*** The below piece may not be appreciated by some people, I'd like them to know that I don't care. This is what I think and well if you think otherwise you are entitled to you're ideas too :) All religious groups mentioned below are not in capitals coz I don't think these groups are important, what I think is important is the religious ideas which seem to have got lost over centuries in each religion ***
Some years ago while at college I had had an argument with friends over Islam and Muslims and it had left me fuming. There was no one to discuss the topic with then without getting even more upset and hence I had sat down to write and vent it all out. (The article I wrote then is added right at the end.) It helped, but this whole 'Muslim Issue' was not to be resolved so easily; it’s been resurfacing regularly through the years.
I am not a staunch muslim though I believe in Islam just as I believe in all other religious ideas. I am a muslim by chance and not choice. Asked to choose a religion I guess i will never be able to make up my mind, all religions seem just as important and just as loaded with pros and cons.
However, a while ago I noticed that something said about muslims made me jittery and unhappy. I started to wonder if it was just thing muslim thing that upset me and started observing myself. Well, it’s not only muslim but also any other kind of religious biases that upsets me. So, thankfully am still neutral.
Though muslims seem to be at the receiving end of this bias more then other religions. Why this is so I guess I will leave for another day. But it is so and its so in you're face its difficult to ignore it. Most often people don't realise that am muslim and its not nice to hear some of those things that are said.
Oh yeah... quite a bit is said, ranging from being called that/those muslims to saying that muslims do everything in the opposite way. Anyway recently I was travelling through coorg and chickmaglur and had to live with a lot of talk of that muslim man is so difficult and these muslims you how they are…
It filled me with so much frustration coz I have hardly heard the same kind of grouping done with any other religion. How often have you heard of this hindu fellow or that christian man or any such religion discrimination. All I’m asking for is to stop defining someone by their religion, what defines them is their beliefs (not ones imparted by religion), their values, their personality... Grow up; get over these petty childish biases.
**** This goes for all muslims too ***
--------------An Article I wrote sometime in 2000--------------
" They are all bloody Pakistan-living SOB's" was how someone I knew described Muslims. Why should we Muslims be treated this way? What have we done wrong? Where have we gone wrong? And tell me why should we love Pakistan when there are other Muslim countries that are much better off? We aren't the only minority; there are also the Christians. Why aren't they called America-loving people or something like that?
Most of the Muslims I know are anti-Pakistan, which is completely understandable, for first of all Pakistan is not the best Muslim country in each and every way, a much better choice would be Kuwait. Second all that Pakistan is doing is disgusting (I am sure even the Pakistanis are disgusted) and thirdly even thought it is a Muslim country, it does not treat Muslims well. The few who are for Pakistan are so because they are pretty uneducated, they do not know the way Pakistan treats Muslims and to add to this the way they are treated by some people in India gives them the illusion of finding peace and acceptance in Pakistan.
Did u know that the people who decided to move to Pakistan at the time of partition are treated like outsiders there? They are called "Mujahids", they belong in Pakistan but still are not complete Pakistanis. They have lived there for 50 years but still cannot call it their home. And the Muslims in India have lived here for years and consider it their one and only home.
A lot of soldiers in the Indian army are Muslims and they never think twice, never put religion before nationality when they lay down their lives for India. In the recent Kargil war there were so many Indian soldiers who lost their lives, no one told them that hey you shouldn't give your life for this country. Why is it right to be Indian when there is trouble and a for-Pakistan otherwise?
So many of our film industry people are Muslims, why don't we have a prejudice when we like them? Why do the Khans have such a great fan following? Why do we hum all the songs of Muhammed Rafi and the like, they're Muslims afterall? And let's not forget some of the best lyricists are Muslims? And gazals, which are a favorite of so many people, has its origins somewhere in Islam.
Some of the best instrumentalists are Muslims, and Zakir Hussain and the others are proud to be Indians.
There are so many great Muslims who are Indians and all of them put their country before their religion, and talking about people who have contributed towards the progress of India how can we forget Abdul Kalam who was the person behind India becoming a nuclear power. So it's plain dumb and stupid to say that Indian Muslims are more for Pakistan then India. And hey next time any of u want to say Muslims are not a part of India remember, Muslims also have had a major roll to play in making India what it is today.
Some years ago while at college I had had an argument with friends over Islam and Muslims and it had left me fuming. There was no one to discuss the topic with then without getting even more upset and hence I had sat down to write and vent it all out. (The article I wrote then is added right at the end.) It helped, but this whole 'Muslim Issue' was not to be resolved so easily; it’s been resurfacing regularly through the years.
I am not a staunch muslim though I believe in Islam just as I believe in all other religious ideas. I am a muslim by chance and not choice. Asked to choose a religion I guess i will never be able to make up my mind, all religions seem just as important and just as loaded with pros and cons.
However, a while ago I noticed that something said about muslims made me jittery and unhappy. I started to wonder if it was just thing muslim thing that upset me and started observing myself. Well, it’s not only muslim but also any other kind of religious biases that upsets me. So, thankfully am still neutral.
Though muslims seem to be at the receiving end of this bias more then other religions. Why this is so I guess I will leave for another day. But it is so and its so in you're face its difficult to ignore it. Most often people don't realise that am muslim and its not nice to hear some of those things that are said.
Oh yeah... quite a bit is said, ranging from being called that/those muslims to saying that muslims do everything in the opposite way. Anyway recently I was travelling through coorg and chickmaglur and had to live with a lot of talk of that muslim man is so difficult and these muslims you how they are…
It filled me with so much frustration coz I have hardly heard the same kind of grouping done with any other religion. How often have you heard of this hindu fellow or that christian man or any such religion discrimination. All I’m asking for is to stop defining someone by their religion, what defines them is their beliefs (not ones imparted by religion), their values, their personality... Grow up; get over these petty childish biases.
**** This goes for all muslims too ***
--------------An Article I wrote sometime in 2000--------------
" They are all bloody Pakistan-living SOB's" was how someone I knew described Muslims. Why should we Muslims be treated this way? What have we done wrong? Where have we gone wrong? And tell me why should we love Pakistan when there are other Muslim countries that are much better off? We aren't the only minority; there are also the Christians. Why aren't they called America-loving people or something like that?
Most of the Muslims I know are anti-Pakistan, which is completely understandable, for first of all Pakistan is not the best Muslim country in each and every way, a much better choice would be Kuwait. Second all that Pakistan is doing is disgusting (I am sure even the Pakistanis are disgusted) and thirdly even thought it is a Muslim country, it does not treat Muslims well. The few who are for Pakistan are so because they are pretty uneducated, they do not know the way Pakistan treats Muslims and to add to this the way they are treated by some people in India gives them the illusion of finding peace and acceptance in Pakistan.
Did u know that the people who decided to move to Pakistan at the time of partition are treated like outsiders there? They are called "Mujahids", they belong in Pakistan but still are not complete Pakistanis. They have lived there for 50 years but still cannot call it their home. And the Muslims in India have lived here for years and consider it their one and only home.
A lot of soldiers in the Indian army are Muslims and they never think twice, never put religion before nationality when they lay down their lives for India. In the recent Kargil war there were so many Indian soldiers who lost their lives, no one told them that hey you shouldn't give your life for this country. Why is it right to be Indian when there is trouble and a for-Pakistan otherwise?
So many of our film industry people are Muslims, why don't we have a prejudice when we like them? Why do the Khans have such a great fan following? Why do we hum all the songs of Muhammed Rafi and the like, they're Muslims afterall? And let's not forget some of the best lyricists are Muslims? And gazals, which are a favorite of so many people, has its origins somewhere in Islam.
Some of the best instrumentalists are Muslims, and Zakir Hussain and the others are proud to be Indians.
There are so many great Muslims who are Indians and all of them put their country before their religion, and talking about people who have contributed towards the progress of India how can we forget Abdul Kalam who was the person behind India becoming a nuclear power. So it's plain dumb and stupid to say that Indian Muslims are more for Pakistan then India. And hey next time any of u want to say Muslims are not a part of India remember, Muslims also have had a major roll to play in making India what it is today.
