One hundred and fifty million strong Indian Muslim community is the largest Muslim minority in the world. A history of around one thousand years of coexistence with non-Muslims and interaction with Indian cultures have given Indo-Islamic civilization its own distinctive texture, which can be seen in its arts, touched in its crafts and architecture, tasted in its food, heard in its music, read in its literature and poetry and felt in its general ethos. The socio-cultural contribution of Muslims in India far outweighs their numbers and adds richness to the multi-cultural dimensions of India's social life.
The independence of the country in the wake of partition created a very difficult situation for Indian Muslims. Separated by its majority areas which constituted a separate Islamic state, Pakistan, the community's resources were further depleted by migration to Pakistan and then to the West. New opportunities in the Middle East opened avenues of financial well being but they also deprived Indian Muslims their best talents. More serious and threatening challenge to the healthy growth of the community comes from the growing discrimination and increasing violence against their social existence. Each passing day poses new challenges and offers new threats.
The rise of Hindu Chauvinism led by Bharatiya Janata Party and promoted by Vishva Hindu Parishad and systematic organized hatred of fascist organizations such as Rashtriya Sevak Sangh, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal now not only threaten the safety of Muslims but challenge the democratic and secular fabric that has been the bulwark of Indian independence and a hallmark of its futuristic vision. Few seems to be moved by the word 'threat to secularism' these days. Even lesser seems to care about it.
There is an even more serious challenge that Indian Muslims have faced and continue to face, one that comes from within the community and not from outside of it. The challenge is the Indian Muslims' lack of concern for an objective understanding of their own situation, absence of a long term strategy for future and indecisiveness in making a concentrated effort for attaining these goals. This challenge more than any other factor threatens the existence of the Muslim community and mars its progress.
The independence of the country in the wake of partition created a very difficult situation for Indian Muslims. Separated by its majority areas which constituted a separate Islamic state, Pakistan, the community's resources were further depleted by migration to Pakistan and then to the West. New opportunities in the Middle East opened avenues of financial well being but they also deprived Indian Muslims their best talents. More serious and threatening challenge to the healthy growth of the community comes from the growing discrimination and increasing violence against their social existence. Each passing day poses new challenges and offers new threats.
The rise of Hindu Chauvinism led by Bharatiya Janata Party and promoted by Vishva Hindu Parishad and systematic organized hatred of fascist organizations such as Rashtriya Sevak Sangh, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal now not only threaten the safety of Muslims but challenge the democratic and secular fabric that has been the bulwark of Indian independence and a hallmark of its futuristic vision. Few seems to be moved by the word 'threat to secularism' these days. Even lesser seems to care about it.
There is an even more serious challenge that Indian Muslims have faced and continue to face, one that comes from within the community and not from outside of it. The challenge is the Indian Muslims' lack of concern for an objective understanding of their own situation, absence of a long term strategy for future and indecisiveness in making a concentrated effort for attaining these goals. This challenge more than any other factor threatens the existence of the Muslim community and mars its progress.
