ABSTRACT
I decided to write about Abdul Kader Mukadam’s political opinions in early 2014, to explore the genealogical and intellectual context of Muslim progressive activism and its link with the rationalist movement in post-independence Maharashtra that had resulted in 1970 in the establishment of the ‘Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal’ (or the ‘Muslim Truth-Seeking Society’) under the searing leadership of Hamid Dalwai. Mukadam began his own journalistic writing career as a fire-brand ideologue under Dalwai in 1971 and had continued to investigate subjects pertaining to Muslim progressivism during his political trajectory as an intellectual writer and activist. However, he maintained important political differences from Dalwai that had less to do with their shared progressive ideals (i.e. the struggle against Muslim orthodoxy) but was more concerned with Muslim political identity and belonging in modern India and Maharashtra. Whereas Dalwai lamented orthodoxy, Pakistan-centered cultural belonging, the baggage of Mughal-cultural heritage and the backward gaze of traditional Indian Muslims (Dalwai 1968), Mukadam wrote about the intercultural Sufi tradition of India and the ever-ready preparedness of Sufis to mix with Hindu culture and religion in shared exchange that enriched both Hindu and Islamic cultures and religions.
