he calls 'theses' about Muslims in India. Some of the theses are hardly more than propositions. For example, he postulates that the Muslims, as a group, are steeped in backwardness. He explains this by reference to the relatively static character of their faith. Now, it is true that there is a widespread belief among the Muslims themselves that they are sinking into backwardness, but a really dispassionate analysis of the group would show that the effect of economic development and social change upon the Muslims has been quite varied. Some Muslims have benefited from the developmental process and social changes since Independence. Others have remained largely unaffected. Still others have experienced a decline. The right approach in the face of such diversity, would be to examine the validity of such propositions in the light of empirical details. Instead, presumptions (such as that of backwardness) are usually accepted as valid, and certain generalisations are then deduced from them.
