Muslim Childwoods amidst Discourses on Nationalism in India: A Critical Social Psychological Approach

Abstract

This thesis presents a critical, socio-psychological analysis of Muslim childhoods in India, a minimally researched area. It examines how the tension between the competing discourses of nationalism, within a larger socio-political context of ‘othering’, becomes apparent in the lives of children belonging to the Muslim community, a marginalised religious minority group. From the existing literature, it was clear that despite being the most urbanised religious community, the socio-economic conditions of Muslims continue to be poorer than other minorities living in India. Problems of poverty, unemployment, poor access to education, healthcare, housing and being subject to various forms of violence including riots and genocides have been explained by pointing to certain unique aspects of marginalisation, which have not been found among other minorities (Basant, 2012; Gayer & Jaffrelot, 2012; Mander, 2019; Robinson, 2005, 2012). A nationwide study reported that Muslims have been looked at with suspicion in public spaces due to a double burden of being labelled as ‘anti-national’ and as being ‘appeased’, they experience hostility and discrimination while trying to access housing, in schools and jobs, they have been perceived as not interested in education, and they also fear being attacked during times of communal tension in any part of the country (Ministry of Minority Affairs, 2006). Alongside have been popular discourses that make an association of violence with Islam— madrasahs labelled as ‘dens of terror’, Muslim men stereotyped as aggressive/violent whereas Muslim women as suppressed/disadvantaged, and Mughal rulers marked as Muslim, and portrayed negatively in textbooks.