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The euphoria created by the offer of the Sikhs to the Muslims of Gurgaon to use the premises of their gurudwara to offer their regular, customary congregational Jumma prayer proved to be short-lived.
Media reports tell us that “Namaz was not offered at Gurdwara Singh Sabha here on Friday even as some members of the Sikh community opposed the shrine management committee’s decision to allow Muslims offer prayers there.”
The report also says that “members of a radical Hindu group, Sanyukta Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, reached the gurdwara around 12 noon, distributed books titled Guru Tegh Bahadur-Hind ki Chadar and stayed there till 2 pm”.
The Muslims had obviously heard about the pressure being brought on the Sikhs and decided the previous night itself that they would go to the gurudwara to thank the Sikhs for their offer but would not avail it as the Hindutva groups might create a ruckus there. There were threats that the groups would demand the premises for bhajan and religious practices.
Muslim residents of Gurgaon offer namaz under police presence (unseen). Photo: PTI/File
The real task
This report might disappoint those who took solace in the offer and hoped that the liberal soul of India was still capable to answer the narrowness of hate. It was not to be. The way things have turned out will force us to face reality and the fact that there is no shortcut. The task of confronting the violence of Hindutva cannot be replaced by humanistic gestures.
When the offer was made last week, it was celebrated as a sign of the courage of humanism ultimately triumphing over the forces of exclusion and hatred. It was heart-warming because it showed that humanity and religion were not contradictory, that your religion could help you expand your heart. It could also enlarge your imagination of the sacred, that two notions of sacred do not clash: they reinforce each other. It proved that religions are not competitive, they can co-exist with ease.
While reading about the offer, I recalled Jainendra, the Hindi author and his essay on religion and sacredness. He wrote that it was a blessing for Hindus that they have Muslims and Christians as their neighbours as they bring with them sacredness from a source that has not been available to them. If the source lies outside the country, even better because India, through them is getting a touch of this sacredness.
So, if gurudwaras were opening their doors to Muslims, it is also good for them and the Sikhs. But the Granthi in-charge of the gurudwara felt necessary to open the doors of the gurudwara for a worldly reason. He said it had to be done to “save the country”, for the sake of fraternity. The country or nation, in his opinion, can be safe only if all its people are free to live with their religious orientation and practices, without feeling forced to compromise. Not just that, they also should feel welcomed everywhere.
Since Muslims did not have space for their Jumma namaz, the Sikhs decided to open the doors of their gurudwara. This situation was disturbing because Jumma namaz, a regular and almost invisible event until recently, had now suddenly been magnified. Its ordinariness had been taken away. The Muslims were not coming to the gurudwara of their own volition. They did not have anywhere else to go and were offered shelter by generous Sikhs.
My words might be misunderstood, but I need to say this. When people start eulogising this generous act, the real issue is pushed to the background. The real problem to be confronted is the increasing ability of violent Hindutva groups to dictate terms regarding the conduct of our public life and use of our public spaces. We are conceding ground to them and take comfort in noble gestures like these. This is not the solution.
For the past three years, Muslims of Gurgaon are being told repeatedly and violently that they are not welcome in open spaces. Some organisations of the Hindutva network disrupted the customary Friday namaz, which is congregational. Namaz was turned into a spectacle. It was as if namaz is a nuisance and Muslims are obstinate.
Friday namaz in Gurgaon became international news. Muslims had to offer namaz in the presence of policemen, in the full glare of the TV cameras. They were made to feel thankful to the administration for making namaz possible for them and praise them too.
We know – and so does the administration – all too well that namaz is not the issue. It is the violent opposition to the namaz that is the real problem. That is not being confronted. Those who actively disturb and disturb harmony are gaining more space.
A group of residents protesting namaz being offered in the open in Sector 47 of Gurugram. Photo: Twitter
The administration has surrendered before the violent Hindutva groups completely. Instead of restraining them, it has been pushing Muslims into a corner, asking them to withdraw each time namaz is disrupted.
Those who applauded the noble gestures of Sikhs and some Hindus must also address the real issue. That namaz was never the problem, the problem was the hooligans and they continue to be there. Conceding ground to their goondaism establishes a principle and precedence: that these “Hindu” groups have the first right over public spaces and only with their permission can others use them.
The task before those who believe in a secular India is to make sure that the Muslims of Gurgaon do not feel that life is possible for them only because of the goodwill of others. Their life, with all its dignity, is their right which flows from the constitution and does not depend on the awaking of goodness in the hearts of some good samaritans.
When I started writing these words, I feared that friends would take it as an expression of negativity. But I want to stress this point: do not tell me that I have to live by your grace. I should not be pushed around all the time and keep looking for kind-hearted neighbours to shelter me. The Sikhs are gracious for welcoming Muslims into the gurudwaras. But they should also demand that the administration enforce the law and stop the goons who act in the name of or on behalf of Hindus, to not let them dictate the terms. The virtuous act of the Sikhs should not take our attention away from the hegemony of majoritarian politics in India and its capture of all spaces.
But as it turned out, even Sikhs are not free to make a decision for themselves. The power of what Hindus would like to call a “fringe group” is so enormous that the Muslims themselves understood the danger they might put the gurudwara in and withdrew. They thanked the Sikhs for their offer, showed their appreciation but did not offer namaz, to prevent any embarrassment to the Sikhs.
This once again brings us back to the problem: Hindutva goons are turning everyone else into cowards. Those who oppose it need to take their lives back from the control of Hindutva groups before it is too late.