By Mukhtar Ahmad
Whenever any community , sect, group or section gives a call for unity , it always implies unite against a common enemy. In the present scenario the call given by Muslim leaders / well-wishers is to unite among themselves as well as with other secular people to defeat BJP in election of 2019. Similarly all opposition parties are working for alliances to face BJP united. The Political alliance may benefit the parties in opposition to secure power in 2019 and therefore their efforts are understandable. But simply winning the elections with different alliance partners may not help them to work to stem the rot that we are in. As the country is passing through worst form of communal polarization, a strong government is needed with full commitment to restore mutual bond of love and friendship among various communities. Unfortunately the present scenario in the country is totally biased towards winning elections in shortest possible time without working with different sections of society with long term planning to restore communal harmony. Another major issue that has been neglected by the present government is proper economic policy. It has totally surrendered to the policies of RSS in all the fronts including economic.
For Muslims simply defeating BJP in this election may not result in ending their miseries or reducing the communal tensions. Surely the patronising of the government to the lumpen elements will not be available to them but the amount of hatred that has been filled in the mind of both communities will not go overnight. It is therefore, essential for Muslims to plan a strategy to reduce the communal tension in the society. Since Muslims are the major sufferers they must take the lead in reaching out to their Hindu neighbours . Unfortunately Muslims have also more or less behaved in much the similar manner as upper caste Hindus in dealing with lower caste Hindus. Specially in UP and Bihar.
Since we do not expect from any political Muslim leader to really work at grass root level, we in Aligarh mostly retired teachers of AMU have decided to take a lead in this direction. We have decided to take the help of BAMSEF in reaching out to Scheduled caste and other most backward communities among Hindus. Our aim is to sensitize the Muslim community towards the suffering of these extremely backward communities and their own plight and work together to galvanize towards a common goal. It is long term solution which may not be visible in few years from now. But surely with concerted efforts this will b a major force in Indian political scene.
Mukhtar Ahmad is former professor of Electrical Engineering AMU Aligarh.