null The incidents in Gujarat have shaken the Muslims of the country. They have developed a deep sense of despair and insecurity. The impact is immense on the younger generation. Fear and confusion are writ large on their faces.

Undoubtedly, the Muslims have been passing through a very critical phase of their existence. Even after 55 years they are facing the consequences of the Partition. They are blamed for the division of India in spite of the fact that, despite all sorts of pressure, a majority of them chose to remain in India. They have been facing an atmosphere of suspicion and animosity. There is an orchestrated campaign of distortion against them. Aspersions are cast on their loyalty. They are described as being unduly appeased by the government.

A sustained campaign of slander and vilification is on against them. Fanatics are deliberately creating ill-will and hatred against them in the minds of Hindus. All the prejudices are based on unfounded assumptions.

However, the situation is not as bad for the Muslims as to give up even thinking of a better and prosperous future for them in India. They must know that Gujarat is not India and India is not Gujarat. That incidents like Gujarat and official support to such violence are not new to this country. They have witnessed hundreds of such riots. How can they forget Ahmedabad, Bhivandi, Meerut, Surat, Bhagalpur, Jamshedpur and the pogrom of 1992-93?

They should also know that Narendra Modi is not the first chief minister who has sided with the marauders. In the past we have seen many Modis in different cloaks in many states. Besides, why should the Muslims single out Atal Bihari Vajpayee? He is not the first prime minister who has shown his two faces. One can recall what Rajiv Gandhi said in Ayodhaya during an election campaign and what he said to a group of Muslims a few days later. The duplicity of Narasimaha Rao is not a secret to any Muslim of India.

It is a fact that Muslims have suffered a lot in all these riots, but at the same time, one cannot forget the damage India has also suffered due to this man-made misery. While the Gujarat riots have taken a toll of hundreds of precious lives, they have also given lessons of solidarity to the nation. Many Hindus laid down their lives to save their Muslim neighbours while Muslims were found saving Hindus in the localities dominated by them. How can we forget Geetaben, a young Hindu lady, who was brutally burnt and killed in Ahmedabad on March 25 in broad daylight while saving her Muslim friends? She has set an example. We should salute her humanity and bravery.

If there is even one Geetaben in the country, Muslims need not lose hope. Interestingly, the day Geetaben was martyred, the Sikhs of Sri Hargobindpur, an obscure village in Punjab, handed over Guru Ki Maseet, a historical mosque, to Muslims after occupying it for 55 years. And that too in a village where the Muslim population is negligible.

Leave alone the politicians of different hues, how can one ignore the role of the media, the social activists, NGOs, those government officials who were transferred or have resigned in Gujarat? I have seen many Hindu men and women, including film star Raj Babbar and lawyer R K Anand, almost weeping when a few Muslim victims of Gujarat were narrating their horrible tale in the Capital’s Constitution Club. They were brought to Delhi by two NGOs.

Again, the media, dominated by Hindus, have expressed the pain the same way the Muslims have experienced it. Many journalists were even beaten up for reporting the truth. The Hindi newspapers too did not hesitate to condemn the Gujarat violence and the forces of Hindutva. The Indian Muslims, in spite of trying circumstances and formidable challenges, have always looked ahead and never looked back.