The fact remains that some muslims do and some more than others. For example, “the Indian Shia have evidence of greater foreign genetic influence than do the Indian Sunnis.” Check out this North Indian’s website: http://j2abraham.com/

jwb: Right after debunking two myths, you offer another one. Tracing all problems back to partition is a puerile exercise. That post is self-contradictory, as it also says, “As far as all this Muslim business goes, there is no point in crying over spilt milk.” Partition is a fait accompli. If partition hadn’t taken place, that would not have magically preemptively solved all of the hypothetical Greater India’s problems. Besides, Muslims didn’t start agitating for their own state based solely on religion, in a vacuum.

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I’m a Rajput. My ancestors embraced Islam 18 generations ago. I’ve always found it puzzling that some Muslims from the subcontinent wished so badly to have some lineage from outside South Asia. Prema’s analysis seems plausible.

Many years ago I went to Washington, D.C. The ride I thought I had didn’t materialize. I met a really nice ABD fellow traveler at the airport It turned out that our destinations in D.C. were close to each other. His uncle graciously gave me a ride. The uncle asked me what I was. I told him, “I’m Rajput,” and that my ancestors were from Jullundur. He told me that I’m not a Rajput because I’m Muslim. I smiled because it was a curious thing for him to say and it made no sense to argue.

However, that incident shows that some (not all) Indians consider that Muslims can’t belong to an Indian ethnic classification (and by extension, perhaps to India itself). That mindset / mentality seems to be what the subject of this blog post is meant to counter. Granted, it’s not in the Hindutva canon or orthodoxy, but nobody claims Hindutva is the only form of Indian nationalism. Hindutva might be the most recognizable brand though. Sort of like, there are other breakfast cereal makers than Kellogg’s and General Mills.

The real question is, why do the Indian Shia have evidence of greater foreign genetic influence than do the Indian Sunnis.

Cyrus: My guess is that phenomenon is consistent with the Shia belief system, in which ancestry determines status (meaning whether one is a “Syed”) and how well one understands the religion. For example, by nature and not nurture, a man will have more insight into the Quran if his father was also a scholar of the Quran. That concept reinforces the Shia imamate as well.

There are plenty Sudras here who also claim Scythian or european ancestry. Its not just muslims who yearn to belong to a non-desi race.”

Prema, I think you misunderstood what I meant. If you do the National Geographic DNA test, they show you the migratory path yout Y chromosome has taken. As far as yearning to be european, I dont see anything about being a cheese eating surrender monkey that is particularly appealing.

How about posting your family pics here so that we can all enjoy a hearty laugh?

There are plenty Sudras here who also claim Scythian or european ancestry. Its not just muslims who yearn to belong to a non-desi race.

I think many Muslims have this need to be connected to Arabs or Persians in order to deny the fact that their ancestors converted.

In Islam there is no stigma in being descended from converts per se. The muslim arab, persian, afghan, and turk invaders of India were also descended from converts. The desperate attempts of desi muslims to claim non-desi ancestry has more to do with the fact that the natives of India, of any caste or creed, were considered an inferior breed by the mongol-turks, persians, afghans etc.

As far as all this Muslim business goes, there is no point in crying over spilt milk. Identity politics on the sub-continent has been out of control for decades. How far back do you go to find “purity”? I think many Muslims have this need to be connected to Arabs or Persians in order to deny the fact that their ancestors converted. Its amazing how many Pakistanis you meet who claim links to the Middle East while totally denying they could have anything to do with the “kaffirs”.

On the Hindutva side, there is this need to manufacture a pure hindu Eden in which everything was wonderful until the Muslims came.

Either way, its bullsh!t.

I think once Muslims started agitating for their own state based solely on religion, the sort of issues we have today in the region were inevitable. As far as the global troubles today, once Muslims start treating their religion as something for their personal lives and not a political agenda, we should be able to solve most of the conflicts.