The key sticking problem in India is the question of ‘Muslim/Islam’. A Muslim in India is as Indian as any Hindu is as per constitution. But what is the situation on the ground. There were reports few days back that Muslims are having a hard time to get an apartment in Mumbai. Some said this is exaggeration and some said this is true. I don’t know the truth. But I had first hand experience of bias against Muslims. In 2001, when I went to get my passport issued the first question the agent asked me was ‘Are you a Muslim’. Before I left I asked him about this seemingly not-important question. His answer was that the chance of getting a passport for a Muslim is thin. Why is it so?

We need to be fair. Muslims in India are lagging behind in every aspect. As Muslim population is almost 12%, we can’t dream of a developed society until we pull this huge population out of the mess. Now let’s examine the ‘mess’. Who is responsible for this mess? Not pointing to an individual, I can say that the Muslim leaders, who wanted a separate homeland, were responsible for this mess. Historically Muslims in India are converts from Hinduism (due to the rigid caste system). All the while Hindus and Muslims were living side by side. But why all of a sudden just before independence, there was a requirement for a separate home land? There are few tough questions we have to ask.

1. Whose interest the Muslim leaders represented at that point of time?

2. Why Gandhi allowed the separation of India on religious lines?

3. Again if Indian was trisected based on religious lines, then why India allowed Muslims to stay behind in India?

Answer to the 3rd question first. The reason was that not all Muslims agreed to the idea of a separate homeland.

Answer to the 1st question was that Muslim leaders were not widely supported by Muslims. So leaders were following their self-interest in the name of religion.

Answer to the 2nd question. Gandhi was terribly wrong in his calculation.

Muslims who migrated to Pakistan were the well-to-do class. What left behind was the ‘unfortunate’ class. But due to policy failure Muslims in India did not get a helping hand from the Government. Because of their huge population they became a good vote bank for every political party. Even though Muslims are at very high positions, they are not fairly represented. I can’t put the whole blame on Government. Muslim community is not as open to change as its Hindu counterpart is. This is one of the reasons for the disaster. Lack of education/job and poverty has become the hallmark now. With poverty came madrasa and the brainwash. With the brainwash came bomb blasts. With bomb blasts came further marginalization. This is a vicious cycle and it has to be arrested urgently. I think we have to take some action along the following lines.

1. Affirmative action by Government: This should include education/healthcare/policy. But I don’t support quota in jobs/education at any cost.

2. Muslim leaders should try to understand the gravity of the situation and should steer the crowd in right direction away from extremism.

3. Muslims should start to embrace change. Living in a cocoon will push the situation from bad to worse.

4. Communalization of politics should be stopped.

5. Politicians should try to resolve the domestic issues first before pointing finger at Pakistan. It is a very common guess that without local help terrorists can’t carryout the deadly blasts and massacre.

So let’s clean our house first before blaming others. Once we have an united India we can fight external threats effectively.

Update: 11/01/2009

1. Communalisation of politics has to be stopped.

a. Ban any political party with overt link to communal organizations. BJP is strictly linked to RSS and RSS is a Hindu organization. There is regular bonhomie between the leaders of these two organizations. So it is obvious that BJP is trying to represent the sentiment of Hindus.

b. Ban any minority appeasement. Any political party trying to extend favour based on religious line, has to be banned. The leaders of that party should be shopped from contesting election. Congress’s policy of minority appeasement has done enough damage to India. Why Muslims get subsidized Hajj? I don’t get paid for my trips to Puri or Brindawan.

c. Every Indian should be treated as equal. Our constitution should be secular. Uniform civil law is the key. We can’t afford to have laws based on religion. Refer to Shah Bano case.

2. Muslims should embrace change

An example: I was talking to one of my acquaintances few months back in Orissa. He told me that Muslims in Orissa are in dire state. I asked why it is so. His answer was ‘Their jobs are vanishing’. What does ‘their jobs’ means? Most of the Muslims in Orissa are either butchers or vehicle mechanic. Now with the warrantee and Service station (i.e. Hero Honda service point), Muslims are at the receiving end. With the onslaught of organized retail, butchers will be jobless soon. Quite true. Question is why Muslims are not upgrading their skills? Answer is ‘resistance to change’. Can I change another human? No. Change has to come from within. When it comes to change of a community, leaders play a very important role? Name a single Muslim leader of prominence in India. There is none. Post Mumbai crisis Amir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan tried to give a voice as ‘Muslim’. It is a good beginning. More Muslims should be vocal. Educated and enlightened Muslims should come forward to lead the mass.

Am I responsible for the situation in India?

Yes.

Bomb blasts in India can be attributed to the distrust between Hindus and Muslims. I do feel proud to be an Indian but I’m ashamed when a bomb goes off, people die and nobody is accountable. If I trace the history of communal violence in India, it goes deep into the past. But I felt the vice of violence in 1991/1992 when I was in school. I still remember that day when somebody in school told me about the massive bomb blast in Bombay (now Mumbai). When I was on my way back from school, I saw black smoke and I was so very worried about my mother. At the age 12, I could not really understand the geographical distance between Mumbai and Rourkela, but I was extremely worried. I was relieved to find that the black smoke was from a massive fire at a depot quite far from my home. What preceded that incident was the demolition of Babri Masjid. That was one of the most shameful incidents in India’s history. We can’t undo historical mistakes by pulling down a mosque. If we commit the same mistake then we are in the same boat with the past perpetrators. Now how am I responsible for demolition of Babri Masjid?

I did not protest when Advani was running around in his ‘rath’ trying to be Mr. Ram of Ramayan fame. I could not remember whether he had the arrows and bow with him. I did not exercise my vote. As usual I showed my helplessness in the face of communal force. It is not only Deb that committed this but millions of cowards like Deb did. Millions of Indians don’t exercise their vote. People who vote are those who dance to the tune of 100 rupees, a girl for 1 hr and a bottle. What can we expect to get out of this kind of voting exercise? If 100 rupees, free sex and a bottle decide our future, then we certainly have bomb blasts, riots and gang rape of a nun in our horoscope. We can’t run away from it. Let’s accept our part for the failure of India. Only when we accept and realize, we can grow up and go beyond.

I talk a lot about corruption. But do I have moral right to talk? Let me scan my past. As bulk of my working life has been outside India I did not have the necessity to bribe. But last year when I needed something urgently, I had to bribe. The job that would have taken 60 days was done in less than 6 hours. When we talk about bribe we see one side of the coin. We always blame politicians, bureaucrats and police. But we forget that we are party to it. We pay and that’s why somebody gets it. If we all vow not to pay bribe we can erase bribery. Is not it simple? We always complain about corruption but we fail to realize our part in it.

I always know that every grand achievement has a humble beginning. The other day a guy asked me how can my vote (a single vote) can change the system. And my answer was ‘Had Gandhi thought in similar lines, we would not have achieved our independence’. Everything starts with an individual. A single step in right direction is like a magnet that pulls others. But if I look at my life I don’t think I’ve walked my talk. I’m an escapist. I chose the easy way and I escaped India. But can I really escape? I’m not a person to party hard on weekend, chase my career during weekdays and forget my home. How can I disassociate myself from the place where I’ve my near and dears? How can I cut the chord? Exchanging passport is easy but dissociating self is impossible. I can’t erase 20 years of history. I can’t adapt to a culture that is so alien. I could wear a mask but I can’t change my face. Had I wanted, I could have washed my hands off my blue passport long time back. But I can’t be an escapist for ever. I can’t run away and hide in Oz. I talk of change and I have not initiated it. So the bottom line is that I have to align my walk with my talk.

But I think I’ve taken a step in the right direction with my decision for MBA from India and my post-MBA plans. I don’t know where I’m heading. I don’t doubt my ability but I always suspect my ability to bend and twist the rules and regulations to get the things done. I’ll give my best try to achieve my goal without bending, twisting and paying bribe. I don’t think I’ll fail. If I fail and I realize that Indian system/society is the reason then I’ll accept my defeat and exchange my passport and wear another mask.