Hindu-Muslim Relations in India

Questioning the conventional depiction of India as a nation divided between religious communities, Gottschalk shows that individuals living in India have multiple identities, some of which cut across religious boundaries. The stories narrated by villagers living in the northern state of Bihar depict everyday social interactions that transcend the simple divide of Hindu and Muslim.

This volume offers new insight into the debate over the underlying causes of the clash between Hindus and Muslims that continues to polarize India. Based on a thorough review of Indian history during the 19th and 20th centuries, Ahmad challenges both popularly held viewpoints regarding the nature of this conflict. His analysis of the emergence of the Muslim consciousness demonstrates how both selectivism and assimilation, rather than simply intrinsic differences and cultural conditions, have hallmarked this schism. India's struggle for identity is explained in terms of the interaction of religious, social, cultural, and global factors, and this wide perspective can hopefully illuminate the causes of similar conflicts throughout the former colonial world.

In the opening chapters of Legacy of a Divided Nation, Mushirul Hasan examines the origins of Muslim separatism under the British, the making of the partition of India, & the meaning of partition for a host of Muslim communities, individuals, & families. Next, Hasan examines the Nehruvian consensus from the 1940s to the 1990s, looking in particular at the reasons for the growth of communalism & the retreat of both Muslims & Hindus into communal political camps. The final section of the book surveys the state of India's Muslims in the period after December 6, 1992, when the Babri Mosque was demolished.