STATE OF MUSLIMS IN PRESENT DAY INDIA
We mention here a few problems that ails the Muslims or are affecting the majority of Muslim population in India.
Take the case of the literacy figures. The literacy rate of Muslims is shown as close to that of the Hindus. However, no body tries to find how the literacy rate has come so close when most of the Muslims who are visible on road appear to be illiterate. This is so because when the question is asked whether you can read anything and the answer is given, yes, Quran, that person is taken to be literate. Does mere ability to read a few lines of Quran in Arabic, whose meanings are beyond comprehension, make one fit to be called literate is debatable? Even if they can read Urdu a bit, can they do any meaningful employment because of it? Majority of Muslim families earn between 5000-10000 rupees a month. Real issues like there being not even 4% Muslims in Government Service or in the Corporate World and not even 3% Muslims in the Middle or Upper Middle class colonies of the country are seldom raised. If you ask this question, illiteracy is cited the reason. Why illiteracy when it has already been shown close to that of Hindus? Why nobody asks that in spite of the surging literacy rate, the percentage of Muslims in Government jobs is steadily declining? That more than half of their population continues to live in slums too is portrayed as a negativity, as if they are living there out of choice. If they have nothing but tattered clothes to wear, it is their fault. If insecurity persists so much so that they decide to live in ghettos that too is their fault and the blame is passed on their dissimilar religious beliefs. Yet, if someone decides to take some concrete steps for their betterment, ‘appeasement’ is a label that the media never fails to give.
When such a huge percentage of population lives in slums or lower class dwellings, and with just around 5000 rupees to earn for the whole family, problems like unhygienic living, over-population, etc. are bound to occur. If you are interested, we invite you to do a study of the number of children in the houses of Hindus and Muslims, living in similar socio-economic conditions. For instance, take a slum or a rehabilitation colony. You will find that the population growth is the same. Conditions are such that a Muslim with 5 children is seen to be enhancing the population, that too with certain vested interests, while a Lalu with 10 or 11 remains as blameless as ever.
Muslims appear to be even more unclean because the segment of Muslims that has become educated mixes with the population in such a manner that it is not easy to distinguish how many people traveling in a Shatabdi coach to Lucknow or dining in a McDonald’s are Muslims, when there are bound to be many who pass your eyes without you even noticing that they are Muslims. And the rest, who have grown on knowing to read only Quran, that too in a madrasa perhaps, earning around 5000 rupees a month, comes out in public in full Muslim gear, including a long beard, perhaps also a lungi and a skull-cap. And you can easily point out that a Muslim is passing and since nearly all who move about in this uniform are from the lower middle class, with lesser resources available at their disposal, you conclude that Muslims are filthy and dirty. Those who do not sport traditional Muslim appearance are either mechanics, or drivers, or labourers, vendors, petty shop-owners, kabadiwalas or rickshaw pullers – all illiterate and dirty. If population is increasing, it is partly due to these factors and partly due to insecurity about future. As we said before, the condition is the same in the same socio-economic conditions, but since a greater population of Muslims is living in the worst socio-economic level, they are producing more children. What goes unnoticed is that Hindus living in the same socio-economic conditions too are producing same or at times more number of children but since the percentage population of Hindus living in those conditions is lesser, their population too is not rising at the same pace.
Majority of the population earns only a handful to sustain for the entire month, yet their ration card is not made in fear that a few of them might be Bangladeshis. What would happen if some corrupt policemen identify him as one without a ration-card? The poor person would end up paying the hafta, unless he runs away from the dominion of that constable and start living somewhere else. Consequently, he would shell out his hard earned money, even if it is for the policeman’s bottle of beer or a hearty meal. And the man who has only earned a pittance while toiling all through the month will have to part with some of that, or else the earning family member will be treated as Bangladeshi, and subjected to more severe punishments.
If the Bangladeshi immigrant problem is there, it is the responsibility of the security forces. Or it is the responsibility of the Governments who could not give ration cards to all the families of India till date, because of which there is this problem of identifying between Indians and Bangladeshis.
Moreover, this country has huge number of Nepalese, Bhutanese and Lankans but nobody complains. It is only the Bangladeshis who are targeted. Why? If we were real serious, we should have stopped the Bangladeshis at the border. Why create conditions that someone who is born and brought up in India is targeted.
It is only the deep-rooted love of traditional Indian culture and the fact that majority of Indian Muslims owe their origin to the Hindus whom we have praised elsewhere for their peace-loving nature, that has not allowed the virus of terrorism to multiply in this country, despite such negative conditions.
Good thing is that the majority of Indian population is still secular in thinking, but the bad thing is that they are not given access to this kind of information. And if a few stray voices come out in support of Muslims, they are either too feeble or die out soon for want of patronage. The new slogan of Muslim-appeasement does not make them say anything. And nobody asks, what appeasement you are talking in the face of all aforementioned negativities.
Muslims are condemned for worshipping a place in foreign land (Kaaba) and keeping allegiance to it, whereas we take huge grants from Japanese NGOs and government to build roads and hotels at the Buddhist sites in India. It is fortunate that Muslims in India have no holy place of worship in Pakistan like the Sikhs; no body points a finger at the Sikhs. A person of Indian origin, whose three preceding generations have not lived in India, if he becomes President of a tiny country in the West Indies, is given a hero’s welcome when he arrives in India. Indian Government even goes to the extent of summoning the Fijian ambassador and people start talking about sanctions on Fiji when the President of that country, of an Indian origin, gets into domestic trouble. And our media shows the interviews of second or third generation British Indians, who come to support Indian cricket team, in positive light, and if an Indian Muslim is found supporting Shoaib Akhtar or a Muslim locality is named Karachi or Islamabad in India, that becomes a sin.
Fact is that Muslims in many localities dread elections the most, declaration of which is always preceded by renewed attacks on their beliefs, customs, and religion and at times on them as well with physical or psychological blows. Take out the list of people who died in police firing in Hindu-Muslim riots and you will find majority of them are Muslims: because the police are more prone to firing towards their side. You go to Aligarh’s old city and several Muslims will tell horrifying tales of police firing from positions in Hindu homes. Take out the list of the houses/shops that are burnt and you will find that majority of them are of Muslims again. If Muslims were the hooligans, did they burn their own shops and houses? Yet, take out the list of those on whom FIRs were filed, consequent to looting and arson, they too are mostly Muslims.
Fact is that Muslims are afraid! Why is it that when a Hindu doctor complained that he had seen two people being brought in police custody and shot at in the parking of Ansal Plaza by the police, who were to be later termed as terrorists killed in an encounter, the character of the doctor himself was put to question and no serious inquiry ordered? The ideal way would have been that even if the doctor was lying, a high level inquiry should have been ordered, even if it was to quench the doubts in the hearts of Muslims. Why was a corporator put in jail for months who claimed that the so-called terrorists of Lal-Quila shoot-out who were said to be killed in an encounter by the police were actually killed at their Jamia Nagar residence and then taken away? Instead of throttling voices, we should try to create an atmosphere where the general Muslims do not come to conclusions that they are being targeted.
Again, we will reiterate that majority of the Hindus in India are secular in character. But the bitter truth is that even the secular among the Hindus have begun distancing themselves because of the stories of filthy living, illiteracy, overpopulation, Bangladeshi immigrants, terrorism and a shariat that is portrayed in negative light. At the same time, the Muslims are harbouring negative views about the other community because of the insecurity that has developed.
Most of the problems that are shown as religious problems are actually socio-economic in nature. This includes the problem of high birth rate among Muslims. As we said, number of children in any jhuggi cluster would be the same for Hindus and Muslims with the only difference that percentage of Muslims living in any jhuggi cluster is higher than their national population average; therefore the higher growth rate.
In spite of all this criticism that we have done, India is still the best of place to live. And Indian Hindus the best of the cohabitants! Majority of them are God-fearing, peace loving and truth seeking. They are hard-working and seekers of learning. Muslims can surely learn a lot many positive lessons from them. If only they become capable enough!
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Muslims Too Are to Be Blamed
Muslims cannot pass the blame on a section of the other community and move on. Fact is that they are themselves more to be blamed than anybody else.
Entry into Islam’s fold starts with saying ‘There is no God, but Allah’ because Islam taught Muslims to take refuge only in Him and none else. Islam so vigorously propagated this message that the Muslims couldn’t create other gods, but fact is that they do not worship that one God in the manner that He ought to be worshipped.
As somebody aptly said, Islam is the best of religions and Muslims are the worst followers!
That majority of Muslims do not take refuge in One Almighty God is evident from the petty crimes that they commit, lies that they utter, violence that they commit, corruption that they indulge in, filth that they live in, marital and family discords that have found roots in their community, and endless other vices that are present.
Islam says ‘you are not a Muslim if people fear you or your tongue’ and terrorists and mafia kingpins emerge from amongst them, not to speak of the foul language that comes out from their mouths.
Islam says ‘Acquire knowledge even if you have to go to China for it’, considered the farthest place from Arabia during the time of Prophet, where they would have got all types of knowledge but never of Islamic scriptures. On the contrary, their madrasas confine themselves to teaching Quran in Arabic, a language that they don’t understand, thereby meaning they do not even fully know what’s written in the Quran.
Islam says ‘you are not a Muslim if your neighbour up to 40 houses on all sides goes to sleep without food', and their conduct is such that people are afraid if the neighbour is a Muslim.
Islam says ‘you are not a Muslim if you see injustice being committed and don’t raise your voice of dissent’ and they themselves commit all kinds of injustices, even in the name of Islam. Imagine if all the Muslims of India were to say they won’t tolerate injustice, whatever form it is in, be it corruption, bribery, oppression, crime against humanity, or anything else that one can think of, won’t India become a better place to live?
Islam is the only religion that made it mandatory to wash face, hands and feet 5 times a day. It is mandatory to have a bath every time you have sex or even masturbated or have a night emission, touched a corpse or on many similar occasions. It is also recommended to take bath on every Friday. Consider it keeping in mind not the Indian situation where water is in plenty, but in a more universal situation, like in Arabia where there is dearth of water or in Britain where people don’t bath for months due to cold season, and you will find that Islam gives the best of rules for cleanliness. How sad indeed that Muslims are seen as dirty by others?
Islam talks of all under the banner of One God, and Muslims themselves are divided into so many sects and sub-sects that it is even difficult to count the divisions; they are so rigid in following the tenets of their respective sects that they go to the extent of attacking and killing the members of the other sect. How sad indeed that this was to happen to the followers of Mohammad, who said that even plucking a leaf from a tree without reason was not allowed, not to speak of wounding or murdering other human beings. Islam talks of saving lives of others even if you have to forego your obligatory prayers and they are bent on taking the lives of innocent men, women and children.
Islam talks of righteous living, good conduct, seeking refuge in God for all actions, abstention from materialistic desires, truthfulness, piety, just and humane treatment to all, and leading the entire life – be it doing business, having love with spouse, dealing with fellow human beings, and all other acts of life – while remembering God, whereas their acts reflect nothing but irreligious and immoral behaviour.
In fact, no other religion has laid stress on reason and knowledge more than Islam, and they follow their religion blind-folded, on the lines of how their fathers and forefathers followed it, without bringing their reasoning faculties into picture. And where Islam makes it obligatory to follow certain rules, they are found wanting in adherence to it, citing various reasons for their inaction.
There are some who point an accusing finger at Islam for failing to check family planning. Fact is that Islam is not against family planning but in fact supports it. However, those who want to denigrate Islam would continue to do so, even after reading this view of ours or many such articles, published at various places. Such is the intensity of their attempt to create hatred against Islam.
Fact is that even the Hindus, if they are practicing family planning, are doing so not because of religious consent but because of realizing its need. There is nothing in the Hindu scriptures that talk of this subject. In fact, this subject was too immaterial when loftier subjects like attaining salvation, building a relationship with God, and realizing the importance of the Self and the Devatas that comprise it, were being discussed. Contrary to this, what we find in the Puranas is description of people with 50 or 100 sons, or even more. Krishna, it is written, had more than 100,000 sons. The number of daughters was not found worthwhile to discuss. If that had been the history of Islam, this too would have become a subject of criticism. Blaming Islam for all faults of the Muslims is wrong, that some sections of the society are hell-bent on doing.
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