free speech

Has India’s democracy failed its Muslims? Jailed scholar triggers debate

Sharjeel Imam, a 38-year-old Muslim scholar jailed since 2020, gave a lengthy prison interview to The Quint questioning whether India's democracy represents its roughly 200 million Muslims. His remarks challenging the Constitution, secularism and Indian nationalism sparked a polarising national debate, with supporters and critics disputing his reading of history and his claim that secular and Hindutva frameworks share the same core ideas.