I didn't say that being an Indian and a Muslim are mutually exclusive.
And I didn't say that an Indian passport makes one less a Muslim than anyone else.
And I am aware of the large population of Muslims in India, and it is quite fine for them to be proud to be Indians, just as it is fine for Kashmiris to be proud to be Kashmiri, Pakistanis to be proud to be Pakistani, Qataris to be proud to be Qatari, etc.
Everbody can be proud of where they are from. There is no reason for it, and it is pure subjectivity and emotion. But, hey, we are only human.
Religion comes in because in the name of Indian national unity, you want all to think that what makes a Indian Muslim and an Indian Hindu different is less significant than what makes them similar as being Indians.
The belief that there is "No Absolute but asolut" is certainly convenient for such a purpose. But, a Muslim who believes in his religion will never put that beneath his nationality. It is the same with a Hindu.
They both have an idea about the ultimate meaning of things (the Hindu's is admittedly, a bit blurry) which can never be supplanted by any 50 or so year old temporary accident of history. This also explains the current Hindu extremist challenge to Indian 'secularism' which is really just the rule of Anglicized Indian elites.
I didn't say that being an Indian and a Muslim are mutually exclusive.
And I didn't say that an Indian passport makes one less a Muslim than anyone else.
And I am aware of the large population of Muslims in India, and it is quite fine for them to be proud to be Indians, just as it is fine for Kashmiris to be proud to be Kashmiri, Pakistanis to be proud to be Pakistani, Qataris to be proud to be Qatari, etc.
Everbody can be proud of where they are from. There is no reason for it, and it is pure subjectivity and emotion. But, hey, we are only human.
Religion comes in because in the name of Indian national unity, you want all to think that what makes a Indian Muslim and an Indian Hindu different is less significant than what makes them similar as being Indians.
The belief that there is "No Absolute but asolut" is certainly convenient for such a purpose. But, a Muslim who believes in his religion will never put that beneath his nationality. It is the same with a Hindu.
They both have an idea about the ultimate meaning of things (the Hindu's is admittedly, a bit blurry) which can never be supplanted by any 50 or so year old temporary accident of history. This also explains the current Hindu extremist challenge to Indian 'secularism' which is really just the rule of Anglicized Indian elites.
The "No Absolute but absolut" crowd.