ASK MAULANA

the India of today, there’s a big difference. In 1947 and the years that followed immediately after, there were deadly communal riots in India. And these happened regularly. Today, far fewer riots happen, and these are mainly during or just before elections, for political purposes, after which they quickly die out. So, I would say that communalism has declined. It means that people like us who are working for peace and harmony have not failed. What often happens is that a clash happens in one locality of a town and some sections of the media project it as India being rocked with riots. Now, I don’t blame the media, because it is an industry that is based on ‘hot news’. But I do say that one should not form an opinion about things simply on the basis of what the media might say about it. I don’t condemn the media. I read the media, but I use my intelligence to form an opinion about anything. The socio-economic conditions of Muslims in India is quite dismal. What do you think should be done to address this issue? Any community—Muslims or Hindus or any other—must progress through its own efforts. No one else can do anything for it. No one can gift you progress from outside. You have to progress through your own initiative. There’s so much violence in India today. It’s increasing by the day. The country’s name is getting tarnished. What do you have to say about this? Violence was always there. It was there in the past. But at that time, there was no mass media, and so news about violence in one place did not travel to other places, and so people elsewhere did not know about it. So, it’s not something new. o Self-discipline Self-discipline, in setting bounds to one’s freedom, helps one to manage one’s desires and checks one from going astray.