By Majed Iqbal- Indian Elections are in full Swing as the Worlds largest democracy takes its course to decide the future of its 1.1 billion populous.
India’s marathon elections entered the penultimate phase of the five-stage election with parties going head to head in the last rounds. In this festival like Election fever, feelings around politics and the future of India have been mixed as citizens and observers abroad put their thoughts forward.
“Indian democracy is nothing but a miracle” said one person.
“It is a shinning example that how 1.1 billion people with different ethnicity, religion, caste and language can vote together is a victory of democracy and its institutions”
“The greatest democratic operation in the world is a model to every country” said another”
Some had more deeper and sceptical views about the whole Election process.
“In this country the educated don’t vote because they think it will make no difference and the poor don’t seem to realize the reason of voting”
“Politicians try to influence village people by giving hate speeches about there opposite candidate or they will try to raise religious issues; if that does not work, maybe they use violence or money which might work for them”
“Corruption runs so deep in government and different offices of this country that every Indian has now started to live by the rule set by corrupt people to pay and get your work done”
In the midst of these views is a new phenomenon which is set to take its toll during the election period which has come to limelight in more recent times.
“Renting while Muslim” has been the new label for the discrimination in finding rented accommodation Muslims receive in India.
Whilst communal in-fighting and tensions over the years has been apparent in India, the new phenomenon of “Renting while Muslim” has remained more low key and goes beyond just the ‘ordinary’ Muslim facing problems with housing from Hindu landlords.
Palvisha Aslam, 22, a Bollywood producer, wanted a spacious bedroom and a kitchen that overlooked a garden in a middle-class neighbourhood that was a short commute to Film City, where many of India’s Hindi movies are shot.
She was about to sign the lease when the real estate broker noticed her surname. He didn’t realize that she was Muslim, he said. Then he rejected her. He then showed her a grimy one-room tenement in a Muslim-dominated ghetto.
“That night I cried a lot. I was still an outcast in my own country — even as a secular Muslim with a well-paid job in Bollywood,” said Aslam.
Rana Afroz, a Muslim editor with the newspaper the Hindu has been investigating such issues after spending three months unable to find a landlord willing to rent to her and her husband.
“It is ridiculous that I have to prove to non-Muslims that I am not making bombs in my kitchen,” she said. “Is this really the modern India I live in?”
Since the Mumbai Attacks, such stories have become the norm even among some of the countries most beloved Bollywood actors, screenwriters and producers with a Muslim background in India’s most cosmopolitan city.
India has seen a rise in Muslims participating at the highest level for the country. From the Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan and Zaheer Khan Cricketing sensations for the Indian Cricket team right to the “King Khan” status of the most popular Actor of the Bollywood film Industry Sharukh Khan, things have still not set course for India’s secular Democracy, home to 150 million Muslims; one of the largest Muslim communities in the world.
“The ethos of Bombay is a city open to the world. The Muslims of this city feel that way, too. But the real question is why do we as Indian Muslims always have to be proving our loyalty?” asked Nawman Malik, a popular Bollywood producer who spent months searching for an apartment.
In India, Muslims are often segregated, and experience high poverty rates and low literacy. Although they make up nearly 14 percent of India’s population, they hold fewer than 5 percent of government posts and are just 4 percent of the student body in India’s elite universities, according to a 2006 government report.
Having the credentials of being the Worlds largest Democracy and presenting itself as a secular State has not rubbed itself well with India’s Muslim population. Fingers can be easily pointed out at politicians who may have exacerbated tensions for Political purposes, but the notion of a secular India offering a promising future for all citizens regardless of race, religion and caste is somewhat difficult to digest.
Maybe questions on the suitability of secularism for India should be raised.
MAJED'S BLOG 
Leave a comment