By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: “It’s a disaster,” says head of a prominent Muslim community think tank, referring to the launch of Jamaat-e-Islami backed political party, Welfare Party of India. It will prove to be the biggest hurdle in the way of forging unity among the community.
Commenting on the news about the launch of WPI, he said, “Yeh kayee khabron men se ek khabar hai, politics ke bazaar ki ek aur dukan hai aur ittehad me sabse badi rukawat hai” (It is just one of many news items of the day. It’s a new shop in the market of politics but it is the biggest hurdle for the unity among community), says he preferring to remain unnamed with the noble intention of maintaining unity and peace within the community.
SQR Ilyas speaking at the launch of Welfare Party of India
Navaid Hamid, member of National Integration Council and formerly associated with the Jamaat-e-Islami backed Muslim Majlise Mushawarat, is more uncharitable in his comment on the very idea of a Muslim political party.
Idea of Muslim political party is dangerous
Hamid has problems with the Welfare Party on many counts. The party is “dangerous” and “bad news” for not only “secular politics” but also for the idea of political empowerment of Muslims. He doesn’t see much future or political success for the Welfare Party of India precisely because no national Muslim political party will ever gain political power as Muslim population is scattered across the country and is not concentrated to one region alone. He doesn’t see much reason why Muslims should vote for the party. In support of his views, he offers the example of Muslim League in Kerala. It is “not a regional party; instead it is a district party because it has failed to spread its wing out of Malappuram district, let alone the state,” says Hamid. In the same way, Asaduddin Owaisi-led Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen is a “city based party mainly concentrated in Hyderabad city,” Hamid goes on.
WPI cadres politically immature
Coming down harshly on the quality of cadres of the WPI, he says: They are “only community activists who are politically quite immature.” For instance, he said, the act of inviting JK Jain, an office bearer of BJP to WPI launching ceremony and offering him a platform to speak, was a political disaster. “Howsoever close a relationship a political leader might share with his political opponents, they don’t envite each other into the hard core political meetings of their respective parties.”
In order to back his point he further gave the example of last assembly election in Jamia Nagar area that falls under Okhla constituency. SQR Ilyas, at present general secretary of WPI, persuaded people to vote against the then Congress candidate Pervez Hashmi. But people voted for him and he won the seat. Again when Hashmi resigned after being elevated to Rajya Sabha and a bypoll took place, Dr. Ilyas persuaded all Muslim organizations to back Congress candidate. But to their chagrin, people turned down their appeal and Congress lost. Asif Muhammad Khan of RJD won the seat.
Hamid also argued that, “considering the kind of atmosphere that we have in this country, a Muslim driven political party will never be accepted into the political mainstream of this nation”
However, Dr. Tasleem Rahmani, head of the Muslim Political Council of India, supports the idea of Welfare Party describing it as “a much needed concept” to be experimented by the community. “Ideologically and conceptually Welfare Party of India is very rich,” avers Dr Rahmani. But he didn’t hesitate to criticize the leadership of the WPI and like Navaid Hamid, targeted the WPI cadres.
Doubting their political maturity behind choosing the cadres, Dr Rahmani said: “The way they have launched the party and have chosen the cadres, the party might not yield the desired result to reach to the level of governance through the electoral politics.” According to him, the party has chosen cadres who are “quite inexperienced” in electoral politics.
Sounding sharper in his criticism of WPI leadership, Dr Rahmani, a physician turned political activist who is familiar with Muslim politics, says: “The present leadership of the WPI is quite afraid of giving space to community leaders (who are not associated with the Jamaat) because it fears that they might take the control away from the Jamaat in future.” It in turn might make the entire political exercise a futile attempt, he added. (It should be noted here that Dr Rahmani, on Ulama Council ticket, had contested Lok Sabha seat of Jaunpur near Azamgarh and lost. He has since parted ways with the Council.)
In defence of WPI
Defending the decision about formation of Welfare Party, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, vice-president of WPI, rejected the allegation that his party will divide the community. “Can somebody explain it to me as to how WPI can divide the community when we have already made it clear that we will never fight against the like-minded political parties who are fighting for the community interests? We will always strengthen the force by supporting the like-minded parties,” says Dr Khan.
Editor of esteemed English fortnightly The Milli Gazette, Dr. Khan, requests people not to write off the party so quickly as it has just been established. He seeks some time to prove the credentials. “I will request people not to judge or have expectations from the party so quickly. For a political party 4-5 years is nothing and we have just started our journey,” Dr Khan adds.
Hitting out at people who call the cadres as inexperienced, Dr. Khan said that the party didn’t come into being overnight; instead more than two years went into the planning and selection of people into the party. He claimed that WPI is based on “much deeper and solid foundations” than it is being estimated by the detractors.