When the editor asks, ‘Is division deepening?’, I don’t find myself immediately thinking of the hopelessly familiar tragedies that might have prompted his question—the communal riots, mob lynchings and cow vigilantism that scared our society. Given—and even the built-in controversy over the hijab, halal meat, and azaan over loudspeakers that have recently marginalized our country’s Muslim minority. Instead, I find myself thinking of three insignificant anecdotes that have come to my attention in recent weeks, which for me portrayed the division more directly, if less clearly.
Episode One: Recently in Jaipur, I met a white Lebanese woman who had been coming to India for 15 years for the business of handicrafts and jewellery. Exotic in appearance, they were warmly welcomed in the past; When she introduced herself as Noor, people would say, “Oh, what a lovely name! We have only one name in India! We know it means ‘light’!” She says today things have changed. When she says her name is Noor, she gets an instant response: “Oh, you’re a Muslim?” Question and tone of question says everything. She is less sure now that she will come back as often.
Episode Two: A former Indian ambassador who had enjoyed some reputation during his foreign ministry career as a hawk on Pakistan and Islamic terrorism, told me about a friend of mine, an eminent surgeon in Kabul. Worried about the growing influence of the Taliban in his country, the surgeon, at the request of this ambassador, took his wife and children to India (not Pakistan!) He rented a flat in Gurgaon, enrolled in a good school. But within a year he realized that this was not the India that the surgeon remembered while making his decision. The most painful blow came when those playing with the children in his apartment building announced to him, “Our parents told us not to play with you because you are a Muslim.” My ambassador friend said in shock and despair, he advised the surgeon, “Take your children to Dubai or London. I am ashamed that I encouraged you to bring them to your country.”
Episode Three: An Indian at the United Nations, a veteran peace negotiator who had served in several trouble spots throughout the Middle East, finds himself in a tense meeting with an Islamic terrorist in an Arab country, wearing a beard, turban And there was Kalashnikov. The ice broke: even though it was Ramadan, the terrorist lit up, offered a cigarette to the UN man, laughed and jokingly discussed a thorny issue. Then he asked almost casually: “And where are you from?” When the UN official said “India”, the mood immediately changed. “India? I hear how you are treating Muslims there. Come out, UN man, or I will not be responsible for what happens to you. The UN official tried to show that The terrorist was misinformed, as a European UN official did with him, but the terrorist will not be pacified. His sources are many, he said, but he may have been an extremist, read the world media. And voila. The meeting was over. The Indian left with the skin of his teeth.
Yes, I am aware of the limitations of analysis by anecdote. But these three unrelated and unrelated incidents, which came to my notice within a span of two or three weeks, show the extent to which the communal divide has deepened in our society. The venom that has been injected into the politics of our bodies, in pursuit of the petty political goal of communal polarization, inevitably has repercussions that go far beyond the typical electoral gains that may accrue to the poisoned forces. It has defamed our society, made India something it was never there before.
National integration, once a conscientious practice, is now about projecting the narrative of the dominant community
What has changed can be anatomized. Things are now being said from public forums, and being recorded and widely distributed through social media, that in the past was considered inappropriate to say even behind closed doors in your living room. Bigotry is openly expressed and hate speech has become so common that it no longer warrants comment. There was a time when the central and state governments of India went out of their way to express public disapproval of the example of communal harmony and vice versa. Today, authorities rarely raise their voices to condemn such statements and, if violence occurs, take no action against those instigating it, provided they belong to the “majority community”.
I grew up in an India where “Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb” was celebrated and “National Integration” was a slogan and a practice. Today, nationalism is combined with majoritarianism and integration only means presenting the narrative of the dominant community.
In childhood, films like ‘Entertainment Tax’ were waived Amar Akbar Anthony, the story of three children separated in childhood who are raised as Hindu, Muslim and Christian and finally unite to defeat the bad guys. Today this type of film is discounted The Kashmir Files Whose screening ends in patrons taking revenge on Muslims.
In India the world knew, in the Muslim world Indians were treated with dignity and respect, not least because they were seen as a land that Muslims proudly owned. Today, Indians are associated with persecution of Muslims and widespread Islamophobia.
There was a time when we foreigners were proud that despite India having 180 million Muslims, only a handful of Indian Muslims had joined the Taliban, al-Qaeda or Daesh, because Indian Muslims had a strong sense of belonging to India and share in its success. Today, there is increasingly talk of a fearful and isolated minority, Muslims having the option to leave India wherever they are, and others are being radicalized, not by Islamic precepts, but by their own in India. from experiences. Intelligence officials now believe there is a growing receptivity to extremism.
The communal divide has not just deepened; It has poisoned our society and is changing it for the worse, creating unpredictable consequences and untold dangers for all of us. The era of national unity is over; We can only hope that our rulers acquire enough knowledge to prevent the era of national disintegration.
The author is a Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and President of the All India Professional Congress.