Abstract

Development in India follows the ethnic planes, especially, caste and religion. Muslims in India, the second largest religious population of India and in the largest democracy of the world, are undergoing increased relative underdevelopment and discriminations. Though Muslims in India are differentiated on the bases of sects, language, region and caste, for the last few decades this has been their religious identify that has been emphasized in everyday political and policy discourse. What India is going through is the larger post-cold war global process of identification of groups and individuals based on religion. However, the important questions for multicultural country like India is how it will be able to manage its diversity and deliver the development equally to various groups. The rupture at one ethnic level may open the possibility of ruptures on other scales and levels as well and that may be counterproductive to the unity, integrity, peace, and democracy of the country. This introductory chapter attempts to discuss these issues in the context of India and Telangana State and highlights major arguments presented in the subsequent chapters.