“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so,” said American humourist and compulsive traveller Mark Twain years ago. He was not wrong. In some ways we are all hapless victims of stereotypes perpetuated by the powerful media and by Orwellian regimes that control what we see and what we understand. We live in the smug belief that what we are told is the only truth and nothing else. We forget what learned Jain sages found out many years ago when they propounded the philosophy of Syadvad or the “doctrine of maybe” where nothing was definitive. In a world where television translates reality in simple intelligible forms to gullible viewers, there are no shades of grey.

The Deobandis share a history of patriotism. And Darul Uloom is a beautiful place of learning, like any serene university. And now, the winds of change and modernity have finally arrived

Akash Bisht and Khalid Akhter Deoband (Western UP), Hardnews

Easy targets of prejudice and witch-hunts, linking madrasas to terrorism is an entrenched conspiracy theory

Arshad Alam Delhi, Hardnews

While many Muslim leaders in Bengal celebrate orthodoxy, few care to do anything about the abysmal state of education, healthcare or human development of the community

Rajat Roy Kolkata, Hardnews

Islam is stereotypically seen as a religion that does not give equal rights to women. What do Muslim women think of this?

Garima Srivastava Delhi, Hardnews