Lifting the Veil Communal Violence and Communal Harmony in Contemporary India

This collection of writings by Dr Asghar Ali Engineer is an attempt to explore the reasons for the growing polarisation between India’s two largest religious communities. The first and second sections of the book provide a theoretical perspective by placing Indian communalism in the context of ethnicity and communalism in other parts of South Asia, exploring the political and economic status of Muslims in contemporary India and probing the link between development and violent ethnic or communal conflict. The third section which forms the bulk of the book is a detailed analysis of the Ramjanambhoomi–Babri Masjid issue and the communalisation of the Indian policy. The final section is a plea for communal amity and brings a message of hope by providing historical instances of harmonious coexistence between Hindus and Muslims, particularly among the Sufis whose religiosity combined the best of both traditions.