Secondly, the slogans Muslims chant make many of us cringe. My friend, who was at the protests in Jamia last year, told me that student leaders worked hard to ensure no one chanted Allahu Akbar. “You might be seen as a terrorist because you are Muslim; instead show them you are humans, citizens,” they advised, probably out of concern but more because of their ingrained apprehensions. Partly to be blamed are American movies, pop culture, and one-sided propaganda. Allahu Akbar, which translates to “God is great”, is no longer seen as just a religious slogan but a call to jihad. Many allies feel uncomfortable with these slogans because: a) They stoke the dormant fear of the “other” which lies buried deep in our hearts, no matter how much you want to deny it. b) They genuinely feel that communalising the issue is exactly what the government wants. And any sort of overt religious overtones to the protests will lead to further trouble. Commentator and former journalist Irena Akbar went to a protest in Lucknow wearing a hijab. While she was speaking she was stopped mid-way by “Hindu liberals” and asked to speak as “an Indian only”. In her Twitter posts, she defends her right to protest as a Muslim. And asks if protesting as a Muslim is unconstitutional. “I reject the suggestion that Muslims shouldn’t protest as Muslims, only as Indians. Aren’t Muslims Indians?… I am protesting as a Muslim because my coreligionists have been attacked because of their faith,” she tweeted. Is she being too idealistic, too naive? Or are we, as a nation, as a people, simply unable to come to terms with the gravity of her truth? Thirdly, we need to look at the Facebook posts of Ladeeda Sakhaloon, one of the Jamia students who became the face of the protests. Before we go ahead, it is only fair to acknowledge that Ladeeda is still young and her views should not be seen as cast in stone. In one of her posts, she says that “liberals” at the protest dictated them not to chant slogans like “Insha Allah” and “Allahu Akbar”. But it makes me wonder, if there is no one stopping Hindus from shouting “Jai Shri Ram”, do we have the right to ask Muslims to keep their voices low? If people are stopping her from expressing her religious beliefs, no matter how well-intentioned they might be, she has a right to feel aggrieved, doesn’t she?At the protests, however, entry is not restricted by class or caste. Everyone is welcome – because everyone wants to fight the good fight.
Fourthly, it’s only fair we look at Muslim bigots. Let us not pretend that those two words do not exist together under any circumstances. Like this man who was instigating those listening to shut down roads. “Don’t the Muslims of North India even have enough clout to shut down a few cities,” he demands. The crowd, to their credit, seems unseduced by him, with only a few forced ayes emanating from it. It’s one thing to chant a slogan and another to incite violence. The latter, I’m afraid, can dismantle this movement before it has a chance to reach its full potential. No one should be asked to take their hijab or skull cap off, but one shouldn’t be encouraged to further explicitly communal rhetoric. There are different degrees of Muslimness acceptable to all of us. And this is not restricted only to the protests. You might not call them names, but you don’t refrain from passing a quiet judgement about someone who prays five times a day, fasts during Ramzan, or covers their head. You might stand in solidarity but still laugh at a derogatory joke about Muslims. You might outrage on Twitter but not call out your parents when they make bigoted remarks. The truth, how much ever we deny it is, that a majority of us are uncomfortable with the minority who wear their identity proudly. They bring out hidden biases within us which had been buried, thanks to years of superficial bonhomie and allegiance to secularism. But along with NRC and CAA, we must go the extra mile – fight the discomfort and paranoia which the identity of our fellow Indians invokes in us. Let’s start by not flinching when someone says, “Allahu Akbar”.It’s one thing to chant a slogan and another to incite violence.
