Nussbaum on Indian Muslims
Martha Nussbaum just published an op-ed on a subject very dear to me, namely the well-being of the Muslims of India, a minority community that finds itself near the bottom of the heap across a whole host of social indicators and that, not coincidentally, has been the target of discrimination and organized violence.
For that matter, I wish more people would pay attention to the plight of the Biharis of Bangladesh. Actually, I kind of wish the Muslim Arabs who focus so intensely on the plight of the Palestinians might give some thought, and dedicate some resources, to this community. I’m hoping I’m wrong and that the Qataris are rushing to help out, but I doubt it.
You know, Reihan, I understand your wish, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Arab centrism is fundamental to the concept of who is and is not a legitimate Muslim in the Gulf countries. Aid to Biharis, Kashmiris, and Indian Muslims from the GCC consists solely of the opportunity to work as a laborer for $100USD a month.
On another note…
During the recent US election, race and racism was such a big issue. But this really bugged me because, whatever Ta-Nehisi and others say aside, the US does not have a clue about what racism really means. In the US, racism means “Hey! I think that store clerk is lookin’ my way more than that white dude’s way!” Perhaps someone will mention lynchings having happened a century or so ago. But in India today, some examples of which Nussbaum pointed out, racism means setting people on fire in the street (Bombay), raping over a 1,000 women and slaughtering thousands (Gujarat), or locking nuns in a church and burning them alive (Orissa), or murdering hundreds of hotel patrons with indiscriminate sprays of gunfire (Bombay).
Yes, the Nussbaum article did raise the issue of race relations in India (race is such a bad word for this, but Ethno-Cultural is too unwieldy) Still….the article bothered me in some respects.
It’s not just a Hindu – Muslim thing. it’s a Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buhddist thing. Take any number of the above, mix, and then add in shade of skin, lingual group, geographic locale, and political affiliation. A Malyalam speaking Keralite Hindu is not the same as Marathi speaking Maharastran Hindu, just as as Urdu speaking Pashtun descended Kashmiri Muslim is far different from a Bengladeshi Muslim, and a Nepali-Indian Communist is far different from a Tamil Communist.
How many people in the US understand that the BJP (Hindu), the ruling party of India for most of the past decade and a half, and now the main opposition, is the Indian equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan?
But then what precipitated the rise of the BJP? What about the advent of Sikh extremism? Were Muslims always the persecuted minority? I know a ton of those of Mughali descent who don’t fit in that lower echelon. What about all those Muslim Sindhis who have not done half bad, especially in the Gulf countries? Or why is it that so many of Bollywood’s biggest stars are Muslim? For every impoverished Muslim in India, there are three equally impoverished Hindus, facing the same discrimination, be it due to caste, language group, cultural group, or geography.
Look, I agree with Nussbaum’s article, and the portrayal of anti-Muslim violence is dead on, but the article is pretty much entirely anti-Hindu, which doesn’t help delineate the complexity of the issue at all. And understanding the nature of this issue, if not all the details, but that it is fantastically complex, is important for Americans and for the new administration, because when the hammer falls between Pakistan and India, who is or is not an ally of the west may not be so simple a question as people think.
— James O'Hearn · Dec 2, 09:59 AM · #
Reihan,
Jazzak Allaahu Khayr for drawing attention to the issue of the biharis in Bangladesh. Certainly, all of us should be doing whatever we can to assist them or just spread awareness. People can go here http://www.statelesspeopleinbangladesh.net/home.php to donate or just to learn more.
I’m not sure what the point of bringing up Palestine is. Yes, the Palestinian issue gets more attention than many other equally deserving world issues, and sometimes the Palestinian issue is used by people in an insincere way that is not helpful to the Palestinians. At the same time, the suffering of the Palestinians is real and the injustices they face are real and I never fail to see the benefit in pitting one righteous concern against another. We all need to do MORE about BOTH situations and many others and we CAN, inshAllaah.
— Abu Noor Al-Irlandee · Dec 2, 07:57 PM · #
Sorry, obviously I meant to say at the end that I do fail to see the benefit or that I never see the benefit in pitting one righteous concern against another. (Usually seen in the context of Why are you helping anyone overseas, you should be helping people in your own country type arguments)
— Abu Noor Al-Irlandee · Dec 2, 08:22 PM · #
To:
Reihan Salam
Politics:
— India has had Muslim and Sikh (and upper and lower caste) Prime Ministers and Presidents, how many non-Muslim Prime Ministers or Presidents has Bangladesh or Pakistan had?
— India’s ruling party is governed by a Catholic woman, how many non-Muslim party chiefs…?
Law:
— When the Indian Supreme Court ruled in favor of alimony for a divorced Muslim woman (1986), its constitution was amended to disallow that and respect Muslim marriage traditions.
— Which western country allows Muslims to practice polygamy, as India does?
Commerce:
— For 1999-2005, India’s richest man was a Muslim CEO (wipro.com), how many non-Muslim industry captains…?
Military:
— India has had Sikh and Muslim (and Jewish) military commanders, how many non-Muslim military commanders…?
Sports:
— India has had Muslim and Sikh cricket captains, how many non-Muslim cricket captains…?
Culture:
— India’s movie industry is dominated by Muslims, how many non-Muslim movie stars…?
— India’s classical music industry has a strong representation by Muslims, how many non-Muslims ustaads…?
History:
— Did you forget how Indian soldiers rescued Bangladeshi Muslims from the military, dare I add Muslim, dictators of Pakistan (1971)?
Police:
— Police brutality is across the board in India and not specific to any one religion or state, so don’t cherry-pick.
Ever wonder why your argument mirrors the propaganda in this terrorist website- jamatdawa.org? You can hogwash your American buddies all you want, but your argument is not honest because it conveniently side-steps the core issue and seeks to deflect the blame.
— Shruti Dave · Dec 3, 03:03 AM · #
This same line of thinking is how the left became known as the party soft on crime. Whenever someone is raped, the left just wants to make sure that the rapist is not handled roughly by the arresting officers, that the rapist is questioned properly, that people understand the rapist had a tough childhood, that people understand the rapist could have gotten help but Reagan cut the program which would have helped him, that the rapist gets a fair jury, judge and trial and that the rapist does not get an unfairly long sentence, and then when the rapist gets out that he is not unfairly discriminated against as a sex offender in the community, and you know those sex offender registrations go too far and make it so those poor rapists don’t get a chance to rehabilitate themselves, and on and on.
— Katherine · Dec 7, 09:29 AM · #