Hilal Ahmed's book offers a scrutiny of contemporary Muslim identity

The true value of Hilal Ahmed's book on the condition, plight, choices, and compulsions of Muslims in today's India lies in its refusal to see every issue as either black or white

A Brief History of the Present: Muslims in New India

Author: Hilal Ahmed

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 226

Price: Rs 699

  Everything that is contained between the covers of this book is drawn from the author’s experience, which has been, and is, being “lived”; actually there’s no escaping this, sadly for no other reason but his “primary” identity. Yet, he belongs to that demographic majority of Indians that “grew up in the 1990s”, around one of the most significant watersheds in India’s polity and society — the demolition of the Babri Masjid and its prelude. But within that majority, he remains in the minority,