The palpable fear of being “framed” in false terror cases furthers the sense of alienation among young people who haven’t been exposed to the terrorist ideologies yet, apparently for want of internet and television access.
“They frame people in false terror cases and next day the accused becomes the convicted,” said Iqraar Ahmad, a class 10th student at Choudhary Yaseen High School, expressing hope in God who will “definitely come to the rescue of Muslims in the crisis.”
Interactions with Iqraar and some other young people like him indicate Mewatis may not be heading towards extremism, but this is a topic of concern.
“Mewat is unnecessarily being maligned by vested interests as if we produce terrorists. We have resisted Mughals, British and everyone who tried to rule us. What else should prove our love for the land?” says Sohrab Khan of Khedi Kankar village in Nuh.
Muslims of the region are as vocal about their allegiance to the country as they are critical of extremist ideologies such as the Islamic State and al Qaeda.
At the Nuh seminary, disenchanted cleric Mohamamd Shakir talks about how people of the area have been living in harmony for all these years and how, according to him, some “bahari taaqate” (foreign agencies) were hell bent on creating unrest in the region.
He says he is confident that Muslims and Islam are safe in India as long as Narendra Modi continues to be the Prime Minister.
“We do not know what ISIS is and who are the people affiliated to al Qaeda. But, unfortunately, we are still linked with them. We love this country. We are not anti nationals. We have nothing to do with Pakistan,” he quips.