If the blood flowing in your veins were Indian, and not Afghan, what then? Would it have made any difference?

Pronouncements such as the above are symptomatic of false pride, racial arrogance and misplaced sense of superiority of some communities in India, vis-à-vis the others. I would put “ye Rajpoot khoon hai….” and “Jat ka hath padega to….” in the same class. Imran Khan’s emphasis on Pathan belonging of martial stock, Zulfikar Ali Butto’s assumptions about Hindus being soft, and Shoaib Akhtar’s views on Punjabi Muslims possessing the necessary strength and passion for fast bowling are in the same cringe-worthy category as Shahrukh Khan’s original quote. Of course, “Baniye ka dimag, aur Mian bhai ki daring…” tops the list of such disgusting dialogues. It is the pride associated with foreign blood running in one’s veins that has led to the Ashrafs’ mistreatment of Ajlafs/Arzals/Pasmanda Muslims as second-class Mazhabis.

The tendency to first utter, and ultimately believe, in such bombast is what has led the Afghans to dire straits. The land knows no quiet, its people have not lived in peace in centuries. War and bloodshed is all they know, and care about. Afghanistan is rightly considered the ‘sick man of Asia’. There is danger of starvation if the world doesn’t fill their begging bowl. What the Afghans consider as resistance, is violent manifestation of their restlessness. Afghanistan is only ever in news for mindless warfare, massacres, atrocities on women and drug trade. Pig-headedness is the other name for ‘being Afghan’.  A pakol (hat) on his head, a shawl draped over the Perahan o Tunban, a Kalashnikov in his hand and involved in poppy cultivation and trade – is how the rest of the world perceives an Afghan man.

That said, for an Indian Muslim man to gloat about his Afghan blood is akin to telling his fellow-men that look, I belong to the same racial stock as Lodis, Suris, Lohanis, Abdalis and Ruhillas, who invaded and colonized Hindustan, plundered her riches, raped and massacred the Hindus. “I have Afghan blood…” sounds like a veiled threat- I come from the place which Babar used as the springboard to invade India! I have the same blood that ran in Ahmed Shah Abdali’s veins, the man who massacred the Marathas and crushed their dreams! I have the same blood that has checked the British, the Russians and the Americans in the past three centuries, and I am an invincible, indefatigable trouble-maker. I am Badshah Khan, too big for my boots.

A man is marking himself different from his countrymen, and yet Hindus and Indian Muslims applaud at the exhibition of rank racial bigotry. The man shamelessly calls his father a Pakistani, whereas the fact is that his old man was a Khudai Khidmatgar, who chose to emigrate to India in 1948. “When Pakistan wins, I feel happy that my Dad’s side has won; When India wins, it is mother’s country that has emerged victorious…”  Imagine labeling your own dad as a Pakistani, only to appease your fans and earn more money ! The hyphenation of India-Pakistan is another aspect of such thoughtless comments. What his own pronouncements tell us is that the Indian Superstar SRK considers himself an Afghan, his Dad a Pakistani and his mother an Indian, and keeps India and Pakistan on an even keel. Talking about loyalties…..

  

In an ideal world, one must not be taking an Urduwood Superstar’s socio-political views seriously. But such is the aura that our MSM/SM have bestowed upon the Megastar, and hence lent him such influence, that his worldview assumes some importance as it helps us in picking the brain of elite Muslims. His casual expressions betray his mindset, and expose him as a shameless bigot who cannot think beyond commerce, and race.

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