Around 150 Indian Muslims, supported by others committed to secular-democratic politics, have today called upon the Indian Muslim community to reject the idea of the ‘Islamic Emirate’ the Taliban seek to impose on the war-weary people of Afghanistan who are yearning for peace.
The signatories include two retired High Court judges, legal luminaries, lawyers practising in the Supreme Court and High Courts, ex-MPs and ex-MLA, businesspersons, celebrities from the film industry, well-known writers in different languages, poets, playwrights, social and political activists, academics, farmers and home makers from all over India.
The statement issued by the forum ‘Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD)’ and supported by others deplores the euphoria evident in the statements of some top officials of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), such as Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani and Maulana Sajjad Nomani, and the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, over the Taliban’s capture of power.
“It is one thing to welcome the ouster of the occupiers and the overthrow of their puppets, quite another to celebrate the return to power of those who with their barbaric version of Islam have contributed in no small measure to the demonization of Muslims and their faith across the globe”, the statement noted.
For further details please contact:
Javed Anand
(Convener, IMSD)
Signatories to the statement
(Includes IMSD members and others who support this statement)
- Aarefa Johari, Journalist, Social Activist, Mumbai
- Abdul Samad Shaikh, Editor, MVP News, Latur
- Abdul Warshi, Businessperson, Nadiad
- (Dr) Aditya Mukherjee, Academic, Delhi
- Afaque Azad, Musician, Mumbai
- (Prof) Ali Ahmad Fatimi, President Josh and Firaq Literary Society, Allahabad
- Ajit Kumar Jha, Journalist, Delhi
- Akbar Shaikh, Farmer, Social Activist, Solapur
- (Justice) Amar Saran (ret.), Allahabad High Court
- Anand Patwardhan, Documentary Film Maker, Mumbai
- Anil Singh, Social activist, Delhi
- Anjal Lele, Travel consultant, Delhi
- Anurag Chaturvedi, Journalist, Mumbai
- Amir Rizvi, Designer, Mumbai
- Amjad Shaikh, Social Activist, Pune
- Amjad Shaikh, Social Activist, Solapur
- Anjum Mulani, Farmer, Indapur
- Anjum Rajabali, Film writer, Mumbai
- Anshu Malviya, Poet, Social activist, Allahabad
- Anvar Rajan, Social Activist, Pune
- Anwar Khan, Social activist, Vasai
- Arif Kapadia, Business, Social activist, Mumbra
- Arshad Alam, Academic, Commentator, Delhi
- Ashley NP, Asst Professor, Delhi
- Asif Shaikh, Business, Solapur
- Askari Zaidi, Communications, Delhi
- Dr Azeez Pasha, Academic, Delhi
- Baaran Ijlal, Artist
- Baba Azmi, Films, Mumbai
- Babasaheb Pathan, Sangli
- Bader Saeed, Lawyer, Political activist, Chennai
- Bilal Khan, Social Activist, Mumbai
- Bobby Naqvi, Senior Journalist
- Chandrashekhar Tibriwal, USA
- Danish Javed, Writer-Producer, Mumbai
- (Prof) Dipak Malik, Varanasi
- Faiyaz Inamdar, Social activist, Pune
- Faraz Ansari, Film Maker
- Farhana Parvin, Bhopal
- Farhat Salim
- Farman Naqvi, Senior Lawyer, Allahabad High Court
- Fatima Ansari, Teacher, Gorakhpur
- Fatima Shaikh, Aurangabad
- Feroz Abbas Khan, Director, Playwright, Mumbai
- Firoz Khan Pathan, Advocate, Latur
- Ghulam Mohiyuddin
- Hafiz Ali, Social Activist, Jalgaon
- Hasan Pasha, Writer, Allahabad
- Imran Punekar, Business, Sangli
- Imteyaz Husein, Writer-Actor, Mumbai
- Iqbal Painter, Social Activist, Beed
- (Justice) Irshad Hussain (Ret.), Uttrakhand High Court
- Ismayil Shaikh, Business, Kolhapur
- Jami Rizwani, Academic, France
- Javed Akhtar, Writer, Poet, Lyricist, ex-MP, Mumbai
- Javed Anand, Convener, IMSD
- Javed Ansari, Journalist, Delhi
- Javed Jaffry, Actor
- Javed Siddiqi, Writer, Mumbai
- (Capt) Juned Ahmad, Marine Consultant
- Dr Kanhaiya Lal Sharma, University of Rajasthan
- Kasim Sait, Business, Philanthropist, Chennai
- Khadija Faruqui, Social Activist, Delhi
- Khalil Deshmukh, Political activist, Jalgaon
- (Dr) Laiq Ahmed (ret HOD, History), Eving Christian college Allahabad
- Lara Jasani, Advocate, Bombay High Court
- (Dr) Madhu Rao, Academic, USA
- Mansoor Sardar, Social activist, Bhiwandi
- Masooma Ranalvi, Social activist, Delhi
- (Prof) Mohd Aslam, Allahabad University (retd), Allahabad
- Mehdi Bakht, Principal, Bal Bharti School, Varanasi
- Mohammed Ali Muntazer, Purnea, Bihar
- Mohammad Imran, Delhi/New York
- Mohsin Khan, Social activist, Latur
- (Dr) Mridula Mukherjee, Academic, Delhi
- Munir Bagwan, Social activist, Sangola
- Munir Mulla, Social activist, Sangli
- Muniza Khan, Social activist, Varanasi
- Nahida Asiya, Student, Satara
- Najid Hussain, Scientist, USA.
- Najma Jamadar, Teacher, Solapur
- Najma Mulani, Solapur
- Nandita Sehgal, IAS (resigned)
- Naseeruddin Shah, Actor, Mumbai
- Nasreen Contractor, Social Activist, Mumbai
- Navaz Haider
- Osama Manzar, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Delhi
- Poonam Muttreja, Delhi
- (Prof) Purushottam Agrawal, Author, Delhi
- (Prof) Qamar Jahan, Lucknow
- Qaisar Sultana, Home Maker, Allahabad
- Qutb Jahan, Social activist, Mumbai
- Rahman Abbas, Writer, Mira Road, Thane
- Rajathi Salma (Rokkiah), Tamil Writer, Tamil Nadu
- (Dr) Ram Puniyani, Author, Social activist, Mumbai
- (Dr) Ramesh Dixit, Academic, Lucknow
- Ranjit, Journalist, Delhi
- Rashid Khan, Advocate, Supreme Court
- Ratna Pathak Shah, Actor, Mumbai
- Razia Patel, Academic, Social activist, Pune
- Ravi Kiran Jain , President, PUCL, Senior Lawyer, Allahabad High Court
- Ritambhara Shastri, Journalist, Delhi
- Riyaz Choudhary, Business, Solapur
- Rizwan Malik, Social Activist, Moradabad
- Rochita Talukdar, Social sector, Kolkata
- Sabah Khan, Social Activist, Mumbai
- Sadik Shaikh, Solapur
- Sadique Basha, Political activist, Mira Road, Thane
- Sahir Khan, Student, Ichalkaranji
- (Dr) Saif Mahmood, Advocate, Supreme Court, Delhi
- Sajid Shaikh, Farmer, Solapur
- Salim Mujawar, Solapur
- Samina Naqvi , Academician, Social activist, Allahabad.
- Samir Mulani, Farmer, Pandharpur
- Samir Patel, Political activist, Latur
- Sanjay Lodha, Jaipur
- Satish Mishra, Journalist, Delhi
- Satyajit Chavan, Social Activist, Nashik
- Sayyed Bhai, Social activist, Pune
- Selvyn Jussy, University of Calcutta, Kolkota
- Shabana Azmi, Actor, ex-MP, Mumbai
- Shabana Mashraki, Chartered Accountant, Mumbai
- Shadab Rashid, Publisher, Naya Waraq
- Shahajan Shaikh, Worker, Solapur
- Shahnawaz Alam, Asst. Professor, Sultanpur
- Shikha Sen, Editor
- Sikandar Pathan, Baramati
- Siraj Ayesha Sayani, Producer-Director, Mumbai
- SMM Ausaja, Film Historian
- S R Malik, retired IRS
- Suhail Akbar, Associate Professor , Jamia Millia University, Delhi
- Sultan Shahin, Editor-publisher, New Age Islam, Delhi
- (Prof) Tahir Mahmood, Legal luminary, Delhi
- Taizoon Khorakiwala, Business, Philathropist, Mumbai
- Tanvir Akhtar, IPTA, Bihar
- Teesta Setalvad, Social activist-journalist, Mumbai
- Tofiq Ikbar, Student, Hapur
- Utpala Shukla, Social activist, Allahabad
- (Prof) Vasanthi Raman, Delhi
- VVP Sharma, Journalist, Delhi
- Yousuf Saeed, Documentary Film Maker, Delhi
- Zafar Bakht, Educationist, Social activist, Allahabad
- Zahir Maneri, Social Activist, Solapur
- Zaman Habib, Writer-Producer, Mumbai
- Zoya Akhtar, Film Director, Writer, Mumbai
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It is a travesty of truth to say that the US-Americans were occupiers. Of course, they came to Afghanistan with their military power, but why did they have to come there? Why, in the first place, did the Afghans let the Talibans occupy their country in the 1990s? The Americans could also have gone after their thirst for revenge (killing of Osama) was satisfied. But the educated middle class of the country welcomed modernization and the wealth that came to their country with the American “occupation”. Those who do not wilfully shut their eyes to the modern Afghan history know that this class enjoyed Westernization/modernization. But they did not want to defend it with their own blood. While they themselves did business and, as government administrative employees and officers of the army, became rich through corruption, they sent their poor, unemployed, rural youth to the newly built Afghan National Army to fight against the Talibans. The majority of these soldiers never had any objection to the Sharia. They were in the army only to earn some money; that was all. They did not welcome women’s liberation and Westernization, the public showing of women’s bodies. Many of them went home after getting their first pay, only to come back on the next payday.
I fully endorse what Biden said in justification of his decision, namely, “Americans will not fight and die for a people that do not want to fight themselves.”
So much for the “American occupation”. The press release of the signatories has raised some more fundamental issues that exist since long. Countercurrents should start a series of articles on these issues, written by knowledgeable people.
Hmm. Why is the Taliban version of Islam not the correct one? I’d like to know which version of this supernaturalist cult – and there seem to be many versions around the world – is the correct one, and on what basis this is judged. It seems that the criteria for assessing a cult’s goodness are based on Enlightenment values such as equal rights for all. Those values are non-religious. So why keep the cult going? The Taliban, Hamas, al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda, Shia, Sunni, Sufist, whichever brand of cult someone subscribes to, they all justify their superiority by referring to religious texts and tradition, and all are equally able to do so. Unless we admit they’re all just dangerous nonsense and give them up, we cannot claim that the Taliban’s Islam is incorrect.