Opinion| A patriotic, progressive Muslim voice is rising in India that is challenging Islamism

So far, it lived largely in one’s imagination. The sightings were too rare to determine whether it is mythical or real, like the abominable snowman or the unicorn.

For Hindu nationalists, they were too good to be true. For the cabal of the convenience of orthodox Muslims, Left, and so-called liberal intelligentsia, who bestow upon themselves the mantle of “secular”, this creature was too rare to bother about. Any trace of it and It would be bullied and shamed into submission or oblivion.

But perhaps for the first time since the advent of social media in India, a patriotic and progressive Muslim voice is getting louder. A brave new generation of Muslims is bravely taking on the hypocrisies and fear-mongering by radicals in their own community and the ‘secular’ intelligentsia which has been enabling it for decades.

#oldpost pic.twitter.com/SJDNYd7vHP

— Amana Begam Ansari (@Amana_Ansari) March 6, 2022

They are exposing rampant Hinduphobia by a powerful and vocal section of the Muslim commentariat who stand between the integration of the community with the national mainstream. ‘Liberal’ western media like The Washington Post and The New York Times give disproportionate space to the divisive, separatist Muslim voice.

But back home, these new Muslims are becoming increasingly popular, influential, and assertive, whether it is on the hijab controversy or a movie about the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus by Islamist terrorists. They are openly taking on the overground Islamists who had so long monopolised the narrative in the community.

Hence we need to work for reforms within. Your daily abuse of Hindus does not help those children in Madrasas one bit, you only add to their misery which they then project onto the World. https://t.co/SKYXcgUm0Y

— Khalid Baig (@KhalidBaig85) March 15, 2022

The first voices to make a mark were of young politicians like Shazia Ilmi, brothers Shehzad and Tehseen Poonawalla, and anchor Rubika Liaquat. But now, a dam seems to have broken. Amaana Begum Ansari, Khalid Baig, Arshia Malik, Nighat Abbas, Subuhi Khan, Nissar Guru, Sajid Yousuf, Suneem Khan, Wajahat Farooq and handles like Zafar_nama.

As The Kashmir Files makes a splash nationwide with the truth about the Pandit genocide in the 1990s, Kashmiri Muslims like Sualeh Keen, Emaad Makhdoomi, Yana Mir, Raja Muneeb, Javed Beigh, Sajid Yousuf Shah, and Shaikh Mohsin have been vocal against the jihad ecosystem.

Central Waqf Council member Rais Khan Pathan leads the charge. Once a young, renegade Kashmiri civil services officer, Shah Faesal today talks national interest. So do the likes of Atif Rasheed.

Only way forward 4 Muslims is 2 join national mainstream by abandoning their anti-Hindu role & focus on doing deals with whichever party will give em economic benefits
Muslim Anti-BJP Stance Is Repeatedly Coming A Cropper: Case For Rethink https://t.co/W4b0znjO0g via @swarajyamag

— Arshia Malik (@arshiaunis) March 10, 2022

The ‘sarkari musalman’ slur, reserved by the faithful for any Muslim, not on warpath against the mainstream, does not seem wash any longer. As Najmul Soda wrote in The Print: “The Muslim community came to regard itself as caught in an eternal conflict with the Indian State. The premise of permanent hostility with the State threw up labels like Sarkari Musalman for anyone who was seen to be aligned with the narrative of the State, popularly known as the ‘Idea of India’, of which democracy and secularism were the core elements. In the absence of an ideological commitment to democracy and secularism, these principles could, at best, be the second-best options for the ideologues whose narrative drew inspiration from medieval religious supremacism.

“Naturally, this would lead to a farcical situation where one could be seen posing as the zealous defender of the noble ideals of the Constitution, but actually harbouring an ideological antipathy to the same. Mere mouthing of liberal verbiage doesn’t suffice for a real commitment to those principles. Such a bizarre situation was enabled by the extra miles, which the official secularism would cover to accommodate the Muslim communalism. This type of “tolerance” dented the credibility of the secular ethic of the State.”

Progressive voices like late President APJ Abdul Kalam or Kerala governor Arif Mohammed have often been mocked by the champions of Islam. Then there are Muslims who have risen above narrow communal agenda and been honest to their professions like archeologists KK Muhammad, who was part of the team that conclusively proved that remains of a destroyed templed lay under the Babri Masjid, or Justice Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin Khazi of the Karnataka High Court who delivered the verdict against hijab in schools.

Justice Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin Khazi has rejected the arguments that a Muslim woman ceases to be Muslim without Hijab and will burn in eternal hellfire after death if she doesn't do purdah

Those spewing hate against her for the verdict cannot, certainly, be progressives or liberal pic.twitter.com/GY8xNf3Bz2

— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) March 15, 2022

But the new wave of youngsters is a lot more vocal and irreverent. They do not couch their words. They seem much less scared of the backlash. There are three main reasons for this change.

First, with Narendra Modi’s BJP in power at the Centre and CMs like Yogi Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma in the states, they reckon that the jihadi forces will be a lot less emboldened. They also know that there is massive support for nationalism in new India. They see the hypocrisies and tyrannies of perverted secularism. They see how the overwhelming majority of Hindus who think and speak rationally are termed communal and bigoted Islamists are protected as ‘liberal’.

Importantly, the ruling BJP has not discriminated in terms of distributing resources on the ground. Its schemes like PM Awaas Yojna, Ujjwala, or direct benefit transfer have reached Hindus, Muslims, and every other community.

Second, globally young Muslims have been fed up with the writ of the violent orthodoxy which runs in the name of Islam. Their modern education and sensibilities make it extremely difficult for them to reconcile with unreformed Islam. Many Muslims find blasphemy, honour killings, homophobia and rampant misogyny unbearable. This is why movements like Ex-Muslims or Awesome Without Allah have found quiet but tremendous traction in Arab nations, Turkey, Iran, Syria and even Pakistan.

Third, a silently growing section of young Indian Muslims have had enough of othering and being othered. They don’t want to exist like a stubborn, basket-case cult.

If Islam is to keep them in its fold, it will have to change, reform and evolve as most other religions have. The young in the community needs a new set of leaders, people who talk a language different from the medieval.

And the great Indian civilisation, which has sheltered and nurtured so many in its bosom, will have to be especially protective of this new, bold wave of Muslims. They are special. They are saying things at great risk of ostracisation, boycott and even violent attacks. They ought to be made secure and celebrated for the sake of a united, vibrant future.