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.
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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.
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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.