Thoughts and prayers

I want to tell you the stories of some people today..

Milkha Singh one of the most legendary sportsmen of India who represented us in numerous international events.He was asked to return to Pakistan,his original homeland to represent his nation. The young ebullient sportsman was broken by the very thought of returning to the land where his own relatives were slaughtered by Muslims.But then he decided to run on that very soil and he won the race against a Pakistani and was bestowed with the name "The Flying Sikh" by another Pakistani.

Taslima Nasreen,one of the most iconic authors who has spoken about violence against women across the world,she was banned from her own country,Bangladesh after making controversial statements against Islam.She was sent to India with a price on her head set by her own countrymen and even today,she lives outside.She has been banished from her homeland and she doesn't know when she is going to come back.

M.F Husain,the legendary artist died miles away from his country,India for painting Saraswati nude.

And there are these millions of Syrian immigrants who wait everyday at the borders of the European nations to be accepted as their own.

How does it feel when he are haunted by the thoughts of going back to the very place where we were born?How does it feel to be away from your own motherland?

I am not a poet and not an intellectual either,but I do love my country in my own way.When I see a beggar on the street,I offer to help him with the very little money I have,when I see a dog who is trying to get my attention,I pat its head and offer it a biscuit,when I see an old man standing on the bus,I offer him my seat.But when I do this do I ask him whether he is a muslim or a hindu or a christian?No,I do it as human being.I don't care where he was born,what his history is or what he does now.I don't care which cast he belongs to because as Justin Trudeau said "Because it's 2015".

It pains me a lot when the Muslims in our country are asked to shift to Pakistan,they are branded as anti-nationals by some Hindu extremist groups.How does it feel when you feel like an outsider in your own country?Just like these people I spoke about previously.I am a Hindu but the people who are being targeted everyday are my countrymen.They deserve respect and dignity just as much as I do.

People keep on quoting Godhra riots and the numerous terrorist activities,but they forget that the people who live here are not the same people.They have nothing against any Hindu and I can vouch for them since I know quite a lot of them.No,they don't attack me with a sword everytime I speak to him,my own Rahman chacha,my neighbour they are there when my family needs them,they eat the prasad they are offered,the same prasad I have,they drink the same water I drink then why should some religious doctrines and some difference in principles separate us or make them feel alienated in their own country.

A wise old man was once asked why didn't he leave for Pakistan after partition along with the other Muslims.His answer was "Is zameen ka ek ek Hindu mera bhai hai. Uss zameen ke saare Musalman paraye. Yaha paida hua tha. Yahi rahunga aakhri saans tak."

("Every Hindu of this land(India) is a brother to me. Every Muslim of that land(Pakistan), a stranger. I was born here and I shall live out my days here." )

 I am an Indian,I am not a Muslim but I do not hate Pakistan because I don't want to be remembered as a xenophobic racist intolerant idiot who wants her fellow country men to suffer,I don't want to see bodies burning in another riot.I want to see everyone rising up against whatever that has been going on in our country,I want everyone to rise not in the name of religion,but in the name of humanity because it's very important that we do it now.I don't want my country to lose her smile the way Syria has lost it.

I am protesting in my very own way because I believe in what Mahatma once said

"Whatever you do in life will be insignificant,but  it's important that you do it,because nobody else will"