This Maximum City Belongs To All Of Us
http://www.mosharrafzaidi.com/
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TCRM&showST=true&login=default&pub=CREST&Enter=true&Skin=CREST&GZ=T&AW=1259389978828
November 28th, 2009
by Mosharraf Zaidi
It would have been nice to examine the implications of the Mumbai attacks of one year ago in the context of a shared South Asian Muslim identity. After all, the Thackeray family’s objections notwithstanding, if there is one city in South Asia that is shared, it is Mumbai.
26/11 was not like 9/11 or 7/7 because Mumbai is not New York, or London. Indeed, Mumbai is unlike any other place, because it is not only the crown jewel of Indian enterprise and imagination, but also its own tribute to South Asian diversity. More than any other city that’s been ravaged by the carnage of terrorists, Mumbai is profoundly larger than the sum of its parts… continued…
Read the entire article at the Times of India website: http://bit.ly/76iHJ9
Mosharraf Mian
This is a brilliant piece. Thanks for writing this. It makes pertinent points for both the countries especially for us. We need to make it clear that Pakistanis condemn senseless violence and that tragedies of this scale are a shared curse. Hope this is read carefully by the Indians and their jingoist media and by the intransigent elements of establishment.
Bravo
RR
Posted by Raza Rumi | 29. Nov, 2009, 2:37 pmSeriously Zaidi, Mumbai? I don’t want it, I’ll keep Karachi thank you, very much. I’m more proud of Karachi’s capacity to bounce back, its well armed demeanour and the fact that it has a direct line to all of Central Asia.
… [edited for profanity and inflammatory content]
Posted by YS_1 | 02. Dec, 2009, 7:07 pmMr. Zaidi you err in suggesting that Mumbai alone is an exemplar of diversity in India. For all its coruscating brilliance, Mumbai also serves up large doses of gloom in the form of medieval thugs from the Shiv Sena for whom diversity is an alien concept – to wit the recent diatribe involving cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar.. Far more than Mumabai, the cities of the south, Madras (Chennai) and Trivandrum exemplify diversity. For example, in Kerala, the term Moplars is used to refer to Muslims, the etymology for which is sons-in-law. In Chennai, the seemingly contradictorily named Peters road, has long been the preserve of Muslims whose shops display a variety of artifacts from all religions while the Muezzin’s call to prayer is heard loudly and clearly across at the numerous Hindu temples and Catholic churces mere blocks away. More tellingly, these cities have almost never had any religious strife even when Bombay and other cities in UP welled up with outpourings of communal hatred.
However, it is your distillation of Indian geo-political aims in Afghanistan that was truly disappointing. Firstly, to me, it seems like a non-sequitur to an essay on terrorism and Mumbai. But even if one were to concede a link, it is hard to objectively make the case that India should standby while the Taliban – a virulently anti-Indian (among others) organization – seeks to restore their writ there. While the construction of roads and civic institutions by India is certainly not for altruistic reasons it is hard to empathize with the alarmist rhetoric in the Pakistani media about Indian hegemonic designs. That a largely careful and considered observer like you chose to merely reproduce what is, in essence, a conspiracy theory, is disappointing.
Lastly, may I suggest that you are also incorrect in stating that Indian “influence” in Afghanistan such as it is only recent. Before the Soviet invasion of 1979, India and Indians always had more than an element passive receptivity in Kabul. Afghani traders used to make their way all the way to the deep interiors of India to sell their wares and young Afghans used to attend university in various parts of India .
Posted by Vijay | 03. Dec, 2009, 12:13 amit our plessure to have u in our maharashtra.I wish that u could break all the records in the cricket histry.one of your fan akash
Posted by Jerri Tomaino | 29. Jul, 2010, 8:11 pm