I agree with Basharat Peer’s view that the absence of sanitation, health, education or banking facilities or companies denying home delivery of products has, for years, been “the standard attitude towards India’s Muslim ghettos” — “ >In India’s largest Muslim ghetto ”, June 19. The practice of some housing bodies denying housing to Muslims, and as reported from time to time, reflects the same mentality. Despite such cases of negligence, sporadic signs of aspiration can be seen, as pointed out by Peer in the case of Mumbra.
More often than not, governments have treated Muslims only as a vote bank doing nothing in reality to raise their social and economic status. This has led to uneven development in the country, leading to complex issues such as an identity crisis and of a cultural threat. It is time that all governments create equal opportunities, so that many untapped talents can be utilised for better and stronger India. To achieve this, the ‘ghettoisation’ of Muslims or any other minority community needs to be shunned.
Manzar Imam,
New Delhi
