This idea of widespread, consistent, and endless global Muslim victimisation is echoed and granted credence from the halls of American academia to the protest-ready spaces of JNU, from the low-level gutter fights of Indian Twitter to the somber official statements that follow the increasingly frequent attacks of Muslim terror in cities across the world. They can be found in the strident utterances of self-appointed spokespersons of Muslims, whether in India or the US, and in the statements of well-intentioned, if sometimes bewildered, non-Muslims, who are anxious to do the right thing by their fellow brethren. Symbolized by relentless accusations of ‘Islamophobia’ against all perceived critics of Islam, this state of affairs has led to a global industry of Muslim victimhood, with its elders laying down a set of conventions about how Islam and Muslims must be spoken of and the accompanying charges of blasphemy ready to follow against transgressors.



Let us first look at some of the self-styled spokespersons of the global Muslim ‘community’ in the Western context. The Reza Aslans, Mona Eltahawys, and Mehdi Hasans of the world are instructive in this regard. Notwithstanding the qualities of being extremely articulate and media savvy, and blessed with a talent for keeping themselves in the limelight, none of these reformers present arguments that are particularly radical or even insightful when it comes to Islam, Muslim practices, or beliefs. Rather, their prominence appears to be more a function of their apologetics for troubling Muslim and/or Islamic practices and valiantly battling against (often-exaggerated-in-the-imagination) criticism of Islam. For example, here is Eltahawy expressing that well-worn cliche, amply familiar to those of us in India, that no non-Muslim (or non-Muslim non-women) can and should comment on certain matters which are the exclusive property of Muslims or Muslim women.