The Hindu Business Line : They don’t speak for me

Even a hundred carnages like the one that took place in Gujarat in 2002 will never be sufficient to justify the horrendous attack that has hit at the very heart and soul of India.

Proud to be Indian citizens.

Rasheeda Bhagat

When one of the terrorists holed up in the Oberoi hotel demanded while talking to a television channel “Release all the Mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled,” he was certainly not speaking for me. Or millions and millions of Indian Muslims either.

Yes, Indian Muslims today face a plethora of problems. Problems related to an economic downturn that impacts their jobs, if already employed, or makes more bleak the prospects of the unemployed hunting for jobs.

Problems related to galloping food prices shrinking their monthly grocery supplies. Problems related to inadequate and poor quality education putting good jobs beyond their reach. Problems related to the land that they till failing to give them a decent livelihood. And so on.

But so do another 800-850 million Indians, who are not Muslim, and who do not belong to the super-rich category. In an era of global economic meltdown they are facing a growing set of challenges.

So when some murderous terrorists lay siege on the commercial capital of India and target a landmark like the Taj Mahal Hotel which is not only the pride of Mumbai, but the entire country, and other places, killing over 100 innocent people, and holding as hostage a similar number or more, they insult me, an Indian Muslim who is proud to be a citizen of this great country, when they claim to be acting in my interest.

Symbol of defiance

Even a hundred carnages like the one that took place in Gujarat in 2002 will never be sufficient to justify the horrendous attack that has hit at the very heart and soul of India. Not only to a Mumbaikar but to all Indians, Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel is a proud symbol of defiance of colonial rule.

The hotel was built in the first place to defy the British edict of “Indians and dogs not allowed”, and this is a story most Indian love to relate. To see the heritage wing of that symbol of Indian pride being gutted was gut-wrenching anguish. Equally painful was to note the growing list of people who had to die, so unnecessarily, while engaging with the terrorists.

Apart from the ATS chief and his other colleagues, staff members of the two hotels, including executives and chefs, policemen and so many innocent civilians were killed in the hotels, at the CST, at Nariman House, on the roads and in the houses in Colaba.

Several foreign tourists and visiting business executives were killed. What this will do to brand India as a business and tourist destination, at least for some time, is a thought that troubles all Indians.

A fitting reply

But much more than any politician, from either the ruling or the Opposition ranks, it was the Tata Group Chairman Mr Ratan Tata, who gave a fitting reply to the terrorists when he said: “We must show that we cannot be disabled or destroyed, but that such heinous acts will only make us stronger. It is important that we do not allow divisive forces to weaken us. We need to overcome these forces as one strong unified nation.”

Eloquent in his moment of deep grief, he added, “We cannot replace the lives that have been lost and we will never forget the terrifying events of last night. But we must stand together shoulder-to-shoulder as citizens of India and rebuild what has been destroyed.”

The website of Taj Hotels, even while pleading helplessness in giving more details made one simple and yet courageous promise: “We will rebuild every inch that has been damaged in this attack and bring back the Taj to its full glory”.

Millions of Indians, even those who cannot hope to enter either restaurants or the rooms of the Taj Group of hotels, will raise their hands in prayer that all these wishes and promises are soon realised.

And the terrorists, whatever their ideology, nationality or poisonous bent of mind, should note that these will include the hands of 120 or 125 million Indian Muslims.

With every bomb blast, every act of terror that targets innocent people, these terror groups are losing the support of the minuscule and misguided minority that might have once sympathised with their cause.

The response of the Indian state has to be tough, consistent and that of its entire citizenry one of total co-operation and help that is urgently required to weed out such poison from our fabric.

(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)

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