Mukulika Banerjee and Pragya Tiwari interview Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, a prominent scholar on violence, caste, and Indian politics, currently leading the research projectThe Indian Muslim Today at Sciences Po, where he is a Professor and CERI-CNRS Senior Research Fellow.

The Indian Muslims Today is part of a 4-year research project, Indian Muslims at a time of Hindu Majoritarianism, generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and Columbia University, and run by Sciences Po with collaboration from Princeton.

The project aims at presenting, through various media, an image of the situation and lives of India’s largest minority community.

It seeks to inform students, academia, the media as well as the general public.

Some of the content presented here is new and emerges from the fieldwork and academic research of the 50-odd core team which contributed to the project.

The conversation delves into key themes such as socio-economic conditions, institutional exclusion, communal violence, ghettoization, and the decline of Muslim leadership. Jaffrelot underscores the growing climate of fear among researchers and the evolving influence of social media on public narratives. His research highlights the persistent marginalization of Muslims in India, particularly in northern regions, despite perceptions of them as a "pampered minority." Educational dropouts and the decline of Urdu in the north are highlighted as concerning trends. Nonetheless, Jaffrelot remains optimistic about the potential for inclusive policies and development-driven progress.

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References

1. The Indian Muslims Today- Science Po  Research Project by Christophe Jaffrelot

2. The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics, 1925 to the 1990s, By Christophe Jaffrelot

3.  Rise of the plebeians ? The changing face of Indian legislative assemblies, By Christophe Jaffrelot and S. Kuamr

4. India’s Silent Revolution – The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India,. By Christophe Jaffrelot

5. Dr Ambedkar and Untouchability. Analysing and Fighting Caste, By Christophe Jaffrelot

6.  Muslims of Indian Cities. Trajectories of marginalization, By Christophe Jaffrelot and Laurent Geyer

7. The BJP and the compulsions of politics in India, By Christophe Jaffrelot and T.B. Hansen

8. The Sangh Parivar : a Reader, By Christophe Jaffrelot

9. Survey by CSDS Lokniti. 

10. Journal Contemporary South Asia