Radiance News
New Delhi, Jan. 9:
A much debated book, “Being Muslim in Hindu India,” written by senior journalist and author Ziya Us Salam was released at India Islamic Cultural Center here Monday.
The author, who is an Associate Editor at The Hindu, while explaining on why he wrote the book, said, “Some people have congratulated me on being brave and the very fact that an author is congratulated for writing what is happening in the country and being called brave that probably explains the reason why this book was necessary.”
While elaborating on the focus area of the book, he said, “The age-old Dalits have been replaced by Muslims in contemporary India. Wherever I go on the road, I am not seen as a person but as a representative of the community, my life is in danger. On the streets of India, I am not safe, when I am sleeping in my bedroom, I am not safe. When I go to pray in a Masjid, my mosques are not safe; my places of learning, the madrasas are not safe. My eating habits are questioned, my dressings, my attire is not just questioned but lampooned. This book is an attempt to put together many such questions and hopefully find an answer.”
“We need urgently to stop the aggressive spread of Islamophobia which will eventually threaten the very core of being Indian. The state sponsorship of this dreaded disease and the evidence that it has infected the police and justice apparatus, education and the media. It will take generations to get rid of this virus,” said John Dayal, a noted social and human rights defender.
Manoj Kumar, Member of Parliament, while taking up the discussion forward said, “When I read the book and this is the first book release function in my life that I don’t feel elated that I am a part of a very happy exercise and it’s sad to be here. The absence of note of interrogation in the book title is the scariest thing for me. I want to compliment our prime minister that the fear makes sure that the masks are off. The masks on many faces are off now. We were living on the impression that despite riots and violence the secular nature of our country was that of Ocean but our prime minister has made us believe that it will remain a pond.”
“The people who are responsible for the present atmosphere in the country were there even before ten years but what is new is that they have become more visible and aggressive. People today have courage to say things publicly these days which was earlier impossible to say in drawing rooms. The fear and shame, respect for each other and togetherness totally disappeared. The otherness, the othering which was going on silently is now going on aggressively, said noted historian Syed Irfan Habib. “The medieval period has become a conflict zone means the Hindu-Muslim conflict zones,” added Irfan.
Earlier, Nidhi Razdan, former Executive Editor, NDTV, while opening up the discussion as a moderator, said, “My brother and I were taught to respect all religions despite everything our community went through in 1990. My father used to say doesn’t blame an entire community for this. Mistake takes place, wrong happens but we are a secular country and we should be proud of that tradition.”
Most of the speakers believed that even if BJP is out of power, it will take decades to put India back to normal because the hate poison has been firmly entrenched in the mindset of people.