Member-only story
A note to my parents’ friends cheering the BJP win
I do not know enough. I am not a political analyst, a commentator or even an expert. I am an Indian Muslim, living with anxiety - day in and day out, and yesterday’s election results cemented that feeling for months (or tragically years) to come.
I spent 24 years in India, before moving abroad for education. In those years, there are certain truths that I have consistently heard from within my minority community. The idea that Indian Muslims have perennially been denied opportunities and that majority of Indians hold averse views of their Muslim counterparts.
As I grew up, I routinely objected to these arguments, with my family, relatives and anyone who used this as an excuse for their lack of hard work and determination to prosper in life. “At some point, you have to stop blaming the past, own your life and move on,” my younger self would argue with the relatives.
I’ve had friends, teachers, and mentors all from diverse religions, through school and college that have guided me better than family. They’ve helped me find answers in trickiest of spots, lend me confidence and strength to walk into the unknowns and climb higher mountains. My parents have close friends from different communities, friends who spend Eid and Diwali together, families who supported us when my father went through his illness. Our…
