EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST ARE MOST
INTOLERANT OF INDIAN MUSLIMS
Amidst a fake atmosphere of Intolerance of Muslims being
created in India in the last one month, I must pen my own version of what I, a Muslim
lady, living and working in India feel like. This has been due from me since sometime.
Now, I feel the water has gone above the head and I too need to share my
views. So, here it is.
I am a Muslim lady, a practicing dermatologist by profession
and I run my
own high- end laser skin clinic, in Bangalore. I was brought
up in Kuwait
and at the age of 18, came to India to pursue medical
education. I decided
to stay back in India while almost all my friends left India
for greener
pastures. Not even once did I consider that being a Muslim
could create a
problem for me, as my sense of nationalism held me back to
my roots and so
here I am, serving my country since the last 20 years.
I studied in Manipal, Karnataka. I lived alone like all
students do. While I
was in college, all my professors were Hindus and almost all
the people who
I would interact with were Hindus as well. There is not a
single incident
when anyone showed partiality towards me based on my gender
or religion.
Every single one of them was kind and in fact sometimes, I
felt as though
they made an extra effort to make feel like I was one of
them. I am ever so
grateful to all of them for making my life in Manipal as
comfortable as it
could get.
After leaving Manipal, I relocated to Bangalore with my
husband. By then I
had been married and so we decided to make our life in
Bangalore. There is a
reason, why we chose Bangalore and here is where I will talk
about my
husband. He is a Muslim too, with a very typical first name,
Iqbal. He is an
aerospace engineer with MTech from IIT-Chennai and PhD from
Germany. His
profession takes him to the most highly secured
organizations of India, like
DRDO, NAL, HAL, GTRE, ISRO, IISc, BHEL; you name it and be
assured that he
has visited all of them without any hassles. Not even once
he has been
stripped off or asked for special security clearance or any
such bias has
been shown towards him. And NO, things have not changed even
after Modi govt came into power.
Things are in fact more disciplined and
streamlined even at government organizations, from what I hear from my husband.
As a matter of fact, Iqbal has been completely stripped each time he
traveled to US and was
under secret surveillance while he was doing his PhD in
Germany, after the
9/11 attacks on US. We literally received a letter from the
German
government that he has been cleared and is not anymore under
suspicion. Talk
about Muslim paranoia! Its very understandable too due to
the current
situations in the world. My husband is highly respected and
loved by the
people he works with, and all of them happen to be Hindus.
None of this has
changed even in recent times, so Intolerance is just a word
for us on a
practical basis.
I opened my clinic last year, just before Modi govt came into
power. I am a
law-abiding citizen and I file my taxes like service tax on
a monthly basis.
I have never indulged in any activities, which could put me
into any kind of
trouble. I am comfortably running my clinic, which is doing
very well,
thanks to all my patients and clients, who all happen to be
Hindus. A
handful of my patients are from other communities. My entire
staff is Hindu,
and believe me when I say that they take better care of my
clinic than I
could any day! I interact with bankers, government officers
and with so many
people on a daily basis. Not even once in the last 20 years,
did I have the
need to even think of leaving India! My entire family lives
abroad and all
that I need to do is just decide that I don’t want to stay
here. I have open
offers of opening clinic in Kuwait, which would fetch me
huge amount of
revenue and yet why should I stay in India, if I am not
happy and if I am
facing any kind of bias?
In Kuwait, we are considered as NOBODY. Yes, despite being
in Kuwait for the
last 40 years or so, my family is still considered as
expatriates, with no
rights. We need to renew our resident permit periodically
and the laws there
constantly keep changing, making the life of expatriates
only harder. We
have to strictly comply with their rules and laws, which is
fine but we are
openly discriminated. They consider Asians as third grade
people, while
giving preference to their citizens, Arabs and Whites. We
are not unhappy
there but we have no sense of belonging either. At least, I
never had and
never have even when I visit Kuwait now. We are Muslims in a
Muslim country,
and yet we are considered as Indians with no special
regards.
I figured long ago, that India is the only country, where I will have
a sense of
belonging. You are an Indian-American in US, Indian-Canadian
in Canada,
Indian-British in UK and so on but only in India you are an
Indian. Period.
Rest can say whatever they want and defend their choices but
this is a fact.
You can only feel at home, in your own home. I have lived in
different
places and everywhere I stand out but in India. Nobody in
India asks me,
‘Are you an Indian?’,
and this is what makes all the difference.
So, what are these celebrities ranting about? An ordinary
citizen like my
husband and I are not facing any such issues, then what have
they faced? Why is Amir Khan’s wife, Kiran Rao feeling so afraid? They are
prominent people,living in posh localities, their children study in the best
of schools and
they have personal security escorting them at all times.
I
travel alone everyday and yet don’t feel afraid. I want to know as a
responsible citizen, from Amir Khan and Shahrukh Khan as well, why did they make
such irresponsible statements and spoil the image of the 13
crores of Muslims in India? Who the hell are they to make public statements based
on their personal perception? Who gave them the liberty to tarnish
the image of my country on an International level, that Muslims are not safe
in India? How
dare Pakistan invites them to stay in Pakistan? I feel hurt
when I read the
statements of my Hindu friends on Muslims. I feel afraid
that they are being
pushed to the limit and the tolerance and acceptance that I
have enjoyed all
these years, might just vanish! I feel afraid that my own
people might shun
me and I may get alienated in my own country, because of a
handful of
ungrateful bunch of fools! How long can I expect majority of
Hindus to
tolerate this nuisance? It’s high time that Muslims
understand the value of
the freedom and acceptance that we enjoy in India and if
not, I pray that my
Hindu fellow citizens continue to keep their patience.
Abida Hasan
Bengaluru