The Dillemma of Indian Muslims

I have blogged on many sites in the last 2-3 years and the blogs that got me the most hate mail were those on Indian Muslims. In fact, it would not be facetious for me to say that I lost several friends because of the views I expressed in my blogs.

Since I am Muslim myself the whole exercise gained several dimensions. Fellow Muslims cursed me for being elitist, fellow Indians (non Muslims) sent me threats that seemed very real. There were blogs posted in response to mine filled with language that should have been checked and controlled by webmasters but obviously wasn't.

However, the good thing was that there was a significant number of those who were fair and rational in their responses.

When I look back at that period of my life when I was blogging almost everyday on a very well known blogging site for non resident Indians, I wonder at my own productivity. I haven't blogged for nearly 14 months now. There should be no excuse for not writing but the hate mail that had poured into my mailbox had so frightened me that I sat at my computer with my fingers completely atrophied and all my writing abilities in a state of petrefaction.

Now, ironically, when I decided to start writing again, I have found that my favourite topic, Indian Muslims, are in the news again and the discussions surrounding them are virtually the same as two years ago.

Alas! somethings never change.

In fact, I read all my old pieces again and was shocked to see that none of them had lost their relevance vis a vis the Muslims of India. I would also like to state here that I am not trying to launch a one (wo)man crusade in their defence. Far from it. However, I do believe that there is more to this question than what is immediately apparent.

However, I don't want to delve into that at the moment.

I am not sure if any fellow Indian Muslim is going to read this blog but if someone does this is what I would like to share with him/her:

dear fellow "believer", I hope you are still not labouring under the illusion that you made the wrong decision by not migrating to Pakistan when it first came into being. I hope you know how refugees from India were forced to live in ghetto like colonies with no sewage system and water supply and how this same population was treated with contempt and superiority (Islamic brotherhood notwithstanding!)

I hope you know that even today Indian Muslims are looked down upon by the rest of our Muslim fraternity and that we are not considered "real Muslims"

Do you know that other Muslim countries (mainly in the Persian Gulf) treat all foreign Muslim bretheren worse than beats of burden? That a white coloured Christian/Jew automatically gets more pay and perks than a fellow Muslim?

Do you know that you are being accused of not taking part in India's growth? Do you know that clever politicians are putting forth the argument that Indian Muslims have never taken part in the flowering of Indepenedent India and that they have spent the last 60 years pining for a country across the border because they believe that is their "true homeland"?

Of course, all these questions are rhetorical and no answers are expected.

Some days ago when the news of the Ahmedabad blasts came in I dashed off an angry letter to the Times of India (which they did not publish).

What had maddened me was the luke warm response of Indian Muslims to the libel that Muslims were terrorists and traitors and were threatening to blow up Indian icons and cities in "revenge"! I heard on Zee that some ulema from Deoband had come forward to state grandly that Islam was a religion of peace and decried all manner of violence. But there was no straightforward condemnation of the blasts themselves even though a group of common bandits going by the name of "Indian Mujahedeen" was taking the responsibility.

My point is, when will you learn?