Where Muslims rethink politics: A story of introspection
LOOKING WITHIN Alienation constitutes one element of the story of Muslims in contemporary India as they think about political choices in the past and options they have at present
PATNA/ARARIA/BAREILLY/DEOBAND: After a 20-minute lecture on the political marginalisation of Muslims in India, a prominent Muslim scholar at the Darululoom-Deoband changes tack.
“We may be down. But we know one thing. Our future is in jamoooriyat, democracy. No one can change the Indian constitution. And till then we are safe.”
Even as alienation constitutes one element of the story of Muslims in contemporary India, political introspection constitutes another. They are thinking hard about political choices they have made in the past, and the political choices they ought to make in the future. All options are on the table.
ENGAGE WITH BJP
Four years ago, Manzar Islam was teaching social science at the Azad Academy in Bihar’s Araria. During a conversation about BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi in 2013, he had said, the irritation palpable in his voice, “Why are you asking a Muslim this? You think we can like him?” He added, confidently, that Modi would not win — for Hindus themselves opposed him, citing the late UR Ananthmurthy and Amartya Sen.
Islam is now retired. His tone has palpably changed.
“What do we do now? Even backwards and Dalits are going towards Modi. He will win in 2019.” Islam also, in a matterof-fact tone, speaks of the polarisation on the ground. “Even at the ward level, if there are Muslim candidates, the other side would rally together behind a Hindu candidate. This mindset has percolated. We will have to accept that the majority will decide.”
Islam -— a Nitish supporter — says the situation leaves the community with no choice but to now engage with Modi and BJP. “The community and BJP should talk to each other. See, Modi himself is fine. He has not discriminated. It is not even his followers who cause problems. It is people acting in his name. If he can punish them, we can find a common point.”
This is a voice one increasingly hears from elders in the community.
In Bareilly, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi, in his 40s, is the general secretary of the All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam.
He says Muslims have to accept that the PM, and now the Uttar Pradesh CM, are from the BJP. “There are problems. But I am in favour of talking to them; of telling them that we also want to be partners in sabka saath, sabka vikaas . We should remind the PM of his statement that he wants to see Muslims with Quran in one hand, and laptops in another and ask him to implement it.” He adds that Yogi Adityanath too, after taking over as CM, has become more sensitive.
It was catering to these impulses of critical engagement, within Muslim society itself, that a delegation of the Jamiat-Ulama-I-Hind met the PM.
A recent survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) substantiates this counter-intuitive anecdotal evidence. It says 18% or almost one in every five Muslims said they would like to see Modi return as the PM in the event of an election now. Back in 2014, this figure had been 9% or one in every 10. The survey also found Muslims supporting the BJP in much greater numbers than they did in 2014. Support (vote preference) for the BJP among Muslims has gone up from 8% to 15%.
‘IT IS A CYCLE’
This approach, however, has many critics, particularly among the younger Muslims. This school believes that the community must wait for the ‘secular parties’ to get its act together and this is only a passing phase.
A group of young Muslims in Deoband laugh off those who want to give BJP a chance. “In that party, the route to success is abusing Muslims. Look at Yogi what was his politics except his hatred for us? And yet there are Muslims who cannot see this,” says Shah Alam, sitting in a cloth shop.
A maulana at the Darul-Uloom-Deoband pointed to the futility of this approach. “We need to remember BJP does not want Muslims because that is how they unite everyone else.”
Instead, he argues that Muslims should remember that despite the aura of electoral invincibility, the BJP had only been winning 30-40% of the vote. “This means that a majority is against them. Secular parties need to strategise better, get united, and consolidate this vote. I refuse to believe all Hindus are communal and hate us. Then BJP would have won a majority of votes, and elections for 60 years. Even now it is a battle between secular and communal Hindus.”
The fact that the BJP could wait so long to emerge on the national stage in fact had a lesson for Muslims, he added — of patience. “We can wait for a few elections if they can wait 60 years.”
At the other end of the North Indian plains, in Kishanganj, a college lecturer — who did not want to be named — agreed and said there was no point talking to the BJP.
“Rahul Gandhi is a failure and so we have all failed and lost. What these secular parties should do is forget about us Muslims. Get the majority vote. If Modi goes to one temple, they should go to 10 temples. Go and win back the Hindu vote. We are waiting.”
THE ALTERNATIVE PATH
But not everyone wants to wait.
Mohammed Tanweer Alam, a student from Gorakhpur, believes that the marginalisation of Muslims is due to the failure of secular parties. “Our problem is a problem of leadership. And this can be resolved through our own party, someone like Owaisi.” His focus is on elevating the economic standards of Muslims, argues Alam. Not everyone is convinced.
In a college hostel in Patna, Tariq Anwar — who belongs to the CPI (ML) student outfit, AISA — warns Muslims against this path. “In difficult times, people take wrong decisions. And Muslims will end up in a trap with Owaisi. It will then become a minority versus majority election. We won’t have the numbers and the majority will consolidate.”
Indian Muslims remain wedded to Indian democracy. Within this, from engaging with BJP to sticking to ‘secular parties’ to setting up their own party, they populate various political positions. But what is clear is they find themselves at a crossroads — seeking to restore their political relevance.