Dr Javed Jamil

In his Sunday Indian Express Column, Lord Meghnad Desai, in his article, “The Muslim Question” (http://m.indianexpress.com/news/the-muslim-question/1184879/), has discussed the Muslim part of the coming Lok Sabha elections. While he has admired my recent paper (Muslim Agenda 2014) and has also privately written to me endorsing all the demands that we have included in the Muslim Agenda 2014 draft posted to the top functionaries of all political parties, in his article he openly supports BJP and condemns all “secular” parties including Congress. While he may be right on the mark in stating that the “secular” parties have been befooling Muslims since Independence, the truth is also that BJP (or Jana Sangh) has failed to earn the confidence of the second largest majority despite the failures of “secular” parties. The failure in fact provided them, the famously known forces of Hindutva, an excellent opportunity to win the hearts of the people. Instead they chose to do the opposite. Instead of wooing them it chose to distance them with all their statements and actions and their selective approach towards issues concerning them. If Secular parties have used Muslims as “Vote Bank” which they allege at least one hundred times on daily basis on different platforms, what are they indulging in if not Vote Bank Politics by trying to consolidate the Hindus instilling in them fear and hatred for everything Muslim.

Everything about BJP is farce.  From ideology to practice, it is drowned into deception. Religion is an important part of human life; it must in fact be the most important. Secularism in Indian context is not the negation of religion but synthesis of religious values enshrined in different religions. Every community in India has the right to practice and profess its religion. I do not agree with those who want separation of religion and politics. Negation of religion as such means total negation of the goodness of religion and the moral values that are associated with it. What is bad is not the religionaisation of politics but politicization of religion, which often breeds communalism and the negation of minority rights. If BJP had been preaching religious values enshrined in Hindu Dharma, there was nothing bad about it. If it had been fighting for the rights of Hindus, even then it would not have created much of havoc. The problem with BJP is that its definition of Hindutva, in practice as well as in theory, is based on its aversion of Muslims and everything that is or can be made to look linked to them. They are not interested in introducing Hindu vision to the constitution but in demolishing Muslim personal laws. They are not too much fond of building temples; they are more concerned about demolishing mosques. They love singing Vande Mataram not because of its inherent beauty but because it irks Muslims who find hard to eulogise the land instead of the Creator of the land. Even if they do not read their scriptures with any regularity, they would want to impose it on Muslim students. They are not concerned about saving Hindu lives from fellow Hindus; they derive some sort of pleasure if Muslims are killed. They are not campaigning for bringing comforts to their fellow religionists; they are more interested in teasing and harassing Muslim populace.  Even their hatred towards Pakistan is based not on nationalism but on hatred because Pakistan is a Muslim country. They count only the Hindu dead or displaced. The Muslim counts hardly bother them. When talking of Gujarat riots, they will shout about the deaths in Godhra, the blame for which they have put on the heads of Muslims without any proof, and would not want to count the dead in the riots that followed. In Kashmir, they will keep counting the number of the Brahamins killed, which does not cross even a few hundred mark, and would keep mum on the killings of more than 40000 Kashmiris.

Desai’s argument that Muslims need not fear BJP is partially right. Yes, they need not fear to confront any forces that are bent on destroying the secular and plural nature of India’s constitution and social and cultural identity. They must face their challenge with a plan and thought out strategy. Instead of succumbing to their designs and just focusing on emotional issues, they must empower themselves – ideologically, socially and economically. I have purposely chosen “Ideological” empowerment first because it is through intellectual pursuits that they can destroy the myths that BJP and its allies propagate day and night. However, Muslims should not fall in the trap that they should accept BJP because it won’t do anything worse than the “secular” parties. If BJP wants to win the votes of Muslims, they must build confidence in them by openly giving those parts of their ideology and action plans that irk Muslims. Instead of trying to win their support by instilling fear in them, as they have done in Gujarat, they must seek their support through offers that are genuine and realistic. Muslims on the other hand must remember that they have to pressurize the “Secular” parties to give them their due share rather than trying to earn their votes by instilling fear of BJP. This is a country of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and many other religious and nonreligious people. They all have to be accommodated in a way that each of them plays a meaningful role n the country’s affairs befitting their status.

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Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”. Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com or 91-8130340339