India is being colonial when it comes to ignoring Asia

RN Bhaskar

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In early 2025, something happened which startled China. It woke up Asia, and then the world.

An ancient tomb was found hidden behind the country’s legendary wall but what astonished the world is that this tomb is thought to belong to a prophet. There is no record of him coming to Eastern China. It is strange to find a prophet of the pre-Islamic period to be found in this region (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbGY1hbFPJA).

It all started with an unexpected incident.  Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to a major landslide that hit the northern region of Heibei province. The local government initially considered this incident to be just an ordinary natural disaster. Evacuation teams and archaeologists were immediately deployed to secure the ruins area especially since the location is an important part of the nation’s historical heritage.

However, during the excavation process archaeologists found something unusual behind a pile of large rocks and lumpy soil. They found a large stone structure resembling a cave entrance. There were strange and unusual carvings and inscriptions which were later discovered to be ancient.  How did this happen in Eastern China, far from the Middle East which most of the Abrahamic prophets inhabited.

After several days of preliminary cleaning and research the research team discovered an underground chamber. It had a large tombstone with Arabic writing that read “The chosen servant of God the messenger of messengers has returned to him.”  At the bottom of the tombstone the name was written Zulkfell or Zulfell.

Abrahamic faiths

A bit of explanation is required here.  Judaism, Christianity and Islam have the same ancestry and are therefore referred to as the Abrahamic religions.  Some of the prophets are common to all the three religions – like Moses and Solomon.  But Islam talks about many more.  And one of them is Prophet Zulkifl.  The Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammed was the last prophet and that there would be no prophet after him.  The Jews believe that a prophet will arrive (Jesus is considered to be the False Prophet).  Christianity believes in no prophet after Jesus. But all three believe in a final Day of Judgement which will coincide with the end of the world.

China’s reaction

But coming back to the story.  The news reached China’s capital.  Initially, the authorities wanted to shut down the ruins, because the China Communist Party (CPC) does not like promoting religion.  But the party also believes in culture and in promoting it.  Moreover, as hordes of devout Muslims got wind of the news, they began flocking to the place.  To prevent a stampede which would result in a law-and-order problem, the authorities lay down rules for visiting the monument.

To establish the genuineness of the findings, the Chinese authorities decided to call Muslim scholars from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Malaysia and Indonesia among others to examine the ruins and arrive at a conclusion. They brought in equipment for estimating how old the carvings were.  Their conclusion: the ruins were genuine.

Remarkable

What China did next was remarkable in many ways.

First, unlike the Western narrative that China hates Muslims – which gave rise to stories about the alleged torture chambers in Xinjiang — the opposite was happening in full public view.  China was preserving Islamic culture.

Second, it had invited Islamic scholars from all over the world to witness and examine the ruins themselves.

Third, and more significantly, it decided to hold a series of Islamic conferences in China to discuss the findings.

All this was contrary to popular narratives. This was especially on account of the third factor.  What China had done was to become friendlier to all Islamic countries, especially to Malaysia and Indonesia, major consumer and industrial markets of the future.

This is where India needs to learn some basic truths.

Lessons for India

Over the past several months, India has witnessed the innumerable trips the minister of commerce has made to Europe.  He has been knocking at their doors get a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in place.

Each time, he promises that that an FTA would soon be in place.

Finally, one did materialise with the UK (free subscription — https://bhaskarr.substack.com/p/the-inexplicables-in-the-india-uk). but without the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).

Effectively, the FTA with the UK is only for that country to sell to India, not to invest in India.   If India wants to sell, it should be looking at Asia, Africa and Latin America, which have larger growing populations. They have also notched up rising economic fortunes.

Effectively, India was focussing more on Europe that has a shrinking population and shrinking economic clout. They thus have little money to invest. Especially the UK, France and Germany.

The big markets are in Asia and Africa.  India has overlooked that.  The government, contrary to public posturing, continues to have a colonial mindset (free subscription —  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mkn82F_iw0).

India’s problem 

There is a bigger problem.  The government does not appear to like Muslims. It is hard to imagine India hosting a conference to promote Islamic culture, the way China is doing.  The last time, the Muslims called for a conference, they were slapped with criminal charges.  The government and Indian media began hurling the word Tablighi as a slur word (https://swarajyamag.com/insta/delhi-police-refutes-report-claiming-audio-clip-of-maulana-saad-telling-tablighis-to-not-follow-lockdown-was-doctored ; https://indianexpress.com/article/india/tablighi-jamaat-saad-audio-clip-delhi-police-6400994/; https://indianexpress.com/article/india/saad-audio-clip-doctored-after-police-express-reporter-6403831/). Eventually, all the Tablighis were exonerated by the courts. The television anchors who venomously spat out the word Tablighi are silent today.

Then look at the way NCERT’s syllabus was changed.  The entire chapter of the Mughals was expunged — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvM1Xs7fPwM.

Just look at the way India singled out Turkey and Azerbaijan after the India-Pakistan skirmish following the Pahalgam massacre. Not a word was said about Sweden and the US who too were arms suppliers to Pakistan (free subscription —  https://bhaskarr.substack.com/p/india-is-losing-friends-influence).

Grave misjudgement

India appears to forget that the Muslim market is bigger than the Indian market (data has been taken from Pew Research (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/12/18/table-religious-composition-by-country-in-numbers/) and Wikipedia  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Asia).  India does not have to look at the world population.  Just look at Asian numbers.  Even in this continent, Muslims outnumber Hindus.  Effectively, India is alienating a market that is big.  This is a population that is growing.  The countries in Asia have been growing their GDP and exports, in addition to boosting their domestic consumption.

When India considers just South Asia, the Hindus outnumber the Muslims.  But the moment when one looks at the whole of Asia, the picture changes (the charts for different parts of Asia are given below.

And if you add the numbers for Africa and the rest of the world, The Hindus begin to become smaller in percentage and numerical terms.  Clearly, not alienating the Muslim community is not merely good humanity.  It is good for promoting business as well.

Asia accounts for a significant portion of the global GDP. In 2021, it contributed to 42% of the world’s GDP when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). Additionally, Asia’s share of global trade is substantial, with 53% of global goods traded in 2021.

By 2024, Asia-Pacific countries’ share of global GDP had risen to 54.7%, while their share of global GDP growth over the decade to 2024 reached 70.0%.

Just look at the tables below, and the enormity of the gulf India must traverse becomes obvious. It remains to be seen whether India will make the effort, or just be content with being marginalised.

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