India’s Muslims Still Bear the Brunt of Hindutva Chauvinism
Despite this year’s election setback, Narendra Modi’s Hindu-chauvinist government still holds power in India. The journalism of Neha Dixit has shone a light on the human impact of Hindutva bigotry and authoritarianism, especially for India’s Muslims.
This photograph taken on March 18, 2024, shows Parvez Qureshi (left), elder brother of Faheem Qureshi, who was killed in anti-Muslim riots in February, standing amid charred remains at his house, burned during the violence in Haldwani in India’s Uttarakhand state. (Amarjeet Kumar Singh /AFP via Getty Images)
Neha Dixit’s book The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian is a cross between a novel and a historical account, based on interviews conducted by Dixit, an award-winning journalist, over several years.
The titular character is a real working-class Muslim woman living in Delhi, having migrated from the city of Banaras in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Dixit charts the course of Syeda’s life up until 2020, as she navigates the rise of Hindu supremacy and a climate of increasing hostility toward Muslims in late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century North India.
Since its launch in Delhi this August, the book has caused a stir among Indian audiences. Dixit is known for her various investigations into atrocities and scandals involving the Hindutva right. She has long been a target of the clampdown on journalism under the rule of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Her retelling of Syeda’s story is no less daring.
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