While the economic future and cultural rights of Indian Muslims have been debated since 1947, it is their political future that demands attention because only as an equal and participatory political community can economic or cultural futures be addressed. If the political will is not strengthened, Indian Muslims will be left at the mercy of majoritarian forces, to their whims and fancies. Professor Mujibur Rahman’s “Shikwa-e Hind” explores the predicament of the political future of the community in this context, which the author describes as the third political moment. The second was in 1947 when the community was given equal status in the Indian Constitution and the first was in 1857 when Indian Muslims learnt to live under the British colonial state.

Going forward the community must formulate the democratic rights of Indian Muslims as equal citizens and define the ethics of human dignity in their struggle to reassert their place in the political power structures in the country. Studying the lives and experiences of Sur Sayed Ahmed Khan, BR Ambedkar and Martin Luther King Jr, who at different political junctures fought for their respective minorities, the book promises to provide interesting insights and inspiration.

Author: Professor Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, Jamia Milia Islamia

Discussants:

Prof. Katharine Adeney, University of Nottingham

Prof. Faisal Devji, University of Oxford

Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot, King’s College London

Dr. Indrajit Roy, University of York