A Brief History of the Present: Muslims in New India

Present-day political discourse swings between two contrary positions on the issue of Muslims.Hindutva politics categorizes Muslims as a monolithic religious group to substantiate Hindu homogeneity. The liberals, on the other hand, claim to protect Muslims as a religious minority to defend Indian democracy (if not secularism!). In both cases, Muslim identity is envisioned as a one-dimensional phenomenon.

A Brief History of the Present attempts to go beyond the obvious to rethink the role of ...