‘India: Past, Present and Future – Perceptions of the Muslim World – I’

Muslim world beginning to respond to Hindutva-led hate, extremism in India: IPS webinar

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari has called upon the Muslim world to shed its dependence on the Western world and adopt a united stance on critical issues like Kashmir and Palestine in order to emerge as a respected global force. She said now some very vocal statements are coming from the Arab countries on social media and other channels regarding the treatment of Muslims in India and the Kashmir issue.

She was addressing an international webinar ‘India: Past, Present and Future – Perceptions of the Muslim World’ organized by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, on 23 June 2020.

International speakers who spoke on this occasion included British House of Lords’ member Lord Nazir Ahmed, member of British Parliament Khalid Mehmood, member of Turkish Prime Minister’s Advisory Board for Human Rights Dr Hamit Ersoy, vice president to Egyptian National Constitutional Committee Dr. Kamal Helbawi, Professor Dr Halil Tokar, Istanbul University, Turkey, and Professor Dr Farhan Mujahid Chak, Qatar University.

The webinar was chaired by Khalid Rahman, executive president of IPS, and moderated by Syed Muhammad Ali, IPS’ senior research fellow.

Lord Nazir Ahmed stated that India is no longer a secular country whose political system is controlled by Hindutva extremist ideology that does not provide equal opportunities to its minorities. He appreciated the Arab countries for beginning to see the true extremist Indian reality, which was hidden under the façade of secular democracy for a long time. He said that India is using its intelligence agency RAW to destabilize Pakistan.

Member of British Parliament Khalid Mehmood called upon the Kashmiris to shed their mutual differences and forge their ranks worldwide to put greater pressure on world powers. He said the Indian government has been brazen-facedly violating the Geneva Convention and urged Muslim countries to take the issue to International Criminal Court (ICC). He also called upon the OIC to consider putting economic sanctions on India for violating human rights of Muslims and Kashmiris.

Turkish Professor Dr Hamit Ersoy highlighted the fact that India, the US and Israel are jointly working against the Muslim world and deliberately painting Muslim freedom struggles against foreign occupation as terrorism. They are doing this to justify their continued occupation and oppression and to caste Muslims in a negative light as extremists and terrorists.

He stated that Muslims should look at the ultimate state model of Madina, their holy book Quran and the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) for inspiration and developing a perfect, peaceful and stable political system instead of looking at the major powers, who are exploiting them on the false pretexts of secularism and democracy, for solutions and help. He said that the BJP’s rise in Indian politics is rooted in its philosophy of hatred, which was evident even in 1992 when the demolition of Babri Mosque brought them to power. He pointed out that 76 per cent of all hate crimes in India are committed against Muslims.

Dr Farhan Mujahid Chak augmented Dr Ersoy’s argument by urging the Muslim scholars to look for indigenous and innovative solutions for resolving their important issues.

Dr Kamal Helbawi stressed the peaceful, progressive and moderate spirit of Islam and stated that Muslims are being deliberately painted by India as terrorists in order to hide its atrocities against the Muslims and also to justify its aggressive behavior towards neighboring Muslim countries. He also stressed that both Kashmir and Palestine deserve equal attention and support from Muslims around the world in their struggle for liberation.

Dr Halil Tokar stated that Indian BJP’s ideological core is RSS, which has an extremist philosophy based on hatred towards other religions, identical to the one followed by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. He reminded the international audience that Prime Minister Modi was responsible for the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. The BJP and RSS want to wipe out minorities, including Muslims and Christians, from India by the end of 2021. He said that the molestation of Muslim women and setting fire to Holy Quran are actions that deserve the attention of the entire Muslim world.

In his concluding remarks Executive President IPS Khalid Rahman reminded the international audience that India did not exist in its current form before 1947 and 60 per cent of its territory consisted of provinces while 40 per cent consisted of princely states that were ruled by the British. He underlined the fact that British introduced the policy of divide and rule in this region, which earlier was a thriving economy, stable polity and a diverse and rich society, under centuries of Muslim rule.

He emphasized that Muslims have contributed to the economy, society, culture, architecture, and habits in a profound and constructive manner through good governance before the British introduced divide and rule policy. He concluded by recommending that Muslims must learn from their costly mistakes and dependence over other powers and raise awareness, improve education, spread information, pursue engagement and active lobbying to influence the world in pursuit of their collective interests and to resolve common issues.