***Note: Most of my life I have faced taunts for being a muslim. Some muslims are lucky they never get to hear these dialogues and comments, but most do. That said I have more non-muslim friends than muslim ones. And I think of myself as an Indian before Muslim. Human before Indian. Over time I have learned to ignore the taunts. But this piece was written in 2000 when I was in college and when the taunting was at it's ugliest.***
"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 though 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.
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