REPRESENTATION OF MINORITY ISSUES IN SECULAR INDIA: A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NOVEL EK MAMNOOA MOHABBAT KI KAHANI

سیکولر ہندوستان میں اقلیتوں کے مسائل کی عکاسی: بحوالہ خصوصی ناول ایک ممنوعہ محبت کی کہانی

Abstract

This study examines the contradictions of secularism in contemporary India through a critical reading of Rahman Abbas’s novel Ek Mamnooa Mohabbat Ki Kahani. Although India claims to be the world’s largest democracy and a secular state, the lived reality of its Muslim minority often reflects insecurity, cultural suppression, and identity-based marginalization. The novel portrays these tensions through the symbolic life of its protagonist, Abdul Aziz, whose personal experiences of love, fear, social restriction, and eventual death mirror the broader existential crisis of minority communities. By highlighting issues of linguistic oppression, cultural erosion, religious politics, and rising majoritarianism, the narrative exposes how state policies, social prejudices, and internal communal pressures undermine the constitutional promise of equality and freedom. The novel thus becomes more than a love story۔ it serves as a socio-political commentary on the fragility of minority rights in a society where secular ideals remain largely aspirational rather than lived realities.