ERDICT
WHAT CAUSES COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
Analytical Study of a Judicial Verdict
. . . . . .
– Ram Kumar Ohri, IPS (Retd)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frequent eruption of communal violence in different parts of the
country even after partition of India in 1947 continues to confound the
Indian politicians and administrators. When India was partitioned in 1947
along patently communal lines, it was believed by the Hindus that in future
there will be no communal conflicts and the pre-partition history of recurring
communal violence and the Muslim breast-beating of grievance politics will
disappear for ever. But that did not happen despite immense appeasement
of the Muslim community by Gandhiji and Pandit Nehru.
2. The short-lived post-independence spell of communal peace was
soon replaced by frequently occurring Hindu Muslim riots. By now the
growing menace of communal clashes has reached almost the same dizzy
proportions which had been witnessed in pre-partition years.
3. After being buried in cold storage for nearly two years, the highly divisive and constitutionally unacceptable Prevention of Communal & Targeted Violence Bill is back on the election agenda of the UPA. The proposed law, if enacted, will brand the majority community (read Hindus) as the sole perpetrators of multiple communal riots erupting anywhere in the country. Interestingly the general impression among the Hindu masses is that the proposed law is the logical consequence of the wonky policy statement made by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on December 9, 2006, that the Muslims will have the first claim on the country’s resources” which implied that in future the majority community will be allowed only the left-over crumbs, after the Muslims had their fill to heart’s content. Unfortunately no analyst, nor any member of our ever-ebullient political commentariate has tried to understand the implications of this wonky policy announcement of our Prime Minister.
The most significant aspect of Dr.Manmohan Singh’s notoriously famous announcement was that it was madeon the birthday of the UPA’ Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi.
Prima facie the UPA led by the National Advisory Council is least interested in eradicating the causes of outbreak of communal riots. Their sole motive is to appease the Muslim minority and convert them into their staple votebank for riding to victory in the coming elections. Everyone knows that UPA’s National Advisory Council is a typical rag-tag outfit of self-anointed secularists most of whom happen to be rank communalists and dyed-in-the wool leftists. They have recommended the enactment of a constitutionally flawed law to prevent incidents of communal violence by placing the onus of maintaining peace entirely on the majority community. Without bothering to ascertain the real causes of communal riots, the NAC are vigorously pushing for ‘The Prevention of Communal & Targeted Violence Bill’ which squarely blames only the majority community, i.e., the Hindus for eruption of all communal riots.
A clumsy attempt is being made pass a law titled ‘Prevention of Communal & Targeted Violence Bill’ which is being pushed in the Parliament to harass the majority community by blaming them for the rising crescendo of communal riots across India.
In her seminally researched tome, ‘The Politics of Communalism’, published in 1989, Zenab Banu, a Muslim scholar, had analysed 74 cases of Hindu-Muslim riots which occurred between 1953 and 1977. She found that in 75 percent cases the rioting had been started by the Muslim community.
Going farther, the proposed law aims at affixing the blame on the police and magistracy for failing to control communal riots, on the trumped up charge of their alleged partisan approach. Apparently the ignoramuses strutting across the political theatre of India as exalted members of the NAC do not know that India has been chronically an inadequately policed country having a police to people ratio far below the standard norms accepted worldwide .
The NAC appears to be equally ignorant of the fact that in India as well as in several other countries out of the seven days in a week the maximum number of communal riots occur on Fridays. Globally the incidence of communal riots on Sundays, Monday, Tuesdays, Wedesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays is far less than the incidence of communal violence on Fridays. The same is true of India. But why? An answer to that question will reveal the real cause of frequent eruption of communal riots.
Astonishingly no member of the NAC has cared to study an important judicial verdict given 27 years ago by the Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi, Shri Z.S. Lohat in the year 1986 which highlighted the most important likely cause of frequent communal riots.
To arrive at the truth it would be useful to go back to the judicial verdict given by Z.S. Lohat, Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi, on 31st July, 1986, in a case registered by Police Station Hauz Qazi, Delhi, under sections 153-A and 295-A IPC against two Hindu activists, Indra Sain Sharma and Rajkumar Arya for publishing and circulating a poster in Hindi citing 24 ayats of the Quran under the caption, ‘Why Riots Take Place in the Country’. The ayats cited in the poster were taken verbatim from an authentic edition of the Quran translated in Hindi and published by a Muslim scholar, Mohammed Farooq Khan of Maktaba al-Hasnat of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. In his book the author had provided the original Arabic text of the Quran, along with Hindi and English translations cited in parallel columns.1 On the basis of a complaint lodged with the police the two Hindu activists were charged under sections 153-A and 295-A of the Indian Penal Code for circulating 24 Ayats of Quran which commanded the Muslims to fight against the followers of other religions. The ayats cited by the accused persons were 9.5, 9.28, 4.101, 9.123, 4.56, 9.23, 9.37, 5.57, 33.61, 21.98, 32.22, 48.20, 8.69,66.9, 41.27. 41.28, 9.111, 9.58, 8.65, 5.51, 9.29, 5.14, 4.89 and 9.14, briefly enumerated below.
The Hindi poster claimed, “Some ayats of the Quran Majid command the Muslims to fight against the followers of all other faiths, as indicated below:
- Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever you find them and take them (captive) and besiege them and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor due, then leave their way. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (Surah 9, ayat 5).
- O’ ye who believe! The idolaters only are unclean ….(Quran 9.28)
- In truth the disbelievers are an open enemy to you. (4.101)
- O’ ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you and let them find the harshness in you ….(9.123)
- Lo! Those who disbelieve our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed, We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise. (4.56).
- O’ ye who believe! Choose not your father, nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whosoever of you taketh them for friends such are wrongdoers. (9.23).
- Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. (9.37)
- O’ ye who believe! Choose not for friends People of the Book and of the disbelievers. But keep your duty to Allah if ye are true believers. (5.57)
- Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter. (33.61)
10. Lo! Ye (idolaters) and that which you worship beside Allah are fuel of hell. Thereunto ye will come. (21.98)
11. And who doth greater wrong than he who is reminded of the revelations of his Lord, then turneth from them. Lo! We shall requite the guilty. (32.22)
12. Allah promised you the much booty that ye will capture. (48.20)
13. Now enjoy what ye have won as lawful and good. (8.69)
14. O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey’s end. (66.9)
15. But verily We shall cause those who disbelieve to taste an awful doom and verily We shall requite them the worst of what they used to do. (41.27)
16. That the reward of Allah’s enemies: the Fire. Therein is their immortal home, payment for as much as they denied Our revelations. (41.28)
17. Lo! Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs. They shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. (9.11l)
18. Allah promises hypocrites, both men and women, and disbelievers fire of hell for their abode. It will suffice them. Allah curseth them and theirs is lasting torment. (9.58)
19. O’ Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there be of you twenty steadfast they shall overcome two hundred, and I there be of you a hundred steadfast they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve because they (the disbelievers) are a folk without intelligence. (8.65)
20.O’ ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folks. (5.51)
21. Fight against such of those who have been given the scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger and follow not the religion of truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low. (9.29)
22. Therefore, We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them till the day of Resurrection, when Allah will inform them of their handiwork. (5.14)
23. They long that that ye should disbelieve that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah. If they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose not friend nor helper from among them. (4.89)
24. Fight them! Allah will chastise them at your hands, and He will lay them low and give you victory over them, and He will heal the breasts of folks who are believers. (9.14)” 2
The poster objected to by the complainant Muslims further added that “there are numerous other ayats of the same sort (in Quran). Here we have cited only twenty-four ayats. Obviously, these ayats carry commandments which promote enmity, ill-will, hatred, deception, fraud, strife, robbery and murder. That is why riots take place between Muslims and non-Muslims, in this country as well as (the rest of) the world.” The poster claimed, “In the above mentioned twenty-four ayats of the Quran Majid, Mussalmans are commanded to fight against the followers of other faiths. So long as these ayats are not removed (from the Quran) riots in the country cannot be prevented.”3
On behalf of government the Assistant Public Prosecutor argued that the ayats quoted at serial Nos 2,5,9,11 to 19 and at serial No. 22 were either not in the Quran, or that they were distorted version of the ayats in the Quran. The accused, however, argued that these ayats cited by them were part of the Quran Majeed translated by a Muslim scholar, Mohammed Farooq Khan and had been taken verbatim from his book. And they argued that these exhort the Muslims to fight against the followers of other faiths. They averred that so long as these continued to be part of the Quran Majeed, communal riots in India cannot be prevented.
After hearing both sides and discussing their arguments, the learned Metropolitan Magistrate discharged the two accused persons, Inder Sain Sharma and Rajkumar, on the ground that prima facie there was no case against them. No charge could be framed against the two Hindu activists because the ayats reproduced in the poster were found to be correct. The learned Metropolitan Magistrate stated in his order, “I have personally compared the disputed ayats with Quran Majeed (translated in Hindi) with notes by one Mohammed Farookh Khan and have found that the most of the ayats have been reproduced in the poster in the original form as is available in the Quran Majeed”.
In his epochal judgement the learned Magistrate proclaimed, “In view of the above discussion, I am therefore of the view that there is no prima facie case against the accused as the offences alleged against the accused do not fall prima facie within the four corners of Sections 153-A /295-A.”
It is a matter of record that no appeal was filed against the judgement by the leaders of the Muslim community on whose complaint the two Hindu activists had been arrested and prosecuted by the police. Nor was any appeal filed against the acquittal of two Hindu activists by the prosecution on behalf of the State. Apparently they knew very well that the Quran did preach hatred and violence against non-believers and for that reason they dare not challenge the judicial verdict by appealing to the High Court. Also it should be noted that the Delhi government, too, did not file an appeal against the judgement, and allowed the judicial truth to remain on record unchallenged !
It is high time that the aforesaid judicial verdict Is thrown at the partisan members of the NAC. They must read the historical judicial pronouncement as well as the anti-kaffir ayats in the holy Quran to understand the rising tide of communal violence, not only in India, but all over the world. The malaise of communal riots, erupting mostly on Fridays, is not limited to India and has already become a global phenomenon affecting several countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, Chechenya and Dagestan in Russia, Xingjiang Province of China, Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and several cities of France, Sweden, Denmark, etc. Most countries, including China, have started treating Friday as the rioters day out.
It is evident that the NAC has deliberately woven a hatred spewing value judgement against the majority community without understanding the A, B, C of the single most important cause of communal violence across the world. The undeclared agenda of the NAC as well as the UPA government appears to be is spreading hatred against the Hindus of India for consolidating the UPA’s votebank agenda. For centuries the Hindus have been known worldwide to be a peace-loving and non-violent community and. But Sonia Gandhi’s NAC is trying to paint them as an incorrigibly violent religious group. Reasons : best left unstated lest I am labelled as a saffronite fundamentalist!.
Time has come for the Indian nation to critically analyse and publicly debate the real causes of growing communal hatred and clashes between the Muslims and non-Muslims across the globe to thwart National Advisory Council’s ugly design of laying blame for all communal riots on one community, namely the Hindus. The malaise is a global problem and not an India-specific phenomenon.
. . . . . . . . . .
References.
- Sita Ram Goel, The Calcutta Quran Petition, p. xi
Ibid, p. xiii
2 Responses to “WHAT CAUSES COMMUNAL VIOLENCE ; Analytical Study of A Judicial Verdict – R.K.Ohri”