Reviewed by ASIF ANWAR ALIG
At Home in India: The Muslim Saga, by Salman
Khurshid, Hay House Publishers (India) Pvt., Ltd., New Delhi-110 070, Year2015,
392pp, Indian Rupees 699, Hard.
W
|
Seasoned politician Salman Khurshid raises questions
in a context of Sachar Committee and Mishara Commission reports on social and
economic status of minorities especially Muslims. Issues of national interest
for them like ‘Reservations to Inclusion based Social Justice in India; Equal
Opportunity Commission and Communal Violence Bill of 2011’ have been thoroughly
discussed. Sections on Riots & Reactions; Global Islam and India’s Secular
Muslims to Leadership for New Century besides Notable Indian Muslims and Muslim
Renaissance in India perpetuate why they should feel proud of their past,
present and future.

India’s partition in 1947 was biggest setback for these
institutions while intellectual Muslims shifted to the newly created Pakistan
en masse. Former president Dr. Zakir Hussain alongside other Muslim
intellectuals initiated JMI nourishment to build and rebuild it. Intellectuals
associated with it nourished it to preserve the nationalistic traditions. ‘What
else could be best coincidence and slap on chauvinist forces to convey that in the
mid-1980s, a Muslim Professor Mujib Rizvi headed JMI’s Hindi Department whilst its
Urdu Department boasted due to the untiring efforts of scholar and Hindu
Professor Gopi Chand Narang to defy religious divisions.
AMU foundation as Mohammed Anglo Oriental College
in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to it becoming a full-fledged university in 1920
and its struggle to retain minority character have been thoroughly discussed. Its
minority issue erupts regularly but solution is still bleak due to biasness. This
book summarizes chronology of events that brought manifold transformations in AMU.
From potential impact on Muslim think tanks to community rights in the light of
original motive of establishing the institution in AMU, this book equally raises
questions on those dissociating with it for vested interests.

He also believed that education talim (education) and tarbiyat (knowledge and training) were mandatory for budding minds. One prepared for occupations while other designed to bring out innate qualities of character needed for enlightenment.

Through discussing
general perceptions on Muslim minorities this book asserts that all sections are
important to be given equal importance. Muslims though deserved more attention due
to specific reasons. Being largest of all minorities with substantial presence they
seek respectable life in a country they were born or they chose to stay by
choice although separate land was carved out for them on religious grounds.
Their inherent contributions to make Indian history and to shape the ‘Idea of India’ since first resistance against British rule in 1857—First War of Independence—can’t be ruled out. They struggled to dream for democratic and secular nation. Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, prominent leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and other towering Muslim leaders dreamed for the modern India.
Their inherent contributions to make Indian history and to shape the ‘Idea of India’ since first resistance against British rule in 1857—First War of Independence—can’t be ruled out. They struggled to dream for democratic and secular nation. Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, prominent leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and other towering Muslim leaders dreamed for the modern India.

Pointing
out the doom of Indian Muslims ever since country was partitioned, Khurshid
exhorts to look on their sufferings in August 1947 riots and thereafter. Repeated
genocides from November 1984 riots in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination
on 31st October 1984; 1993 Mumbai riots to recent killing in Gujarat
2002 pogrom shook the community. Unpleasant scenarios of riots in Muzaffarnagar
and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh in 2013 and 2014 respectively further shattered
them.
Indian Muslims encounter tough situations regularly but
equally do they excel in several professions. They boast of three Muslim Presidents,
three Muslim Vice Presidents, four Muslim Chief Justices, one Muslim Chief
Election Commissioner, a Muslim Cabinet Secretary and many Muslim Chief Ministers
in the post-independent India. List of towering contributions of Indian Muslims
is long. This book describes why they are at home in India and questions of ‘Muslims
First or Indian First is irrelevant.’

Few
names from the Muslim community with quintessential impact in the idea of India
to fulfill the country’s collective dream to name a few are father of Indian
missile technology and former president late Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam; software leader
Azim Premji of Wipro; food industry leader Irfan Allana; cosmetic queen Shahnaz
Hussain; educationalist P.A Inamdar, retail master M.A Yousuf Ali; institution builder
B.S Abdurrahman; medicine man at Cipla Yusuf Hamied; healthcare leader late Habil
Koraikiwala and musician A.R Rahman who made India proud. The list is too long
to mention.
While
raising questions that pertain to Indian Muslims, Khurshid insists that he doesn’t
propose for them to receive the best of everything sought. In all fairness they
must receive what they deserve. They willingly gave up their claims for national
integration since country’s partition. They are sensibly compromising on the matters
of ban on cow slaughter to rest issues to respect country’s secular fabric.



Raising
pertinent questions, this book points out why Indian Muslims are subject to gravitational
pulls of two extremes. At the crossroads between conservative religious leaders
wanting their subservience rigidity under Shariat Law to idealistic left-wing
intellectuals looking at the other end without assessing mass sentiments,
Muslims, particularly those as midstream liberals, are in catch22situation. Assessment
of India’s Uniform Civil Code on multiple perspectives makes this book a seminal
work.

Muslim
World didn’t have serious problems for welfare and security of divorced or
widowed women during Islam’s expansion. It gave equal status to women some 1400
years ago while other civilizations treated them like chattels. Women were
protected through emotional and economic safety with secured entitlements in
paternal properties to claims against deceased husbands under the Islamic Law. Male
relatives were under an obligation to provide support while all else failed to
help desperate womenfolk.
Millions of them encounter problems but only few leaders speak fearlessly on their concerns. He laments why it virtually became impossible for them to produce leaders of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai’s (18 February 1894 – 24 October 1954) caliber post-independence.

Khurshid
cursorily enlists recent uplifts of Indian Muslims as appreciable steps. Establishment
of Hamdard Education Trust and Institution in a splendid campus in national
capital Delhi growing into a Deemed University is notable post-independence
development. Educational and financial institutions founded by Bohra Muslims
including Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank happening to be largest and fast growing
Indian cooperative bank to Mumbai’s Memon Jama’t and followers of Agha Khan as country’s
best business groups match with the world’s entrepreneurship leaderships.
Besides having an eye on Indian Muslims’ plights this
book evaluates their past, present and future. It entrusts Muslims to look at potential
scopes to become touchstones. Let them make their own identities in a country they
decided to make their home.
This review first appeared in the Mosaic section of Ceylon Today [www.ceylontoday.lk]
http://epaper.ceylontoday.lk/Process/UploadTwo/e_paper/5259.jpg
This review first appeared in the Mosaic section of Ceylon Today [www.ceylontoday.lk]
http://epaper.ceylontoday.lk/Process/UploadTwo/e_paper/5259.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment