By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
I have never met Dr Najma Heptulla, not even for this interview. So I couldn’t read her body language and facial expressions and make my judgement on what she was telling me was sincere or not. All I have is the audio recordings of the interview done by phone and I can play it back several times and try to detect any hesitations in her voice.
Dr Heptulla,the Minority Affairs Minister of India, was in Chicago last month on a private visit and I had the opportunity to interview her.
My first impression is that Dr Heptulla is very talkative. It may be that she was bored in relative quietness of life of a visitor to America and she may be glad that there was someone who was willing to talk to her. We talked a few times before the interview and each time she needed no help to talk about her work, her family, and her ministry, in no particular order.
Dr Heptulla has recently turned 75, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upper limit for his ministers – same rule that has kept LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi outside the cabinet; rumor has it that she will be retired from the cabinet and sent as Governor of some state.
But till the announcement is made, she is the Minority Affairs Minister of cabinet rank and has worked for over a year in this ministry. The way she talks about her ministry’s work, it is clear that she is proud of the work that her ministry has done. She does not hesitate to list details of all the schemes that they are running and number of people benefiting from it. In fact, talk to her about employment discrimination or housing discrimination and she will talk about the employment- generation schemes and skills-development training and say that it is a fact that“Muslims are socially discriminated and solution to that is their economic and social progress” and not as Sachar Committee recommended,the “Equal Opportunity Commission.”
It is frustrating for an interviewer when he can’t get straight answers to his questions. Heptulla has been in politics for a long time and knows how not to answer difficult questions. Since 1986, she has been a member of the Rajya Sabha for six terms –from three different states representing two different parties. She was the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha for one year from January 1985 to January 1986 and for almost 16 years from November 1988 to June 2004. In fact, she ran the upper house so efficiently that (former Prime Minister) PV Narsimha Rao denied her request to contest Lok Sabha election, Heptulla informed me during the interview.
In terms of money allocated, the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) is the 18th largest ministry of the 28 ministries under the Government of India. So far, AR Antulay, Salman Khurshid and K Rahman Khan have headed this ministry before Dr Heptulla took over. The first two were Lok Sabha members but the latter two belonged to the Rajya Sabha. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who too is a Rajya Sabha member, was appointed as a junior minister under MoMA last November. So, of the two Muslim Members of Parliament that BJP has, both are in the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MJ Akbar has recently become a Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand, thus becoming the third Muslim MP of BJP, all of them in the Rajya Sabha).
My first question to Dr Heptulla was the need to have a Minority Affairs Ministry in a secular country. She said it is the reality that Muslims have been backward in socio-economic sphere. “When giving me this job of Minority Affairs, Narendra Modi told me that basic needs of life such as food, shelter and jobs, Muslims didn’t get it; so I should highlight that. We should bring Muslims into the mainstream of development,” she told me over the phone. “Narendra Modi talks about inclusive development that surely includes minorities, but there are focus areas that requires special attention for minorities.” Fair enough.
But when I asked what her ministry is doing for the employment and housing discrimination that Muslims of India are facing, Dr Heptulla went on about different educational scholarships, employment programs and skill-development training that her ministry is offering and how it is benefiting Muslims. I kept pushing her for the need for a fair-housing law or Equal Opportunity Commission, something that was recommended by the Sachar Committee and which has been accepted by the government but no progress has been made on it so far.
She was of the opinion that discrimination is a law and order issue and it comes under the Home Ministry. She said that India is a country with diversity and news of discrimination is nothing new. She said she has not faced any discrimination as a Muslim or as a woman.
I have been monitoring MoMA schemes and their performance and last time when I analyzed it, I pointed out that MoMA flagship Multi-sectoral Development Program (MsDP) had no community participation in its planning, implementation,or monitoring. In fact, this fact is true for all the programs run by MoMA.
When I pointed this out to the Dr Heptulla,she said she has renamed it as ‘Jan Vikas Program’ (but the Ministry website still shows MsDP and has no mention of ‘Jan Vikas’). She said that she has been in public life for a long time and travels allover the country and meets lots of different people so she has a pretty good idea of what is needed. “And what is needed most is education,” she argued.
Talk to her about communal politics of BJP and she is quick to respond that Muslims didn’t do any better under Congress-rule or even Communist-ruled West Bengal. “Muslims need roti not topi,” she said arguing that if Narendra Modi refuses to wear Muslim cap then that is not an issue as he wants Muslims included in his development programs.
The interview lasted for an hour and a half and I had the feeling that Dr Heptulla wants Muslims to keep their head down even when they are under pressure like Atali in Haryana, beef ban, or forcing of Yoga upon them. She wants Muslims to bear it and work on improving their economic conditions because she believes that social standing can come with economic progress. It was a bit depressing to hear the Minority Affairs Minister not able to use her good offices to offer an immediate solace at a difficult time for Muslims.
Before ending the interview, she said: “I am a positive person” adding that she hoped I will put the interview in a positive manner. It was difficult for me to not critically examine her claims or not put my views in this article. I have quoted her truthfully and I don’t doubt that she believes in the work done by her ministry but I doubt that this method is going to be a game changer for the fortunes of Muslims in India.
Excerpts from the interview:
The need for Minority Affairs Ministry:
It is the reality that Muslims have been backwards. It was just a propaganda by Congress and other opposition parties when Narendra Modi comes [to power] he will scrap this ministry and Muslims will be left without a development-focus (programs).
On Modi government’s seriousness about Muslims:
I believe in Narendra Modi’s policy of ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikaas.’ An evidence of that is that my ministry’s budget was not reduced. Corpus amount for National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) was increased by Rs 1500 crore to a total of Rs 3000 crore.
On Equal Opportunity Commission:
One more commission is not going to improve condition of Muslims.
I am talking about the reality of the country as I don’t have any other ambitions. Once Muslims are brought into the economic mainstream then social discrimination will be removed automatically.
Only in India that two Hindu boys refused to join the company that discriminated against their Muslim friend. Can it happen in the USA?
On political marginalization of Muslims:
Naturally, since Muslims have not joined the BJP. I have joined the party after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain and I have been recognized and made a minister. Muslims have to join and work for the party before they can expect rewards.
Advice for Muslims:
Get your children educated. Provide them modern education.
Some of the Schemes/Programs highlighted by the Minister:
Education:Scholarship schemes pre- and post-matric. Submission process has been brought online making it easier for students to submit applications.
Employment:Area-specific skill-training through Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills MANASUSTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) – to preserve the rich heritage of traditional arts/crafts of minorities. The scheme will also establish linkages of traditional arts/crafts with the national and international market. No information about it is available on MoMA website.
Mudra bank: Can take loans for business without collateral.
Waqf properties:Digitization of waqf properties. National Waqf Development Corporation NAWADCO Nai Manzil: A skill-training program for Madrassa students to help them find jobs