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.
The book ‘A Brief History of the Present‘ attempts to go beyond the obvious to rethink the role of minorities, specifically Muslims, in the ‘New India’ that has revealed itself since 2014. By diving deep into the complexities of Muslim identity and its role in everyday life while at the same time viewing the Muslim communities through a historical lens, the author attempts to provide a far more accurate picture of Indian Muslims than what is perceived currently.
Published by Penguin India, ‘A Brief History of the Present‘ by Hilal Ahmed, will be released on 29th July on SoftCover, ThePrint’s online venue to launch non-fiction books.
Hilal Ahmed is an Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi. He works on political Islam, Indian democracy, and the politics of symbols in South Asia. He is associated with the Lokniti programme of the CSDS.
He is the author of Muslim Political Discourse in Postcolonial India: Monuments, Memory, Contestation (Routledge 2014), Allah Naam ki Siyasat (Hindi, Setu Prakashan, 2023), Siyasi Muslims: A Story of Political Islam in India (Penguin-Random House, New Delhi, 2019) and Democratic Accommodations: Minorities in contemporary India (With Peter R deSouza, and Sanjeer Alam, Bloomsbury, 2019).
The book has garnered praise from Ghazala Wahab, author of ‘Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam in India.’ She says, ‘It’s a measure of Hilal Ahmed’s optimism in India’s ability to self-heal that he draws lessons for the future from the past. A Brief History of the Present steers clear of emotionalism, preferring pragmatic reflection to put the state of Indian Muslims in contexts, and using that context to shine a light to the way ahead. Suffused with hope, Ahmed’s latest offering treads the middle path. No mean feat in these times of extremities.’
Ashutosh Varshney, director, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, applauds the book, ‘In this book, Hilal Ahmed analyses the relationship of Hindutva with its various facets—historical, cultural, social and political—of Muslim life in a “New India”. We learn a lot about the inner diversity of Muslim society, the complexities of Pasmanda politics, the absence of affection for Aurangzeb among India’s Muslims, the weakness of Muslim liberals to strike roots in the Muslim community and much more.’
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