‘I
see the forums that are emerging as bargaining forums,
nothing more’
Mohammed Salim
Member of parliament, CPI(M) central
committee member
I am keeping a close watch on these developments as my
hunch and conclusion for the moment is that these are moves mainly
surrounding elections and the bartering of votes. While I do appreciate
that Muslims and other minorities have special problems that need to be
voiced and resolved as legitimate issues, the question is: why are none of
these issues raised at other times and why do they only surface during
elections? The leadership that is at the helm of this Muslim party
initiative in Uttar Pradesh comprises the same people who, for a number of
reasons, are not being given any share, importance or prominence by
mainstream political parties as they were before.
Coming to the elections in Uttar Pradesh, time will tell
whether these leaders are mere paper tigers, propped by a shallow and
sensational media. Are these leaders coming forward to salvage the
community or salvage themselves?
The experience of the Left, nationwide, has been a vote of
confidence and trust from the minorities who see us as genuinely fighting
against the former NDA and for secular values and issues.
A very interesting development has been taking place in
Kerala. Since pre-independence days, right wing reactionary forces, from
all religious groups, have been deeply suspicious of the Left and have
actively campaigned against their constituents, Hindu, Muslim or others,
voting for the Left. However, we see now, especially in Kerala, in Muslim
League strongholds like Mallapuram, a left wing candidate, Comrade Jaleel,
defeating a former minister, Kunjalikutty. Muslim women played a huge role
in this victory for the Left.
In areas where the Left has a strong base, all
communities, including the Muslim community, are active participants, even
voting for us. This is a triumph of the secular democratic approach.
Minorities have recognised that the Left’s struggle against communalism is
to represent their genuine cause, not to appease the community. Hindu or
Muslim, both Advani and Kunjalikutty are today viewed as self-seeking
leaders rather than leaders of their community.
Coming back to the developments in UP following Assam, I
see the forums that are emerging as bargaining forums, nothing more.
In Assam, the formation of Ajmal’s outfit ended up by
helping the Congress to win and keeping the AGP out. The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind
(Assam) broke away from its national unit and served as a network for
Ajmal’s party. Badruddin Ajmal is the state unit president of the JUH,
Assam. This is unlikely to happen in Uttar Pradesh and without the grass
roots organisational network of either the JUH or the Jamaat-e-Islami it
is not easy to fight or win an election.
‘What is
needed is not a Muslim party but a party that is
sensitive to Muslim concerns’
Salman Khursheed
President, UP Congress(I)
Indian Muslims have scrupulously stayed away from Muslim
parties. This tradition has come out of both the Indian Muslims'
instinctive understanding of what partition has done to their cause and
the wider secular democratic cause as also their comfort and ease with the
Congress party, traditionally a party that has represented them. It is
only in the recent past, when for one reason and another and in varying
degrees Indian Muslims experienced a loss of faith in the Congress, that
they have exercised alternate choices.
As far as the Muslim party experiment in UP is concerned,
it is the demolition of the Babri Masjid and now the 'success' of the
Assam experiment that has some people convinced that such an alternative
is feasible. In my opinion, it is not. What is needed is not a Muslim
party but a party that is sensitive to Muslim concerns, one that provides
a wider forum.
Muslims form 18 per cent of the vote in UP. Some people
extend the erroneous argument that 'if a Yadav can become a CM, and a
Dalit or a Lodi can, why can't a Muslim?' What they fail to see is that
the Yadav or the Dalit or the Lodi/Kurmi did not become CMs on the
strength of their caste alone. They did so with the goodwill of other
castes. Now with a Muslims-only party, which caste will support or join a
Muslim conglomerate?
This apart, the leaders who are talking of all this are
used to speaking an exclusionist language that speaks only the language of
their community and does not include others. While overtly they are trying
to hurt Mulayam's government, they will end up sending a blow to all
secular forces.
In Assam the establishment with its stand on the IMDT Act
was a clear target. Here in UP, except for the general overall
disenchantment of the Muslim with the SP and BSP, there is no clear-cut
target so far.
As for the Congress and its 'failure to draw in adequate
Muslim participation and representation', this is a genuine problem that
the party needs to address. Today there are few leaders and participants
from the community who are joining fresh, there is almost no new supply,
where are the new faces? The party must find a way to discover new faces
and it is certainly up to the party to actively do something in this
regard. The Congress constantly faces criticism about our genuine secular
and minority rights concerns. But can anyone say that we are no different
from previous regimes?
In the context of UP we also need to remember that Mulayam
is a wily leader. The first sign of an emergent leader from the community
where he has his own base and who is a genuine challenge will be jointly
defeated by the SP and BSP.
‘The future lies in strengthening secular parties’
Mushirul Hasan
Vice chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
The very principal of political action based on religion
and religious solidarity is, I think, highly objectionable because in
secular democratic India within the existing democratic and secular
structures it is still possible for grievances to be addressed.
Be it through the Congress, the Left or any other centrist
party. Lessons that we have learnt in the past from various initiatives
must not be forgotten, for example in Bihar, as also in UP, where the
Majlis-e-Mushawarat was formed. This attempt arose out of constitutional
and secular motivations under the leadership of Dr Faridi and Dr Syed
Mahmood. The experiment did not work and in fact was counterproductive,
leading to the polarisation of not just votes but also sentiments. In that
limited sense, the developments in UP do not augur well for secular
democratic politics as a whole.
It becomes possible for alternate political parties to
exploit the formation of such a Muslim front to mobilise followers around
Hindutva and sectarian symbols.
In the long run if the motive is to focus on Muslim
grievances – i.e. the genuine issues of exclusion, under-representation,
discrimination – this is best and most effectively done from a secular
platform rather than one driven by religious identity.
This discussion must also take into consideration the
demographic distribution of Muslim votes that militate against corporators,
MLAs or MPs getting voted in.
By and large – and I believe this is a good and healthy
trend – the Muslim electorate has a wider choice than 10 years ago and it
is possible, strategically and tactically, to exercise these choices. The
future lies in strengthening secular parties rather than the formation of
sectarian forums or options. They, ordinary Indian Muslims, have time and
time again exposed the myth of the Muslim vote but our so-called
specialists and commentators simply cannot come to terms with the fact
that the Muslim community is a differentiated community, not a monolith.
Given the image of the Muslim, the expert commentator is desperately in
search of this monolith because they just cannot accept the fact that the
Muslim vote is as complex and as differentiated as any caste.
‘Muslims are being taken for
granted by secular parties’
Qasim Rasool
Member, Executive Council, Jamaat-e-Islami, India and Convenor,
Babri Masjid Action Committee
The executive body of the Jamaat-e-Islami is to meet next
month where it will take a decision on where it stands vis-ŕ-vis the newly
formed PDF and UPUDF. All aspects of the issue will be taken into
consideration before we take a decision. We will, for example, have to
consider the fact of a widespread feeling among Muslims that they have
been taken completely for granted by most secular parties and leaders,
including Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP and Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar. Two
thirds of the total votes polled by Mulayam Singh Yadav, for example, are
Muslim votes while the Yadavs contribute only 25 per cent. But of the
1,300 police constables recently appointed by his government, 1,000 are
Yadavs while only 30 Muslims were selected. The case with Laloo Prasad
Yadav in Bihar is no different. As for Mayawati, she had no qualms about
campaigning for Narendra Modi even after the Gujarat genocide. So many
Muslims are asking: if Yadavs and Dalits can form their own party what is
wrong if Muslims do the same. At the same time, there is the real problem
of communal polarisation if Muslims form their own front. Besides, there
is the problem of sectarian fragmentation of Muslims in UP and then there
is the image of Imam Bukhari. In principle, the Jamaat-e-Islami believes
in supporting only such political formations that keep the interests of
all communities and castes in mind.
Bukhari appealed to Muslims to vote for BJP in the
2004 Lok Sabha elections'
Kamal Farooqui
Chartered accountant, member, Milli Council, member, All India Muslim
Personal Law Board
I cannot accept any party formed on a religious or
communal basis in my secular country. History shows that Muslims on the
subcontinent have not favoured a communal party either during the freedom
movement or since independence. The Muslim masses and the ulema strongly
opposed the partition of the country. It was only the feudal landlords and
their kind who supported the movement for Pakistan. Post-independence
Muslims have always treated non-Muslims - Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv
Gandhi, VP Singh, Bahuguna - as their political leaders. They had more
faith in them than in Muslim leaders. Even a person like Dr Jalil Faridi
who otherwise was widely respected and had huge credibility could make no
dent in UP with his Muslim Majlis.
Talking of replicating the Assam model in UP is playing a
highly dangerous political game. In any case, Assam was a fiasco, not a
success story. And don't the Muslims know who Ahmed Bukhari is and where
he was in the last general elections? He appealed to Muslims to vote for
the BJP. I will be surprised if the amount of votes garnered by any of the
candidates put up by the two Muslim fronts in the coming UP elections
manages to cross four figures.
‘A negative
and unfortunate development’
Nishat Hussain
Founder and president, National Muslim Women’s Welfare Society, Jaipur
This would be both a negative and unfortunate development.
In the past also, a Muslim political party was created, the Muslim League.
What has been its impact? All that it is associated with is the partition
of India. By this kind of talk, fascist and communal forces get more
strength.
Then there is the other ground level reality. Muslim
candidates have rarely won from Muslim majority areas. This is really
healthy – the fact that Muslims do not vote according to the community or
religion of the candidate but for secular concerns – and this is a healthy
tradition that should be encouraged as a trend in politics.
Even if such a party is formed, what will happen? They
will fail electorally anyway but with their failure they will have managed
(negatively for the overall interests of the community) to raise the bogey
of separatism against all Muslims. This will be very unfortunate.
I am confident that the so-called Muslim leadership that
is being talked of will be thwarted by the community itself. Having said
this, there is a great need for Muslims to build up their political
strength and articulate their demands within mainstream political
parties. We should think of increasing our impact on the political process
overall. The questions Muslims need to ask are where are Muslims today in
national politics, why are there no Muslim women in mainstream political
parties? What have the so-called Muslim leaders in mainstream parties done
for the community’s socio-economic development? Have they been able to
raise the real bread-and-butter issues of the Muslim community?
(The National Muslim Women’s Welfare Society, with 800
members all over Rajasthan, was founded in 1989 after Jaipur’s first
post-partition outbreak of communal violence during LK Advani’s rath
yatra.)
‘Emulate the
example of the Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam'
Prof MH Jawahirullah
President, Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK)
M uslim
leadership always projects emotional issues instead of economic and social
issues. The impact of globalisation, agrarian crises and poverty
eradication are not articulated.
The PDF should emulate the example of the Tamil Nadu
Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. The TMMK is not a political party fighting
elections. However, working under a secular democratic framework it has
successfully carved out a space for itself in the Tamil Nadu political
arena. Its interaction with the non-Muslim community through its various
services and actions has earned it high stature in the state's political
scenario. Though the TMMK plays a vital political role during elections,
it feels that it has not matured enough to become a political party. Our
humble suggestion to the PDF is that they should first become a social
movement, serve all communities, earn their goodwill and then ultimately
become a political party.
‘Very little percolates into any change on the ground’
D. Sharifa Khanam
Director of STEPS Women’s Development
Organisation and representative of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Women’s Jamaat,
Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu
From the Tamil Nadu experience where there
are three or four Muslim formations and organisations – the Tamil Nadu
Muslim League (oldest), the Tamil Muslim Munnetra Kazagham (TMMK), the
Tamil Nadu Tauheed Jamaat and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Women’s Jamaat – it is
clear that they have been able to achieve little for the development and
rights of the community. (The Women’s Jamaat articulates Muslim women’s
concerns for serious social reform within the community and political
rights overall – we have no electoral aims.)
Historically, the Tamil Muslim Munnetra
Kazagham allied with the DMK until the latter tied up with the BJP and the
TMMK then drifted towards the Congress. The Tauheed Jamaat has allied with
the AIADMK. Neither the TMMK nor the Tauheed Jamaat has ever raised issues
of reform or discrimination. Unfortunately, these organisations have
degenerated into organisations that offer a barter of the Muslim vote at
election time. They collect crowds immediately prior to an election and
raise issues like reservations for Muslims, education for Muslims, but
very little percolates into any change on the ground.
There is discrimination faced by Muslims
even for small simple loans. Muslim inclusion in the Below the Poverty
Line category (BPL) to avail of PDS and other benefits is minuscule
despite the pathetic economic conditions of the community. How is it that
these serious community issues are never raised by the MMK and the
Tauheed Jamaat? Small subsistence Muslim farmers face despair and
exclusion when there is drought. A Muslim woman was tonsured in Perambalur
a month ago, another was burnt alive in Pudukottai just recently. Why do
such issues not figure in the discourse of these outfits? Because Muslim
women are invisible to them and social reform is not a priority for them.
They are, in the ordinary Muslim mind, merely forums to transfer votes at
election time.
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