Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
04 September 2024 | 23:19 SAST
2-minute read

Jama Masjid, New Delhi, India

In his book Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims, Dr Mujibur Rehman outlines the need for Indian Muslims to reassert their place in India’s political structures.

Dr Rehman, a distinguished academic from the Jamia Millia Central University in New Delhi, describes the current state of Indian Muslims as the third political moment in their history, which began with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Dr Rehman said, “There is a growing tendency for Muslims to see themselves as unequal citizens, given the kind of policy interventions that the regime has made with respect to Muslim community, more specifically to the citizenship law that does not allow Muslims from neighbouring Muslim countries to apply for citizenship.”

The first political moment, suggests Dr Rehman, was in 1857 when Mughal rule ended, and British colonial rule began in India.

The partition of India in 1947 marks the second political moment in the history of Indian Muslims.

“Indian Muslims, who at that point in time were 35 million in number, who decided to stay back in India, out of 95 million who went to Pakistan at that point of time, they were given equal status in terms of rights and responsibilities and duties. Now that particular status that was given to them in the constitution of India is now challenged and unsettled,” Dr Rehman explains.

Muslims living in India currently find themselves under attack, as is exemplified by “bulldozer justice”, which refers to the demolishment of Muslim homes without due process and is often meted out on Muslims who express political opposition or are suspected of committing any crime.

However, with a population of about 200 million, there is a need for them to organise themselves politically to reassert their position and quell the subjugation of Indian Muslims in the country.

Dr Rehman acknowledged the successful mobilisation against human rights violations of Muslims in India.

“That matter has come to the court and the court is now taking cognisance about the illegality of this bulldozer justice system that is being introduced by the Hindu right regime. So, there is a fight back and this coalition government definitely gives them greater political capital and opportunity to fight back,” Dr Rehman said.

Dr Rehman calls for a strategic collaboration between Muslims and secular political parties in India in order to assert their indispensability as citizens of the country.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.