By Dr.Mookhi Amir Ali,
Since the days of Nehru Muslims are prone to vote en bloc. In the process they have converted themselves into a vote bank. Muslim leaders for their own vested interests have been manipulating the community into voting as they, the leaders, desired. A community of such a large size has exposed itself to exploitation. It is encouraged to give prime preference to the issues related only to them.
Even on the eve of this election a leading Muslim organization has recently issued a statement asking Muslims to vote on a single Muslim specific issue to the exclusion of all issues of national importance. Its war-cry is “shun candidates of parties which reject reservation for Muslims on the lines of Mishra Commission”. The advice of this premiere Muslim organization that Muslims be blind to any other issues is, by no means, a good advice. It asks Muslims to think and act as Muslims thereby separating Muslims out of the mainstream. Such thinking is the recipe for the alienation of the community. The idea of a religious community being asked and being expected to vote as one group is neither an idea of democracy nor that of secularism.
Perpetual gravitation of Muslims towards Congress, particularly because of the party appealing to them as Muslims, has been the cause of a subtle social polarization between Hindus and Muslims. This is to the detriment of Muslims as we have seen in Gujarat and perhaps we will see elsewhere. In Assam there is a Muslim dominated town/area called Doboka where Assam United Democratic Front and Congress are busy harvesting Muslim votes in the name of religion a phenomenon greatly and rightly resented by none other than Muslim clerics of the region.
The self seeking politicians have made Muslim vote such a monolith there as elsewhere that BJP does not even campaign vigorously in Doboka. The only way for the BJP to win the elections –and they win must- is to win without Muslim votes. This can be achieved only by polarizing the society on religious basis.
In Gujarat the BJP has written off Muslim votes. In stead the party under Narendra Modi has concentrated and succeeded in stopping the drain of Hindu votes to Congress. Congress too has realized that their so close a proximity to a religious group has cost them dear. It is losing out heavily on their Hindu vote-share. Now these two parties are fighting over the 90% non-Muslim votes. To both of them 10% Muslim votes have become unnecessary and irrelevant. The virus can spread all over India as it is happening in Doboka, Assam. Whom do Muslims blame for this?
A situation has arisen today where a Gujarati Muslim does not know what to do with his vote. There seem to be no takers for it. There is a lesson for Muslim leaders in this tragic situation. Why ask Muslims at all on whom to vote? Withdraw their call to Muslims to vote single-mindedly for Congress. Emancipate the Muslim vote. Set it free. Ask Muslims to vote as they like. Encourage them to think as Indians. Let them not think only of the issues pertaining to the community. Do not treat Muslims like a flock of unthinking sheep. Let them vote freely. A Muslim’s vote will not remain unwanted if he votes intelligently, judiciously and most importantly diversely.
Incidentally, according to a poll conducted [not in Gujarat] by a Muslim website 23% of the Muslims in a sample wanted to vote for the NDA against 39% for UPA,