Decry them More

The Jamiat-ul Ulema-e-Hind, an influential body of Muslim religious leaders, is convening a three-day conclave in Deoband — the capital of a highly orthodox sect — in the first week of November where the main agenda will be denouncement of terrorism in the name of Islam. The Jamiat is already outraged at the threat issued by Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud to India the other day: that the Taliban will attack India once ‘‘goals’’ in Pakistan are achieved. While the Taliban audacity and terror expertise are to be reckoned realistically — especially in view of Lahore, where the Taliban terrorists have increased the frequency of their attacks in recent times, being just a 15-minute drive from Amritsar — a retort by the Indian Muslim clergy from Deoband will send out a very symbolic message pregnant with meaning. Jamiat spokesperson Maulana Hameed Noamani says thus about the Taliban: ‘‘The Taliban which endorse suicide bombings are enemies of Islam. Committing suicide is haram (prohibited) in Islam and suicide bombers will go straight to jahannum (hell).’’ According to another prominent cleric, Maulana Abu Hassan Nadvi, the Taliban’s ‘‘can’t be called a war in the name of Islam’’. He elucidates: ‘‘Even during a legitimate jihad, which is fought not by a ragtag army of misguided youth but by the state against identified aggressors, Islam has set certain principles like you can’t harm the old, sick, women and children. You can’t attack places of worship. But terrorists kill people indiscriminately. They are earning Allah’s punishment.’’ And yet another cleric, Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi of the All India Ulema Council, says clerics in various mosques in the country will be asked to denounce suicide bombings during Friday sermons.

It is not just the Taliban and its fidayeen missions that should inform the Jamiat’s — or the Deobandi leaders’ — anti-terror discourse. Many of the terror attacks in the past couple of years in the country have had an Indian imprint, be it of the Indian Mujahideen or the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) or the mercenaries to whom jihadi groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) or the Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) have outsourced terror operations in the name of Islam. They too must invite the outrage of the Indian Muslim cleric. He must have the clarity of conscience to decry the jihad that the criminal terrorist is waging. The cleric must be prominently visible in the discourse against jihadi terrorism perpetrated on innocent men, women and children if he is a proud citizen of secular India. He must also point out the many avenues open to the people of his faith in this great, pluralist, tolerant nation. He must, in other words, sound progressive if he wants the country to take him seriously. In this context, this column welcomes the statement of Burhanuddin Qasmi, who heads Markazul Maarif, a Mumbai-based socio-cultural institution that trains madrassa graduates in English language: ‘‘There is a bright future waiting for Muslim youth in India. They should grab opportunities and be assets to the country. God can’t be pleased with those who organize mass murder.’’ Let more of such sense prevail. And let the clerical narrative against monstrosity in the name of Islam and for the making of a caliphate in the country as is SIMI’s ultimate objective, be more and more audible and frequent in the days to come. THE SENTINEL