Some of the questions that Omar Khalidi has raised in his latest book relate to the economic condition of Muslims in India in the beginning of the new millennium. He compares their present condition with the not so distant past. He then goes on to document the record of colonial and post colonial policies vis-à-vis Muslims and their economic profile as compared with the majority community and other minority communities. He provides statistical evidence obtained from archival and contemporary records, interviews with policy makers, politicians and journalists to arrive at conclusions. Omar Khalidi has been asking uncomfortable but relevant questions about the status—social and economic—of Muslims in democratic India. The book under review is a follow up on his earlier book ‘Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India—Army, Police and Paramilitary Forces during Communal Riots which dealt with the low representation of Muslims in the armed forces and paramilitary forces.
May 2006, volume 30, No 5