I found this Blog entry. Nice read
Being Hindu in Pakistan and Muslim in India
During one of my train journeys in North India, I came across a person in the first class coupe of Indian railways. He worked for nationalized bank and was on his way from work place to home. He was wearing half sleeve checked shirt and baggy trousers with neatly combed hair, wearing spectacle and carrying local newspaper. He was Indian middle aged common man with a small , stable family and a secure job. I was prepared for an insipid chat on mundane subjects about bureaucracy, ministerial intervention etc but he took me by surprise by telling me about his visit was to shift his family from New Delhi to his newly acquired residence in Meerut. This intrigued me as I was seeing for the first time a migration from a metro city to a small town. But once I understood his reasons for doing so, my intrigue was transformed into a rankled thought that has stayed with me since then.
The above incident happened post Godhra and Hindu Muslim riots that ensued immediately after. This gentleman had his immediate brother and his sister living in Ahmedabad. They lived in a cosmopolitan apartment complex that had a common thread of working middle classmen with a small family and aspirations for their children. Religions, Caste didn’t matter much as all spoke the local language. He didn’t tell me what exactly had happened during the riots but all he said their brother’s family became cynosure in the eyes of bulk of Hindu residents. There wasn’t any overt religious discrimination but visible alienation in the eyes of neighbors was palpable. They along with hundreds of the families belonging to same community took a decision to relocate themselves into an area where they would be have numerical advantage of their religious fraternity and feel safe and secured. This man, though thousand of miles away from riot stricken place, too decided to sell his property and plan his retirement in Meerut where majority of his Muslim relatives stay. Was it a spontaneous reaction or well thought move?
The above story came to my mind as I spent two wonderful days with Hindu doctor family who chose to stay in Pakistan after the partition. For majority of Hindu’s in India and that includes me, a Hindu in Pakistan remained like a Siberian tiger specie in a zoo. Cricketer Danesh Kaneria, Justice Bhagwan Das and Newly appointed Sikh army personnel came as token presence of existing Hindu presence in Pakistan. My perspective changed when I read about ‘Hinduism in Pakistan’ on Wikipedia subsequent to my spending time with this friend of mine. Doctor felt that ‘Muslims in Pakistan do not view Hindu’s – both in India and Pakistan – as suspiciously as Muslim’s in Pakistan do’. Even though I would love to dispute his claims, but I am aware that reality is loaded in his favor. Majority of Hindu’s in India do seem to have made any attempt to assimilate Muslim in their stream. Political parties picked Muslims as and when it suited their political convenience. Indians loudly proclaim the emergence of Azim Premji, Azuruddin and Abdul Kalam as a success of secular spirit of India, but if we were to take a count Muslim’s presence in Indian jobs and professions- they would be incongruent to their population presence. Sachar committee report reveal Muslims in India possess lower educational levels and in turn have higher unemployment rates than the Hindu majority and other minorities like Christians and Sikhs. In Public service their presence is less than 7% percent, in railways less than 5% percent, in banks less than 4% and in India’s 1.3 million strong military, they are mere 29,000 in numbers. I also find most Muslims- despite being educated tend to run their family business. I wonder if there is a definite bias when it comes to recruitment of Muslims that is perhaps distinctly pronounced from other religions such as Christianity and Buddhism. I do feel that Dalits - too must also be feeling the same heat as Muslims in India.
According to the article in Wikipedia, there are three million Hindu’s in Pakistan – almost the 2/3rd of the population of UAE or Singapore and nearly 2 million Hindus stay in Sindh province. My doctor friend said the most visible damage against Hinduism took place not when Pakistan and India went to wars but when Babri Mosque was demolished. He claims ‘Hindu’s in current regime of Parvez Musharuff feel more relaxed while they were edgy during Zia Ul Haq’s regime.’ But what was interesting to learn that Mohajirs (meaning immigrant from India) feel far more alienated in Pakistan. They feel ‘If at all anyone has gone through sacrifice during the Partition – it’s them – and they haven’t got a rightful place in Pakistani mainstream’. Interestingly not many Hindu immigrants from Pakistan ever voiced such a concern.
Is it that Indian Muslims on either side of the border feel that they have been marginalized? Sunday Gentlemen is a blog by 24 year old Mubasshir Ahmed. He discusses various issues that afflict Muslim population in India and what I like about his blog is his perspective in tackling issues in an objective manner without estranged feeling.I do hope more such attempts like Mubasshir should be given media attention that those ridiculous fatwas issued by self proclaimed Islamic scholars.
India has Muslim population in excess of 160 million, next only to Indonesia. Their growth rate is higher than rest of the India population. Today in India, there is no town or electoral constituency that can choose its representative without the impact of Muslim votes and with increased population, this scenario would get more decisive in future. India has to guard against alienation of Muslims. As India marches forward, unless majority community has a mindset to share the benefits with minorities, social divide would get more visible. Economic disparity with religious or sectarian alienation has a explosive potency to rock the nation. We are witnessing this in Iraq, Pakistan and also in Africa. Muslim ghettos in a city is danger sign for India and I only hope the reaction by middle class Muslim man in the train will be viewed as extempore knee jerk reaction.