Shahnawaz Akhtar شاہنواز اختر शाहनवाज़ अख़्तर

1/5 Sharjeel Imam has given an interview detailing his Islamist manifesto. Surprisingly, no storm has been kicked up over pronouncements that are so unapologetically anti-liberal, anti-secular, anti-democracy, anti-Constitution—in a word, anti-national. 2/5 He openly calls the Constitution fascist, labels secularism a trap, and denounces democracy as a contrivance to deny Muslims their political rights. 3/5 The piece is a litany of indictments against the liberal class. Imam rejects any difference between liberals and Hindutvadis. In his essentialist worldview, all Hindus are the same, unanimous in denying Muslims political power they claim as a divine right. 4/5 Inadvertently, Sharjeel has recognised something that liberals have been fighting shy of acknowledging: that Hindutva’s idea of India is anchored in the same “overarching nationalist framework”— that Muslims are Indians above all else. 5/5 For more, read this Opinion article by Ibn Khaldun Bharati, who looks at Islam from an Indian perspective: Sharjeel Imam’s Islamist manifesto will be forgotten. The silence of liberals will not theprint.in/opinion/sharjeel…