Lone brave Indian Muslim girl protects her Hijab from intimidating Hindutva terrorists

Hijab is a symbol of modesty for women in Islam and at many places in Qur'an, women have been commanded to wear clothes that cover them from head to ankles leaving open their face, hands and feet. In fac all religions advocate women to be properly and "adequately" covered. But other than Islam, this dress has been left for nuns only while the generally women feel exposed with as much less clothes as possible. Read more on the subject in one of our earlier posts : Hijab for Muslim Women

But despite the so called freedom of women, the hijab of Muslim women pains the non Muslims and in some countries there is a total ban on hijab by Muslim women  Franc takes a lead is such countries. However recently Indian religious fanatic and radicals have unleashed a wave of intimidation and harassment against Muslim women clad in Burka, a loose black overall covering the entire body of the Muslim women. There have been instances wherein Muslim students girls wearing hijab have been stopped from entering their educational institutions. 

Recently a video has gone viral in which a lone Muslim female student clad in burka is seen being intimidated by a shouting and intimidating bunch of Hindu radicals in Indian state of Karnataka. But hats of this Muslim girl, later identified as Miss Muskan, who kept her wits about, dauntlessly stood the Nazi-type heckling, insult, and harassment at the hands of Hindutva fanatics and kept walking to her college chanting Muslim slogan of Allah hu Akbar (God is great). In the photo above she can be seen tailed by Hindu radicals. 

The entire Muslim world has joined hands together in appreciating and commending Mis Muskan for her very brave reactions to a mob which was very volatile and chanting prop Hindu slogans. Her courage to protect her modesty and hijab has been appreciated and will be a big question mark on the face of so called secular India. It may be noted that these Hindutva terrorists are the from the Indian BJP party of Indian PM Modi and since his occupation of the seat, incidents of hostilities against Muslims and Christians have increased manifold.

Her individual yet bold action and response to intimidation has made her a symbol of resistance on behalf of Indian Muslim girls who are suffering because of wearing Hijab in public. While burka or hijab is taken as offensive clothing, no one around the world objects to Hindus wearing saffron scarf which is in fact a symbol of radical Hinduism. In an interview, the brave girl says she is happy to see the appreciation she has received on social media: "So much love they are giving me and it gives me so much strength. I thank them very much."

Watch the video below of the entire incident as it went viral on the social media. As she walked towards her class after parking her scooter, a group of Hindutva terrorists began to mock her hijab by chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ Unperturbed by the terror unleashed by BJP supporters, the girl stopped to shout ‘Allahu Akbar.’

It is time now that world must realize that Hijab by Muslim women is a reality and no amount of intimidation and anti hijab laws and hijab bans can rob the Muslim women from their right to observe hijab.

You may also refer to our reference page on Women in Islam and other Reference Pages created so far, to know more about Islam.

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Plight of Muslims living in Non Muslim Countries: Indian Occupied Kashmir

In our on going series of posts of Islam and life of Muslims in non Muslim Countries, today for this post I have made a slight modification for the plight of Muslims at the hands of Israelis and Indians in Palestine and Indian Occupied Kashmir is the worst case of human rights violation, suppression of seeking freedom and beginning of the worst kind of genocide is unparalleled and most disturbing.

The Muslim inhabitants of the Indian Occupied Kashmir, a disputed territory between Pakistan and India since their independence in 1974 is the worst case of denial of exercise of right of self determination of their future. At the time of independence, while majority Muslim population wanted to be part of Pakistan, a tacit move by the last British viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten ceded Kashmir to India. This created lot of resentment from Pakistan and a war broke out soon thereafter between the two countries, which was halted due to UN intervention and and resulted in a ceasefire with a front solidified along the Line of Control.

The map showing the division of Kashmir across the Line of Control between Pakistan and India [Photo]

As per the provisions of UN, a plebiscite was to be held to determine the fate of the Jammu and Kashmir region. But since 1947, India has consistently denied this right to the Kashmiris and have tried to suppress their right of self determination with brute force. This has frustrated the Kashmiri Muslims and they have resorted to a long freedom struggle for their legitimate rights. And in doing so, thousands of Kashmiris have lost their lives at the hands of the Indian Army and countless have been maimed for life. 

Indian brute force suppressing voice of Kashmiris [Photo]

In recent times, the intensity of freedom struggle has picked up a greater momentum and an equally greater suppression by Indian Army. Not only many have been martyred, but use of pellet guns have left ugly scars on the bodies of freedom fighters.  

One of the countless pellet gun victims of Indian Occupied Kashmir

Indian forces have committed many human rights abuses and acts of terror against Kashmiri civilian population including extrajudicial killing, rape, torture and enforced disappearances. In 2011, the state humans right commission said it had evidence that 2,156 bodies had been buried in 40 graves over the last 20 years. 

Unarmed retaliation against armed Indian Army [Photo]

Some rights groups say close to 100,000 people have died since 1989 while the official figures from Indian sources state the estimates of number of civilians killed due to the insurgency in the range of 16,725 to 47,000 civilians, in which 3,642 civilians were killed by security forces. According to Amnesty International, no member of the Indian military deployed in Jammu and Kashmir has been tried for human rights violations in a civilian court as of June 2015.

Just recently, when there rose a hope of mediation between the two countries as promised by US president Donald Trump, the World's so-called "largest democracy" has acted in the most undemocratic way possible in illegally rescinding Article 370 on 5th August - a constitutional clause dating back to 1949 that gives Jammu and Kashmir its special autonomous status. The scale of this move cannot be overstated. Abrogating Article 370 represents a major tipping point for an already fraught dispute - and it could easily backfire on India. 

Before the announcement by Indian government and movement of large scale military troops, prominent Kashmir leader Syed Ali Gilani tweeted to the world with a heart wrenching message. The tone and choice of words says it all about the genocide of Kashmiris that is geared in coming days.

With this ugly move, Jammu and Kashmir will turn from a state to a union territory, meaning India’s central government in New Delhi will gain much more control over the area’s affairs. New Delhi is also considering splitting parts of J&K into two federal territories: the new state of Jammu and Kashmir, which will get its own legislature; and Ladakh, a remote and mountainous area that won’t get a legislature. By dispensing with the region’s autonomous status, it can formally consummate that integration and deliver a definitive blow to the region’s separatist impulses.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the decision was a "sinister one" designed to change the demographics of the only Muslim-majority state. "We have been let down by the same nation we ceded to," she said, adding that it seemed as though the state had made the "wrong choice" in aligning with India rather than Pakistan during partition in 1947.

This sinister move by Modi's India brings to forth the rejection of Two Nation Theory put forward by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founding father of Pakistan. However when Mr Jinnah raised his voice, many Muslim leaders shrugged his suggestion and sided with India. Now after seven decades Jinnah's wisdom has started to dawn on those who though India would protect them.

The scrapping of Article 370 means a defiance to UN resolutions and holding of the plebiscite. More broadly, though, India unilaterally pushed to change Kashmir’s status without Pakistan’s buy-in. The worry now is that widespread unrest will spike in the region. Indian forces already heavily patrol Kashmir, but it has sent thousands of extra troops there in anticipation of violence, as well as closed schools, evacuated tourists, cut off internet connectivity, and put some of the area’s political leaders under house arrest. In effect, the area is on lock down.

Bodies of cluster bombs fired across Line of Control by India 

UN Observers photoing the cluster bomb shells [Photo]

Ahead of the decision, India not only deployed a large number of additional Armed troops in Kashmir, but had also stepped crossed border shelling into Azad Jammu and Kashmir. They have even used cluster bombs which were even seen by the members of UN monitoring teams. The shelling and set ablaze many houses, martyred many Kashmirs besides wounding dozens recently.

A young man holding Pakistani flag - The Bold Defiance in the face of Indian Army 

Today Modi has trashed international law and dozens of U.N. resolutions and dashed the hopes of millions upon millions of people praying for justice and peace to prevail. Modi has shown he is not a man of peace. He is a man of war who doesn't seem to realize the potentially catastrophic consequences of playing with fire.

Timothy Todd Shea, an avid contributor on Facebook, on 5th of August wrote in reaction to the Indian move to scrap the Article 370 of its constitution, which honestly reflects the aspirations of Muslims in Pakistan, Kashmir and elsewhere:

Dear People of The World, if YOU stay silent now as you have for 70 years about the atrocities in Kashmir, if you don't even try to understand the roots of this conflict, if you simply don't care about what is going on in Kashmir and this week's naked military aggression and escalation of violence and tyranny over innocent Kashmiris who have been begging for YOU to hear their cries for 70 years, then you are complicit in the crimes against Humanity that are being perpetrated by Modi and his Hindu extremist terrorist thugs.

If you are OK with India's outrageous and criminal behavior in throwing a peace offering into the burning trash can of war, then please do not complain and do not cry if and when this conflict spirals out of control and leads to a nuclear exchange which will harm you, your family and every Human Being and forever scar the face of our planet and alter the course of history.

Totally agreeing with Timothy, I would say that when it comes to a non Muslim country usurping the rights of Muslims, the world keeps silent or shows its indifference, but when a Muslim country is seen usurping rights of non Muslims, the world community acts faster than the speed of light to get them Independence. Why could this not be done in case of Kashmir for almost seven decades. The indifference of world towards plight of Muslims clearly exhibited.

Carrying the body of  fallen Kashmiri with resolve to get freedom one day [Photo]

Do watch this informative documentary of the freedom struggle by the Kashmiris and see their sentiments against the occupying Indian forces:

I do not know how would be the reaction of the world to Kashmir after this one sided notorious Indian move, and how much the world will support the Kashmirs in getting them their rights. Time will tell. But I keep my fingers crossed for I do not see justice being forthcoming in any substantial way from the world community.

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

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Life of Muslims in Non Muslim Countries: India

Whenever India is mentioned as tourist haven, Taj Mahal is projected as its 'proud heritage' - a heritage which is legacy of Muslim rule and Mogul architecture in India. While still boasting of its secularism, India today has become one of the most notorious countries for its indifference and extreme hostility to its minorities, specially Muslims, who once ruled India and let Hindus lived peacefully and coexist beside the Muslims. 

Islam, which today is the second largest religion in India with its 189 million Muslims (2017 estimates), came to this part of the world  when Arab traders came here as early as the 7th century CE to coastal Malabar and Konkan-Gujarat. The presence of Cheraman Juma Mosque in Kerala which was built in 629 CE is still thought to be the first mosque in India.

However, a Muslim expedition under Muhammad bin Qasim in the 7th century CE brought the province of Sindh (in present-day Pakistan) under the dominance of the Muslims and Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate. Up in the north, Mahmud of Ghazni added the Punjab to the Ghaznavid Empire and conducted 17 raids on modern-day India in the 10th century. In the 11th century, Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud played a significant role in the conversion of locals (Hindus) to Islam. A more successful invasion came at the end of the 12th century from Muhammad of Ghor. This eventually led to the formation of the Delhi Sultanate. There have since been many changes in the dominating Muslim powers which continued to change hands till the arrival of the Mughals of Central Asian ancestry.

The Mughal Empire, founded in 1526, became the largest and most stable Muslim ruling elite over India and ruled India till 1857 when the last Muslim emperor was defeated by the British and brought into an era of famous British Raj that ruled lands that constitute present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh till 1947 when the indigenous independent movements forced British to end their last and the largest overseas empires.

The Muslim rule over India has left a profound and meaningful impact on India's religious and cultural heritage. Although over the centuries, there has been significant integration of Hindu and Muslim cultures across India and Muslims have played a notable role in economics, politics and culture of India. All over India, once can find Muslim and Mughal architecture. Lahore in present day Pakistan is still known as the showcase of Mughal architecture.The Muslims also contributed a lot in various forms of art and literature and most of the notable poets and writers have been Muslims.

The majority Hindu population which once ruled the India became more restive to regain their lost glory from 19th century onward. And the rift between Muslims and Hindus became so pronounced that the ruling British were forced to divide the erstwhile United British India into India and Pakistan in 1947. The partition of India and Pakistan saw display of bitter animosities between the two leading religions and have since then prevailed not only in relations between Pakistan and India, but also between Hindus and Muslim population of India.

With the breakaway of Pakistan from British India, the Muslims who once ruled India, became a minority, but have been coexisting with the dominating Hindu population in varying degrees of peace and animosity. However recently, the rise of extremest Hindu parties, the life of Muslims has become a nightmare. Today, Muslims get abused, investigated and dissected daily on Indian channels and media while they have been barred from slaughtering cows, which Hindus worship as their mother. In recent times, since the ban on cow slaughtering, many Muslims have been killed on the suspicion of slaughtering cows. There have been videos viral on social  media wherein Muslims are shown tied with trees and beaten to renounce Islam and raise pro Hindu slogans. Those not 'cooperating' are beaten mercilessly and even killed in many instances. 

Muslims today are eyed as sympathizers of Pakistan and even if someone has never visited Pakistan or have no relations there, they should be prepared to be harassed and called a Pakistani by Hindus. as per one 'advice' one has to try to be extra sad if India loses a cricket match to Pakistan, even though one is supporting India. Still don’t smile or make a happy face next day or else a Hindu friend will congratulate you and say your country has won, and immediately he’ll file verbal complaint that you were celebrating Pakistan win with fire-crackers.[2]

In a report published by the Council on Foreign Relations, in an answer to the question:How has the Hindu nationalist movement affected Indian Muslims?, it is said that:[3]

Anti-Muslim sentiment has also been used to win votes. For Hindu nationalists, who warn of a threat to India’s Hindu heritage, religion serves as a rallying cry to gain support. Their movement is “at the core very anti-Muslim,” says Ashutosh Varshney, an expert on Indian ethnic conflict at the University of Michigan. Hindu nationalists stoke fears, arguing that Muslims’ higher birth rate and an influx of migrants from Bangladesh threaten India’s Hindu majority. Hard-line Hindu nationalists argue Indian Muslims (as well as Christians) converted from Hinduism and should reconvert to the majority religion.

In a report published by TRT World under the title Life of Muslims in 'Modi-fied' India, the treatment meted out to Muslims highlights extreme indifference to Muslims and their rule of India. The report highlights that:[4]

• The BJP government has added a “Hindu first” version of Indian history to school curriculum, which had long taught that people from central Asia arrived in India much more recently, some 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, and transformed the population. 
• The Mughal Empire, established and governed by a Muslim dynasty, ruled most of the sub-continent in the 16th and 17th centuries before the arrival of British colonialists. However, the government of Maharashtra state revised the curriculum of state textbooks by removing the Mughals from its history altogether, as part of the campaign of erasure of the Mughal rule-era of the subcontinent from the syllabus textbooks.
• There have been reports, supported by videos circulating online, that show right-wingers shaving off the beard of a Muslim convert and forcing him to renounce his religion.

Harsh Mander writes in his article 'India - No country for Muslims' [5]:

A rising tide of hate is surging through India, of toxic speech and attacks on religious minorities, mostly Muslims. A permissive environment that tacitly or openly encourages hate speech and assaults is actively, even aggressively, fostered by the majoritarian anti-minority ideology of the country’s political leadership. Muslims are systematically demonized as sexual predators, as being sympathetic to terrorism and as people who slaughter and eat cow, which is held sacred by many Hindus. Most hate attacks on Muslims are never publicly condemned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is otherwise extremely voluble on Twitter and public addresses. This has fostered widespread social legitimization of anti-Muslim prejudice, hate speech and hate crimes.

Vigilante mobs, who style themselves as cow protectors, lynch people transporting cattle with impunity, visibly supported in many instances by the local police. India Spend, a news data portal, found that 97 per cent of reported hate attacks in the name of the cow since 2010 occurred after Modi was elected to office in 2014. About half the attacks were on Muslims, but 86 per cent of the people killed were Muslims. This means that if vigilante attackers learn that their victim is Muslim, there is a much greater chance that he will be killed. Eight per cent of those killed were from the Dalit community of untouchables. 

In a report published under the title of Profile of Muslims in India, it is asserted that: [6]

• The Indian Constitution claims to provide equality of opportunity to all individuals, organizations and social groups. But the biggest Indian minority is a victim of deprivation. Whether it is legislative assemblies educational institutions, government jobs, the problem of security in case of riots, representation in political organizations, posts in policy planning and decision-making groups or other pressure groups there is acute shortage of Muslim representation everywhere, resulting in constant social tension and problems in governance.
• The state of present textbooks in the Indian education system are very aggressive in teaching Hinduism. This hits Muslims' faith, culture, civilization, language and way of life. The educational syllabi have prescribed course books in all states, which are replete with matters pertaining to the faiths of the majority community, mythological and other stories of Hindu gods and goddesses against the principles prescribed in the Constitution. Obviously all these things are negations of Islamic beliefs and teachings, especially about the Oneness of God Almighty. Hence there is no doubt that these things are causing great concern to the Muslims.
• More than fifty percent Muslims are leading a life below the poverty line as compared to thirty-five percent of Hindus who live below the poverty line. Because of a general environment of hostility against Muslims, decent employment in the private sector is becoming increasingly difficult for Muslims, while in the public sector there is no encouragement for Muslims either. The future of Muslim professionals and its working class, traders etc has been very greatly affected.
• Today very few Muslims are found in government jobs. A recent survey shows that there are only eight Muslim police chiefs in India's 591 districts. That is .01% as compared to 12% of the Muslim population in India. The situation of other departments is also worsening day by day. 

However, despite all odds, the Muslims continue to observe their religious obligations even under duress with religious zeal and fervour. The mosques are fill to capacity on Friday and Eid congregations and month of Ramadan is observed true to its sanctity by a large majority of Muslims. A majority of Muslims in India are either Sunni Deobandi or Sunni Barelwi allegiance, although some declare allegiance to Shia, Sufi, Salafi and other smaller sects. Darul-Uloom Deoband has the most influential Islamic seminary in India, considered second only to Egypt's Al-Azhar in its global influence.

Muslims offer Eid prayers at the Jama Masjid, Delhi | Reuters

"The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937" governs Muslims in India. It directs the application of Muslim Personal Law to Muslims in marriage, mahr (dower), divorce, maintenance, gifts, waqf, wills and inheritance.[3] The courts generally apply the Hanafi Sunni law, with exceptions made only for those areas where Shia law differs substantially from Sunni practice.

As of today, the Muslims of India are very vulnerable in a country which describes itself as the world's "largest secular democracy". Muslims today remain poorer, less educated and less empowered in India.

You may like to watch the video "The price of being a Muslim in India" - An eye opener for those who think India is a true secular country. But reading what is shared above and what is said in the video below, one gets a feeling that India is the most minority offensive country inn the world, specially with regard to Muslims:

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |  5 | 6 | 7 |

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

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Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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