The M factor
Some time back I bumped into this guy,let us call him Mr X, in the lobby of a hotel in Geneva. He was an NRI in the US and was in Geneva on a software project by WIPRO. He was a Kannadiga who had lived in Ahmedabad most of his life. After some time the talk veered to Muslims in India. He was of the firm opinion that most, if not all, of the ills in India could be linked to the M factor…as he preferred to call Indian Muslims, either in order to be politically correct or to ensure that anyone eavesdropping on us would not know what we were talking about. Of course the 2G scam had not then become public, nor the CWG or Swiss Accounts and Adarsh Housing (all of which involved mostly Hindus) or he would have found it difficult to substantiate his stand.
He was not only openly a bigot, he wanted us (me and another younger colleague) to share and participate in his bigotry. But then this is something which I have come across in many NRIs. They seem to have an impression, that “IF SOMETHING IS NOT DONE IMMEDIATELY” hamara Bharat would shortly become the Islamic Republic of Hindustan. He , as usual quoted the higher fertility of the Indian Muslims and the fear of being “SOON OUTNUMBERED”.
So in the lobby of that Geneva hotel Mr X thus exhorted my younger colleague “ You youngsters must DO something” .. what exactly , he did not specify but I have a good idea what he wanted. We listened to him patiently for a while, occasionally refuting his “logic”, but can u make ever straighten a dog’s tail ? After a while I grew impatient and let him have it straight between the eyes. I told him, if he was so concerned why was he sitting in the US and preaching us instead of coming back to India and fighting the battle? Also why was he working for WIPRO, an organization owned by an Indian Muslim? Well that was the end of our interactions. I never saw him again.
While X is probably still in the US and worrying himself sick on the M factor, what’s worrying for me is that I keep coming across many educated middle class/ professional people with the same ideas. Since, in India, saying anything against muslims (or other minorities) in public or private dialogue is politically incorrect , very few people actually do speak ill. So my guess is that the number of people who share Mr X’s views on the M factor is probably significant. And that is worrying.
Now the problem with the M Factor people is that while they blame the muslims for all the ills of India, they have no idea on how to solve the problem. Ask them and they twiddle their thumbs. The BJP , self proclaimed defenders of the hindu faith will repeatedly talk of “minority appeasement” and “pseudo secularism” , but ask them for a solution and they either go into a maun vrata or say something profound like “Muslims should convert to Hinduism”. As if a change in religion of Muslims will make the Indian economy sky-rocket. The latest joker to join the pack is Subramaniam Swamy who said something similarly asinine. And this comes from followers of Hinduism where “Vasudheva Kutiumbakam” is a tenet.
There was a recent TV debate on the Uttar Pradesh Govt giving job reservations to Muslims on the basis of economic criteria. The anchor mentioned that the highest levels of poverty were found among OBC and Muslims. Tarun Vijay, the BJP spokesman was one of the guests. He, predictably said, Muslims cannot be given reservations because in Islam there is no concept of caste. Hence only us (cruel) Hindus who have a caste system can feel righteously justified in giving reservations to Hindu SC/ ST/ OBC. If Mr Tarun had spent as much time on some facts as he does in oiling his hair, he would have come to know that most of the poor Muslims in India were poor OBC/ SC/ ST Hindus who converted from Hindusim to islam… and so great is the influence of the this 2000 year old system that they carried their castes into Islam. (The caste system still thrives among most Christian communities across the country. In Goa one can find Brahmin Christians not mingling with the non-Brahmin Christians) .
My advice to Mr Tarun , and other closet bigots, is to wake up, if not in the interest of the nation, at least in your own interest. The Muslim population in India is too large to be politically ignored and no party can hope to come to power by antagonizing the Muslims. Every time anyone in the Sangh Parivar makes such statements as Mr Tarun, they are shooting themselves in the foot. The BJP has already seen how Nitish Kumar, CM Bihar, kept Narendra Modi away in the last state election in Bihar. Also how Varun Gandhi’s stupidity cost the BJP. Only a moderate Vajpayi could lead the BJP to power. But alas.. kutte’ kid dum kaise’ seeedhi ki jaaye’ ?
So, Mr Tarun, if we see a benefit in bringing our Hindu SC/ ST/ OBC into the mainstream, we should undoubtedly see an even bigger benefit in seeing poor Muslims joining the mainstream.
PS: This post was written several months back, prior to the UP elections . Subsequently the BJP fared very poorly in the UP state elections . Mayawati blamed it on the muslim vote getting polarised (away from her and in favour of SP/ Mulayam) because , according to her, the BJP hardline of Muslim reservations made the muslims feel insecure.
Some time back I bumped into this guy,let us call him Mr X, in the lobby of a hotel in Geneva. He was an NRI in the US and was in Geneva on a software project by WIPRO. He was a Kannadiga who had lived in Ahmedabad most of his life. After some time the talk veered to Muslims in India. He was of the firm opinion that most, if not all, of the ills in India could be linked to the M factor…as he preferred to call Indian Muslims, either in order to be politically correct or to ensure that anyone eavesdropping on us would not know what we were talking about. Of course the 2G scam had not then become public, nor the CWG or Swiss Accounts and Adarsh Housing (all of which involved mostly Hindus) or he would have found it difficult to substantiate his stand.
He was not only openly a bigot, he wanted us (me and another younger colleague) to share and participate in his bigotry. But then this is something which I have come across in many NRIs. They seem to have an impression, that “IF SOMETHING IS NOT DONE IMMEDIATELY” hamara Bharat would shortly become the Islamic Republic of Hindustan. He , as usual quoted the higher fertility of the Indian Muslims and the fear of being “SOON OUTNUMBERED”.
So in the lobby of that Geneva hotel Mr X thus exhorted my younger colleague “ You youngsters must DO something” .. what exactly , he did not specify but I have a good idea what he wanted. We listened to him patiently for a while, occasionally refuting his “logic”, but can u make ever straighten a dog’s tail ? After a while I grew impatient and let him have it straight between the eyes. I told him, if he was so concerned why was he sitting in the US and preaching us instead of coming back to India and fighting the battle? Also why was he working for WIPRO, an organization owned by an Indian Muslim? Well that was the end of our interactions. I never saw him again.
While X is probably still in the US and worrying himself sick on the M factor, what’s worrying for me is that I keep coming across many educated middle class/ professional people with the same ideas. Since, in India, saying anything against muslims (or other minorities) in public or private dialogue is politically incorrect , very few people actually do speak ill. So my guess is that the number of people who share Mr X’s views on the M factor is probably significant. And that is worrying.
Now the problem with the M Factor people is that while they blame the muslims for all the ills of India, they have no idea on how to solve the problem. Ask them and they twiddle their thumbs. The BJP , self proclaimed defenders of the hindu faith will repeatedly talk of “minority appeasement” and “pseudo secularism” , but ask them for a solution and they either go into a maun vrata or say something profound like “Muslims should convert to Hinduism”. As if a change in religion of Muslims will make the Indian economy sky-rocket. The latest joker to join the pack is Subramaniam Swamy who said something similarly asinine. And this comes from followers of Hinduism where “Vasudheva Kutiumbakam” is a tenet.
There was a recent TV debate on the Uttar Pradesh Govt giving job reservations to Muslims on the basis of economic criteria. The anchor mentioned that the highest levels of poverty were found among OBC and Muslims. Tarun Vijay, the BJP spokesman was one of the guests. He, predictably said, Muslims cannot be given reservations because in Islam there is no concept of caste. Hence only us (cruel) Hindus who have a caste system can feel righteously justified in giving reservations to Hindu SC/ ST/ OBC. If Mr Tarun had spent as much time on some facts as he does in oiling his hair, he would have come to know that most of the poor Muslims in India were poor OBC/ SC/ ST Hindus who converted from Hindusim to islam… and so great is the influence of the this 2000 year old system that they carried their castes into Islam. (The caste system still thrives among most Christian communities across the country. In Goa one can find Brahmin Christians not mingling with the non-Brahmin Christians) .
My advice to Mr Tarun , and other closet bigots, is to wake up, if not in the interest of the nation, at least in your own interest. The Muslim population in India is too large to be politically ignored and no party can hope to come to power by antagonizing the Muslims. Every time anyone in the Sangh Parivar makes such statements as Mr Tarun, they are shooting themselves in the foot. The BJP has already seen how Nitish Kumar, CM Bihar, kept Narendra Modi away in the last state election in Bihar. Also how Varun Gandhi’s stupidity cost the BJP. Only a moderate Vajpayi could lead the BJP to power. But alas.. kutte’ kid dum kaise’ seeedhi ki jaaye’ ?
So, Mr Tarun, if we see a benefit in bringing our Hindu SC/ ST/ OBC into the mainstream, we should undoubtedly see an even bigger benefit in seeing poor Muslims joining the mainstream.
PS: This post was written several months back, prior to the UP elections . Subsequently the BJP fared very poorly in the UP state elections . Mayawati blamed it on the muslim vote getting polarised (away from her and in favour of SP/ Mulayam) because , according to her, the BJP hardline of Muslim reservations made the muslims feel insecure.
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