17 Comments

Heartfelt, heartwarming read, Sumira. Indeed, it was a breath of fresh hope. Onwards and upwards from here...

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A breath of fresh hope... I'm really feeling like I can breathe easier now. Thank you, Nidhi ❤️

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Jul 28Liked by Sumira Khan

Sumira, wonderfully written! You are brave! Please keep writing.

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Thank you Cocoa 💖

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Thank you for writing this piece. It is important that many more like you speak out. Many may dismiss your concerns rather too easily, but each one of them are compliant to what is happening in our society in subtle manners. The hatred and divisiveness are spreading in a very subtle manner that one doesn't recognise them any more.

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Your prose is beautiful. Really looking forward to reading more. I had to read up a little to learn about the BJP and India’s politics but to read it from a citizen as yourself is important. God bless.

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Thank you, Istiaq. I've held back from, not only writing, but also talking about this aspect of our lives because of the fear of backlash. I pray that this new found freedom is here to stay.

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Jun 10Liked by Sumira Khan

I hear you Sumira. The hate that has been going on the past years have been overwhelming. I can only imagine what it must have been for you. Let's hope and pray that we always have a government that is of, for and by the people and not against them.

The election result shows how God works in mysterious ways.

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Thank you for reading Sanuj. 🙏

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Jun 10Liked by Sumira Khan

Poignant and heartbreaking, Sumira. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope the hope that is showing up now continues unabated and truly builds into accountability and ease of breathing/living/speaking for all at all times, ameen.

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Thank you Tanya. Hope is pulsating through the air at the moment.

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During the pandemic, Rana Ayyub had famously tweeted: 'What is left for a virus to kill in a morally corrupt nation'. What was already a difficult time had turned into a suffocating one for Indian Muslims by the IT Cell - probably a payback for the anti-CAA protests that had garnered nationwide support.

Even then, there were the elders who were asking us not to despair. They said, 'All of this has happened before and we have healed and moved on'. It was almost impossible to believe it that back then. Especially since there is hardly any independent media now and even social media is manipulated.

But then, here we are!

I am so sorry for all that you had to go through. Brave of you to share this with us. Thank you, Sumira!

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It is friends like you, Karthik, who have allowed us to find our voice and speak our truths. We've hidden them for so long, putting on masks of indifference for years, I think we had forgotten what true democracy felt like. Let's remember and never forget.

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I came back to the title after reading your essay. Chaa gayin dost! Lagey raho :)))

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Thank you dost 😘

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Goosebumps, Sumira! From the house-hunting struggle, to the train murder and you voting....what a chilling account of personal experiences culminating in hope 💛 I want more!

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I love that I'm able to express a little bit of what so many of us felt and lived and continue to live. The freedom to tell our stories... What a high that is! 🤗

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