New Delhi: In addition to being a Rajya Sabha parliamentarian from the Rashtriya Lok Dal party, Mahmood Madani is a leader of the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, a large Islamic religious party that opposed India’s partition in 1947, as well as a key player at the Darul Uloom seminary at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh.
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The Deoband school is a leading Islamic seminary in India, whose religious thought has been invoked by the religious right in Saudi Arabia and by the Taliban in its fight against a modern Afghan state. Madani’s grandfather, Maulana Ahmad Madani, was in the forefront of the independence struggle and opposed Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s struggle for Pakistan. At a time when India has faced several terrorist encounters following which the word terrorist has increasingly become synonymous with Muslim in many sections of the media, Madani spoke to Mint. Edited excerpts:
A lot of Muslims are being accused of being terrorists these days. Is this having a negative impact on the Muslim community in India?
This is absolutely right. The way in which terrorist incidents are taking place in the country, there are two problems: firstly, the attitude of the investigating agencies. Instead of carrying out a multi-dimensional investigation, they are carrying out a pin-pointed investigation against the Muslim community. It has become (a common) perception that if there is an incident then it must have been done by a Muslim, that Muslims are behind this, and so the direction of the investigation is also towards us.
Problem is the real culprit gets away. And, when this is presented to the media and the media broadcasts it across the country, with the communal situation in our country being what it is, people begin to believe (the worst).
Stop the targeting: Mahmood Madani, of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, says the common perception now is that a Muslim is responsible for any terrorist attack—and that intelligence agencies are carrying out pin-pointed investigations against the Muslim community. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint
There are several consequences to this, to the communal fabric as well as an increase in alienation within the Muslim community. Several Muslim organizations, who I would call blackmailers, also get the opportunity to scare and frighten other innocent Muslims on the excuse of protecting them.
I would like to ask you about the recent encounter in Batla House in Jamia Nagar in Delhi as well as in recent months across the country. All those accused are Muslim. What can you say about that?