Religious Minorities in Nepal Jel Lica Dastider (1995), Irala Publication INR 185 (pp.140).
Muslims of Nepal Shamima Siddiga (1993) , Gazala SIMika NPR 150 (PP•359)
An eminent Indian journalist was quoted recently in the Kathmandu press as saying that whereas Nepal used to be understood in India in terms of the Himalaya, the Pashupati temple, casinos and honeymoons, with the hijacking of IC 814 and India Today´s leak of the so-called "Nepal Gameplan" intelligence report, the ´Hindu kingdom´ has since come to be associated more with ISI and RDX. While this is indeed true, what is even more significant and more damning is the alacrity with which large sections of the Indian television and print media have jumped to portray the entire Nepali Muslim community living in the Tarai as being anti-Indian and (hence) pro-Pakistan.
Given the sudden barrage of attention on the Muslim community of Nepal, that too in a geopolitically significant context, it is important to look for and review the scholarly works which study Nepali Muslims. Two books published during the past few years attempt to do this— Shamima Siddiqa´s Muslims of Nepal (1993) and Mollica Dastider´s Religious Minorities in Nepal (1995). Unfortunately, neither author does justice to the topic and in the end their works will, if anything, fan the flames of antagonism in India against the Muslims of Nepal.