Dear Fellow Citizens,
After reading this, some may say I am a ‘deceiver’ or a ‘foe of India’. Hence, I want to clarify that my sole desire is to make India a better place for all.
The 42nd Amendment Act of India altered the definition of India from “sovereign democratic republic” to a “sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republic”, and also changed the words “unity of the nation” to “unity and integrity of the nation”.
Unfortunately, the word ‘secular’, meaning “indifference to, or rejection or exclusion of, religion and religious considerations”, seems to exist solely on paper. The current prime minister, Narendra Modi, said that “Secularism runs in our veins.” but is this ‘secularism’ evident in actions? NO.
How would you feel if you step out of your house to be looked upon as a criminal? How would you feel if your house is identified as a ‘Muslim’s house’ instead of your name? How would you feel if you are referred to as a ‘terrorist’ in your own nation? How would you feel if you are said to be ‘Pakistan’s friend and India’s foe’, when you have been born on the Indian soil, and you wish to live as a proud Indian?
You will feel unsafe, unwanted, uncomfortable and scared to live in your own nation, in the place you call ‘home’.
Although Muslims constitute the second highest population in India, this is exactly how they feel. I do not put the entire blame on Hindus. I put the blame on both, Hindus and Muslims, and most importantly on the leaders of our country, who encourage this discrimination. There are groups of Hindus and Muslims who cause unnecessary unrest in the country, but does that mean you blame the entire lot of those who believe in the same religion as the ones causing unrest?
If a Muslim man brutally rapes a Hindu girl, the whole of India goes nuts and blames all the Muslims for the actions of one individual. If a Hindu man brutally rapes a Muslim girl, you will hear some say, “Muslim girls deserve it.”
Why do they ‘deserve’ it? What sin did they commit, and even if they did, who are you to judge? It is not their fault if, in a Hindu majority nation, a vast chunk of the population, including the leaders believes in Hindutva.
The root of the problem lies in the mindset of the society and the leadership which supports it. CAA-NRC, cow lynching, recent Delhi riots whose perpetrators are free, Article 370, Babri Masjid Judgement, the arrest of all Muslim student activists, detention camps in Assam and now all over India, hate speech by politicians is what toxifies India.
In the Ayodhya case, Muslims were given some money and property. Did anyone make a big deal about that? No Maulvi or younger Muslim generation protested. There was no violence. Everyone simply accepted the judgement. But had it not been given for a temple, the whole of India would have been burnt down due to violence and unrest.
Mob lynching: the idea of killing Muslims who eat beef is just ridiculous. Are Muslims the only ones consuming beef? There are many Hindus who eat beef as well. Is anyone going to kill them?? NO. Is our leadership blind, or does it choose to act blind? Of course, the latter. Is eating or not eating anything, not a basic right for all, irrespective of religion or caste? My ears bear proof to Muslims being called ‘inhuman monsters who need to be put in their place’, only because they pray to ‘Allah’.
In Lucknow, there is no supply of non-vegetarian food on Tuesdays, because Hindus do not eat non-vegetarian food on Tuesdays. So, if anyone else wishes to eat non-vegetarian on Tuesdays, then bad luck! Hindus cannot consume it, so why should you? If the whole of Saudi Arabia does not fast, they do not cut the water supply for everyone.
In such a state, all we can conclude is that Muslims of India have a very bleak future. No one knows what lies ahead, but it is very scary, especially since the current BJP government relies on fascist ideologies of upper-class Hindus being superior.
Is our present government actually promoting secularism, or are they supporting one religion to buy votes? The Bhartiya Janata Party is promoting Hindutva because 79.8% of Indians are Hindus. Religion has become a pawn in the game of politics.
The sad reality is that India could not live as the united secular nation it was expected to be. Most Muslims of India are seen as second-class citizens. India could evidently not live up to the expectations of the constitution framers and all those great leaders of the independence era who fought for a united India against Jinnah’s two-nation theory. BJP leader LK Advani correctly stated, “The word ‘secularism’ is only a euphemism of vote bank politics.”
The truth is that the future of Muslims is probably doomed unless somebody has the courage to risk their life and fight using constitutional means, but even then, one cannot say whether the result would be fruitful.
Today, we have brought our country to such a stand where Indian Muslims simply want to escape as soon as possible since India is a pseudo-secular nation. They do not want to leave their ‘home’, but they have no other option.
Although I am not a Muslim, I have had plentiful interactions with a lot of them before forming my opinion, and I want everyone to know that Muslims are Indians as much as you, being a Hindu do, and they love this country.
People have stereotyped that Indian Muslims support Pakistan, which is very wrong. They love India and are proud to be Indians, but India is changing and becoming something they had never imagined.
In this changing India, all they desire is to be treated with love and respect, peace and happiness, and if we really want peace, we need to identify ourselves as Indians before Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or any other religion.
History bears proof that united WE stand and divided, THEY fall, and after all, our future is in our hands and our today’s actions will shape our tomorrow.
Yours Always,
Indian