In this Newslaundry interview, Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, head of Political Science at Ashoka University and author of Poetry of Belonging, examines how culture, poetry and shared histories have shaped Indian Muslims’ relationship with the country, and what threatens that sense of belonging today.
From calling the popular idea of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb a “postcolonial secular elite fantasy” to warning about the erosion of Hindi and Urdu, Professor Khan challenges familiar narratives about religion, secularism and social harmony. He argues that people did not have to abandon their faiths to live together; they built bonds while remaining deeply rooted in their own religious traditions.
