Mind the
Minority
Can we differentiate
the Diwali holiday and Ramzan/Christmas holidays. People may say all are
national holidays. What a national holiday mean? It tries to implicate all
citizens of India are going to celebrate, participate the celebration, share
the joy. But I have seen through my school days, Ramzan and Christmas are not
treated alike Diwali. The students of that particular religion are asked can
take leave and others has to attend the school. It has been perceived as the
discipline & decorum. I don't know the children whom with they going to
celebrate. And what impression do the children of majority population get in
their mind.
But if anybody asks
for the starting point of any extremism i would say the discrimination at your
childhood. The tipping point can be anything at any part of the life.
I had the chance to
have a conversation with a guy in Chittagong , Bangladesh. In broken English he
started to speak with me. He is a Hindu by birth and his ancestors are from a
village near by Chittagong. He know am an Indian and told he have relatives in
west bengal. He just asked my religion and i told him that am a Hindu. Then he
just started telling that here they have a famous durga puja every year. And he
was not able to celebrate because of restriction laid by Muslims. He told that
he cant use drums. And a famous Ragunath temple in Chittagong has been
demolished to pieces. Also he told that his family owns a big farm and ancestral house and no longer they can go back and live there. If it’s India he
might get some help to get back his property. During liberation war, Muslims, Hindus,
Christians, Buddhist fought against Pakistan but after that they didn’t get the
equal treatment. He told that they don’t have happy life here but still dont
want to leave as this his motherland and tears were in the verge of trickling
down. After he showed a Bengali novel written by him. At the end he told that
he shared everything because we are "Same-Same".
Apart from being a Hindu
I didn’t share any identity with him. Even i never went to a Kali temple. But
the pain of loss and loss of identity in his own motherland is unbearable.
Ragunath temple demolition in Chittagong, Babri Masjid demolition in Ajodhya,
Yazhpanam Library demolition in Srilanka (Here in the name of language) are
alike and done to against the minorities.
This is felt after
hearing from a affected person. I never spoke with a person who expresses the
pain of being a refugee after leaving the motherland. I never spoke with the
person who has been stamped as Maoist for being a tribal. I never spoke with
the children who cant go to school through a street with the slippers in foot.
I never spoke to a person who has seen his own neighbours raged in night over
him for being Muslim.
If everything happen
against minorities in India then it can happen anywhere in the world. Because
we have best of constitutions and the best ideologists. 'Unity in diversity',
implies, have your identity and respect others.
