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Not Another Attack!!
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I am tired of repeated attacks by terrorists in India. I would blame our vulnerability on poor intelligence and lack of border security. But the worst thing that affects me as an Indian is the repercussions. Its terrible to know that these terrorists always end up being identified as Islamic terrorist, as Muslims. After the dastardly terror attacks in Mumbai, the mood among people is vitriolic. I read a comment on an indian forum where this person said that he wants to drag muslims out like dogs and kill them on the streets. I am so upset that terrorists always end up being muslims.I won't shy away from admitting that a lot of muslims actually think it is not at all a wrong thing to be a terrorist and to kill someone. But the majority do not, and that is important. I personally feel that Muslims in India have far greater freedom than even in any other Muslim country. But the views across the border are that Indian Muslims are illtreated and live a very miserable existence which isn't true at all. It is a difficult time for muslims I think all over the world because we have to tell the world that we are as much against terrorisma dn mindless bloodshed as any other peace loving human being. i don't understand what or who these terrorists are following. But they're successful in one thing and that's destroying the image of islam.

December 1, 2008 | 6:14 AM Comments  2 comments

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Mumbai attacks and the Kashmir Issue
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

We all know about the terror attacks in Mumbai which took place a few days ago. One of the terrorists gave the message to a news channel that he wanted an end to the mistreatment of Kashmiris and to liberate kashmir. There was a discussion thread posted by sqafzalrizvi who stated there was a totalitarian regime in Indian Kashmir. A couple of months ago, a Kashmiri I had met told me that the Indian people and the Indian government were the cause of all their problems. And that he didn't want to go to Pakistan, but then, Indians were the cause of his woes.
My mother's first cousin, who is as old as me, from the nda, was posted in kashmir. All he could say was that the people in Kashmir don't co-operate with the army, and are never ever truthful. That its impossible to get a straight answer from them.
What exactly does the average kashmiri want ? I can't it figure out.
And why does pakistan want Kashmir ? Why should Kashmir be a part of Pakistan ?
This issue is being given a whole islamic twist to it, so terrorists are using it as a reason for their attacks.
The following words are attributed to Aurangzeb, the much maligned Mughal king who practiced puritanical islam , but who was nevertheless a very just ruler :
"Three peoples will always trouble India.
The first sindh,
the second the gujratis
and third, bazaat-e-kashmir"

December 1, 2008 | 6:01 AM Comments  0 comments

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Robbing from the Poor to Give to the Rich
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Its always shocking to note the cruelty and insensitivity of officials involved in projects like the SEZs. When the NDTV correspondent asked AG Pai of the Mangalore SEZ why the farmers who were being evicted from their lands weren't previously notified, he replied that all orders were on the net and also easily available with the officials. Can an illiterate farmer have access to the internet when he cannot read. How do you know if your land is being taken away if you aren't notified about it. The government's sanction of SEZs was based on the faith that only non-arable land would be used. But time and again this has not been the case. Fertile land is being forcefully
taken over by the government. Its an eye wash and a great lie by our government that the displaced people will be rehabilitated. There never has been any rehabilitation. Can you replace the crops growing , their land, their homes. Farmers are best at farming, why take away their livelihood, their lives . Why is it always people who are powerless, who do not have a voice who are oppressed ? Maybe they should demolish some houses and buildings in cities and build SEZs there (or are they afraid of the backlash). Or better yet, demolish homes of prospective SEZ businesses, and build SEZs in that land.
And they wonder why there is support for Naxalites.

October 30, 2008 | 11:09 AM Comments  0 comments

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Divisions
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Yesterday, I was in an area that is inhabited largely by Muslims. The person who showed me around the place told me it was referred to as 'little Pakistan'. I was outraged because I am an Indian and my sense of patriotism was deeply hurt. Moreover, being Muslim means that my allegiance is to my country, the country I live in. I was upset. Each time we see Indian Muslims being questioned over their loyalty to their country and here was a man who was gleefully telling me about how the area he lived in was nicknamed 'little Pakistan'. Later when I went back home, his words set me thinking. I have never been victim to communalism, never faced any direct repercussions to Hindu backlash, and never but once lived in an area which had only Muslims. After the riots in the 'early 90s, he said that many Muslims were killed, and many made this particular area their home. And the many Hindus living there fled their homes, sold them, and even now, there are a few Hindu families who are slowly trickling out of the area after finding suitable buyers for their homes.
It feels like I am waking up to an alternate reality, one which I wasn't aware of earlier. The smaller the city or town, the deeper the trench, the more profound the divide. It wasn't that I was completely unaware of it. But seeing it played out so visibly in front of your eyes is very disturbing. As a child, my parents had never asked us to differentiate between Muslims and other religions. They were just people, good or bad. But in primary school, in Bidar, there was a stark divide between children, Muslims, who were told by their parents to not mingle with others and vice versa with the Hindu children. Not accustomed to this, my brother, sister and I were surprised and told our respective classmates to join together. After that everyone started playing together.
I feel its parents who feed discrimination and division into minds that do not have fixed ideas yet. Even in later years, there were always a few students who didn't mingle with other religions. But in the face of friendship, all barriers fell. Living in larger cities, and among mixed populations, access to affluence, all of these break barriers. Unfortunately, the current trend seems to be "ghettoisation" of communities. Muslims don't get homes for rent if the owners are Hindu, there are housing societies or apartment blocks that have only Muslim resident, there seems to be some effort to instill fear into peoples' minds that living among your own communities or ethnic groups would ensure complete safety. In smaller towns there are alsosevere caste related differences. Maybe this was an idea perpetuated by the British that Muslims are only a rung higher than Dalits, (I haven't researched it, but I do remember reading about it in Mulk Raj Anand's novel), but this is what is practiced in reality. In effect, there is so much of fragmentation everywhere. Little islands of the same ethnic groups huddled together in anticipation of an attack that may never come.
I don't like to live in a wholly Muslim area. It is stifling. There is more diversity and scope for growth when you aren't forever worrying about what your community in the same neighbourhood might say. Because of the recent spate of bomb attacks lamed on terrorists who happen to be Muslim, there is an increasing pressure on the Muslim community in India, and maybe worldwide too. People take two directions in reaction - they either become fiercely anti-Hindu, become zealots, and go to the extent of communicating, and mingling only with the Muslim community; the other direction that many take is to wear a garb of pseudo-modernism. Where you dissociate with anything to do with Islam, or being Muslim, or practicing Islam. All this negative media on Islam is making many Muslims distance themselves from Islam. I feel one does not have to stop practicing Islam in order to be seen as a law-abiding citizen, or to be seen as progressive, tolerant and most importantly, a good neighbour and helpful citizen to others.
Two years ago, a Canadian had asked me if I lived in a Muslim area or a non-Muslim area in India. To me it was absurd that anyone could think there were specially designated areas for people of a certain religion. I said, 'of course not', but the more I see it, the more reality strikes me, and hard.
All my life I have had friends from different religions, from different sections in my own religion, and these weren't differences that we were aware of. You would think education, migration, "melting-pot" scenarios would solve everything. Well, not in India. Whatever happened to diversity in plurality.