Book review
Dr. Rafiq Zakaria has been blessed by the Chinese curse: ‘May you live in interesting times.’ He was born a little after Jinnah left the Congress, and was a young man when he saw his country being riven apart by slogans of hatred. As an Indian and a Muslim he remained loyal to both his nation and his faith. But his life has been lived in the shadow of anguish; everything that could go wrong with Indian Muslims did go wrong. He feels for the community with the ardour of an Iqbal, but his diagnosis and his prescription are different. This might be called the next stage of the evolutionary process of history, but it takes a leader to see a way through a maze as complicated as the one in which Muslims are trapped. There are a few complicated and dispassionate. There are few corridors of this maze that Dr. Zakaria has not traversed. He is passionate, compassionate and dispassionate. The most remarkable quality that he brings is the power of a clear mind. He is not weighed down by hidden guilt; and he seeks nothing but the good of his people. There is no Indian Muslim today, writing in English, who commands the kind of respect that he does form both the community as well as the nation of which the community is an integral part. I have used the image of a prism for Ghalib and a mirror for Akbar Allahabadi. This book is a chandelier, each aspect of the Indian Muslim experience sparkling both individually and collectively. To read it is to walk through endless illumination.

The central question of this book is: Where have Indian Muslims gone wrong? Dr. Zakaria does not shy away from the answer: Whenever they have forgotten their Indian roots. Perhaps the last word should be left to Akbar Allahabadi:
Paamal hain magar hain sabit kadam wafa main
Hum misl-e-sang-e-dar kay is aastaan par hain
(Through crushed, we are firm in our loyalty;
we are like a rock at the threshold of our country.


About the author Dr.Rafiq Zakaria has had a distinguished career in fields as varied as law, education, journalism, politics, and Islamic studies. He is a Chancellor's gold medalist of the Bombay University and Ph.D. with distinction from London University. He was called to the Bar from Lincoln's Inn. From his student days, he was active in the freedom struggle, both at home and abroad. After a successful legal career, he served as a cabinet minister in Maharashtra for fifteen years. In 1978, he became deputy leader of the ruling Congress Party in Parliament. He has held important assignments including that of Prime Minister's Special Envoy to the Muslim world in 1984.He has represented India thrice at the United Nations, in 1965, 1990 and 1996. Dr.Zakaria is a scholar of international repute. He has authored more than fifteen books, including 'A Study of Nehru'. His rejoinder to Salman Rushdie, entitled 'Muhammad and the Quran', published by Penguin International, has become a world classic. Two of his books, 'Price of Partition' and 'Gandhi and the Break-up of India', received rave reviews.His monumental work 'Discovery of God' brought him the highest laurels from all over the world.