Milan welcomes scholar Hilal Ahmed joins the show to discuss his new book, "A Brief History of the Present: Muslims in New India," a nuanced perspective on India's Muslim community using political science, theory, and history.
The discourse in India today on the issue of the Muslim community seems to swing between two contrary positions.
According to the Hindu nationalist narrative, Muslims are a monolithic religious category whose presence justifies the need for greater Hindu solidarity. On the other hand, there is the narrative offered by liberals, who claim to protect Muslims as a religious minority to defend Indian democracy.
A new book by the scholar Hilal Ahmed, A Brief History of the Present: Muslims in New India, departs from these unidimensional notions of Muslim identity. It applies concepts from political science, history, and political theory to provide a much more nuanced view of India’s Muslim community.
Ahmed is an associate professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), where he is also associated with the Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy. He is an authority on political Islam, electoral behavior, and Indian democracy.
Ahmed joins Milan on the show this week to talk about “substantive Muslimness,” the meaning of Hindutva, and what exactly is new if the “new India.” Plus, the two discuss the state of the political opposition and the BJP’s vulnerabilities.
Episode notes:
1. “Identifying the New India (with Rahul Bhatia),” Grand Tamasha, September 25, 2024.
2. “What Really Happened in India's 2024 General Election? (with Sanjay Kumar),” Grand Tamasha, September 18, 2024.
3. Hilal Ahmed, “CSDS-Lokniti post-poll survey: The three main takeaways,” Hindu, June 7, 2024.
4. “Decoding the 2024 Indian General Elections (with Sunetra Choudhury and Rahul Verma),” Grand Tamasha, June 6, 2024.
5. “Neha Sahgal on Religion and Identity in Contemporary India,” Grand Tamasha, June 30, 2021.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
This week, Rahul Sagar join Milan to discuss his new book The Birth of Indian Liberalism: Mama Parmanand’s Letters to an Indian Raja, which uncovers an older tradition of Indian liberal thought through a remarkable work first published in 1891 and then largely forgotten for more than a century.
Milan Vaishnav, Rahul Sagar
This week, Rohit De and Ornit Shani join Milan to discuss their new book Assembling India’s Constitution: A New Democratic History. Drawing on a remarkable range of archival material, the book shows that constitution-making was not confined to the halls of the Constituent Assembly alone.
Milan Vaishnav, Ornit Shani, Rohit De
Milan Vaishnav and Tanul Thakur discuss Tanul's new book "Wild Wild East: Exiled Americans, Enslaved Indians and the Systemic Abuse of the H-1B Visa Programme."
Milan Vaishnav, Tanul Thakur
Discussing their new short book, Indian Public Opinion toward the Major Powers, Paul Staniland, and Aidan Milliff join Milan Vaishnav to discuss the treasure trove of data on Indian public opinion they stumbled upon, the characteristics of India’s “foreign policy public,” and the variation in Indian attitudes toward the United States, China, and Russia/the Soviet Union. Plus, the discuss why a respondent’s region emerges as a strong predictor of one’s foreign policy views.
Milan Vaishnav, Paul Staniland, Aidan Milliff
Host Milan Vaishnav and Ambassador May-Elin Stener discuss the outcomes of the India-Nordic summit, the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), and the green technology partnership Norway envisions with India.
Milan Vaishnav, May-Elin Stener
