Communal Harmony -…I am not allowed to be myself
? Zakia Jowher’s story on the topic, Not People Like Us:
A Citizen’s Dilemma, won her the third prize in the essay competition organised by
Citizens for Peace and The Indian Express
I AM so happy and content and proud to be an Indian. I love my freedom and
individuality and my right to be what I am. And yet something has changed
in the last two decades of my life of over forty years. It has affected me
and it has in some way or the other changed everyone around me and
everything in my world. Everyone around me and all circumstances concerning
me are increasingly being governed by that one fact of my life, that I am
born a Muslim.
I have multiple identities and I hate the fact of this one identity being so
dominant and over-riding all other identities. It has compelled me to think:
who am I ? I am a student of life, a mother, a woman, a friend, a concerned
citizen, a social being, a lover of Indian music, an admiring reader of
Premchand and Ghalib and above all, an Indian like scores of others who love
their country. And yet, I am not allowed to be myself. Everybody wants to
see me and understand me and asses my worth and approach me and like me or
reject me or at times hate me as a Muslim.
Why not let me just be! India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. And so on goes the Pledge at the beginning of every textbook. My day at the school began with
this pledge daily. Little did I understand the significance of this pledge
then. And today it is all the more valuable for every Indian to reaffirm.
We have been seeing incidents of communal violence ever since independence.
But these were largely aberrations and large sections of society were not
affected by this poison.
The Hindus and the Muslims continued to live together in harmony all over the country. The Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 changed the situation completely. The Bombay bomb blasts, the rathyatras by the BJP and the communal riots in different parts of the
country started affecting the entire Indian society. What happened in
Gujarat in 2002 was appalling not just for the muslims but brought shame to
every Indian. The Bombay train blasts are the latest in the series to leave
a deep chasm between the two communities.
When the country is plagued by events of a communal nature no Indian can
stay unaffected. The core values of secularism and peace are challenged by
the mindless violence. It affects the psyche of every Indian and it has
affected mine certainly.
I want my fellow Indians to understand that just like them I am also an
ordinary being struggling with my day-to-day life; trying to come to terms
with realities of my mundane existence; struggling with my sorrows and my
pains; seeking small happinesses; trying to find meaning in trivial things
of life. That, like all of them, I too have to face all the issues of a
middle class living. I too am struggling with a housing loan, I have
concerns about my child’s education, I have problems concerning my parents,
I have professional responsibilities which keep me on my toes.
How am I different from most upper middle class Indians living in any of our cities?
And yet I am different is the feeling I get daily. I value the plurality and
diversity and the richness of the many peoples of India. I want my child to
learn a bit of all the different religions, languages and dialects of our
country. I want him to have a taste of all the hundreds of cuisines: from
yakhni to macher bhat to rasam to dhokla. I want to participate in the
customs and traditions of the Marathis, Bengalis, Punjabis, Gujaratis,
Kannadigas, Andhras and all other Indians. In winter I want to wear the
Himachali topi sometimes and the Kashmiri shawl as well. Do I have to be
necessarily a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian or a Sikh to do any of these
or I can do all of these no matter who I am? No matter which part of India I
belong to, no matter which religion I belong to, no matter which language I
speak. Isn’t it my right and my privilege as an Indian to be able to do all
of these without any difficulties and complications.
It is also my pleasure to be able to do all of these. This is what truly makes me an Indian. This is what makes me happy to be born into this unique country. This is what
makes me so fortunate! But sadly something has changed in the last few ears
which comes in my way. It prevents me from living out my Indianness in the
fullest sense. I want to live in a housing colony which is a little India;
where people like me from different parts of the country live. Where they
all practice their different religious rituals, speak their different
languages, practice their diverse food habits and yet are one people. It
pains me that how can the picture be complete without me! I want my child to
be able to study in a school along side other children who are from
different religious backgrounds.
I want him to get modern education-science, maths, history, geography. I
want him to learn about the freedom struggle where all Indians-Hindus,
Musilms, Sikhs, Christians, ordinary men and women struggled unitedly to
throw out the British rulers. They were all united by the fact of being
Indians. I want my child to know everything about the world’s most vibrant
democracy that is India. I want him to know how the freedom fighters laid
their lives in order that future generations breathe free air. I want him to
learn about the Constitution of India.
I want him to imbibe the values of justice, equality, freedom, liberty,
fraternity that form the core of our Constitution. I want him to learn that
the values of truth, peace, justice, humanity, fairness and equality
overweigh all differences of religion, caste, region, language, food, dress.
I want him to be a true Indian.
Because being Indian is being respectful to all religions, being respectful
to all cultures, appreciating the value of all languages, enjoying the
differences of food and dressing. I want my fellow Indians to allow him the
opportunity to meet and interact with children from all the diverse
backgrounds. But this looks increasingly difficult. If housing colonies
refuse to allot me a house, if schools refuse to admit my child, if
neighbours refuse to visit me on Eid how do I become a full being?
How do I live out my Indianness fully? How do I connect with my fellow Indians? How
do I fulfill my dreams as a proud citizen of the world’s greatest democracy?
When I look around increasingly I find a chasm which appears so wide. And
yet I have faith. I cannot forget the visuals and the stories of muslims in
Bombay rushing the injured to the hospital after the bomb blasts. I cannot
forget the stories of ordinary Hindus saving the lives of Muslims in
villages of Gujarat. I cherish what is essentially mine as an Indian. The
values of equality, religious freedom, cultural liberty, pluralism and
justice which are at the core of our Constitution are also the values dear
to Indians. The Constitution gives fundamental rights to every citizen
irrespective of birth, religion, caste and gender – upholding equality and
freedom for all.
And I have faith that these values will triumph. The communal forces will fail ultimately and the essential human values will prevail. Upholding democratic values of religious freedom, cultural diversity, secularism is extremely important to save the soul of India.
Zakia Jowher lives in Ahmedabad
URL :
http://70.86.150.130/indianexpress/ArticleText.aspx?article=14_11_2006_525_002