Why do you post BS?? I am a product of a Muslim Dad and a Hindu Mom (both of them practice their own religion and I do not practice either) and I have relatives living in Mir Alam Mandi in Hyderbad. There are umpteen number of Hindus living in the locality.
What a Shame!! This kind of discrimination happens all over India. I mean wow!! Learn something from your eastern counterparts. West Bengal. Yeah there are some misunderstandings but giving houses on the basis of religion and ethnicity or languages!!!!!!!!! Never!!!!!!
Grow up you grown up people. Elder people think they are grown up and has a lot of knowledge but look at you guys. Hindus, Muslims and all these nonsense. Look at the younger generations. We are all tolerant. Younger generation should replace the older generation. WE are the future rulers of India. Don't mess ours and india's future. Keep your selfishness to yourselves.
I was glad that the author did not end up taking religious overtones even though it seemed as if he started from such a position. Not talking of discrimination in general and restricting ourselves to the issue of housing, this exists everywhere where residents want more of their ilk to come in. Perfectly 'human' tendency though not rationally justified. To make it aplotical, even Hindus discriminate against each other (well, this is known - the caste system) even wrt housing. Like, brahmin-dominated societies do not wish non-brahmins to come in. I forget a beautiful quote, which went something like 'If one morning all the prejudices on the basis of caste, creed, colour, race were to disappear from the world, people will find something new by afternoon to discriminate against each other'. To reiterate, it is 'natural' for us to discriminate, perhaps reflecting our subconcious insecurities and survival instincts, but not 'rationally' justified. Let's strive for the ideal world!
Your writings really touched the raw nerve. We should have more discussions like this to help overcome situations like this. We can draw parallel of this case to people facing similar situations and trying to come out of it. Like women, people from lower castes, Indians in UK etc. Women being articulate match with men in many areas, lowercastes and UK Indians by developing traits of people around them and try to assimilate. So one should try to be similar in dress, manner etc. Parsis succeeded during Moghuls, British and even now. So if there is downfall it is due to shortfall in oneself. Lastly, today Mumbai is in this situation is mainly due to BJP and wrong publicity. We should also have good publicity campaign to change the perception. One example I can give is of gay practices being widely accepted in Europe. I myself grew in building with Muslim neighbours. Then we all loved and shared as true friends but now that spirit is missing. It can be retrieved by change in actions and perceptions.
The author's experience maybe true. But this happens everywhere. I live in the UK. I have very close muslim and christian friends. Some sort of discrimination happens everywhere in the world. Greeks in London tend to live around one particular place. There are many north Indians in Wembley, and many south Indians in East Ham and Croydon, etc... Birds of the same feather flock together. Outside of India, we tend to discriminate bu region, rather than by religion (I think). It is true the extent of discrimination is greater in some cases, and yes you do need to make it known in public. But you also need to look at the vast majority of places where there is no discrimination... Giving it so much importance as a headline in rediff just gives it the feeling of being such a biiiig issue. Live and let live. We all love our friends irrespective of their caste creed and colour. Its our spirits which matter more. I am a Hindu, married to non-Hindu. I married an human...not a hindu, christian or muslim (though her parents dont think so!!). Jai Hind!
The author is trying to create a controversy with a heading like "Why I won't live among Hindus" to show that it a is a Hindu Muslim problem. Furthur in the article he mentions that Gujrathis discremenate againt Maharashtrian, so this is not a case of Hindhus vs muslims. A better heading for the article would be "Why I won't live among people who discreminate", but I guess a heading like that would not find too many readers. It would have been better if you had mentioned that it a cultural problem rather than an Hindu Muslim problem. From the messages I see, it seems that you have helped in increasing the divide between hindus and muslims. Hope that was not what you wanted.
Pursuant to your well thought article on non hindus having a hard time living with hindus - it's important to remember that Hindus by and large are not martial or dominating by nature. Yes, like any one else they do have feelings and when you provoke any human being the backlash can be worse than you can imagination ( Godhra ). I do not condone violence in any form but muslims must understand that provoking hindus is not always a good idea. Pick up a newspaper and you will see the number of muslims who are arrested for petty crimes. The same picture you will see in court rooms , in judicial custody and in lock ups. The percentage of muslims is simply frightening. A stereo type image is not firmly embedded in to the minds of people like me that muslims (lower class / uneducated ones especially ) are not averse to crime as a way of life.
It's not a hypothesis it's a fact. You will see the same situation with blacks in the US. It's not social alientation which is to blame it's the thought process which is inculcated in these people's minds. The society and their willingness to lead a life which perpetuates a short cut to do anything to get by.
I think we are too far off from the stage when any community can blame any other community for wrong-doing. Who starts a riot soon becomes immaterial because what starts as retaliation soon becomes senseless killing. Saying all (or "most") Muslims are enemies of the nation, etc. etc. as one reader has said is as stupid and archaic as saying "maharashtrians are bad businessmen" or "all upper cast people are evil". Stop it! If some muslims killing in the name of the Koran is taken as a "whole community gone bad", all Hindus have had criminal family backgrounds, since sati was very common 300 years ago, and its proponents provided a religious and cultural justification for it.
Take everything on a case-by-case basis. Indeed the author's dismay is justified after being refused a house because of his religion! However, it happens in Muslim localities too, no use in making it a "majority vs. minority" and "mainstream" issue. Not liking a neighbour because of fish smells, etc. at least makes more sense; it is a genuine inconvenience for people who are not used to it. And it is not as if others will take care of this and cook with an exhaust fan or with the windows closed to minimize the spread of smell.
The fact is we do not think,act like Indian. We think and behave like a Hindu, a muslim, a Christian, a Sikh. And we love to degrade other religion, state, cast.
If you are a Hindu and you do not accomodate Muslims, then you are just a Hindu and not Indian. If you are a Muslim and see things wrong with other religion, then you are just a Muslim and not Indian .....
I will ask all everybody to become Indian, rather than indulge in jingoism.
Remember God made unequal world, the color of human ranges from white to dark. The emotions are in range from laughter to tears. Start appreciating it and just be on good side. Do not try to be on the wrong side because there is just one GOD and he sees the right and wrong and what is in our heart. He will pay or punish us for what is within our heart.
