With the death of Dr Omar Khalidi, an Indian-American scholar, on November 29 in Boston, USA, the world has lost a champion of minority rights.

Known for his kindness and scholarship, Omar Khalidi was perhaps the pioneer of research on socio-economic status of Muslims in the post-independence and contemporary India. His research-based articles and books jolted the Indian society and government alike and — though it has never been officially acknowledged — the Indian government was forced to constitute a committee that sought to conduct an ethnicity-based census of the Indian armed forces.

Omar Khalidi's book Indian Muslims since independence which was, in his own words, 'reincarnated' many times is a detached academic study of Indian Muslims — the largest minority in India that constitutes a population more than that of many Arab countries put together.

Dr Khalidi through his unemotional and research-based books and articles questioned and dissected certain characteristics and psyche of Indian Muslims emanating from their share and participation in the national economy, their lagging behind in education, Urdu's role in their identity, attitude of the majority towards them, communal violence targeting them and their role in the democratic politics of the country. He was instrumental in presenting their views and voice and articulating them on critical issues. Other areas of his expertise include the history of Deccan, research methods and methodology, library skills and bibliographical surveys.

Omar Khalidi was born in Hyderabad Deccan in 1956. His father Abu Nasr Muhammad Khalidi was a scholar of Arabic and Islamic Studies and taught at Usmania University. Khalidi senior is known for, among other things, his ' Taqveem-i-Hijri-wa-Essavee ', a book that serves as a kind of conversion tables for Hijri calendar and Gregorian calendar. Omar Khalidi got his early education in India and did his BA from the Wichita State University, Kansas. He did his ALM from the Harvard School of Extension Studies and PhD from the Wales University, Britain.

In 1980s, he served the King Saud University, Riyadh, for some time and then joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the time of his death, he was serving the institute as librarian for the Aga Khan Programme for Islamic Architecture.

According to press reports, Omar Khalidi was trying to board a train in Boston when he fainted and fell before an oncoming train. Though the press has quoted his wife, Nigar Sultana, as saying that he was suffering from diabetics and insomnia, some quarters expressing their concern over Khalidi's untimely and mysterious death have urged the Obama administration to probe his death as he was considered to be close to the present US administration and was trying to bridge the gap between the Muslims and the US government.

Omar Khalidi's death is a blow to Muslims around the world but for the Indian Muslims and other minorities, it is even more shocking.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com