By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: A group which was till now religious, is turning political before UP elections. The All India Ulema Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), a body of Barelwi-Sunni Muslims, has taken its opposition of Deobandi ideology to politics and has decided to oppose, all the candidates with Deobandi background in the UP elections.
In fact, if you go by what Babar Ashraf, its national secretary has to say, it seems that the Barelwi group has invoked an all out electoral war against parties which have fielded candidates who owe their allegiance to Deoband school of thought. If this happens, which is yet to be seen, then it will be the first time in the electoral history of the country that Muslim votes will be divided on sectarian/ideological lines of Deobandi ideology as opposed to Barelwi sect.
Syed Muhammad Ashraf Kichochwi addressing the press conference with Syed Babar Ashraf (extreme left) on 13th Jan. 2012 in New Delhi
“We are not only going to oppose all the Deobandi candidates but will also make sure that they get defeated and politically uprooted from the concerned constituency,” Ashraf told TwoCircles.net on the sidelines of the press conference at the press club in New Delhi on Friday.
The some what angry posture comes after the AIUMB had offered its support in the coming UP elections, to the party which includes its demands in their own manifesto. But no political party came to woo the Barelwi group which claims to have the following of at least 70% of Muslims in the state. It was contrary to the continuous wooing of Muslim Ulema at Deoband by almost all the political parties barring the BJP.
Babar Ashraf has the electoral calculations of UP, ready to explain how and why AIUMB’s opposition to Deobandi candidates, is going to have an impact on the over all election results of the state.
In UP where Muslims constitute 18% of the total population, there are more than 121 seats with 30% of Muslim votes. In 2007 assembly elections, there were around 51 seats where Muslim candidates were on 1st and 2nd position and more than 31 seats which saw Muslim candidates getting 3rd position.
Normally the AIUMB will support only the candidates with Sufi/Barelwi background in opposition of Deobandi candidates. For instance in Asmauli assembly constituency, the AIUMB will support and canvass votes for Asrar, who it calls as ‘Sufi” candidate as opposed to Aquelurahman Barque, who is Deobandi and is fighting on Congress ticket.
Babar Ashraf claims that Asmauli has around 1.11 Lakh Muslim votes out of which at least 1 Lakh is votes of Barelwi/Sunni Muslims; “We are working on the ground, day and night, among the Sunni Muslim vote base to make sure that they caste their vote against Wahabi candidates,” Ashraf added.
In constituencies where no Sunni candidates have been given tickets, the AIUMB will either get an independent Sufi Muslim candidate or will support any secular Hindu. For instance, according to Ashraf, in Sambhal which has around 1.48 Muslim votes, all the existing three Muslim candidates including Iqbal Mohammad (SP) and Azan Quraishi (RLD), are Deobandi. So in that case the AIUMB will get any independent Sufi candidate to fight elections there.
The AIUMB will be campaigning against Congress in Rai Bareli belt, which has areas like Rai Bareli, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Amethi and Jagdeeshpur. The reason is that the national party didn’t accept the set of demands proposed by the AIUMB and given tickets to Deobandi Muslims in the belt which is reportedly dominated by the Muslims following Barelwi sect.
Ashraf also challenged the Congress party to win in the Rai Bareli belt with the help of Deobandi ideology, ” If Rahul Gandhi and his party have wooed Deoband so much, let them win elections in the Rai Bareli belt and show us how much strength Deoband has in the area,” Ashraf added.
The idea is not to necessarily win but get the political party recognize the importance of block Barelwi/Sunni votes. The AIUMB plans to mobilize Barelwi/Suni votes in a block and get them vote against the political parties which fielded Deobandi candidates, rejecting the AIUMB demands.
Maulana Syed Mohammad Ashraf Kicchowchwi addressing the AIUMB conference on 16th Oct 2011 in Moradabad
But a question which one would like to ask, is whether there is any block Barelwi votes and if there is a political consciousness among Barelwis like this? Babar Ashraf said that, “that’s precisely what AIUMB has been doing- create a political consciousness among Barelwis about the importance of their votes.”
Ashraf said that only in Meerut, Saharanpur and Muzaffar Nagar, the Barelwi votes are not position to make any impact. Otherwise in rest of the Muslim pockets across the Hindi heartland, Barelwi votes dominate.
For quite obvious reasons, all the political players in the UP elections will not take the AIUMB’s threats seriously because it is yet to prove that it will successfully mobilize the Barelwi votes into a block and will get them caste their votes against a particular party or candidate.
Importantly if the Barelwi group emerges, even partially successful in its aim to influence Muslim votes, it will be yet another important phenomenon in the recent electoral history of the country which hasn’t yet seen the division of Muslim votes on sectarian lines.
To a question as to why the AIUMB was opposing Deobandi candidates, Ashraf replied that “in the long term, Deoband/Wahabi candidates are much more dangerous because the Islamic extremist ideology of Wahabism takes its strength and inspiration from the political power of these Deobandi politicians.”
The AIUMB increased its political activities after organizing a conference against “Wahabi terror” , in October 2011, which had its resonance across the country.