Irfan Habib & Harsh Mander on the decay of socialism and secularism in India and more

Irfan Habib, who is regarded as one of India's best historians, tells Harsh Mander that encouraged by the Narendra Modi and BJP leadership, The Hindu right is attempting not just to rewrite India's history to erase Muslim presence and contribution but to manufacture it entirely. Now 94, Habib looks back to when India got independence – when he was a young man – and at the inclusiveness and spirit of service of national leaders at the time. He also looks critically at the divisive politics of the present but believes that "ultimately I think India is a large country with varied languages and I think a pure Hindu religious philosophy can't unite the country."This episode is part of the podcast series Partitions of the Heart: Conversations with Harsh Mander, produced in association with Karwan-e-Mohabbat. The inaugural season called Muslim Life – and Death – in Modi's India, focuses on the deepening crisis of Muslims in India. Mander hosts conversations with a powerful array of Indian Muslim figures both eminent and emerging, young and old. Together, they talk about the lived experiences of Indian Muslims amid the rise of the Hindu Right and escalating Islamophobia, as well as the politics and the history that have brought India to this shocking new reality.You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uyoDoPELQdUHimal Southasian is Southasia’s first and only regional news and analysis magazine. Stretching from Afghanistan to Burma, from Tibet to the Maldives, this region of more than 1.4 billion people shares great swathes of interlocking geography, culture and history. Yet today neighbouring countries can barely talk to one another, much less speak in a common voice. For three decades, Himal Southasian has strived to define, nurture, and amplify that voice. Read more: https://www.himalmag.comSupport our independent journalism and become a Patron of Himal: https://www.himalmag.com/support-himalFind us on: https://twitter.com/Himalistanhttps://www.facebook.com/himal.southasianhttps://www.instagram.com/himalistan/