No Muslim Delivery Person!
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
3 September
2022
The
Miasma Of A Widespread Discrimination, Affecting Almost Every Individual, Has
Vitiated The Social Fabric And The Character Of A Nation; Today, Every Other
Person Is Either A Hindu Or A Muslim Or A Sikh
------
A Swiggy
customer in Hyderabad refused to accept food delivered by a Muslim delivery
boy.
I'm not
surprised by this news as the normalisation of religion-based hatred and
ill-feelings is an in-thing in 'modern' Indian society.
What
surprises me is the widespread acceptance of such biases which ought not to
have any place in a 'civilised' world.
I remember,
while conversing with Dr Edward Said in New York, he used a somewhat difficult
phrase, modern religio-mental ghettoisation. He explained it as I couldn't
fathom its full import and impact.
Said told
me prophetically that in the days to come, religions would influence their
respective followers so powerfully that they would be mentally and culturally
ghettoised to distinguish and discriminate among themselves. Feelings of ours
and theirs would be so common that we'd stop wondering at the instances of such
occurrences.
So very
true! The miasma of a widespread discrimination, affecting almost every
individual, has vitiated the social fabric and the character of a nation.
Today, every other person is either a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh. Religion is
working as an adhesive, albeit in a negative manner. Followers have relegated
themselves to being tufts of soiled hair. No one is a human. All are ghettoised
and labelled creatures calling themselves Hindus, Muslims, Christians and all
that jazz.
The quintessential
example of the nature and spirit of the readers and contributors of this very
intrepid site can be adduced to ram home the point and highlight the prevalent
moods of exclusivity.
I've been
writing for NAI site for last 5 months. I'm having to tell, that except for
negative comments by a couple of MUSLIM gentlemen, no MUSLIM ever commented
positively on any piece of mine. All the (positive) comments have come from
Non-Muslims like Mr Prakhar Garg, Mr Murli Chari, Dr Anburaj and Brigadier (retd.)
Onkar Goraya, one of the most decorated, respected and ATHEIST Army officers of
Indian Army whose role in Indo-Pak War, 1971 and Operation Bluestar can never
be forgotten.
No Muslim commented positively because to
them, I'm a non-Muslim. Not that I long for positive opinions coming from my
esteemed readers, whichever religion they may belong to, the point is, a
structured ghettoisation or mental block precludes them (read Muslims) from
commenting positively on my writings. They'll comment only on Muslims'
writings.
Hindus are
doing the same. All are tarred with the same brush. If my dear friend Shoaib
Huda was refused point-blank while booking a flat in the Hindu majority housing
society, my liberal Hindu friend Dr Kapil Narang too was politely told by a
Muslim gentleman that the housing society was mainly for Muslims. Find some
other place.
This
reminds me of Nida Fazli's couplet,
Koi
Hindu, Koi Musalman, Koi Eisaaii Hai;
Sab Ne
Insaan Na Ban-Ne Ki Qasam Khayee Hai
Indeed, no
one calls himself or herself a HUMAN. We all need a tag just like an item shows
its price tag in a shop or mall. We're all cheap objects in the world market.
When I call myself an ideologically emancipated person, having no creed, caste,
god or any such pieces of turd, none seems to empathise with me. Because,
they're not evolved enough to dig the very idea, an exalted one to be precise,
that a man can survive without any cheap identity. I ask myself, why're humans
so unevolved that they cannot live sans a label, tag or flag?
At the moment, India's national Zeitgeist is
sickly religious and pathologically nationalistic. No wonder, if the likes of
Hyderabad occurrence keep happening in the days to come. We're religiously
yoked forever.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages
including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/muslim-delivery-person/d/127867
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