Why I criticised Islam at India Ideas Conclave
We,
Islam critics, have never harmed a single Muslim, while those who praise Islam
have much blood on their hands.
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| 2-minute read |
22-12-2014
At the India Ideas Conclave in Goa,
I argued that the nature of Islam itself is a principal factor in the
atrocities by Boko Haram, the Taliban and the Islamic State. They say so
themselves, and I respect their right to express their own motivation.
Secularists, by contrast, show their contempt for Muslims by overruling the
latter’s own explicit self-justification with a different account.
Thus, in a recent TV debate, a BJP
spokesperson eager to prove his secularism called the Caliphate warriors
“heretics”. Internationally, British PM David Cameron (whose plan to kill
Muslims and others in Syria was foiled by a negative vote in Parliament but who
at least contributed to the destruction of Libya, killing many Muslims) called
these self-described Islamic militants “not Muslims but monsters”. Not one of
the US, UK and French leaders who have invaded Muslim countries the last 20
years was a critic of Islam. Of each of them, pro-Islamic statements can be
quoted. Yet between them, they have killed numerous Muslims.
A Swiss do-gooder in my audience
alleged that criticism of Islam amounts to spreading hatred against two billion
Muslim fellow-men. Well, Hindus have had to live daily with indictments of
their religion, even from state platforms. So, if the allegation were true, we
wonder why it was never made against criticism of Hinduism. Anyway, it is
untrue.
First, I have only criticised the
doctrine of Islam, a belief belonging to the world of ideas, with which no one
is born and which can be washed off. The extent to which those billions choose
to identify with the beliefs they have been indoctrinated in, varies enormously
and is up to themselves. Second, the record shows that we, Islam critics, have
never harmed a single Muslim, while those who praise Islam have much blood on
their hands. US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that one of the war aims
in bombing Islamic State positions (this is, killing Muslims) is to “remedy the
distortion of Islam”, to uphold his own rosy picture of Islam against the grim
reality which the Caliphate created. So what Kerry announces literally amounts
to “defending Islam by killing Muslims”. To conceal this absurdity, defenders
of Islam are constrained to saying that the jihad warriors are “monsters, not
Muslims”.
Coming to India, secularists claim
that the RSS is against Islam and has killed Muslims. While for now I remain
neutral on the latter allegation, I emphatically deny the former. If you read
the Organiser every week, as I do since decades, you frequently come
across accusations against Muslims, but Islam remains above criticism. So, even
if the RSS is guilty of violence against Muslims, it would only prove my point:
this violence is unrelated to criticism of Islam.
Everyone who claims to be a
secularist or a moderate will endeavour to normalise, rather than criminalise,
critical debate about religious doctrines. That would prove moderation, that is
the secularist way, and that is what I have done.
The views and opinions expressed in
this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
official policy or position of DailyO.in or the India Today Group. The writers
are solely responsible for any claims arising out of the contents of this
article.
Writer
Koenraad Elst is an Indologist from
Belgium.
(Views of the writer are personal. I hold him as prime Islamophobe. His writing is copied to invite comments. GM )
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