Rehana: This is the image they have of Muslims. That they are terrorists. That they are combative [jhagadaalu]. They are all like this. But if you saw their daily life you would know that they are struggling, they are stressed, they are not like this. . . . There are Hindu terrorists too. But no one thinks all Hindus are terrorists. But they think all Muslims are terrorists. Some people are going in a wrong direction. All this is not in Islam. Even then they are doing this. They are individuals and will handle things in their individual way. Even when they go up [die]. Because Islam does not allow all this.
K: What does Islam say about this?
Rehana: Islam will never allow you to kill an ordinary person. It is not allowed. If these people are doing this then they are not one of us. They are not Muslims.
Rehana does not like Old Delhi very much. Although she was born in Old Delhi, her natal family now lives in Okhla, a neighbourhood in South Delhi with a substantial Muslim presence that she likes better. But she and her husband, whom she met as a student at Zakir Husain College, live in the flat…
