By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
Political parties in Uttar Pradesh strongly criticized Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav after he publicly apologized before Muslims for roping in former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh at the time of election. For his opponents it may be a correct action as this is what politics is all about.
But what sounds somewhat surprising is the way some Muslim leaders––both religious and non-religious––reacted. Without understanding the nitty-gritty of the politics they gunned for Mulayam in such a way as if he is the greatest political enemy of the community.
Mulayam’s mafinama
True Mulayam’s move to woo Kalyan might have been wrong, but it needs to be mentioned that in politics such steps are taken to weaken the rival––in this case the BJP. Besides, it was done when Kalyan was not a force to reckon with. Very often one comes to know about the opponents’ strategy and policy from these turn-coats.
Joining hands with Kalyan at the height of the Babri Masjid movement in early 1990s and wooing him 15 years later when he became politically cipher are two different things and should be seen in proper perspective. Many Muslim leaders have failed to make differentiation.
It must be made clear in the mind that be it Mulayam Singh Yadav or Lalu Yadav, they both are essentially politicians, who have their own way of running their respective parties and surviving politically. They may have their own weaknesses. But it is also true they both took principled stand during the entire period of the Babri Masjid crisis; thus they earned the goodwill of the Muslims. This does not mean that they will always do politics as per the desire of the community.
In democracy the community or any individual is free to vote anyone. But one may dare to ask the same set of Muslim leaders why they maintained silent and are still tight-lipped when other secularists unapologetically joined forces with the BJP. Be it George Fernandes or Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee or Chandrababu Naidu, Naveen Patnaik or Farooq Abdullah, Jayalalithaa or Mayawati all allied with the BJP and provided it secular legitimacy. Hardly anyone of them dared to condemn what happened in Gujarat in 2002. In fact George Fernandes dismissed the massacre and mass rapes of women in Gujarat by asking: had such things happened for the first time in the country?
Today there is no dearth of Muslims, even with flowing beards and caps, who openly associate themselves with these so-called secular parties of the NDA. Many more feel nothing wrong in getting photographed with Narendra Modi and Lal Krishna Advani. Yet if Mulayam or Lalu even seeks apology for any misdeeds such community leaders are quick to reject it. They can forgive the BJP, the Congress, the Left parties, the so-called secular constituents of the NDA, but not those who stood stoutly behind them at the time of gravest crisis in the post-independent history.
Mulayam surrounded by muslims after his mafinama
No it is not the issue of siding with these two satraps of the two north Indian states. But the argument is that politics should be understood in proper perspective. The irony is that those religious leaders, who know the history of Islam, relish in giving outlandish statements in the media––especially in context with the demolition of Babri Masjid.
What they need to understand is that Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) forgave none else but Abu Sufiyan and his wife Hinda when they virtually surrendered after two decades of strongest resistance to him. These leaders do not need to be told that it was Hinda who mutilated and disfigured the body of Prophet’s uncle, Hamza after he was martyred in the Battle of Uhud. Yet when the husband-wife duo lost all the political and military power and agreed to enter the fold of Islam the Prophet did not stop him from doing so, nor did he take revenge.
The above two issues should not be mixed up and misinterpreted––some people may try to do. The bottom line is that Prophet has taught us to forgive the staunchest enemy if s/he comes over to your side. Besides, it was strategically correct too. What we need is to understand politics in true Islamic perspective and do not indulge in cheap rhetoric.