My take on Saeed Naqvi’s “Being the other: The Muslim in India”
Saeed Naqvi’s “Being the other: The Muslim in India” is a partial memoir and partial his account of unfolding events in modern India which he witnessed from close quarters as a journalist. The shilanyas ceremony of 1989 at Ayodhya, the writer says acted as catalyst for writing the book which germinated for six decades. The book is also an elegy to the syncretic Hindu-Muslim culture of Lucknow and its vicinity which was cultural capital of erstwhile Awadh. The noted journalist grieves in the introduction of his book, "Rather, it's a chronicle of my growing disillusionment, disappointment, with the direction in which the country is heading". The lucid language is a joy for a reader. The style is adorable and gripping. But the esteemed scholar failed to shed his biases. Only three chapters into the book and one encounters writer’s elitist, sectarian prejudices. The writer quotes Akbar Alahabadi’s couplet. Council mein bahut Syyed Masjid mein faqat Jumma...