I was one of the innumerable non-Muslim invitees to the grand, solemn and unique function organized on a massive scale on the sprawling Race Course grounds in Bombay on the evening of Nov.2 1991 by the tiny Dawoodi-Bohra Muslim community to felicitate its world religious chief, Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin Saheb, on his 80th birthday. Representatives of Bohra community from different parts of the world and different States of India had gathered hours before the arrival of Dr. Syedna at the venue. Men in their customary white dress and women and children in their colorful attires maintained extraordinary discipline throughout the four-hour-long deliberations, followed by a fine dinner. The Gujarati-speaking Dawoodi-Bohra’s are a small but rich community mostly confined to trade and business and concentrated in Bombay and bigger cities. Syedna’s headquarter is Bombay.
Thousands of admirers drawn from different faculties, religions and countries, including a Hindu-nazi party Minister from Madhya Pradesh offered bouquets and presents to Dr. Syedna. Barring the presence of security men accompanying the VIPs who graced the occasion, the whole function with such massive attendance was so orderly and was a grand success without the aid of even a single police man.
Trust on Environment: The Bohra community announced the formation of a trust with the object of study, research and protection of environment in the country to commemorate the occasion. Dr Syedna donated Rs.80 lakhs to the trust and handed over the cheque to Arjun Singh, the Union Minister for Human Resources, who presided over the function and paid rich tributes to the leadership of Dr. Syedna and to the integrity of the talented Dawoodi-Bohra Muslims.
Buta Singh, former Union Home Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah of Kashmir, a Pakistani minister and ministers from several states spoke on the occasion. They hailed the different schemes of the Bohra’s under which crores of rupees are lent to small and medium entrepreneurs, without any interest in accordance with the Quranic injunction against usury. Success of these schemes is not only a challenge to the logic and norms of conventional economics of the materialists but a tribute to the practical Idealism of the Islamic social order.
Biggest shock: But the biggest shock for us is that such an international event presided over by the senior-most Union Cabinet Minister was totally blacked out by the blackhearts in the Bombay press. English dailies and their language editions owned and run by the Indian priestly and capitalist castes never said a word about this unique function despite all the public relations exercise of the organizers. At least the govt.- owned media, TV and radio, gave some coverage. Press tycoons and journalists have been crying for the autonomy of the electronic media perhaps with the idea of destroying whatever impartiality still exists in the govt. media.
We are convinced that these newspapers, nay toilet papers, are determined to stand like a thick black curtain between the readers and the truth.
One such toilet paper which proclaims every day on its front page as “India’s only national newspaper with largest circulation” on Oct. 31 91 took pains to paint an ugly picture of the Dawoodi-Bohra’s by publishing a filthy edit-page article headlined “Clergy and the community”. While Muslims depend on the Urdu press, the non-Muslim readers of this toilet papers get a dose of anti-Muslim poison.
Anti-Syedna propaganda: A handful but mischievous elements among the Bohra’s in Bombay are being encouraged by Brahminical forces to carry on a tirade against the Syedna. Earlier, these Brahminical forces had created a phantom in the late Hamid Alawi of Pune.
This Alawi was given all encouragement and cheap publicity in the Brahminical toilet papers to run down the Muslims. Such mischievous Brahminical agents are hailed in these toilet papers as “secular Muslims”, “spokesmen for Muslims”, “Islamic scholars” and their only job is to create confusion among the already persecuted Muslim community.
After the death of one bogus Hamid Alawi, these Brahminical forces discovered some more bogus elements among the Muslim community and gave them all encouragement.
Nazis using Muslim stooges: The only job of what are described in the Brahminical press as “progressive Bohra reformist leaders” is to go on manufacturing all sorts of false stories which the toilet papers sell as gospel truth. The sole intention of these “reformists” is to condemn the Muslims and create confusion. And the Oct. 31 edit-page article in the country’s pro-nazi English daily is the handiwork of these stooges among Muslims – aided and abetted by the nazi forces.
How dangerous these “progressive Muslims” are can be gauged from the fact that they are trying to sell the idea that after all “one dilapidated Babri Masjid can be given up to buy peace from Hindus”.
These elements are hoisted on the country as “Muslim leaders”.
If one Babri Masjid is given today, the Nazis will claim and destroy all the masjids. The nazi fight is not for one dilapidated mosque. Through that they want to destroy the Muslim identity.
Beware of Modern Hamid alwais: And the nazis are using such “reformist Muslims” to destroy the Muslim identity. We want to warn the Syedna and his followers and the Muslim community as a whole to beware of such modern Hamid Alwais. And the only job of these “reformists” is to torment the Syedna and his peace-loving merchant community.
But the problem with the Syedna and his small but rich community is despite all their wealth they are not able to get even a centimeter of space in the country’s toilet papers. Whereas their rootless tormentors hog miles and miles of space to spread their falsehood. The pity is even the country’s Brahminical human rights alas are behind them. But the Syedna has no press to establish truth.
Tips to Syedna: This blackout of the birthday gala by the Bombay press in particular and those country’s newspapers in general must have certainly shocked the Syedna and his followers. If they are really shocked then it is time for them to wake up and do something. And we are here to save the Syedna from these sinister forces and also support him in his larger cause towards Muslim human rights.
Not only we will fight his tormentors, who are a peanut, but more than that protect the persecuted Muslim community about which the Syedna expressed grave concern in his speech.
Money is no problem to the Syedna but the Nov.2 birthday blackout must have now convinced him that even with all his money and public relations exercise, he could get no sympathy in the Brahminical press which is out to blackmail the Muslims and the entire non-Hindu majority of India.
The blackout also proves the hate in the Hindu heart. Hate creates more hate. The whole atmosphere is filled with hate. Can a society be built on hatred? The Syedna wants to spread love and through that build the society. If so, it is time he listens to us. We will show him the way to build the society through love.
Muslims and Dalits should therefore never believe these newspapers whose priorities are anti-human to say the least.
Pollution of the mind: Dr. Syedna is not a priest or a guru but only the head of a community and is referred as such and as nothing else. Bohra’s are naturally very proud of him. He is also a source of Inspiration and an example of how to combine worldly wisdom with religious piety; business acumen with social service and morality with mundane life.
The Syedna founded a trust for environment research. So far so good, although Muslims are not the people destroying India’s environment. It is the country’ ruling class. He must now think of a greater venture to remove the pollution from the people’s mind, the Brahminical pollution, and establish truth.
