How dare you bunch of cowards think of calling yourselves as believers of Islam?
My name is Major Mohommed Ali Shah (Veteran). My family has had a tradition of soldiering for 200 years. My father retired from the Indian Army as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff and was the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University thereafter. Because of his and his brilliant team’s back-breaking and tireless efforts, AMU was ranked as the No. 1 university of the country by the Times Higher Education Ranking London (the most reliable ranking of universities in the world). However, because of your ill actions, such a fine university of the country too has to bear the brunt of having the name “Muslim” in its name. My father’s honest autobiography titled “The Sarkari Musslaman”, which talks very highly of a fine and secular organisation, like the Indian Army, was misunderstood because of having the word ‘Mussalman’ in the title.
My ancestors were veterans of both the world wars. My family chose not to go to Pakistan but rather stay in India during the Partition because of various reasons. We are the children of this soil. We are a family of proud Indians and have performed the pilgrimage of Haj.
There cannot be a person more qualified and eligible to tell you cowards that no where in Islam does it say go kill anyone. You people are truly the enemies of Islam, giving Islam a bad name, to the extent the community is getting typecast. In the olden days, every Hindi movie would have a vamp, shown smoking and drinking, bearing a name like Suzzie or Marrie, wearing a skimpy dress being shown as a lady of easy virtue, and we all instantly knew which community they belonged to. Today, every Hindi movie has a criminal or a gangster bearing a Musilm name.
Hailing from an army background I have seen my father fight insurgency in Punjab in the early 90s, in Manipur, in Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir. I have personally endangered my life on several accounts while serving in the Army in J&K and the Northeast, both Muslim and non-Muslim areas of insurgency. However, it is only one particular community being branded as a terrorist community because of ignorant fools like you.
My religion (mind it I am not saying yours, because you are not Muslims, you are terrorists, and terror has no religion) is actually a very peace loving religion and talks of unity in diversity. The term “Jihad”, which actually means ‘struggle’, and not ‘terrorism’ has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by people who are non-Muslims to the extent that the national media also has started misrepresenting the religion for which terror outfits like yours are responsible.
Today, all the good work that the Muslim community is doing is being discredited because of the wrong doings of a few misled, uneducated, disloyal enemies of humanity like you. The brainless “Fidayeens” you have been breeding are going to hell to rot and not to any heaven as you mislead and brain wash young, unemployed, ignorant youth who have absolutely no idea what the holy Quaran says. Islam is actually a very peace loving, scientific, logical and simple religion. There has to be an end to this madness. You people have spoilt the name of such a beautiful religion that on one account and instance I, a right thinking citizen of my motherland, India personally too had to suffer. However, fortunately, my parents had equipped me with the best gift a parent can give to a child – the gift of education.
I could stand tall and fight and teach the perpetrators a lesson that they would never forget in their life. Lifting weapons and killing people is no answer to anything. Education is the only key to progress. I am a proud Muslim and a very proud Indian and am qualified enough, not because of the fact that I was educated in the best school and college or an IIM, but only because I understand the religion much better than you, and appeal for peace in order to be a true Muslim.
You might have enrolled people with little intellect level who might be PhDs; however, there is a huge difference in being literate and being educated. Terror outfits like yours are uneducated and should make an effort to analyse yourself, introspect, and face and understand the reality that you are not only doing a great disservice to a peace loving religion but a great disservice to humanity. Shame on you. You are non-believers of Islam, in other words, you are “Kafirs”. My reason for writhing this open letter is so that somewhere and somehow this letter of mine reaches you and may be it can make a difference somehow. I truly believe that the change won’t begin and the society will not change unless and until we change our owns elves. I truly hope it reaches you and you do a serious introspection and the change begins. Violence of any form is not the answer to anything.
As Martin Luther King once said, “Darkness cannot fight darkness, only light can do that, hate cannot fight hate, only love can do that.” Muslim terror outfits must realise that they inflict casualty directly and indirectly on Muslims itself and any sensible person can see through that, it is not the cause that you are fighting for, but it’s a racket that you are running and are the manufacturers of hate. Please use your brains; the Fidayeen whose video I saw will certainly not be going to heaven to enjoy the hospitality of hoors as he claimed; however, he will rot in hell.
I’m going to quote a line from the film ‘Khuda Ke Liye’ (For God), which made a lot of sense to me as a Muslim: “Deen mein daari hai, daari mein deen nahi.” (Religion has a way of life in it, and not the inverse). There is no need to wear religion or patriotism on one’s sleeve. People are intelligent enough to see through what is inside a person’s mind.
Is ghenoni harkat ka tum kafeeron ko karaara jawaab milege (you’ll pay for these atrocious acts). No one can get away after messing with the Indian Defence Forces.