Somewhat damp and cloudy Independence Day in Bangalore! What with the Swine Flu, inflation, recession and all, there is lack of enthusiasm in most people. The morning news paper says that there is a new outfit based in Dubai and UAE called the Malabar Mujahidin, demanding a separate state carved out of the small state Kerala, exclusively for the Muslims!! Is that the limit or not?
Religious frenzy and fanaticism are the prerogatives of the Indian Minorities! There is this small State of Kerala which has a history of a very peaceful and harmonious co-existence of different religions, tolerance and accommodation of various religious customs and traditions. The Malayali Muslim is known in the local language as Moplah (a term for brother-in-law) probably because the people from distant lands established themselves in Kerals as brothers-in-law by marrying the sisters of the locals! A well known ex-captain of the Pakistani cricket team once (jokingly) said that, the Moghuls established themselves in the Gangetic plains because the women of the region liked to be screwed by the invading Pathans! Probably the coastal women of Kerala also welcomed the trading Arabs who gradually became Moplahs. The Moplahs were treated with respect by the locals and they flourished in trading and other business with the full support of the Hindus of the region. But in their revolt against the British during the Khilafat movement (in support of the Caliph of Turkey) they went on a murderous spree of killing Hindu women and children of Malabar, which is termed as the Moplah mutiny of Malabar. Is there a crisis of identity? Being the pet minority of the country, the Government of India has wrongly given the Mutiny the status of freedom struggle against the British!
Identity! That is the problem created by the religious fervor. The Moplah women of Kerala never wore burkha until about 15-20 years ago. But today a majority of women wear full black burkhas in Malabar region of Kerala. Many Moplahs of Kerala have become rich in the recent past from employment in Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia, where Muslims get preference for jobs and they have bought land belonging to Hindus and built palatial bungalows all over Malabar and other places. With the new found wealth the Moplahs are buying properties even in distant locations like in Trivandrum where their numbers are few. Wealth has also brought political power for them and now they want a separate state!
Years ago, a Times of India columnist had predicted that the new found wealth and identity problem of the Moplahs would one day lead to such demands which have disastrous outcome in the end.
Independence from identity; that is what free Indians should strive for. Transcend all limiting identities and become world citizens. If he were still alive Mahatma Gandhi would have strived for that, because human beings are all the time striving for a higher state of consciousness, knowingly or unknowingly.
