Kumar’s latest sparks debate

When Professor of English Amitava Kumar published an article about the uproar over the proposed Muslim Community Center on Vanity Fair's website in August, he had an important question to ask. In the midst of a debate over an issue that encompasses the first amendment, the nature of terrorism and prejudices in America, Kumar wants to know: "Are both sides guilty of denying ordinary Muslims their humanity?"

Kumar has spent much of his career dedicated to documenting the way Muslims in the United States are perceived and treated. Over the summer, Kumar published A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Bomb. In A Foreigner, Kumar explores the cases of Hemant Lakhani and Shahawar Matin Siraj. The former was convicted in 2003 of attempting to provide missiles to terrorists and the latter has been convicted of planning to bomb Herald Square in Manhattan in 2006.

Kumar picks apart their trials and illustrates the ways in which the United States has turned into a police-state that bullies and terrorizes its own citizens.

"The state has found great comfort in jailing people who are often deluded and whose abilities are very limited," lamented Kumar.

 The book title is based on a 1993 Edmond Jabès novel about anti-Semitism and the mislabeling of Jews as foreigners in many parts of the world, entitled A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Book.

Kumar used a near-identical title for his own book to emphasize that in our present time, foreigners, specifically Muslims, are expected by many to be terrorists solely based on their religion and culture.

Kumar has received many negative responses to A Foreigner. During his interview on WNYC, negative feedback started streaming to the network before the interview was even over. However, A Foreigner has also been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor and other news outlets.In the New York Times review from Aug. 5, Dwight Garner sees A Foreigner as a window into the world-view of Muslims after Sept. 11. He says it "is about the ordinary men and women, brown-skinned in general and Muslim in particular, who have had their lives upended by America's enraged security apparatus." Along with the positive press, Kumar is most pleased with the personal feedback he has received. "What I have been most pleased about is that people who have been positive about the book have remarked not only on the fact that I'm talking about the political damage done by the war on terror," said Kumar. "They have been talking about the cultural damage [as well]."

Kumar also released a novel over the summer entitled Nobody Does the Right Thing. It explores the under-belly of India through the perspective of a journalist. The novel is based around interviews Kumar conducted with a Bollywood actor, Om Puri, who managed to escape the poverty of his youth to become a well-off star. Taxicab drivers, rickshaw drivers, prostitutes and others were also interviewed for inspiration in the novel.

Kumar's next project is a departure from his more political work. "Right now I am working on a book about academic style, writing, what is the exciting work being done in academia that breaks the conventional mold of writing and how is this work being done in a range of disciplines," he said. He is also beginning work on a new novel about immigrant life in this country.