Even in the UAE, Islamophobia permeates the Indian education system. Though subtle, it leaves a scar on many students.
On one blasé Sunday morning, I was scrolling through Facebook. I suppose that is a red flag in itself.
And as I my luck would have it, I saw that a teacher from my school had shared a video that completely whitewashed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as a “great revolutionary.”
There are several issues with that video, but who was VD Savarkar? I’ll talk in brief about him before I move on to the main topic.
Savarkar was born into a Maharashtrian Brahmin family, who in his youth participated in radical acts against the British empire.
For example, he is said to have led an armed revolt against certain reforms that limited the role of Indians in the Indian government. But he is far from a revolutionary.
Savarkar gives himself the title “Veer”
After he was incarcerated in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the British, Savarkar wrote many mercy petitions in order to be released. Then he was moved to a prison in Ratnagiri, where he began developing a distinct ideology based solely on Hindu identity.
While in prison, he wrote Essentials of Hindutva. Today Savarkar is known as the father of Hindutva ideology, which promulgates a Hindu identity for Indians. Among other things, he legitimised the use of rape as a political tool, especially against Muslim women.
And then….a biography of him published in 1926 by the title Life of Barrister Savarkar which was authored by one Chitragupta.
In that book, for the first time, Savarkar was referred to as “Veer”. There is ample debate about who Chitragupta was, but scholars like Dr. Ravindra Vaman Ramdas have deduced that it was none other than Savarkar himself.
In fact, Savarkar along with Nathuram Godse and others was charge-sheeted in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, but was released after the court found scarce evidence of his involvement.
I have to admit I was annoyed to have a respected teacher share praiseworthy posts about such a man. I would not like to brand this teacher as a bigot because I don’t have enough evidence of so.
Perhaps she is as much a victim of propaganda and fake news like the rest of us. But when I posted this story on Instagram, I was shocked to hear stories of Islamophobia in our school.
I am posting some screenshots of the responses I received. Everyone has been kept anonymous.
I remember when we had an entire discussion on whether Islam comes first or India – and primary targets of this were Muslim students. I do not remember the other students having to explain if their Hindu identity comes first or their Indian identity.
We merely 15 or 16 years old. I wish I had the mental capacity then to fight back and ask “Ma’am, why can’t it be both?”
Which class exactly it was, what were the exact words used, and other details have slipped from my mind because it happened so many years ago. But that feeling of having to justify that I’m not a traitor to the country is a feeling that has been etched into my memory.
Back then, none of us understood how deeply problematic asking this question to Muslim kids was. If we did, surely we would have countered the teacher right then.
I am also aware of a WhatsApp group comprised of some ex-teachers, where pro-BJP and pro-Modi content used to be shared regularly. This group serves as a small sneak-peak into the increasing amount of bigotry within certain sections of Indian society.
I know I cannot link Islamophobia in Indian schools with the growth of Hindu nationalism because these instances happened well before the BJP assumed power. What I can say with certainty is that these instances will continue to grow.
My stories on Instagram also opened a larger conversation into how toxic Indian schools are. I received many many responses – they are far too many for them all to be shared here.
Racism, sexism, casteism, and homophobia
Talking to boys was a sin paramount to none other. Wear short skirts, and you’d be judged for being too “open”. Wear a long skirt with your hijab, and you’d be judged for being too conservative.
I spoke to an old friend about this. She held many different leadership positions in the school and had this to say:
There’s so much wrong with these institutional setups particularly for young women. I was definitely part of it – when I think back to how they had structured leadership positions (as one example) to reinforce certain problematic rules and stereotypes it annoys me to no end.
Homophobic views were openly espoused. If Muslims couldn’t speak up for themselves, I shudder to think how those who identified as LGBTQ+ felt.
I also suspect that casteism was rampant — just extremely well hidden. But in one of the rarest incidents ever, it played out in the open. X and Y were best friends. Y belonged to an upper caste group and one time X visited Y’s home. After she left, Y’s mother [allegedly] cleaned the whole house with holy water because it had now become “polluted.” I really don’t know the veracity of this story, but I witnessed X fight with Y other over this.
Shall I even get into nepotism? I think we all bear witness to it. We are also aware of going to sham sports selections and other activities because the same persons would be chosen every year. We never cared about giving space to others.
We cared only about winning. We thought if we picked the same person every time, they would win every time. A debate-regular once lost. She broke down in tears because she had never been taught how to accept defeat and because she was repeatedly propped up as the “best among all.” I rooted for the underdog – who won that day.
I spent 14 years of my life in school. I looked up to so many people as a young woman, but today they are all fallen heroes to me. I am pained that the very people I had immense respect for, secretly held my community in contempt.
I sincerely hope that one day this will come to an end.
Disclaimer: I have kept all people and institutions nameless. I do not mean to defame anybody because for what it’s worth I went to a pretty decent school. And also because defamation is criminalised in the UAE, I cannot afford to fight a court case, and I really don’t want to go to jail 🙂
Untamed Reflections 