The condition of the country's Muslims has deteriorated, and the world has overlooked the nation's problems.
By Asra Q. Nomani
December 1, 2008
The news of the attacks in Mumbai eerily took me back to a quiet morning two years ago when I sat in Room 721 of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel, reading the morning newspaper, fearing just the kind of violence that has now exploded in the city of my birth. The headlines recounted how the socioeconomic condition of the people of my ancestry, Muslims in India, had fallen below that of the Hindu caste traditionally called "untouchables," according to a government report."Muslims are India's new untouchables," I said sadly to my mother, in the room with me. "India is going to explode if it doesn't take care of them." Now, indeed, alas it has. And shattered in the process is the myth of India's thriving secular democracy.
Mumbai police said over the weekend that the only gunman they'd captured during the attacks -- which left nearly 200 dead and more than 300 wounded -- claimed to belong to a Pakistani militant group. But even if the trouble was imported, the violence will most certainly turn a spotlight of suspicion on Muslims in India. Already, my relatives are hunkered down for a sectarian backlash they expect from anti-terrorism agencies, police and angry Hindu fundamentalists.
India, long championed as a model of pluralism, used to be an example of how Muslims can coexist and thrive even as a minority population. My extended family prospered as part of an educated, middle class. My parents, who settled in the United States in the 1960s when my father pursued a doctorate at Rutgers University, were part of India's successful diaspora. I love India, and on that trip, I wanted to show it off to my son, Shibli, then age 4.
For more on this article, please click on the following link: Muslims -- India's new 'untouchables': LA Times
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Muslims -- India's new 'untouchables': LA Times
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1 comment:
Dear Ms. Nomani,
I don't know how much you know about India for your comments are very serious, and at times sounds baseless and biased.
I do agree that in India a large section of muslims are living a miserable life. But in stead of making a general remark, you should go back to history on how this has happened since the partition.
Many muslims have wanted to go back to Pakistan during the partition. Those who couldn't go, formed their own group and muhallas to live together. They continued to live in their own shell and converted these into an area where normally hindu people were not welcome. You wouldn't know how a police officer in Kolkata was brutally murdered along with his constable and their bodies were chopped into pieces when they went to one such muhallas in an area called Metiaburuz.
Muslims never showed any respect towards the "Hum do humara do" campaign which was started to ensure that the country has control over its population and can make best use of its resources. I don't know how many muslim parents encouraged their children to go to schools because I used to live in a railway township and I saw very little muslim friends of mine being very intelligent. Most of them were mediocore to bad. Obviously I don't expect these students to get a job when they grow up because they dropped out of school before reaching 10th or 12th standards.
Slowly the uneducated portion of muslim children started growing at an alarming rate. On not being able to find a respectable way of living, many turned into petty crimes and anti-social activities. Thus started the conversion of muhallas into breeding ground of criminals for the next generation. Because the muhallas were not freely open to the outside world, the criminals started taking refuge and in the process affecting the mindset of the children and youth living in them.
Whenever there has been any disagreement or altercation of any boy from any of such muhallas with a non-muslim boy from outside muhalla, the boy from the muhalla used to gather people from the muhalla and took to terrorise or beat up the non-muslim boy. I am testimony to many such incidents in my childhood.
I don't know how many cities or towns in India you have travelled. But in every city of India, you will still find one such muhalla and the muslims are living in that muhalla, insulating themselves from the outer world. I never understood the logic behind having a muhalla and found these quite appalling.
This is, in brief, the history of the muslims in India and how the common muslims have evolved today. Because of their knee-jerk reaction to every single disturbance, because they allowed their muhallas to turn into safe refuge for criminals, these muhallas became easy or prime suspects behind every rong or illegal act.
When we look at the world, we don't see it's unjustified. I would request you to recount the last 100 acts of terrorism around the world and you will know why muslims become the targets. There are educated muslims like you. But have you been able to help these ordinary muhalla-dwelling muslims to come out of their shackles and participate in the prosperity of the country they are living in, rising above their religion? Do you have any answer if I ask you why the terrorist outfits have their headquarters in Pakistan and not in Iran or Saudi Arabia? After all Iran and Saudi Arabia are no way any less muslim than Pakistan.
Yes, I do appreciate that relegion comes first to every muslim. But if you follow religion blindly and turn against the state or its people merely for sake of religion or your fellow-men, then you are not acting in a logical way and giving rise to all sorts of suspicions.
Look at Europe or USA and see how they are treating the muslims today. But I have muslim friends who also roam around in the world and not all of them are subjected to such attitudes. Therefore it's my sincere request to you to help in restraining your fellow muslims living in India and ask them to participate in the development of the country (I know many of them have already started but there are still more who don't). and as a respnsible media personnel, you should get your facts right before writing such columns.
You may contact me (if you wish) at my email-id debajyoti2007@gmail.com
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