If Not Yours, in Whose Name Are Muslims Asked to Prove Patriotism?

I was eleven when a friend challenged me to tear Jinnah’s photo in the newspaper, writes a Muslim girl.

In whose name?

I was five when I offered my lunch to a classmate and she asked me if it was true that Muslims spit in their food before offering it to Hindus. I was confused, I couldn't understand why she would ask me something so bizarre.

I was eleven when a friend challenged me to tear Jinnah's photo in the newspaper, and when I did, she triumphantly declared:

Anam, maine mummy ko bola tha tu auron jaisi nahi hai!

I remember being shocked but also a tiny bit pleased at receiving this “compliment”. I did not understand then that this was supposed to be a test of my patriotism, of my 'Indian-ness'.

Also Read: We The Minority: India’s Muslims Speak Out in the Time of ‘Gau Raksha’

I was sixteen, when a close friend told me that most Muslims are not nice people, that most of them are terrorist sympathisers, “but you aren’t like that...you are nice”, she hurriedly clarified.

This time I understood. I realised that it wasn’t really a compliment. I was used to hearing all this by then, but hearing it from my friend’s mouth was heartbreaking nonetheless.

During my Masters, I was in Daulat Ram College for some work, and I overheard a conversation between the office staff about Muslims and meat – they whispered conspiratorially:

“Arey, madam, aap jaanti nahi kaise vehshi hote hai ye log, subah naashte tak mein gosht khaate hain!”. “chee chee!”. (You don’t know how barbaric these people are. They eat meat even for breakfast.)

I was half-amused (what with my own preference for vegetarian food, and my two shudh-shakhahaari uncles!) and half-outraged at these stereotypical generalisations.

And then almost a year ago, we got to know that some cow vigilantes had left threatening messages scribbled on the walls of our Muslim-dominated colony. And this time, I was scared. It was probably the first time that I realised the actual dangers that came with being an “other” in the eyes of the majority.

Also Read: The ‘Liberal Muslim’: Let’s Not Create Yet Another Stereotype

When I think of all this, it makes me wonder, in whose name does all this happen?

All the times that Muslims are treated like outsiders in their own country, and asked to prove their patriotism,

I wonder, in whose name?

All those instances when my family, friends and I have been reduced to our religion, and called derogatory names like mullahs, musallis, 'Pakistanis', 'ISIS sympathisers',

I wonder, in whose name?

All those times when men like Akhlaq, Junaid and Lafiqul become victims of ignorance, bigotry and violence, and the murderers get away with it,

I ask, in whose name?

If it's not in my name,

and it's not in your name,

in whose name?

(The author Anam Kazmi is a post-graduate student of English literature at Delhi University. It was first published on her Facebook page and has been republished with permission. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

(We all love to express ourselves, but how often do we do it in our mother tongue? Here's your chance! This Independence Day, khul ke bol with BOL – Love your Bhasha. Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at [e-mail] or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)