Look who is discriminating

In the city of predictable prejudices, Iram Rizvi had run into a surprise.
The 25-year-old woman from Kashmir was being asked by the landlord to leave the house because she was a Kashmiri. But the landlord was no Muslim-hater. He was a Muslim himself.
“I have always faced remarks like ‘Kashmiris cannot be trusted’ and ‘all the Kashmiris are opportunists’. Who is not an opportunist?” asks Iram, sitting in a car in front of Jamia Millia Islamia University, as it rains incessantly outside.
“I have left Srinagar to do something good for myself and secure my family’s future. Is there any opportunism in that?” she says.
Rizvi says she faced discrimination and prejudice in an excruciating search for accommodation after she moved from Srinagar to the national capital in 2006.
She stayed for some time with a distant relative in Malviya Nagar, in a rented apartment owned by a Muslim. But just because of her Kashmiri identity, the landlord objected to Rizvi’s staying with her relative, and she had to leave.
It was much later that she could find a hostel in the university.
Rizvi worked as a journalist in Kashmir before moving to New Delhi to pursue her PhD in Mass Communication from Jamia Millia Islamia’s Mass Communication Research Centre. In Srinagar, she worked for local newspapers Daily Etalaat and the Greater Kashmir.
At Jamia, her topic of research is ‘The coverage of Kashmir conflict by newspapers’.
Breaking generations-old conventions in conflict-ridden Kashmir, hundreds of Kashmiri youth like her are beginning to travel outside the region to study and work, unlike even five years earlier when most remained cocooned in the Valley.
“I am an Indian but in Delhi it is very tough for a Kashmiri to stick to his or her identity, and if you are a girl it gets tougher,” says Rizvi, as traffic whizzes by on the rain-soaked street.
“For a girl from a small town like Srinagar it’s very tough to get accustomed to the lifestyle of a cosmopolitan city like Delhi,” she says.
And then, there are the slurs.
“Once I met a person in train. And when he came to know about my Kashmiri origin he said ‘These Kashmiris eat in India and sing about Pakistan’.”
Rizvi, who veils her face with a scarf in public, says “the veil makes me feel secure and look decent”, and adds that the only consolation is that she has not been subjected to taunts like many others for her scarf.
But stereotypes do play up often, like the day when her non-Muslim friend said of her visits to beauty parlours: “How can a girl wearing a veil go to the beauty parlour?”

Following is the lilnk to this article in Hindustan Times:-

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=a2ffb9d6-e2c7-4279-9da3-e0ed7a2b87e7&Headline=Look+who+is+discriminating

Diversity in Feelings, Culture and Society

Yesterday, after the PM Manmohan Singh's speech from the ramparts of the Historic Red Fort, I decided to go their to have a glimpse of the Historic 17th century fort and came back from there having a sense of proud in being an Indian. But there was also a feeling of sadness after seeing the children from our poorest of the poor section of the society outside the Glorious Fort.

Should we become so happy with our independence that we forget to think about the million Indians in whose life 15 th August is just another day on which they are as usual busy in their works, because if they stop their work then their family will have to starve.. We are a nation that is always swayed by milestones and landmarks. So, in the run-up to India's 61st Independence Day, there has been an all-encompassing euphoria and media hype surrounding this landmark. But is this brouhaha about Independent India's sixty first anniversary worth it?
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in the Capital to mark India's 61 years of independence and highlighted the his government' s key achievements and initiative towards the development of the nation and two of the most inportant dangers facing our counry i.e. communalism and terrorism. But what about Md.Arshad, a 13 year old boy, a vendor from Bihar's most backward district of Sitamarhi who sells drinking water outside the Red Fort. When asked what was the significance of 15th August in his llfe, he replie"d Nothing much, I want to enjoy like other children but cannot stop selling for a single day because I cannot manage money for my food and study." There were so many other poor boys outside the glorious century Red Fort selling so many things who don't even know what's this 15 th August is all about except that our country got freedom from the British Raj. Ravi aged 12 years from Bagpat had nothing to do till yesterday due to poverty started to sell kites for 15th august but was driven away by the police and he doesn't know what will he do tomorrow. Just after the Prime Minister's speech people thronged to the gate of Red Fort to get a glimpse of the magnificent 17th century fort but were driven by the police. Prem Anand, a vendor selling pens and papers outside the Red Fort when asked about the importance of India's independence in his life said" Though poor but proud of being an Indian and I like my country a lot and I am very much happy today". Many tourists also thronged to the Red Fort taking pictures and were fascinated by the beauty of the Red Fort. David, a student from England said " I am in India since last 2 months visiting various places and had a burning desire to watch the Independence day celebrations." My respect for India and It's people has increased a lot because of their friendly nature and I would like to visit India once more , I am deeply influenced by the diverse culture of India", said Claudia Robert a tourist from Hungary. Since India got independence sixty one years ago , the Independence has brought a lot of change for the upper strata of the society but for the lower strata this independence is just a freedom from the British rule,because they are still ensalved by the socio-economic problems due to the anti-poor policies of the government which has a direct effect on their livelihood. The lower strata is still trapped under the vicious circle of poverty.