Abstract
The book is an attempt to explore the multiple facets of Muslim politics in contemporary India. In doing so, the author tries to unpack Muslim politics historically and questions its popular representation as a homogeneous, monolithic and identity-centric politics. The subtitle of the book—A Story of Political Islams in India, where Islam is used in plural form is reflective of this point. The author makes a distinction between Muslim politics and political Islam(s), which is often blurred in public imagination. Muslim politics is primarily perceived as religion centric and the varied social locations of political agents and institutions are grossly ignored. We can understand Muslim politics as multilayered contested space, where multiple voices related to Muslim issues, which may or may not have Islamic overtones, contest to be heard. Islam as a religious category is one among many issues that influences Muslim politics and is subject to multiple interpretations in diverse context.
The book is divided into three parts. Part I titled as ‘Making Sense of Siyasi Muslims’ consist of four chapters. It deals with how historically Muslim politics emerged in the colonial period and what trajectories it took after independence. Chapter 1 illustrates how Muslims in India got defined as a census category of minority, and how this categorisation helped in constructing Muslim politics as a homogeneous monolith. The author points how demographic growth rate of Muslims in relation to other religious communities is used by Hindutva forces to create a negative stereotype of entire Muslim population. Such stereotypes has its origin in colonial times, when census figures was used by colonial government to advance rift between Hindu and Muslim communities by differential treatments, for example, separate electorate and provision for personal laws. The demographic representation of Muslims as a homogeneous and unified category ignores its inherent regional, cultural and historical diversity within India and has further consolidated Hindutva forces. Chapter 2 questions the portrayal of Muslims as a religious category. The chapter provides a brief idea about the essential features of Islam and shows, how Muslims in their everyday life interpret and practice these features differently that is based on sectarian, class, caste and other socio-cultural and regional differences. This challenges the portrayal of Muslims as a monolith category within the frames of Islam. Chapter 3 is on islamisation in post-independent India. The author provides vignettes of some prominent Muslim organisations and personalities to explain the differences and diversity in opinions and strategies in between them on the question of conversion and the relation between din (religion) and dunya (everyday world). Chapter 4 focuses on the shifting standpoint of Hindutva forces with respect to Muslims and underlines how Hindutva politics construct Muslims as its ‘permanent other’ to define itself. It highlights how Hindutva ideologues like Savarkar and Golwarkar have defined Hindutva differently in different political contexts.
Part II of the book titled, ‘Unpacking Siyasi Muslims’, deals with the internal dynamics and differences within Indian Muslims. Chapter 5 highlights how legal and constitutional definition of minority is contextual in nature based on numeric expression of any religious, linguistic and cultural community in a region. However, Muslims are treated as ‘permanent minority’ by the political elites. This obscures the politics surrounding minorities in India whereby any initiative by the government like institutionalizing minorities commission are perceived as an act of Muslim appeasement. Citing Sachar Committee and National Commission for Minority Educational Institution as examples, the author points that such initiatives that are implicitly crafted keeping Muslim community at its core facilitate perceptions, for example, Muslim appeasement and ‘Muslim’ vote bank. Chapter 6 highlights the social stratification within Indian Muslims and politics around it. Indian Muslims are internally divided on the basis of region, descent, lineage, caste and class. The chapter provides an account of sociopolitical mobilisations and assertions by various Muslim groups on the issue of reservation. It underlines how the state follows Islamic perspective of an undifferentiated Muslim community, whereas the everyday lives of common Muslims are marked by differentiation and exclusion. Though the chapter does not adequately deals with the issue of class division, it highlights how Muslim elites (ashrafs) attempt to mobilise Muslims as a homogeneous entity in the name of Islam, whereas the Muslim pasmanda (backward sections) questions this homogeneous framing and push everyday life experiences to the forefront of political assertion. Chapter 7 is on the debate surrounding triple talaq and diverse standpoints on this within Indian Muslims. The chapter delves on its history and highlights how recent Supreme Court’s judgement was interpreted differently by the ruling political party. It further lists the problems that emerge by making triple talaq a non-bailable criminal offence. Chapter 8 deals with the emerging new Muslim elites by focusing class structure. The chapter uses data from various sources to point the shifting occupational profile among Muslims. But, in absence of data on inter-generational mobility, we may not get the wider picture. The intersectional caste structure within emerging classes and the discussion on caste, class and communalism is also inadequately discussed.
The last section is on the politics of ‘siyasi’ Muslim. Chapter 9 focuses on three inter-related metaphors (Muslims as vote bank, good/bad Muslim and Muslim appeasement) that popularly define Muslim politics. Muslims as vote bank is based on the idea of Muslim isolationism and prevalence of a unified conscious identity-centric community that votes on Muslim issues. Muslim exclusivity further profiles Muslims in a homogenised good/bad dichotomy. Ignoring the diversity within and the multiple ways by which Muslims interact with democratic structures in everyday life, facilitates the rhetoric of Muslim appeasement. Political parties across the ideological spectrum have highlighted Muslim exclusivity and have treated them as consolidated vote bank.
The book revolves around recent issues and media driven public debates concerning Indian Muslims. Almost half of its references are from online sources. It questions the negative stereotypes associated with Indian Muslims. But, to a larger extent, the book is confined to political issues concerning civil rights and citizenship issues and does not delve adequately with multifaceted sociological aspects dealing with lived experiences of Indian Muslims. In doing so it treats Muslims largely from the perspective of everyday governance and underlines the inadequacies in doing so. Nonetheless, this book is written lucidly and intends to cater to the interests of both common readers and academicians.