The dilemma of the Muslim liberal https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/on-a-knifes-edge-by-s-irfan-habib-liberal-muslims-left-with-little-elbow-room-to-raise-genuine-concerns-within-community/article66524533.ece S. IRFAN HABIB Faced with Hindutva hatred, the Muslim liberal is today sandwiched between two extremist groups. Feb 23, 2023
It is difficult to adhere to the new standards of patriotism thrown at them by the majoritarian “nationalists”. The secular space where a liberal Muslim or Hindu can prosper has shrunk dangerously. A liberal Muslim is sandwiched between two groups of extremists, one from her own community and the other, and more visibly vocal one today, the hydra-headed Hindutva’s foot soldiers and ideologues....
Most Muslims in India are converts but the reasons were diverse; although some were surely cases of forced conversion, many were attracted to Islam as an egalitarian and socially a seemingly less oppressive faith, which was a message spread through Sufi khanqahs as well. This hatred for the ‘other’ has peaked, or perhaps it has not yet, but we now see calls for genocide being made from the very heart of the capital at Jantar Mantar while the police remains a mute spectator...
In the midst of t...blatant communalism, we hear a call for peace and for all religions to be respected from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. Bhagwat also said that everyone who lives in India is a Hindu, as Hinduism is a way of life and Sanatana Dharma is a religion.
I see this merely as a façade to promote majoritarian politics. For me, as a liberal, anyone born in India is an Indian, he/she may later be a Hindu, Muslim, or even an atheist.