Emergence of Muslim Middle Class in Post-Independence India and its Political Orientations

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand the process of formation of middle class in the Muslim community of India since independence and its emerging political orientations. It questions the popular, rhetorical but hegemonic discourses that tend to portray the “perpetual underdevelopment and dalitinization of the Muslim community” and argues that section of the Muslim community, despite obstacles and challenges, like any other community, has been beneficiary of India's economic growth over the years. While reflecting on the process of formation of Muslim middle class in post-colonial period in India, the paper takes a differentiated view of community, identifies the social and regional variations of formation of Muslim middle class and highlights its main aspirations and orientation and its relationship with the dominant (Hindu) middle class and the Indian state.