Then and Now ..,

That was then, this is now - S E Hinton

Then,
I did nod with you and agreed your view,
To make you smile.
You walked along with me, my friend,
Happily all the while.

Now,
I am hoping you'd still be there for me,
Even though you disagree.
But, as I stand by my belief and make my point,
You walk far away, ignoring me.

Hypocritical !!

They (the hypocrites) think to beguile Allah and those who believe, and they beguile none save themselves; but they perceive not. (The Holy Quran, 2:9)

A tale of two Cases (or judgements) !!

Case 1 :

Moulana Noor ul Huda, a respected and widely traveled, 50 year old maulana from Deoband, Uttar Pradesh. Moulana has travelled atleast 25 times to and fro to London.

Moulana Noor ul Huda was again traveling to London via Dubai and had boarded the Emirates flight EK511. He helped his co-passengers with their hand luggages, and took his seat. As the flight was about to take off, he was on a phone call, talking to his folks at home, and he uttered a simple, non-ambiguous statement in Urdu -- "Flight ab pandrah(15) minute mein udne waala hai" which in english means "The flight is about to take off in 15 minutes" Nothing suspicious about it.

A neurotic co-passenger seated next to him, misinterprets the statement and takes it to mean that the plane is about to explode. It was impossible for her to misunderstand him unless she had primed herself to do so — by looking upon his countenance, whose distinguishing feature is a flowing Muslim-esque beard.

Moulana was grounded and detained by the police. Still nothing suspicious was found in his baggage or any record against him. However, the police still filed a case against him. “We booked Noor-ul-Huda for mischief under Section 425 IPC on the basis of the woman’s complaint. We are investigating who he was talking to. We have produced him in court,” said Dr O P Mishra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport).

A case was booked and Moulana was locked in dark dungeons of Tihar Jail along with abuses and investigation, and released after a few days, when nothing could be proved against him. The Police were left ashamed and red-faced.

This is not the first instance of a mainstream Indian being a little too eager to suspect Muslims of the worst not because of what they happen to be doing, but because of who they are. The police and the security agencies are routinely guilty of this fault, which became glaringly obvious after the Batla House ‘encounter’ in Delhi, when all the Muslims of the district of Azamgarh were pilloried.

Case 2:

Pramod Muthalik - Chief of the well known notorious , hate-mongering saffron group "Sri Ram Sene". known for ordering his "army" for beating women in public, and killing a 80 year old maulvi in Dakshin Kannada district, and a lot more criminal cases pending.

A TV news channel Headlines Today and Tehelka jointly operated a sting operation in which Pramod Muthalik Chief of Shri Ram Sene was caught on camera for accepting bribe to hold riots across Karnataka. Chief of Shri Ram Sene Pramod Muthalik said that he could hold riots in Muslim dominated areas in Bangalore and Mangalore. Pramod asks the reporters in guise to meet Prasad Attavar, VP, Sri Ram Sene, who is in Mangalore Jail for a number of cases against him and Vasant Bhavani head of Bangalore sene.

The Jailors/Police allow Prasad Attavar to discuss procedure and planning to hold riots while behind bars.

TV news channel airs all the video tapes openly on TV. The police, the government, public respond but do not arrest Pramod or his aides or the Sene stating there is no strong evidence and there is no case/fir lodged on this case.

A lot more details on the above two cases can be obtained on the internet and news websites. These incidents happened almost around the same time, second week of May 2010.

Its shocking that the judiciary system /security system acts so different in above two cases. One, a well known reputed personality talks in layman terms, there is no suspicion at all and is clear "miscommunication" but still arrest is made, case is booked and an innocent is put behind bars. On the other hand a well known criminal record holding, jail serving group openly declares eagerness to run riots and kill innocents, but still the police need proof, and no arrest is made on lack of substantial evidence.

India is the worlds largest democracy. A secular country. A country of many races, religions, castes, languages all living under one roof. These are the sweet sugar coatings we all feel proud when we hear but what we fail to look into is the bitter disgusting mindset, the racial profiling, the injustice of the police, the mis-treatment of the security of this country, the corruption, etc filth right under this coating.

We make fun of each other at incredibly close quarters in every mohalla, and it has never hurt anyone because it is a cyclical game. Bengalis disparage Biharis, who make fun of Oriyas, who find Tamils laughable, who think Punjabis are weird, who believe that Bengalis are a hoot. Whoever you are, someone, somewhere, is laughing at you. There’s no way you can win, and no way you can lose. The even-handed culture of the game keeps it just that, and prevents it from turning into a simulacrum of war.

I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to stitch it together again. I do not know if we all are true Indians with respect to being proud to be a part of diverse culture and still stay united. What I do know is I am made to feel to be an Indignant Indian.

repentance

"Every soul will taste of death. And ye will be paid on the Day of Resurrection only that which ye have fairly earned. Whoso is removed from the Fire and is made to enter paradise, he indeed is triumphant. The life of this world is but comfort of illusion"(Glorious Quran 3:185)

Older as I get, another year does pass by,
Another year closer to facing the Judgement of the most High!
Looking back, at the days that were mine, I see
What Ive done to those years, what has happened to me.

I need to account for all the mistakes Ive made,
In moments of joy and sorrow, I haven't prayed.
Sinned and lied and cheated, with no fears,
Forgive me, Oh The Most Merciful, I now shed tears.

An accused anguishes anticipating the sentence, he might be convicted,
He cant afford even a smile, until he's sure hes acquitted.
A few good deeds, a lot bad ones, I stand with an unclean slate,
Anticipating His judgement, how can I celebrate?

There's still time to better in life's biggest test,
But its only until Im laid to rest.
Hope to make it a deserving next year,
Gratitude for HIS Bounties - and for my sins a many repentful tear.

To submit my will to You, Oh my Creator, I strive,
Show me the straight path with every step of life.
The path of those whom Thou Hast favoured, thier way,
Not of those who earn thine anger nor of those who go astray.

Wake up, before it gets too dark,
Plan ahead - It wasnt raining when Noah built the ark.

weasel words

"Words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Little audible links, they are, chaining together great inaudible feelings and purposes. ~Theodore Dreiser, 1900"

No, im not gonna claim 'Im back' or justify why I haven't posted, write 2-3 posts and redo the disappearance act all over again.

Yes, I have a lot to say as have been through a lot of changes, realizations which I need to explain.

Maybe I'll write it out here to explicate the peripheral occurrences and realizations in my life, lately or I'll just let it be.

Even if I do write, I'm not sure how many of you still visit my blog, or im just left with the fact that the word "you" a few words back refers to only "me" !

Though I have not expressed myself here for long now, does it mean my words have stopped flowing, or just sitting on the shelf?

But I will still continue to write, for I love to express through words, my feelings, myself!

Instead I have diverted my inking towards online debates, communities, or online publishing on a news forum.

As my expressions now are stressed more on inter-faith dialogue, current affairs, historical facts or political decorum.

Still I have the urge to return to my own space, my blog, and pen my feelings as usual through my trade-mark poetry,

For that is my forte, you may see a strong flavor of politics and history or a mix of everything like a potpourri.

Because I know for sure, there are some of you who will visit, if not today, maybe in near future, to check if I'm(read- my blog) living or dead!

Hope the word "you" mentioned in the immediate above sentence refers to others than just me, instead!

an indignant indian

"I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.
~Langston Hughes, The Black Man Speaks"

At times very small things do mean a lot. At times there might be no intention towards the meaning of a word or phrase, but still it does leave its impact huge, unintentionally.

I 'again' went through a similar feeling, the previous evening at work. Though I had a zillion things accumulated in my mind to what the next post would talk about, ranging from Obama to Chandrayan, work related to tourism, poetry to prose, I chose to blog this incident which is not new to me (and many others) but still has the same effect as it would if it would've been.

It was a normal day with the usual satirical humour and fun at work.

"hey you Punjaban", he said to a lady friend who hails from north of India
"Shut up! you Mallu", she replied him as he's from Kerala.

As we are close friends at work, I chose to get involved to break free from the routine boring work, and have some fun and commented at the lady "oye, Punjaban kudi" (hey, girl from Punjab), at which she promptly retorted "You keep quiet, Pakistani !"

That word hit me like a nuclear missile. Initially I tried to put it off as a mere joke, but couldn't fit it in any kind of humour. Infact, it infuriated me, though I was definite she was joking and did not mean it. Its not the first time. I've been through it, heard and seen a lot but remained silent. Today I choose not to.

If it was a joke, why Pakistani? Why not Iraqi, Afghani or a Saud? No, why outside India? Why not any Indian community - Kannadiga or Bangalorean? She's from Punjab and called a punjaban - agreed. He's from Kerala and is called a mallu - and so he is, no offence. I am from Bangalore, Karnataka which is very much in India. I have no relation with Pakistan, nor have I ever been there, nor am I associated with it in any way. Oh, is it because I am a Muslim?. Interesting - but aren't there any Muslims in Iraq? Egypt? Saudi? Turkey? Indonesia? Australia? Europe? UK? US of A ? or INDIA ???? or do I need to go through the 'patriotic tests' of reciting vande mataram or being a part of bhoomi puja ?

India is secular nation - on papers and history text books. This is a small incident with a common Indian like me, and many more out there who are victims of this hatred spread by the "true and trustworthy" media. I'm not talking about those bigger issues which made news of not renting/selling a house to a Muslim, the hindutva policy, the recent attacks on churches and Christians in Karnataka, the fake Batla house encounter case, the Shaheen bagh case, the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin and claiming pride in it by Mr.Modi, the terror blasts, the Malegaon case, the Babri masjid, the 1982 Sikh riots or the 2002 Gujarat massacre.

Its a small name calling "joke", which I tried my best to laugh it out, but I could not and I never can.