Tag: dadri lynching

Request from an Indian Muslim

On October 16, 2015

How would one describe the emotion when you are constantly reminded or questioned about your right of living in your country?

Anger.

Outrage is so much easier.

People like us, can be mocked as the “keyboard” activists, whose outrage ranges from a blog post or numerous facebook and twitter posts. From the list of activities in a day, almost half of it is consumed by arguing endlessly with people whose ideas are never going to change. Yet, since we have so much time on our hand and the constant urge to not sit idle, we just never stop shouting about issues.

There are few who relate to us, few show their solidarity, few feel disgusted of every word we utter and even few who laugh at our plight.

Those of you who know me from Jamshedpur, understand how difficult life has been, and it has only been with Allah’s blessing, it has become a little stable. I doubt there is anyone in my family who even speaks about politics, national issues or everyday controversies. Except my late Grandfather who was into anything political. I’m pretty sure that my non-facebook using Ammi , if comes to know that I write things concerning issues like these, her first words would be, “kya zarroart hai tujhe ye sab ki?” (What is the need of all this).

Do you think any of us who do all this on Social media or elsewhere, likes doing it? We would feel ashamed if a non-Indian even points to incidents happening in this country to us. Even if some of you wouldn’t want to believe, it is our country too. We don’t need to do a Surya Namaskar to prove that. A lot of us have far better things to do. The concern of the most of the Indian muslim focusses around earning bread for his family. If you don’t believe, just take a walk across any of the city suburbs, ghettos, you’ll find a lot of us. Do you think they care who is in the government? Or whether there is a ban on anything or not? Or that there is something called Love Jihad? All this information doesn’t give them their bread.

[Image courtesy: Saddahaq.com]

I’ve outraged a lot, be it shouting aloud about why I’m not sorry about eating beef or criticizing Modi to questioning the Closet Sanghis.

Outrage is Anger.

But it is not just about the anger. All this is Sad. If the present situation doesn’t make you sad, then I question you. Just like everyone is questioning our identity. And please don’t start the chain of messages of solidarity, if you really care about it, then do something.

From those politicians who is hell bent on sending us to Pakistan and anyone among you who never stops at putting that as a reference in your jokes. From deciding what we should eat and killing if we don’t comply and even justifying the same. More than the mob which killed Ikhlaq in Dadri, the MPs from the government telling, “If you eat beef, this will happen”. Not just that, the Chief Minister of a state proudly suggests, if Muslims don’t stop eating beef, they can go to Pakistan?

If what MPs, Chief Ministers and spokespersons of the ruling party, then this happens to be a Hindu Nation?!

I can list down Muslim freedom fighters, Kings, Nawabs and others who actually fought to get us this freedom which is now being shown to us as some sort of charity. And even if list them down, those of you whose ideology still roams around India to be a Hindu nation, will ignore that piece of information.

If you really care about the Idea of India, then do something to save it. Instead of responding to the Dadri Lynching with “A hindu killed in Bihar by Muslims”, “Why were you silent when that happened?”, “What about Godhra?, try to understand that the Idea of India is being removed brick by brick. Now it is just a few bricks, but if this continues there will be a bigger wall between us. A wall which won’t be easy to break.

Please consider this a request from an Indian Muslim and save the idea of our country. It is neither yours nor mine, it is ours.

The closet Sanghis

By farooq

On October 15, 2015

In Politics & Social Issues

While Facebook pages never get tired of sharing anti-Pakistan content as cater to a select “audience” which orgasms on content like this. It’s appalling see how even “educated” people share things like these. The only thing this does is, add to the stereotype, bring in more hate and continue to paint a picture far away from reality.

Of course, there’s no point in arguing with idiots, but these idiots help create more of their kind. The obsession of anything to deal with Pakistan, the zeal to see “wide-eyed” sensationalized news and to show glaringly show their Islamophobic feelings, becomes apparent so often.

These are the people who are “the Closet Sanghis”, the Indian Islamophobia affected class.

Iis not amusing to see your timeline filled with status updates which read, “There is a powercut at my place, why isn’t the PM speaking”, “There was a robbery in my neighbourhood, why Isn’t the PM speaking” and many other similar ones. Of course the idea behind this is to mock at all the outrage over how everyone, except the 31%, has been crying relentlessly asking a statement from the Modi.

This is that part of the population, which couldn’t muster up the courage, unlike those BJP leaders who visited Dadri to pacify the mob who lynched a 50-year old man on the rumors of eating beef. They had to keep their voices down and wait for something a little “grey” to put their thoughts out to the world.

(Image courtesy: dnaindia.com)

Meet the group, which is more dangerous to the idea of India than the RSS. At least they are open to what they want to do in India. The closet Sanghi, even though sympathizes with RSS and wants almost the same things like them, but is a little afraid to blurt it out. Perhaps, suffers from the “Log kya kahenge” Syndrome”.

To add to their problems, a list of eminent writers have been returning their Sahitya Academy Awards in response to the communal propaganda of the government. Arguments as silly as, “Why didn’t you returned it in ’84?” or “Why didn’t you do it “in the year when BJP cannot be blamed” ? have surfaced all throughout the Social media. Not just that, one of the writers from Punjab had to face the obnoxiously irritating Sambit Patra on why she didn’t returned the award in ’84 ? All she could reply was, she got the award in 2002.

While Chetan Bhagat seems to be making more sense to the Closet Sanghis now-a-days, the list of authors andpoets across the country continue to add their names to the list of writers who are showing their protest.

Of course, you can question the intention of these writers. You have the right to protest or speak what you feel like. No one can stop you from doing that.

But how come your hypocrisy comes to light when the same is being done the other way round ?

Why cannot the citizens of this country question Modi on not speaking up on important issues ? Now, don’t say that he has “better things to do”. Tweeting “get well soon”wishes and trying to take jibes at political opposition shouldn’t come in that category. Or is that the only thing he is good at ?

I doubt we would have even heard him speak if it was not the Bihar Elections!! His mouth has been programmed to open only when he is at a political rally, giving speeches to NRI’s-cum-taking potshots at Indian political opponents, or giving pre-decided interviews to select news channels. Not ready to face reporters out in the open yet ?

I’m not expecting him to answer anyways. After years of the Horrific 2002 riots in Gujarat, all he could come up with was, “If a puppy comes under you car, you of course feel sad”. No points for guessing that the victims of Gujarat were the puppies.

For Dadri, he wants people not to blow it out of proportion, when all he needed to do was come out and condemn the incident just when it happened. But then, why expect him to Not play to the Sanghi gallery ? Even the Closet Sanghis wanted it.