Author: Zia Haq
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: September 11, 2005
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1488735,0008.htm
Four years ago on this day, New York's twin towers fell to a terrorist attack. The event sparked off two wars - in Afghanistan and in Iraq - and global upheaval.
But has the chain of events after 9/11 affected the lives of Muslims in India, as elsewhere? An HT survey of 883 Muslims in seven cities shows the answers don't come as an emphatic "yes" or "no". Whether 9/11 and America's War against Terrorism has impacted the lives of Indian Muslims depends on which Muslim you speak to - the average man on the street or the globe-trotter.
For instance, the survey finds that overall only 42 per cent of the community sympathises with the 9/11 attackers. But when you go out of the metros, you get a different picture: in Patna it was 61 per cent, in Lucknow 56 per cent, and in Hyderabad 51 per cent.
As for whether their lives changed since 9/11, only 43 per cent overall says it has. At the same time, however, nearly two-thirds -63 per cent - says the attacks made their community more vulnerable to hatred. And if you thought our cities were more cosmopolitan, then figure this - the feeling of vulnerability was much higher in the metros (80 per cent in Delhi, 71 per cent in Mumbai).
In both metros and smaller cities, however, no one thinks the US is winning its war against terrorism (88 per cent says no in Kolkata, 91 per cent in Patna). And half of the community, whether in Mumbai or in Lucknow, does not think Islam is being practiced in its true spirit. A lot of churning is still ahead.