters worldwide.

So now, what is wrong with a religious chant, be it Hindu/Muslim/Christian one might ask. Religions chants should NOT be at the campus. Period. IMO Religious identity is a like a penis, good to have one; but don’t take it out at places that are not appropriate like at a college campus, and don’t shove it the face of others; (especially the ones who come to support your cause). Now, don’t call me a sexist.

Let’s call a spade a spade - Islam has a perception management problem. Unfortunately not your fault, but when you dress up like the guy who blew up a few planes, people do have a reason to worry about your attire. I would say that the global media has a lot to do with this, but you can do your part too. Bias/stereotypes of this kind (may be a little different kind though J ) exits against blacks in the US too. When traveling to Atlanta for the first time, I was scared by a young black dude who tried to help me with directions late night at the train station.

NRI Muslims world over go to work in formal work attire, but when there are social/religious gatherings they wear clothes that reflect their identity. I don’t think identity is something that needs to be worn or be constantly be shouted out to keep it intact.  I see posts about Arabisation of Muslims in India. Should Muslims dress up like Arabs? For the Arab apologists please refer to Saudi prince Salman’s statements on China. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/saudi-crown-prince-defends-china-fight-terrorism-190223104647149.html

What stood out to me and the reason behind writing this, is the realization of how politically un-savvy that group of students were, and the acute lack of political guidance that resulted in heckling someone who came to support them. An incident like this is amplified worldwide on social media and has negative implications when many others are mobilizing support for the cause worldwide.  As a former student leader myself, I am indebted to the years of of grooming/public relations/media management/ that my senior leaders provided to me so that I could go on to win a union election; those skills are useful even today while navigating the corporate politics at the boardroom.

While the Muslim youth seek leaders, the community has not been able to produce strong leaders who are able to speak forcefully at national/international stages; savvy on and social media etc on their behalf. They are not able to find modern leaders who can and guide/coach the youth and channel the energy towards forming a secular coalition that is assertive politically while being religiously moderate in views. Bottom line is, there is no Muslim leader of the stature of Shashi Tharoor in any major party today.

The danger in this leadership vacuum is that the youth could get sucked into the religious idealists/fanatic groups funded by wahabists from Saudi Arabia and propagated by the not so literate mullahs or to preacher outfits like those Zakir Naik.

Indian Muslims have a lot of work ahead of them; need to take ownership of their strategic direction, keep away fanatic elements, build leaders within their communities and within other political parties, build coalitions with like-minded organizations and get their voices out. Collaborations among like-minded youth leaders at campuses may be a good start.  And Jamia: for your next protest, borrow some ideas from Shaheen Bagh to show your tolerance and generate goodwill - something to with the tri color or a multi faith prayer meeting, or feeding children at a multi faith orphanage, add to your coalition, don’t subtract.