By Mohammad Shehber,
Ghettoization of Muslims! A solution for Muslims? But… Disaster for the country perhaps for others it’s fine.
If I count my friends, the names which comes to mind is Shoumi, Chirag, Anil, Tarun, Manjit, Anup, Sunila , Archana, Chinmoy……. and more but, I still opted to live in a Muslim Ghetto of Delhi and not with my friends.
In fact, to be fair in all these years, the so called Hindu friends never made me feel of being in anyway different from them.
Every new incidents, be it Gujarat, Assam, Mathura or Muzaffarnagar pushes my perception and large number of sufferer to conclude perhaps the ghettoization is a solution for security and safety for both Muslims as well Hindus. Although not sure, may be that will help in savings lives and property of both the communities.
Ghettoization is a growing phenomenon for almost 20 years now, be it Okhla in Delhi , Juhapura in Ahmedabad, old cities of Meerut or Lucknow perhaps all the cities across the country except may be Kerala. This phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas or town but also in villages across the country, people moving slowly in some places and perhaps faster in some places.
Lot of people in both the communities wherever riots has happened in recent past is of the view that in fact Ghettoization is a solution. In almost all the cities where a riot has happened, demographic change is quickly realized, Hindus moving to Hindu dominated areas and Muslim to theirs.
But at the same time Ghettoization comes at the cost, economically better persons like me have to live a slum life deprived of even basic necessities which is available to other citizens. The situation of depravity is same in all the so called Muslim Ghettos from Delhi to Bangalore. Somewhere people in these areas were having a false hope that state will provide reasonable facilities and infrastructure in these Ghettos.
I sometime laugh why this trust and expectation from the same state which has failed to their duty to provide for security and is responsible for this ghettoization and break of trust among communities.
Finally after living for almost 20 years in the ghettos, lot of people have started realizing that one has to take charge and spend their own means and effort and create facilities be it schools, roads or other basic necessity if one has to give a better future to new generations of Muslims.
Society have been indifferent to the phenomenon of ghettoization, somewhere there is an acceptance perhaps let it be as it doesn’t affect us.
In the end all communities will lose if suffering of one or the community will lead to distrust and taking law in one’s hand, this perhaps will create a bigger insecurity for all communities. The same suffering in a sense resulted and enabled anti nationals to use readily available riots victims for Mumbai blast or Gujarat blasts.
In all my belief it’s a loss for the nation perhaps for other it is not.
But somewhere in one corner of my heart there is a hope that the state will realize its duties to protect and secure life of every citizen, irrespective of faith, caste or creed. Or the state will keep looking other side, at its own peril.
(Mohammad Shehber is a HR Professional from Delhi, currently based in UAE.)