THE UNTOUCHABLES
This is not a story this is an outcome of an experience. So what are we discussing here as untouchables. We are talking about a situation in today’s world which is more cruel then leprosy and which can shake the very roots of our human behavior. This is not an attempt to say who is right and who is wrong. This is just an attempt to say this situation exists today and is just growing by the day.
This situation is about discrimination among humans based on caste and communities. Ya I know an immediate thought which comes to your mind is that Oh so it’s another boring negative thought process and this doesn’t holds true in today’s times. And yes because we all like to call ourselves Secular. Well just to shake you up I would say “SECULARISM MY FOOT”.
So how do we define ourselves as secular. Well the answer is we stay with people of different communities, work with them, be friends with them. This to a large extent is the reality of us being secular. But the real test is when we decide to think beyond it. In a place like Mumbai where crores of people live together does anything like community biases exist. And ya now the answer comes Common man that is there everywhere why talk about it. This is a similar to a situation where one part of the body is infected and you say the rest of the body is fine so why bother.
This is a personal experience that I am sharing. I have been subjected to some religious and community biases from childhood. Being part of the Shia sect and referred as Boris and living in a Sunni dominated area I have seen the friends whom I have played with immediately using the cheapest mean of attack on the community when they are going down in a sport or competition with me. The poison is deep rooted so much that even the new generation kids with whom I have never interacted are just ready to make a comment on community. And it’s pointless to say that they are always ready to use foul language and ready to get physical as they know that they are bound to get unquestionable support from their elders if I question them. Is this what we call Islamic. To stand and bow down in front of Allah every Friday and show unity and then look for the remotest opportunity to attack someone’s caste. And it’s not necessary that a member of a community necessarily endorses all views of the community. But nah we just don’t want to get into any discussion. The only solution for the frustration of our lives is to look out for a prey on which you can attack.
As I stepped into the bigger world I came across people who did recognized me as an individual first and then as a Muslim. All went well till the 911 attacks. The people I was working with suddenly started questioning me on the history of Al Qaeeda, Osama and Taleban as if they were my next door neighbours. And especially Gujaratis where the one who asked these questions and you could see sadistic pleasure on their faces when they asked these questions. When all of us know how politically motivated these events are still what is it that we derive by asking such questions and what is it that makes us feel so happy. As a matter of fact maximum scams in Share Market which have resulted in people looses their savings, livelihood and even life have been done by Gujaratis. So we do we refer to all Gujaratis as scamsters.
Years passed by and I landed in Wipro. This was the only place I felt which did not bother as to who you were and just judged you on your performances. I was working with a person who is like my younger brother and was very similar with respect to way I used to work. When I groomed him and decided to do a handover to him, one close friend commented that I was biased to him because he was a Muslim also. This was the only experience I had in Wipro were I found my integrity being questioned because of my religion.
As years passed by I came across a friend who became more than a friend. But her parents objected it because I was a Muslim and they were Gujaratis and the social status mattered a lot to them. Well I think it is all about money and power in such cases. Because if a famous person like Irfan Pathan or Imran Khan decides to marry a non Muslim girl to what extent the parents will object to it. Just because of the money and power they are comfortable that he is not a typical muslim. And what’s a typical Muslim for them. Well globally it’s been build up over the years that Muslims = Terrorist. Again we are just waiting for something to be defined from the west so that we just readily accept it and then blame them and call ourselves secular.
At present the biggest challenge is to find a good house in Mumbai. And the challenge is not more due to rising prices but is more due to community zones created. If you get something in your budget you come across an invisible board which says “MUSLIMS NOT ALLOWED”. Why? Because we trust every news in the media which is propagating indirectly that Muslims are terrorists. Wow. The biggest terrorist attack in the history of mankind was by Hitler when he killed millions of Jews. Does the world has a racial biased against Germans? Maoist - are they Muslims? For British our freedom fighters were terrorist. So do we refer Bhagat singh as terrorist? When we know that the British ruled us by using Divide and Rule policy aren’t we just carrying forward their legacy ahead till date. Last year I went to look a house in Malad along with a friend and as soon as the broker who was a Gujarati found out that I was a Muslim said it wont be possible because Muslims eat non veg. Quite unreasonable explaination when you come to think that there were a lot of Christians who lived in the same building and also have non veg.
Another friend of mine left his job due to constant questions being asked by his seniors on why he is fasting in Ramzan and his Friday prayers. They had the opinion that it affects his performance even though he was the top performer throughout. And moreover one of my close friend who is like a younger sister to me cannot tell her parents that she is friends with me since her educated parents have their own set of biases against Muslims.
After last week when a broker was reluctant to show me houses in Navi Mumbai due to me being a Muslim I was terribly upset. Within my community I am already regarded as a rebel for questioning them, within Muslims the Sunni dominated area where I live in just waits for an opportunity to get into a fight and make comments on my community and in the larger context the bigger section the Hindus have their own biases based on me being a Muslim. Forget situation outside India around the US and Europe who will have their own set of fears and biases.
After going through all this I got a call from my friend Norman who just called to say Hi to me. The next day I chatted with my friend James who said not to worry and provided me a contact who will help me in my house hunt. Two days back I spoke to my sis Justino and felt really good. These 3 people have been a big support in my life along with many others and they just reconfirmed my faith there is still a lot of goodness left in us. I am sure people like them will not pass it to their future generations to do biases based on religion. I hope people from other communities refer to Osama and Kasab as Terrorist and not a Muslim Terrorist because a Terrorist has no Religion. Guys knowingly or unknowingly don’t plant such seeds today which will result in a plant of religious intolerance among the future generations to come. Let’s not create a situation again in which our community has a section who become The Untouchables.
This is not a story this is an outcome of an experience. So what are we discussing here as untouchables. We are talking about a situation in today’s world which is more cruel then leprosy and which can shake the very roots of our human behavior. This is not an attempt to say who is right and who is wrong. This is just an attempt to say this situation exists today and is just growing by the day.
This situation is about discrimination among humans based on caste and communities. Ya I know an immediate thought which comes to your mind is that Oh so it’s another boring negative thought process and this doesn’t holds true in today’s times. And yes because we all like to call ourselves Secular. Well just to shake you up I would say “SECULARISM MY FOOT”.
So how do we define ourselves as secular. Well the answer is we stay with people of different communities, work with them, be friends with them. This to a large extent is the reality of us being secular. But the real test is when we decide to think beyond it. In a place like Mumbai where crores of people live together does anything like community biases exist. And ya now the answer comes Common man that is there everywhere why talk about it. This is a similar to a situation where one part of the body is infected and you say the rest of the body is fine so why bother.
This is a personal experience that I am sharing. I have been subjected to some religious and community biases from childhood. Being part of the Shia sect and referred as Boris and living in a Sunni dominated area I have seen the friends whom I have played with immediately using the cheapest mean of attack on the community when they are going down in a sport or competition with me. The poison is deep rooted so much that even the new generation kids with whom I have never interacted are just ready to make a comment on community. And it’s pointless to say that they are always ready to use foul language and ready to get physical as they know that they are bound to get unquestionable support from their elders if I question them. Is this what we call Islamic. To stand and bow down in front of Allah every Friday and show unity and then look for the remotest opportunity to attack someone’s caste. And it’s not necessary that a member of a community necessarily endorses all views of the community. But nah we just don’t want to get into any discussion. The only solution for the frustration of our lives is to look out for a prey on which you can attack.
As I stepped into the bigger world I came across people who did recognized me as an individual first and then as a Muslim. All went well till the 911 attacks. The people I was working with suddenly started questioning me on the history of Al Qaeeda, Osama and Taleban as if they were my next door neighbours. And especially Gujaratis where the one who asked these questions and you could see sadistic pleasure on their faces when they asked these questions. When all of us know how politically motivated these events are still what is it that we derive by asking such questions and what is it that makes us feel so happy. As a matter of fact maximum scams in Share Market which have resulted in people looses their savings, livelihood and even life have been done by Gujaratis. So we do we refer to all Gujaratis as scamsters.
Years passed by and I landed in Wipro. This was the only place I felt which did not bother as to who you were and just judged you on your performances. I was working with a person who is like my younger brother and was very similar with respect to way I used to work. When I groomed him and decided to do a handover to him, one close friend commented that I was biased to him because he was a Muslim also. This was the only experience I had in Wipro were I found my integrity being questioned because of my religion.
As years passed by I came across a friend who became more than a friend. But her parents objected it because I was a Muslim and they were Gujaratis and the social status mattered a lot to them. Well I think it is all about money and power in such cases. Because if a famous person like Irfan Pathan or Imran Khan decides to marry a non Muslim girl to what extent the parents will object to it. Just because of the money and power they are comfortable that he is not a typical muslim. And what’s a typical Muslim for them. Well globally it’s been build up over the years that Muslims = Terrorist. Again we are just waiting for something to be defined from the west so that we just readily accept it and then blame them and call ourselves secular.
At present the biggest challenge is to find a good house in Mumbai. And the challenge is not more due to rising prices but is more due to community zones created. If you get something in your budget you come across an invisible board which says “MUSLIMS NOT ALLOWED”. Why? Because we trust every news in the media which is propagating indirectly that Muslims are terrorists. Wow. The biggest terrorist attack in the history of mankind was by Hitler when he killed millions of Jews. Does the world has a racial biased against Germans? Maoist - are they Muslims? For British our freedom fighters were terrorist. So do we refer Bhagat singh as terrorist? When we know that the British ruled us by using Divide and Rule policy aren’t we just carrying forward their legacy ahead till date. Last year I went to look a house in Malad along with a friend and as soon as the broker who was a Gujarati found out that I was a Muslim said it wont be possible because Muslims eat non veg. Quite unreasonable explaination when you come to think that there were a lot of Christians who lived in the same building and also have non veg.
Another friend of mine left his job due to constant questions being asked by his seniors on why he is fasting in Ramzan and his Friday prayers. They had the opinion that it affects his performance even though he was the top performer throughout. And moreover one of my close friend who is like a younger sister to me cannot tell her parents that she is friends with me since her educated parents have their own set of biases against Muslims.
After last week when a broker was reluctant to show me houses in Navi Mumbai due to me being a Muslim I was terribly upset. Within my community I am already regarded as a rebel for questioning them, within Muslims the Sunni dominated area where I live in just waits for an opportunity to get into a fight and make comments on my community and in the larger context the bigger section the Hindus have their own biases based on me being a Muslim. Forget situation outside India around the US and Europe who will have their own set of fears and biases.
After going through all this I got a call from my friend Norman who just called to say Hi to me. The next day I chatted with my friend James who said not to worry and provided me a contact who will help me in my house hunt. Two days back I spoke to my sis Justino and felt really good. These 3 people have been a big support in my life along with many others and they just reconfirmed my faith there is still a lot of goodness left in us. I am sure people like them will not pass it to their future generations to do biases based on religion. I hope people from other communities refer to Osama and Kasab as Terrorist and not a Muslim Terrorist because a Terrorist has no Religion. Guys knowingly or unknowingly don’t plant such seeds today which will result in a plant of religious intolerance among the future generations to come. Let’s not create a situation again in which our community has a section who become The Untouchables.
