On the eve of 60th independence day, I ask myself is it a curse to be a Muslim in India? Most of us from the majority community would say without a blink, no. We have had number of Muslim Presidents and we have had Muslims hold key appointments in the government and the military.We even had Muslim foreign secretaries. We have the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. After all, we dont have Shia-Sunni riots and we dont have any major religious disturbances (barring Gujarat trouble) in the recent times. Also, how many countries are there in the world where minority communities have such priviliges, no Islamic country has it. Does it then imply that if others are not good, we have the moral right to be bad?

        60 years post independence, are we still going to differentiate our country on the basis of caste, religion, ethnic communities and gender. Look deep inside us friends, and the answer starts making one feel a wee bit uncomfortable. I recently had a Muslim gentlemen travelling with me from Pune to Hyderabad. He was lamenting on how things have changed and how Muslims are looked upon with suspicion, especially when there is a bomb blast.There is no doubt that most terror operatives have an Islamic identity, but it doesnt mean that all Muslims are fundamentalists. In fact, Islam is one of the purest religions in the world. Go a little bit deeper and ask yourself, the mass murderer of children (a pshychopath) near Delhi, which community did he belong to and the answer is he was a Hindu. So, it doesnt matter whether we belong to any one religion but what matters is what upbringing we have had and what is our true inner nature. But definitely if we make every Muslim feel vulnerable in our country, then we are surely  heading for trouble. Add politics to this and you have a recipe that spells explosive consequences.

       A little bit more into this outwardly secular part. If we did a census (I dont recommend it) to find how many Muslims are there in the government or at postions of authority and one would find that their numbers are really low in comparison to their percentage in the total population. Then some may say, they are mostly poor, illiterate and belong to the lower strata. If that is so, isnt it our resposibility that an emerging global power must have its population educated, otherwise you are making them prone to fundamentalist ideology and terror philosophy to survive and find glory for themselves. In fact, in Northern Jharkhand, to exist above the subsistence level, the population grows poppy. So you are making the entire youth of that area addicted to the deadliest poison that directly affects the mind. If there is a India-Pakistan match, and a Muslim player doesnt do well, doesnt that germinate a needle of suspicion in our minds that perhaps he is not so motivated.....Didnt Chak De India address this particular issue. As majority Indians should we keep our mouth shut and eyes closed since it doesnt affect us directly. But then it affects the social cohesion of our country. Can we emerge as the greatest power in the world in the coming decades, if we cant integrate our society within ourselves. We gave death sentences rightly so to a number of persons involved in the Mumbai blasts, but what have we done to those Hindu fanaticists who have mass murdered innocent minority community people. In fact slaughtered whole families. Absolutely and shamefully with total connivance of every one including us from the majority community who silently and impotently watched and did absolutely nothing.

         Is it not our responsibility as citizens of this great emerging world power to make sure that every community leads a dignified life, doesnt feel threatened in their own country and that each one has an equal chance of doing economically well? Isnt human security a key component of our national security?  Doesnt independence mean free from all possible forms of threat and ensuring individual security for each and every one. Aint we going to ensure that our country emerges as an integrated entity with the participation of people belonging to every caste, community and religion. If we dont do this, we are heading towards fragmentation, balkanisation and social turmoil in the near future. Is the silent majority listening on this very important day and is willing to take a pledge on this issue? Jai Hind!