Before I start, I would like to inform you all that I am a proud Muslim and a proud Indian.
I was born in India and when I was five years old, I migrated with my family to Saudi Arabia. I have been here for 31 years. Unfortunately, due to the rules of Saudi Arabia, I cannot apply for Saudi citizenship. Therefore, even after 30 years, I am still an expatriate and can be deported any day as I am here on a work visa.
My wife has been here for eight years and my children were born here. So basically Saudi Arabia is our home which we will have to leave if I quit my job or if I am fired.
My father has been in Saudi Arabia since 1983. He is a civil engineer and has worked on numerous government hospital projects, so I can proudly say that my father has worked for the development of Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, he is also an expatriate and will have to leave the Kingdom on the day he retires.
The sad part is that in Saudi Arabia, we are considered a burden on society. Young Saudis believe that we are here to take away their jobs. They don’t realize that expatriates are the ones who built their country. Money cannot construct or run anything, you need human beings to do that.
They don’t realize why companies want to hire foreigners and not Saudis. The reason is that we work hard and they don’t (I am referring to the majority of them, especially the youth and I agree that, of course, there are exceptions).
I love India very much. Every vacation I visit India instead of visiting other parts of the world, but as I have been living in Saudi Arabia for 31 years, it has become very difficult for me to adjust in India due to the pollution, traffic and a few other reasons.
I wish to migrate to the West, maybe America or Canada. But again the West considers us to be terrorists because we are Muslims. Western leaders have succeeded in labeling us as terrorists. The common man does not realize that these leaders are the ones who created Al-Qaeda and Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS).
The common man from the West does not even realize that we hate these terrorist organizations as much as they do. The West will always keep us Muslims under surveillance and never accept us as their own. If there is a bomb blast or any terrorist activity the police and the society will blame us.
May Allah make our lives easy and make this earth a peaceful place for all of humanity. May he help us to overcome disunity on the basis of religion, race, color and social status. Aameen. Many people might disagree with what I have written, but, unfortunately, these are the facts. # Source: The Saudi Gazette
