HarperCollins Presents Ziya Us Salam’s Timely New Book ‘Being Muslim in Hindu India’

15 November 2023

is proud to announce the publication of

BEING MUSLIM IN HINDU INDIA

A Critical View

by ZIYA US SALAM

Published by HarperCollins

Paperback | 344 pp | INR 599

Releasing in November 2023

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Muslims of India are under siege. They face what Ziya Us Salam calls the gravest challenge to the community—and to the definition of a secular India enshrined in the Constitution—since Independence. To be a Muslim in India today is to live with the reality of daily stigmatization; the ever-increasing threat of violence and the fear of being assaulted or killed on the mere suspicion of cow slaughter or, worse, just because they ‘look’ Muslim; incessant attacks on their attire, language and culture from majoritarian forces; and the expectation that they will abide by the preferences of the majority community.

Being Muslim in Hindu India is an impassioned cry for attention, an attempt to highlight just what has gone wrong with our polity and society in recent years. From Muslim candidates being denied tickets by political parties to names missing from electoral rolls to attempts to wipe out complete passages of the history of medieval India, as if the period from 1206 to 1857 existed in a vacuum, the book talks of the constant ‘othering’ of Muslims being done using tactics of both peace and violence.

Yet, as Ziya Us Salam shows, despite these grave challenges, there is a glimmer of optimism. Even as the community copes with political marginalization, the success of many of its young men and women gives India’s Muslims hope for a better tomorrow.

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‘Indian Muslims on most days wake up to an avalanche of hate on social media, political circles and in real life. From renaming cities with “Muslim sounding” names to attacks on their places of worship and learning, attire, even food habits, a Muslim today has to bear it all with barely any voices being raised in their support barring a few brave souls across the religious divide who still hold on to the idea of a secular India amidst grave challenges.

‘Being Muslim in Hindu India stems from the everyday ground realities of our times, some lived, others read or heard about. It expresses the angst of Indians who are experiencing “othering” in their own land and takes the reader through the dark alleys of a nation in danger of moving away from the core ideals of its Constitution. Being Muslim in Hindu India is really an expression of responsibility to document the reality of the times we live in.’

Ziya Us Salam, the author

  ‘Ziya Us Salam has been a fearless chronicler of our times, and with this book, he brings us the unvarnished truth of what it means to be a Muslim in India today, just a few months away from the next general elections. Every conscientious citizen who believes in the ideal of a secular India as imagined by our founding fathers and mothers should read this book to understand exactly why the country’s largest minority community feels it is under siege. Ziya presents the view from within the community as well, with insights on how it is dealing with this onslaught of hate and attempting to thrive regardless.’

Swati Chopra, Associate Publisher, HarperCollins

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PRAISE FROM THE BOOK

Provocative, sharp and searing, Ziya Us Salam’s Being Muslim in Hindu India is a sobering reminder of how Hindu majoritarianism has marginalized India’s largest minority community: a must-read for every Indian who stands for a diverse, plural and inclusive idea of India.

—Dr Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha

A searing exploration of what it means to be relegated to being an outsider, always the other. The author presents a melancholic yet courageous lamentation about the challenges of loving a country when it appears not to love you back. This is a must-read for anyone who cares about justice, empathy and human dignity.

—Manoj Jha, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

As a journalist with many years of experience behind him, anything Ziya Us Salam writes is always of value. But when it is a book about what being a Muslim in India today means, we really need to sit up and take notice.

—Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor, The Wire 

The thousand-year-old Muslim community in India has shown remarkable strength of spirit and character in standing against a tsunami of caustic hate and vicious violence unleashed against them by state and non-state actors in the last 13 years. Senior journalist Ziya Us Salam is an erudite and courageous chronicler of this historic struggle against Islamophobia and xenophobia, not seen since Hitler’s storm-troopers painted their targets on the doors of innocent neighbours. His work is a must-read.

—John Dayal, Author and Christian leader

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About the author:

Ziya Us Salam is a noted literary and social commentator. A former student of history from the University of Delhi, he is currently engaged in building bridges of commonality between communities by turning to the Quran and the Vedas. He has been associated with The Hindu for more than 23 years and has been its features editor for the north Indian editions for 16 years now. Currently, he is its Associate Editor and writes on minority and sociocultural issues.

A prolific and an acclaimed author, Ziya released Of Saffron Flags and Skullcaps in 2018—in which he took on some of the key challenges to the idea of India. His other book released in the same year, Till Talaq Do Us Part, was a study of the various divorce options available in Islam. In 2019, he published Lynch Files, which raised the issues of victims of hate violence, and 365 Tales from Islam, a book that aims to introduce Islam to children. His book Women in Masjid: A Quest for Justice (2019) has been much talked about in relation to women’s rights in Islam. Ziya has also authored Inside the Tablighi Jamaat (2020) and co-authored (with Dr M Aslam Parvaiz)

Madrasas in the Age of Islamophobia (2020) besides Shaheen Bagh: From a Protest to a Movement (with Uzma Ausaf in 2020). His most recent release is Nikah Halala: Sleeping with a Stranger (2020).

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ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS INDIA

HarperCollins is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, having begun publishing in India in 1992. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has won the Publisher of the Year Award four times at Tata Literature Live! in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2016, and at Publishing Next in 2021 and 2015. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

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PRESS CONTACT:

Aman Arora

General Manager – Marketing & Publicity

Email:  aman.arora@HarperCollins.co.in