Terrorist Next Door

Kochi: Mohammed Irfan (name changed) came from his home town in north India all the way to Kerala after getting placed in an oil firm based in Kochi from a prestigious business school. Things were going at a good pace and everyone envied his career growth. Though Irfan was not at all comfortable with this place in the beginning, he became busy with work and made lots of friends at work and outside.  He was god fearing and helped all his acquaintances and shared a of good rapport with almost everyone he knew.

Then came the Mumbai blasts and like all his fellow citizens he too was a part of the mourning ceremony, discussions and all that followed. In the wee hours of 23^rd Dec Irfan was lifted from his flat in Panampilly Nagar by the Anti Terrorist Squad along with Kochi City Police on account of suspected link with jehadi terrorists who is trying for a foothold in Kerala. News spread like a fire all over the media, his parents back home were questioned and detained. Things never came Irfans’ way until he was send to Bangalore for brain mapping and other sophisticated crime detection methods. Finally Irfan was released of all his charges and was left free on 31^st Dec.

Then came the real torture for him. The first blow came when he was told to vacate the flat as soon as possible by the owner. That was just a beginning for 27 year old Irfan. He was suspended from his job on accounts of undisclosed reasons, his bank accounts came to scrutiny, he lost many of his friends and the worst part being recognized by each and every one in the public. People started looking at him with a suspicion and finally Irfan decided to leave the city. But back home, the scene awaiting him was not that different. For the first time even his parents and relatives too doubted his identity and Irfan had no other choice, but to succumb himself to death. In the wee hours of 26^th Jan ,Irfan Committed suicide at his house.

Things came to a lime light much after his death. He was doubted on grounds of his beard and the white cap he used to wear always, his frequent trips and his immense knowledge on the holy book. He was a good orator and spoke at many religious meetings. A few people doubted him and he had no other choice but death.

Irfan is not an isolated incident. Many more Irfans are being tortured all across the country in the name of counter terrorism. But is this the real way to fight terrorism? This is a question we must ask to each one of us. And is this the way of welcoming back someone to our society? It might be funny to say that it was a terrorist staying next door. But make sure before you conclude or stereo type something .Things have to change. Its impossible for the authorities to stop questioning suspects, its we the people who have to take it in the right spirit. Who knows your brother; son or father will be detained tomorrow for no particular reason!!!!!

Well, the above article is just a weird imagination of mine which cropped up after one of my friends who is still in college sought my help for a news report on a contemporary issue which our society is facing today. Almost a year back when I drafted this report, apart from the news paper reports, I had very less or no first hand idea of the state of Muslim youths in India. I really don’t know if she submitted this report or if it raised a few eyebrows in her department. And very sad indeed today when many of my own friends face such hard ships in the society, I am forced to scribble down something.

The immediate reason for such a topic was nothing but an incident which one of my close friends who is working with a leading IT firm in Bangalore narrated to me. I know him right from my college days and recently he got transferred to Bangalore for a project he is working in. Just like many other IT wallahs, he was unhappy with the job and we were discussing the various pros and cons of the industry he is into. In between he mentioned about the so called BOSS, who is a hard core Muslim with long beard and other features which resembled him to the poster boy of our times, Osama Bin Laden. Following a religion or growing beard is one’s own choice and we have the freedom to do it. But the fact here is that my friend, himself who is a Muslim feared him for some or other reason. Things have gone so worse for them that people have started looking at people with a beard with so much of suspicion that he is watched by numerous eyes while on the job or in public.

This is not an isolated incident which I have come across. Another friend of mine who is in Mumbai (I personally feel, it’s the worst city to live in for young, un married Muslim youths, after the 26/11 attacks, unless you are a celebrity) recently got promoted to a good post in a leading automobile manufacturing firm and he was looking out for a good apartment in the city. It was then the attack happened and the whole scene in the city changed. Since he was a bachelor and his name was looked upon with suspicion all around for the above mentioned reasons, he never got a flat in the locality he wanted. And the worst case was he moved out of the city to Navi Mumbai spending 4 hours a day in commuting to and from office in the local train. Thankfully, last month he got transferred to Pune, which is a much better place to live in, considering the fact that people in a particular city gets this strange hysteria only once they are struck with a terror attack. As a regular visitor to Mumbai, I feel the whole Mumbai Spirit as it is portrayed is just a spirit to survive, out of fear and compulsion. In fact it’s a thin delicate code of conduct that the Mumbaikars maintains so that everything goes without any chaos.

During my early days in Chennai, I used to stay with a bunch of colleagues who was from different parts of the country and a majority of them were Gujjus. Gujarat and Modi has always astonished me in some or other way and I was constantly in the process of getting more and more first hand information from them, who were born and brought up in Gujarat. Be it the saffronisation or industrialization of the state, I still feel the BJP Govt: has done it with style and perfection. Though Gujarat faced the country’s worst Govt: supported riot, many people have told me that the Muslims in Gujarat admired their CEO Modi and the Board of directors, as they mention. Till date, I never got an authentic source to talk on that and hence I restrict my words. Coming back to my flat mates, I often felt there is an unknown grudge within them towards the minority and there were many instances where I had to wind up the conversation on the same as many of my closest friends were Muslims and I really know about the religion much better than others in my shoes. No offences to my ex roomies, what so ever (Hope you guys wont read this!!) But I think the educational as well as the social system in Gujarat needs to be revamped for the good.

There are many more instances which I have seen and heard, but I am restricting myself as I don’t want to see myself detained on grounds of suspicion. A suggestion which I would like to put across is to see them as fellow beings and to treat them with equality. No body is a born terrorist and it’s never a crime to follow one’s religion. But the present social scenario in our cities is scary though nobody wants to discuss the same. It’s any day inspirational for a normal youth to turn to a terrorist. You can’t blame an youngster when he is denied food, shelter and job for unknown reasons and when he tries to disturb the system through violent means. Well, I am not a pro terrorist, but it hurts a lot to hear from people who cares and loves you that they can never enjoy what I can or a majority in this country can without any reason.

I feel these issues should be solved with in the limitations of the society and our system, before it engulfs the whole society. A good news which I recently heard from Mumbai is that every one irrespective of their religion should submit a prescribed list of identity proofs to the owner as well as the cops before they move in to an apartment. And if the owner denies the occupant for no particular reason, the authority has every right to sue him. Now, that sounds democratic and secular. Hats off to Mumbai police.

Jai Hind.