While working for the World Bank, I have been living in Indonesia for past 4.5 years. Indonesia - where 88% of country’s population is Muslim and only 1.7 % is Hindu. However, never during my stay here have I felt marginalized for being a minority Hindu. 

While Hindus are less than 2 percent of country’s population, the main lobby in the Grand Indonesia Mall in Jakarta is named “Rama Lobby”. Bali is home to 10,000 Hindu temples with statues of Hindu Gods and Goddesses on the streets. Bali’s Ulawatu temple has Hanuman’s tallest 70 feet statue. There is a 25 feet Hanuman statue at the main ‘round-about’ within 500 meters of my house in Jakarta. 

Never during my tenure here have I felt restrained from offering prayers to my Gods by the majority community. On the contrary, I have always made to feel welcomed by the Muslim majority nation. 

When we (the World Bank) developed two major software for public financial management for managing government’s budget, they were named OM and SAKTI respectively by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Indonesia here. I know for sure it was not done for appeasement of Hindus (as Hindu votes are not significant enough to influence election results), but as a genuine effort by the government to make Hindu minorities feel wanted and cared for. 

Indonesia, today, is one of the most secular nations in the world even though they don’t have secularism enshrined in the preamble of their Constitution. Secularism is in their blood, soul and spirits. 

In contrast, India, which has Secularism enshrined in the preamble of its Constitution, is seeing a rising cases of atrocities against the minority Muslims by the state sponsored ‘Hindutva’ thugs and police itself. 

I know I can pray to Bhagwan Ram in the Rama lobby of the Grand Indonesia mall any time without any hindrance from either public or police. I can pray to the idol of Hanuman close to my house in Jakarta. 

However, in India, police case has been registered against Muslims for offering namaz in the Lulu Mall in Lucknow, with hurting religious sentiments as one of the charges. This is part of a continued onslaught against Muslims whether it was lynching for beef, lynching in general, banning hijab, recent Delhi riots, disrupting namaz during Ramzan, and so on. 

I tell you this looks extremely horrible from outside. India was highly respected for its secular and democratic credentials in the past. Not anymore. The current state backed atrocities on Muslims in India could lead to a proportionate  backlash against Hindus in Islamic countries around the world and our current regime will be fully responsible for it. Highly reprehensible!

Regardless of the politically motivated actions of the Indian state, and regardless of potential backlash against Hindus abroad, I wish my fellow Hindus in India treat their Muslim brothers and sisters with due love and respect. They have been doing so in the past. They can very well do it in future. If they want to pick-up an example from where they can draw inspiration, simply pick Indonesia!