Madhu Limaye

Sri Madhu Limaye

   A noted secularist, Sri Madhu Limaye has foreseen the explosive growth of the Muslim population and the consequent decline of the Hindus in India5. He says in an article published in Muslim India, “Maybe the Hindus are a dying race as Shraddhanand warned 50 years ago. Perhaps India will have a non-Hindu majority by the year 2300 (if the world survives that long), after that there will be a precipitate Hindu decline and they will become extinct in this ancient land of ours. There is much that is bad in Hinduism (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism). But there is something priceless too. Thanks to the stupidity, social exclusiveness, and cowardliness of Hindus in the past millennium that ‘priceless something’ which is the heritage of the entire human race will disappear and that makes me sad.” Of course Mr. Limaye gives three hundred years for this to happen although we shall see in the chapter on demography that such a situation will come about around 2050 itself.

   Hence it would appear that several secular scholars have more or less correctly gauged the problem posed by Islam to the present Indian society. And their general understanding has been that the solution to this problem is the expectation that as education and modernity spreads in India and Islam, Muslims will no longer be under the sway of their clergy and will become more open and accommodative. It is now over two decades since their books were written (and now two decades since this book was written, so over four decades since their books were written) and yet no signs of this change are to be seen. They have also failed to show that this indeed has happened anywhere else in the world. Even in the modern European and American states where the Muslims are a small minority, they have not given up their ghetto mentality and fundamentalism.

   (This was the case before 9/11, this book was written before 9/11. Now after 9/11, one would have expected USA and Europe to become strict and cautious in dealing with Islam. Unfortunately, Islam has only strengthened in both places. There is a big problem with Islam in Europe now, with Muslims playing a crucial factor in many Parliamentary seats in UK and other parts of Europe, such as France. Even in Europe and USA, Muslims are trying hard at converting the local people to Islam and achieving a bit success as well. Europe is already no longer safe with Muslims having the capacity to murder critics like Theo van Gogh in a city like Amsterdam in Holland in 2004. There are many others who need security. Muslims are trying hard to implement Shariah laws in Europe and USA, even trying to build a mosque at Ground Zero- the site of 9/11. And the American and European media is as pro-Muslim as ever, even a blow like 9/11 has not made them change their ways, not to talk of other blows like Bali 2002 bombings, Madrid 2004 bombings, London 2005 bombings etc.)

   The only exception perhaps is Turkey where Kemal Pasha forced the Muslim clergy not to interfere in his reforms. But even here, Islamic fundamentalism is again rearing its head. In fact we can safely conclude that the secularists in spite of many pious utterances, will not be able to solve the Muslim problem. The question that the Hindu patriots and organisations have to ask is, “Can we and how?”. The fate of our nation depends on the solution of the problem posed by Islam.

REFERENCES :

1. Pakistan or The Partition of India, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Vol. 8, Education Dept, Govt. of Maharashtra, Bombay, 1990.

2. Religion and Society in India, Prof. A. B. Shah, Somaiya Publications, Bombay, 1981

3. What Ails our Muslims, Prof. A. B. Shah, Indian Secular Society, Pune, Reprint 1992.

4. Muslim Politics in India, Hamid Dalwai, Nachiketa Publications, Bombay, 1968.

5. Is India going Islamic, Baljit Rai, B. S. Publishers, Chandigarh, 1994.