Guest of Honor: Eid Milan 2026

 

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Hyderabad invited me for Ramzan 2026 celebration held at Minerva Grand, Champapet, Hyderabad, on 21 March 2026. This invitation was extended by Mr Sajeel Ghouri (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sajeelghouri/), one of the executive committee members of the community. The invitees were drawn from diverse fields of public life. Mostly, the guests were invited from inter-faith dialogue domain. However, a few prominent persons from non-religious sections based on their professional standing were also invited. My invitation from the community could be understood from the domain of 'academic specialisation' on caste and religious minorities in India. I was one among many guests invited by the community, especially as a Guest of Honor. 

One of the attractive features of this 'Eid Milan' was based on community's solidified caption 'Love For All : Hatred for None'. As Muslim community and Muslims mostly face branded target as terrorists and as this community faces intra community persecution, apart from inter religious persecution, this caption gains significance. This community is seen as a kind of untouchable by other fellow dominant Muslim sections of both Shia and Sunni. This community is highly microscopic in numeric strength and invisible. For instance, this community's strength in the entire Telangana region is around four to five thousand only. However, interestingly, this community is not into poverty scenario, unlike other large chunks of Muslim sections in India, as indicated through various studies like Justice Rajinder Sachar Commission report, PS Krishnan report in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, etc. 

One of the interesting part of this Eid Milan 2026 activity was that vegetarian food was served to the guests, presumably organisers also might have consumed the same food at the venue. This is an unexpected cultural shock on a significant occasion like Eid. Vegetarian food is mostly consumed by certainly sections in and around South Asia. And, minority sections like Muslims are well recognised for their non-vegetarian food habits. The cultural practice to serve vegetarian food to the guests indicates, presumably, that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community wishes to adopt and adhere to certain majoritarian cultural tendencies as an 'appeasement attitude', which could have been developed due to certain societal insecure scenarios. Such understandable cultural practice tilt towards vegetarianism also indirectly indicates, to an extent, how the Ahmadiyya community is respecting Hindutva's claim that the religious minorities should respect  majoritarian tendencies and lead life as subordinate subjects by pave the path for establishment of Hindu Rashtra (however, how constitutes majority and on what basis is also a contested claim from some other perspectives). Though, the Ahmadiyya community and leadership is not directly declaring any sort of endorsement to Hindutva ideology and to political sections like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its public sphere activity on 21 March 2026 indicates such a doubtful understanding. 

II

Interestingly, in the history of South Indian (Catholic) Christianity, Robert De Nobili is a well recorded controversial Society of Jesus (SJ) personality, who did considerable missionary activity in the present day Tamil Nadu regional domain. In order to win over hearts and souls for the establishment of Christ Kingdom on earth and to ensure best Heavenly Kingdom in transcendence, he adopted vegetarian food habits and started to imitate dressing pattern of Brahmins. Robert De Nobili was under impression that if the he could successfully imitate and adopt cultural (appeasing) tactics of the upper castes then conversion rate to Christianity might increase. And, once upper castes gets converted, the lower castes also might automatically convert by imitating the upper castes path. However, his appeasing Missionary style was vehemently opposed, critiqued and reported to Rome headed by Pope. The ultimate command from Rome was not to compromise on the essential principles of Christianity and resort to undue hegemonic sections appeasement. 

There are also certain sections like among the Dalits, who, upon facing professional mobility, gives up consumption of Beef, as a sign of social mobility, in-order to maintain best cultural network with rest of the society! Again, there are also certain Dalit sections, who are also asserting their cultural food practices like consumption of Beef as a cultural right, which should be well recognised by the mainstream public sphere. Thus, duality is a common practice adhered to by the human beings. However, for the mere sake of others recognition, resorting to appeasement and distancing from ones (socio religious and cultural) rights may not be always right. In spirit, socio, cultural and religious secularisation process and tolerance cultivation should not aim at making others loose one's cultural practices for the mere sake of majoritarian tendencies appeasement. Rather, true secularisation process, secularism and tolerance practices should aim at mutual respect, while practicing and adhering to a mutual healthy inter-faith dialogue.