Column

Sotto voce

Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik’s remark thanking Muslims across the world for having supported his team during the Twenty20 tournament got many people hot and bothered enough to dash off critical letters to the newspapers. Editorial writers and pundits were not far behind either.

The main thrust of most comment was the same — did Malik not see that the Indian team, which had just defeated Pakistan, had not one but two Muslims? Many Muslims wrote in to ridicule Malik, pointing out that they had supported India throughout, since they were Indians and their religion made no difference to their loyalties.

The sub-text of our reaction was to rub the nose of our Pakistani neighbours, who had lost the match, a bit more into it. You are obsessed about religion, we are secular, we seemed to be saying. We don’t think of ourselves as Muslims, Hindus or whatever — we are all one, Indians in our glorious, secular diversity. It gave us a nice, uplifting, warm feeling as we said it.

Completely by chance, I went the day after to check out a housing project in central Mumbai along with a couple of friends. Though I was not in the market — with these prices it becomes a bit difficult to think of buying a flat in Mumbai — I was interested to see how a derelict area, with slums all around, in a neighbourhood usually avoided by most unless they lived there, was transforming into a posh locality.

The sales representative showed us glossy brochures and waxed eloquently about the parks, the underground parking, the club house and many other hedonistic pleasures of living in the complex and even I began to get tempted. And then, almost casually, he informed us that one of the pluses of the project was that “no flats would be sold to any Muslim”.

He said this, I felt, a bit proudly, as if to highlight one more USP of the project, one that would definitely tempt any sensible buyer. But we didn’t quite see it that way. For a few seconds, all of us remained silent, wondering how to react, till my friend said, “In that case we are not interested.”

Now it was the salesman’s turn to be nonplussed. He didn’t think it was such a big issue, and definitely not a deal-breaker. But here were a group of potential clients, all looking eager to buy expensive property, reacting negatively to what his company had thought would actually attract customers.

The matter ended right there, because we got up and left, not wanting to take it any further. Quite clearly, it was not something we wanted to discuss with him — he was merely a representative. But, even if the owner himself had been there, how can one possibly react? With anger? Disgust? Tell him that it was illegal? Or, God forbid, with approval?

All of us had heard about this kind of thing, but when it happens to you, it still shocks, especially the chilling normalcy of it all. The builder’s caveat did not apply to me, but that did not make any difference; one doesn’t have to be a Muslim to understand the deep-rooted bigotry behind it.

The builder would know that his ‘rule’ is unconstitutional and he could be sued; but he probably doesn’t care, knowing that it would be difficult to prove anyway. As for social pressure, that wouldn’t bother him either; those with such nasty attitudes are not particularly interested in what the world thinks of them.

But I believe that this kind of attitude is commercially stupid too. Sure, in a bullish market, where there is enough demand, they will always find buyers. Some might even be attracted to this project because it panders to their own narrow-mindedness. Yet, the company will pick up an unsavoury reputation and that never helps in the long run.

Not only the middle-class Muslim— a growing segment — but also many Hindus, Christians and others, will go to other builders who do not have such idiotic ideas. One doesn’t have to be particularly secular-minded to sell to one and all — it’s just good business sense. It’s one thing for the residents of a single building to prevent Muslims (or non-vegetarians, or whoever) from moving in and quite another for a whole housing project to be built on that premise.

Over the years, Mumbai, aiming to become a global city, has actually become more insular and intolerant; lounge bars and malls do not a city broad-minded make. We have laws against this kind of thing, of course, but laws are not enough; there are no role models who talk about the secular imperative and our leaders go out of their way to pander to this religious group or that.

The city is full of community ghettoes, and it is not only Hindus who try and exclude others from their cosy world. Cricket is something that brings us all together, and we all celebrate our victory against Pakistan, and we all condemn Shoaib Malik. But once the cheering dies down, some of us go back to our petty, communal ways.

Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net.