Activist feels the life of a Muslim

Thiruvananthapuram: Karnataka-based activist Manohar Ranganathan working with the All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National Human Rights Institution (AiNNI) was not only practising Ramzan fast for the past 17 years but also travelling around with a long beard and skullcap. This is to get a firsthand knowledge of the difficulties faced by Muslims when travelling around with religious symbols. Mr Ranganathan was on a visit to Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday to invite members of commissions of the state to a sensitisation programme organised by AiNNI from South India.

He was moving around in the Muslim identity at a time when the lynching of a Muslim youth on a moving train took place in Haryana merely because he carried his religious symbols in a public space. He had to face such issues when he travelled around with his long beard and skullcap. Mr Ranganathan told Deccan Chronicle that he started the practice of fasting as part of the efforts to create awareness against the discriminations based on caste, religion and gender. There was a prejudice against minorities in the country.

“I am an atheist though born in a Hindu family. I have friends belonging to all religions be it Hindus, Christians and Muslims," Mr Ranganathan said. “Though normally people take food twice a day during the time of fast, I take food only once. While I wear skullcaps, people often ask me why I was wearing such a symbol. Then it gave me an opportunity to speak about the discriminations faced due to the wearing of religious symbols.”