Bastion of Free Speech
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
The world may let their countrymen starve, but the Taliban are not one to pay back in the same coin and keep the world hungry for sensation. Close on the heels of their famous destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, they now want all non-muslims - in this case Hindus specifically - to wear an identifying tag to tell the religious police that they should be left alone.
This is curious logic, especially considering that Hindu women have been told exactly how to dress (burkha with two tiny eyelets). And then there is the Taliban's explanation that this was also to deal with the problem of Muslims declaring themselves to be Hindus in order to escape the Mullahs' persecution. Rationality not being the Taliban's strong suit, one need not tarry to inquire if a Muslim who was previously declaring himself a Hindu would be too petrified (oops, wrong word - idol worship again - slap slap) to wear a yellow tag now.
One can't help wondering if the VHP, Bajrang Dal and the rest of the Hindu Taliban discern in all this something less than an unmitigated disaster. For one thing, it reinforces the fascist image of Islam. For another, it can't be all bad if a few muslims in Afghanistan are turning to Hinduism, if only to escape the peculiar pleasures of the Islamic paradise which is the Emirate of Afghanistan. Much the same way their Hindu ancestors must have converted to Islam on pain of death or of the Jiziya, so would go the logic.
Of course, while condemning Afghanistan and taking out processions against the yellow tagging, the BJP government and its various surrogates (or masters, whatever your choice) have happily invited Gen. Musharraf to tea in New Delhi.
Pakistan may be Afganistan Lite, but it is nonetheless a country founded on apartheid. Any country which does not answer a clear No! to the question, "Does religion, national origin, or any particular belief prevent any adult citizen otherwise qualified to be your head of state?" is practicing apartheid. And in Pakistan, the blasphemy laws of Zia's era have only been reinforced and applied in subsequent times. Separate electorates are enshrined in the laws, and there are Ahmediyas in jail for the dastardly crime of saying, 'Assalaam Alaikum'.
At first Musharraf made a few noises about fighting the mullahs but on each occasion come crunch time he has folded like an old suitcase. This is only to be expected.
Come on, General sahib, you well know what you are fighting is not a mullah here or haji there, it is your country's entire rationale for existence - exclusion. From the notion of a land exclusively for Muslims, it is only a short step to a land exclusively for Sunnis. Or Punjabis. Or Mohajirs. It is this problem, not Kashmir, which is going to blight your country for any foreseeable future.
Of course, India's redeeming feature is that no such exclusion blackens the statute book. But ground realities are a different matter. While we condemn the Taliban, let us also be chastened by the admission that we've had our own share of Bal Thackerays and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwales, the Syednas and others, who with blatant intimidation seek to curtail the freedom of others to lead their lives as they please. Let us also remember how often they have succeeded.
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