Truth Bombs I Episode 7 with Nazia Erum I When your child is bullied because she is Muslim

In this episode, Aparna Vedapuri Singh of Women’s Web meets Nazia Erum. Nazia is an author of the critically acclaimed book “Mothering A Muslim”. In this episode, Nazia speaks about raising a Muslim child in India. She also tells us how Muslim children are bullied in school. Excerpts from the video: Aparna asks Nazia about the prevailing stereotypical, monolithic image of this oppressed Muslim woman. “We have become so much more as a Muslim man or a Muslim woman. What about a Muslim mother? As a narrative that was missing. I wanted to talk to all the mothers and find out where we are, and what’s the way ahead. Then I went and spoke to 200 mothers across many cities, and I found such a diversity out there. There are women who were making their own way, and their children are in touch with everything that is the best in the world. I remember talking to women who are training police personnel in Bhopal, I met women who are heading universities in Mumbai. I found women who are taking people on walks, nature walks, historical walks, heritage walks, in Hyderabad. There are such a diversity of women.”, says Nazia Then she tells us how the interfaith Iftaar gathering that she, along with many other diverse Muslim women, started a few years back, was well received in our society. In India, Bollywood plays a huge role in how we perceive something which we do not have much knowledge about. In our society, we do not know much about Muslims, we assume so many things about them. The impact of these stories on our kids, the internationalism on Muslims and the prevailing Islamophobia. How does this affect the younger generation? Is secularism still in the air in India? Are we teaching hatred to our kids? Nazia and Aparna speak about all these less discussed aspects in this interesting episode. They wind up the show with a quick rapid fire round.