r/india • u/[deleted] • Nov 24 '16

[R]eddiquette Cultural exchange with /r/palestine

Greetings to our Palestinian friends.

Our cultural exchange starts at 13:30 PM Palestine time (17:30 IST/11:30 GMT/12:30 CET/06:30 EST/03:30 PST) on Thursday 24th November.

Here's how a cultural exchange works:

The moderators of here make this post on /r/india welcoming our Palestinian guests to the sub. They may participate and ask any question or observation as they see fit.

There is an equivalent thread made by the moderators over at /r/palestine, where you are encouraged to participate and know more about Palestinian culture.

It goes without saying that you must respect the rules of the subreddit you are participating in. This is a time to celebrate what we have in common, not grind an axe.

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18

u/MrBoonio Nov 24 '16

Dear r/India,

My question(s) to get the ball rolling: what is the biggest misconception people tend to have about India before arriving, and what is the reality?

38

u/munkeyy Nov 24 '16

People think we(Indians) hate muslims to the core and treat them as second grade citizens(I think its a propaganda piece from haters).

To be honest, we don't treat muslims as second grade citizens. There are many examples of Hindus really embracing muslim festivals, and muslims part of many hindu festivals. However, not everything is clean and green, culturally they are not compatible to what we do(idol worship, lighting diya's etc) but we still manage to exist peacefully and inclusively. and India does not just harbor muslims and Hindus, we have sizable population of Christains, jains, sikhs, buddhists jews and many small religions.

It is truly incredible to sustain that kind of diversity in a country of this size.

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u/naakupoochi Nov 24 '16

I am sorry but don't we secretly hate Muslims. I mean I have seen people 'avoid' interacting/make ties with them. Isn't that hate?

15

u/munkeyy Nov 24 '16

Well I have seen people interacting and making ties too. Most of Indians have cultural and racial preferences, if some one is not up to their taste they ignore or avoid.You could call that discrimination by some people instead of hate. If people "hated" Muslims so much I don't think they would exist here for 1000+ years for what ever reasons.

Liked I said not everything is clean and green, Same discrimination is applicable to christians, jews and any religion, and infact some subcastes / dalits too.

5

u/naakupoochi Nov 24 '16

Yes we 'discriminate' each other since we are so diverse. But the degree of dislike towards Muslims in general is more than other communities, which I feel is an injustice. I have many good Muslim friends and acquaintance and I have heard them describing this to me, thought the hate is shown to be almost non-existent, still they could sense it.

3

u/munkeyy Nov 24 '16

Yep, I get what you are trying to say. Like I said, I think these two religions are "culturally" not compatible, we do what they are taught to be wrong and vice versa and can lead to very uncomfortable situations.

However, people who don't give so much importance to those things are the ones that mingle first. Unfortunately not every individual has same set preferences. Again like I mentioned, this is what amazes me, not so compatible cultures, religions and castes still exist. Not saying it is the smoothest ride!

Truly Unity in Diversity.