years ago "a woman does not deserve freedom", equality and freedom for women have been emphasised by every social reformer, be he D K Karve or Jyotiba Phule. When the Shankaracharya of Puri defended the abominable practice of sati after a recent case in Rajasthan, a thousand voices contradicted him. This does not seem to have happened or to happen among Muslims. This is partly because Islam is in many ways more enlightened than ritual-ridden and socially- divisive Hinduism and partly because of the unique status of the Koran. The result has been that the ulema or political manipulators continue to have tremendous power in a society which is largely poor and poorly educated, and in which the intelligentsia is a minute fraction. Men like Hamied Dalwai and Asghar Ali Engineer seem to be crying in the wilderness.