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 perspective. However, a few prominent persons from non-religious sections based on their professional standing were also invited. My invitation from the community can 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 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 by various studies like Justice Rajinder Sachar Commission report, PS Krishnan report in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, etc.