As another election to the parliament in India approaches, the question comes up “What are Indian Muslims Thinking? What are the issues on the basis of which they will vote for various parties? Are their issues the same as those of other Indians or do they have some distinct issues of their own?
The political, security and social situation in the country has been turbulent in the last one year, to say the least. Several instances of grievous terrorism have caused much tension between Muslims and Hindus. The latest being the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba sponsored attack on civilians in Mumbai in November 2008. Fortunately it did not result in larger Hindu-Muslim conflagration in Mumbai. But the harsh contrived police encounter against Muslim youth in Jamia Nagar and the further harassment of peaceful Muslims in Azamgarh has sent a wave of anger and complaint in the Muslim community throughout North India. Of course the very bad situation of the victims of the 2002 genocide in Gujarat remains unchanged and is causing much consternation in the Muslim community.
Thus despite the passage of time Security remains the top concern of Muslims in almost every city in India. In almost every major city in India Muslims do not have the confidence that police will treat them with fairness. In most major cities Muslim organizations have organized seminars where they have categorically condemned terrorism and have issued fatwas (religious edicts) against it and have prohibited Muslims from even looking in that direction as a means to resolve their grievous complaints of injustice.
The other major issue that is causing restlessness in the community is the government’s and other parties’ failure to take any initiative in implementing the Sachar Committee findings to uplift the extraordinary backwardness of the Muslim community. The report was released over 2 years ago but in these two years other than some perfunctory low level fixes by way of the HRD ministry’s Action Taken Report, no steps have been taken to bring the findings of this report to fruition. The government did not even bring the report for discussion in the parliament or form a Parliamentary Committee to hold hearings and make recommendations on it.
What is disappointing is that instead of looking at the above grievous issues of the Muslim community, some political parties tried to convert the US-India Nuclear Accord as an issue of the Muslim community. That was a very self-serving and misleading trick that some parties, that claim to be secular, played on the Muslims. It had the potential of telling Hindus that instead of having the interest of India at their heart they look at the interests of other Muslim countries as of significance. Fortunately a lot of sensible Muslim leaders opposed that political trickstry and emphasized that the nuclear accord being good for India, it is also good for Indian Muslims.
In many elections in the past some political parties have tried to make vote banks of the Muslims, a large number of whom are illiterate, by making pronouncements that invoke the emotions of Muslims, eg making Urdu the second language, closing schools for half day on Fridays for Juma congregational prayers, visiting the tombs of famous Muslim saints, lavish public praises for some Muslim religious leaders etc. After half a century of such tricks the average Muslims are tired of them.
Today Muslims are not voting en-bloc for any party. Instead in each constituency they are looking at the track record of the parties and candidates, distinguishing their rhetoric and ploys from their actions that impacted the community.
In the approaching elections Muslims are asking the various political parties to give ironclad assurances that they will provide adequate security to the community from organized violence and from police high-handedness; and that they will implement programs to remove the inordinate backwardness of the community in the areas of education and socioecomics, such as implementing the Sachar Committee report.
In most areas the bases on which Indian Muslims decide to vote for a party or candidate are the same as those of other Indians. For instance the issues of Muslim Dalits are the same as those of Hindu and Christian Dalits; the issues of Muslim OBCs are the same as those of Hindu and Christian OBCs. In low income neighborhoods in various cities, the issues of Poor Muslims are the same as those of poor Hindus and Christians, which is to improve the infrastructure of those localities and provide growth opportunities.
Yet with Muslims often being the target of police as suspect for acts of terrorism, seeking safeguards from police harassment and brutality is a distinct issue of the Muslim community. Similarly atrocious lack of schools in Muslim majority areas in all cities, this is a specific issue of the Muslim community.
India’s Muslims are not looking for parties to promise handouts or preferred treatment for them. Instead they are looking for fair and equitable treatment, same as others Having been disappointed with Congress and BJP the two major national parties, Muslim voters are increasingly drawn to the smaller regional parties namely Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj party, Rashtri Janata Dal, Communist Party of India, DMK/ AIDMK etal.
More than anything Muslims are keen on supporting political parties that genuinely promote a secular democratic structure for the nation where their distinct lifestyles and heritage will be preserved as they integrate more in the nation’s mainstream.
Photo: Muslim Man, Ahmedabad
“The latest being the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba sponsored attack on civilians in Mumbai in November 2008. Fortunately it did not result in larger Hindu-Muslim conflagration in Mumbai.”
The attack was not a Hindu-Muslim issue. It was an attack by Pakistan proxies on India and India reacted accordingly not at a communal level but at a national level. The Gujrat pogrom was a riot that displayed the worst cases of human bestiality possible in modern India. Countering that is not a Muslim issue – it has to be a national priority to restore faith in the system. Just because the fanatics got away then, now they are attacking the middle class Hindus on grounds of “culture protection”. This displays in ample measure that allowing perverts/hoodlums to escape hurts everyone.
Its important for more of the middle class – of any religion – to participate in the elctoral process. Our issues and objectives are the same and once we emerge as a stronger force in electoral results, political parties will be forced to act in the larger national interest.
Emergence of the third front as a party of opportunist regional parties is a threat to safeguarding national issues. Most of them have limited view of “vote-banks” and parochial interests. Driving a national consensus will be far more difficult proposition for those who have no clear ideology apart from being anti-Congress and anti-BJP.
A political party that seems to speak the right language and excellent credentials:
http://www.loksatta.org/index.php
I think that Indian Muslims should now move ahead and galvanise themselves into a political force and tell the nation what they think are the solutions to the nation’s problems.
In the past ,many great Muslim leaders have come but they could not galvanise muslims into a political force because they wanted to give muslims a distinct identity from the national mainstream. This strategy has not worked because muslims were more looking for jobs, education, betterment of their lives than their identity.
Muslims should now move ahead, discuss amongst themselves, arrive at a consensus and march on the road of politics.
The country badly needs an alternative vision ,and not to say, the onus naturally falls on the second largest population group.
Look what has happened in the US. The Black population, which is the second largest population group with roughly the same percentage as Indian Muslims, has risen to the occassion.
Similarly, why cant an Indian Obama rise from the Indian Muslims??
General Elections(LS polls)are to be held in April/May this year.Voters all over India have to select their MPs.
Leader of the majority party/ coalition will become thePM and govern the country
for the next five years.Muslims are not concentrated in some constituencies but spread over the length and breadth of India.In different regions, they have different problems.And one cannot make an ad hoc list of their “issues”!Since a majority of them are illiterates and poor, leaders have to advise them as to what they should do and what is to be avoided.
During the last 13 years (1996 to 2009)
there were Three (3) Lok Sabha polls!
And Five(5) coalition Govts.Hence, the youth is fed with the bane of coalition of disparate parties!The political churnings taking place now,have further
steeled their resolve to dump the political fortune hunters into the dustbin of history!Now, as never before, india expects every son and her daughter to rise to the occasion and set right things!So Muslims have to be very circumspect and be guided by their “enlightened self-interest” only.Those who get their vote must reciprocate their gesture and treat them with honour due.
Sanjay,
If Obama narrowly percieved himself as African American and galvanised them and projected himself as black, he would have been another Jesse Jackson not OBAMA. One can’t be a leader if one’s vision is based on narrow identities. The braoder identity the community adopts, the faster a community will contribute a leader for the Nation. Right Now all communities of India are stuck with narrow identities. So we have no Obama.
Nuclear deal was communalized by BSP and Communists in the most callous manner. They are far from our common goal of true secularism. Congress is sophesticated in it’s vote-bank politics. these parties are brazen and feel no guilt over it.
looks like they have done a good job of dividing non-hindus also on caste lines. Afterall, many secualr congresswalas(ex.kuldip nayar) believe Caste is a great safegaurd against fundamentalism. Only problem, what is the safegaurd aginst castism?
Politicians and parties offer what we ask for. i am happy muslims are increasingly giving priority to socio-economic improvement over emotional religious superficial promises that benefit none but harm the whole society.
All communities should steadfastly reject all appeasement promises and strive for development along with rest of India.
Soon political parties will change their language.
The two prime areas of focus for the Ummah are education and economic development. This is what will provide a better standard of living and a greater share of voice.
Some momentum has been picked up and organizations like WIN and KSIJ are focusing on Muslim education. This will ultimately help our nation.
As Salamu Aliekum…
When India votes, many Muslims will also take part… Here the issues are almost the same with Muslims and Non-Muslims alike, there are no separate elections going to be held in India…
Issues are no different like Education, economic growth, development, basic needs, poverty, health care, better standard of living, more and better job, security and some issues may differ from place to place…
I do agree, we Muslims have our own set of issues and problem related to it, top most is yes security but i feel it should more be on Education and economic growth & development…
Still many Muslims in rural India stay below poverty line, many in cities don’t have job, many are uneducated, even here poverty is the problem, discrimination, unequal treatment by government and some section of society and many more….
Government Alone not going to solve our problems, but we need to change and break the barriers around us and look to move forward, our Ulema’s need to do more on the worldly aspect of life, it’s time to teach Muslims more about Duniya(world) because Islam it’s self is Way Of Life…
I’m very optimistic about our future and we as a community need to work a lot on our selves, yes we need to introspect…
The best way will be, If Muslims turn towards Islam and be more Islamic, then Insha Allah we will be the guiding force in great Indian dream…
Oh, Allah(swt) give us more strength and vision to succeed in the right way of LIFE…Aameen…
Jai Hind
Wassalam…