06-08-2006, 12:31 AM
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Hello, I have read the last few articles and the comments on them. Those comments sounded very anti-India. Well, I wonder whether the peole posting them know anything about India? I am a Muslim, born and brought up in India. Let me first confess that though I am a Muslim, I am a very proud Indian. Though, my religion is in the minority, I have never felt left out from the society. Two of my best friends are Hindus and one is a Christian. Never ever I felt that I was not a part of this country or its culture. We have equal rights in the country. We are allowed to vote and can choose our leaders.
My elder brother fought in the Kargil war shoulder to shoulder with our Hindu brothers against Pakistan. And, my community is proud of him. Why? Because, this is our motherland. So what, we are not the majority religion? Where will we go if we leave this beautiful country??? Will Pakistan accept us ????? They have labled all the Muslims who migrated to Pakistan as Muhajirs. The Muhajirs were never able to assimilite in Pakistan. They were and will always be discriminated. In India, which is a secular country, you are a free will. The soicitey at large always accepts you. There are plenty of examples ... many Bollywood star (Amir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Fardeen Khan, Diya Mirza, Katrina Kaif, A.R. Rehman, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, etc) are Muslims. Indians have looked at their talent and many people worship these actors, inspite of them being Muslims. Pakistani artists such as Adnam Sami, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, etc., have made it bigger in India than in Pakistan.
Pakistan does not even allow Indian artists to perform in Pakistan. Why? Pick up any field, Muslims have done as well as any other Indian citizen. In Cricket, the most popular sport, Irfan Khan, Mohammed Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Wasim Zafer, all are Muslims and yet they are considered as stars in this country. Why? Because, every one has been given equal rights by the Indian constitution. Even industry salwarts such as billionoire Azim Premzi who heads the IT giant Wipro, is a Muslim. To top it all, the President of this country Abdul Kalam, is a Muslim. Why is this? Why even after being a Muslim, why are we given equal opportunity? This is the beauty of this country. It does not matter what religion you are, you have right of expression, you have right to travel anywhere, you have the right to be yourself - a complete freedom in the largest democracy of the world. Every society has its problems.
India has its own share of problems. Even the US has problems such as whites vs blacks, Mexicans vs Americans. Does that mean that the US will give a separate country for the blacks or to the Mexicans (Hispanics) in the US, just because their culture and language are simliar to that of South America???? Pakistanis argue that majority of the people in Kashmir are Muslims, so Kashmir must be a part of Pakistan. Well, get your facts right. India has the largest number of Muslims only after Indonesia. So, if you want to argue on that issue, then, Kashmir should be a part of India. And, what does Pakistan plan to give the Kashmiris? An extremist government that is the mother of all the terrorism around the world? At least in India, they can breathe free. In Pakistan, they will be suffocated to death. Remember, what Pak did to Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan)? Due to all the suffocation, Bangladesh had to fight for its independence from Pak. I as a Muslim, feel ashamed of this extremist nation. Because of them, every non-Muslim suspects our community as terrorists or Jihadis. We are looked upon suspicion. Why are they doing this to us? This is the 21st century and why are they creating an image that Islam is intolerant towards other??? We don't want to be called as barbarians. Islam is a very peaceful religion. Even the Prophet has said that killing another human is a crime against humanity.
I feel pained by the killings of innocents on the name of Islam. If only, in India and in the world, we had an able leader for our community who would let know our feelings to the world as well as fellow Indians. We, Muslims of India, love our fellow Indian brothers and sisters. We don't have any hatred towards Hindus, Christians or any other religion. As in any community, we are currently ill represented by our leaders who are spreading hatred for their own benefit. I sincerely pray that we all leave peacefully practicing our individual faiths. This is the only country in the world, where though the majority is Hindu, the President is a Muslim, the Prime Minister is a Sikh and the strongest political person is a Christian. To conclude ... ' dil diya hai, jaan bhi denge, yeh watan tere liye ' Jai Hind !!! --- Abdul Raheem
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Hello, I have read the last few articles and the comments on them. Those comments sounded very anti-India. Well, I wonder whether the peole posting them know anything about India? I am a Muslim, born and brought up in India. Let me first confess that though I am a Muslim, I am a very proud Indian. Though, my religion is in the minority, I have never felt left out from the society. Two of my best friends are Hindus and one is a Christian. Never ever I felt that I was not a part of this country or its culture. We have equal rights in the country. We are allowed to vote and can choose our leaders.
My elder brother fought in the Kargil war shoulder to shoulder with our Hindu brothers against Pakistan. And, my community is proud of him. Why? Because, this is our motherland. So what, we are not the majority religion? Where will we go if we leave this beautiful country??? Will Pakistan accept us ????? They have labled all the Muslims who migrated to Pakistan as Muhajirs. The Muhajirs were never able to assimilite in Pakistan. They were and will always be discriminated. In India, which is a secular country, you are a free will. The soicitey at large always accepts you. There are plenty of examples ... many Bollywood star (Amir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Fardeen Khan, Diya Mirza, Katrina Kaif, A.R. Rehman, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, etc) are Muslims. Indians have looked at their talent and many people worship these actors, inspite of them being Muslims. Pakistani artists such as Adnam Sami, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, etc., have made it bigger in India than in Pakistan.
Pakistan does not even allow Indian artists to perform in Pakistan. Why? Pick up any field, Muslims have done as well as any other Indian citizen. In Cricket, the most popular sport, Irfan Khan, Mohammed Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Wasim Zafer, all are Muslims and yet they are considered as stars in this country. Why? Because, every one has been given equal rights by the Indian constitution. Even industry salwarts such as billionoire Azim Premzi who heads the IT giant Wipro, is a Muslim. To top it all, the President of this country Abdul Kalam, is a Muslim. Why is this? Why even after being a Muslim, why are we given equal opportunity? This is the beauty of this country. It does not matter what religion you are, you have right of expression, you have right to travel anywhere, you have the right to be yourself - a complete freedom in the largest democracy of the world. Every society has its problems.
India has its own share of problems. Even the US has problems such as whites vs blacks, Mexicans vs Americans. Does that mean that the US will give a separate country for the blacks or to the Mexicans (Hispanics) in the US, just because their culture and language are simliar to that of South America???? Pakistanis argue that majority of the people in Kashmir are Muslims, so Kashmir must be a part of Pakistan. Well, get your facts right. India has the largest number of Muslims only after Indonesia. So, if you want to argue on that issue, then, Kashmir should be a part of India. And, what does Pakistan plan to give the Kashmiris? An extremist government that is the mother of all the terrorism around the world? At least in India, they can breathe free. In Pakistan, they will be suffocated to death. Remember, what Pak did to Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan)? Due to all the suffocation, Bangladesh had to fight for its independence from Pak. I as a Muslim, feel ashamed of this extremist nation. Because of them, every non-Muslim suspects our community as terrorists or Jihadis. We are looked upon suspicion. Why are they doing this to us? This is the 21st century and why are they creating an image that Islam is intolerant towards other??? We don't want to be called as barbarians. Islam is a very peaceful religion. Even the Prophet has said that killing another human is a crime against humanity.
I feel pained by the killings of innocents on the name of Islam. If only, in India and in the world, we had an able leader for our community who would let know our feelings to the world as well as fellow Indians. We, Muslims of India, love our fellow Indian brothers and sisters. We don't have any hatred towards Hindus, Christians or any other religion. As in any community, we are currently ill represented by our leaders who are spreading hatred for their own benefit. I sincerely pray that we all leave peacefully practicing our individual faiths. This is the only country in the world, where though the majority is Hindu, the President is a Muslim, the Prime Minister is a Sikh and the strongest political person is a Christian. To conclude ... ' dil diya hai, jaan bhi denge, yeh watan tere liye ' Jai Hind !!! --- Abdul Raheem
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