The second largest Muslim population in the world, Indian Muslims form an intergral part of Indian society. However, with the rise of Hindu nationalism and the increasing influence of its political party, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which just swept 3 of 4 major state elections, many believe that Muslims in Indian are increasingly vulnerable and disenfranchised. The starkest evidence for this view is the Gujarat pogrom in 2002, which left almost two thousand Muslims dead. Furthermore, terrorists bombings in Mumbai (Bombay) in August 2003 suggest that Hindu-extremist pressure may be radicalizing elements of the Muslim community. The potential insecurity of India's Muslims has critical ramifications for the condition of Indian democracy and the stability of the subcontinent, including the flashpoint of Kashmir.

In light of the Mumbai bombings as well as the current Indo-Pakistani talks over Muslim-majority Kashmir, it is crucial to assess the state of India's Mulims minority and its bearing on India's secular democracy and the region's stability. Is a serious erosion of secularism under way, at the hands of Hindu nationalists? Might this result in the radicalization of India's Muslims, as Pankaj Mishra ("India's Muslim Time Bomb," New York Times, September 15, 2003) and others have suggested? How might the prospects of a Kashmir settlement affect the political position of India's Muslims, and vice-versa?

Some of the questions to be explored in the seminar include:

- In the face of rising Hindu nationalism, what is the response of India's religious minorities, especially its Muslims? How credible is the danger of growing internal Muslim insurgency?

- In particular, how is the Muslim leadership in India responding to rising Hindu nationalism and the apparent crisis in the state's commitment to pluralism?

- Do Indian Muslims still feel protected by and invested in Indian secular democracy?

Our speakers for this event include:

Asghar Ali Engineer is a renowned Indian scholar and activist. In over forty years of exhaustive fieldwork, he has investigated and documented nearly every communal riot in post-independence India. Dr. Engineer has written extensively on Indian Muslims and Indian communalism in countless articles, weekly newsletters, and books. He has forty-five books to his credit, both on communalism and Islam, and is currently the director of the Center for the Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) and the Institute of Islamic Studies, both in Mumbai, India.

Paul R. Brass is Professor (Emeritus) of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. He has published fourteen books and numerous articles on comparative and South Asian politics, ethnic politics, and collective violence. His work has been based on extensive field research in India during numerous visits since 1961. His most recent books are The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India (2003), Theft of an Idol: Text and Context in the Representation of Collective Violence (1997); Riots and Pogroms (1996); and The Politics of India Since Independence, 2nd ed. (1994).