A key moment in Indian history, enacted by the National Theatre in London, may offer insights on how to get beyond the increasingly polarising global discourse on faith, reason and Islam.
Pakistani playwright Shahid Nadeem’s Dara is about Dara Shikoh — a syncretic religious scholar, philosopher and heir-apparent to the Mughal throne in the mid-17th century at the height of that empire.
Dara found himself at the losing end of a bitter family struggle, was put on trial for apostasy and executed in 1659 by his younger brother Aurangzeb — who went on to become the last major Mughal emperor.