It looks incredible. In the contemporary world of opulence created upon empowerment and entitlement, innumerable people and religious, ethnic, and linguistic communities tend to see themselves as perpetual victims of denial and discrimination. They develop their identity upon grievances and complaints, though the discrimination may be genuine to a certain degree.
Seemingly wedded to prosperity and equality, the contemporary world of equality churns out a burgeoning republic of disgruntled, anxious, and downhearted people. Helplessness produces hopelessness that gives way to annoyance and resentment far and wide. It prompted the celebrated author Charles J. Sykes (b, 1954) to observe that victimization has become a central part of our collective life. His trail-blazing book ‘A Nation of Victims: The Decay of American Character (St Martin Press, 1992) makes us realize that we compete in the “Victimhood Olympics”.
Sykes’s indictment of the growing abuse of victimhood is not confined to a particular geographical area or a religious or ethnic group; the reign of victimization writ large in entirety. This unsparing and forthright reasoning predominantly bears on Muslims across the globe, especially Indian Muslims. Much has been written on injustices that have been done to them, which may be indeed true most often, but the squalling howl of discrimination instilled an intense sense of persecution in Muslims, and they perceive themselves as oppressed and sunk from all sides. Muslims are emotionally vulnerable, but they consider themselves morally and culturally superior.
Since 1857, demagogues, voluble political leaders, self-proclaimed saviours, and self-righteous journalists who swear to community interest have bolstered a perpetual sense of victimhood. There is no denying the fact that Indian Muslims have been subjected to unprecedented discrimination and injustice: one must realize that licking wounds and perceived slights denote morbidity, but if unchecked, it becomes soothing without a bit of nourishment. The situation has been worsening since the partition, and no one has attempted to objectively analyze the period of trial and tribulation and understand the horrible situation in all its complexities.
There is an urgent need to understand what ails the community beyond the miasma of victimization. Now, it is left to celebrated fiction writer and well-thought-of editor of the Avant-garde literary periodical Esbaat, Ashar Najmi, who published a copious two-volume special issue of the periodical, “Naya Hindustan Purana Muslaman (New Hindustan, old Muslim).
Divided into 13 chapters and running into 1600 pages, the periodical incisively lays bare the dark belly of Indian Muslims who have been intoxicated by the namby-pamby politicians, impassioned journalists, and political commentators with polemical and evocative interpretations of the events. Ashar Najmi earnestly tried to comprehend why Muslims consider themselves powerless, the world hopeless, other people ruthless, and the ordeal endless. Social and cultural aspirations and constant privation on several counts produce an unwaning victimhood mindset. For Ashar, it owes much to the sociology of suspicion, as Muslims want to reform society without understanding its changing dynamics.
The skillfully structured anthology presents searing accounts and succinct insight culled from articles published in newspapers, periodicals, websites, and blogs in various languages into what is really to articulate about what happened to Muslims over 75 years. The editor meticulously included every piece of published or unpublished writing that is not mushy and draws on objectivity. Divergent perspectives on issues plaguing the Muslim psyche over seven decades are put together without normative posturing. The volume sets off an in-depth debate on identity, history, and significant issues but zeroes in on the singularity of Muslim consciousness.
At the outset, Ashar Najmi pointed out that he complied with the issue without pretending to be a reformer or preacher. “I want to discover myself and my ancestors by unmasking the intricacies of their achievements, shortcomings, mistakes, and acts of commission and omission with a sense of totality. I regret to point out that the majority of books on Indian Muslims in Urdu are sickeningly boastful, which is also reflected in the popular slogan “Proudly say we are Hindu.” Contrarily, some books on Muslims in English are reasonable but conciliatory, using cause-and-effect as a defensive mechanism. It is not difficult to understand that blasphemy no longer pertains to the sacred book and revered spiritual figures, but it includes everyone who is a religious figure. No matter how reasonable the arguments are, one cannot criticize them and their ideologies. You cannot appraise religious sects and schools or review their literature critically. Neither can one pick at a self-styled representative of Muslims nor can one turn attention to the oppressive actions of Muslim rulers. The veil, triple divorce, Muslim personal law, and Aligarh Muslim University must not deviate from popular perception. So is the case of questioning the working of Waqf boards and the Haj Committee.” One tends to agree with Ashar as one can find an ever-expanding list of objects that Muslims hold very dear, and it resembles a firewall.
The first volume begins with an evocative and insightful poem by a propitious poet, Shahram Sarmadi. He fashions a gripping narrative around the elemental dilemma of Muslims who seek solace in chewing the cud. It comprises five chapters – Old India, Old Muslims, New Ordeals, Attitude and Social Lifestyle, The Bogey of Population, and New India New Citizenship Law. Many eminent political commentators, historians, South Asian studies scholars, and journalists such as Mohhamad Mujib, Harbans Mukhia, Ashghar Ali Engineer, W.C. Smith, Mushirul Hasan Saeed Naqvi, Rafeeq Zakaria, Rasheed Kidwai, and Arghya Sen Gupta contributed to this chapter. Ashar brilliantly mirrored the deliberation through the prism of creative outpourings of Manto, Rajendra Singh Bedi, and Krishan Chander. Asad Faisal Faruqui’s well-researched article on the love affair of Vijay Laksmi Pandit and Saiyid Hussain is also included.
The second chapter, “Old Muslim, New Ordeal”, opens with Devi Prasad Mishra’s widely acclaimed poem Musalman, and it carries the insightful interpretation of pestering issues concerning Muslims by Siddharth Vardarajan, Saeed Naqvi, Saba Kohli, Apoorvanand, Fatema Khan, Shujaat Bukhari V, K.Venu, Hilal Ahmad, Arunabh Saikia and the like. The stories of Ismat Chughtai, Khawaja Ahmad Abbas, Qurratul Ain Haider, and Aziz Ahmad intriguingly go along with what has been discussed in the chapter.
The third chapter zeroes in on the more extensive debate on Muslim identity formation and Irfan Habib, Imtiaz Ahmad, Mohammad Sajjad, Rizwan Qaiser, Abdul Bismillah, S. Irfan Habib, Rasheed Kidwai, Ausaf Ahmad, Rafeeque Zakaria, and Zakia Soman. S.M. Sajid, Malik Ashtar. This section begins and concludes with a poem and four short stories by Ikram Khawar, Qazi Abdus Sattar, Naiyer Masud, and Syed Mohammad Ashraf, respectively.
The much-hyped population growth among Muslims forms the fourth chapter. Ram Puniyani, Ravi Kant, S.Y. Qureshi, and Aftab Alam discussed its intricacies, political implications, and social dynamics with a sense of thoroughness, and Khalid Javed, Siddique Alam, and Shamoil Ahmad’s short stories stand up for the situation narrated by the social scientists. At the beginning of the chapter, Adnan Kaffel Darvesh’s poem sets seals on the conclusion.
New India and New Citizenship Law draws the attention of Siddharth Vardarajan, Ravish Kumar, Ajit Parkash Shah, and Anurag Modi, who discussed the issue cogently. Their vitriolic indictment of the situation put a question mark on the political correctness of the government of the day. This chapter is supplemented by three Hindi short stories, two by Shaani and another by Periyamood.
The second volume is divided into eight chapters titled, “Education and Educational Institutions, Politics and Leadership, “The Economy of Muslims and Employment,” Muslim Personal Law and Uniform Civil Code, Waqf Board and National Heritage, Muslim Women, Backward Muslims, Literature and Journalism, runs into nearly 800 pages. The articles are generally well-argued and betray more than rhetorical flourish. The contributors include Vineet Bhala, Nikhil, Saiyyda Hameed, Ralph Russel, Ram Punyani Rohini Singh, Abhay Kumar, Mohammad Sajjad, Athar Farroqui, Hyder Abbas, Arjumand Ara and the like. In his insightful and laconic article on Muslim Personal Law, a topic that has a strong bearing on the collective life of Indian Muslims, Mohammad Sajjad asserts that from 1937 onwards, the demand for Sharia Laws gained momentum. The British law emphasized local customs and practices while enacting property rights. It was an effort to unite Muslims politically. The British laws were used to create a pan-Indian Muslim identity. He argued that personal law is a political question, not a religious one. The second volume carried two incisive and stirring articles by noted author and translator Athar Farooqui. One article turns attention to contemporary Urdu language and literature and Muslim fundamentalism, and the other trenchantly spells out the distinctive features of modern Urdu Journalism in India. Why don’t reason-avoidance-prone Urdu newspapers commission and seek articles from intellectuals? Athar Farooqui palpably answers. “Urdu newspapers need to learn about publishing commissioned articles and pay honorarium and postal charges to the stringers posted in other cities. Contrarily, they take pride in spitting venom against the neutral Muslim intellectuals relentlessly. Getting cerebral articles published in Urdu newspapers is impossible as it will make the reader aware of the difference between light and darkness.
One tends to agree with Ashar Najmi’s unequivocal conclusion that Muslims must prepare themselves to respect different opinions. Muslims have been trained to dub all those Sanghi agents of Christians and Jews who differ from us. Ashar made a point to start every chapter with a poem that foreshadows what has been coming and encapsulated the chapter by publishing three or more short stories by prominent Urdu and Hindi writers. It is the issue that is braced for navigating us from the turbulent world around us.
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