“I am an Indian who will remain an Indian until the end of my life”, this is what Indian tennis star Sania Mirza had to say in response to the questions raised over her nationality and more over her inclination towards the neighboring country of which she happens to be a daughter in law. It all started when she tweeted in all excitement about her appointment as the brand ambassador of newly formed state – Telengana, which itself was born amongst many a controversies.
The lady least knew the tweet would see her shed tears days after on a leading News channel. So what is all the fuss here? One, Sania Mirza is a Sportsperson and not just any other woman, second, she is a Muslim and third, she is married to a Pakistani Cricket Player. Those who question her appointment have reasons to give better left alone.
Be it a political agenda or anything else the crux here is why has a Muslim in India have to prove his patriotism. Are the same questions asked to Hindus in India? Why is there a notion that Muslims in India can never be Indians? Why a Muslim in India is doubted over when India and Pakistan are playing each other in a cricket match? In a secular Country like India where there is freedom of religion these are hard hitting question when 20% of its population is Muslims.
Discrimination against Muslims in education, employment, housing and government services has become a routine affair and people live with it like any other daily affair. Most of this goes unspoken and unreported barring a few news items like Muslim celebrities not getting housing or that they being opposed or criticized more harshly for their statements.
In India, being a Muslim Star too comes with a price forget those whose voices and sufferings go unheard. As a Muslim Star in a country where cricket and movies are religions too one has to be extra cautious in what he says. Be it Sania Mirza marrying a Pakistani Citizen or Salman Khan being lashed and criticized over his comments over 26/11 terrorist attack or Shahrukh Khan reprimanded for his article in Outlook Magazine.
Chak De (starring Shahrukh Khan) put it vey precisely and cleanly how a hockey player who happened to be a Muslim to prove his patriotism towards his country when he is accused of throwing the match and is ostracized on account of being a Muslim. It takes him a whole movie to stand up in the society again and to make people believe he is very much Indian like them. Why is it a Muslim only who is doubted for his Indian-ness?
I want to ask if questions are raised over Indian-ness of people from other religions too or is it just Muslims? Why is there no problem if you are an Indian supporting any other team than Pakistan in a cricket match? Are the same questions raised if you are a fan of Pakistani Drama Serials which are a rage in Indian homes lately? Is humming songs from Pakistani Music Industry or for that matter those by singers from Pakistan in India a crime too?
Hope we answer these questions to ourselves first before we start questioning the thinking of those hell bent upon dividing people on the basis of communities, religion and castes.
