Reframing the Identity of Indian Bohra Community: A Close Reading of Asghar Ali's A Living Faith

<p>The study examines Asghar Ali’s Autobiography, A Living Faith: My Quest for Peace, Harmony and Social Change (2013) to portray the religious, social, and cultural identity crisis of the Bohra Community. Asghar Ali portrays how the powerful religious head (high priest) of his Bohra community has oppressed the common Bohra by the pretext of religious ideology. Asghar Ali talked about the neo-colonial practices within the Bohra community, which was led by the high priest. He observed that Bohra community lost their religious (Muslim) identity and enslaved by the high priest’s hegemonic ideology. Under such conjuncture, Asghar Ali commenced resistance movement against high priest’s colonial activities and subjugation to regain and reframe Bohras’ real religious identity. This scholarship explores Asghar Ali’s autobiography to reveal the neo-colonial practices which unknown to the main stream discourses. The article also focuses how Asghar Ali’s attempted to resist high priest’s subjugation in reframing common Bohras’ religious identity.   </p>