Politics has changed beyond recognition since the 2014 election, he quips. “There is only talk of development and putting India on the global map, but the main agenda is always the same – to create rifts between communities. Not just between two religions, but rifts are now being created even between various sects of the same religion,” he adds. “We have become a laughing stock internationally because we still seem stuck in the dark ages,” he laments.Soft-spoken and polite, Hussain is outspoken when it comes to this pet peeve.“A Muslim thinks Islam is in danger. A Hindu thinks Hinduism is in danger. An average Indian’s life span is around 60 years. How can a human being who lives for such a short time endanger a religion that has endured for centuries?” he wonders.Talking to him one can see what drove him to construct a Hindu crematorium, a Muslim cemetery, a Christian burial ground and a joggers’ park on the same plot of land, literally adjacent to each other, in the early 2000s.“We are all united in death and hence, we should also be united in life. I meant it as a reminder to all of us,” is his parting shot.(This article was first published in National Herald on Sunday)
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