Hamid Ansari has missed the woods for the trees

One often says of cricketers, 'Form is temporary but class is permanent.' If you adapt this statement to Indian politics, you would probably say, 'The post is temporary but politics is permanent.' I say this because no matter which post our politicians occupy, they never cease playing at politics. I am reminded of this by a statement made by vice president Hamid Ansari on Thursday. It is a political statement. It was his last day as vice president. The day before, he had given an interview to Rajya Sabha TV in which he made a controversial statement, and which was aired on Thursday. After 10 years as vice president, Ansari stated on his last day in office that Indian Muslims are afraid and insecure. This statement of his demands to be analysed.

First, that the statement was made by the vice president is significant. Questions are being raised over the timing of the statement. Hamid Ansari chose the last day of office to address this statement to the whole country. Prime minister Narendra Modi responded to this statement the same day in the Rajya Sabha.

The statement made by Hamid Ansari is similar to that made by Pakistan in its effort to propagandise against India. Pakistan's dictator and former president General Pervez Musharraf had made a similar statement to further his anti-India agenda.

If our own vice president or people in constitutional positions agree with the Pakistani position, the Indian position on the international stage will be weakened. India will find it difficult to respond to the charges levelled against it. The sad part is that this is happening because of statements made by people who have gained much from India and its society.

It is necessary to remind Hamid Ansari of a few things. The nation should remember that Indian Muslims have always brought laurels to the nation. Muslims have graced many important positions in India. Hamid Ansari is a Muslim himself, and has been vice president for two terms. I would like to remind Hamid Ansari of a few people who have made the nation proud.

India has had three Muslim presidents. Dr Zakir Hussain, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

Four Muslim judges have served as Chief Justice of India. They are Justice Mohd Hidayatullah, Justice Mohd Hamidullah Baig, Justice AM Ahmadi, and Justice Altamas Kabir. India's first female judge in the Supreme Court was a Muslim too- Justice Fatima Bibi, who was a judge in the Supreme Court from 1989 to 1992.

The three superstars in the Hindi film industry are Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Salman Khan.

As per the 2011 census, India has 92 crore Hindus. Yet these three are the heroes of the nation. No one takes into account the fact that they are watching Muslim actors. That is because the nation is secular.

In India, cricket soars above any caste or creed. Indians consider cricket their religion and cricketers their gods. Many Muslim cricketers have served the nation through their sport. India's youngest captain was Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. After him, Ghulam Mohammed was the captain. Mohd Azharuddin captained the Indian cricket team for 47 Test matches. Besides, there are Syed Kirmani, Wasim Jaffer, Zaheer Khan, Mohd Kaif, Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan, who have had long stints in the Indian cricket team and brought laurels to the nation.

Many hockey players have brought much prestige to the nation. Zafar Iqbal, Syed Mushtaq Ali and Mohd Shahid have won gold at the Olympics for India.

It is only in India that we see an individual playing the religion or caste card to save himself from an accusation. Mohd Azharuddin did this. When, in the year 2000, he was accused of match-fixing, he said he was being persecuted for being a Muslim. Although later he apologised for having made this statement.

In contrast, the cricketer Sreesanth, going through a similar predicament, never said he was being targeted for being Hindu. Had he done so, would the nation have accepted his statement?

I have cited these examples to say that India is a secular country. I do not think one should question it in this way. I think we should stop politicising the relationship between Hindus and Muslims. Our nation's media can play a major role in this. Though, it is a sad fact that a section of our media is indulging in politics of religion and caste.

The media should avoid highlighting the religion and caste of any person it is reporting about. Recently, it was a major news story for the media that Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, was becoming president of India. The Indian media saw no other quality in him, other than the fact that he was Dalit.

I think a person should be known by his work, not by his religion.

At a time when we are celebrating 75 years of the Quit India Movement, it would help to remember that the real problem that needs to quit India is politics based on caste and religion.