Legacy Of A Divided Nation: India's Muslims From Independence To Ayodhya - Softcover

Hasan, Mushirul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813333407 ISBN 13: 9780813333403

Publisher: Westview Press, 1997

Synopsis

In the opening chapters of Legacy of a Divided Nation, Mushirul Hasan examines the origins of Muslim separatism under the British, the making of the partition of India, and the meaning of partition for a host of Muslim communities, individuals, and families. Chapter 5 examines the establishment of the Nehruvian consensus in the 1940s and 1950s with its secular vision for India's future, and Chapter 6 attempts to delineate secular identities and the Muslim organizations that ran counter to this process. Chapter 7 illustrates the role of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia University as the bearers of the beacon lights” of modern and secular understandings of the Muslim future in India.Next, Hasan examines the breakup of the Nehruvian consensus from the 1960s to the 1990s, looking in particular at the reasons for the growth of communalism and the retreat of both Muslims and Hindus into communal political camps. The final section of the book surveys the state of India's Muslims in the period after December 6, 1992, when the Babri Mosque was demolished.Hasan argues that Muslim religious and political leaders have failed; that there still exists a secular platform in India, albeit one under threat; and that secular Indian Muslim intellectuals must stand up and be counted on that platform and take a lead.

About this title

About the Author

Mushirul Hasan is professor of modern Indian history and pro vice-chancellor at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. His books include Nationalism and Communal Politics in India, 1885–1930 ; A Nationalist Conscience: M. A. Ansari, the Congress and the Raj ; and Mohammed Ali: Ideology and Politics.

From Library Journal

Alas, though the topic needs serious study, this book's title and content do not match. Hasan (modern Indian history, Jamia Millia Islamia Univ., New Delhi) spends the first third of the book yet again refighting the battles among Muslims during India's independence movement. Then, after starting a discussion of the birth pangs of Pakistan and its effects on Muslims in India, he lapses into a discussion of century-old reformist movements within Indian Islam. The book is virtually over by the time he is set to discuss the fate of Muslims in post-independence India. With limited space, he briefly describes the pitiful state of education within the Muslim community and then how Muslims reacted to the destruction of the Babri Mosque in 1992. An informative book on India's Muslims during the 50 years since independence is badly needed, but this is not it.?Donald Johnson, Univ. of Minnesota Lib., Minneapolis
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Westview Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0813333407
• ISBN 13: 9780813333403
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368