Moplah riot of 1921 anything was practised from arson to conversion to pregnant women being cut into pieces

In the course of the Moplah riot of 1921 anything was practised from arson to conversion to pregnant women being cut into pieces with unborn babies protruding from the mothers' corpses. Smt Annie Besant, the Irish lady, and the 1913 president of the Congress, after her
visit to Malabar, exhorted Gandhiji to see for himself the ghastly horrors. Since 9/11, Islamic terrorists have perpetrated any numbers of blasts and explosions. On record since October 2001 are 13 bomb blasts in the different cities of India from New Delhi in the north,
to Bangalore in the south, to Gandhi Nagar in the west to Guwahati in the east. The terrorists could well be misguided youth but what is particularly disturbing is that hardly ever does a responsible Muslim leader condemn the barbaric action. Nor does he apologize for any of
them. For the people of India, that is rubbing salt by the Muslim elite on the wounds inflicted by their misguided fellow religionists.
A time has come when the major crimes of Islamists are enumerated and Muslim leaders are confronted with them along with a demand for their apology. There are nine mega crimes for which apologies are called for.
The governments in India have taken the boycott of vande mataram lightly although, in effect, the Muslims refusing to participate is an insult to the nation. Vande mataram was the song of the Independence movement and would have been the national anthem but for Jawaharlal
Nehru's weakness for Muslim prejudices, Jana gana mana was therefore chosen although it was originally written as a tribute to King George V.
Over the decades, Hindu Muslim riots were mostly started by the latter. If this were not so, why have there not been Hindu Christian riots even in districts where the latter are dominant as in Nagarcoil? Until the political advent of the British, the communal equation was
so loaded that the Muslims felt secure. Once the Muslims were also reduced to subject status, their insecurity began the corollary of which were riots. In the course of the Moplah riot of 1921 anything was practiced from arson to conversion to pregnant women being cut into pieces with unborn babies protruding from the mothers' corpses. Smt Annie Besant, the Irish lady and the 1913 president of the Congress, after her visit to Malabar, exhorted Gandhiji to see for
himself the ghastly horrors, which had been created by his beloved brothers, Mohammad and Shaukat Ali.
The success of an Islamic expedition to non-Muslim land was also judged on the basis of the number of slaves made and sold. But for the late Dr K.S. Lal who wrote his magnum opus Legacy of Muslim Rule in
India and Muslim Slave System in Medieval India, this aspect of Muslim
atrocity might have been completely forgotten. It began with the
despatch of Parimal Devi and Suraj Devi, the two daughters of Raja
Dahir to the harem of the Caliph, soon after he was defeated by
Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 D. This was carried forward by Muhammad
Ghauri, Khilji and Tughlaq. Even Emperor Jehangir traded in this
export business.
The imposition of jazia on the Hindus on the excuse of protecting
their life and property is legendary. The object of protection was
called a zimmi. The subject was dealt at length by Dr P. Saran in his
book Studies in Medieval Indian History whose introduction was written
by Prof. Mohammad Habib. The purpose of jazia was three fold: to raise
money for the state, to impoverish the Hindu and to remind him that he
was an inferior subject.
London could not persuade either the Congress Party or the Muslim
League to accept the 1946 Cabinet Mission plan of a loose federation
to be created in the wake of the British departure from India. It was
equally clear that the Muslim League could not dominate the all India
political scene, nor could Mohammed Ali Jinnah be the prime minister
of an undivided India. If therefore, he had to be the head of the
government or the state; Partition of the country was essential. The
surest way to precipitate Partition, in the wisdom of the League led
by Jinnah, was to engineer riots. They would frighten the Hindus into
realising that it would be wise of them to let go the Muslim League
dominated areas into Pakistan. The riots would demonstrate to the
British that the Hindus and the Muslims were incompatible co-citizens.
They had to be allowed to go their separate ways.
The Muslim League Supreme Council met in Bombay and on July 29
declared for "Direct Action", August 16 was fixed as the day for the
initiation of the movement. Fiery speeches containing thinly veiled
threats of Civil War and drastic action against "Quislings" followed.
The League Press and the League spokesmen started a tirade against the
Congress in particular and Hindus in general in Calcutta, the League
papers started stepping up their programme of incitement causing great
apprehension amongst all national circles.
The uneasy dawn of the 16th found large bands of "processionists"
armed with long sticks, iron rods, bludgeons and sharp weapons
parading the city all over with League flags. Any shop that was even
partially open was immediately stoned and the shopkeepers belabored.
Vehicular traffic was forcibly stopped and the passengers beaten up.
Sikh taxi-drivers were a special target and even lone cyclists did not
escape. Any resistance merely increased the fury of the "peaceful
processionists," looted shops, cracked heads and stab-wounds being the
reply given to protests or remonstrance's. Police were significantly
inactive; indeed the city was totally innocent of police protection.
Soon the city was ablaze from North to South and from East to West.
The telephone wires were jammed with frantic appeals for police-aid
from Hindus of all sections of the city, but these appeals were
disregarded in toto. Even where by chance there were some police, they
seldom did lift a finger, excepting in certain instances where they
bestirred themselves in gleaning some loot. In some cases the police
present are alleged to have said that they had orders not to interfere
in such political demonstrations.
Mass butchery started with the early dawn of Saturday, while loot and
arson spread like wild fire all over the city. The police had let the
situation deteriorate till it was completely out of control and yet
military aid was not called for. The carnage continued for two more
days until the military took matters entirely into their own hands and
very large forces were employed in penetrating deep over a widespread
area. The situation was brought under control only after the direction
and control of affairs relating to law and order had virtually passed
out of the hands of the League Minister-in-charge of Law and Order,
Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy, and his henchmen in officialdom.
Iconoclasm is a face of barbarism in the name of God. Which divine
likes or dislikes icons or idols is a matter of opinion based on
imagination or inculcation. But one thing is certain, for anyone to
impose one opinion or the other is inhuman. My God is supreme as the
Ten Commandments ordain in the Old Testament. My God is the only god
and there can be no other god, the holy Quran contends. Both are
wrong. Simply because there flourished civilizations for long before
the holy Bible was penned and well before Prophet Muhammad had his
visions, which means that either there are other Gods or there is no god.
God or no god, it is desirable for men and women to switch off from
the material and to pray or meditate about the spiritual. To enable
ordinary people to focus on the spiritual, it is useful to provide
icons, idols or walls. A Hindu idol, a Parsee fire, a crucifix over an
altar for the Christian or a mimbar for the Muslim are helpful. For a
mimbar to claim that it is sacred but an idol is profane deserving to
be destroyed, is patently wrong. Similarly for an Imam to feel
fulfilled because a temple or a church has been desecrated is
reprehensible. For him to worship in a mandir so converted to a masjid
is more immoral.
Ignorant scholars often dismiss iconoclasm as being medieval; no point
in wasting discussion on what happened centuries ago. If that be so,
what is the need for pursuit of history which is always about
centuries past. Medieval history is not myth. Iconoclasm is equally
contemporary. A Buddha statue was destroyed at Swat in Pakistan as
recently as September 2007 (red letters). The tragic fate of the
Bamiyan Buddhas as late as 2001 is well known. The 20th century
especially in its latter half has witnessed hundreds of desecrations.
Unless the perpetrators are punished or retaliatory action taken, this
barbarism will continue to prevail.
The biggest on going crime is terrorism. Since October 2001, post
9/11, there have been 13 major bomb blasts in India which have
butchered hundreds of innocent people, women, children, ordinary
citizens et al. The officially reported figures are low because they
are announced soon after the incident and can only be based on dead
bodies found. Those that are not recorded are not taken into account.
What is shameful is that the acts of terrorism are seldom condemned by
Muslim leaders probably because they are looked upon as episodes in
jihad. How can anything sacred be condemned?