Towards Hindu-Muslim Synergy In India

In 2002, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s selection of the missile scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as the 11^th President of India was nothing short of a masterstroke.  

One of the most inspiring episodes of Indian history, it was Vajpayee who personally called Dr Kalam and persuaded him not to decline the offer. As recounted in his autobiography, ‘Wings of Fire’, an overwhelmed Dr Kalam requested an all-party political consensus on the decision, and this was achieved by Vajpayee by bringing the Congress-led UPA on board. The BJP-led NDA’s decision to appoint India’s third Muslim president was thus arrived at through consensus, and that’s how India got a devout Muslim, proud of his Indian roots and traditions, as her president.

India’s 200-million strong Muslim community is among the poorest sections of Indian society and is in need of inspiration, motivation and empowerment of the youth. This is not in the interest of Muslims alone, but also in the interest of the majoritarian Hindu community. Unless Indian Muslims transform themselves into a modern, progressive society, and unless they are empowered to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with the Hindu community in peace and harmony, India will continue to suffer from stunted growth.

At a time when India’s Muslim community is feeling insecure over the passage and enactment of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, right-thinking Hindus, Dalits and members of other minorities must not remain silent spectators, but reassure Muslims in various ways. The reaching out to the Muslim community is especially important because Indian Muslims are being repeatedly targeted, taunted and insulted in various ways, be it through ‘Bulldozer politics’; the revival of mandir-masjid disputes or by raking up controversies from the Mughal era. This is something that is not seen happening with other poor sections, such as the Dalits, SCs and STs, and minorities such as Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains.

On April 3 and 4, the Wakf Bill was passed by both houses of Parliament and on April 5^th, the Bill promptly received President Droupadi Murmu’s assent, paving the way for its enactment as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Act, 2025.

The inclusion of women, two non-Muslims and OBC Muslims on the Waqf Boards in the new Act has been welcomed by Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University, and one of India’s leading experts on Constitutional Law. Expressing reservations on the legal validity of the ban on non-Muslims from donating property under Waqf, he has also called the new law a “missed opportunity” towards a Uniform Civil Code.

In his view, instead of a law on Muslim religious properties, a common law could have been created for the management of all religious properties.

The plight of Indian Muslims: During the parliamentary debate on the bill, the BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, said that the Waqf reforms were aimed at the welfare of poor Muslims, women and children. Questions were also asked on how many schools, hospitals and orphanages were built for poor Muslims on Waqf properties.

Study after study, including the oft-quoted Sachar Commission Report (2006), point to the serious socio-economic backwardness of Indian Muslims. They are not only among the least-educated among all religious communities in India, but their backwardness, as compared to non-Muslims, has become a matter of concern. A 2024 study published by Aliah University, Kolkata, attributed this backwardness to factors such as “large family size, lack of link between madrasa education and modern education, economic poverty, negative attitude towards girl’s education, etc.”

In his book, ‘Indian Muslims: Where have they gone wrong?’ published two decades ago, the late educationist and Congressman, Dr Rafiq Zakaria, said he was “distressed by the miserable condition of the Muslim youth” who had become rudderless and lost hope in the country. He described the condition of the Muslim community as “worse than that of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes”.

Whether it is Dr Zakaria, the US-based psychiatrist, Dr Muhammed Qutubuddin (founder trustee and former president of the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin or AFMI), or, journalist Ghazala Wahab, all emphasise on the need for self-empowerment in the Muslim community.

Calling upon Muslims to pursue the path of reconciliation with Hindus, Zakaria said that Hindus, too, need to realise that it is in the interest of the nation that Muslims are “brought out of the slough of despondency and given an equal opportunity to grow and develop.” As he noted, Indian Muslims need to become progressive and forward-looking and try to solve their problems “in the light of their own experience and the altered condition of modern life”.

Here, credit is due to the BJP for the abolition of ‘triple talaq’ (instant, verbal divorce), through the enactment of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.

Dr Qutubuddin has stressed on positive thinking for the Muslim youth; focus on education; women’s empowerment, establishment of educational institutions and hospitals, besides working towards unity among Muslims and building alliances with other minorities and Dalits.

Wahab in her interviews and writings has said that wealthier and empowered Muslims need to step forward to facilitate education and employment opportunities for those in the community who need it.

Right-thinking Hindus and members of other minorities also need to go out of their way to reach out to the Muslim community to assist them in their empowerment. At a time when the nation’s largest minority is feeling insecure, the Civil Society and public-spirited institutions, dedicated to the values of inclusivity, diversity and social harmony, need to step forward and reach out.

The Hindu community ought not to forget that the very foundation of Hindustani classical music and its many gharanas represents a rich synergy between Hindus and Muslims. Likewise, Indian food, language, culture, architecture and even spiritualism has been deeply influenced by Persian, Afghan, Central Asian and Arabic strains. Islam entered India, not violently from the north, as is the popular, mistaken belief, but from the south. The Cheraman Juma Mosque, constructed in circa 643 AD is the nation’s first mosque and sits peacefully in the Thrissur district.

What the poorest of Indian Muslims need is a helping hand from the privileged members of their own community and support from the majoritarian Hindus in whatever form possible. Patriotism demands that we extend this helping hand to our distressed countrymen.

The author is a journalist, public policy scholar and former Director, Pune International Centre. He microblogs at @abhay_vaidya