Thread by @Raja_Sw

I see a lot of extremely angry Indian Muslims on Twitter.
Before calling them unreasonable, put yrself in their shoes, and ask yrself if they have reason to feel this angry.
The honest answer HAS to be YES.
You can't do this to them, day in day out, and expect them to suck it up.

India, as conceived by its founders, belongs equally to every Indian.
No one can stake a higher claim to it. Not on grounds of religion, caste, anything.
The RSS always hated this. Cos their dream is a Hindu Rashtra.
Now, with BJP in power, they're aggressively pursuing it.

All the Indian Muslim is doing is trying to resist RSS best he can. Couldn't stop them electorally, but is fighting hard to retain his place in Indian society.
It's terribly sad he even has to do this. He is INDIAN, he belongs here as much as any Hindu. By RIGHT.

The Ayodhya verdict went against Indian Muslims. It was a farce. It was even justified on grounds of "peace". Yes, justice be damned!
Indian Muslims accepted this blatant injustice quietly.
Many more instances of injustice agst Muslims happening.
Ofc, Muslims are seething!

If you, as a Hindu, truly believe in India's constitutional values of justice, equality & fraternity, you HAVE to stand with yr fellow Muslim brethren today. You just HAVE to. The fight isn't Hindu-Muslim, we're all Indians.

The fight is against injustice.
Awaaz do, hum ek hain.

By standing shoulder-to-shoulder with yr Muslim brothers and sisters, you're not doing them any favours. That's the decent, human, thing to do. So while it's much-appreciated, remember they're the ones who are really fighting for survival here.
But yes, thumbs-up for solidarity.

Not sure of the numbers, but I think we're talking roughly 200m Muslims, and a billion Hindus in India.
A fair number of these Hindus are Islamophobes, IMO.
Fed on propaganda, Hindu khatre mein hai etc.

THIS is where we need to start, if we want to save our pluralistic ethos.

For starters, let's start with the Preamble to our Constitution. It encapsulates all those values that we should be PRACTISING in India every single day. Just reciting it isn't enough.
Everyone, every kid, needs to UNDERSTAND, and start IMBIBING these values at an early age.

How come everyone learns Jana Gana Mana so early in life (and some learn Vande Mataram), but no one learns human values like Justice, Equality of opportunity, Liberty & Fraternity?

How are all of these, needed for a civilised society, less important?

Teach your kids these pls.

One of the saddest sights today in India is to see children getting brainwashed on communal lines. My heart sinks when I see kids, who shd be free from prejudice & hate, being fed hate propaganda.
Maujooda maashre mein kya zeher kam hai, ki aane waali nasl ko bhi chhodoge nahin?

If we have to fight this, we have to get back to basics.
Educate on constitutional values.
Esp the kids - catch 'em young.
Our national slogan should be "Hum Ek Hain". Let this be a daily reminder to all, used everywhere. Bring back those "unity in diversity" videos.

Another thing.
More interaction btwn communities.
I wonder how many Hindus interact IRL with Muslims, and vice versa, on a regular basis. Maybe in school/college, at work, but - mostly minimally. Why? Mental block?
The more you interact, the less you'll fall for brainwashing.

In the 70s, in my 10th Std class of 52 students, there were just 2 Muslims.
Till I was 30+, I hardly interacted on a personal level with Muslims. Not cos I didn't want to, just that it never happened.
In my 30s, thanks to work, I became friends with 2 Muslims, Abdul and Arshad.

Chennai-based. We'd discuss religion openly. Tbh, I don't know much abt Hinduism, but was keen to learn abt Islam. Esp topics like its treatment of women.
They invited me home, I met their family too.
That was the first time I'd ever visited a Muslim at his home.
I was 30+. :-)

Can't speak for others, and I think things have changed a lot since the early 90s (also thanks to SM), but if your real-life substantive exposure as a Hindu to Muslims is so late in life, you could easily be brainwashed to hate them at a younger age. Didn't happen to me luckily.

Later in life, at work, I had a Pakistani colleague - and we got along just great. He was from Chakwal, and would often talk abt life in Pakistan, its politics, its feudalistic society et al.
We'd listen to Rafisaab together. :-)
He loved "o duniya ke rakhwaale". :-)

This was all before Twitter/SM.
Today it seems like no big deal, but, believe me, before SM, it WAS a big deal.

My point is, we need far more interactions btwn Hindus and Muslims, Indians and Pakistanis.

Kai galat fehmiyaan door ho jaayengin.

Everyone is a product of his upbringing, environment, influences.
If you've grown up in an environment of hate and "othering", chances are you'll imbibe these values (unless you're a rebel, and resist).
I was lucky - I grew up in a pre-Advani India.

Another thing.
I've noticed that Hindus in India are often brainwashed by news/clips of atrocities by ISIS, or violent acts in the Middle East.
So you find fault w/ Indian Muslims? Just cos they share the same religion? Can Indian Muslims prevent this violence by ISIS?

OTOH, Hindus in India have far more influence over Hindutva in India. It is THEIR creation. They can, if they really want to, put an end to it.
What can Indian Muslims do w.r.t ISIS? At the most, protest. But they have zero influence over it.
Important distinction to make.

But do the Hindus in India want to stop Hindutva?
All evidence since Advani's Rath Yatra would suggest Hindus are only too happy to support Hindutva, overtly or covertly. Silence of millions of Hindus, in the face of increased Hindutva onslaught, only suggests complicity.

Today, Hindus in India are about a billion in number.
How many of them are vocally standing with Muslims?
How many of them are vocally standing upto Hindutva forces?
Who am I kidding? Most of these actually VOTED 8 months ago to give Hindutva forces another 5 yrs!

Which is why, right now, we need the slogan "Awaaz do, hum ek hain" SO badly.
HINDUS need to lead this - they are greater in number, and influence.
Need to say it with all their heart, scream it from the rooftops.

Come on, Hindus, you're a billion - kuchh to awaaz uthe!

This became another impromptu, rambling thread. :-)
Ending it here - with an appeal to fellow Hindus.

If Advani could divide India using religion, we can reclaim India by uniting across religions.
But the onus is on US.
We're in the overwhelming majority.

Awaaz do, hum ek hain.

The Islamophobic propaganda being generated and circulated out there is STAGGERING.
Not denying hateful elements within Islam (as in any faith), but you can't demonise an entire community for the acts of a few. I can't be responsible for another's actions that I can't influence.