In 2002, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s selection of the missile scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as the 11th President of India was nothing short of a masterstroke.

One of the most inspiring episodes of Indian history, it was Vajpayee who personally called Dr Kalam and persuaded him not to decline the offer. As recounted in his autobiography, ‘Wings of Fire’, an overwhelmed Dr Kalam requested an all-party political consensus on the decision, and this was achieved by Vajpayee by bringing the Congress-led UPA on board. The BJP-led NDA’s decision to appoint India’s third Muslim president was thus arrived at through consensus, and that’s how India got a devout Muslim, proud of his Indian roots and traditions, as her president.

India’s 200-million strong Muslim community is among the poorest sections of Indian society and is in need of inspiration, motivation and empowerment of the youth. This is not in the interest of Muslims alone, but also in the interest of the majoritarian Hindu community. Unless Indian Muslims transform themselves into a modern, progressive society, and unless they are empowered to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with the Hindu community in peace and harmony, India will continue to suffer from stunted growth.

At a time when India’s Muslim community is feeling insecure over the passage and enactment of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, right-thinking Hindus, Dalits and members of other minorities must not remain silent spectators, but reassure Muslims in various ways. The reaching out to the Muslim community is especially important because Indian Muslims are being repeatedly targeted, taunted and insulted in various ways, be it through ‘Bulldozer politics’; the revival of........

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