‘Muslims only get toothless commissions’

Javed Akhtar is not only a well known lyricist and script-writer, he is also president of Muslims for SecularDemocracy and an articulate commentator on social issues. He has been outspoken on community affairs and the current burst of terrorism has led him to question some beliefs that have become received wisdom in the media and in society. Terrorism, he tells Labonita Ghosh can take various forms — mob violence, encounter killings and ‘state-sponsored’ acts of arson and carnage too.

Is the Muslim community feeling alienated and under attack because of the alleged links of some of its members with the recent blasts cases?
Muslims are definitely feeling alienated from both the administration and law enforcement agencies. They feel there is a bias against them. That whenever they are killed, raped or burnt alive or their property destroyed, all they get is a commission which sits on the case for years, and ultimately gives a report. It may indict some people, but the report eventually finds its way into the dustbin.  It appears to have no legal power to implement what it suggests.

Are you saying that everyone is ranged against Muslims?
No extreme stance can be right. Every community has an extremist fringe in it. In the Muslim community there are those who believe that no Muslim has ever participated in any blasts. (Laughs) I’m not willing to buy that. On the other hand, just as there is something called Muslim terrorism, there is Hindu terrorism as well, emanating from the Sangh Parivar. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that the VHP and Bajrang Dal are behind the church attacks in Orissa and Mangalore, but somehow this is not discussed. After all, this is also terrorism.

So terrorism, in all its hues, should be opposed — whether it is a bomb, a mob or the state. We live in a society where encounters — which are nothing but extra-judicial killing — have, shockingly, become a way of life. Is this also not a form of terrorism?
There will always be justification. The man who planted a bomb will give you an emotional story for why he did so, and the policeman, who shot an innocent dead, will also have a reason ready. But no justification should be acceptable anymore. 

Is there any thinking in the community about the fact that young Muslims have been arrested for alleged terrorism?
I recently heard a TV anchor ask someone if it was time for the Muslim community to do some introspection. This is a loaded question, even if it was not intended that way. It suggests that the Muslim community is, in fact, responsible for the various acts of terrorism its members have been accused of. Would you say that since the Bajrang Dal is burning churches, the Hindu community should do some introspection? I won’t ever say that because I don’t believe that the Hindu community as a whole should have to bear the responsibility for the actions of some of its members.

Yet, it is a fact that the terrorists have given a bad name to the community.
 Are people from extremist Muslim groups really looking out for the community as a whole? They are the worst enemies of the Muslim people in this country — Bajrang Dal, VHP and RSS included. Even the extremist Hindu outfits haven’t been able to harm the Muslims the way these hardliners have. Look at the perception of Muslims they have created.

What are your personal experiences from visits to Muslim neighbourhoods?
People are traumatised, scared and deeply hurt. During riots they don’t get protection; and after the riots, they don’t get justice. This discontent in the community is then seized upon by some extremists to use as a rationale to do what they do, and try to convince more young people to join them. This kind of denial of justice is not just bad for the community and society, it is bad for the country as a whole.

We are now seeing the emergence of “hubs of terror” like Azamgarh…
Azamgarh has a population of 40 lakh. If 10 of its residents have terrorist links, does that make the entire town a hub of terror? In our country, ‘Terrorist’ seems to be a word reserved exclusively for Muslims. Those indulging in unrest from the border of Nepal to Andhra Pradesh are naxalites; in the Northeast they are insurgents. And in the case of the Bajrang Dal and VHP, they are ‘social activists’. We also hear the phrase ‘homegrown terrorist’. What is that anyway? At one time, we blamed the ISI for anything that happened. Then we blamed Dawood Ibrahim and his gang, and then Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Now we have the homegrown terrorist. This entity will stay for a while till another comes along.