Today, living with a Muslim identity brings with it a whole set of complications. From being discriminated against to facing prejudices in India and abroad, Muslims have often been put through litmus tests to prove their loyalty. Indian Muslims are as much Indian as Indian Hindus, but they are often still viewed with suspicion and distrust. Terrorism affects everybody, irrespective of religion or race, but it also alienates Muslims all over the world. 

© Youtube_Kommune India

This poem titled ‘Hindustani Musalmaan’ by Hussain Haidry is a powerful reminder of how every Hindustani Muslim is as much Indian than anyone else. Our cuisines, rituals, gods and customs might be different, but at the end of the day, we are breathing the same air, getting stuck in the same traffic, laughing at the same jokes on television, crying at the same moments in the movie halls, and slogging in the same job.

Performing at Kommune India, which is a storytelling platform started by Ankur Tiwari, Gaurav Kapoor and Roshan Abbas, Haidry—who is a lyricist-screenwriter by choice and CA-MBA by qualification— makes a hard-hitting point.