Laurence Gautier’s new article titled “Guardians of the Faith and “True” Secularism: Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and Religious Education in Post-Partition India, History of Education” has been published in Journal of the History of Education Society 58, no. 5:e70186. Wiley Online Library.

Abstract: This article, drawing on under-researched Urdu sources, examines the reconfiguration of state-minority relations in postcolonial India through debates within the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) on religious education. After Partition, the ulama prioritized religious education and established an all-India board to preserve Islamic values and practices among a significantly weakened Muslim minority. Through this initiative, they also sought to establish themselves as Muslim leaders, speaking for the community to defend its autonomy and its welfare. This required them to rethink their relationship with state authorities under the new regime. The article highlights the tension between their efforts to carve out an autonomous sphere for the community and their proximity to political authorities. It further examines the evolving conception of secularism articulated by JUH leaders to preserve a distinct Muslim identity while simultaneously asserting Muslims’ rights as citizens.

The article is available to read here: https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2026.2721443