Muslims And Elections - Indolink.Com (21/03/04)

-- By Dasu Krishnamoorty

Election time is when the Muslim voter attracts the attention of political tricksters most. It is a tragedy that both politicians and media discuss the Muslims as separate entities and not as part of the great Indian electorate of 675 million. Every day politicians tell them what they should do, who they should vote for and how they should recover their identity. It is clear that by themselves the Muslims cannot win seats equivalent to the percentage they constitute in the country’s population. The best course for them would be to vote as others do on the basis of issues that appeal to them and not be carried away by secularism/communalism tamasha. For fifty years such slogans helped either the Congress or parties claiming to represent their faith. In either case, the Muslims were the losers. The Congress places before them divisive agenda and tries to win their sympathies by conjuring up false fears of insecurity and discrimination. The religious parties talk of a loss of identity in the event of the defeat of secularism.

Even an experienced journalist like Syed Ali Mujtaba writing in Indolink.Com says, “Minorities unable to be co-opted, feel sidelined and resultant frustration makes them hesitant partners in the development of the country, which ironically is being construed as symptoms of separatism. The blocking of the overall progress of the minorities has not only a telling impact on the community but also on the growth and prosperity of the nation as a whole.” Mujtabaji, neither Abdul Kalam nor Azim Premji nor M.J.Akbar nor Ustad Zakir Husain nor Zaheer Khan waited for anyone to co-opt them. It is not the majority community or the Congress party that co-opted them. They co-opted themselves through availing the benefits of education and other opportunities open to every Indian. K.R.Naryanan became the President making a mockery of that political lie that the Dalits are sidelined. There is no Indian law or tradition that prevents a motivated person from coming up.

I know literally hundreds of Muslims who came up in life because they refused to surrender to self-pity or regard their brethren in the majority community with distrust and blame whatever government is in power for their condition. How are the Brahmins, who are political untouchables, swamping the IITs and other elite institutions? The secret is that they do not seek or expect the government to help them. Don’t tell me that Brahmins are rich or intelligent. The fact is that some sections of the people see an advantage in remaining backward to deserve doles and charity from the public exchequer. The Muslims must realize that their identity will not suffer in the least if they join the mainstream. Neither Abdul Kalam nor Azim Premji is less of a Muslim because they have made good in life by becoming part of an India that is building itself with the help of people who are focused and motivated.

See the kind of blind trust some Muslim parties still have in political parties to deliver the goods on their behalf. APTIreport says, “A delegation of Muslim groups will soon call on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav to urge them to form secular alliances in the states where it has not done yet for the coming Lok Sabha polls.” AHindureport from New Delhi says, “The All-India Milli Council today appealed to all secular parties to join hands to defeat the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).” Briefing the media at the end of a two-day meeting, Manzoor Alam, political secretary of the council, said that the biggest challenge before the secular forces was to prevent the NDA from coming back to power. AnotherPTIreport (19 Mar. 03) says, “The All-India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushwarat has accused the Bahujan Samaj Party of trying to divide the secular vote by deciding to contest over 300 Lok Sabha seats." There has never been a secular party in India nor secularism. If the Muslims want to hug the secular illusion, they will be where they are.

It is better that the Muslims in general go to schools where everyone seeking education and in the end a job goes. It is suicidal to seek schooling in Urdu when it does not get you a job. By accepting their demand, the government will keep its vote bank in tact and the Muslims their perpetual misery. Two generations of Tamil boys and girls have missed the bus because the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made Tamil the medium of instruction in schools cashing in on the gullibility of the people. Please remember, the Muslims are not alone in suffering. Non-Muslims too are suffering. Our secular governments have taken over all temples. Yet, there is no protest from the majority community because they do not consider temples as a priority or political cornucopia.

The rest of the Muslim community must learn from a totally apolitical cricket kid like Zaheer Khan who refused to walk into the trap that Pakistan's leading newspaperDawnhad set for him. He toldDawnthat the Sena chief Bal Thakeray was not against Muslims and lamented that certain vested interests were bent upon tarnishing his image by describing him as anti-Muslim. Zaheer had also told the Pakistan media that patriotic Muslims in India had no difficulty with Thackeray or the Shiv Sena. Only those indulging in subversive activities were opposed to the saffron party, he said. We may disagree with Zaheer’s praise of Shiv Sena chief but my point is that Zaheer and all those Muslims who did well in life knew that the majority community never stood between them and success. Zaheer and his ilk any day serve this country better than those intellectuals who painstakingly collect evidence against their own country and seek external intervention in domestic matters.

Yes, the point is about what the Muslims should do in the coming election. The first thing they should do is not to be swayed by political parties and media who offer them nothing but secularism. What do you do with it? Zaheer Khan never asked Jagmohan Dalmia if the Board of Cricket Control in India is a secular body. Students of all communities study in the Banaras Hindu as well Aligarh Muslim universities because they seek knowledge and not political garbage. Last week Thomas Friedman wrote in theNew York Timesapprovingly of the investments that Indian families make in their children’s education. A hundredth time, I may declare that the average Indian is not bothered whether he is dealing with a Muslim or a Hindu. The Muslims run hundreds of medium scale industries and if they refuse to sell their goods to the Hindus, they would as well shut down their units.

Those refugees from Sind and Punjab, after losing everything they had, settled down in every corner of India and with minimum government support built themselves into a prosperous community. Look up to them and not to religious or secular leaders who from their cozy nests ask you to hate this community or that as though hatred will bring back to you all those years you have lost in mutual distrust and suspicion. My advice is if you need advice ask people like Azim Premji who is not in politics. Don’t believe anyone in politics whether he is Arif Mohammed Khan or Salahuddin Owaisi.