Iraq anger in India's city of
courtesy By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Reverberations from the US-led war
in Iraq are being felt in Lucknow, the capital city of
Indian state Uttar Pradesh, known for nawabs
(rich hereditary rulers of Mughal states),
tehzeeb (culture), Mughlai cuisine and the
pehle aap (you first) school of manners.
Over the past week, a spate of protests as well
as statements from clerics in the city have warned
British, US and Israeli citizens to stay away from the
state capital. There are also fears that the
demonstrations may spread to the rest of the state, with
calls being made to prevent foreigners from entering the
precincts of the famous Taj Mahal in Agra, 363
kilometers away from Lucknow. India's Muslims,
especially Shi'ites, have reacted sharply to the clash
between US forces and Shi'ite militiamen last month in
which one of the most sacred shrines of the Shi'ites,
the shrine of Hazrat Ali, was damaged. Muslims form a
sizeable population in Lucknow, as well as in Uttar
Pradesh as a whole.
Such has been the nature of
protests that the British Foreign Office issued a travel
advisory on Tuesday warning its citizens against
traveling to the city, as well as to postpone visits to
holy sites. Visitors have been told to keep a safe
distance from particular religious sites such as the
imambaras (religious monuments) in Lucknow that
are replicas of the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala
that were damaged by fighting in Iraq. It is rare for
city-specific travel warnings to be issued as they are
usually applied to a country as a whole in the wake of a
terrorist attack, threat or such macro parameters. The
last time the US and British offices issued a travel
warning to its citizens concerning India was in 2002
when Indian and Pakistan relations reached a flashpoint
and several signs indicated the two countries could go
to war.
Addressing a crowd of over 20,000 last
week in Lucknow, prominent Shi'ite cleric Maulana Kalbe
Jawwad warned, "Americans should not venture anywhere
near imambaras, mazaars [tomb of important
religious personality or a Muslim king] or other places
of religious importance. For if they do, the
responsibility of their security would lie with the
tourism department or themselves."
Later he told
a national daily, "With anti-US sentiments running so
high, anything can happen to the tourists. What if some
individual decides to settle scores on his own? We can't
do anything about that. By closing our doors to US and
UK nationals we are sending out a very strong message.
We want these tourists to tell everybody back home that
they are not welcome in India because of their leaders
who are killing innocent Muslims and destroying our
shrines," Jawwad said.
"Most of our
imambaras are replicas of shrines in Iraq. How
can the Americans bomb the original sites and visit
their replicas! Where is the logic in that? The bottom
line is that Americans should stay away from the
imambaras and similar places, because we would be
very uncomfortable with their presence," he added. "We
would like to build pressure on the Congress government
to demand an apology for the perpetrators of this
sacrilegious act. In the Christian world this is
equivalent to bombing the Vatican," he said. Jawwad has
also announced that he plans to organize a massive rally
with over 500,000 people in New Delhi.
Various
other fronts representing both Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims
have joined hands to ban the entry of foreign tourists
into Muslim monuments and religious places. In a protest
by the Imam-e-Raza committee (its members oversee the
upkeep of mosques in Lucknow) and the All India Youth
Federation, a demand was raised to ensure that "US
atrocities on the people of Iraq [are] brought to an
end". An appeal was sent to Indian President A P J Abdul
Kalam that India must raise its voice against the US
actions.
Harish Chandra Dhanuk of Imambara
Kishnu Khalifa - a replica of holy shrines in Najaf and
Karbala in Iraq - said that they had requested the
government of India to ask the United Nations to ensure
that US-led forces are removed from Iraq. "A democratic
government should also be set up in Iraq so that the
people there can get justice. If the government does not
listen to our demands, then we will move to Taj Mahal
and impose a ban on entry of foreign tourists there,"
said Dhanuk.
Government response to these
protests has so far been muted and understandably so.
Both the Congress-led union government as well as Uttar
Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party actively woo the
Muslims in their constituency. Requesting to remain
anonymous, police as well as tourism officials in the
state have been quoted in the press saying that in the
interests of security, Western visitors should stay away
from Lucknow for a while till matters settle down. They
have obviously been advised by their political bosses to
say so. Indeed, unlike the previous BJP-led government,
the Congress, which has the support of the Muslims, can
ill afford to ignore these demands. During the 1990-91
Gulf War, India's dependency on the International
Monetary Fund saw New Delhi voting for the UN resolution
authorizing the expulsion of Iraqi troops from Kuwait,
but permission given to US planes to refuel in Mumbai
had to be withdrawn subsequently thanks to widespread
protest.
There have been some voices of dissent
against the Muslim clerics' move. "I don't see any logic
in warning British and American visitors away from the
imambaras and maqbaras [mausoleums]," says
Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, a UK-based author who has written
many books on Lucknow, in an interview to The Times of
India. "The city anyway is not a popular holiday
destination for foreign tourists. And those who do make
it are usually cultured and intelligent people, often
scholars and historians like me. The fact that they have
chosen to spend their time visiting these buildings
should be welcomed, not condemned," she added.
"It's not as if the pain and exasperation of
Muslims in Lucknow does not strike a chord with people,
it's just that threats such as these only undermine the
moral authority of the clerics. Muslim, particularly
Shi'ite, anger against the continuing invasion of Iraq
is justified," says Llewellyn-Jones. "Anger against the
fighting in Iraq's holiest places in Najaf and Karbala
is quite understandable too. But having said that I
don't think it would do anyone any good to issue edicts
like these," she added.
The Naib Imam (appointed
deputy religious head of the mosque) of Lucknow, Idgah
Maulana Khalid Rashid, has said that many American
civilians have vociferously protested against the Bush
administration and its foreign policy in Iraq. It would
thus be inadvisable to prevent tourists from coming to
these monuments, he added.
However, voices such
as Rashid and Llewellyn-Jones are very few and with the
governments both at the center and state more than
willing to allow Muslims to have their say, Lucknow for
the moment is closed to the West.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist
(Copyright 2004 Asia Times
Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication
policies.)
Jun 11, 2004
No
material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written
permission.
Copyright
2003, Asia Times Online, 4305 Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Rd,
Central, Hong Kong
