How can we ignore so much hype
about Indian politics? They had elections in five provinces or states .The Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took first place with 31 seats, while
Congress was left with a meagre eight. If this trend maintained in general
elections, then Narindar Singh Modi is going to be the next prime minister of
India. He was labelled as butcher of Gujrati Muslims. But who cares about
Muslims? May be this act has turned him into a hero. The Muslims tried to yell,
protest and agitate, however no heed was paid to their voices.
The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man's Party, with election symbol of a
broom seized 28 of Delhi's 70 assembly seats just nine months after its
formation and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal announced Monday he would head a
state government for New Delhi in a stunning breakthrough just months before a
general election ,defeating Sheila dixit the chief minister .This new political
party pledging to sweep corruption from the Indian capital made surprising gains
in state elections, grabbing a huge share of votes from the incumbent Congress
party..
There are about 280 Million Muslims in India, which is the biggest Muslim
population in a single country now after the debacle of East Pakistan. Yet they
are a minority in India, quite a big one though. Gone are the ages when Muslims
ruled India and later on some of the states. However the Indian channel Zee TV
is showing its generosity or goodwill to Muslims by showing two Dramas "Jodha
Akbar" and “Qabool hai “based primarily on Muslim culture, values and heritage.
Mughal emperor Akbar is still quite popular among Hindu masses for his liberal
accommodative views. He has been depicted in many Indian Movies dramas and
stories on Indi cinema. He had a Hindu Rajput wife by the name of Jodha bai.
Historians differ on the name but this is history that he tried to mingle up
some of the Hindu traditions in Islam and named it Deen-i Elahi.
Yet he was the most powerful and successful among Mughal Emperors. I am not
digging up history just what we are watching from Zee TV. Jodha Akbar with a
vast cast is a big costume drama for this small screen. Those who watched the
Bollywood movie Joda Akbar say that this is much better. Showing the Mughal era,
Emperor, Queens, Khwaja siras (Trans genders), the royal court, Ministers,
Subedars, servants, public, army, it is an elaborate cast. Zee TV has really
worked hard and spends a lot to depict such an enormous presentation. The
Emperor and his family speaks wonderful Urdu (in fact they were Farsi speaking)
while Jodha and her family speaks strong Hindi or Sanskrit. Showing quite a bit
of royal values and traditions, it’s fascinating to watch this show.
The other one” Qabool hai” is a big family drama with all the Muslim names and
characters. Showing quite a bit liberal Muslim families from Bhopal with screwed
up, twisted stories. There are some intriguing relationships, hatching
conspiracies and their family problems, which are sometimes tried to sort out by
going to shrines. Arshad a typical Muslim man having two wives and divided
families. The main character Zoya is a young girl back from New York having
somewhat western influence. I am just watching these for the last 3 months while
these dramas go on for ages.
May be this is the first ever drama on an Indian channel based on Muslim
families and characters.
Talking about Indian Muslims, they are proud to be called Indians and why not
it’s their country of origin. One of my friends from Hyderabad, Deccan, gets
agitated every time she is considered a Pakistani. Moreover my Sikh friends
never introduce themselves as Indians. They prefer calling themselves Punjabis.
Sometimes Sikhs are targeted for being Muslims in America.
In North America south Asians are generally considered one people or one race
and the term Desi has got so popular for them. In fact they are Badesis.( Alien
Immigrants)
Indian cinema or Bollywood is ruling most of the homes of south Asians. Some of
them religiously watch every release. How can we forget about so many Khans
ruling the Bollywood? They are the Akbars of present time, having Hindu wives
and quite accommodative to Hindu culture. Yet they have Muslim names and
identities. Last year Amir Khan went for hajj with his mother, which was a great
stir in media. Dilip Kumar was a Hindu name and now the trend is to proudly keep
your Muslim names.
When I posted my article “peeping across the Wahgah border, a loving Indian
friend chatted, Apaa why didn’t you come across to me through those gates.” We
lost many contacts of our relatives there in Lucknow and Hyder abad. These
online tools established so many more adorable contacts and friends.
A group of Pakistan is trying Aman ki Aasha links with India and the government
is trying too to establish contacts. Recently Shahbaz Sharif was there watching
Kabaddi match between India and Pakistan. The main interaction was between
Military DGMs on the border, which was a very positive step. Friendly relations
are the need of the time for the region. We have suffered tremendously in war
and violence and now the peace should prevail.