Muslim Leaders Denounce Mumbai Blasts, Demand Impartial Investigation

Yoginder Sikand

The dastardly bomb blasts in Mumbai have been strongly denounced by scores of Muslim organizations and leaders across the country. The Urdu press, which now caters to an almost entirely Muslim readership, has given wide coverage to the statements of these groups and individuals. Unfortunately, however, these voices have hardly been highlighted in the English and Hindi media, whether deliberately or otherwise.

‘Rashtriya Sahara’ and ‘Qaumi Awaz’, the two most widely-read Urdu dailies published from Delhi, have covered the Muslim response to the blasts extensively. Every single Muslim leader and organization they have quoted has condemned the blasts and their perpetrators in no uncertain terms. These papers have reported meetings denouncing the blasts being organized by Muslim groups even in small towns and villages that otherwise never find mention in the press. Madrasa heads, maulvis, Muslim social activists and politicians all over India, these papers report, have unanimously expressed shock and horror at the news of the blasts.

Muslim leaders have condemned the blasts as a heinous crime. Maulana Anis ur-Rahman of the Imarat-e Shariah, Bihar, terms the blasts as a ‘cowardly act aimed at destroying peace and communal harmony’. Maulana Mustaqim Azmi of the Jamiat ul-Ulama-e Hind describes the blasts as ‘an unforgivable crime perpetrated by the enemies of peace and humankind’. Maulana Marghub ur-Rahman, rector of the Deoband madrasa, insists that the blasts were part of a ‘conspiracy to destroy the country’s peace’, terms those behind them as ‘foes of humanity and the country’ and expresses his sympathies with the relatives of those who lost their lives. The President of the All-India Milli Council, Maulana Abdullah Mughisi condemns the blasts as a ‘conspiracy aiming to destroy communal harmony’. Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadvi, President of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, brands the blasts as ‘wholly irreligious’. The Imam of the Lucknow Eidgah and President of the Islamic Cultural Centre of India, Maulana Khalid Nizamuddin Firangi Mahali, describes the blasts and their perpetrators as ‘Satanic and anti-human’.

Similar statements have been issued by numerous Muslim organizations, including the Jamaat-i Islami, Tanzim-e Ulama-e Haq, Momin Conference, Muslim Political Council of India, Shia-Sunni United Front, Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Minorities Front, Dini Madaris Board and a whole host of other such groups, including a number of madrasa organisations. They have all appealed for an impartial investigation into the blasts to identify the culprits and sternly punish them, irrespective of whichever community they might belong to.

Muslim leaders are clearly alarmed at the way in which the police, investigating agencies as well as Hindutva forces are seeking to present the blasts as the handiwork of Muslims in the absence of any confirmed evidence. They are worried that the blasts are being actively used by the Hindutva lobby to spearhead a witch-hunt of Muslims by blaming Muslims for the deed and to defame Islam by seeking to associate it with terrorism. Consequently, they have forcefully denied any association between Islam and terrorism. As the Chariman of the Raza Academy Mumbai, puts it, ‘Islam is opposed to all forms of terrorism’. He quotes the Quran as saying that slaying a single human being is tantamount to slaying the whole of humanity, and, conversely, that saving a single person is like saving the lives of all human beings. This point is also made by the noted Islamic scholar, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Maulana Gulzar Qasmi of the All-India Milli Council insists that it is wrong to associate the blasts, which he terms as ‘an inhuman crime’, with any religion, because, he says, ‘those who engage in such dastardly acts have no religion at all’. Maulana Anzar Shah Kashmiri of the Tanzim-e Ulama-e Hind declares the blasts as a ‘crime against the country, humanity and religion’ and states that ‘neither Hinduism nor Islam allow for such acts’. Hence, he says, ‘those behind these Satanic deeds are neither Hindus nor Muslims’. Maulana Riyaz ul-Hasan Nadwi of the Dini Talimi Council argues that ‘no religion sanctions such heinous acts and that terrorists have no religion’. The Vice-President of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and senior teacher at the Deoband madrasa, Maulana Muhammad Salim, describes the blasts as ‘a terrorist and devilish act that is not allowed in Islam’. The rector of the renowned Nadwat ul-Ulama madrasa, Lucknow, Maulana Saeed ur-Rahman Nadwi, denounces those behind the blasts as ‘enemies of country, who are not concerned about its peace and prosperity and are bent on its destruction’. He argues that they have ‘no relation whatsoever with religion and morality’. Likewise, Mufti Mukarram Ahmad, Imam of the Jamia Masjid Fatehpuri, sees the blasts as a ‘conspiracy of communal forces to seek to associate terrorism with Islam’, but insists that Islam forbids such acts. For his part, Hassan Kamal, a well-known Urdu commentator, says that if activists of any self-styled Islamist group were indeed behind the blasts, they are not Muslims at all. Rather, he says, they are ‘worshippers of hatred’ and ‘have not even an iota of fear of God in their hearts’. But before rushing to any conclusion, he says, it is imperative that the identity of the culprits be properly established and that no community wrongly be blamed for the acts.

Several Muslim leaders quoted in the ‘Rashtriya Sahara’ and ‘Qaumi Awaz’ question the presumption that some have made that the blasts were engineered by radical Islamists. Instead, they suggest the possibility that the culprits may have been one or the other fanatically anti-Muslim Hindutva outfit. Maulana Kalbe Jawad of the Muslim Personal Law Board appears to suggest that the blasts may have been the handiwork of the Shiv Sena, whose political fortunes have hit a new low recently. With Assembly elections due in Maharashtra soon, he says, the Shiv Sena or some such Hindutva organisation might well have perpetrated the blasts in order to blame Muslims for it, stir communal riots and thereby gain political mileage. He argues that he has no faith in government-appointed enquiry committees and, instead, calls for a committee consisting of people of different communities to investigate the blasts, identify the culprits and punish them sternly.

Similarly, Ahmad Bukhari, Imam of Delhi’s Jamia Masjid, terms the blasts as a ‘conspiracy to fan communal violence between Hindus and Muslims’. He argues that Muslims must not be blamed for them without adequate evidence. He refers to the Shiv Sena as attempting to stir communal trouble in Mumbai just a few days before the blasts and says that there might be a link between this and the blasts. In this regard, he says that it is possible that Hindutva groups might have engineered the blasts because, as he puts it, ‘they do not want peace and communal harmony’ and are ‘engaged in various conspiracies to give Muslims a bad name’.

All Muslim leaders and organizations whose statements denouncing the blasts have appeared in the Urdu press have appealed to Hindus and Muslims to stand united and resist the attempts of communal forces who might seek to use the blasts to fan Hindu-Muslim strife. As Maulana Gulzar Ahmad Azmi of the Maharashtra unit of the Jamiat ul-Ulama-i Hind rightly insists, ‘The blasts are the handiwork of those opposed to Hindu-Muslim unity and so communal harmony must be preserved at all costs in order to defeat their designs’.