Doctored history creates communal hatred
Amongst factors creating communal hatred is doctored history. There are both good and bad Muslims just as there are both good and bad Hindus. There were some great people among Muslims who were reformers and who opposed communalism openly.
When you witness the communal riots you will wonder as to why communities who lived cheek-by-jowl want to kill each other. It is purely politics, not religion, which causes communal carnage. Amongst many factors that help in creating communal hatred is the doctored history lessons that are taught in schools.
Aurangzeb is projected as a villain in Indian history book. But the same book doesn't care to make a mention of his brother Dara Shikoh who had championed Hindu-Muslim unity by translating Hindu scriptures into Persian. He also penned a classic called Majma-ul-Bahrain (co-mingling of the rivers). Our children need to be taught correct history.
Today's youth doesn't carry the baggage of Partition or communal riots. That's a good sign. A section of children who attend elite schools are certainly free from much of the prejudice against people of other faiths. However, a vast majority who attend government-run schools or schools run by communal organizations are imparted skewed knowledge and understandings of social and historical values.
When it comes to tackling communal riots, the state can do a lot - unfortunately, it has continuously failed in its duty to protect vulnerable sections during riots and punish the guilty post-communal riot. No communal riots can last beyond 24 hours if the state government sincerely tackles it. We have the examples of Lalu Prasad as chief minister of Bihar in the 1990s and the Left Front governments in West Bengal. They successfully prevented communal riots when most of India was singed by these. On the contrary, Narendra Modi looked the other way when Gujarat burnt in 2002.
Today, Modi appears to have softened his attitude towards Muslims, adopting a more secular stance. Will the community forgive him? Slogans of Allah-o-Akbar at his Sadbhavna fast was meant to gain Muslim support. But why did he refuse a skullcap offered by an imam there? The question is will secularists and Muslims forgive him for that?
Amongst factors creating communal hatred is doctored history. There are both good and bad Muslims just as there are both good and bad Hindus. There were some great people among Muslims who were reformers and who opposed communalism openly.
When you witness the communal riots you will wonder as to why communities who lived cheek-by-jowl want to kill each other. It is purely politics, not religion, which causes communal carnage. Amongst many factors that help in creating communal hatred is the doctored history lessons that are taught in schools.
Aurangzeb is projected as a villain in Indian history book. But the same book doesn't care to make a mention of his brother Dara Shikoh who had championed Hindu-Muslim unity by translating Hindu scriptures into Persian. He also penned a classic called Majma-ul-Bahrain (co-mingling of the rivers). Our children need to be taught correct history.
Today's youth doesn't carry the baggage of Partition or communal riots. That's a good sign. A section of children who attend elite schools are certainly free from much of the prejudice against people of other faiths. However, a vast majority who attend government-run schools or schools run by communal organizations are imparted skewed knowledge and understandings of social and historical values.
When it comes to tackling communal riots, the state can do a lot - unfortunately, it has continuously failed in its duty to protect vulnerable sections during riots and punish the guilty post-communal riot. No communal riots can last beyond 24 hours if the state government sincerely tackles it. We have the examples of Lalu Prasad as chief minister of Bihar in the 1990s and the Left Front governments in West Bengal. They successfully prevented communal riots when most of India was singed by these. On the contrary, Narendra Modi looked the other way when Gujarat burnt in 2002.
Today, Modi appears to have softened his attitude towards Muslims, adopting a more secular stance. Will the community forgive him? Slogans of Allah-o-Akbar at his Sadbhavna fast was meant to gain Muslim support. But why did he refuse a skullcap offered by an imam there? The question is will secularists and Muslims forgive him for that?
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