Islam and World Freedom - A Dutch perspective

I was forwarded recently a speech made by Mr. Geert Wilders, a Dutch Member of Parliament, at the Four Seasons in New York. The speech was rabidly anti-Islamic, and the forward roundly castigated him. Is the liberal West turning insular?
I felt that the contents of his speech, though sweeping, were perhaps not entirely unjustified.

I think what has triggered off this xenophobia in the West is as much a cultural issue as a religious one. We in India are less severe in our attitudes because we have always lived in a multi-religious and multi-cultural environment, though not always in harmony. Burqas and minarets by themselves do not upset us – barring the RSS and their ilk - because these have been a part of our existence since the days of the Khiljis and the Tughlaks. But Europe is a different world altogether. They do not wear Christianity on their sleeve, and are bound to feel swamped under by a cultural-religious influx. Within the last two months Switzerland registered a 65% protest against mosques and minarets, and Sarkozy has banned burquas and veils in public. This goes for the Sikh turban also.

And that is my point. While in Rome do as the Romans do. Integration is the key. Stand out like a sore thumb and one should expect some criticism. Wave the sore thumb in your face and you will have scores of Geert Wilders coming up to protest. The Gujaratis got the boot from East Africa because they refused to integrate with the black majority, preferring to create their own Gujarati neighbourhoods. So did the English in India with their unique cantonments and No Indians Allowed attitude.
This brings me to a larger issue.

If those following the Islamic faith expect full religious freedom including the right to dress according to their interpretation of the tenets of Islam, should others not expect the same from the Middle Eastern countries?
I have not known of churches or temples in these countries, nor have I known of Christmas or Easter being declared holidays. Iraq, Lebanon and just maybe Turkey, are exceptions. But they too make concessions only for Christianity. What is significant is that the religious minorities in Dubai, etc do not demand these privileges because the pain of punishment is far greater. To this extent I would compliment the Europeans and the Americans for assuring us our freedom to practise our own religion. But if what Wilders says - that one-third of the French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks – is true, then it is time to sit up and take notice.

Stereotyping? Perhaps. But closer home, I feel the solution lies mainly with our Muslim friends. Yes, my friends do not like this religious rigidity, BUT they are unwilling to protest. A few months ago a religious group issued a fatwa against singing the Vande Mataram. It triggered off a furious debate on TV, but only people like Farooq Abdullah and Salman Khurshid protested against this fatwa. They protested intelligently by quoting chapter and verse of the Koran. But the overwhelming majority of the Muslim community remained silent. Yes, they may not like the rigidity of the mullahs, but they will not protest. I have not seen a single e-mail or a debate on this issue. So, the mullahs rule, and continue to control the minds of an overwhelming part of a large but silent community. Silence is soon translated into acceptance, and acceptance to intolerance. In contrast, the Hindu majority stoutly rejected the divisive dharma of the BJP, spoke up against the Babri Masjid demolition and firmly voted the Congress to power.

Next, in my view, the largest religious minority must actively participate in the nation-building process instead of carrying a perennial chip on their shoulder. Coming from a Services background I am appalled at their low levels of entry into the IAS, IPS, and the armed forces. People like former Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor are the rarest of the rare exceptions.

To come back to Geert Wilders, the most significant sentence is his speech is “They (the settlors) do not come to integrate into our society; they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam”. I would love to hear a storm of intellectual protest against each point made by Wilders, and a louder protest against the fatwa issuing followers - not of Islam, but of the Taliban.

This is just my personal opinion, and I hope it is borne in reason.

Mumbai's Traffic Nightmare

14th March 2010.

Dear Kishore and friends,

Thank you very much for sending me various updates on Traffic Meetings and the like. I also thank you for publicizing Adv Armin Vandrewala’s efforts for better traffic management through a PIL. I was very keen to attend the meeting organized jointly by the NPCCA, OCRA and the 3rd and 4th Pasta Lane Support Group, particularly as it was being addressed by Mr Barve, a fairly senior IPS Officer. However, I was quite disappointed on reading the report of the meeting in the DNA of 11th March.

According to the DNA report, JCP Traffic, Mr Barve, attributed the chaotic traffic situation to the poor design of roads, lack of education of signs, and the indiscipline amongst the motorists. He further said “Enforcement is the last of the 3important factors for good traffic management. Unfortunately, it is at the top.”
Now I just don’t understand this, Mr Barve. If the roads were perfect, if the people were fully aware of the signs and if the motorists were disciplined, do we really need you at all?!! It is because of these shortcomings that you are there – so we would really like it if the Traffic police did their job instead of passing the bureaucratic buck!

We do appreciate the efforts of the Traffic police to curb drunken driving. However, we expect more from the Police, not shallow reasons for inaction.
I understand that Armin Vandrewala’s PIL is the outcome of motorists halting ON the zebra crossing. Why can this not be stopped by the Traffic cops even when they are posted there? A classic case of chaos is the Churchgate-Eros junction in the morning and evening hours. Motorists halt ON the zebra crossing, the pedestrians walk at will, the honking reaches deafening levels – and the cops turn a deaf ear and blind eye to these obvious violations. We do realize and understand that police are short-staffed and overworked, but surely that is no reason to abdicate duty and responsibility!

That brings me to the next point – Jaywalking. I believe there are laws against jaywalking. But do the traffic police enforce them? No, Sir, hardly ever. A 4-lane road from Eros to Churchgate station becomes a 2-lane path only because pedestrians walk on the roads instead of using the subway. Ditto at Metro cinema junction. The road from Eros to LIC building has wide footpaths without encroachments. Yet pedestrians walk on the road instead of using the broad footpaths built for them. The traffic police are again oblivious to this! We do have good, broad roads in South Bombay with wide footpaths from the British era. Perhaps the traffic police have not noticed this. Let them maintain at least this patch!

What is very unfortunate is that Adv Vandrewala’s PIL has had no effect on the traffic police at all. I wonder if Mr Barve would trot out these excuses before the High Court when the PIL comes up for hearing. On reading the DNA report I was also disappointed that Sudhir Badami and Nitin Dossa were not given adequate time to make their points. I am sure they would have had something more positive and constructive to say about the traffic nightmare than the reported ‘reasons’ given by Mr Barve.

Yours sincerely,
Deepak Tralshawala