[Reader-list] "The New Muslim" in Hindustan Times

[Yousuf]

Dear friends
I don’t know if any of you have been following a
series of articles in the English daily Hindustan
Times, called “The New Muslim” on their front page,
for last 10 days or so. Each day this series features
a unique Indian Muslim who has made it big in life
while remaining steadfast in his/her faith. Most of
these characters have the typical ghettoized Muslim
image – each one having been victimized by a communal
riot or an orthodox family, each going into a deeper
study of her faith and finding the blueprint of
worldly success in the holy scriptures, many of them
walking on a tightrope between terrorism and peace,
many grappling with the definition of jihad, each
being proud of being a practicing Muslim, and finally
making it big financially while remaining in the
decorum of a burqa (veil), or a skullcap and beard –
the most idealized 21st century, post-Godhra, Indian
Muslim one can be.

http://hindustantimes.com/news/specials/thenewmuslim/ 

When I read the very first story of this series
(called “From masjid to stock market” by Neelesh
Mishra), I wrote a letter to the editor saying that
this story and the proposed series seems to be
affirming the most hackneyed stereotypes about Indian
Muslims, and one doesn’t see what’s new in it. Of
course, millions of Muslims (just as millions of
Hindus and Christians) have been victimized by
something or the other, and want to progress and make
it big in life, WHILE remaining steadfast to their
religious faith. But why do you have to make only
Muslims as some kind museum specimens and feature them
on the front-page as New Muslims.

Neelesh Misra replied saying that, unlike my feedback,
majority of their readers have written in to say that
they really liked these articles, and that HT’s
purpose by this series is really to break the
stereotypes of the community. I of course didn’t
agree, but I happened to visit their feedback section
on the website, and was quite shocked to see the
letters written by readers. Almost 90 percent readers
(with Muslim names) have congratulated HT for this new
initiative. They think that HT is doing a great favour
to the Muslims by featuring these young achievers who
should be the role models for the entire community!
Some of their comments were: "it’s a revolutionary
idea", "Continue this column", "Inspiring! Inspiring!
Thanks for defining what most Muslims are not", "You
are doing a phenomenal job - this is what journalism
is all about", and so on. I felt like a fool since I
was probably the only person to have disapproved this
series on various grounds. 

My biggest problem is the "objectification" of a
community (which has already been objectified beyond
recognition), and that too by featuring the most
clichéd characters (a guy who dreams of an Islamic
stock exchange, a burqa-clad woman who runs a
restaurant, a bar-singer who starts praying 5-times a
day, Muslim schools that don't teach Darwin's theory
of evolution – each example more emblematic than the
other). Any way, this series continues in HT every day
and is certainly getting more bouquets and hardly any
brickbats. Most Muslim readers are overjoyed by the
fact that this is the first time a national daily such
as HT is not calling them terrorists and instead
presenting "positive" stories about them. I wonder if
most Muslims are in such low spirits that are actually
pleasantly surprised to see a jazzy picture of them on
the front page? But no one is realizing that what the
New Muslim series actually says is that "look, not all
Muslims are terrorists (or no longer are), they are
now finding peaceful meanings of jihad, they want to
progress in life, make money and be happy, but
continue to wear caps and veil". I am amazed that
nobody else (among the so-called Muslim intelligentsia
or any other kind of gentsia) is recognizing what such
objectification leads to. I tried to engage with a
couple of readers who had congratulated HT for the
series, and they told me "what’s wrong if one wants to
be progressive and follow ones religious faith at the
same time?"
"But why would you like to announce that trait to the
whole world?" I asked. "Well, it’s much better than
the terrorist image" I was told. But I am not
convinced. To me, both the images are equally
dishonest somewhere.

http://hindustantimes.com/news/specials/thenewmuslim/board.asp

I want some of you to take a look (if you haven’t
already) at this series of articles as well as their
feedback page, and let me know if I am really going
off-track somewhere, or is that how the world is.

Yousuf

http://hindustantimes.com/news/specials/thenewmuslim/board.asp





__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com