Television Actor Aamir Ali has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court after he was refused a house in Lokhandwala, because of his religion. The court has asked the state government to respond in four weeks.
Apart from the problem Muslims face, it is also an unhealthy trend for the nation when communities stay aloof from each other and their interaction gets minimal. As a result people get more prejudiced and communal. The issue warrants serious attention and a national debate is needed.
It is undoubtedly a colossal task for Muslims to get a house, either buying a flat in a society or renting a house, in most cities in the country. The link to the story is here.
In most cities, people generally prefer person belonging to their community or caste while giving their house on rent. This is a person’s right and we can’t contest it. Sometimes if the Muslim family has a deeper pocket then they may get the house.
But in Mumbai the situation is even more alarming. Even money can’t get you the house in certain localities. Hundreds of housing societies have this unwritten rule, ‘Non-vegetarians (euphemism for Muslims) are not allowed’.
This form of discrimination should not be tolerated and action can be taken as per the provisions of Cooperative Socities’ Act. At least, the warnings can be issued. Social activists should take up the issue.
Each person can play a role. We should open arms to person belonging to the other community and surely there will be reciprocation.
Simply blaming others for communalim won’t help. And all of us must introspect how biased we are about the person belonging to other caste, region or community.
The fact that it is equally likely (or unlikely, if you will) that the Pakistani store’s money may be going to support the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba does not of course bother Taha. If you think those buying at the Gujarati’s store are indirectly supporting violence against Muslims in Gujarat, by buying at the Pakistani store you are equally supporting terrorists who kill indiscriminately – with their victims being Indians – Hindus as well as Muslims.
There is no sense in racially stereotyping all Gujaratis or Muslims or whoever else. It is no different in principle from the ghettoization of different communities that at least some of us have been speaking out against.
As for supporting the Pakistani team because they are better – I do think there is a difference between appreciating good performance and celebrating the defeat of one’s country’s team. I do not think this is or should be a test of patriotism, but it does sadden me to see that there are some Indians who celebrate the defeat of the Indian team and the victory of Pakistan’s team in an India-Pakistan match. It is not the problem itself, but a symptom of a deeper problem.
Taha, if you live in the US and pay taxes, I just wanted to let you know that your tax money is contributing to what’s happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, you are responsible for the killing of your Muslim brethren by the shaitan US and the infidel Jews.
So I presume these ppl are supporting Australia these days
?
Also abt 20% Indians voted for BJP, hmmm… how to boycott them all? we should mark signs on their houses first as a first step.
I guess some of you got part of my comment wrong:
“… than shop at the Gujju Hindu’s only because I very well know he is a BJP/VHP supporter”
The key is the fact that I know that this particular shopowner is a VHP supporter (through the posters he has up). I did not mean I try boycotting all Gujjus because that is wrong and it would be the same as hating everyone for the wrongs of a few. It would be similarly wrong to boycott all Pakistani stores for the wrongs of a few- unless you knew specifically that a particular store supports an anti-Indian outfit.
As for supporting Australia these days, well- they’re far too mechanical and too technically superior to make anyone feel interested in the game. Yes they do have the passion to win and all that but they have too much of it- almost makes it boring to see them thrash opponents.
I’ll grant you the shop owner point, its your right of course.
btw some were supporting England too. when India lost to england in the reliance world cup semis, it was like diwali in Mahim, mumbai where i lived. personally i’d found gooch’s sweeping quite boring. btw it was before Ayodhya was even warm
Amit & Girish:
I think you have taken Taha’s comments in a wrong way.
Tell me when does it hurt you more – when some of your own people cause you some harm or when your enemies cause the same harm?
When Pakistani army or LeT kill our people, there is a sense of grief, but not of betrayal. They were never expected to bring peace for us anyways. When our own countrymen kill our people, it is not just the grief. It is the grief compounded by betrayal. It is much more painful than Pakistani army or LeT killing our people.
It is difficult to maintain equanimity when a Gujarat happens and no action is taken. I would be a hypocrite if I did not admit that many times in the aftermath of Gujarat I have wondered if those years of my singing “Jana Gana Mana” had any real meaning behind the words.
[quote comment="24366"]I would be a hypocrite if I did not admit that many times in the aftermath of Gujarat I have wondered if those years of my singing “Jana Gana Mana” had any real meaning behind the words.[/quote]
Asad, you have put forward a very genuine point. I too would say on a similar note that in my life that was the only moment when I questioned the idea of India and I will be a hypocrite not to say that. It was a really dark time. I was shaken to my core after what happenned in Gujarat and spent a lot of time thinking what it means to be a Muslim in India.
But it was mostly the non-Muslim commentators who brought back my belief in the Indian system through their strong criticism of the Sangh Parivar. Whether it be Harsh Mandar who resigned from the government or Rajdeep Sardesai who led the campaign on live TV or the IIM Ahmedabad students and Faculty.
Gujarat has left a deep scar on my heart. And every time I hear about Modi as the ‘Lion of Gujarat’ a deep wound is touched.
Even today BJP has not acknowledged that Gujarat was a blot. When Yashwant Sinha mentioned such in an article there was an uproar internally within BJP. I am still looking forward to that day where at least that acknowledgement is there.
I was delighted when US rejected Modi’s visa and was confused when the PM registered his protest to US. For many of us a person who was responsible for the massacre who could successfully twist the democracy and escape the justice system these insignificant and small tokenism like visa rejection gave some solace.
Asad:
I have no argument with what you have to say about feeling hurt. However, I still do not see the point of converting that hurt into hatred and then playing into the hands of the “enemies” as you call them.
I am part of a community that has been persecuted in my state for the last several decades. Things have calmed down again, but in my father’s youth, violence was perpetrated against the entire community, they were hounded out of the state where they had lived for ever before that and generally abused. Even today, abuse against the community is quite prevalent. This despite the fact that it was just like any other community, with good as well as bad people. What did the community do? Picked up the threads, took to education in a big way, migrated elsewhere and prospered. Nobody has bitter thoughts about the country or their state as a result of this experience and there has never been a case of “supporting the enemy”. Yes, people are hurt but the hurt has not been translated into hatred.
The same is the case of the victims of the partition riots. I grew up for some year in Delhi in a rented home that was in a refugee colony. All around us were people who had been forced to migrate from Pakistan. Almost everybody had lost family members in the violence. Most of the people I saw around me were decent folks, with only good things to say about their (mostly Muslim) neighbors in the parts of Pakistan they had to leave. Most of them have again prospered, through their own efforts. The same can be said about the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots or the Kashmiri Pandits who were hounded out of the valley.
Does all this justify the violence against Muslims that we have seen in Gujarat in recent times or lessen the pain of those who were affected? Definitely not. But it illustrates the point that not being able to maintain equanimity after Gujarat is one thing and supporting violence against other Indians as a result of that is quite another thing. Fortunately, for most Indian Muslims (including you), that is not the case. They have done the same as everybody else – picked up the threads and tried to do the best under the circumstances.
First of all, a very nice blog. I have stumbled here by chance and hope to stick around to know how things are across the border.
About the topic, well, it never happens here, in Pakistan.
Asad Mustafa: I agree with your feelings and while I haven’t experienced anything like that (except my grandpa losing all his wealth and belongings during partition, but hey, no one died), where I disagree with is how do we move forward. I think discussions like these are a good start as they allow us a space to express what’s on our minds.
I believe that the way forward is through strengthening democracies – local, state, national – and holding the elected politicians’ feet to the fire. There will be setbacks, and you and I may not see the kind of democracy we envision happening within our lifetimes, but that shouldn’t stop us from striving towards that goal. Plus we all (well, speaking for myself
) have to pay the bills, so that doesn’t leave much time for involvement in democracy, but every little thing counts.
But if there is no faith in the democratic system just because it has been abused for xyz reasons, then I guess we will have to part ways as to what the solution is. Then again, I’m not in your shoes, so maybe it’s easier for me to say that.
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btw some were supporting England too. when India lost to england in the reliance world cup semis, it was like diwali in Mahim, mumbai where i lived. personally i’d found gooch’s sweeping quite boring. btw it was before Ayodhya was even warm
That’s surprising if it did happen. I do know for a fact that there have always been a fair bit of rumours going around about Muslim support for other cricket teams.
Again- living together (and not in ghettos) would go a long way in avoiding false notions about each other-which goes back to the topic of this article about having common societies.
And about the Gujarat riots – it created a deeper scar on my psyche about India than anything ever has. As Girish says, you have to move on in life and most people have moved on- but you can’t just forget and let go of the crimes that were committed lest they be committed again. I have visited Ahmedabad almost every year in the past few years, and talking with my relatives there indicates the intense sense of insecurity and apathy they feel. Muslims and their ghettos (and Muslims only live in ghettos there) are completely neglected. The schools, hospitals and residences are generally communally segregated. The hold of the BJP among the local Hindus is so strong, it is unimaginable – so much so that even the Congress is quite right-wing in Gujarat. And despite this we are all told about Vibrant Gujarat – well unfortunately it is only vibrant in parts.
I am only thankful that I don’t see this happening anywhere else in India.
Riots do leave scars on people and Hindus have been equally scarred in riots against them. The moplah rebellion in kerala was the worst of its kind against Hindus but was conveniently overlooked by Gandhi and his politics. I think Hindus have been completely restained in comparison to the cruelty they themselves have suffered. But people have to understand that thier is a limit to everything and the isolation happening to the muslims is thier own doing. They have to make efforts to reclaim the goodwill back
I do not know much about this moplah rebellion. In any case, if there was violence against hindus, did anyone tied government’s hands to not prosecute culprit muslims? Show me one instance where muslims have demanded that muslim rioters should not be punished. This ridiculous argument has been used so many times that it is futile to even counter it.
The tragedy of this country is that rioters are almost never punished of whatever religion they may belong to. And the government absolves its own failure by thrusting a collective guilt on one of the community. Let us take the recent Gujarat case. A train was burnt in Godhra and hindus were killed. So far the identity of killers is contested, but for the argument sake let us assume that the killers were muslims. So what? Who prevented the Gujarat government from capturing those muslim rioters, prosecuting them and getting them hanged? Instead, here a government that failed to protect its innocent citizens in the first instance (in this case, hindus at Godhra), made ammends by failing the second time to protect some more citizens (in this case, muslims in Gujarat). The point is- are there two different categories of citizens that a goverment can compensate the loss of lives from one category by allowing some more loss from the other category?
And what sorts of efforts muslims have to make to reclaim the goodwill? I have never supported violence from anyside and never will. Why should I be expected to hang a plate on my neck proclaiming that I do not approve of such and such violence by so and so persons, just because they happen to be muslims? And why do you think that you are more Indian than me to demand this from me? As a free citizen of this country, I refuse to get bullied by the people of your ilk, whatever be the consequences.
Asad,
I am not bringing out the Moplah riots here to justify the Gujrat Riots, but to point to the fact that Hindus have suffered equally from such riots. So its just not your community which is a target, which seems to be a rhetoric amongst the muslims. The 1992 riot was a horrible event for the Hindus also though you might say less number of them were killed. But does only number matter? A father who losses his son has the same pain whether he is Hindu, Muslim or anybody else.
You are absolutely right about the government and its only because of the soft belly of our government that freedom has been hijacked on a regular basis and blood has been sprayed.
You can live in as much denial as you want about the current state of affairs surrounding the Muslim Community. If there was nothing whats the need for all these blogs, why do we keep hearing about your alienation from the mainstream? About terrorism associated with muslims. Do you speak for the masses…no, you speak for yourself..I did not like the day when India’s name was thrown on the forefront of global terrorism. I believe you did not like it too. So there where we need to start doing some work. And maybe the first step from you would be to question your leadership, politicians etc who keep you jailed in a communal mindset. Can you deny the fact that like Hindu seculars and liberals who thrash the BJP & Sangh Parivar on a regular basis, the Muslim Liberals can. So stand up and be counted for, who am I to bully you, I am niether going to bully you nor be bullied. If we have to defeat these communal forces we have to be united and vociferous in our opposition of each and every instance of fundamentalism.
Asad:
This article by a Pakistani journalist sums up the view from the other side:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-8-2004_pg3_4
I want to add more. When we talk about the alienation of the Muslims, its not something which has just sprouted, its been a result of a number of things, number of years and the witnessing of some horrible scenarios. Maybe the majority people who still support Modi, and I am talking about the local people of gujrat, you need to find from them why do they support him, why do they feel the need for his protection. Maybe some of these answers is going to open your eyes to the truth and reclaiming of goodwill I am talking about. You can choose to close your eyes, shout it out, but thats not going to change anything. Thier is no smoke without a fire and so is this alientaion not without its cause.
Achal:
If you are talking about goodwill then you don’t understand the problem at all. Muslims in India, or any other minority for that matter, does not needs nor demands goodwill from the majority community. As citizens of the country they are entitled to the same protections as everybody else is. The concept of goodwill feeds directly into the Sangh Parivar propaganda of ‘baRe bhai, choTe bhai’ where choTe bhai needs to ‘behave’ according to the wishes of baRe bhai.
Stop patronizing Muslims, it will lead us nowhere.
I understand your point about Hindus being affected by riots as well. However, the consequences are drastically different for Muslims. Not only they incur a heavy loss of life and property during the riots (aided and abetted by police in many cases), it is difficult for them to get the guilty punished. After Gujarat riots, an overwhelming percentage of arrestees were Muslims even though the violence was mainly aimed at them during the riots. Once their businesses are destroyed, it is more difficult for them to secure loans from banks to restart business (Reference: Sachar Committee Report). It also forces them to move to ghettos where they would be safe but business opportunities are limited. So, yes, I would argue that Muslims suffer more not only during the riots but after that as well. I hate to paint killing of innocent Indians in terms of Hindus and Muslims but that is the only way questioners like you can be answered.
Mohib,
You are confusing the whole issue, because again like most muslims you are equating goodwill to protection. When I speak about goodwill, I refer to the existing bad blood between the two communities and the resulting ghettos. Protection has nothing to do with this, you are already protected but this kind of thinking that you dont need or should have the other persons goodwill is the reason behind your alienation. And then you try to wonder what’s wrong? why such alienation? And if I was patronizing muslims I would not ask them to dig deeper and ask questions amongst themselves and to thier leaders. I will probably not be generating any goodwill from you by saying that and so thier is no question of me patronizing you or your community. As far as muslims suffer more or less in a riot, nobody can be sure. It just depends on the circumstances, and my counter could be about the plight of kashmiri pandits and what has the government about them. They are homeless in thier own homland. So the patronizing has to end from your end and the famous trump card “just because I am a muslim” has to go away. When you say that you are infact patronizing yourself instead of looking at the underlying reasons
Abilash thanks for bringing up this article. Very insightful to read.
Achal:
Thanks for clarifying your point about goodwill. The only way communities can live together in harmony is by removing the mistrust and misconceptions that have cropped up between the them. If there are some genuine grievances about one other then they should be addressed as well. However, the dialog needs be between equals and any idea that the onus of securing goodwill is on one community needs to be challenged. I hope you are not suggesting that.
I don’t understand the logic of bringing the issue of Kashmiri pandits, tragic and heart-wrenching as it is, as an argument to act violently or deny justice to others. Two wrongs do not make a right. Successive governments at the center (and to an extent, state) have failed them. Many Indian Muslims understand their plight because they have experienced the trauma of driven out of their homes.
The notion that Muslims in India come inbuilt with some sort victim mentality and use it to secure their ends is ridiculous. Muslims don’t complain of discrimination where there is none or even limited. For example I have never seen any Muslim complaining that he didn’t get into IIT-JEE or CAT because he/she is a Muslim.