Thanks for replying. Your point about lack of leadership is well taken, as also the reason for its absence in middle-east and Pakistan. I am not an analyst who can give expert opinion, but here is what I think about lack of Muslim leaders in India:

Post independence, the trauma of Partition of India had sent Indian Muslims into a shell. Prior to Partition, Muslim intellectuals had confidence of political dialogue; post-Partition, this community had little scope for such political activism, being accused of partitioning India. The rubber-stamp presence of leaders like Maulana Azad and Zakir Hussain did not help much. In the present times, the fracture in Muslim community on shia/sunni and barelvi/deobandi lines is major stumbling block. And it also does not help that there is active lobby working against this community to subvert its progress and mislead it into oblivion thru trick and con.

Social reforms and women’s education is indeed good things that happened earlier, and should continue. But in the ‘glimps’ quoted by you, I see mention of ‘daring literature’ of Ismat Chugtai. Now, if you mean such an empowerment of women to be ‘daring’ in the manner of Ismat Chugtai’s litrature, I think it amounts to taking the Muslims away from their Constitution.

You know, Indian Constitution has a term called ‘Basic Structure of Constitution’ or something like that. What it means is that any legislature has to conform to this ‘Basic Structure’, otherwise the Learned Judges of Supreme Court can strike it down. Same way, Muslims have their Constitution, and any proposed reform has to confirm to it, otherwise the Learned religious leaders can strike it down. In whatever liberal manner you interpret this Muslim Constitution, the Ismat Chugtai type of reform just does not fit in. What then? One way is to rewrite/change this Constitution - Quran - and that is impossible, as this Constitution itself says that no power on earth can succeed in changing it. The other way is to just ignore this Constitution and do whatever one likes. Choice is in the hand of people, and the majority view prevails. And majority Muslim view is that any reform has to confirm to this Constitution.

And thanks for ’sati’ tip! I shall remember it.

If you remember the Indian independence movement - the earliest participants were the muslim intellensia. They were social reformers, they were learned men, they set up universities, they particiapted in society and they wanted equality and liberty for all the people. Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan, Mohamad Ali Jinnah, Maulana Azad> Khan Abdul Ghaffur Khan, Asaf Ali, Sayed Ameer Ali, Ali Brothers, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali,– just to name a few were leaders not just in politics but of the community. -And these were men who would have the guts and the courage to stand up against ritual bound dogma and look at progress of their society. This just about gives you a glimpse:

Muslim social reformers placed much importance on women’s education and a number of schools for girls were opened, particularly, in north India. As early as 1896, an Urdu weekly journal for women, called Tehzib-e-niswan (women’s culture) was started by Maulvi Mumtaz Ali. Writers and poets also contributed to women’s emancipation efforts. A novel written by a woman writer, Nazrul Baqr, entitled Goodar ke Lal (gem in the rags) deserves a special mention. Another, which created a sensation was Choop ki Dad (acclaim of silence) written by the poet Altaf Hussain Hali, a champion of women’s liberation.

In 1906, the first English school for girls was started by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh despite opposition both from Hindus and Muslims. This was followed by a number of other schools. Some upper class Muslim women, among them Sultana Jehan Begum of Bhopal, one of the three successive women rulers of the State of Bhopal, also supported such efforts. As a result of these efforts, a Muslim woman was practicing as an advocate in Punjab High Court as early as 1907 and by 1936 Hijab Imtiaz Ali had the rare honour of being the first woman pilot in India.

Today, there isn’t such strong political leadership - and it is this leadership vacuum that is being filled by the extremists. In the middle east the tyranny of the state that prevents the leadership.In Pakistan — unless they have serious land reform they are going to be stuck between the military and the mullah. In India the situation is quite different. There isn’t really any logical reason as to why there are is no leadership. There are politicians who are Mulsims, but i am not sure whether you can call them leaders.
Malaysia and Indonesia are lucky in that they have political leadership and a plurality of views.
And finally, the next time anyone refers to ‘forcible conversions’ remind them of sati !!

Having said that, yes I agree that with friends like ‘this’, as you said, we don’t need enemies.