Indian Muslim Activist to visit USA
12 January, 2004
Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer is a renowned Indian Muslim scholar and activist, recognized for his work in promoting communal harmony and peace in India. Dr. Engineer has received numerous awards for his work, notably the 1997 Communal Harmony Award by the Government of India. In over forty years of exhaustive fieldwork, he has investigated and documented nearly every riot in post-independent 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.
This month, Indian Muslim Council-USA will host a series of lectures across the USA by Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer on the position of the Muslim community in the world’s largest democracy.
The second largest Muslim population in the world, Indian Muslims form an integral and significant part of India’s social and political life. With the political rise of Hindu nationalist forces and the gradual institutionalization of Hindu nationalism, Muslims in India are increasingly vulnerable and disenfranchised, as demonstrated most starkly by the violence in Gujarat (2002), which left around two thousand Muslims dead and more than 100,000 rendered homeless. This in addition to the selective destruction of livelihood and property of Muslims. The insecurity of India’s Muslim community has critical ramifications for the condition of Indian democracy and secularism and the stability of the region.
Indian Muslim Council-USA is an advocacy group working toward safeguarding Indian society’s pluralist and tolerant ethos.
January 24, 2004
Secularism & Democracy in India: Challenges Ahead
Santa Clara Marriott, Santa Clara, CA
12:30 – 4:30 PM (http://www.imc-usa.org/events.htm)
RSVP: bayarea@imc-usa.org
Phone: (408) 219 1433
January 25, 2004
Communalism & Identity Politics in India
FunAsia, Richardson, TX
6:00 – 8:00 PM
RSVP: info@imc-usa.org
Phone: (972)889-8000
February 1, 2004
Democracy & Communal Harmony in India: Role of NRI & PIO Community
Indo-American Center, Chicago, IL
2:00 – 5:00 PM
RSVP: info@imc-usa.org
Phone: (708)466-0244
IMC-USA President’s Office
265 Sunrise Highway, Ste 1-355
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
Ph: (516) 567-0783
Web: http://www.imc-usa.org
