I want to tell Muslims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is neither of the Hindus nor of the Muslims. Modi is extremely sincere about the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwaas that he coined in May after the massive Lok Sabha mandate.
Many years ago, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, Modi had told me that if 100 roads are built in Ahmedabad and 11 are not in Muslim neighbourhoods, then you must hold me accountable and call me out. In Ahmedabad, every single Muslim area is covered by the BRT (bus rapid transit) system.
The BJP might say anything, but it is important to understand that the government’s manner of functioning is different from the party’s. It is important to not obsess over what party functionaries say, but focus on what the government has done for Muslims. And there has been no discrimination whatsoever, in terms of the development work.
I tell my community that they should not pay attention to all these people who say rubbish about Muslims on social media because they are insignificant.
Home Minister Amit Shah has handled the motormouths in the BJP well, and people like Giriraj Singh and Pragya Thakur have fallen silent now. This government is run by 4-5 people – Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Piyush Goyal – and the rest are inconsequential. The most important person is captain Modi, who has a clear mindset.
Skirmishes such as mob lynching will take place, but we should not get bogged down by them.
Also read: Are Muslims nationalists? What is their problem with Modi? 12 FAQs about Muslims answered
Representation of Muslims
My main argument is that Muslims should concentrate on real issues, the most important being education. Has the RSS or the VHP stopped you from sitting for the UPSC exams? The problem is that Muslims themselves don’t sit for these exams. With even a bit of effort, Muslims will be able to see the results.
Till 2015-16, just about 38-39 Muslims cleared the UPSC exams annually. I went to almost 8-10 institutes, which prepare Muslims for the UPSC exams, and none gave me a figure that totalled more than 10,000 applicants.
When you don’t sit for the exam, why do you complain that Muslim representation in central administration is limited to just 2.5 per cent?
Similarly, lakhs of aspirants take the IIT joint entrance exam every year, but how many of them are Muslims? How many Muslims sit for the CAT exam? These days there’s an exam for every government job, be it in banks or armed forces. When selection is based on merit, who is stopping Muslims from taking these exams?
Political representation of Muslims has been low since Independence. Even in 1952, Muslim representation was 2 per cent, while in 1984, it was 8 per cent. Even when the Congress ruled with a strong mandate, it hardly gave tickets to Muslims. Therefore, to expect the BJP to do that would be nothing but stupidity. There is political representation and there is administrative representation, and Muslims should focus on the latter.
My advice to Muslims is that they should go back to the drawing board. As a community, we really need to focus on education – we have to do the bulk of the work here, we need the government only during the last leg.
Also read: What explains the Muslim silence in the face of BJP’s aggressive Hindutva?
Lynchings not a new phenomenon
Public memory is short and any report on mob lynching or a riot stays in the news for only 2-3 days.
The minute the Akhlaq incident was reported, I went to Dadri. His younger son was severely beaten in that incident and suffered a crack in his skull.
What people, however, do not know is that the younger son was treated at BJP MP Mahesh Sharma’s hospital. Sharma even called a super-specialist from Switzerland for the victim’s treatment. The elder son, who is with the Indian Air Force, wanted to be transferred from Chennai to Delhi. I used my resources and he was transferred within eight hours.
The point I want to make is that did any of those who cried hoarse over victims’ rights visit Akhlaq’s family?
We cannot deny lynchings. There have been close to a hundred lynchings in the last five years, but to say that it has reached epidemic proportions is wrong.
Further, these isolated incidents of lynching are not restricted to Narendra Modi’s tenure; they have been reported since Independence.
What we call lynching today was called stabbing then, and it was not communalised in the past. To portray these incidents as lynchings is dangerous. If lynchings were so widespread, Muslims would not be able to travel on trains and buses, without getting killed.
Lynchings will stop when the ideology of hate is replaced with love. There’s already a problem, and by reacting to it, we are only creating a new problem. Let us not risk reacting violently to incidents of lynchings. Instead, I wish Muslims in mosques are taught the provisions of the Constitution of India.
The most draconian home minister
On the persecution of Muslims, why is no one talking about the party, which introduced the draconian laws in the first place? Who brought TADA? A number of innocent Muslims were harassed under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) during the Congress’ tenure.
History will remember P. Chidambaram as the most draconian home minister India has ever had. Who introduced the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2011 in Parliament, which later became a law? It was Chidambaram-led Ministry of Home Affairs that proposed amendments to the Enemy Property Act of 1968.
I have been observing Amit Shah since he was the home minister of Gujarat. There was no untoward incident during his tenure. It is all about perception. The Ishrat Jahan case is an isolated incident, but if we look at Gujarat as a whole, there was no riot, not a single day of curfew when he was the home minister. We need to acknowledge this.
Amit Shah has a businessman’s acumen. He has no hatred towards Muslims, and has won elections from Muslim-majority areas.
It is extremely dangerous to paint a picture that shows the BJP as a communal party and the Congress as a secular force. When the Congress is in power, it is worse than an out-of-power BJP. When it is not in power, it suddenly remembers Muslims and tries to act as their elder brother.
A few Muslims do think that they are outsiders or victims, but that is just a small section. Through all my programmes, I try telling them to get rid of this victim mentality.
For every person with a murderous mentality, there are 10 Hindus to help us. India is ours too.
Also read: Blame Amit Shah for UAPA changes but Nehru, Indira ignored civil liberties too
(As told to Revathi Krishnan)
Zafar Sareshwala is the former chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University. Views are personal.
My heartful thanks to the publisher for publishing this valuable article .This will certainly help the muslims to understand the reality. I personally believe that we the muslims should give priority in educating our children.Education will help us to broaden our minds to understand the issues and react positively.
Though a well written article , I would like to differ on his position regarding lynchings, sir the lynchings might be seen as a minor issue but remember it is minor only until it is your own brother or uncle
Can uneducated Muslim brethren give / suggest any saner or a better approach for better education and jobs? Also please suggest how lynching can be stopped. Because they happened even when there were Muslim leaders at the top positions.
If there was ever a dolt, this journalist is one. Or maybe he got a fat Amit Shah like fee to pen all this bullshit. He fails to realize or acknowledge that Muslims ARE victims and ARE being persecuted and they’re not acting. This is actually happening. The government has taken lessons from Israel and turning the Muslims into victims just like Palestine.
What remains is the Nazi adaptation of genocide which doesn’t seem far considering the apparent hate Modi carries openly for Muslims.
Muslim brethren, what then exactly is the dissent about?
I have so many educated muslim friends and they donot want to be recognised with other rabid Muslims. These people are decent, balanced, follow rules of the land and well placed on their educational qualifications and experience. In our country Muslims are the worst enemies of Muslim backwardeness, why blame for your problems created by yourself, to others. Learn to solve your problems and you will find answers close-by.
Very courageous article indeed. From my experience in the civil service, I must say that there have been and still are many brilliant, competent and legendary Muslim officers in the civil services. I have had both superiors and juniors from the Muslim community of whom I feel very proud.
I think, as much Muslims need to understand come out. Over the period of time, I have seen many Muslims who are educated behave differently than those with poor education. This class of minority are exploited most by politicians through threat. If you see, the so called saviors are political family, who went to educate their children abroad, still keeping their constituency poor.
Hello sir, probably you have not observed more communal clashes have occurred when BJP was out of power and it is only after they got power, they keep quite. See what they have been doing in WB, Kerala and attempting to do in Telangana. Of course you are right, Muslims themselves are not taking initiative. In 1984 RSS BJP joined under grab of Congressmen in anti sikh riots. You are free to praise Modi as you have access to him. So instead of lecturing please help them to bring them to main stream. Since BJP came to even educated have started speaking in communal tone against other communities and you are saying Modi and Shah would transform India
Wov.. 1984 RSS BJP joined under garb of Congressmen. Are you Sydney Sheldon or Robert Ludlum? Then why did Rajiv Gandhi used the word when earth shakes, trees falls. Now you will also justify that it was RSS BJP under the garb of created Bhopoal tragedy and escorted Anderson, then CEO of Unicarbide safely to airport. You congress men have been fooling around for long time. You party is decimated to almost bare minimum like any regional party.
Hello sir,
I am not a sleuth or author, FIRs are there, the only person who had guts was Captain Amrinder Singh.
Muslims also need to get wrist watches and use them to figure out when to pray. Then, as a mass, go to the nearest mosque and ask them to turn off the loudspeakers as those who want to pray will come at the time suitable to them. Shouting the same tuneless, raucous call to prayer 5 times a day only keeps irritating non-Muslims and does no service to Muslims.
On Fridays many mosques have loud sermons audible for hundreds of metres. Why can’t they play them softer so that people around don’t get disturbed. I visited UAE, and mosque loudspeakers were banned within a km of any school college hospital. Muslims need to go and do this to the mosques near schools colleges hospitals in India too.
And in the Friday sermon, the Mulla needs to tell the congregation to be civil, observe queues, stop at red lights, don’t ride 3 on a bike (even namaz), don’t use horns, or drive on the wrong side. Let Muslims be the best behaved people on the streets so that they set an example to uncivilised Hindus.
Much smaller minorities than Muslims – Christian, Sikhs, Parsis, Sindhis – have prospered even without Govt help. They helped themselves.
That’s the right approach.
What exactly does “ victim mentality “ mean. Is it really so easy for a young Muslim girl or boy to walk into an examination hall and top the Civil Services exam. Lynchings are not a new phenomenon … Aur kitni whataboutery karenge, Janaab ?
When Sikhs are massacred enmass it is called earth shaking and tree falls. It is not called lynching. Under Mulayam Singh’s rule, farmers are killed for grabbing land, it is called fight between two groups. When a Dharoga hits someone in lockup leading to death, it was accidental death for unknown reasons. When a group of muslim men rape a Dalit, it not caste related, but some vagabonds in action. Aur kitne saal sabko ullu banaoge, Janaab?
Nice article! Muslims shouldn’t feel victim. They are as Indians as everyone else. Work harder for yourself and the country.
Sir, many years ago it was you and Ms Madhu Kishwar Purnima who brought me closer to Modi. Thank you so much.
Skirmishes such as mob lynching will take place? You mean you are fine?
This is the most sensible article I have read in years. Muslims need to introspect and understand that today’s world has changed, one can not expect a special treatment. All are one and they should act like a normal indian. Go get education, get jobs. Who stops you and if someone donot gove you admission in a school, college, job just because you are muslim, then you have every right to complain and report. In my own company, one of my partner is a muslim, we have lot of muslim staff, as we only get people based on what they can contribute to the company. These guys take 1 hr off on friday for prayers, we donot mind, just ask them to ask good things for our company also.
So to improve yourself, please do something by yourself. Do not go by social media, news etc. people have their own agenda.
How did this truthful article get published in The Print?! All Indian Muslims should focus on education and social development. Role model for the rest of the Muslim World.
But we should congratulate Shekar Gupta. The Print is more balanced and less anti national than Islamic Express and the Hindu (amazing name for the most anti Hindu rag) newspapers.