We’re told everyday by the media about violence between ethnicities in India, about militant Jihadi groups, about the rise of Hindu nationalism, and so many other headline-hungry stories, that some truly heart-warming examples of unity get sidelined. Stories like that never find prominence through media cycles. We’re only told of “pseudo-secularism” and of other doom-saying prophecies that threaten to tear us apart.
Every Indian has learnt about India’s “Unity in Diversity” (Anekta mein Ekta) concept. Well, this is my attempt to show that it’s not just a social studies class for us. We live in it every. single. day. And sometimes, don’t even realize it. I think we have it in our blood to tolerate our religious and cultural differences. Way more than we think.
This blog is to remind them that we are ONE people.Here are a few examples that are iconic of this concept of unity amidst impossible diversity:
_____________________
1. The nationwide slogan for Queer-pride marches (meaning: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Heterosexuals, Homosexuals, .. are all brothers).
_____________________
2. A Hindu temple in Bihar, set up with help from Muslims (land, money and labor):
_____________________
3. The world’s only Temple-Church!:
_____________________
4. A Sikh rebuilds a Mosque for Muslims, that was destroyed during the partition:
_____________________
5. Muslim children in India play Holi (a Hindu festival) with their neighbors:
_____________________
6. A Muslim (Yusuf Pathan), a Hindu (Virat Kohli) and a Sikh (Harbhajan Singh) carry the world’s greatest batsman (Sachin Tendulkar), on their shoulders after winning the World Cup:
_____________________
7. A Hindu father adopts a Muslim son in Lucknow, and raises him in Islamic faith:
_____________________
8. Hindus help Muslims break their fast by sharing their food in flood hit Bihar, Muslims help Hindus by offering shelter during their pilgrimages:
_____________________
9. The old Parle-G “Crack jack” ad-campaigns!:
_____________________
10. A Muslim family takes their son dressed as Krishna (a Hindu God), for his fancy-dress competition at school:
_____________________
The day is not far off when we unite as one people, stand together against injustice, and fight to bring our capsized brothers into prosperity.
~Satyameva Jayate.
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FUCK YEAH SOUTH ASIA!
And you tell me Islamophobia doesn’t exist.
![mehreenkasana:
The Middle Man in Chapati Mystery by Manan Ahmed
The construction of nationalist identity in Pakistan, since 1971, has relied exclusively on a communal reading of South Asian histories – positing Hindu and Muslims as inchoate categories. Such reductive narratives may suit the purpose of nationalist discourses but they do not represent history. I have decided to tell the story of Seth Naomul Hotchand as a story of a broker between regimes of power, as a local negotiator of globally written politics. In my telling, Hotchand is a symbol—not of treason or collaboration but—of the fugue state that cripples the modern nation-state, which forgets pasts just as easily as it invents new ones to fill the gaps.
The “Orient” is a fiction, and a romance. The fiction espoused by the British officer in the opening quote frames our colonial and postcolonial stories – a Hindu son’s revenge for a Muslim injustice wrought upon his father. This romantic story swivels on its axis in postcolonial Pakistan – all Hindus are traitors, and can be represented by the money-lending, vengeful Seth Naomal Hotchand, who brought down a princely state. In what follows, I lay out a fuller picture of Hotchand’s life and argue that the real tragedy lies with the collective memory to which his history has been ascribed.
[x]
Painting by Daisy Rockwell.
Wish this was a chapter in our national curriculum on both sides of the border.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_meki8oCN5b1qamcl6o1_500.jpg)
The Middle Man in Chapati Mystery by Manan Ahmed
The construction of nationalist identity in Pakistan, since 1971, has relied exclusively on a communal reading of South Asian histories – positing Hindu and Muslims as inchoate categories. Such reductive narratives may suit the purpose of nationalist discourses but they do not represent history. I have decided to tell the story of Seth Naomul Hotchand as a story of a broker between regimes of power, as a local negotiator of globally written politics. In my telling, Hotchand is a symbol—not of treason or collaboration but—of the fugue state that cripples the modern nation-state, which forgets pasts just as easily as it invents new ones to fill the gaps.
The “Orient” is a fiction, and a romance. The fiction espoused by the British officer in the opening quote frames our colonial and postcolonial stories – a Hindu son’s revenge for a Muslim injustice wrought upon his father. This romantic story swivels on its axis in postcolonial Pakistan – all Hindus are traitors, and can be represented by the money-lending, vengeful Seth Naomal Hotchand, who brought down a princely state. In what follows, I lay out a fuller picture of Hotchand’s life and argue that the real tragedy lies with the collective memory to which his history has been ascribed.
Painting by Daisy Rockwell.
Wish this was a chapter in our national curriculum on both sides of the border.
We’re told everyday by the media about violence between ethnicities in India, about militant Jihadi groups, about the rise of Hindu nationalism, and so many other headline-hungry stories, that some truly heart-warming examples of unity get sidelined. Stories like that never find prominence through media cycles. We’re only told of “pseudo-secularism” and of other doom-saying prophecies that threaten to tear us apart.
Every Indian has learnt about India’s “Unity in Diversity” (Anekta mein Ekta) concept. Well, this is my attempt to show that it’s not just a social studies class for us. We live in it every. single. day. And sometimes, don’t even realize it. I think we have it in our blood to tolerate our religious and cultural differences. Way more than we think. And way more than our media thinks.
This blog is to remind them that we are ONE people.Here are a few examples that are iconic of this concept of unity amidst impossible diversity:
_____________________
1. The nationwide slogan for Queer-pride marches (meaning: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Heterosexuals, Homosexuals, .. are all brothers).
_____________________
2. A Hindu temple in Bihar, set up with help from Muslims (land, money and labor):
_____________________
3. The world’s only Temple-Church!:
_____________________
4. A Sikh rebuilds a Mosque for Muslims, that was destroyed during the partition:
_____________________
5. Muslim children in India play Holi (a Hindu festival) with their neighbors:
_____________________
6. A Muslim (Yusuf Pathan), a Hindu (Virat Kohli) and a Sikh (Harbhajan Singh) carry the world’s greatest batsman (Sachin Tendulkar), on their shoulders after winning the World Cup:
_____________________
7. A Hindu father adopts a Muslim son in Lucknow, and raises him in Islamic faith:
_____________________
8. Hindus help Muslims break their fast by sharing their food in flood hit Bihar, Muslims help Hindus by offering shelter during their pilgrimages:
_____________________
9. The old Parle-G “Crack jack” ad-campaigns!:
_____________________
10. A Muslim family takes their son dressed as Krishna (a Hindu God), for his fancy-dress competition at school:
_____________________
The day is not far off when we unite as one people, stand together against injustice, and fight to bring our capsized brothers into prosperity.
~Satyameva Jayate.
I have thought about Shah Banu a number of times over the last 2 decades. She was 62 years old when she got divorced. Her divorce changed the course of Indian politics. To say that she is responsible is stretching it too far but a number of factors starting with her divorce and ending with the Babri Masjid fiasco changed politics in India for ever. It was more like a tiny pebble that snowballed into an avalanche. I will explain this as best as I can.
- In India, we don’t have a uniform civil code. Instead the civil code that applies to us is based on what our religion says. Therefore a Hindu falls under the purview of the Hindu Personal Law, the Muslim under the Muslim Personal Law and the Christian under the Christian Personal Law respectively.
- In 1978, when Shah Banu got divorced she gained little or nothing financially out of her broken marriage. Why? Under Muslim Personal Law, there is no concept of alimony. I can get into a little detail about meher which was defined 1500 years ago as financial protection for women, and how it was not enough in her context, but that’s too much detail to delve into. Sufficient to say that the lack of alimony meant that late into her life with 5 children she had little or no financial support to meet her monthly expense. As per the law her ex-husband had already provided what was required of him.
- So Shah Banu knocked the doors of justice and it took 7 years for the case to heard by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court clearly understood her plight and ruled in her favor in 1985.
- Muslim social and political leadership in India created a stink and talked about how their civil code was being compromised.
- Bear in mind that in 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had been assassinated and her non political son, the very suave but politically inexperienced Rajiv Gandhi* had inherited the throne, so to speak.
- In the general election that followed immediately in 1984**, under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress(i) won a 2/3rd majority. Dangerously known also as the constitution amendable majority.
- The Muslims particularly the All India Wakf Board went to Rajiv Gandhi with the Supreme Court judgement of Shah Banu. Instead of placating them, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi indulged them and thus was born the The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986. Only a piece of legislation could have nullified the Supreme Court ruling and Rajiv Gandhi did just that. Under this act, a divorced Muslim lady would get maintenance from the relatives entitled to her property failing which her upkeep would be provided for by the Wakg Board. The liability of the husband and thus the sacrosanctness of the Personal Law would remain intact.
- This did not go down well with the opposition and the media. The Congress was getting a lot of heat (deservedly) about minority appeasement and suddenly their think tank was forced to deliberate on how to counter balance. That’s when they make their second fatal mistake.
- They wanted to show that they were not just partial to the Muslims, so they indulged the Hindus on their demands. They unlocked the gates of Babri Masjid under pressure from the VHP sometime in 1985 months preceding to the enactment of the Bill. This created considerable communal tension among the communities leading up to the 1989 elections. Rajiv Gandhi even started his 1989 election campaign from Ram Janam Bhoomi to show he was one among them. The public was not fooled and VP Singh presided over the first of many unstable coalition governments in India.
- This was enough of an opportunity for the unheard of BJP to mastermind the resurgence of Hindu Nationalism. Adavni went on the first of his famous Yatras catapulting BJP from the fringes into the center of Indian Politics. From a 2 MP Party they were now part of the VP Singh government, whom they chose to dump at their most politically opportune moment.
- In 1992, despite all assurances given the Kalyan Singh government, the administration and police looked the other way and did nothing to interfere while religious fanatics egged on by politicians on a dais hammered and broke down a historical monument and place of worship***. This sparked wide spread rioting across the country when over 2000
Muslims and HindusIndians died.- Later in a cowardly act described as a revenge, the Dawood gang bombed parts of Mumbai and fled the country.
Ever since, the last 20 years of our life, we have lived in a highly polarized society. Right winged politics was born. The term Hindutva started to mean different things to different people. Hindu Nationalism was revived. Militant nationalism was born. SIMI camoflouged into an extreme organisation. Gujarat 2002 happened. Our lives changed forver. The social impact on our country is incalculable.
*It’s remarkable that while Rajiv Gandhi was so inexperienced and politically naive, the same cannot be said about his Italian wife, Sonia Gandhi who so amazingly gave up the right to be Prime Minister and turned a controversy into a masterstroke, one that makes her immortal. In India, nothing wins the heart more than sacrifice.
** BJP won 2 seats in this elections. They were an unknown entity.
*** A Lucknow bench of the UP High Court ruled recently that the disputed property should be divided in 3 equal parts and given to all 3 claimants. Neither party was happy about it and the case will now be bumped forward to the next court.
“Islamic leaders in Pakistan on Monday came out in support of a Christian girl with learning difficulties who is being held in prison, in an unprecedented public denunciation of the blasphemy law by hard-line mullahs.”
—
The All Pakistan Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics and scholars, which includes representatives from fundamentalist groups, joined hands with the Pakistan Interfaith League, which includes Christians, Sikhs and other religions, to call for justice for the girl, Rimsha, who is accused of blasphemy. They also demanded that those making false allegations be punished. [x]
This is simply excellent. Interfaith solidarity Pakistani style.
(via mehreenkasana)
YES.
(via mehreenkasana)
An Indian Muslim boy leans to rub noses with a girl as they are both dressed up for Eid al-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) prayers at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India, Aug. 20, 2012.
Photography by: Kevin Frayer
NEW DELHI: In a country where religious intolerance and communal hatred dominate the news now-a-days, here is something that goes to show that all is not rotten and ugly.
Muslim residents of Joshimath in Uttarakhand offered Eid namaaz (prayers) on Monday in a gurdwara (Sikh temple), after being invited in by its head priest, according to the local media. There is no mosque or idgah in Joshimath, a town perched above the Alakhnanda deep in the Garhwal Himalayas. Usually its 800-odd Muslim residents offer namaaz at the town’s Gandhi Maidan, a public ground.
On Monday, however, Gandhi maidan had turned into slush. It had been raining heavily for several days and Eid, the festival day too dawned in a downpour. The Muslim community was struggling with the problem when the head of the local gurdwara sent a heart warming message to them- The Muslims could use the main hall of the gurdwara for offering namaaz.
So, at 9:30am, the congregation of Muslims in bright new clothes trooped down to the gurdwara and offered the ritual prayers in the big hall. After the ceremony, they embraced the Sikh community members waiting outside the hall. Some Hindus from the town were present too and offered greetings to the other two communities.
Sardar Buta Singh, Prabandhak of the gurdwara, later told media persons that he had extended the invitation to the Muslims to help them in their crisis.
Maulvi Asif was quoted by media as saying that by solving their problem, the gurdwara committee had presented an example of humanity and respect towards all religions. He said that the Muslim community was thankful to the committee.
Joshimath is located about 250 kilometers from Rishikesh on National Highway 58. It is close to two important pilgrimage centers - Badrinath of the Hindus and Hemkunt Sahib of the Sikhs. [x]
“Sadly, the media has ignored the universal elements of this story, distracted perhaps by the unfamiliar names and thick accents of the victims’ families. They present a narrative more reassuring to their viewers, one which rarely uses the word terrorism and which makes it clear that you have little to worry about if you’re not Sikh or Muslim.”
—
Naunihal Singh argues the media treated the shootings in Oak Creek and Aurora very differently — in The New Yorker (via azmatzahra)
“One which rarely uses the word terrorism and which makes it clear that you have little to worry about if you’re not Sikh or Muslim.”
“One which rarely uses the word terrorism and which makes it clear that you have little to worry about if you’re not Sikh or Muslim.”
“One which rarely uses the word terrorism and which makes it clear that you have little to worry about if you’re not Sikh or Muslim.”
There’s the truth.
(via mehreenkasana)
(via mehreenkasana)
“Such declarations by the news media and others has an insidious subtext: that there’s something wrong with being a Muslim in America.”
—
‘Sikhs are not Muslims’ sends a sinister message.
[I]n the post-9/11 context of a deadly act committed by an apparent white supremacist against a congregation that is largely ethnically South Asian — a congregation that includes bearded men in turbans — broadcasting the mantra that “Sikhs are not Muslims” takes on a far more insidious subtext: Don’t blame these people, it implies, for the unspeakable crimes of 9/11. It’s Muslims you want.
This is how language is used as a weapon against communities. Thank you for writing this, Scott C. Alexander.
(via mehreenkasana)
(via mehreenkasana)
“While some experts and talking heads are quick and careful to point out what separates the traditions of Sikhs, Muslims and whoever else, I would rather remember the lessons of Udham Singh, a Sikh freedom fighter who at the height of the Indian independence struggle with England voluntarily changed his name to Mohammed Ram Singh to reflect a universal fight for justice. I want to remember the lessons of the Stockton Gurdwara in California during the early 1900’s, which opened its doors to Punjabi Americans and Indian Americans of all religions at a time when they couldn’t own land or become citizens.”
—
Our Uncles and Aunties in this Culture of Violence by Subash Kateel.
Did you read that? A Sikh freedom fighter who altered his name because he knew the hate the British colonizers had wasn’t just for him, but for Muslims, for Hindus, for Sikhs. So he called himself Mohammed Ram Singh.
Mohammed. Ram. Singh.
Muslim. Hindu. Sikh.
This is why I’m proud to be Desi. Our culture has heroes transcending borders, faiths and identities for one single purpose: Solidarity in the face of brutality. Don’t let another tragedy become a chance for hasty dialogue. We were known throughout the world for throwing the Empire out of our lands, for fearlessly facing those who tried enslaving us. For standing up for each other.
Let’s do this again, mere desi pyaron.
(via mehreenkasana)
Turban Styles from “Le Costume Historique”, 1888.
The complications of covering a relatively small religious group (there are between 25 and 30 million Sikhs in the world) were clear on Sunday. Outlets like BuzzFeed and writers like Sunny Hundal compiled several examples of reporters struggling with the facts of the religion: a Fox News analyst asking if there had been any “anti-Semitic acts” in the past against Sikhs; CNN’s Don Lemon wondering if Sikhs have “traditional enemies,” or if the shooterhad ”beef with the Sikhs”; a local Wisconsin station saying that the religion is “basedin northern Italy.”
ok America.
Just watched Narinder Singh, chairman of the Sikh Coalition, speak about and give a briefing on Sikhism in the segment ‘Understanding the Sikh religion’ on CNN. At one point, the anchor man claimed that the shooter might have confused Sikhs for Muslims, to which Narinder said ‘Whether it happened to Sikhs or Muslims, or anyone else, it shouldn’t happen.’ It’s really sad for something tragic like this to happen for people to pay attention to details.
“The CNN level of commentary: “Sikh people are not Muslim, but Hindu. They can be easily mistaken for Muslim or Taliban.”
— Source
