Omair Ahmad studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Syracuse University, New York. He has worked at the Central & South Asia Division of the Voice of America, as Political Adviser at the British High Commission in New Delhi, and has written a novel on the rise of extremism among mainland Indian Muslims.

Recent articles

Militant Islamists have served Kashmir’s earthquake victims better than an uncaring India or an incompetent Pakistan, and the consequences for ordinary Kashmiris will be bitter, says Omair Ahmad.

Hollywood products like “The Matrix”, “X-Men” and their sequels indulge the spectacle of violence and terrorism in the name of a nebulous ‘truth’, and thus echo the very mental strategies of al-Qaida. But they also make available narratives of meaning that illuminate the realities of power which imprison the world. Should their consumers be alarmed or amused?

A wary platform encounter with a self-styled spiritual warrior offers unexpectedly renewed hope to a weary Omair Ahmad.

In dialogue with Dave Belden, one Muslim Indian living in America voices the optimism of a rising generation. In an atmosphere of freedom to speak the truth, and despite political oppression in Islamic states and secularist pressures in the west, Muslims are making progress by changing from within the faith.