Articles by Mushirul Hasan

In order to explore those aspects and areas which directly or indirectly impinged on the sudden and total breakdown of long-standing inter-community networks and alliances, it is necessary to locate the partition debates outside the paradigms set by the two-nation theory or the rhetoric of Indian nationalism and, in the process, set to rest those speculative theories that are designed to lend respectability to British colonialism. Fifty years after independence is an opportune moment to revise and reconsider established theories on partition, introduce a more nuanced discourse and stay clear of the conventional wisdom on the theme of 'communal ' politics. Contrary to the exaggerated claims made in both the countries, most people were either indifferent to or unconcerned with the national borders or the newly-created geographical territories that were being laboriously created. Creative writings of a host of novelists and poets on the partition especially expose the inadequacy of numerous narratives on independence and partition, and compel us to explore fresh themes and adopt new approaches that have eluded the grasp of social scientists. If histories of partition are to be re-written, then creative writings provide a foundation for developing an alternative discourse to current expositions of a general theory on inter-community relations.

Pathways of Political Leadership in South Asia Limits and Possibilities.
Mushirul Hasan The differences in the social base, ideological orientation and contrasting styles of leadership in India and Pakistan left their imprint on the course of events after independence. Although the structures and social composition of format political parties mattered substantially, the striking contrast between India and Pakistan us also between the military rulers in West Pakistan and the Awami League leaders in East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) was the charisma, popular appeal and moral authority of individual Congress leaders and their extraordinary legitimacy in many parts of the country and among different sections of society. Today if the critique of the Gandhian and Nehruvian legacies carries weight and conviction, the responsibility rests primarily with the Congress Party. It has failed to harness its own ideological resources to mobilise the minorities, the backward castes and the dalits.

Muslim Intellectuals, Institutions, and the Post-Colonial Predicament Mushirul Hasan Much research on Muslims since independence is still conducted within the framework bequeathed by the British and some nationalist writers. It is assumed that orthodoxy represents true Islam and that liberal currents are secondary. Much more research is needed on ' heterodox' trends, to discover schools of thought among Muslims that placed Indian Islam in its specific Indian environment. This study of the debates that took place, especially in and around Jamia Millia Islamia and Afigarh Muslim University, in the post-independence period, is a step in this direction.

Indian Muslims since Independence Mushirul Hasan After forty years of independence India's secular experiment needs to be reviewed as a pointer to other plural societies in Asia and Africa endeavouring to tackle their ethnic, regional and religious problems, and its results assessed in relation to Indian Muslims who form the largest minority segment in the country. Jawaharlal Nehru's secular model and the strategy of multi-national integration, the author argues, may still be the answer to India's communal impasse, for the secular state and society has far more than an even chance of survival in India.

A Reappraisal Mushirul Hasan It is simplistic to regard the ulama as standard-bearers of Muslim orthodoxy and conservatism whose concerns were limited to regulating the religious and educational life of the Muslim community. Such a view ignores the range of their involvement in other spheres, especially in organising, conducting and leading some vitally important political movements in the first four decades of the twentieth century.