By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net,
Syed Shahabuddin has spent a lifetime trying to find reasons for political marginalization of Muslims. He has shown with data that Muslim MPs and MLAs elected to Lok Sabha and state assemblies are much below their share in the larger voter population. Gerrymandering of constituencies, Muslim-majority constituencies reserved for scheduled castes, multiple Muslim candidates contesting for the same seat are said to be some of the reasons that Muslim representation in Indian legislative bodies have remained low over the years. Demand for political representation for Muslims is legitimate but can the presence of Muslim politicians plug the gap for the Muslim masses that are lagging behind in socio-economic scales?
First of all, it is wrong to assume that a Muslim MP or MLA will work only for Muslims. There are two reasons for that: first, this is the idealistic reason, he/she is elected to represent population of a particular geographic area without discrimination on the basis of caste/religion; second, and this is the practical reason, he/she is given the ticket by a political party to contest and the candidate may or may not have any political base in the area. So they know that their reason for winning this particular seat is the party ticket and not because of any political base in the area. This politician will do everything possible to keep the party bosses happy to increase the chances of getting a ticket in the next election.
AIMPLB annual program in Lucknow on 21 March 2010
Also, if we claim that only Muslim elected representative can get work done for Muslims then we are saying two things – one, that Muslim representatives are not capable of representing issues and problems of their non-Muslim constituents; second, that non-Muslim elected representatives are not capable of working for the welfare of the Muslim masses. This is a dangerous idea and not much different than the two-nation theory. We know that much of the problems of Muslims of India are socio-economic in nature. Yes, we suspect that some of it may be discrimination because they are Muslims or apathy by the government bureaucracy, again, because those in most need are Muslims. We cannot ignore the fact that there is a religious discrimination against Muslims but the fight against this systemic discrimination is not a Muslim-only struggle.
Muslims need to have partners in other communities and groups. Ideally, this struggle should have been led by mainstream political parties but most of them have preferred to pay just the lip service. Now a new awakening has taken place and in the last 5 years we have a number of “Muslim” political parties come on the scene. There is nothing wrong with having Muslim-controlled political parties. In fact, they can work hard to make Muslims politically aware and organized. Their grass-root level effort will throw Muslim political leaders who are rooted to the ground and be more connected with people.
These parties have started because there are legitimate Muslim grievances but to become effective they have to articulate their issues in a secular language that can resonate with Indians of all caste and religion. We will gain nothing by looking at India only through a Muslim angle. A “Muslim agenda” for India is a call for better governance, improved law & order, more transparency, and equal opportunities. A better India will be better for all Indians including Muslims. Let’s work towards that goal.
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Closer Look is a monthly column by TwoCircles.net editor Kashif-ul-Huda. For publication permissions please contact [email protected]