Click to play videoAligarh: At the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the month of Ramzan is celebrated in an elaborate fashion and discussions during Iftar are a part of its long tradition.
And like every year, at the AMU — a university which has produced some of India’s finest intellectuals and leaders — students and teachers are debating the breakdown in communication and alienation.
”Terrorists do not have a religion”
”Nobody has the right to call someone a criminal”
Youngsters are not mesmerised by Osama bin Laden”
Those are just some of the voices that emerge out of the discussion.
Twenty two-year-old Farrukh Anwar says he is proud to be an Indian. “I am proud to be an Indian here in India. I can practice my religion. In Saudi Arabia and Oman, you can’t offer prayers on road. At least here I can pray with just one application,” he says.
But there is a growing fear that he could be picked up if terror strikes near is home town Bareilly.
“Tomorrow I could be picked up. They could always say that we have picked up a highly educated Muslim,” he says.
Sana Murtaza Khan — a student of English at the AMU — says police and media should be cautious in declaring someone a terrorist until proven guilty. She fears that when she heads to Delhi for higher studies next year, she may not be welcomed.
"I am fearful of moving out of Aligarh and out of Aligarh Muslim University. Muslims are not accepted outside,” she says.
Social Scientists blame the lack of community leadership and role models.
"They do not have a role model, they do not know whom to follow, except that they know they have to compete," says Prof Roquiya Zainuddin, a social scientist.
For generations, AMU through its tarana (song) has taught its students to rise above the negative forces of the nature. But today as the youngsters there face the dilemmas of being a Muslim, the song acquires a new meaning.
However, Madiur Rehmaan, a teacher in the Department of English and former AMU student, remains optimistic.
"Communication should never breakdown. If we cocoon ourselves then it would not help. You have to look forward,” he says.
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