Moorthy Muthuswamy, March 2002

Muslim-Hindu divide in India was further aggravated, – can you believe it? – by the common Indian Muslim perception that America deserved the Sept. 11 attacks. It has taken a turn for the worse with the premeditated burning of a train occupied by Hindu pilgrims by a large group of Muslims in Gujarat.

Unfortunately, the inability of the Indian government to effectively stop the massacres and rape of non-Muslims in Bangladesh is an indication of an aging leadership lacking vision.

It now appears that India is rapidly and catastrophically heading towards economic destruction. India’s demise will likely occur in the form of escalating Muslim-Hindu riots at an unprecedented and unmanageable scale and through the sabotage of its key economic and strategic targets by Islamic extremists.

What can and should be done?

First, it is important to unequivocally identify where the problem lies. The secular and democratic nature of India can only be attributable to the tolerance and inclusiveness of the majority Hindus who constitute about 80% of the population. Two of India’s neighbors are Islamic states with overwhelming Muslim populations. One of the states, Pakistan, discriminates against its non-Muslim minorities in voting, law and employment. It also uses the blasphemy laws to persecute them. There is yet another grave observation: Every Muslim majority region in South Asia – Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Kashmir valley – has seen massive religious ethnic cleansing – achieved by driving most non-Muslims to the rest of India. But India still has a large Muslim population, almost as many as in Pakistan or Bangladesh. We have an important conclusion: India is the only land non-Muslims can live free and secure.

We see that when Hindu majority hold power they are tolerant and secular. However, when Muslims hold power through majority status in South Asia, beyond any doubt, they tend to be intolerant and violent -- suggesting that the South Asian Muslims are not willing to coexist with others.

If India is to be saved decisive and sustained measures should be taken as soon as possible. The mode and means of governing India must be determined by the vision of ensuring the survival of non-Muslim Indians by liberating Muslims from the clutches of medieval mullahs – the root cause of Muslim backwardness, poverty, lack of education, intolerance, and violence.

What can be done to liberate Indian Muslims? Regrettably, Mosques have been used as a gathering and planning ground for indoctrination, subversive activities, and initiating riots. This puts the majority Hindus at a disadvantage, with Hinduism not being institutionalized or politicized. Only an organized state can ensure the safety of Hindus. Therefore, there is no other choice but to impose the very difficult decision of banning the use of Mosques by Muslims. Measures, including coercive ones, should be used to nudge Muslims to return to the indigenous religions of their ancestors – a permanent way of liberating Muslims from the hate and non-performing ideology.

If one were to take the above measures, wouldn’t it be called religious persecution? No! This is about liberating Muslim masses from religious oppression in the name of Islam and bringing religious freedom to them. Besides, one must understand that a new kind of war based upon the hate ideology has been imposed upon us. This ideology claims to rely on the God given edict to hate and destroy. It is not interested in dialogues or accommodation, but only in the utter eradication of anything deemed different. That is why peaceful measures and attempts at accommodation have not worked so far. Overwhelming force is one language this ideology understands. Since India has once been divided on the basis of Islam, and has been victim of non-Muslim ethnic cleansing, India has every right to eradicate the hate ideology to ensure the survival of its non-Muslim population.

Let us remember that non-Muslims didn’t have a choice when they were forcibly expelled to India from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Thus, belatedly, to ensure the survival of its non-Muslim population, India has every right to expel Islamic extremists to Pakistan and Bangladesh. Also, Muslims lying in border areas should be expelled to the above countries.

Expelling Indian Muslims can also be seen as correcting the wrong done at the time of partition. In 1947, Muslims sought and partitioned India on the basis of Islam. The 24% Muslim population got 25% of the land. If all Muslims had moved to Pakistan and all non-Muslims to India this would have been a fair deal. But about a third of the Muslim population stayed back in India. Still, Pakistan managed to expel most non-Muslims to India. So, India got a raw deal – had to accommodate 85% of the population in 75% of the land -- out of the partition.

If India can successfully liberate its Muslim citizens it can then do the same with Muslims of Pakistan and Bangladesh. This is may be the only solution to the problem of Islamic fundamentalism in South Asia. The alternative is destruction and death of India.