Being an Indian Muslim....

Year 1947 : India gained Independence from the British ending a long colonial rule leading to Partition : Islamic Pakistan and Secular India. Many Muslims migrated to Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs to India. Over 1 million people died in the chaos and violence killing people irrespective of all religions. Trains filled with dead bodies of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs reached their ‘promising’ new homeland.

Pakistan was a dream of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. A land belonging to the muslims as majority where muslims had no threat from other religions in terms of their rights. Muslims left India leaving all their belongings, scared of their future in Hindustan!

Many Muslims preferred to stay back in India because of its secular approach. These Muslims had faith in the government of India and its constituency. India has the third largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan. 

   62 years later…

Year 2009: I am asked a question “How do you feel about being an Indian Muslim? Are you discriminated? Why did your family not migrate to Pakistan after partition?”

 I knew people across the world especially the Muslim world were curious to know about the state of Indian Muslims. Honestly I never really gave a thought about my muslim identity in India. None of my family members migrated to Pakistan and we have all lived peacefully in India. I have been brought up in a society where we live with people from different religions and cultures and follow our own religion without any intervention.  We have mosques everywhere and we practice our religion in full effect. There was no line drawn between being a 'muslim' and being an 'Indian'! Thanks to the secular and democratic values of India, we have equal rights in all spheres.

There are two things that will always make me proud: My Muslim identity and my Indian identity.

Indian muslims have their own identity in their country. No one in my family including my ancestors ever faced a threat because of our religion. We are adapted and taught to respect each other along with following our own religion and living in harmony. The Islamic culture left by the Muslim rulers has all been preserved. Muslims have held high government positions in India including the President of India.

Every religion has its quota of fanatics and their opinions should not be considered to represent their religion. I acknowledge that there have been communal riots like the Babri Masjid and the Godhra riots. Many innocent muslims have lost their lives in these communal clashes. There has been suffering , not only for muslims but even other religions.  Muslims have suffered in Godhra and Ayodhya, Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir and so have Dalits and low caste people. We should let bygones be bygones and focus on making India a developed country by ending all kinds of extremism and discrimination. InshAllah….that day is not far off. Politicians play a major role in this apart from the citizens. Indian muslims are strong enough to handle their problems without any external help whenever time arises. We are thankful to Allah that we are able to freely exercise our rights including that of voting and have the power to change the course of the government. May be that is the reason one doesn’t find Muslims fleeing India and turning in as refugees in their neighboring countries. That is secularism in its true sense!

What has happened to Muslims in Pakistan after 60 years of independence ? The politicians in Pakistan have long forgotten Jinnah’s dream vision of an Islamic state providing security, freedom and opportunity to the Muslims. People are fighting amongst themselves based on ethnic groups: the NWFP, Muhajir’s, Sindh, Baluchistan. Are muslims in Pakistan safe? What measures are the government taking to stop these daily terrorist attacks? There are so many innocent people dying because of ethnic clashes and terrorism. Why is it so tough for democracy to prevail? People left everything in India and placed themselves in the hands of the politicians for a bright future. What have these politicians done for their people? Why are they moving away from Islam(for which Pakistan was born) and its teachings? Has the concept of two nation theory failed for Pakistan? A lot of questions run in my mind when I think of Pakistani Muslims. I hope Pakistan develops into a true Islamic State and becomes an example of the peaceful teachings of Islam.

Indian Muslims have achieved a lot since partition and are striving to become better individuals and muslims. Lets take the IT sector, medicine, business and even high government positions, one is sure of finding Muslims! The future surely looks brighter for Indian Muslims!

I would like to end with a few lines from Muhammed Iqbal’s poem:

"Sare Jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara,

 Hum bulbulen hain us ki woh gulsitan hamara.

 Mazhab nahin sikhata apas mein bair rakhna,

 Hindi hain hum, watan hain Hindustan hamara!"

 Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan,

 We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode

 Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves

 We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.

 -An Indian Muslim