The political route for Muslims

By Karoly,

To be frank, one had gone into this election with a pessimistic mindset. A hung parliament was on the horizon, and with the Left baying for the blood of the Congress the re-instatement of NDA seemed inevitable. The numerous Muslim political parties that had mushroomed in recent months threatened to worsen the situation further by dividing the Muslim votes. But as it turns out, the electorate has fortunately chosen to sink both the hate-politics of NDA as well as the hypocrisy of the Left together, hopefully to herald the dawn of a more resurgent India along with better prospects for minority hopes.

Congress proved that more than just a respectable ideology it also has got the guts, wits and the will to overcome the negative politics of the BJP and the Left. Prejudiced by an inveterate and unjustified hatred for the Congress the Left betrayed its true colors after the elections by declaring to vote against the Congress in the parliament come what may, even though it made the mistake of not waiting for the results to come out. Even cynics like me are disappointed that the Left has driven the last nail in the coffin of its secular claims by such a sinister move.

Why Muslims voted for Congress

As per the routine, the main objective of the Muslim community was to keep fascists from power at the center. It was also a home-coming for Muslims, back to the Congress. After trying out every option from “Dalit-Muslim” alliance, contract with the Left and regional affiliations the community seems to have finally come to the realization that it is ideology that matters more than any caste, economic, regional or any parochial interests. The Congress party with its legacy of freedom struggle and its ideology of Gandhism promoting the ideals of secularism, religious freedom and democracy remains still the best option available for Muslims.

There are reports that the likes of Jayalalitha and Mayawati had not divulged their intention to support the NDA before the election just not to lose the precious minority votes; while Left has made it clear openly. Looking back it becomes clear that even the gimmick called “Third Front” was contrived just to divide secular votes so that either the NDA or a hopelessly hung parliament come about where the Left will have the opportunity to settle scores with the Congress. This is obvious, as Muslims and other secular minded people could not be reasonably expected to choose BJP as an alternative to Congress.

The TwoCircles.net report about the voting pattern in Bihar illustrates this, where it is shown that out of 12 seats BJP has won, 7 has a Muslim population between 40-20 percent. Obviously this has occurred due to the division of Muslim votes there. However by and large the community has shown the discretion and prudence to separate the wheat from the chaff; and had this trend been optimized an even more stable results could have been achieved, minimizing the reliance even on precarious elements like Mamata Banarjee in the UPA coalition today.

Political route for Muslims

The political route for Muslims is clear. It is certainly not shopping around with the 15% vote bank for the best deal, as some would advocate. We have to bank on the fundamental ethos that underpins our constitutional ideals which has kept India as a secular nation ensuring equal opportunities for all to a great extent. This can be done only by placing faith in that section of the Indian society who sticks to these ideals. And this section, as this election result reveals, are in fact in the majority. Such fraternization can of course happen only on an ideological basis, unconditionally and not based on any bargaining.

Viability of Muslim political parties

One may ask whether there is any room for Muslim political parties here if the option available for Muslims is just to support secular parties and not to allow Muslim votes to be divided even among the Muslim parties. While too many parties is certainly not a good thing, the established Muslim political parties can definitely play their beneficial role for the community without being self-destructive by joining hands on a common minimum program of not letting fascists assume power and to ensure a stable secular government at the center.

Experience of Muslim League in Kerala

I would like to illustrate this aspect by pointing out some developments in Kerala. Muslim League (of which I am neither a fan nor adversary) has made a strong comeback in Kerala after suffering some disturbing setbacks on the face of the Marxist party. In the last Lok Sabha elections League had shockingly lost one of its two bastions in Kerala to the Marxists. Exhilarated by this advance, and in their over-zealousness to pull-off the “Bengal model” in Kerala, the comrades had made some menacing overtures towards the community, even bringing Mullas like Abdunnasser Madani and Jamaate Islami to its fold. It is to be noted in terms of organizational set up, mass support, media presence and intelligentsia League is no match for CPI (M) in Kerala.

But Muslim League has made the most valiant fight-back in its history. By trying to unify all the Muslim factions and making use of religious scholars League fought a spirited political and ideological battle, which has resulted in its thumping victories in both its citadels of Malappuram and Ponnani. Not only this, it made possible Congress victories even in the Communist bastions of Kannur, Kozhikode and Vadakara which has significant Muslim populations. It can be said beyond doubt that had it been not for Muslim League the UPA would have been poorer by at least five-six seats.

Consider the case of Kozhikode, which has traditionally backed the CPI (M). Even before vote counting, the Congress candidate M.K. Raghavan had complained of factiousness in the party and betrayal by a section of the party. In a photo finish M.K. Raghavan won the race by 838 votes, in which the part played by Muslim League was critical. M.K. Raghavan was graceful enough to acknowledge the contribution of Muslim League even in the victory rally. It was indeed an instance of ideological harmony between the members of two different religions where the Muslim League even overlooked the fact that the opposition candidate was a member of the Muslim community.

Also take the case of Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, which has an overwhelming Christian population. There the Church was in standoff to the Marxists and had issued pastoral letters to defeat them in elections. Perhaps sensing a cakewalk in the elections, the Congress High Command had nominated K.V. Thomas, controversial for allegations of Israeli links and intimacy to Taslima Nasreen, overlooking the likely Muslim backlash there. Not surprisingly, all the Muslim organizations barring Muslim League actively campaigned against K.V. Thomas.

However stunningly, despite the Church stance, the race proved close, with K.V. Thomas trailing till the very end before he managed to make it with a not-so-impressive margin of 11790. Post poll analysis showed that it was Muslim League strongholds of Mattanchery area in the constituency that helped save the day for Mr. K.V. Thomas. While the League stance could be justified in that it is the party and the Front which should be given priority rather than the candidate – as the Left would have opposed the Congress in the parliament to the advantage of BJP in any case – still Congress High Command would have done better not to have ignored Muslim sentiments in the selection of the candidate.

Here comes to the fore the political wisdom and sagacity displayed by Muslim League, even at the face of criticisms by some opportunists within the community, who in turn are observed to be the background workers for the Communists as well as their own self-serving interests. While these opportunists vied for dividing the Muslim votes on one pretext or the other League could take more mature and far-sighted stances realizing the ground realities concerning Indian Muslims, eschewing shallow thinking.

Conclusion

The above reflections delineate the political route for Indian Muslims. They cannot choose to stay isolated from the mainstream Indian society, finding fault with all and sundry. Nor do they need to shun from community politics altogether putting blind faith in the secular parties. It is true that the situation doesn’t offer Muslim political parties much bargaining power with the government. But Muslim political parties are indeed needed to unify and guide the community, give them ideological strength and protection, voice their concerns, work for their development, and above all, ensure a stable secular government in power.

At the same time the community should also keep in mind that no secular party can make up for the effort the community has to take itself for its own progress. So voting UPA to power is not the end of the road. Any secular government in Indian context can only provide the premises of equal opportunity, egalitarianism and social justice for all communities to flourish. It is up to us to make use of these opportunities and make a difference for ourselves.