Chiranjeevi’s political career reminds me of movies that we wish had a different ending.  When announcing his entry into politics, Chiranjeevi cited one reason being the desire to “try his hand” at it.  I consider that as adequate justification.  However, he could have “tried his hand at politics” very differently. 

For example, instead of starting a new political outfit, what if Chiranjeevi had driven down to Lok Satta Party’s offices and said, “I like your political emphasis on governance and professionalism.  I want to join your party but be much more than a “star” campaigner.  How can we work together?”  It is my belief that Jayaprakash Narayan or Chiranjeevi would have been the state’s next Chief Minister.  A more seminal change would have been the reform of Indian polity.

For such an ending, I would have joyously cheered from Lakdi ka Pul.

In Defence of Liberty reprints a Wall Street Journal Asia article by Abheek Bhattacharya-

The burgeoning classical liberal movement is feeding off India’s economic growth. The Big Bang liberalization of the 1990s has already helped realign the middle class toward the idea of limited government. Thanks to these 350 million Indians, “the chances of success of a classical liberal movement are good,” says Gurcharan Das, who has been advocating liberal ideas in his Times of India column for 15 years. More people are coming to disfavor big government thanks to their own experiences.
[...]
With a new regional political party in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, that may not be far away. Lok Satta, which registered as a party in 2006, has to its credit policy changes in key local issues such as voter registration and rural health. Jayaprakash Narayan, its founder, is a politician who understands free markets. “We believe that there must be a clear demarcation of the role between the state and the market,” he says.

Yet, despite the presence of a liberal party on the political landscape, it’s still too early to sound the death knell for big government in India. In a state by-election in March, Lok Satta garnered only 13% of the vote, a reminder that making the invisible hand visible to voters is never easy.

The problem with the word “liberal” is its scope – everybody and his grandfather calls himself a liberal now-a-days. Gurcharan Das – he is for property rights but contradictorily supports eminent domain (follow the link to his column from this post). He however disappointed me hugely during a television debate on reservations in April 2008 where he stood right in the middle and accepted the basic premise of the policy. Jayaprakash Narayan, on the other hand is definitely not liberal. And I have already written about why that is so.

While I read the WSJA article a couple of days back, Sauvik Chakraverti’s post on false liberals is what made me write about it. “I use the word ‘libertarian’ to describe this blog’s intellectual position because the word ‘liberal’ is used by almost anyone and everyone – and these are almost entirely false friends,” he writes, and continues-

Why does liberalism have so many false friends? The answer lies in an “attitude” that infects politics in India: the idea that there is something wrong with “the people” and that The Politician must step in to correct this wrong. The people are smoking. Terrible. The people are drinking. Even worse. They visit dance bars. They smoke ganja and charas. They gamble. They patronize prostitutes. Horrible! The politician therefore masquerades as a social reformer and steps in with State action. It is here that illiberalism begins.

Labels have no meaning unless there is some kind of coherent thought that lies underneath. An alliance of atheists will include both communists and Objectivists; an alliance of global warming skeptics will include traditional Republican Party supporters as well as right-wing libertarians – issue based alliances are all they will ever amount to. And we will have absurd cases like Ron Paul endorsing the Constitution Party candidate (I think he did). Sometimes the contradictions might be a result of genuine mistakes. But more often than not, its simply a matter of adopting convenient labels – subterfuge.

Everyone complains about the rotten Indian political system. And everyone demands a change. But, without understanding the ills that plague the system, how do you expect to correct them? Shiv Khera has started a new political party – the Bharatiya Rashtravadi Samanata Party (Indian Nationalist Equality Party). Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has his own outfit – Lok Satta (People’s Rule). When I hear such names, I am scared. And their manifestos justify my fear. When the uneducated resort to socialism, their ignorance limits the damage they can do. But when the educated do, its time to stand up, take notice, and flee.

Lets tackle JP’s Lok Satta first. Its been here for a couple of years now, mainly in Andhra Pradesh – the party’s aims and objectives and agenda. The only thing that I can even remotely agree with in its entire scheme of things is its stated focus on decentralization of government. Otherwise, nearly every objective of the party deals with items like free education, free health care, affirmative action and the like – all provided by the government. All these facilities are supposed to be of the highest standard. And standards cost money. Guess who will pay? What if I don’t want to? The party supposedly stands for liberty, but wants to enforce a ban on liquor consumption. This one single anti-liberty stand is more than enough to prove its socialist ideals; and earn my disapproval.

Now Khera’s BRSP – its manifesto (pdf). According to its constitution (pdf), it is formed to fight against corruption & injustice, poverty & hunger, illiteracy & unemployment, terrorism & social crime. And it says that it is a socialist party. So its stated objectives like free and compulsory education, applicability of a uniform civil code, mandatory voting, social security, mandatory rural service for students of medicine, compulsory rain harvesting etc should not surprise anyone. And its constitution and manifesto do not mention liberty even once.

Both Khera and JP seems to think that socialism is to be accepted without question, that it is fine for government to get into sectors like education and health care, and control the private lives of citizens. They think corruption is the most serious problem that faces us. And that once it is satisfactorily dealt with, India will become a utopia. I have serious doubts on whether they have ever pondered over concepts like the use of force. Do they understand liberty? Libertarianism? Non-aggression? Freedom? Free choice? Validity of taxation as a means of public finance?

Our current crop of politicians are pragmatists. We know what they will and won’t do. That assumption does not hold true when it comes to people with visions. If we think on a short term basis, probably the Lok Satta and the BRSP will deliver better governance compared to the crooks who rule us at present. But there is something horribly wrong with their ideology. And this can become a serious long term problem.

A World Of A Difference

USA, with a population of 30 crores (300 million), has a criminal population of 70 lakhs (7 million) – behind bars, on probation or on parole. US Government estimates a figure of 20 lakhs (2 million) people serving prison sentences.

A concerned editorial in New York Times newspaper summed up the situation.

More than 1 in 100 American adults are behind bars. One in nine black men, ages 20 to 34, are serving time, as are 1 in 36 adult Hispanic men. Nationwide, the prison population … (of the US) surpasses all other countries for which there are reliable figures. The 50 states last year spent about $44 billion in tax dollars on corrections, up from nearly $11 billion in 1987. Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and Oregon devote as much money or more to corrections as they do to higher education.

Persuading public officials to adopt a more rational, cost-effective approach to prison policy is a daunting prospect, however, not least because building and running jailhouses has become a major industry.

… the relationship between imprisonment and crime control is murky. States that lagged behind the national average in rising incarceration rates during the 1990’s actually experienced a steeper decline in crime rates than states above the national average … (ellipsis and bracketed text mine).

What goes on here …

The current status of Indian criminal system is a study in contrast. India, with a population of 110 crores (1100 million) has a prison population of 2 lakhs (0.2 million). The Indian National Human Rights Commission gives a figure of 3.5 lakhs as the prison population – including convicts and those who are undergoing trial. The UK Home Office survey of World Prison Population estimates Indian prison population at 2.5 lakhs.

With less than 25 people per 100,000 in prison India has the world’s lowest imprisonment rate. Cynics may snigger at India’s ‘inefficient’ police or the slow court procedures as the cause for this low prison population. That can only mean criminals are at large and India must, therefore have the highest crime rate – which is not true. India has low or average crime rates – based on category.

A police state is the answer …

The other option is if India had a huge police force. But then, India has the lowest police-to-population ratios in the world. Comparative statistics show,

The police-population ratio in India is very poor at 1:728, it was 1:600 as mentioned by the Home Minister in August 2005 to Parliament, with women constables constituting only 2.5 per cent of that number. The all-India average police-population ratio stands at 122 per 100,000, which is much lower than the UN norm of 222 per 100,000 (1:450). Most western countries have ratios between 250 and 500 per 100,000. Russia has a ratio of 1:82 and Australia 1:439. While Pakistan has a ratio of 1:625, Japan and Singapore have 1:563 and 1:295 respectively. Even developing countries like Thailand with 1:228 have a much better ratio than India.

Guns and crime

Gun ownership has been suspected behind the crime rates in the US. But the most recent argument against this theory is the spate of bank robberies – which dilutes this argument – at least partially. Estimates of the national stock of guns in the US varies between 40 million to 50 million households which own 200 million guns.

India is, in many ways, different. Recent estimates show that India is the second largest gun owning population in the world- with 4.6 crores (46 million) guns. One report report states that UP alone has 900,000 licensed fire arm holders and 1,400 arms dealers. Another report estimates more than 3 lakh illegal firearms in New Delhi alone.

The fear of God … and Death …

Amnesty International - capital punishment data

The ‘Desert Bloc’ societies are great believers in the death sentence. On the other, year after year, India has had the lowest numbers of death sentences – and executions. For instance, the ‘Grand Debate’ in the US of A, is as schizophrenic as it can get.

A majority of Americans support the idea of capital punishment–although fewer are for it if given a choice of life without parole. At the same time, a substantial number in a recent poll said they could not serve on a death-penalty jury. Our death penalty’s continued existence, countering the trend of the rest of the developed world, expresses our revulsion to violent crime and our belief in personal accountability. (from Death Penalty Walking By David Von Drehle Thursday, Jan. 03, 2008 from TIME magazine)

The Amnesty International website reports,

In 2008, at least 2,390 people were known to have been executed in 25 countries and at least 8,864 people were sentenced to death in 52 countries around the world.

As in previous years, the five countries with the highest number of executions in 2008 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States of America (Fig. 1). Together these five countries carried out 93 per cent of all executions carried out in 2008.

The spectre of Muslim gunsmiths

Muslims gunsmiths dominate this business – as can be seen from these reports. But the Indian Muslim, has like the rest of the country, not used these firearms dangerously. This is a strong argument against the ‘oppression of the Muslim in India’ argument.

How long would it take to create a religious jihadi militia? That too, at such a low cost.

But what is the question …

Which brings us back to the central question? Is there a causal link between gun ownership and crime? Are these directly related and proportionate?

All the 5 indices (below) create a bias for a lawless Indian society and rampant crime. With these five indices, namely: -

1. Police to population ratio (‘increase police force’).
2. Prison population (‘put more criminals behind bars’)
3. Capital punishment (‘kill enough criminals to instill fear’)
4. Poverty (‘it is poverty which the root of all crime’)
5. Gun ownership (‘more guns means more crime’)

against a stable social system, how does India manage low-to-average crime rates.

How can India have such a low prison population, with a poor police-to-population ratio and a crime rate which is not above the average – in spite of a large civilian gun population. The answer goes back to Lipit Ishtar, Hittite laws, Hammurabi et al – 4000 years back in history.

Indian ethical system

More than 2000 years ago, Megasthenes a Greek traveller to India wrote,

Theft is of very rare occurrence. Megasthenes says that those who were in the camp of Sandrakottos, wherein lay 400,000 men, found that the thefts reported on any one day did not exceed the value of two hundred drachmae, and this among a people who have no written laws

Historically, trade in India is governed by शुभ लाभ ‘shubh labh’ – and hence Indians have not been major players in drugs proliferation (unlike Japan, the West in which traded Opium in Korea and China) or in slave trade.

In modern times, though India is a power in computing industry, India is not a big player in spamming or in software virus. In August 2008, there was hoax story, which alleged that an Indian hacker, had broken into a credit card database – and sold to the European underworld – and some ‘experts’ feared that this would spark of a crime wave across Europe.

The Roots Of ‘Modern Law’

The story of crime and prison population gets more interesting after looking at history and tradition of India and the “Desert Bloc.” The ‘Desert religions’ derive their legal inspiration from the Hammurabic Law of 3000 years.

Babylonian laws had a fundamental impact on legal phraseology in the Bible and the classical world including early Rome. They followed the pattern of formulation that Hammurabi and other Mesopotamian lawgivers used, with a case by case listing of standard clauses. Thus the Babylonian laws show parallels with bases of the European tradition of legal thought, and may have inspired them. Yet Hammurabi’s name was not attached to the laws; the Biblical, Classical, and the Islamic traditions did not remember him, and he was fully forgotten. The situation was only reversed when Europeans, in the mid-nineteenth century AD, started the archaeological exploration of the Middle East and deciphered the cuneiform scripts. By accident, Hammurabi’s name appeared among the earliest inscriptions found. (from King Hammurabi of Babylon By Marc Van de Mieroop)

Sons Of Hammurabi

Western historians glorified Hammurabi as the world’s first law giver – and Occidental-Levantine (including the Shariat) laws are based on Hammurabi’s legal code of “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.” Of course, the modern state of Israel follows the system of two eyes and all your teeth, if you hurt my one eye.

Hammurabi’s laws and edicts were retributive, vengeful and punishment oriented. The focus of Hammurabi’s legal system is to give a ‘fitting’ counter punishment for a defined offense – even in the face of an alternative data set.

The first followers in the last 3000 years, were the Greeks. With fresh slaves, bought with newly discovered gold, the Greeks took their first few steps in defining a legal systems. Draco started the Greek legal code which set standards in severity and repression – death for stealing an apple or a cabbage. Those convicted of idleness were condemned to death. Plutarch reports that one contemporary reported that Draco’s laws “were written not in ink, but blood.” It took Solon, widely travelled in Asia, where Hittite’s liberal laws were still in force, to relax Greek laws.

Romans continued with these legal practices and termed this legal concept as lex talionis. The Old Testament advocated “an eye for an eye” (Hebrew: עין תחת עין; Exodus 21:23-27). Islam set up the system of Shariat laws on the same pattern.

But not in Indic nations. 4000 years after the Hittites, Gandhiji was asked about the Hammurabi’s “eye for an eye” kind of justice. Like the Hittites, Gandhiji rejected Hammurabi’s legal constructs. His famous position was “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

Results & Consequences

These laws created a system of revenge, fueds and vendettas. The result – fractured Europe, a rampant history of genocide, fueding Middle East.

The largest prison population in the world is USA, currently at 2 million. The US has more people in prison than the totalitarian regimes of Russia or China. USA also has one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Is there a causal link between the Hammurabic legal systems and the crime it seems to engender.

Massacre & Slavery

Hammurabic legal systems also created, supported, protected the premier slave systems of the world. It is also the same system with a singular record for blood baths and massacres in the history of mankind. This is region and system that gave rise to the three slave religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The three ‘desert religions’, gained their first converts from slaves, but continued with slavery till the 20th century. The 3 ‘desert religions’ instead of reforming slave societies, just enabled the transfer of slave titles. Freedom meant old slaves became the new slave masters.

Western history is replete with examples of blood thirsty conquerors whose achievements were measured by territorial conquest, loot and slave capture.

The Indic Legal System

The alternate system in that era, 4000 years ago, was the Hittite legal system. We get an insight into the Hittite legal system from (more than) 10,000 clay seals and tablets at Boghaz-koi, unearthed in 1907-08. These tablets and seals reveal the legal minds of the Hittites. Vastly, different from Hammurabic laws, Hittite law, was based on amelioration of the effect of crime and driven less by fear of death and punishment.

The Hittites, Mittanis and Elamites (using Indo-Dravidian languages) were Indo Aryans, who dominated Asia from Indian borders to Europe, till 500 BC. Kassites, the other major ruling clan in Levant’s geography (apart from the Egyptians) heavily adopted Indo Aryan cultural motifs.

The Indic (Hittite) legal revolution 4000 years ago plays out even today.

The Indic Bloc rejects Hammurabi

The earliest legend on justice in India is Silappathikaram (Tamil: சிலப்பதிகாரம்). Written by Ilango Adigal /Elangovadigal, supposed brother of Cheran Senguttavan. In the famous play, Silappadhikaaram, (also Silappatikaram) was about miscarriage of justice. The protagonist in the play is King Neduncheziyan.

Neduncheziyan is famous (in Tamil literature) as the fabled, erring Pandyan King in the Tamil classic – Silappadhikaaram. Neduncheziyan’s mistaken justice, brings him grief – and finally death. This classic, written by Jain saint, Ilango Adigal /Elangovadigal, Neduncheziyan in the Tamil classic, is overshadowed by the other real King, Cheran Senguttuvan – whose brother is Ilangoadigal.

And who is Neduncheziyan?

Replace ‘d’ with ‘b’ and you are with Nebuchadnezzar – famous as Babylonian Kings. With a name very close to the Tamil name of Neduncheziyan (Nedunchedianuru) – a current and modern Tamil name. And Nebuchadnezzars were successors of of Hammurabi. Who also waged war against the Elam kingdom, (ca1764).

There are at least four – but we are interested in two of them. The first was Nebuchadnezzar I (ca1126-ca1105) who invaded Elam (the Dravidian rulers of modern Iran). But it was Nebuchadnezzar II, who commissioned one of the wonders of the ancient world – The Hanging Gardens of Babylon – for Amytis, his homesick Elamite princess. Amytis, the daughter of the Median King, (a neo Elamite King), longed for the greenery of her homeland.

A prominent ruler of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar-II, 605-562 BC, (as spelt in English) not only married an Elamite princess, but also took on an Elamite name (related to the Dravidian languages).

Nebuchadnezzar III (Niditu-bel), who rebelled against Darius I of Persia in 522 BC and Nebuchadnezzar IV (Arakha), who rebelled against Darius I of Persia in 521 BC are the other two.

Gautama Buddha won his spurs after converting daaku “Angulimal.” Daaku Angulimal was a notorious criminal – who severed thumbs of his victims, as mementoes from many murders. During his encounter with Buddha, the Daaku was left standing and powerless – only to give up his ways.

Gandhiji and the Calcutta Riots

Commandent of Moradabad, Lt. Col. Coke, wrote in 1822:

“Our endeavour should be to uphold in full force the (for us fortunate) separation which exists between the different religions and races, not to endeavor to amalgamate them. Divide et Impera should be the principle of Indian government.”

The Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 paved the way for communalization of India. From 1910-1940, the British vigorously implemented the ‘divide and rule’ policy. At the time of 1947 partition, organized gangs started communal riots. Kolkatta (then Calcutta) was in flames. More than 4000 people died. The British Raj was a mute bystander. In contrast, areas ruled by the ‘decadent’ and ‘feudal’ Indian maharajahs, did not see such a magnitude of communal riots.

Cut to Gandhiji during the Calcutta riots. Gandhiji met Hindu and Muslim leaders (and gangsters). Riots ceased. The effect of this came to be known as the Calcutta Miracle. After bloody riots, people came forward to lay down arms. Gandhiji, in an encounter with a sobbing rioteer who confesses to killing a Muslim child – in a revenge killing. Gandhiji suggested that as repentance, the rioter adopt and raise a Muslim orphan child.

The Age Of Dacoits

Dacoity is a uniquely Indian-English word – made, formed and used in India. Derived from the Hindi word daaku, Dacoits were (and are) outlaws operating at the periphery of legitimacy – and morality. These brigands were a response to the shrinking opportunity base due to colonial practices (some of which continue) in India. These dacoits typically did not usually target the State itself or the poor.

Many successful films were made revolving around these dacoits. Sunil Dutt built his career around dacoit films like ‘Mujhe Jeene Do’ and ‘Praan Jaye Par Vachana Na Jaye’. ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’, a pioneering dacoit film, made Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna into super stars. ‘Sholay’, an all time big hit centered around a dacoit running amok – with a powerless State.

The target of the dacoits were the beneficiaries of the system – the rich. Since, the dacoits did not directly challenge the might of the State, the state was not very worried about these dacoits. But loot, these dacoits did. Especially the rich. In the 1960-1970s, dacoity had acquired fearsome proportions. Large swathes of some Indian states were beyond the pale of law – and authority.

Jayaprakash Narayan And Sampoorna Kranti

Post-colonial India was gradually reconstructing its economy. The building blocks of a competitive economy were being put in place. Shortages, inflation were endemic. In such an atmosphere, dacoits started acquiring overtones as a sign of a ‘failing’ Indian state.

One man stepped forward and made these daakus see sense. In April 1972, 500 of these dacoits surrendered to the State. These murderous dacoits surrendered at the appeal of a man who never held any office of power (or pelf). Jayaprakash Narayan was the man, at whose behest these Chambal daakus surrendered. Some of these dacoits became members of the Indian Parliament. Jayaprakash Narayan, who at one time, was seen as second only to Nehru, gave up electoral politics in 1954 and worked on the Bhoodan movement with Acharya Vinoba Bhave.

Criminals In The Indian Parliament

For the last 10 years, more than 20% of the elected representatives in national and state parliaments had criminal charges pending against them. In some cases, the charges were petty and manufactured by political rivals. Reality is, that there are criminals in Indian Parliaments. Some criminals like Shahabuddin were, of course, less elected and more manipulated into the Parliament.

Typically, India baiters revel in this and Indians are concerned about this. But, not The Indian Voter. He is unwilling to demonize candidates with a criminal record. The Indian Voter seems to definitely ambivalent about the criminal record of some of the candidates.

Interestingly, (and importantly) how does the Indian Criminal respond to this ambivalence and ‘softness’ – one can even call it an act of faith?

Mumbai -July 26th 2005

944 mm of rains in a matter of 4 hours. It was the single largest downpour in the last 100 years of weather records in the world – over an urban agglomeration. No city in recorded history has received so much rain.

Mumbai was paralysed. Communications lines went down. Electricity black outs engulfed parts of the city. On the arterial road across the Mumbai (the Western Express Highway), thousands of cars were marooned and abandoned by owners. Of these hundreds were BMWs, Mercedes-Benz, Honda Accents, SUVs like Pajeros, Landcruisers – abandoned on the roads. It took the city 4 days to recover. For three days, Mumbai was at standstill.

Criminals, technically, had a free run of the city. Much like New Orleans after Katrina. Vandalism, rape, pilferage could have easily happened.

Just the wipers, door handles, car tyres, headlights, car stereos from these high end cars would have yielded around Rs.25,000-Rs.50,000 (US$600-US$1200) per car in the ‘grey market’ – attractive targets for criminals during these 3 days.

How many of these cars were, finally, vandalized? None. No such incident was (at least) reported. Unlike New Orleans and Katrina where the National Guard had to be called out. How many women were raped?

None reported – but spontaneously, many Mumbaikars set up free tea stalls for the stranded. Strangers sheltered stranded people at their homes. Of course, there have been posts that Katrina reports were exaggerated and unsubstantiated.

Criminal As A Human

It is this non-vindictive treatment of the criminal through myth and example, in ancient and modern time that has differentiated exercize of authority in India and handling of the criminal. It is this treatment that makes India and the Indian criminal different.

Modern econometric modelling has an interesting perspective on Indian economy where research shows that for much of the last 1000 years, India has been a significant economic power till the 1900. China and India, this analysis estimates, for the last 1000 years, accounted for 50% of the world economy. Statistical analyses showed India with a world trade share of 25% for much of the 500 years during 1400-1900.

With this prosperity, the most interesting (historical) aspect of the criminal management story is the absence of any surviving mass jails in India prior to colonial India. Just how did pre-colonial India, one of the largest (and most prosperous) populations of the world, deal with crime and criminals?

Every terror attack, every serial blast, every suicide bombing—be it in Bali or Bombay; Manhattan, Malegaon or Madrid, London or Lumbini Park—elicits a pat, pavlovian response from non-Muslims. “Why don’t ‘moderate Muslims’ speak out against such atrocities?” “Why don’t ‘moderate Muslims’ condemn what is being done in the name of their religion?”

In one shot, an entire community is repeatedly and publicly placed in a petridish for its credentials to be inspected and initialled, unmindful of the fact that a vast majority are as innocent and as blameless as any other. Before long, the pseudo-patriots jump in, stereotyping and tar-brushing those who do not meet their requirements and laugh all the way to the votebank.

But how many non-Muslims bother to notice when “moderate Muslims” do actually speak up, speak out, and speak against what’s happening in no uncertain terms?

***

By K. JAVEED NAYEEM

The recent serial bomb blasts in Jaipur that have claimed almost a hundred innocent lives and left more than thrice this number badly maimed and scarred, both physically and emotionally, need to be condemned as an unpardonable crime against humanity, irrespective of the motives behind them.

Although the exact identity of the perpetrators has not yet been established, going by the speculations that are being floated quite liberally it is very likely that these blasts, too, like many in the past, will eventually be linked to some frustrated Muslim groups.

As a Muslim let me admit that while every Muslim is certainly not a terrorist, sadly most terrorists today turn out to be Muslims.

Although Islam, without any attempt by Muslims to propagate it, is the world’s fastest growing religion, it is still much misunderstood on many issues. Unfortunately, it is in relation to the issue of terrorism that it is most misunderstood today as many people wrongly think that it is a religion that not only just tolerates but also encourages terrorism.

This view, although very wrong, does have some reasons for its origin.

It is true that largely due to the pressure of very peculiar and adverse circumstances, radical Islamic groups have emerged of late, which have been resorting to terrorist strikes now and then to draw world attention to their causes which have been long neglected by the rest of the world.

Due to the means these groups have chosen to address their problems and draw global attention to them Islam continues to be much misinterpreted and much misunderstood as a religion of war and fanaticism.

Today Islam evokes on one hand, visions of mystical poetry, great architectural beauty and orderly masses of humanity turning five times a day towards the Holy Kaaba and praying with the discipline of a military parade. On the other hand, it also evokes images of unruly mobs on the streets confronting bullets and battle tanks with stones and bricks.

Until very recently it evoked images of young men hijacking planes and attacking embassies and consulates. But today it consistently evokes images of human bombs that blow themselves up with visions of instant spiritual salvation, without the least regard for pleasure or pain.

If we examine closely the pathogenesis of terrorism it is not hard to find that every act of terror is traceable to a sense of injustice and inequality.

The unfair handling of the Palestine problem and the continuing disregard to the basic rights of the Palestinians and the unnatural appeasement of the Jews by the western superpowers is perhaps the single most important factor in history that spawned the monster of terrorism in the modern world. Yet this does not mean that the Palestinians and their supporters are justified in the means they have adopted to achieve their goals.

While it was Palestine that introduced terrorism to the rest of the world, it certainly was Kashmir that did it for us here in India. Most Kashmiri Muslims and others sympathetic to their cause, notably Pakistan, view India as an occupation force that has no justification to hold on to the state that we wish to retain as the crown of our country.

Many Indians too, including surprisingly non-Muslims like Lokanayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Arundhati Roy, have expressed similar sentiments on more than one occasion.

One state’s freedom fighter and martyr is another state’s traitor or terrorist, depending on which side of the fence you stand and therefore the use of violence by the state is as much and in fact a more heinous crime than the use of violence by aggrieved individuals under repressive regimes.

Similarly, the encouragement of many despotic rulers by the terrorism-sensitive superpowers and their non-interference in freeing the meek and the weak from their clutches smacks of gross double standards. Islam condemns this and although it allows the use of legitimate fore to protect ourselves from oppression, terrorism that targets the helpless and the innocent, is an act that can never be condoned, whatever may be the sense of frustration or justification in the minds of the perpetrators. Not even the plea that there was simply no other way will hold.

Due to its effectiveness, terrorism has today no doubt become the attention-drawing scream of all wronged people whose voices have been long suppressed by the so-called civilized nations. But let the Muslims and the non-Muslims alike understand that terrorism has no sanction in Islam whatsoever and therefore it can never become our weapon or even our means to draw attention to our problems or to achieve our goals.

Contrary to popular opinion, Islam is a religion that has at its core the concept of universal love, goodwill towards fellow human beings and tolerance towards other religions and faiths. Unlike the often over-painted picture of forcible conversions to its fold, history is replete with examples of incidents where people from the time of the prophet to the present day have turned to Islam voluntarily, touched by the fine ideals it has preached or by the exemplary character and conduct of its prophet.

While it may be necessary for Muslims by their behaviour and conduct to let these values become known to non-Muslims, it has become more essential to remind ourselves about how these should be the guiding principles in our own lives and in our interaction with the rest of the world.

Today, any exercise that helps to increase understanding between Islam and the world at large, with a view to easing the tensions that exist between the two, is not only worthwhile but also most essential.

Ongoing terrorism has now placed the greatest burden of doing two of the toughest possible things on the shoulders of educated mainstream Muslims. One, of letting the world know that Muslims too are guided by all the good that is enshrined in their religion and more importantly, of also letting the radicals among them know that any violent means to address our problems and frustrations have no place in a civilized world.

It is said that enlightened minds are the ones that have the vision to see beyond the unseen. I am glad that here in our city, Mysore, the Central Muslim Welfare Council which thankfully represents the voice of at least twenty broad-minded and progressive Muslim organisations has condemned this most recent act of terror.

I wish all Muslims, individually and collectively adopt and support this stand. This condemnation is what is most essential to at least initiate if not to effect a change in the attitude of indifference on the part of Muslims to what is happening in the world around them.

(K. Javeed Nayeem, MD, is a practising physician who writes a fortnightly column for Star of Mysore, where a shorter version of this piece originally appeared)

Also read: Where has our compassion and tolerance gone?

Good news about Muslims makes bad news?

Firoz Bhakt Ahmed: ‘Muslims must come out against terrorism’