Terrorism is a battle within the Muslim community

More recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh boasted that not even a single Indian Muslim is on the rolls of Al Qaeda. For this relative freedom of Muslims from the jehad ideology we credited our democratic system, the Sufi ethos of Indian Islam and a culture that discouraged any kind of extremism in thought and action.

After a series of blasts ripping through different cities of India and its religious places, however, it is now clear that Indian Muslim youths, however small in number, are working in India as foot-soldiers of international terrorist organizations. They still may not be fighting with the ranks of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, or in Iraq or Palestine, but doubtless some of them are colluding with the global jehadis in the latter’s mission to weaken and destabilise India.

The collusion of local Muslims with the global jehadi enlarges the scope of the battle against terrorism. Because it is not just inimical to the existence of Indian state, and its stability, but also against the Muslim community itself, it becomes obligatory for every Muslim also to work actively to defeat this offensive. In a way, it is doubly perilous for the Muslims of India: first, as common citizens vulnerable to the risk of terrorist attacks and second, as a supposed culpable minority susceptible to majority communal backlash, prejudices, suspicion and harassment by security agencies. Because it is more sinister to the Muslim interest they will have to contribute at two levels, as citizens of India and as fellow community members, located at a vantage point, to understand the psychology and motive of terrorists and to subvert their operations.

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