Exclusion of Muslims in India:

Publisher: Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi: 2018, 454pp. ISBN: 9789389965711.

The book under review is an outcome of understanding the social exclusion, ethnoreligious discrimination, and current political system and culture in India. It dwells on the exclusion and discrimination of Muslims in the sphere of power, opportunities, and equality. Though the legal process seeks legitimacy of governance in a multi-cultural mosaic, social and political trust and constitutional compromise to live together have been belied recently. It is propelled by the continuous growth of religion-based politics benefiting the majority against the constitutional rights of mainly the Muslim minority in India that has cemented the base of majoritarian democracy for about four decades. Later, the majoritarian and exclusivist were strategically pursued by the Hindutva proponents, which jeopardized the Constitutional State’s working based on the rule of law, constitutionalism, and peaceful coexistence of Hindus and Muslims (constituting together 95 percent of India’s population) and democratic integration of minorities. A collection of nineteen essays of reputed academicians focus on the concept of minority, understanding communalism, crucial aspects of the Constitution, the judiciary’s response, enforcement agencies, sociological study of Muslim labourers, and educational backwardness of Muslims in the country.