New Light on Deprivation of Muslims in India

In India, evidence-based studies on Muslims with all-India scope and coverage have been few and far between. This book by Abdur Rahman can be counted among such landmark studies on Indian Muslims, based on data from various sources, including committees and commissions. Although the developmental deprivation of the Muslims and various forms of violence against the community by the Hindutva right wing has been more pronounced in recent decades, the seed of division between Hindus and Muslims and deprivations of Muslims were sown by the British largely in the 19th century. In fact, this has continued in post-independence India in a more pronounced form. It, therefore, would be appropriate to briefly understand the historical context for the present book.

The East India Company and later the British Colonial government found Muslims rulers, clerics, and feudal lords as a more determined community to throw the yoke of colonial or foreign rule away through direct confrontation. This sentiment did have an appeal for the larger segment of Indian society. The Revolt of 1857 proved this when both Hindus and Muslims united across India to fight against the colonial rule. This led to the systematic discrimination against the Muslims by the British Indian government in government employment, and as such induced developmental decline of Muslims. This decline largely happened from 1835 onwards when Persian was replaced by English as the official language, and the 1857 revolt led to discrimination against Muslims in government employment. This further increased the hostility of Muslims against the British. The Muslim hostility against the British led Lord Mayo to ask the prominent scholar and civil servant of the time W W Hunter, who compiled the Imperial Gazetteer of India, to examine the Muslim question and submit a report.