This I Believe: Unite Two Countries, Two Religions
Mariam SyedCarnegie Mellon University – Qatar
Modern Languages – Understanding Cultural Complexities
Patriotism and loyalty are expressions that connect people to their country, while these expressions distance me every time I am questioned about them. Although I was born and brought up in Qatar, my school and the people around me always taught me to love my country India and Pakistan. I say, my country to both India and Pakistan clearly because of my genuine love and concern for these 2 nations. I love Pakistan, not only because it was geographic history with India, but also for the beautiful culture, diversity that is unfortunately not anymore a part of India. Expression of this love for Pakistan being an Indian is difficult for some groups of people to digest and they question my patriotism towards India. Moreover, they use my religion to explain my love towards Pakistani people and thus, they conclude that “all” Muslims in India support Pakistan as they have the same religion. I fail to understand why it is common for people to joke or implicitly question my patriotism for India while my Hindu friend, who is fond of Pakistan just as much as I am, isn’t. Why is it believed that a Hindu soldier is ready to sacrifice his life for India anytime however, when it comes to Muslims, certain people have doubts. Is my country judging my patriotism and loyalty based on my religion?
I believe that the root cause of most of the conflicts between these social groups is somehow related to their beliefs, which comes from different religions. During recent tensions between the two nations (India and Pakistan), what I observed at a common man level was the reaction and perspective of the different people on the social media platforms. People from different socio-religious groups who believed that they were the voice for their community were picking sides about whether they supported India or Pakistan. But what was shocking was when I saw them doing this based on whether they were Muslim or Hindu. As I read the comments to one of the social media posts on the tension between India and Pakistan, I was horrified by the way people who claimed themselves to be patriots of India or Pakistan had begun classifying Muslims in India as Pakistanis and Hindus in Pakistan as Indians. India and Pakistan are two huge countries full of diversity and history; dividing the people within these countries based on religion is ridiculous and absurd. Citizens of these countries need to recognize the diversity and believe in their people regardless of their race, caste, religion.
We as global citizens must recognize the common religion that we all follow, which is humanity. People can find several differences in order to segregate and form separate groups however, only one similarity is enough to bring all of us together. I am proud to say that I am an Indian who loves Pakistan and India, and hope to see them integrated and supportive of each other. Lastly, I appeal to the leaders and the public of both these countries to put a stop to segregating its people based on their religion, and make efforts to maintain peace and friendship between India and Pakistan.