For A Better And Safer Tomorrow

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 18 November 2024 Zahid-E-Tang-Nazar Ne Mujhe Kaafir Jaana Aur Kaafir Ye Samajhta Hai, Musalmaan Hoon Main Ae Chashm-E-Udoo Mujh Ko Hiqarat Se Na Dekh Jis Pe Qudrat Ko Bhi Hai Naaz Woh Insaan Hoon Main (The parochial 'wiseman' thought that I was an infidel-Kaafir / The infidel thinks that I'm a Muslim / Oh my perceived foe, don't look at me disdainfully / I'm a human even the Nature is proud of) This pertains to Mr Peter Ronald deSouza's thought-stirring piece, Being Trolled Because Of Religion And Ethnicity - Is This Indian Modernity Now? Yes, this is happening at the moment in 'modern' India. My Bombay-based senior friend and one of the finest dental surgeons in India who happens to be an excellent Urdu poet, Dr Navroze Kotwal, also says the same. All his highly educated Hindu friends who studied with him decades ago and were quite 'liberal' are now correspondingly rigid. They exchange vitriolic posts that spew venom against Muslims, Christians, minorities and Dalits. These neo-Hindus extoll Hindutva and Hinduism and start abusing the moment you criticize the current political dispensation. I used to teach Urdu to poor Muslim children in Poona and didn't take money for that. I don't teach anymore because unemployed (precisely, unemployable) Hindus, esp. the brawl-loving types, belonging to different Hindu political outfits started threatening me. People, who never questioned my love for Urdu, Persian (though these brainless Hindu goons associate Persian with Parsis, Zoroastrians) and Muslims, have begun to ask me what makes me love Urdu / Persian so much and why do I interact with Muslims. "Yahan Ke Musalmaanon Ko Pakistan Laut Jaana Chahiye " (the Muslims of India should go back to Pakistan). These Hindus will often tell me. Mind you, until a few years ago, they had no problem with Muslims and Urdu. I tell these morons, "Kyon Jayenge? Hindustan Par Musalmanon Ka Bhi Utna Hi Haq Hai" (Why should they go back? They've the right to live here). Those who know that I spent a considerable period in Iran and England now tell me openly, "Aap Ko Musalmaan Ithe Pasand Hain Toh Aap Iran Chale Jaiye" (If you like Muslims so much, you had better go back to Iran). Why should I go to Iran when I'm a full-fledged citizen of India? But sadly, all have become like that. Our perceptions seem to have undergone a sea-change and we all have become too prejudiced. Even on this site, a few individuals erroneously think that I dislike Muslims! What rubbish! I love them all. I believe in the dictum: Hate the sin and not the sinner. I may be against all faiths. I'm not against their followers. I don't dislike, let alone hate, even those who try to run me down and hurl abuses or sarcastic comments at me. We must live like humans and shelve all pettiness and ethnocentrism. Indians at the moment need to rise above all pettiness and ethnicity for a better and safer tomorrow. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/better-safer-tomorrow-hindus-muslims/d/133738 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism