Friday, 25 April 2025
Friday, 25 April 2025
How do you respond to a prime minister echoing a demeaning trope? Muslims across India have chosen unapologetic pride and humour, not anger.
Days after Narendra Modi, during a rally in Haryana's Hisar, suggested that misuse of Waqf properties had pushed young Muslim men into cycle puncture repair jobs, social media has turned into a showcase of defiance and dignity.
“Nothing, just repairing the punctures in Indian history,” read one post by a historian, pictured mid-lecture.
Another followed: “Nothing, just giving presentations on how to improve your puncture business,” alongside a photo of himself addressing a conference room.
Doctors, entrepreneurs, engineers, and artists joined the tongue-in-cheek trend.
A surgeon posted from inside an operation theatre: “Special puncture repair in OT.”
A luxury car owner flaunted the inside of his Audi: “Driving to my puncture repair shop.”
The viral wave, seen widely across X and Instagram, was equal parts satire and assertion. Many users described it as a collective reclaiming of identity in response to what they saw as a belittling remark.
At the centre of the controversy is Modi’s April 14 speech, in which he backed the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, passed earlier this month.
The prime minister blamed what he called misuse of Waqf land for depriving Muslim youth of better opportunities. "Had these properties been used sincerely, the Muslim youth wouldn’t have to fix cycle punctures for a living," he said.
Opposition leaders criticised the remark sharply. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the amendment to the law would further weaken Waqf institutions instead of empowering the community. “One of the major reasons Waqf properties are in this state is because the law and its administration were always kept weak. Modi's amendment will make it worse,” he wrote on X.
Several critics accused the prime minister of reinforcing stereotypes about Muslims at a time when gaps in employment and education are affecting citizens across communities.
Government data show that over 30 per cent of India’s youth are currently neither in employment, education, nor training.
Some of the most pointed responses to the PM’s jibe came from Muslim professionals across fields who took to social media to counter the remark.
Without slogans or speeches, they chose to show their reality as doctors, consultants, engineers and teachers by adding a dose of irony to their posts.
One user summed up the sentiment: “Nothing, just puncturing stereotypes.”
