Jawaid Quddus
Posted on March 24, 2000
Is there a standard definition that will precisely define what it means to be an Indian? And if there is,then who has the authority to define it, and where does this authority come from? I grew up believing that I was an Indian to the core! To me India meant having the freedom to practice my religion the way I wanted to, to eat drink and dress according to what I considered was my cultural heritage handed down to me by my forefathers. A heritage that was molded and fashioned in its present form by thousand of years of ideas and cultures that flowed into India.
I grew up very proud of what our forefathers had envisioned for India. I believed in what Bapuji believed in. I believed him when he proclaimed "I do not expect India of my dreams to develop one religion, i.e., to be wholly Hindu or wholly Christian or wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions working side by side with one another.'' Inspired by him and by leaders like Nehru and Azad , I always held my head high,was and am proud to be an Indian, proud to belong to a country where diversity is celebrated, people free to think their own thoughts, practice their own concept of religion, live in mutual harmony, not only respecting other cultures and religions but also becoming a part of a unique culture which is an amalgamation of all the influences that we call ‘Indian’ today.
There was no confusion in my mind as to who I was. I celebrated Eid and Ramzan with fervor and all my non-Muslim friends were an integral part of this celebration. Likewise, Holi and Dewali and Christmas would find me among my Hindu and Christian friends. For someone looking in from outside, it would be a challenge to discern who among the crowd was a Muslim, a Hindu or a Christian. During National festivals, with my head held high I would participate in the unfurling of our National flag, singing of the National Anthem and take part in all the other activities pertaining to the celebration. When war with China broke out, I along with my other friends, walked door to door collecting funds for the national defense Fund(NDF). When ‘Chacha’ Nehru died, I cried! It was the first personal loss that I had experienced.! Only recently had I met him! His charm, his charisma and his ideals still vibrates within me! When his ashes came into town, I was there for the dispersal ceremony. I grabbed at the national flag that was wrapped around the urn carrying his ashes. This flag has been one of my family’s most cherished possession ever since!
Growing up is hard to do. There are so many choices to make about schools and careers and the future. One choice that I didn’t have to make was the fact that I was an Indian, an Indian who was Muslim by faith and choice! I had no other identity, I considered no other identity. It was what I was, India was me and I was India. There was no need for me to ‘Indianize’. I was the son of the soil, as loyal as dedicated to the motherland as any other son of the soil! No one had or has the the right to decide what my relationship to my motherland was and should be. And no one ever will! I will never allow it!
Who has given the RSS chief, or anyone else, the authority to decide that I am not an Indian and that I need to ‘Indianize’ myself! A person who has declared the Indian constitution worthless, who encourages and predicts ‘Dharm Yudh’ with the so called anti-Hindus, and heads an organization that has been implicated (by no less than the great patriot Patel) for the asassination of The Mahatma, an organisation that was involved in sabotaging the efforts of our forefathers in their fight for freedom against the British, should know better than to utter such nonsense! What you need Mr. Sudarshan is to ‘Indianize’ yourself, honor the Indian constitution, salute the Indian flag and spend the rest of your life in Kashi begging forgiveness from God Almighty for having dishonored our Motherland and our forefathers and our heroes. Among them, Abdul Hamid and Lt. Hanifuddin ! No, they did not deem it necessary to ‘Indianize’ themselves, because they were more Indian than what you or I ever will be! And there are many like them, true patriots, who one day will be the true inheritors of the legacy our forefathers have left for us.
India will survive Mr. Sudarshan. Not only survive, but it will be a beacon for the entire World! Our people will show you and all others like you that this Land of Ashoka and Gandhi, of Nehru and Azad, of Peer Ali Khan and Bhagat Singh will not be subjected to the bigotry, the falsehood, the hate and archaic views of the few.
Jai Hind!