“Indian Matchmaking” but where are all the Muslims?

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By Fareeha Molvi

(This piece was originally published on Instagram on August 3, 2020)

“Indian Matchmaking,” is a reality show that follows Mumbai’s top matchmaker, Sima Taparia, as she attempts to match single Indians (in India and abroad) with their soulmates. The Netflix reality show has already sparked debate about colorism and casteism. Those criticisms aren’t wrong but as always with media representations of Indians, I want to know where are the Muslims?

India is home to the world’s second-largest Muslim population and yet, in the popular imagination, Islam is not a part of India. Indian Matchmaking went to great lengths to showcase some semblance of diversity within their cast by including people like Nadia, the descendant of Indians who came as indentured servants to British-colonized Guyana in the early 20^th century, Vyasar, a public school teacher raised by a single mother and survivor of domestic abuse, and Rupam, a Sikh divorcee who has a daughter from her previous marriage. But that’s what makes the exclusion of not even one Muslim cast member even more glaring. India is poised to have the largest Muslim population in the world by 2050. Surely, they could have found one lonely-heart Muslim willing to look for love via Sima Auntie’s biodatas and awkward meetups?

Surely, they could have found one lonely-heart Muslim willing to look for love via Sima Auntie’s biodatas and awkward meetups?

-Fareeha Molvi

Time and again film and TV shows about India are erased completely of its Muslim population and whether that’s intentional or not, it’s insidious. It furthers the narrative that India is a Hindu-only country and veils political agendas that condone violence against a “minority” population.