“How on earth could a school disentitle a student from pursuing studies just because he has kept a beard?” It’s a fair question, and significant because it was raised by the Bench of India’s Supreme Court.
Of course we are talking about an Indian Muslim student, Mohammad Salim, who was expelled from Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School in Madhya Pradesh because he had decided to keep his beard. The Indian Supreme Court agreed with Salim, stating, “There will be no end to such prima facie ridiculous rules. Tomorrow the school authorities would say they would not allow entry to students who are not fair in complexion.”
This ruling is rather interesting because a few months ago the Indian Supreme Court not only dismissed Salim’s appeal, but peppered him with the now infamous “Talibanisation” comment. The Bench was quick to recall its order along with an apology for the unwarranted comment. That was welcome news, but no one can return to Salim the year of school he lost; no one can repay him for his anxiety, suffering and humiliation.
Whether it involves a hijab or a beard, Muslim students often find themselves embroiled in a struggle to pursue their identity. The ban on wearing hijab in public schools in France and discrimination against Muslim students in India perpetuates a culture of hatred.
Salim’s story is a matter of personal freedom. I understand that schools must have a code of conduct, but if the code of conduct clashes with personal freedom, it is the latter that must prevail.
Does this school discriminate against students who wear bindi on their foreheads? Are the Sikhs allowed to wear turbans? Should the Jews be expelled from school for wearing skullcaps? Should the Christians be prohibited from wearing a cross? My guess would be no, since this is a Catholic school.
Indians have always presented themselves as being a model of religious pluralism; they have always maintained that they can coexist with Muslims, and that Muslims even have the potential to grow as a minority.
Nothing can be further from truth!
Muslims, it is often said, are India’s new untouchables. Three years ago the Indian government commissioned a report on the “Status of the Muslim Community,” popularly known as Sachar Report, which exposed a country that is anything but “plural.”
The Sachar report concluded that literacy rates among Muslims were much below the national average. Twenty-five percent of Muslim children ages 6-14 have either never attended school or have dropped out. Stating the obvious, the report says that expansion of educational opportunities since Independence has not led to a convergence of attainment levels between Muslims and all others. Dropout rates among Muslims are higher at the level of primary, middle and higher secondary schools. The disparity in graduation attainment rates since the 1970s is widening between Muslims and all other categories in both urban and rural areas.
A shameful fact to bear in mind: Only one out of 25 undergraduate students and one out of 50 postgraduate students in Indian colleges and universities are Muslim. Unemployment rate among Muslim graduates is the highest among all socio-religious communities.
Indians have often argued that Muslim parents hold their children back from attending mainstream schools. The report busted this myth, acknowledging that Muslim parents are not averse to mainstream education or to sending their children to affordable government schools. “Access to government schools for Muslim children is limited. There is non-availability of schools within easy reach for girls at lower levels,” the Sachar Committee reports.
It is heartening to know that in a country where Muslims have so little rights, minimal access to resources, and are discriminated against every day, the judicial victory of a young man, Mohammad Salim, is still possible. Hats off to him for taking legal recourse, and for fighting to get his seat at the school back. What this young man and his parents have done is exemplary; when faced with injustice, he did not turn to violence but instead engaged the justice system. He used digital media, community resources and everything he possibly could to amplify his voice.
I am hoping India’s justice system will ensure that this young man is compensated for time and emotional distress to a tune that will prohibit others from discrimination.
Here’s a message for the Indian government: Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” May I suggest replacing “animals” with “minorities” to start? When you treat your minorities so poorly, your love for animals is anything but sincere.
Ibrahim Sajid Malick is a Pakistani-American writer, technologist, and social entrepreneur. He has been writing on Pakistani society and politics since 1986. He has held several media, communications, and technology positions for organizations large and small. Mr. Malick graduated from New School for Social Research with a master’s degree in anthropology. He holds several technology and management certifications. He works for a leading technology firm and blogs at www.ibrahimsajidmalick.com
@yusuf: That is NOTHING compared to how minorities in Pakistan are treated…so before any of u guys point fingers at india, make sure ur country is not at fault…otherwise, you’re just a bunch of hyppocrites..
@yusuf:
This comes from an uppercaste Hindu…lowers castes and minorities have quotas from where they complete their education and secure jobs…people like me just have to struggle…please do ur research before you post..
I’ve read quite a few comments saying muslims are ill treated in india..if that’s the case why are they still here?? If anyone from pakistan feels that muslims here are ill treated then you’re welcome to take them ‘home’…any muslim in india feeling the same might as well leave…if you feel no patriotism towards the country you stay in, there is no point in staying there…
One single action does not reflect the whole nation. It is easy to sit and point fingers at others but we should also look at our own back yard. At the onset I will tell you I am an Indian but with a world view.
No country is perfect and India has it’s share of problems. India is 2nd most populated country in the world. So you cannot even imagine the issues faced due to this fact. I do not know the exact percentage but I know Muslims are the largest minority in India. So every one, Muslims or non-Muslims have their fair share.
The problem is with the perception. Since the partition Pakistan and India have been enemies. Although we have shared so many things like music, food, movies etc but the animosity never reduced between the 2 nations.
Let me give you some examples from India –
* Bollywood has umpteen examples like the 3 Khan i.e. Even Salman’s brother have done well.
* 2 Oscars won by Indian are Muslim by religion. They were celebrated and respected for their achievements.
* Monday is a national holiday here to celebrate Id. Even banks will be closed.
* Father of our nuclear program APJ Abdul Kalam. What about A Q Khan ?
I can go on typing till no end. I challenge any non-Muslim country to prove they have the same level of respect for Muslims. The same challenge is for Muslim countries – how much respect and tolerances do you have for other religion?
Do respond to this post….
What propoganda!
Indian schools do discriminate against girls wearing bindi, against boys wearing religious threads, and hindus in general from wearing any ’tilaks’ on the forehead. ONLY Sikhs are allowed the turbans because it is part of their religion- then too they have to follow a code of wearing it.
Please do not be biased- for the sake of desi community worldwide, we asians should love each other.
Gandhi & Jinnah, both were towering personalities. Both men were well read and smart enough to know, that a nation state cannot survive solely on the basis of religion, especially in today’s pluralistic environment.
And somebody on this thread commented the Two nation theory was Jinnah’s brainchild and he executed it. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Those who do not read & learn from history, are bound to repeat it. The idea of a muslim nation state was that of Syed Ahmed Khan, and later Allama Iqbal (who, incidentally, penned India’s national song “Saare Jahaan se achha” )
The idea was brought to fruition by scheming behind the scenes actors, who had vested interests in real estate, but needed a facade. Mr Jinnah was a very sophisticated and secular Indian, who lived most of his life in Bombay, but was convinced into the idea of Pakistan, exactly at the moment when he had a disagreement with Nehru over seat sharing in the provincial govt. under the british. Jinnah wanted a loose indian federation with equal and protected rights for all communities, including the muslims, and never a separate country.
Few pakistanis would know that the quaid recruited a Hindu poet to write Pakistan’s first national anthem, thus wanting to sow the seeds of secularism in his new country. The country set out as a democratic and secular nation, but soon fell to the pressures of the zamindaars who needed the religion alibi to keep going with their feudalism.
And all this was still 70-80 YEARS ago!
Mark my words. Borders of nation states are not static. They change. The lines we’ve drawn on the subcontinent were not there 200 years ago. 200 years from now these won’t be there. There might be a different set. Or, i pray, there may be none.
Religion:
We’ve all witnessed comments flying from both sides saying Hindus are that and Muslims are this.
After reading all those comments, do you not feel it is high time we just grew up.
There is nothing that we don’t know. Every single person on this thread knows and believes we are humans first and hindus/muslims/christians later. If that is what it is, if that is what you know, why is it so difficult to act on this knowledge that you already have.
The venom that this Raj guy was spewing in a few posts above mine, is a result of the conditioning we give our children. We tell our children that the hindu majority schemes against the muslim minority, OR, the muslims are the in-bred lot, not nice people and what not.
You know, it is not really difficult to just stop telling your children how other religions are bad and your own is the best. Why don’t we just tell them whats good about our own faith (Both the Hindu and Islamic faith, by the way, are inclusive and loving)
Let them go out and discover for themselves whats good and bad. Trust me, they’ll do a better job than you can imagine, and a far better job than what we ourselves managed to do with the conditioning our parents gave us.
And the ones who are out to ‘PROTECT’ their faith (every religion has its bunch of nincompoops who’ve taken upon themselves to DEFEND their faith), please let me tell you, the day your faith starts ‘needing’ your protection, is the day that faith has lost its place in human consciousness. Your faith does not need you to protect it. It is far greater and taller in stature and its message to people so profound and so noble, that it has and will stand through all the tests it has to go through.
All us enlightened souls know that the whole universe and all that is contained in it, came from a single source (i’m sure you’ve all read ‘the big bang’ theory, but never thought of it in this light) then why create your own artificial differences and fight and kill over those?
Apologies for the sermonising. And about the theme of this post – india (ill)treating its minorities – and specific reference to muslims. There has to be some merit to the fact that a majority of the community’s religious leaders are not doing a brilliant job. The victim paranoia, education and health of the community in general has alot to do with what is taught at the religious congregation. I mean what response would you give to the mullah, who in his friday sermon asks muslim parents to not give their children polio immunity drops because it was the hindu govt.’s ‘chaal’ to hurt their children. (never mind that the same medicine was being administered to all children who were brought to the healt centres, irrespective of faith)
If minorities, in general, have been ill treated and deliberately kept away from economic opportunities, what explains the the rise in fortunes of the Christian and Sikh minorities in India? In spite of the fact that both have suffered similar instances of discrimination and been at the receiving end of violence and rioting by a few fundamentalist bigots?
No nation is perfect and neither are India or Pakistan. There was and will always be crime and deviation from moral behaviour (in this case, religious discrimination). But we’ve to decide what is the standard deviation we want to allow in a country of one and a half billion people.
I believed the problem in India is quite the opposite. The successive governments and the system itself, is so aware of the possibility and incidence of discrimination, that to nullify the effect the past behaviour, that it has pro-actively created checks, balances, safe guards, provisions and reservations for minorities (not just religious, but also regional, ethnic, and caste based). And that, today, has become counter productive, to the extent that if any individual finds himself in the sorry state of being absent in any of the classified minorities, he is at such a disadvantage, for he will not find a reserved seat for himself in either an instititution of higher learning or for a govt employment opportunity.
The situation is such that people are fighting and rioting to have themselves classified as ‘Backward Class’ (it doesn’t matter that they’ve been at the higher spectrum of the societal structure for centuries).
I think it is highly unfair to sit on a higher pedestal and judge India, and summarily declare that it systematically ill treats the minorities.
Not one country in this world is a perfect model for religious pluralism, but if you were to list out the countries who’ve actually done something to acknowledge and accept multiple systems of religion withing one nation state and also prevent discrimination and systematically create opportunities on the basis of merit and not an individual’s subscription of a particular faith, i’d say India figures on top of that list.
who gives these pakis the right to publish such crap about india on their blogs? i dont have an answer to that, but i have other points to state here
everyone who tries to promote muslims in india must remember the fact that india is a secular country because of its hindu majority, you cannot name one nation with muslim majority that treats all religions alike, even on paper.
opinions do not form out thin air, its the experience that shapes opinions, muslims are everywhere associated with intolerance, and whats worse about them, their intolerance increases as they become more educated (this blog proves the point)
if we cast an open ‘yes/no’ vote on the subject “muslims = intolerance” then i am sure more than 50% of world (non-muslim) population would say yes.
you cannot name one thing, except non-veg dishes, that muslim cultures have given to this world.
what do we, what should we expect out of a religion whose scriptures say that every person on earth must be a muslim, implicit belief is that all other religions are inferior, implies that if a muslim treats his hindu friend as an equal he is actually violating his religion!!
what can i expect out of people whose religion prohibits them from respecting me, the religion that says ‘there is just one god, and only he commands true respect’ (may i interpret this as no living creature commands respect, because there is nothing like false respect or less respect)
how can the world leaders expect peace from muslim nations when their basic motive is that only muslims are worthy of living (palistene and isreal conflict is a proof of the point).
equality is something that comes out from the heart, and respect is the basis of all equality, respect everyone and everyone will be equal, be it a slug or a pig or an elephant… religion fades away like white smoke when you respect others. but when you dont respect others, there is no hope.
@ ameesh: You hit the nail on head. Perfect words. That is the irony of it all.
The very same people wants non muslim majority countries to be secular and muslim majority countries to have sharia implemented.
For Muslims ! It is not the overgrown hair growth on the face or the head it is something very deep inside a which has been put there since childhood that you are a human apart of other humans you are not to accept any other form of social system may it be education,governance,social behaviour,acceptance or tolerance of any other religeous belief.Your God is the only one one and none other are acceptable.So it becomes a external sign of rebelion for all the reasons , it is potrayed and perceived as the great wish to go back 1600 years and take the rest of the humanity.A community which has rejected the commonly used calender just today ,The Eid Day ,as a great sin.
Now what
@raheem: To Raheem :
See One in 50 is better than the ration of population of Muslims in INDIA (18%).There is no discrimination here … Muslims in enjoy great privileges, they have reservations in schools get HAJ subsidy … guess no other country gives this to their citizens … when INDIAN Hindus do not get this for their religious tours.
And Mr.IBRAHIM SAJJID MALLICK better mind ur countries endless problems rather than poking ur nose in ours.Go & find out how many heads of men have got chopped off & how many women are getting whipped.
there no dening the fact that all kinds of discrimination exists in India. We are not proud of this fact. Incidently major cause of discrimination is not relision but is money.
The pluses that we have here are freedom to say or publish what you think is right and democratic nature of government, justice system and media freedom. With these we hope to fight the injustice peresent in this country. And there is hope for us. I dont think this can be said about our neighbours. Common people there are just getting caught in betwwen agendas of politisions. Genetically Pakistanis and Indians are the same people. It was all one region from ancient times. In reality pakistan would greatly benefit from indian experties in most fields. Thats what we should do, share our knowledge and wealth, insted of bickiring about unnecessary stuff.
well i’m not surprised to see all this hatred between Indian’s and Pakistani’s but i never thought that it goes down deep to Hindu’s and Muslims. I’m a Zoroastrian guy born and brought up in neither of the two countries and have mingled with people from both religions and countries. Obviously such issues do not exist in the west and the people from both religions and countries live together like brothers. One thing which i find really weird is that someone posted a comment saying ” Dear Indian musalman -very simple if India is so bad welcome to go back to ur motherland pakistan. We can live without your gracious prescence”, this is one of the reason my family migrated from India in the first place because they considered them Parsi’s first and then Indians. India is a secular country and no faith, sect or cast, be it majority or minority has any right to tell anyone to go back.
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am pleased to introduce you with Whiz.PK, Pakistan’s first contextual advertising network. Whiz.PK provides you an excellent opportunity to promote your business throughout Pakistan by placing text-ads on dozens of top Pakistani websites.
Whiz.PK is a Targeted Contextual Advertising Network that serves millions of impressions each month by partnering with dozens of specialized websites. Your text ads will instantly appear in our affiliated websites that have related contents to your product or service.
Contextual Advertising means that your advertisement is only shown on a website that is ‘in Context’ to your specific product or service. Our online contextual advertising technology works by publishing your text and/or rich media advertisement on the relevant affiliated websites that would best match your selected targeted keywords, channels or geographic locations. Our online contextual advertising network is set on an auction model (CPC metrics) where you may bid for placement ranking. The higher your bid, the higher placement and frequency of your ad listing will be shown on our publishers’ website.
Click here to start promoting your business online
Some of Key Advertising Features of Whiz.PK
Geo targeting of campaigns
24×7 real-time stats
High quality & reputable publishers
Fraud control system in place
No cost for impressions, pay for clicks only
Easy Mode of Payment:
At Whiz.PK, you can make payments using your credit card or PayPal account. You can also add funds into your account through bank transfer, bank draft or crossed cheque. So, now everyone can advertise their business online without any difficulty.
Click here to start promoting your business online
Please visit our website http://www.whiz.pk for further details. If you have any other query, please feel free to write back to me.
Regards,
Gulfam Mustafa
Customers Relationship Manager
Whiz.PK
@danial: Dear Danial – very simple, whoever criticizes his country, whoever loves pakistan more than India is welcome to go there. It is a simple logic, my dear. We have had enuff of havoc created by some of these Islamic fanatics, who take advantage of our secularism and demand sharia laws in my country.
Just check the pakistani reaction to secularism in the readers comments on:
http://ibrahimsajidmalick.com/towards-secular-pakistan/148/. It is surprising that these very people want secularism in India and all non muslim cuntries.
@ameesh: You are wrong that muslim contribution is only non veg dishes. how bout suicide bombing, jihad, killing non muslims, forcible conversions, brutal sharia and cowardly bombing of innocent people. Now that’s some contribution.
@mr ringer…….”how bout suicide bombing, jihad, killing non muslims, forcible conversions, brutal sharia and cowardly bombing of innocent people. Now that’s some contribution.”….it surprises me that educated people have this notion about islam and muslims….this has nothing to do with islam….islam is quite different frm waht its publicized in the media…and if muslims do suicide bombings, its their personal war against the armies which blw thier homes, rape their women, make them live in fear…its very easy to say that..but if u go thr that trauma u wil understand…and forcible conversions aren’t conversions at al.(quran says so)… jihad is struggle yar…it starts wit the purification of self….’one meanin of ISLAM is peace’how can it certify killing of innocent people…please understand ISLAM first hand frend
I encourage and request Mr. Raj-K to post more comments … he is just proving the point made in the blog post .. (should I add SIMPLE)!!
یہ سب DOLLERS کا کمال ہے
india is a poor country , ruled by fanatic stupid hindus, O Muslims&Christians of india you will never be safe there, hindus will always torture you and try to ruin your lives and never let you follow your religion like the case mentioned in the post. So your only options are to
1) either go for another separatist movement.
2) Miggrate to some muslim country.
India will have to be broken down to furthur soverign states as small as Bangladesh. And ofcourse hindus will keep fueling this notion by acting stupid( like above and like always).India is not meant to be one state. Minorities will have to realise this and get rid of coward hindus
hi
everybody, i am Rebecca working in Multinational firm in the US. Am an indian by origin. And i even find the idea of returning to india and living there extremely horrifying . I would never want to live in a state where the majority wants to insult and inflict loss and pain upon you by one means or the other. Here is the US christians are the majority but you wont find any case of religious harrasment. Hindus are actually a little backward and conservative,they have to upgrade themselves, looks like they are living somewhere in the past . Christians or Muslims when migrate to other countries , never think of returning and thats the truth. Hindus seem to fail again and agin in recovering from there mental disorders. Indian Christians will have look for independence in the near future(sorry , no offence)
Yup. David is right. We hindus are stupid and the people from minorities which are doing exceling in their field are doing it because they are scared. So all they are going to do is they want to earn money from India and migrate to Palestine, Turkey, Pakistaan, Bangaladesh, Iran, Iraq, Afganistaan, Nigeria.
Bravo David!!! you have high IQ unlike Hindus
To the author:
My Indian teachings tells me not to blame others if u r not able to live your own life sinlessly. My indian teachings also includes teachings of Islam and that tells me the same.
I wonder whether they teach you some other Islam in Pakistan.
Salim had a controversy with his school. As his basic human right, he fought against it successfully and he was supported in his fight.
He won but that does not matter. The most imp point here is that he could fight and he was allowed to approach the hightest judicial authority in India as a normal citizen of India.
This is what India is!
Wherever in this world there is a majority-minority issue based on religion, caste, color, customs or language – It is simply human that the minority will be looked upon with raised eyebrows from the Majority. Nobody cam be blamed here, I repeat it is only human to do so. But what happens after that, makes ALL THe DIFFERENCE.
1. Is the minor allowed to raise his voice or he fears to be crushed?
2. Is the system ready to hear all voices or is it biased and extremist?
3. Is the system ready to realise and rectify it’s mistakes if recognized?
And now take this Mr Author- Replace Salim by Ram and replace Pakistan by Hindustan. Replace Salim’s beared by Ram’s tilak on his forehead or any other religious symbol.
What are the chances that the Ram would get the same treatment in Pakistan as Salim got in Hindustan?
@ David and Rebecca
Dear friends, My teachings also tell me one very simple thing:
“Never judje the book by it’s cover”. I wud go a bit further and say that when you do not know urself completely, how on the hell you claim to know about a far located country so well.
And that too this extent that you have passed a straight judgement for the place where billions of people are living with each other inspite of having numerous differences. I am impressed by you guys, you must be almost very close to becoming God Himself. Amazing!
Well the main reason i feel is people’s tendency not to change or their reluctance on change. Religion, custom, culture all these are volatile things and keep on changing with respect to time. So we human have been tring to adapt these changes as it comes which is inevitable and better learnt on time otherwise for any community denying the change….GAME OVER PEOPLE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ1O9NlnugE
this is d world’s view about India.
A humble request to all indians here.
Kindly channelize your energies in productive activities.
This blog is in no way proving that India is better.
Stop feeding a parasite. If you really wish good for your country, i suggest you start working hard and mind your own business.
I am an indian, even i too cannot stand abuses hurled at india, but hey you know whos is more economically, culturally, spiritually and militarily more stronger!
Having more nukes, in no ways shows that you are a super power. Your mentality makes your persona. So my dear indian friends, i humbly urge you to change your mentality and channelize such energies into your work, into academics, into research, into nation building.
Afterall, this will ensure that the gap between the rich and the poor (here i meant, the economic prowess of the 2 countries) widen.
You should visit our Country to see the situation. The article is far from the truth, if fact “minorities” get more rights than us Hindus in most of the matters. You have reservations (fixed percentage) of seats in almost all Government colleges and Government services. But the fact is most of them never get filled.
You should reason and not just blindly attack. You just may end up shooting yourself.
Let’s discuss some facts here. I’m from Lucknow, the city of tehzeeb. I had a lot of muslim friends at school, and I had a privileged education (from the best school in the city). I am very moderate by upbringing, and one day, out of curiosity asked my friend, Syed,what did his maulvi saab teach him at home? My frind , moderate though he was, told me about Islam’s teaching that kids are god’s gift to mankind, and that family planning is against Allah’s message, amonst some other teachings, a number of them good. I am drwan to this message, again, because, according to Malthus, resources do not expand to fill the population explosion. To recall, during partition, Indian muslims with influence, power and greater money migrated to Pakistan, while daily wagers and more hard pressed people were left behind, because they had much to lose by losing a known area, and occupation for income. Now we had a situation, in which a community, in which ghettoisation induced by the partition, caused a community to become more insular. The craftsmen and artisans constituted a greater share of india’s muslims than before. (the rich ones had fled to Pakistan, selling off their properties) This class of people had economic reasons to have more children( more hands to work, with ready teachings of skill available to earn early inlife). This class also listened to their maulvis, who were influential people in a community which was slightly ghettoised, and understood that it was alright to have a large no of children. 30 years of this, brought up one and a half generation of manually skilled, but semi-literate people in larger percentage, than national average.
The figures qoted by the sachar report are statements of facts, and we Indians believe in understanding and bettering the state of affairs, so that we can improve the plight of our citizens be they muslim or hindus. Some misguided people on this blog, and i daresay the writer himself, misread facts as an admission of discrimination. It must give them vicarious pleasure to be doing so, because like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, I find them tilting at imaginary windmills of muslim discrimiation being cause of lack of education.
Getting to discrimination against muslims, it is a product of the 1992 riots followed by bomb attacks in which both communities went out with swords, and kerosene to spread havoc, (after a nice hindu led govt of Mulayam singh had murdered 1000 hindus to prevent a Babri mosque from being destroyed by kar sewaks, and Pakistanis will never acknowledge this because that will show an Indian in a good light). These riots were followed by a gang, full of a*******, incidentally all belonging to a “green” religion, blowing up bombay and murdering 270 innocent people.These a******* were helped by ISI (read the witnesses and accused’s statements on this please) to blow up mumbai. This was followed by a large search operation against people supporting such an initiative. more than 95% of these people were muslims. This fact became the seed of distrust, which exists in bombay today, with respect to residence in housing societies.
This distrust is called discrimination by politically interested people, and people such as writers of this blog, jump on misinformation to produce goebbel type propaganda.
Sheikh chilli was a joke, Pakistan is not. It is a farce, and its intellectuals a blot.
Thank You
@tusharsingh: @ibrahimsajidmalick Completely agree with Tushar.. It is true that Muslims in India are still backward in many ways but I can assure you Mr Ibrahim that we Muslims in India are more at home here and less discriminated than in America or the “secular” muslims in pakistan. Mind you I am not brushing off some fanatics who have targeted us but only wish to present my case as your blog appears as if India as a nation has a problem.
nobody will win so just zip it..You people are more willing to start a war…And stop accusing eachother…Every country has problems…Even Usa has the highest rate of murder and rape…Majority of the population in South East Asia is hungry and poor..In this scenerio what are we proud of ..our missiles, our guns, our tanks and our pride..Which are all just brain washed into our minds by media, newspapers, Army and politicians…
@murad ali:
dude i thought we treated our indian muslims very well…n of ur not happy here then jus shut up go to ur heaven called PAKISTAN n u’ll then knw wats hell n heaven!
U r calling India non secular, where Wasim Akram is the mentor of an IPL team and a regular commentator for Indian cricket channels, Atif Aslam records 100s of songs every year for Bollywood movies, Ghulam Ali too, and people love them, where Adnan Sami practically lives. These my friends are Pakistanis who are treated like stars in India. So talking about Indian Muslims being discriminated is bewilderingly far fetched. Indian cricket team has had Azhar as captain, Zaheer, Irfan, Yousuf, Kaif as stars, I ask you how did they get into the National side if their was discrimination? APJ Abdul Kalam has been India’s most respected personality and brain behind India’s status today as a Nuclear Power. Our PM is a wonderful, Oxford educated economist and he is a Sikh. India is a rising super power and I am afraid Pakistan is still obsessed with India and not looking after its own welfare. For the good of Pakistan, for the good of South Asia and for the good of the World please concentrate on your own problems.
Dear friends i have a serious problem with the way you people love generalising certain stuff specially when it comes things taht are detrimental to Indian interest. Here is a guy who writes like an intellectual in sophisticated English, interviews Noam Chowmsky on international relations and then potrays one wrong judgement by the Indian court as the rule prevalent in India.
come on dude have a life. I seriously expect better stuff from you. Do u really read what people reply or you just love writing inflamatory statements and enjoy seeing individuals freaking out.
The entire world knows that there have been a lot of mistakes committed In India against there minorities and the Babri masjid masacre tops the chart amongst them but then we have done a lot more good as well and we would appreciate people with a more progressive and holistic approach. We have given our minority population a lot of protection under the minorities act and for this many a times the Hindus have had to face unfair deals as well. does that not seem to you as a symbol of pro pluralism. Jawaharlal Nehru forbid Rajendra Prasad to inaugurate temples, why dont you write your next blog on that?
If you are what claim to be my wish would certainly come true in your next blog. even though I want to congratulate you for realising pakistani involvement in 26/11. I realy appreciate that.
First of all let me assert that I am an Indian and an atheist born of Hindu parents. I don’t respect any religion. That said, I do not force my beliefs on other like religious zealots do, be they either Hindus, Muslims, Christians or any other. So my personal opinion is that no religious symbol should be brought to school. In fact, students in an academic institution should be totally insulated from such divides like religion, caste, language, wealth etc.
In the case of Mohammed Salim, he was studying in a Christian Missionary School which explains their, however despicable, attempt at asking him to shave his beard. That said, I have to admit that I really don’t see any logical reason why a person want to have a ridiculous beard just because a few old men decided that a few thousand years ago. Similarly I don’t understand why anyone would like to put a tilak on their forehead, does not look like much of a fashion statement to me. Also, most schools have rules barring students to keep long hair, long nails etc. Obviously those rules are hardly ever applied to Sikhs but in the case of Salim, they were applied to devastating effect. I am really sorry for him. And I am really sorry for the students of the school who are taught by a faculty that remained a mute spectator, if not an active participant, in such a despicable act.
The Supreme Court has obviously set a good precedent by judging in favour of Salim and thats the beauty of a free and fair judicial system. We, Indians, may make mistakes but we have check and balances to correct them. Something Pakistan can hardly claim.
Also let me inform you that my best friend is a Muslim. His sister ties rakhi on my hand each year. To me, they are family. I go to their place every year during Eid. I don’t believe in any of those customs but they do and when they invite me I can’t say no.
To me, it seems that a lot of Muslims are suffering from an identity crisis. And that is why they fall back on religion to provide them with one. And I have seen this with a lot of religious people and not just Muslims. The less confident a person is about himself/herself or of his/her abilities, the more religious he/she is.
“Salim’s story is a matter of personal freedom. I understand that schools must have a code of conduct, but if the code of conduct clashes with personal freedom, it is the latter that must prevail.”
I completely disagree. If my personal freedom means I come naked to school, is the school supposed to accept that. Or for that matter, how many schools in Paskistan would let a girl come without a burka? And by the way, Salim’s personal freedom was nowhere questioned. It were his religious freedom that were curbed. Religion was never his personal choice, it was forced on him by his Muslim parents, in much the same way in which Hindu or Christian or Sikh parents force their children to take up their fate. And that’s not right. A child must be allowed to think and reason and make decisions from logical conclusions.
“Indians have always presented themselves as being a model of religious pluralism; they have always maintained that they can coexist with Muslims, and that Muslims even have the potential to grow as a minority.
Nothing can be further from truth!
Muslims, it is often said, are India’s new untouchables.”
Yes, we Indians want to be a model of religious pluralism. Thats what this country was formed on. Yes, some very wrong things have happened in the name of religion. Anti-Sikh riots, Gujarat riots, those are horrible crimes. We are ashamed of them. And yet, a majority of are constantly trying to set an example of religious tolerance. Despite everything, we wont give up on our ideal, that of a country where everyone is treated equal. We at least try, unlike Pakistan.
“The Sachar report concluded that literacy rates among Muslims were much below the national average. Twenty-five percent of Muslim children ages 6-14 have either never attended school or have dropped out. Stating the obvious, the report says that expansion of educational opportunities since Independence has not led to a convergence of attainment levels between Muslims and all others. Dropout rates among Muslims are higher at the level of primary, middle and higher secondary schools. The disparity in graduation attainment rates since the 1970s is widening between Muslims and all other categories in both urban and rural areas.”
Well I agree that literacy rates among Muslims is far lower than the national average. Yes students might have dropped out as the report says. But where does it mention that religious discrimination made the students drop out?
“Only one out of 25 undergraduate students and one out of 50 postgraduate students in Indian colleges and universities are Muslim. Unemployment rate among Muslim graduates is the highest among all socio-religious communities.”
Again, I don’t see how admission in institutions of higher education is biased against Muslims. If you are not aware, in India, getting into any good educational institution requires merit. Take engineering colleges for example. I am an engineering student from a National Institute of Technology (NIT). Lakhs of students appeared for an entrance exam in which only 10,000 made it to NITs. Similarly, only around 5,000 make it to IITs. And its all based on merit. Marks are not added or deducted based on religion. Similarly for any college, what matters is your marks. If you have the marks, you will get admitted. I guess, this does not happen in Pakistan. If there are fewer undergrad and post grad Muslim students, its obviously because they are not competent enough. Period.
“It is heartening to know that in a country where Muslims have so little rights, minimal access to resources, and are discriminated against every day”
What little rights do you talk of? We have one constitution and one set of rights for all citizens. And in case you don’t realize, Muslims are Indian citizens. Please bear that in mind. And what minimal access to resources? Can you please care to explain why those resources that you mention are not accessible to Muslims? If I know my country’s constitution properly, all resources are equally accessible to all. Please don’t make such vague, rhetorical statements which might put your intellect to question.
“the judicial victory of a young man, Mohammad Salim, is still possible.”
Yes, Mr. Mallick it is. And you know why? Because we have a free and fair judicial system. Does Pakistan have that?
“I am hoping India’s justice system will ensure that this young man is compensated for time and emotional distress to a tune that will prohibit others from discrimination.”
Rest assure, we will do a good job at that. Thats why we are a free country.
Once Jinnah Sahab was tried to be convinced that Congress was a secular party. Jinnah Sahab said,” Scratch a congressman and find a Mahasabai(Fanatic Hindu). Jinnah Sahab’s judgement was perfect. Most of the congress members were hidden fanatic Hindus.
I Have a number of muslim friends they graduated with me and are working in large IT MNC’s .I never saw them facing poor conditions as MR Ibrahim has said.We have reservations for muslims-This helped them to come into good colleges and make a successful career.Mr Ibrahim i think you should stop crying on India and try to blog about your own country.Atleast the Muslims in India who are graduating a Coding and Making software..
May i guess what people in pakistan are doing? Making Bombs?
@Sandip Dev:
Look at what is happening to Shahrukh Khan.
@Sagheer ..
His movies are running houseful … this happens only in INDIA .. !
Established in 1997, St. Gregorious Edu-Guidance is a leading education consultancy services providing exemplary service to students all over India. We deal in Admissions to all major professional courses in Premier Institutes across India. We are your one step solution for all career related needs, it may be MD, MBBS BE, BTech (ALL BRANCHES), , MDS, BDS, BPharm, BArch, MBA, MTech, MS, , PhD or any other courses. We provide personalized career solutions on an individual basis keeping in mind the aspirations of our client as well as the affordability factor.
FOR ALL CAREER RELATED NEEDS CONTACT US :
St. Gregorious Edu-Guidance,
#2, 2nd Floor,
J J Complex, Above Chemmannur Jewellers,
Marthahalli – P O,
Bangalore – 560037
Karnataka
e-mail :jojishpaily@gmail.com
Contact: +91 9448516637
+91 9886089896, +91 9449009983
080-32416570, 41719562
WEBSITE: http://www.stgregoriousedu.com
I think India is an open example of religious Pluralism. India is country only for those who can plunder the wealth of poor people. I think Indian Governemnt is making their Ordinary Public fool and are Pouring Wealth in their Personal Bank Accounts in the name of enmity with Pakistan
Looks like this article is written by another hateful Paki. Pakis are born to hate and cause terrorism. They are the right hand man of The Devil. If you look into a Pakis eyes, you will see it burning with hatered. They want to kill and maim people of other religions. From the time of their birth, Pakistanis are taught at home and in school how to hate, terrorize and kill people of other religions. It is any surprise this Paki who wrote this article is also a hateful Gandoo ?
@Ali Murtaza:
Terrorists like you and the freak buggermonger who wrote this blog are a blight on humanity. You guys dont like it in India, then BUZZ OFF to whereever you came from – like Terroristan err I mean Pakistan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP9JCusfje0
Check this video:
Please check saptarshiblogs.blogspot.com and contribute with your positive/negative criticism.
جناب ملک صاحب، آداب
ہمارے سپریم کورٹ کو شاباشی دینے کا شکریہ
And now, I shift to English so that those who do not read Urdu, do not feel excluded. So, once again, thanks for patting our Supreme Court on the back. I also appreciate your concern in improving the lot of India, of Indians and of Indian Muslims. However, I take an EXTREMELY strong exception to what you have said.
I say this as an Indian Muslim: We do NOT need you. We do NOT need your support. If we do have any problems, these are mainly because of Pakistan, and because of Pakistani mindset. (And Pakistani mindset is not limited to Pakistanis, or even to Muslims: some non-Pakistanis and some non-muslims have it too).
Let me tell you what I really think: You guys have no shame. You wreck the home that was undivided India. You are like that younger brother who claimed his share from the ancestral property, divided the home, took some children and mistreated them, left other children to be brought up by the elder brother, and then could not even keep his wife together with him in his own home.
And now, he blames the elder brother for ‘making him divorce’ his wife. And for mistreating the children that he left behind, which his elder brother legally adopted and brought up as his own.
Go take a hike, Mr. Malick. India has brought me up, India has cared for me, India has loved me. All that Pakistan has ever done is obsessed with India, and made some of us doubt that India is indeed our own, and our only home & well-wisher. Your hate-filled minds have poisoned some minds in India. And sure, we do have some of our own poison too… but I would any day take (even unfair) disciplining by India, than sweet-talk by Pakistan, which contributed nothing to me, and is interested in nothing else, but in hurting India who is clearly, their elder brother.
(By the way, I fail to understand why Pakistan must find it necessary to have parity with India. I have seen one of my uncles, himself no good, but always jealous of his elder brother, who did very well. Always obsessed with his own inferiority, he never managed to hurt the elder brother much, but only hurt himself all his life. Pakistanis must realize that your population, as well as area is much lesser than ours. Indeed, if you choose, you can see yourself as 4:28 to us; the number of states that each of us is constituted of. No dishonour in being younger- everyone is younger to someone or the other)
Look around you. Come and visit India, if you must and if you can- you will know that India is way better than Pakistan. Once again, it is not that we do not have problems in our home- but then which home is free of problems? Just because I feel that I have some problems in my home, does not mean that I will like to sleep in the gutter. Clean your gutter, and then talk.
Wake up, Mr. Malick, wake up.
You guys are so full of yourself! You DARE find problems with India? True we have had our communal riots; true we have had one mosque demolished. True we had one incidence where a Chief Minister was accused of having used state apparatus to harm, or not save from harm, muslims at the time of riots. But we have had Muslim Presidents, CJIs, Governors, Chief Ministers, chiefs of armed forces, IAS toppers… the list is endless…
And guess what, each one of us, and I mean all Indians, not just Indian Muslims, have faced some or the other problem with the state- but we are moving towards cleaning our act. For suspicion of killing a criminal, who happened to be a Muslim, in a fake encounter, we have put a minister in jail. What of you? Will you even talk of problems that plague your religious minorities?
First, you got rid of your own Hindus. Those that are left are discriminated against. Even in your institutions of higher learning, Muslim students do not even talk to, forget give equal respect to Hindu students! Pakistani Christians are treated like dirt. You still call the people that went from India by the appellation of ‘refugee’. You harassed the Bengalis so much that they chose to secede.
True, you blame us for that last one- but are you saying that Pakistanis are so dumb that they do not know their own good- why else would so many Pakistanis leave Pakistan and create their own homeland, and call it Bangla Desh?
Then you started inventing minorities!
You graduated to harassing Ahmadis- (I am NOT an Ahmadi, by the way) you decided that they are not Muslims! More Muslims, I am sure, have been killed in Shia-Sunni fights in Pakistan, than in India, in Hindu-Muslim riots. Now, you guys are not content with that, and your Wahhabis / Salafis / Purists are busy getting rid of Barelvis!
Wake up Mr. Malick, wake up!
I disagree with the Honourable Supreme Court of India. Every school must have the freedom to inculcate whatever norms of dressing they deem fit. If parents or the students have a problem, they can leave the school.
You say that personal freedom is paramount- that Salim’s personal freedom must prevail when it is at odds with the school discipline. What crap, Mr. Malik! Can you change your religion, advertise the fact and walk the streets of Pakistan? What will happen to you, if you become a Christian tomorrow, write a column on that, and challenge everyone that it is your personal freedom which you are exercising, and kar le jisko jo karna hai? What will happen to you and your personal freedom? Will not devout Pakistani Muslims see it as their duty to execute upon the Shariah requirement to kill you?
You, commenting on what you call Indian “culture of hatred”!
Trust me, mere bhai, we trust the concept of hatred way less than you do. I am a Pakhtun, and I am NOT proud that Pakhtunwali requires revenge. I am an Indian, and I am proud that father of our Nation requires us to follow a path of non-violence.
Wake up Mr Malick, wake up.
As for losing a year, Salim brought the issue upon himself. If he was interested in studying, he should have shaved. If he was also interested in keeping his beard, he should have changed the school. Beard is not compulsory in Islam, but shaving it is compulsory in that school. Simple. Where is the confusion? Do you think Salim or anyone in his family follows other sunnats? Do you think he will marry as simply as Rasoolallah PBUH did? Do you think he is that keen on education that he will go to China to study, as Rasoolallah PBUH asked Muslims to do, in the interest of advancing knowledge? He could not even shave his beard- how he will accept the pains of living in China!
Talking of beards, both the people that are credited with creating Pakistan, Iqbal and Jinnah, did not keep beards. And by the way, is it your portrait at the top of the page? Forgot your beard home, did you? Iqbal freely mixed with non-mahram women who did not wear hijab. Which one of them offered namaaz as regularly as is expected of Muslim role-models today? Do you? And you applaud Salim for fighting for beard, instead of studying hard and becoming a leader in whatever line of learning he chooses. Do you think he would have been stopped from keeping a beard, then? His efforts at getting the rules changed, then, would have been easier and more productive. Our Prime Minister has a beard- and he is not stopped from entering any schools. Except, of course, I am not sure of any madarsa being run by people with your Pakistani mindset!
Mr. Malik, your slip is showing- you want the majority of Indian Muslims to wallow in their ignorance and their pitiable exhibitionist piety. That will help you in your anti-India writings in future. That will help your hawks in covering your own misery and interfering in our lives.
Let me ask you a question, Mr. Malik: Do you really believe in the existence of Allah? If you do, why are you so unsure about His justice? Why not wait? Na ghoda duur, na maidan! Methinks, you are so worried about the ‘identity’ of Muslims because you do not believe in Allah. For if He exists, He needs no defence from you- and Muslims need no separate ‘identity’. Fear the day, Mr. Malik when He will ask you why you were so doubtful about His capability to do what He wishes with all His creations: Muslim, or otherwise.
Wake up Mr. Malick, wake up.
You talk of Sachar Committee report. Does it not occur to you that it is only in India that you can even have a Sachar Committee; it is only in India that it can find problems with the treatment of religious minorities. What do you think Pakistan has done for its religious minorities? Even put up a fair and fearless commission?
It is indeed shameful that, as you say (I have not independently verified) only 4% of Indian undergrads in colleges / universities are Muslims and only 2% at PG level. Shameful, indeed. But it is NOT my India’s shame- it is my personal shame- as a Muslim.
And the reason is obvious: I am more interested in keeping beard and wasting the Honourable Supreme Court’s time, than pursuing my studies.
I have seen Indian Muslim society as an insider and I say that the problem has to do with the culture and nurture that our elders are imparting to our boys. We are always busy congratulating ourselves that we are following the right path shown to us by Allah, and that we will get our rewards in jannat. Quite obviously, the message is that it is not quite necessary to take any pains studying, if you are praying five times a day. After all, back-breaking studies take care only of the next half a century; why not prepare straight for the infinity from then on. That too, when all one seemingly needs to do is to pray five times a day and keeps a beard: neither is even a fraction as tough as excelling in studies.
Let me tell you what you are either not aware of, or do not want your readers to know. We have (or had till recently) mandatory Board examinations at Class X and XII levels. In the answer sheets, the students name is not written. Even the Roll Number is replaced with different codes by some boards before the answer sheets are sent to examiners. So, there is no way the examiner or anyone else can know the religious affiliation of the student or his parents. So, one would expect that any results in such examinations would be free of any bias or wrong-doing.
Despite all this, the pass percentage, across regions in India, is lower for Muslims than for Hindus; and is less for Muslim boys than for Muslim girls. There were, invariably, much fewer Muslim boys in Merit lists than their population proportion, and the preference that they get over girls in their homes, would suggest.
In the absence of a strong family requirement of excelling in studies, Muslim boys do not do so. Those who do somehow finish their studies, choose not to pursue their careers with the same single-minded devotion that is called for, today. Whatever they do by omission, Pakistan is doing by commission- by sending terrorists to our country. Now even conscientious and fair hirers are getting afraid of hiring Muslim boys: who knows which one is a Pakistani implant? Further, many of those who are hired, then become a pain for the employer, through their intransigence, making it even tougher for boys that come after them. I have seen all this first hand, and would be willing to testify in any court of law, or follow-on to Sachar committee.
I have myself studied most of my life as a Govt. sponsored student, and at no point did I ever sense that I was being made to pay for having a Muslim name. Nor during the quarter century that I worked. No, Sir. My whole life is a testament to India’s pluralism. I suggest you come and see me- I will help you disabuse yourself of any notions that Pakistan can ever hold a candle to the Indian pluralism.
Further, only dumb people expect equal or better deal in places where they do struggle under a stigma. Can you openly say, for example, that you are gay, and expect any National Award in Pakistan? And, all said and done, it can not but be a stigma, to have claimed your own share and still unashamedly stay on in your Uncle’s house, even though your Uncle has legally adopted you and sees you as his natural child. But then the stigma is not about the Uncle, or you- it is that your father has been an idiot incapable of taking care of his children, or his wife!
That the two Nation theory is patently false is now obvious. If not, how come, the two Nations chose to become three? And why are they straining at the leash to become even more? However, Pakistani mindset can not accept having perpetrated such a huge blunder. That seems to be the only reason you guys continue with your false propaganda. Stop it, please. Look what it has done to you. That mindset will bleed you to death, unless you stop focusing on creating trouble for India.
Wake up Mr. Malick, wake up.
You end remark is uncalled for. Mahatma Gandhi did more good for Muslims of undivided India than Iqbal and Jinnah, put together, hurt them. As for the Muslims of Independent India, we owe our very existence to that great man. If it were not for him, there would be as few Muslims in India, as there are Hindus in Pakistan.
As always, people with the Pakistani mindset misread all that they do manage to read. At no point is the Mahatma advocating giving greater importance to animals than people. Please read your history, without the Pakistani glasses on. In the aftermath of the Chauri Chaura killing of 23 policemen of the British Raj, the Mahatma accepted his culpability, though he was nowhere present, performed penance and withdrew the Non-cooperation movement.
If that is how he treated his enemies, how do you think he would feel about people that were with him, that were his fellow countrymen? It is indeed sad that you allow yourself to be so swayed by your own propaganda and your own policy of hate, that you cannot even give credit where it is due.
I pray to almighty Allah to show you siraate mustaqeem, and have you stop hating India so much. Remember, hate burns you from the inside.
I further pray that the Almighty makes you, and others with Pakistani mindset, to start understanding that one’s primary responsibility lies towards improving himself, and not fighting with the world. It makes way more sense to cover your feet with leather, to protect them, than to demand that all the roads you travel be so covered. Khudi ko buland karna hai to khud to buland kijiye, doosron ko neecha dikhane ki koshish nahin.
And now, having objected to you so vehemently, I must again thank you for another good thing that you have done. You have complimented Salim on not taking recourse to violence. It indeed heartens me to note that you do not approve of violent methods.
You will be, indeed, I am myself wondering why I invested so much time in this response. I guess it is because I have a special interest in this case since I have lived in Sironj (the town where the said school runs), when I was a kid, and still have interests there. I, therefore, find it important to debunk the myths that you are so intent on creating, using that incidence.
Anyway, wishing you better understanding of the realities around you,
Wassalam, An Indian Muslim,
owaisINDIAkhan
@Ali Murtaza:
you are a moron!
problems with muslim lies in enforcement of their culture and traditions on other religion by force!!
Well indian communities should ban cousin marriage let it be south indian hindus or muslims ,since it creates congenital disorder!!
Pakistani patients are often seen in india with their little kids having heart problems!!
Moreover there is little discrimination in india against muslims !!
i being a vegeterian cant go and eat in muslim house due to their distinct food habits but we do co-exist and share common traditions ;we have enough space for every indians to prosper peacefully!!
Wonderful issues altogether, you simply received a emblem new reader. What would you recommend about your submit that you just made some days in the past? Any positive?
We absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content to suit your needs? I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you w…