Campus Question: Why Being Offensive To Muslim Students Is So Normal In India?

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Sami Ahmad


NEW DELHI—
Manipal Institute student Hamza, the name being circulated on the internet, of Udupi in Karnataka caused a stirring debate on why being offensive to Muslim students is so normal in India.

Calling Muslims by different invasive terms like Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Rohingya, and among many more, Katua – a derogatory reference to circumcision- is not new but the retort by Hamza was quite remarkable and well appreciated.


Had the video of this exchange between the two not gone viral, it seems that this matter could have gone unnoticed like the innumerable instances of abuse, torture, and targeting of Muslim students on educational campuses.


According to media reports in a WhatsApp post which was later circulated in one of the student groups of the university, Hamza said, “Hello everyone, all of you must have seen a video going viral, wherein a student is telling his teacher that racist comments are not acceptable. The reason behind this was him calling me by an unacceptable name, Kasab, one of the biggest terrorists this country has ever seen.”


The teacher is heard in the video saying that “the statement was funny but the argument doesn’t end there.”


The now suspended and unnamed still Professor was told by Hamza, “It is not funny. 26/11 was not funny. Being a Muslim in this country and facing all this every day is not funny.” He was heard objecting to the teacher saying, “No! You can’t joke about my religion. That too in such a derogatory manner.”


When the teacher tried to cover up by saying that “you are just like my kid”, Hamza replied, “If my father says this, I would disown him.”


Unfortunately, the other students were heard laughing at that but Hamza kept retorting, “Will you talk to your son like that? Will you call him by the name of a terrorist? How can you call me like that in front of so many peoples? You are professional. You are teaching. You can’t call me that. Sorry, doesn’t change how you think. It doesn’t change how you portray yourself here.”


Heartening But Triggering

Syed Tanveer Ahmed who heads the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s Education Department terms the response of the student as the most positive aspect of the incident. Talking to India Tomorrow he opined, “The boy’s attempt to correct the teacher is very appreciable. He questioned the teacher and then asserted and exercised his right to reply despite a hostile situation. His courage to do this is commendable.”


He told that this incident has sent a strong message of both what is wrong with our society and what needs to be done to curb this.


Educator and poet Nabiya Khan wrote on her Twitter handle, “As much as it is heartening to see this young Muslim boy from Manipal University taking a stand against his professor who called him a terrorist, it is triggering also. Feels like been there done that. As Muslims in India, we all have been there at some point in our lives.”


After the letter issued by Manipal Institute’s unnamed authority appeared on Twitter, many handles asked different questions citing what used to be said earlier also.


Shagufta A Jilani wrote, “This reminded me of my school days when my “friends” used to ask me to say Pakistan Murdabad because according to them, apparently only after saying this, I am an Indian!” Dr. Seema Tahniyath @seema_tahniyath cited one such incident, “I remember my ENT HOD used to talk with children to make them cooperate with the examination by asking ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ but for Muslim kids, it was always ‘Do you want to be a good boy or a terrorist?’


Cost to Standing Against


Nabiya says that all of us have faced such remarks and discrimination and paid the cost to stand against it. She recounts, “Once in my college days I was clearly told that if I was to be in the college I must remove my FB post, which was an outburst after I was told to take off my hijab.”


She says, “Their bigotry is always downplayed as a joke and fun. But please know that your Islamophobic jokes cost us too much. They result in our pogroms, our systematic marginalisation.”


Nabiya further writes, “They cost us our economic prospects and mental health. The onus of fitting in should not be upon us, but on the majority to provide a safe space for us. The strictest action must be taken against the professor. Make casual Islamophobia unacceptable.”
Why the other students didn’t stand up for him?


Arslan Asmi @ArslanAsmi expressed concern with these words, “The worrying thing is nobody from class stood with the student and many might be his friends as well.”


Nabiya says that in her case no one had stood up for her. She thinks that in that video nobody stood up for their classmate. “They are clearly seen laughing and enjoying. We are always told to just chill in such a situation.”

But Syed Tanveer Ahmed sees a silver lining and says, “The fact that the students did not stand to back the teacher is itself sort of support to the aggrieved student. The teacher might have been supported by the students somewhere else. In a way that not supporting the teacher is not less important.”


Potential Backlash


Sridip Nambiar@sridipnambiar said, “What’s missing in the response is an expression of solidarity with the student. Our university systems are ill-equipped to deal with student trauma. A general statement on equality may not suffice.”


@RanjitMenon14 said: You need to put out a statement that the student in the video will not be targeted by your institute.


Sameer @freddieM987 wrote, “When it comes from the professors/authorities then imagine what it’d be at the peer/student level. The backlash from fellow professors and the other staff if any action would be forcibly taken against the teacher, that too would be difficult for the boy. No country for minorities.”


Not an isolated case


The statement by Manipal Institute@MIT_MANIPAL terms the incident as ‘isolate’ but this is being questioned.

Siddharth@DearthOfSid asked, “With what evidence are you calling this an isolated incident?” He wrote further, “The only difference this time was that someone recorded the scene and put it out on social media.”


Shameela@shaikhshameela while appreciating the response said, “I refuse to believe this is an isolated incident. This one went viral hence university cared to give a response. Otherwise, nobody dared to speak for the guy from his class.” amit7924@amit79241 said, “This can’t be isolated, considering how coolly the prof said it…”


The problem of Coastal Karnataka?


Shrinivas Karkala@s_karkala wrote, “? We are not at all surprised. Coastal Karnataka has become a laboratory of Sangh long ago.”


Sanspareil@SansPareilll thinks, “Its always been a Hindutva lab of coastal Karnataka.”


Syed Tanveer of JIH says that this is completely wrong to say that the entire region is like that. He says, “Whenever there is an emotional issue like this, those who vitiate the situation are out of the campus people.” He recalls that the Hijab issue also started in the same area but in that too those who made a ruckus were external and wrongly motivated elements. He says, that the students know how to respect other’s religion and culture.


No signature and No Legal Action


Sanjeeva Karunakar@esk_imho: Why is there no signature on this announcement and has the matter been referred to the law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution? Is the student being pressurized to avoid legal recourse? Please clarify!


@सत्यमेवजयते@clicksatyaq is of the view, “Merely debarring him is not enough. His offense is contrary to the values of the constitution and derogatory to a young citizen of India.”


Mateen Kahn@MateenGkhan wrote, “Hope the rest of your lecturers aren’t racist? Rather than doing a covering up exercise, You need to set an example by filing a formal FIR against him after terminating from the institute immediately.”


@ThePurple_State opined, “Need dismissal of such professors… a committee needs to be deployed to investigate other professors who might have extreme views.” @ali57009 said, “Terminate immediately & register FIR against him. These people are a follower of
current govt practices & directly support their agenda by spreading hatred among students.”


Shadab Alam viewed it as “Just a damage control exercise, he`ll be reinstated as soon as the matter dries up a bit. If the institution would have been serious, proper investigation of the matter should have taken place, and that the teacher had been fired rather, they are covering this up.”


Syed Tanveer says that in these troubled times deciding to suspend the erring teacher can be considered a strong step. “They could have asked him to go on leave and wait before the issue settled down the issue. The institute showed that it cares for the sensibilities of their students”, says Mr. Tanveer who is also the media in charge of his organization.


What needs to be done
Aakash Rathore@Zenrathore17 suggested something to be done, “Similar to gender sensitization also ensure community sensitization for the faculty.”


DuniyaLove@rightwingleftis while thanking the institute suggested, “This shouldn’t happen anywhere and if training is needed for staff then most universities should do this and it can be done to any religion.” 


@pk_comrade_03 advised, “Teach good things and the Constitution of our country to your Staff…, before sending them to class” asking to conduct a test on Social Justice to select quality Professors. Syed Tanveer sums up by saying, “The good thing is that the concerned teacher apparently realized his mistake, accepted a moral responsibility, and sought pardon. In some other parts of the country, the teacher could have easily accused the student of misbehaving.”


He suggested that all the other teachers should take a leaf from this who are involved in spreading such hateful assumptions in Indian society.

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