, Portraying Muslims
The train of blasts in a span of few months in multiple Indian cities latest being in Mumbai spilt fear, pain & agony besides blood. There were scenes of chaos and confusion multiple lying dead, scores injured and countless were those who saw these horrendous & horrifying moments turn into an unending ever lasting memory trace. People were barricaded by grief and shock that seemed to wring out the last few ml of residual air. People bore witness to the naked dance of death, destruction and fury. The worse thing is that there has not been any stoppage or a lull to the least in these nerve wrecking and deafening explosions rather the curve has steepened.
It is not for the first time such tragedy has happened and an ordinary person doesn’t need to be a great genius to predict the sequence of events that followed and are following .Thanks to the media of this part of world which gives less of unbiased news and instead thrusts propaganda and pseudo secular, pseudo nationalist agenda on the poor viewers. Its because of this media every body has turned into Einstein at his home, without turning grey. It is not difficult to understand the reasons as to why media does have such a captivating influence because the reach and the accessibility is too much and its rise has been phenomenal . The TV and internet have been of prime importance in this regard ,even surpassing the print media .They have the advantage of being more personal and more closer to direct communication thus more influential in framing ,rather molding general public opinion whether right or wrong .
Ask a small kid who has never has never seen a Muslim before..How they look like and what they do? No marks for guessing …he will frame out a picture of a man with long beard , fiery red eyes , a tight white cap ,holding some sophisticated weapon ,talking about rape ,ransom ,extortion &death .Literacy and education has not touched him ,he seems to be far from being cultured and honest .He is honest only in killing … a blood thirsty beast .Of a woman… she is one wearing a long black dress,,,a hijab.. Which seems to cover not her body alone but her hopes, desires and expectations, plus nurturing her multiple kids.
As we ponder on the issue the more we try to solve it the tougher the maze gets. Were the seeds of dissent sown exactly when India & Pakistan gained independence and partitioned? .The Britain had declared to free India in 1948 but because of its internal weakness did so a year earlier. It is said Gandhi was in favour of prolonging the British rule by few more years . Was the independence rather premature or was it really independence at all? No doubt it was joy And bloom everywhere but it was clubbed with pain and agony of partition .It was best described by Faiz Ahmad Faiz as” yeh daagh daagh ujala ,yeh shabguzida sehar
Who intezar tha jiska ,yeh wo sehar to nai
Partition was a calamity if not for the muslims of the other side of border but surely for those here on this side .Just after partition muslims here were afraid to carry and keep Urdu books ..lest they were labeled Pak sympathizers .History is repeating itself … now muslims are being labeled as bomb sympathizers .Suicide bombing is considered a Muslim owned device paying little heed to the fact that Tamil Tigers were the first to show it to the whole world its power and dimensions .Rajiv Gandhi fell to their plot of suicide bombing as well .Still the irresponsible tagging continues.
Justice is justice only when delivered on time and it maintains the sanctity of impartiality and equality.Babri Masjid demolition started a new chapter of hate politics, conviction rate was 0.8 percent while in post 1993 Mumbai blasts it was 80 percent .The communal frenzy in Gujarat was a step higher..it was openly owned and backed by a head of the state and the plight of justice is known to every body. The height of paradox was when killing of 2 agitators in Jammu was shown and flown out of bounds .compensations were given and enquiry was conducted but here in Kashmir hundreds have died in these months not even a word of condemnation has come from the govt … if one exists .
There is no denial of the fact that Muslims in India are the worst than lowest of the classes in terms of education ,jobs ,money manpower etc .Justice Sachar committee was a land mark in making most of the muslims conscious of the facts which they new subconsciously .They got proof of the denial and exploitation they have met .Just a mention about the education scenario …national literacy rate being at 65.1%against Muslim literacy rate of 59’1%in 2001 .one of the senior Indian journalist summed it all when he said ,”scheduled castes and tribes get reservations …muslims get commissions “
Six decades down the line ,,,, is an ordinary Indian Muslim safer , better and happier living in a free India than his predecessors were when they lived under the British subjugation or is it that only the subjugators are home grown now, subjugation reigns supreme .It was a bold revelation by Shabana Azmi that she couldn’t buy an apartment in one of the posh colonies simply because she was a Muslim .This shows denial at the highest place , for a woman who did everything ranging from shaving her head for a film or fighting the Shahi imam on live television show just to get” hinduanised’..but for her name all fell down to nothing .Undoubtedly the liberal space has decreased ,a Muslim ,president is acceptable only when he has read Gita as well and has shun meat .
Muslims ruled India for a thousand years or so and integrated it ,united it .There weren’t any communal tensions .It has been only 61 years of democracy .condition is so bad comparison cant be made .How can this hatred go ,only the almighty knows
ARIF HUSSAIN SARMAST
E MAIL;arifhsarmast@gmail.com
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