The Silence of 'Others'

The Silence of ‘Others’ is documenting the lived experience of young Muslims in Western countries. By studying their experiences, it is attempting to decipher how various issues - social, political, legal, cultural and economic - are fueling the alienation of Muslim youth. Working in America, England and France, my photographs are recording intimate accounts of living as a Muslim in the West and revealing how the external world is influencing Muslim social identities, positioning and relationships. I am not a Muslim but the ceaselessly deepening chasm between Muslims and non-Muslims concerns me immensely. As a teenager, I have spent countless afternoons playing cricket in the courtyard of a large Mosque in India. Even today, some of my closest friends are Muslims. And with many Muslims in America and Europe, I share a common socio-political history and the broader experience of being an immigrant. Their struggles with identity or belongingness are very much like my own. It, therefore, pains me to observe how an unhealthy obsession with the ‘war against terror’ has given birth to a perpetual climate of paranoia and xenophobia. And how a resentful minority section of Muslim youth in the West has begun to heed the pied pipers of Islamic jihad. Today communities are segregated and citizens feel alienated. Expert solutions are being offered on how to effectively ‘integrate’ young Muslims in Western societies. But I think it is more important to analyze why has the need arisen to ‘integrate’ people who were born and belong to these countries. It is important to understand what factors persuade young Muslims to adopt an isolationist or a radical approach. During the first three years of the project, in America and England, I observed the impact of religious prejudice and stereotyping on young Muslims. I shared stories of a struggle for equality, citizenship and democracy in the face of Islamophobia. Since 2012, I have been further documenting how religious discrimination coupled with other issues - ethnic profiling, institutional racism, poverty, dilapidated housing, high unemployment, rampant crime and drug abuse - contribute to the disillusionment and alienation of young Muslims in France. My work observes how things and events everyday influence the ‘lived experience’ of young Muslims. I photograph them at their homes and on the streets. Rejecting the clutter of reductive assumptions and prevalent stereotypes – like veils, beards, skullcaps, prayers, Mosques, animal slaughters, Eid hugs – I am attempting to document what it truly means to be a young Muslim in the West. I am photographing their activities, behaviors, hidden emotions, personal opinions, private lives and public interactions. And I believe that these photographs should bring forth an understanding of how the Muslim youth views its personal identity, democratic citizenship, social relationships, political participation, economic equality and most importantly, its wellbeing.