Veteran Bollywood actor-filmmaker Sanjay Khan has launched his new book titled Assalamualaikum Watan, which will trace Muslims' role in shaping India's heritage.
This will be Khan’s second book, the first being his 2018 biography The Best Mistakes of My Life.
The book launch, which took place in Mumbai, saw many A-listers from the film fraternity grace the event.
Some of the notable names were Hema Malini, Esha Deol and Khan’s children Sussanne Khan and Zayed Khan.
Khan emphatically declares in almost every page of the book (which has 10 chapters) that he "considers himself an Indian first and then a person of the faith."
According to Khan, the term "minority" needs to be dispensed with as it comes with inferior insignia.
Khan suggests through this book that the Indian government should embark on an initiative to address all as Indians and "if needed add the prefix Indian to the community name."
"For instance — Indian-Muslims, Indian-Hindus, Indian-Christians, Indian-Sikhs which will give every citizen a sense of feeling Indian before anything else."
"The intention behind this book is not only to convince the Indian Muslims to eliminate this immigrant mentality, but also provide a very tangible, explicit and logical solution for Muslims in India to once again reach its zenith of contribution and impact," said Khan.
"This is an impact that the Indian Muslim has repeatedly accomplished in the past while forming the rich history of this amazing country.
"Assalamualaikum Watan is a humble attempt to invoke that spirit in Indian Muslims again," added the The Sword of Tipu Sultan star.