Indian Muslims, It’s Time to Ponder

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Indian Muslims, It’s Time to Ponder

The current turmoil in the country centering around them makes it clear that Muslims are most vulnerable community in today’s India

Saturday February 8, 2020 8:30 AM, Syed Ali Mujtaba

Indian Muslims

Indian Muslims are at cross roads. Indian Muslims need to make strategies how it can share power to protect its interests. So what needs to be done to achieve any such goal?

Their best bet is the formation of a political party at the national level. Under such a political outfit Muslims can converge and do some serious electoral arithmetic exercise and produce a block of at least 15 MPs.

Once, such a Muslim block of MPs is created it can always be in a bargaining position to protect their interests and can work for their progress. Such political outfit can always be in power by aligning with whichever party rules the country.

An example of Lok Janshakti Party is before us. This political outfit has always shared political power with government in power and has held cabinet portfolios even though it represents a insignificant number of electorates. If LJP can do it, what is stopping Muslims to form a strategy of their own? Others are Sikhs under Akalis in Punjab and under various political oufits the Christians in North-East.

Since 1947 Muslims have flocked under the banner of so called secular parties. They have forfeited their pan-Indian political identity and have split into regional identities. They have lived under the hope that the secular parties like Congress and regional parties will protect them from the anti-Muslim forces. They also hoped community protection may create a climate of trust and their economic wellbeing can flourish.

However, the current situation in the country has given enough indications that Muslims in India are unsafe. So far Muslims have seen their fate aligning with the secular parties and now they are seeing their future at stake in the current wave of Hindutva in this country.

In today’s situation, Muslims are a defenseless community in their own country. In such a situation it is being hotly debated what Muslims should be doing to protect their interests.

Some feel the time has come when Muslims should make choices. The choice is to either rely on some or other secular parties or to live in a political climate where there is day in and day out anti-Muslim rhetoric. Either to live in a climate of insecurity or to become the captain of their own ship and master of their destiny and to steer the ship in choppy waters of the country.

Muslims have always been a law abiding and peace loving citizens. They have adopted defensive postures because they feared any communal regimentation from their side can incur backlash from the majority community.

However, the current turmoil in the country centering around them makes it clear that Muslims are most vulnerable community in today’s India. The government, the court and secular parties have failed to protect them. In such a situation the dilemma is what to do?

It is clear that the kind of politics would decide the future of the Muslims in the country. If that being the case, Muslims have to decide whether they want power sharing in the political system or they may like to suffer catching the tails of the political parties.

Its time Muslims may unite under one banner and milk the electoral cow of the country. If somehow they can produce a substantial block of MPs under one leader, only then their future can be redeemed.

In the current situation All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi is the only Muslim leader who is heard speaking for the Muslim interests. Now imagine if he has a backing of more than 15 MPs, what could be the impact on the politics of the country. Indian Muslims it’s time to ponder…..

[Syed Ali Mujtaba is a jpurnalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com.]

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