[Reader-list] INDIA: Others Among Us

Mon Oct 6 03:29:29 IST 2008

I wonder if this problem of Muslims, famous or otherwise, not getting homes 
in Hindu majority areas is new.
I think it has been there for a long long time. I don't think it is caused 
by any sense of distrust or hatred for a community or an individual. At 
least I did not suspect it to be the case when I was politely denied a house 
in Abul Fazal Enclave in south Delhi. For those who don't know about it, 
This area is part of the region, mostly known as mini Pakistan, where the 
infamous "encounter" took place. But the label "mini Pakistan" has been the 
case for much before the pre-encounter era.

It was in 2003. I wanted to shift somewhere closer to my work place and the 
rents were not as high as in the neighboring areas. But after making me wait 
for a couple of days, the dealer told me politely that I would not like the 
place much. It wouldn't be very comfortable for me. And when I said I 
thought otherwise, the dealer said that the houses were not really available 
at that time.
Long and short of the story, I had to settle in the neighboring Sukh Dev 
Vihar, a Hindu ghetto. I must add though that the house I rented belonged to 
a friend who is Muslim.

According to a survey recently conducted by BBC in Maha Rashtra, of course 
after the Shabana's revelation which has raised concerns in the mainstream 
media about the problem prevalent for ages, it is not easy for a Muslim or a 
Hindu to rent or buy a home in the areas inhabited by a different faith. 
This discrimination is "socialist" in nature; you are not given any special 
consideration even if you are famous/rich. Even if you are nonpracticing.

I do not agree with Suroor when he says that all the Muslims who can write 
have to implore the nonmuslims to accept them, not hate them. The famous 
bollywood Khans never do it on their blogs. Then you don't have to search 
for too long to find blogs abusing and daring the monkey worshippers (they 
use this for all the Hindus).

Hindu writers too make their opinions loud and clear that they don't support 
the fundamentalists; they are not part of them.

I don't know who does Suroor mean by "us" in this article. Also what does he 
mean by "Strangely none of this has horrified us." Why should anyone be 
horrified. We, people from all faiths, need to deal with it in a composed 
manner. Only lamenting how badly Muslims are being treated, or that they 
cannot celebrate id tension free, will not do anyone any good. Many Muslims 
did not celebrate id in Rajasthan with usual fervour this time, not because 
they were afraid of the society, Rajasthan has been the latest victim of the 
terror attacks, Rajasthan was not known for bomb blasts till the recent 
Jaipur blasts, they did not celebrate id this year because of a tragedy in a 
temple. They didn't have to do it, and they did not do it under any 
pressure. They did it with the best intentions of sharing in the grief of 
several bereaved Hindu families.

What Suroor is doing in his mail is what the mainstream media has been 
doing. Sensationalize; create a fear psychosis. Reminding us that Muslims 
are alienated. I see nothing wrong in letting our religious identity lose in 
the public spaces. You don't get Svarg or Jannat by flaunting your Tilak or 
beard.

The voices of how Muslim is alienated have multiplied manifold recently. 
Very soon CNNIBN will have a survey if Muslim is a separate nation. 
Mainstream Media which runs on the money they get from the corporate, has 
interestingly of late started publishing editorials supporting or seemingly 
supporting sovereignty to Kashmir. All that reminds me of Aijaz Ahmed's 
critique of Post Colonialism where he asks how is it that the rich and 
capitalist countries are coming closer, EU for example, whereas defection 
seems to be the order of the day for the poorer countries? His suggested 
answer is that the market is controlling the world and it is easier to 
control the smaller and weaker country, than it is to control a big one. So 
are the rich behind this communal divide in India? I can't say. But all 
these pogroms, the bomb blasts, the agitation of Muslim students in Asam 
against "discrimination" that supposedly lead to the tensions in Asam 
yesterday, the violence against Christians etc. need money and the poor have 
hardly anything to contribute but their labour.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Naeem Mohaiemen" <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
To: "Sarai Reader List" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 3:37 AM
Subject: [Reader-list] INDIA: Others Among Us

> ...even "famous Muslims" find it difficult to find a house."
>
>
> Others Among Us
> By Suroor Mander
>
> 04 October, 2008
> Countercurrents.org
>
> I opened newspapers today, to be frank, after many days. Newspaper
> after newspaper had articles on Eid. It had to be, Eid was just
> yesterday (October 2). I went through article after article, my heart
> sinking as I read. What have we done I wondered. So much fear in
> Muslim community, that too in secular India, on Gandhi Jayanti.
>
> It seems as if the community is under siege, trying hard to keep
> watchful eyes at bay. Speeches from every Imam, cries from every
> Muslim ghetto begging people accept them.
>
> It isn't as if these voices weren't around earlier they just became
> more prominent after the Jamia encounter in the heart of the national
> capital. Floodgates opened. Every Muslim who could write, be it
> teachers, journalists, techies tried every forum – the newspapers,
> internet, television, in one way or another imploring people to stop
> hating them. They tried hard to explain that they weren't the
> terrorists, some even adding that those young boys also might not have
> been terrorists. The more I would read, the more I was disgusted with
> us.
>
> What have we done? We have let the Hindutva forces win. Golwarkar
> didn't want the Muslims to be banished to another land or
> exterminated; they wanted them to live in fear as second class
> citizens.
>
> Since when was it a curse for people to believe in their faith? Why it
> is so bad if the Muslims believe in their faith, staunch about their
> namaaz, rozas guided by the tenets of their religion, aren't all
> believers? Hindus who pray everyday, leaving their house with a tika
> or stop eating meat and other things during Navratras etc aren't
> viewed with contempt then why Muslims? If secular Indian gives Hindus
> the freedom to walk out of their homes with Tikas, then why do we
> stare at every skull capped and bearded Muslims?
>
> We have forced a community to stand up and condemn every act allegedly
> done by their fundamentalists; expecting this from the educated, the
> literate, the clerics and the ignorant. However, we don't have any
> such expectation from Hindus against violence perpetuated by
> fundamentalists from their community.
>
> We are thriving on the grief of terrified mothers beseeching people to
> give their children a chance to access justice; gloating on the fact
> that even "famous Muslims" find it difficult to find a house."
> Strangely none of this has horrified us. We are happy to let the
> community reiterate their secular identity while none of us ever have
> to.
>
> We have become complacent in this hate, allowing our silences to be
> read as our consent. If we truly believe in the secular identity of
> this country we have to actively voice our dissent against hate.
>
> I am still haunted by the words of that man in Thane "Where will I go?
> This is the place where I was born. This is the place I will die." I
> wonder how many agonised voices it would take for us to speak what our
> hearts feel.
>
> Suroor Mander is attached to the NGO Aman Biradari in new Delhi.
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