A mind boggling write up by Ali Rahman. A must read.

Baahir-e-Zaman

A recent personal encounter triggered a thought process which made it absolutely important to document, and perhaps ease being a Muslim, especially in Pakistan.

A friend shared a small story about a “dholki” where friends and family had gotten together to sing and dance and celebrate an upcoming wedding of a dear one. During the festivities, a member of the gathering, who was quite uncomfortable to begin with, got up and qualified the event as a “Hindu’ana Rasm” which obviously was followed by anything and everything starting from whispers to looks to outrage. It is said with a degree of certainty that almost all of us have heard this at some point in time in our lives. Some even qualify certain activities, demeanor, etc., as “not being our culture”.

We take the first argument where the qualification is that of “Hindu’ana Rasm”. The term itself is quite oxymoronic. “Hindu’ana” referring…

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