Wednesday, July 18, 2007

How not to counter terror

by Praful Bidwai from Frontline

The presumption was this could not have happened: highly educated, "normal" Muslims from middle-class, professional families living in Bangalore - "the software capital [sic.] of a world flattened by globalisation" - could not have embraced wahhabi or salafi fundamentalism ... Confronted with unpleasant reality - Kafeel Ahmed's involvement in the Glasgow attack in partnership with an Iraqi - many commentators have taken recourse to two more stereotypes. The first attributes quasi-mystical, demonic power to wahhabism's appeal for devout Muslims. The other stresses the "grave blunder" the Indian state has committed in regarding Muslims as "permanent victims" and treating them with kid gloves. The subtext is, their feet should be held to the fire as regards their professed commitment to the nation over religion.

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