[Reader-list] What More Can We Do?!

[Rahul Asthana]

http://doubtengine.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-more-can-we-do.html
What More Can We Do?!
I'm feeling a bit emotional at the moment as I write this. I'm extremely saddened and repulsed by some experiences I've had in the past week.

I have tried to believe otherwise. I have tried to stick up for India's secular credentials. But today, I've lost that spirit.

India's increasingly becoming a society of Islamophobes. Yes, Racists and Islamophobes. Rabid Muslim haters who can't even begin to assume that there's no difference - anatomically, mentally, physically or personality wise between them and their counterparts from a different faith. Did I say 'different faith'? I'm sorry. I meant Muslims. I shall pull no punches today.

It's fashionable now to 'treat Muslims with the contempt they deserve'. It's fashionable to appear 'intelligent' and quote some obscure verse from the Qur'an to 'prove' that Islam 'supports terrorism'. Yes, it is fashionable in India to be Islamophobic. Blame the Muslims for everything. When there's an intelligence failure, it's the Muslims. When there's a bomb blast, it's 'Islamic terrorism'.

When there are social problems like poverty and illiteracy among a section of the population - there's no attempt or discussion on HOW to improve it. No. It's easier to blame Islam. They're uneducated Muslims. Let them be.

Fashionable.
There are two kinds of illiteracy in India. Illiteracy, and Muslim illiteracy.
There are two kinds of poverty in India. Poverty, and Muslim poverty.

India's criminals are now branched into two. Criminals, and Muslim criminals. Terrorists are a Muslim copyright.
No amount of Bajrang Dal bombs can make them terrorists.. (No! Labeling them would amount to 'pseudosecularism' and being 'anti-Hindu'.)
No amount of VHP violence on Christian minorities can make THEM terrorists. No amount of fiery speeches or communal riots or intimidation or racism can get them banned. They're not terrorists.. they're the mainstream. Terrorists are those with an Arabic name. Only Muslims are terrorists.

There are two kinds of shop-keepers. Shopkeepers, and MUSLIM shopkeepers.
There are two kinds of auto-drivers. Auto drivers, and MUSLIM autodrivers.
There are two kinds of landlords - Landlords, and MUSLIM landlords.
There are two kinds of tenants - Tenants, and MUSLIM tenants.

There are two kinds of Indians - Indians, and MUSLIMS.

If you deny thinking along these lines, you're lying. And if you accept that you think along those lines - you're exactly what I'm trying to say you are. An Islamophobe.

Why does my following a faith of my choice make it seem like I have boil on my forehead that people can't avoid mentioning it?! Is it because my name sounds different from yours? Why must I apologize for having an Arabic name?! Don't almost ALL hindus have Sanskrit names? Don't almost ALL Christians have Latin/English names? Fuck you, if you think Muslims are devoted to some other country for having an Arabic name. Really, Fuck you.

These SELF IMPORTANT racist custodians of 'INDIAN CULTURE', in all their bigoted supremacy point out how Indian Muslim's hearts bleed for the Palestinians.. So FUCKING WHAT?!
Don't the general INDIAN HINDU POPULATION not lend their voice when Malaysian Hindus protest against their government?! What the fuck is THAT all about?! And Palestine isn't even a religious issue as much as a political problem.

If someone so much as bothers to mention that he's an Indian AND a Muslim - it actually becomes a issue of discussion that gives the word 'petty' a whole new meaning. PETTINESS doesn't begin to describe it! They nit-pick on every fucking' syllable of his, trying to find out hidden motives, an anti-national agenda.. and look for signs that he 'doesn't really mean it'.

Have you EVER paused to wonder why an LK Advani can be a HINDU as well as Indian. Why a Tata can be a PARSI as well as an Indian. Why a George Fernandes can be a CHRISTIAN as well as an Indian. AND WHY the hell NOT can Omar be a Muslim as well as an Indian?!

But all a Muslim needs to do is to look for a house to live in- and he's got to prove that HE'S NOT A TERRORIST. Is it written on our faces?! Guilty until proven innocent?!

Everyday Indians ARE becoming - or they've already become - anti-Muslim. I've tried hiding from it, partly due to my attachment to India, and partly from a hope that the damage done by blatantly communal parties (which for some amusing reason finds fault with 'pseudo-secular' parties) can be reversed.

I'm sorry, it probably can't. The rot is too deep. Islamophobia has become Institutionalized - part of daily lives and dinner table conversations. It's not just the rabid Modi who's talking about sending Muslims 'back to Pakistan' or wherever the hell 'THEY' came from.

The supporters of the Modis and Togadias of the world can go around saying 'Islam is foreign' 'Islam is alien' 'Muslims are invaders' 'Not Indian culture'... SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASSES!

Muslims of India DO NOT follow Hindu culture or religion - SO FUCKING WHAT?! The Muslims in India have THEIR OWN CULTURE developed IN India - and I don't call cultures that develop in India as Vietnamese. They're an Indian culture, right down to the fucking Biriyani.

But these mundane details don't matter to the Indian racists and Islamophobes. Like I said EVERYONE - Doctors, Engineers, Professionals, Students, Housewifes and the supposedly urban metro-dwellers. They're all at it, and are completely oblivious to the gravity of it.

It's 'normal' to hate a Muslim you don't even know. It's cool to view a respected intellectual like Javed Akhtar with skepticism (He's a fucking Muslim, after all), and it's cool to let a virile Togadia (a compassionate guardian of the the sanathana dharma) continue his racist diatribes.

If there's one thing I can't stand anymore, it's THIS QUESTION:

    Why doesn't the average/educated/liberal Muslim speak up against terrorism?

To that I have this to say. SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Just do a tiny google search and see the number of NGOs and organizations that have come up to promote awareness of Muslims (in a country that apparently has the second largest Muslim population in the world!) and the work and resources put in - BY MUSLIMS - to promote secularism and enlightenment IN THEIR OWN RANKS.

The average educated liberal blasted Muslim individual has gone hoarse speaking up against terrorism and trying to defend himself against racism. Yes. Thousands and thousands of Muslim individuals speak up - and HAVE TO speak up - just to have a normal daily routine. They can speak up, they can cry hoarse, they can SCREAM FROM THEIR GODDAMN ROOFTOPS - but you still won't hear it. WHY? BECAUSE YOU'RE ISLAMOPHOBIC! You only hear the Al Zarqawis and the Mullah Omars of the world.. because that's what you're conditioned to LISTEN to.. your NARROW MINDS won't - and cannot - accept anything else.

Fuck the liberals. EVEN CONSERVATIVES - in their thousands - have marched and rallied FOR PEACE and AGAINST TERRORISM, holding banners in the sun and marching for miles. Did anyone hear them?!

Here's a picture I stole from The Hindu of an anti-terrorism rally by conservative Muslims in India.


Can you even fucking count how many there are? NO? So SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTHS before trying to appear self-righteous and look down upon all those citizens. You're calling THEM anti-nationals? Those thousands of citizens who took the pains to organize a protest against anti-nationals?! FUCK YOU!!

The liberals and conservatives of the Muslims have all spoken and rallied against terrorism. What have YOU DONE to PROTEST AGAINST TERRORISM except go on some random Internet forum and give went to your frustrations by blaming it all on 'THEM' and "MUSLIMS" and talk of 'SENDING THEM BACK TO PAKISTAN"?!!

Fucking Hypocrites.

The Muslims speak up all the time - even when they don't really have to. They HAVE to speak up to avoid the dirty glares everytime there's a bomb blast - as if they're somehow guilty of it. They HAVE TO speak up and defend themselves everyday just to not 'arouse suspicion' (fat chance!).

Muslims in this country are living their whole lives in a defendant's table or a witness box. The interrogation never ceases.

The stereotypes won't fucking budge.

It's cool to bemoan the fact that Indian Muslims haven't 'moved on with the times'. The Indian movie industry is practically dominated by Muslims - and yet Muslims are supposedly 'anti-movie' and 'against music'. An AR Rehman can make an entire billion strong population sing to his rendition of 'Vande Mataram'.. and yet, Muslims are ' averse' to patriotic songs.
A practising Muslim like Sania Mirza can play tennis in a skirt - but it's those who're protesting against it who get the 'Muslim' tag. The same cannot be said for a Khushboo or others who face the same problem. NOoooooooooo.. they're not Hindu fundamentalist.. they're the 'moral brigade'.

There are two kinds of moral brigades. Moral Brigade, and MUSLIM fundamentalists.

If someone has to MOVE ON WITH THE TIMES, its the fucking Shiv Sena and VHP. This is the 21st goddamn century.. the whole world's mixing. Hitler's gone, the world of ONE dominant race is a pipe dream.. why the hell are they still clinging onto 'Maharastra for Marathis' and 'India for Hindus' kind of medieval crap?!

You fucking complain about 'how easily Muslims are offended' and point out cases of Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen...
WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOUR GODDAMN SENSES when the country's most celebrated artist - at the ripe old age of 90 - is forced to go into exile?! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GET OFFENDED?! What was all the commotion when a saffron LK Advani called a secular atheist - Jinnah - 'secular'??! WHAT GOT the ants itching in your pants then?! WHY does a proposal to build a canal GET YOU SO OFFENDED?! Why doesn't the Valentine's Day hunters get called 'Hindu fundamentalists' who GOT OFFENDED? Nooooo.. they're just nationalists, and 'moral brigade' and some other fancy term to avoid giving them a religious tag. But not so for the fucking MUSLIMS. That's all they are!

Danish cartoons are ok.. a nude art work is NOT?! WHOSE RELIGIOUS SENSIBILITIES GOT OFFENDED?! Hypocrite bastards.

Then there's the sick rants about how 'Muslim leaders' do not condemn terrorism.

To that, I have this to say: SHUT THE FUCK UP, IF YOU'RE TOO IGNORANT TO SPEAK!

The ultra-conservative Darul Uloom Deoband - one of the WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL seminaries, has issued a fatwa against terrorism in 2008.

The US Muslims Religious Council has issued a fatwa against terrorism. The Saudi religious leaders have issued a fatwa against terrorism ( and way back in in 2004 too- if that gets some sand out of your collective vaginas.)

JUST HOW MANY MORE FATWAS DO YOU WANT?!

Want to know what the fatwas said?!

    Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians’ life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram – or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not “martyrs"

You want it spelled out MORE CLEARLY THAN THAT?! What MORE DO YOU WANT? What more CAN WE DO?

What about those 'violent calls to jehad' in the Qur'an, you ask? Go read your Old Testament and your Manu Smriti and your Torah.. and then come back and make allegations that war is not violent and that there isn't any quotable 'violent' and 'sexist' quotes in all those books. SHUT UP!!

It's not really 'fashionable' to quote from the Qur'an unless there's something 'violent' about them. But then here goes..

    The Qur’an, Islam’s revealed text, states: "Whoever kills a person unjustly…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Qur’an, 5:32) 

NO.. but you have the urge to dismiss this, dont' you? That inexplicable feeling that there's a catch? Well there's none. That's what the Qur'an says.

ANd here's what the prophet says:

    "Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong to them. Instead, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong (even) if they do evil." (Al-Tirmidhi) 

Did you read that? But you don't hear that often do you?! Nah.. fuck you.

    “All creation is the family of God, and the person most beloved by God (is the one) who is kind and caring toward His family."

POINT NUMBER ONE of the US fatwa against terrorism states (and it can't get clearer than this)

    1.All acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam.

What more do you want?! The Muslims - liberals, conservatives, Indians, non-Indians, rich, poor and vulgar have ALL spoken out against terrorism and racism in the loudest possible voices.
They have ALL quoted from the Qur'an, issued fatwas, defied stereotypes, and just tried to get on with their lives - which includes getting an education, trying to get a job, provide for a family, get a house, earn an income, and just LIVE NORMALLY like every other goddamn citizen out there.

But the Muslim in India has to face the challenge of being a Muslim at each stage. It's sad. It's sickening. It's revolting. But it's true. India IS becoming/HAS become an Islamophobe nation.

THE LEAST you can do to get rid of this crippling racism and dangerous Islamophobia.. is to JUST SHUT UP, or open your eyes to the truth that YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE. JUST BOTHER TO VERIFY YOUR FACTS before you go hoarse screaming 'Islam!'. DO SOME INSTROSPECTION and find out how much your own shit stinks, before pointing fingers at others.
If Muslims in India are conservative.. so is every other fucking Indian. If they get offended, so does everyone else. If they have their own culture.. so does the rest of India's communities. If they have their own dress codes and languages.. so the the rest of the communities. If Muslims face poverty and backwardness.. so do millions of other Indians. Diseases, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment etc. do not affect a Muslim any differently than any other Indian community.

It's true that Muslims in India are backward as a general rule.. but isn't that because the entire elite and middle class moved to Pakistan during partition? What percentage of the lower section of Indian society actually has a better track record in education and other parameters?! None.

It's upto YOU to uplift these masses - as any good Indian should do - instead of alienating and blaming it on 'them'. India's Muslims and Hindus and Christians are ONE. INdians. They're an interwoven web.. and anything that effects any strand of the web, affects all. Unless that fact enters your tiny, racist heads - this country is doomed to continue in the same vein.

It's sad that an outsider, who loves this country suddenly has change his opinion like this and feels the need to JUST LEAVE these sick, demented and racist people.

I'm sorry, but India has let me down terribly.

~


[I have since calmed down enough to realize that I've made an embarrassing amount of spellings and grammar mistakes. My frustration has also resulted in an unacceptable amount of cuss words. I apologize. However, to edit them now seems an injustice to my state of mind at the time of writing. The hurt lingers.]