If Indian Muslims want to know about real persecution, they should look at China: It has banned naming babies as Muhammed; bans fasting during Ramadan; asks hotels to refuse guests from 5 Muslim majority countries; forcibly separate Chinese women married to Pakistani men.
Indian Muslims must also revisit the belief that Congress is their protectors. In last 17 years, no riot has happened in Gujarat. Compare it with the Congress one or Samajwadi Party's reigns. Today we have a situation when Rahul Gandhi, while releasing the manifesto of Congress, says: "We are all Hindus." (Can you believe it! So they have come round to RSS belief: that all born in India are originally Hindus!!!)
It's time Indian Muslim question Congress as their protectors: Isn't it Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Sashi Tharoor who make a show of about being Hindu these days (a bigger song and dance than what BJP says or does, truth to tell). Isn't Muslim world today has a bigger respect for Modi government than it ever had for Congress (remember Sushma Swaraj being a guest speaker in Organization of Islamic Cooperation). Aren't the think-tanks of hard-core Muslim states in Middle East wondering how come India live with such peace and harmony as a nation of multi religious identities when they themselves with Quran and Namaaz and allare tearing themselves asunder?
Isn't there a need for Indian Muslims to assuage the hurt of majority on Ram Mandir issue? A disgust when a bearded Imam publicly announces Rs 25 lakh cash for shaving the PM's head? Or when a film star names his son as Taimur whose name is associated with the butchery of the most savage kind. Would they pause and admit that majority Hindus have a reason to be unhappy on these counts?
Let's be honest. Hindus today are becoming conscious of their identity. I am one of them. I don't want to be apologetic if I feel great about my Krishna or Rama; or if I am hurt to know that Aurangzeb broke the Kashi Vishwanath temple of Varanasi and made a Gyan Vapi Mosque in its place. Or as is the case with Babar and his Babri Masjid. If I am conscious about my identity, it doesn't make me anti-Muslim. As a journalist and author, if I write about the Islamic atrocities India has suffered, the destruction, rapine and massacres they have caused, the false narratives of "gangajamuni tehzeb" which fake historians and fake media has built, I am not being against my Indian Muslim brethren. My Muslim friends may view it as fanning the fire of polarization; I view it as course correction in India's history and its present discourse. And it's time our next generation are made aware of our true past to protect the present and future. Indeed, Indian Muslims should welcome such a quest from seeker Hindus. It's their land and their history as well.
A Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar or a Kamal Haasan are wrong when they worry about Muslims in India. It's in the gene of Indians to respect men and women of other faith. A few stray incidents don't define the majority. If anything, Indian Muslims must take to task the fake politicians and fake Lutyens media. They are not your friends; they would never be. All these monsters seek is blood and violence to further their vote banks and pockets. Indian Muslims have an option to choose corrupt, anti-people government or go for one which is honest and progressive and hold a mirror to better India. In turn, they would be a model to those who feel Muslims can't rise above their religious identity.
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