Trigger warning: Islamophobia
“Kisi Muslim se dosti mat karna (don’t befriend a Muslim)!” I can say this with 100% surety that if you come from a non-Muslim community, then at some point or the other, you have come heard this suggestion from your family members, relatives, or friends and acquaintances.
To tell you the truth, I never understood this because if Muslims are wrong, then are Aamir, Uzaid and Arif evil? They have been my friends since we were in the third standard and they have always stood by me. I may have forgotten to give them sweets on Deepawali, but on Eid, sewaiyaan always reaches my house. How can I doubt their friendship? How can I question them?
When I heard my relatives spouting such nonsense, it didn’t really affect me. I used to laugh it off. But now, it does hurt me. Today, I see young students who are around 18-20 years old, sharing hate speeches on their social media walls. There is so much communal hatred in their regular conversations.
There are many reasons behind this: politics, news debates etc. What saddens me the most is that the youths, who are responsible for building an equal space and ushering in a new India, are the ones who are becoming the victims of polarisation.
I am writing this in February 2022—exactly one year after the outbreak of communal violence in Delhi. This is the most prominent example from the recent past, of what can happen to India when young people get polarised.
We often see and hear in the news that unemployment and lack of education are the reasons behind communal violence. Yes, these are some of the major issues behind them, but what about the conversation in bedrooms and living rooms of the so-called educated, sophisticated and social families?
Today, we need to strongly work towards sensitising our communities, especially the youths, and teach them about humanity’s basic principles. I believe that nowadays, adults need to read moral science books more than the children in school do.