(This is a reprint from NewsBred).
If I was an Indian Muslim, I would have a whole lot of questions today and certainly no answers.
So far, I believed in the pictures of Rahul Gandhi, skull
cap and all, in Iftar party breaking his fast, so to speak, at sunset during a
day in the Ramadan month. His remarks that Congress is a party
of Muslims. Now, I read he said
Tuesday in
It raised a whole lot of issues to my mind. Does Congress
stand for Muslims, Dalits, Hindus or everyone. So far I have been told the only
protectors Muslims have are Congress. They engineered a special protection for
my
All this while, they dubbed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as sectarian and communal even though Narendra Modi never once said he stood only for Hindus. Isn't Rahul Gandhi now being communal by opening claiming his party is one of Hinduism? Isn't it polarizing the communities? Widening the gulf of fear and insecurity between practitioners of two religions? Is this the vision of One India or daring of a burglar who wishes to rob the home of 1.3 billions of all its valuables?
Then I look at my newspapers. My day begins with Indian Express, the "journalism of courage." For the last four years and half, they have reported every single incident against my Muslim community, and Dalits, with sincerity and not a little bit of imagination and creativity. They have marked anniversaries of Dadri, Pehlu or a Junaid by sacrificing the space for news of their front pages. They made sure my Muslim community didn't forget for a single day the crimes which have been committed against them during the Modi regime (Nor did they Una or Bhima-Koregaon on behalf of Dalits). Indian Express seemed seriously concerned about the future of Indian Muslims.
And look at them, now that Rahul Gandhi has jumped the ship,
to my eyes at least, Indian Express choose to completely blank out his
If I could ask Indian Express why for a similar offence, BJP is communal and Congress is not. Why give ammunition to right-wingers who claim there is never a pro-Hindu story on your front pages? Why make even your die-hard fans like me and other Indian Muslims doubt your sincerity when you sweep Rahul Gandhi's all-for-Hinduism comment under the carpet?
I've tried to give my faith in Indian Express a second
chance. What if your reporter truly miss the
Then why did you throw a cloak on this Rahul remark from our
views? Why have double standards on BJP and Congress? If you care about us
Indian Muslims or the idea of
These are all very disturbing questions to my mind. I hope Indian
Express takes my fears in the form of questions to Rahul Gandhi. Ask its
editorial writers from JNU and
After all, you are "journalism of courage." You profess to
stand up for us minorities. You claim to care for a free and secular