Why Muslim Political Agency is Not Communalism
By Arshad Alam, New Age
Islam
26 March 2021
With elections round
the corner in West Bengal and Assam, the talk of Muslim ‘communalism’ has
gained ground. Both these states have sizable Muslim population and it would be
expected that Muslims would leverage their numbers to bargain and benefit from state
policies. Instead, both these states have very low indices of Muslim
educational and economic development. The vast majority of Muslims in both
these states remain tied to the land with little or no educational capital.
Partly, the problem has been the lack of political representation of the
community. Different political parties have treated Muslim constituencies as
their ‘pocket boroughs’ and have taken their votes for granted. The Congress
and the Left, both benefitted from Muslim insecurity: the community thought
that in return for their votes, at least they will be allowed to live in peace
and security. Despite being in substantial numbers, Muslims never lobbied for
any affirmative action plan to be specifically targeted at them. ‘Muslim’
representatives within different parties thought more in terms of their party
interest rather than the interest of the community.
It is interesting
therefore that both these states are experimenting with Muslim political
formations. The AIUDF in Assam has an older presence than the newly formed
Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal, but both have arisen out of a deep
realization that without Muslims representing themselves, their social,
educational and economic development will remain just a dream. The idea is that
Muslims can leverage their numbers and bargain from political parties for
programs especially targeted at the community. There is now a greater
realization that so called secular parties have duped the Muslims; that in the
name of protecting their lives, these parties have hardly done anything for
Muslim empowerment.
This new
assertiveness within Indian Muslims has caught many on the wrong foot. As
expected, the BJP has charged these political formations with communalism and
separatism. For a party which does not shy away from proclaiming itself to be a
Hindu party, it is rather rich on its part to call these Muslim formations as
communal. It must not be lost that Muslim political solidarity is happening
because the community is so backward and under-developed. These political
formations are not otherizing the Hindu community. At many places, parties like
the ISF have given tickets to Hindus but the same cannot be said about the BJP
which is systematically making Muslims into enemy of the Hindus.
Many progressive and
so-called secular parties are also uncomfortable with such emerging
Muslimpolitical platforms. After being called out for its alliance with the
AIUDF, the Congress party clarified that they have drawn a laxmanrekha (lit. a
boundary) beyond which the Muslim party cannot venture. The import of this
statement was clear: that Ajmal’s AIUDF has all the potential to become
communal and separatist, but the Congress was there to put a check on any such
tendency. Such is the sorry state of affairs that a party which has been the
architect of strategic communalism in India has the cheek to say that it will
check the activities of a Muslim party. And this, when there is nothing in the
activities of the AIUDF which can even remotely be termed alarmist. Even a
seasoned civil rights campaigner like Akhil Gogoi can condemn the AIUDF as a
communal party. But then, he has nothing to say on the murderous regime which
was run by the Congress party for so many years. At most, parties like AIUDF
can be termed as communitarian, but then there is nothing wrong if the focus of
the party’s activities is to uplift a particular community from it current
state of under-development.
Some Muslims have
also bought into this narrative and have started arguing that the community
should desist from creating their own exclusive political platform. They have
argued that such Muslim political formations will only end up creating
confusion and dividing Muslim votes, which will ultimately benefit the BJP. But
this argument is not an ideological antithesis to the felt need for Muslim
parties.Rather, the objection is that in the given political scenario, Muslims
must unite to defeat the BJP and vote en-masse for any political party which is
in a position to do so. Once the threat of the BJP is no longer there, then one
can talk about Muslim parties and their efficacy.
These Muslims miss
the point that there is never a right time in politics. The BJP will remain a
formidable political force and Muslims have to operate within this political
context. Moreover, the singular focus on the BJP as the mother of all evils
obscures the role of other political parties in bringing this party to power in
the first place. In a situation where an Akhilesh Yadav or a Mayawati does not
even speak against lynching of Muslims, why should the community look towards
them as an alternative? In a situation wherein Mamta Banerjee is forced to
reduce tickets to Muslims in order to appease the Hindu majority, why should
the Muslims be called upon to choose between her and the BJP? With Arvind
Kejriwal becoming the latest turncoat, it is incumbent upon Muslims to become
their own agency instead of putting their fate into the hands of such
opportunistic political parties. And that’s why there is a need of Muslim parties
for it is only through political power that effective changes can be made
within the community.
Those who see this as
an expression of Muslim communalism fail to appreciate the context in which
this is happening. The faith and trust of Muslims in the country’s system is at
an all time low. The executive, through a systematic attempt, has maligned and
singed the Muslim community. Whatever faith Muslims had in the judiciary has
very nearly evaporated after the Babri judgment which allotted the land of the
mosque to the construction of Ram temple. These conditions are bound to create
a deep sense of alienation in any community. A community under siege is in
danger of falling prey to nefarious forces and thereby becoming a security
nightmare for the country. But the Muslim community must be congratulated for
its sagacity in keeping out such elements, maintaining its rational composure,
and reposing its faith in the Indian political system. The formation of new
political parties, therefore, is not an instance of communalism, as some are
trying to argue, but an expression of implicit faith in the constitutional
promise of this country. Instead of seeing it as communalism, we need to see it
as an exercise in correcting the democratic deficit in the country.
It is entirely
possible that this new Muslim assertion might benefit the BJP or some other
party, but only in the short term. Part of the reason why this will be so is
that overwhelming majority of Muslims are not ready for such an
experimentation. The Muslim consciousness in this country is primarily a
dominated consciousness and it will take years of political work to make them
aware of their agency and power. In the long run, Muslims will benefit not just
because they will be able to make their own political agenda but also because
this process of political awareness will throw up new leaders within the
community, wedded to the idea of development and prosperity.
Muslims and their
well-wishers should be under no illusion that the burden of protecting secularism
in this country lies on their shoulders alone. For decades, Muslims have acted
and have been used as an ideological force. Such a strategy has brought very
little benefit to the community and has in fact made them into the enemy of the
‘nation’. Muslims now must re-orient their political strategy: from being an
ideological force, they should now become an interest group. If Dalits can make
this transformation and derive much benefits from it, there is no reason why
Muslims should not be able to do so.
Arshad Alam is a
columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
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