In the face of methodical exclusion and rhetorical assaults, several recent Muslim achievers have not only emerged at the top of their fields but have brought global honour and glory to the nation
Mohammed Talha Siddi Bapa | Clarion India
IN an increasingly polarised India, where the Muslim identity is routinely targeted, demonized, and dismissed, a powerful counter-narrative is emerging, driven by professional brilliance rather than slogans or spectacles. In the face of methodical exclusion and rhetorical assaults, several recent Muslim achievers have not only emerged at the top of their fields but have brought global honour and glory to the nation. Their success is neither accidental nor symbolic; it is substantive, hard-earned, and rooted in years of quiet struggle.
While a deeper look into post-Independence India would unearth a galaxy of Muslim contributors, this article confines itself to contemporary figures, because the present, too, is luminous.
These stories become all the more significant in today’s context, where the prime minister casually stereotypes Muslims as “puncture wallahs,” and this trope echoes from party rallies to WhatsApp forwards. Yet, in the laboratories, literary halls, military ranks, and police command rooms of India, Muslim men and women are doing something extraordinary: puncturing the narrative, not with noise, but with nation-building contributions that can no longer be ignored.
Let’s consider just a handful of recent examples.
Col Sofiya Qureshi: Soldier of the Soil, Target of Hatred
This month, Col Sofiya Qureshi, a decorated officer of the Indian Army’s Signals Corps, stood before national and global media briefing the world about Operation Sindoor. It was a moment of pride for India: A Muslim woman officer representing the nation’s might with clarity and conviction.
But for some, her Muslim identity was too much to digest. Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla publicly questioned why a “Sofiya” was leading the briefing and not someone from the “mainstream.” The insinuation was clear — and chilling.
This was not just an attack on an officer; it was an assault on the idea of equal citizenship. Yet, Col Qureshi did not respond with outrage. She responded with dignity. As India’s first woman to lead a military contingent in an international joint exercise (Force 18), and a veteran of UN Peacekeeping in Congo, her career speaks louder than her critics.
Writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq has made history by becoming the first author writing in the Kannada language to win the International Booker prize with her short story anthology, Heart Lamp.
Banu Mushtaq: Writing Her Way Into Literary History
This 77-year-old author and activist from Karnataka made literary history this month by winning the 2025 International Booker Prize for her Kannada short story collection Heart Lamp, translated by Deepa Bhasthi.
Her stories, rooted in the lived realities of Dalit and Muslim women, have not only expanded the canvas of Indian literature but have also broken the glass ceiling for regional language writers on global platforms. Her win is historic, not just as a Muslim woman, but as a representative of voices from the margins.
And yet, what followed her win was not a universal celebration. Sections of right-wing social media vilified her, questioning her “agenda” and mocking her identity. But Banu Mushtaq remained unfazed, telling an interviewer, “They can’t cancel lived truth.” Indeed, the pen, when truthful, doesn’t just resist erasure — it etches itself into permanence.
Dr MA Saleem: Karnataka’s Top Cop with a Vision
Dr M A Saleem, a senior IPS officer, was appointed Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) of Karnataka this week. With over three decades of unblemished service, Dr Saleem is known as a reformer and innovator. From modernising traffic enforcement in Bengaluru to streamlining criminal investigations at the CID, he has consistently delivered results that uplift governance.
Despite being affectionately nicknamed “One-Way Saleem” for his traffic overhauls, his rise, like that of others, has not been immune to religious slander. Anonymous handles and fringe groups dubbed his appointment “appeasement.” But when an official reduces the backlog of criminal cases from 930 to 360 in a year and digitises enforcement without fanfare, it’s not about religion — it’s about merit, method, and mettle.
IPS officer MA Saleem
Beyond the Headlines: A Trend, Not an Exception
These recent trailblazers are not outliers. From Mohammed Siraj on the cricket field to Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan on the silver screen; from young scientists in ISRO to Muslim officers shaping governance — the list is long, and growing. Their presence across sectors is not symbolic; it’s structural, and decisively punctures the myth that Muslims contribute less or belong less. The story isn’t of one-off brilliance, it’s a pattern of excellence long ignored.
To stereotype an entire community based on fringe elements is not just lazy, it’s dangerous. The Muslims are not asking for special favours; they want to be seen and treated as equals, as professionals, as citizens.
And what we are witnessing today is a silent revolution. A class of Muslim Indians who have understood that true rebuttal is not in reaction but in contribution. They’re not fixing tyres; they’re fixing narratives. Not by shouting slogans but by commanding battalions, winning prizes, heading departments, and serving a nation that sometimes forgets to acknowledge them.
At a time when laws like the Waqf Amendment 2025 threaten to dispossess the community of its institutional heritage, and when identity is politicised more than protected, these stories of achievement serve as quiet acts of defiance — and reminders of what inclusion can make possible.
Conclusion: A Puncture That Awakens a Nation
It would be a mistake to view these stories as feel-good exceptions. They are not. They are proofs of possibility — evidence that despite being stereotyped and sidelined, India’s Muslims continue to build, serve, and excel across fields.
In hospitals, courtrooms, classrooms, and defence briefings, Muslim professionals are not demanding recognition, they are delivering it. They are quietly repairing a wounded republic, not with rage but with resilience.
When the prime minister derides Muslims as Puncture wallahs, he overlooks the truth: puncture repairers are vital. They mend, they move, they restore — and today, that’s exactly what these citizens are doing for the nation.
This is not resistance alone; it is renaissance.
To ignore these contributions is to betray the promise of India. To acknowledge them is not a favour — it is our journalistic and civic responsibility. Each time a Muslim Indian excels, a falsehood is deflated, and in that puncture may lie India’s only hope to reinflate its fractured unity.
