‘Muslims should open their minds to PM Modi’
‘Narendra Modi wants to work for all in his development agenda. He wants India to develop’.
Following the abysmal performance of Left political parties in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, political experts feel that such parties may well be staring at extinction.
In Uttar Pradesh, Left parties had fielded 140 candidates, but were able to secure only 0.2% of the votes, which translates to only about 1.3 lakh votes across the state. The scale of the poor performance by the Left parties can be gauged from the fact that even the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option secured 1.1% of the vote share in Uttar Pradesh.
Professor Manindra Nath Thakur, an expert on electoral politics, said: “Uttar Pradesh has never been a communist stronghold, but the communist parties like CPI and CPM used to win approximately 10-15 seats in the 1970s and even in the early 1980s, they used to get a vote share of 4-10%. But with time, the parties’ performance has been disastrous.”
According to Thakur, the Left parties face the dilemma of having to “push their ideology” and, at the same time, deal with the rising aspirations of the masses across the country. In the process, the Left parties have failed to secure seats, resulting in their vote shares falling drastically, he said.
“Left parties seem to be reluctant to address the emerging questions of development, identity, caste and religion. They have also not focused on catering to the rising aspirations of the masses. Also, coalition politics has not resulted in any long-term gains for such parties. The general masses have rejected the narrative set by the Left parties,” Thakur said. In Manipur, out of 60 Assembly seats, the Left parties used to win 6-10 seats during the 1990s, but failed to open their account in the recently concluded polls in the state. In 2012, such parties had won five seats and had managed to secure four seats in 2007.
Kavita Krishnan, CPI-ML (Liberation) politburo member, however, said that the Left parties are still “alive” and claimed that the CPI-ML (Liberation) had done well in the Bihar elections in 2015 getting three seats.
“With three seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, the CPI-ML (Liberation) had emerged as the biggest Left party with just 1.5% votes in Bihar,” Krishnan told The Sunday Guardian.
In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress brought down the curtains on the 34-year uninterrupted rule of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led Left Front in 2011. In 2016, the Assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala yielded opposite results for the Left.
While in Kerala, the Left parties won a majority, grabbing 90 seats in the 140-member Assembly, in West Bengal, they were pushed to the margins, winning only 33 seats in the 294-member Assembly. As of now, Tripura and Kerala are the only states with Left governments. For long, the demographic character of Deoband has been assumed to be dominated by the Muslim community because of the presence of the Darul Uloom madrasa in this small town. The madrasa is counted among the world’s leading schools of Islamic education.
However, contrary to popular notion that Deoband is a Muslim-dominated constituency, Hindus make up the majority population in this district of Saharanpur.
According to the 2011 Census, the Deoband Nagar Palika has a population of over 97,000 people, out of which 71% are Muslims and 28% are Hindus, but under Deoband’s administrative division, there are 178 villages which are Hindu dominated. When the populations of these villages and Deoband are combined, the single largest community emerges to be that of Haseeb Siddiqui is the general manager of the Muslim Fund Trust, Deoband, which is a financial institution that works on a interest-free loan module adapted as per the Quranic Shariah model.
The locals, who across castes and communities avail the services of the Muslim Fund Trust, recognise Siddiqui as a social worker and spokesperson on Muslim issues. Popularly known as Abbaji, Siddiqui has actively participated in politics as a BSP member and now looks after the Trust full- time. In a conversation with The Sunday Guardian, Siddiqui talked about why Muslims need to review their “political prejudices”. Excerpts: Q. The BJP’s victory in Ut- tar Pradesh is being seen as a defeat of Muslims in the state. Your comments. A. The BJP won without nominating any Muslim candidate in Uttar Pradesh. However, around 5-10% Muslims voted for the BJP and I don’t think there is any problem with this. Muslims in India should now be able to see who or what is betraying them. Many promises that have been made to us, have never been fulfilled. We have been told that the BJP can never do any good for Muslims. This has become a mindset among Muslims. But the Muslims should see how much truth there is in these statements. We need to introspect. Q. Did the triple talaq issue play an important role in convincing Muslims to vote for the BJP in this year’s UP Assembly elections? A. An average Muslim is least concerned about the controversy over triple talaq. The elite Muslims are the ones who understand the issue and are able to contribute their thoughts and opinions. Issues that are rooted in religious prac- tices should be left alone for Muslims to understand, interpret and implement. Other issues like the education of Muslim children and skill development of the youth concern every Muslim family in the country. Any person who addresses these issues will be able to directly connect with the community and gain its trust. Q. Is the Narendra Modi wave in India anti-Muslim? A. If you look at recent statements that Narendra Modi has made, you will find a hint that suggests that Modi wants to work for all in his development agenda.
I think he knows that a tree with many fruits cannot stand erect for long, it has to bow. He wants India to develop. India cannot develop with the development of only one caste or community.
I think we should put some trust in his “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas” narrative. The state and the country have given the BJP absolute power to rule it. If the BJP wants to implement the mandate they have re-
‘No mainstream Muslim organisation has met Modi and spoken to him about the community’s issues and concerns. Somebody will have to take the initiative to start a dialogue if the country has to develop.’
ceived by making “development” its top priority, there is no other party that will be able to defeat Modi anytime soon. Q. The BJP won without the help of Muslims in UP. Why should Muslims give BJP any chance? A. Yes, Muslims should give the BJP a chance. The BJP eliminated any hope of getting Muslim votes from their election strategy and focused on the rest 70% of the population in the state. Yes, they did not try to woo us. But the majority chose them. If the people of the state chose them, we should open our minds too. No mainstream Muslim organisation has met Modi and spoken to him about the community’s issues and concerns. Somebody will have to take the initiative to start a dialogue if the country has to develop.