Alright, let’s dive into a question that’s been floating around for way too long: Are Indian Muslims actually Indians? Sounds intense, right? India is a place of worship and culture for people of different religions, languages, and classes. They are the second-largest religious group in India, constituting 14% of the population of India. Thus, the question of whether Indian Muslims are ‘actually Indian’ is not an innocent one, but one that is a result of India’s past, religious identity, and simple majority.

However, doubts over the faithfulness of Indian Muslims and their Indian identity are still raised in some discussions, although such doubts may be encouraged by politics and misconceptions. At the same time, many events that are known to be global have been portrayed stereotypically and associated with Muslims as a whole through terrorism.

Well, here is what complicates the matter: whenever there is a discussion about terrorism, the Islamic religion is usually mentioned out of the debate. As for your question regarding the argumentative writings, specific terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda use the language of Islam to advance their causes.

Some think that this change was not always a peaceful one and that force played an important role. To such a mind, the history of Islam in India is more of a forced integration than a natural occurrence.

A Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist group with a base in Pakistan attacked Mumbai in a horrific incident known as 26/11. Such incidents have fuelled considerable perceptions of Islamic terrorism in India. The terrorists especially chose places of attraction in Mumbai, and they went on to kill over 160 people, leaving the country in a state of utter shock.

Some would argue that India is a Hindu country in the same way that it once belonged to the ancestral peoples of America; Hindus lived in India for thousands of years until the coming of other religions to the subcontinent, especially Islam. As such, from historical data, many people believe that India has always been culturally accepting, but during the mediaeval period Islamic rule dominated, and after the time of partition of India there occurred a loss of what was originally Hindu lands as Pakistan was formed. Some say that Muslims play a significant role in politics and society to this day; it is uncomfortable for those who consider India the Hindu state. And the fact that many crimes, such as train accidents and murders of Indian citizens, are nowadays committed by Muslims, and that these crimes are followed by acts of terrorism motivated by a deep-seated hatred for India, indicates that these people do not respect our country.