By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: Scholars and civil society of Assam have slammed the act of giving ‘roohani’ water by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief, Badruddin Ajmal, to the people of Muslim community during election rallies, terming it as anti-religious. Casting a special chant into water carried to election rallies with the aim of using extremely poor and illiterate supporters as votes for the upcoming Lok Sabha election is against Allah, claimed Islamic scholars from the state. The supporters of AIUDF, however, see this water and the blind faith on Ajmal as a binding thread.
Ajmal, who had to stop his vehicle number of times, obliged to the need of his voters and whispered his special chant into the water, which then turned into ‘special’ water, ‘curing’ ailments of the poor, needy and illiterate people. For these people of Dhubri and adjoining area, Maulana Ajmal is ‘impeccable’, alleged the party members.
Badruddin Ajmal
“It’s an election gimmick and unethical. This should not be done in election rallies. It is not at all acceptable to blend religion with politics to fool the poor people to win their votes. Whoever has done it is a very bad example of Islam,” said senior advocate and state president of Samajwadi Party, Haifz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, apparently bringing into fold the secular ethos of the nation.
Born on February 12 in 1950, Ajmal, besides being an MP is an industrialist, activist, educationist, and philanthropist. Ajmal formed the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), now the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and consolidated its position in Indian politics, especially in Assam. He is also the president of the Assam State Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind and a member of the advisory board of Darul Uloom Deoband. He is also a Fazil-e-Deoband (Equivalent to Masters Degree in Islamic Theology and Arabic) from Darul Uloom Deoband.
During general election in 2009, although his party managed to win only one seat which was through Ajmal winning from Dhubri Lok Sabha seat with a large margin defeating his nearest Congress rival and sitting member Anowar Hussain, but AIUDF’s vote share has improved and secured the highest number of votes in 25 Assembly segments in Assam.
In 2011 election for Assam Legislative Assembly, AIUDF won 18 seats, and emerged as the largest opposition party in Assam. For his supporters, Ajmal today is an authority and a Maulana who can never be wrong. “He has done the right thing for us. We wish that he wins. He is a scholar and hardly does any wrong,” said a supporter who received the ‘Roohani’ water. While other political parties have criticized the act, “This is too much selfish character. When a man can do like this for the sake of his personal gain, he can go to any extent. Every now and then he has been using the name of religion and Allah for his political gain. When he has failed to cater to the needs of the minorities, he has started to take all these means to woo voters,” said Mominul Awal, president of BJP’s State Minority Cell. Awal also slammed the AIUDF chief Ajmal for his statement that Allah will not forgive him and the people of the state, if BJP manages to win a single seat. “How can he use such statements? This is a cheap and negative act to fool and mislead people,” Awal added.