When the bill criminalising triple talaq was being discussed in India, it became amply clear that Muslim voices are sporadic and the community lacks a powerful and credible leader. Now, Mahmood Madani and Arshad Madani – both leading two factions of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind – are posturing to represent Muslims in India.
Mahmood Madani, a former Rajya Sabha MP and the general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), recently said he wants a nationwide NRC exercise that would determine illegal immigrants. He also spoke in favour of the Narendra Modi government’s move to abrogate Article 370.
On the other hand, Arshad Madani, the chief of JUH, has stamped the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as the legitimate representative of the Hindu community. How else do you explain or justify him meeting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to discuss “Hindu-Muslim” unity?
JUH boasts of a 10 million-strong membership, which is why I am increasingly beginning to believe that the organisation, which is in the 100th year of its establishment, is posturing itself as the self-declared Muslim Swayamsevak Sangh. The RSS too boasts of having six million members.
The fact that the RSS’s political wing – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – has won a huge mandate in the last two Lok Sabha elections clearly shows that Hindus accept the RSS as their ideological representative too.
But how does an organisation like the JUH justify taking on the mantle of talking about Muslims and their issues when 1) they have not won an election; 2) they have not floated a political party like the RSS has in the form of BJP; 3) it’s an organisation riddled with infighting and therefore far from being an effective force
Also read: It is Azam Khan, and not Owaisi, who is BJP’s permanent target
Leaders Muslims have
Which brings us to our initial question: Who represents Muslims of India? The answer is simple.
No one.
The problem with India’s Muslim leadership is the lack of fluidity within personalities. Either a leader is popular only within the Muslim community and therefore unable to build any credible support in a Hindu-majority India, or is completely disconnected with the community and therefore can’t be seen as a credible Muslim leader. Prominent Muslim leaders of recent times range from an Azam Khan to a Salman Khurshid to an Asaduddin Owaisi. Throw in political voices from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, and the JUH – and you see yourself staring at names that evoke little to none loyalty. Then there are the BJP’s Muslims – Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Shahnawaz Hussain. Then comes the younger lot in the Congress who hardly get any space: Nadeem Javed, Muhammad Khan. Then come the seasonal turncoats who travel from one party to the other, vying for crumbs, like becoming governors: Najma Heptulla and Arif Mohammad Khan.
Hardly anyone has actually represented Muslims. Salman Khurshid has won the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency only twice in his 40-year-long political career. The insignificance of his presence within the Muslim community is such that he even lost the election for the presidency of the India Islamic Cultural Centre in Delhi to the incumbent, Sirajuddin Qureshi, in 2009.
Muslim ministers from BJP, on the other hand, are ideal persons to run an introductory course on how to be a Hindutvawadi Musalman. They are more often heard saying Jai Shri Ram than an ‘As-salāmu ʿalaykum’ (“Peace be upon you”). It is no surprise then that many in the Muslim community don’t consider someone who joins the BJP as a ‘true’ Muslim.
When you have India’s Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi himself say that those who eat beef should go to Pakistan, then you are basically looking at a Giriraj Singh without a tilak.
Shahnawaz Hussain, in an interview in May, went on to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned incidents of mob lynching, which is why “such incidents did not recur.” If that’s not delusional, I don’t know what is.
Also read: Indian Muslims are silent over Tabrez Ansari because of Muhammad Ali Jinnah
The two blue-eyed men
This is where we come to the blue-eyed “men” from the Muslim community.
Azam Khan has been a member of the legislative assembly for nine terms from Rampur. That makes him a stellar politician, one with a strong presence not just within his community but in Uttar Pradesh too. The problem with Azam Khan is the nauseating lack of progressiveness. When he mentions Jaya Prada in a thinly veiled reference to RSS or tells a rape survivor to not look for ‘fame and attention’ in response to her calls for help in getting justice or when he hurls sexist remark at BJP MP Rama Devi during a parliamentary debate, can you expect anyone to take him seriously?
Then there’s Asaduddin Owaisi. His party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, which literally translates to All India Council of the Union of Muslims, is a 91-year-old party. Their reach? Two out of 545 Lok Sabha seats; none in the 245-member Rajya Sabha; seven out of 119 assembly seats in Telangana; and one out of 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. The favourite boy of Old Hyderabad’s mohalla, Asaduddin Owaisi’s maximum reach though is on TV. He dominates every channel on every Muslim issue because he wears a sherwani and a skull cap and dons a beard and calls Narendra Modi Wazir-e-Azam. So Musalman of him!
Also read: How to be BJP’s version of a ‘good Muslim’ – A guide by Arif Mohammad Khan
Need a real secular leader
Which brings me to the mother of all questions in Indian politics. Do we need a Muslim leader only to represent a Muslim? Ideally, we shouldn’t. India is still a secular country, which means our representatives should, on principle, not be identified with their religion. But considering that the problems of the Muslim community need a deeper understanding of the religion itself since the lives of Muslims are so intrinsically enmeshed with their religion, it becomes easier for representatives who are from the community to understand it.
Which is why we perhaps need someone as malleable as a Shashi Tharoor-like personality to represent Muslims. Tharoor is a temple hopping devout Hindu and has written two books around the theme of Hinduism. At the same time, he slips into a modern-day Oxford dictionary sputtering ex-diplomat who is progressive yet rooted in his traditions. He sides with Sabarimala devotees to not allow women to enter the temple’s sanctum sanctorum keeping in mind the sensitivity of Hindus on the matter and also talks about secularism and criticises the RSS’ brand of Hinduism. Because of his strong Hindu identity, he also has the gumption to equate Modi to a ‘scorpion sitting on a Shivaling’.
If you want a secular India and therefore can’t accept people shouting Jai Shri Ram in Parliament, then you simply cannot justify anyone shouting Allahu Akbar either. They’re both two sides of the same coin called communalism. And today, with maulanas shouting hoarse on TV debates for honorariums, Muslims can only demand secularism when we choose secular representatives. But since secularism is an overused stale concept, I propose that progressivism is the only way forward, especially for Muslims.
The space for Muslim leadership is vacant and wide-open. It’s only a matter of time that we will see a new crop of Muslim leaders come up.
The author is a political observer and writer. Views are personal.
well done miss zainab, what an extra ordinary research you have done, LOL hahahaa. i cant comment more than that on this fake and baseless point of view of yours on what indian muslims need and from whom. again lol. and hope you find some truth. In this time period of india no one is capable to lead indian muslims and other backwards more than Mr Asaduddin Owaisi. just because of godi media his character is defamed other wise everone know who he is how much he is capable of.
You may consider owaisi as a leader, but he is unacceptable to hindus. If muslims want beef, then they should also tolerate derogatory remarks about your islamic prophet and the quran. Owaisi is seen as a islamic fanatic who has only recently been talking about constitution because of hammering by BJP, otherwise he and his brother were first class goondas who you may remember had attacked taslima nasreen and involved in many riots and crimes.
Could you please explain the number of elected representatives he has, also don’t be so sensitive.
It’s the author’s views, if you would ridicule the author just because she voiced her opinion I guess you have become an andhbhakt.
Who told you that we the muslims do not consider owaisi as our leader?… congress completely exploits and deceived muslims for about 70 years . It is b team of rss., during the reign of Congress muslims neither economically nor educationally developed, congress used muslims as chickens of poultry farm… 😂😂😂ab se congress bye bye ,,,,congress hatao muslim leadership lao..
well said jasimurRahman
Nw a days if u see the last 2 lokhsabha elections and their results came into favour in bjp only bcz of hindutva play card and Ram temple n mosque ,samsaan kabristan etc..So how can i say that a secular party how could do this term use for rigging mind for every individual.I thnk muslim don’t need a any political leader’s like Tharoor ,Shanawaz hussain nd mukhtar abbas bcz when triple talaq bill bill passed in lokh sabha n Change the (sarihat) personal law rule and Nw a days mob lynching is very common every where in india u see someone lynched by people only bcz of that person is muslim. and force to tell chant jai shri ram if he deny then killed him brutally so my question is where were uh all so called muslim’s leader .
I thnk india is a secular country Muslim is equally rights as hindu n other community so we dont need a muslim leader . we only need a those leader who equally treat for any one n gove it to equal right…
But not a days if u oppose bjp u become anti anti National if u support bjp u become national the real condition is.
For Befitting reply to BJP and RSS MIM ASADUDDIN OWAISI and Akberuddin Owaisi are there. Don’t put communal label to a person who is able to give biffiting reply to goondas and illitrate BJPs . BJPs 330 MPs don’t know the respect of parliament how u tell ASADUDDIN to communal. Those like Javed akhtar , Shabana azmi don’t know what to do as Muslims. MIM is the party not afraid of BJP, RS, VHP and all communal forces. Can SHASHI THAROOR give biffiting reply tobjp, RSS, vhp BHARAT mata ki Jai, Jai Shri ram NO. No no. Killer of innocent people, goondas of karsavaks demolished babri mosque and now. NRC.
The article is written for muslims but it also apply to Dalits. Dalit leaders are largely radical unless they don’t belong to BJP. They are not accepted in non-dalit community because of their Anti-Hindu project which is irrational as they are exploiting basic doctrine of this country: multiculturalism. Dalit leaders who are highly educated make shameful comments on chandrayan 2. Dr udit raj sounds like fawad chaudhari of pakistan. They look at the every issue through caste prism dalit-virodhi EC, dalit virodhi PM, dalit virodhi DM, Dalit Hiroshi Professor, Dalit Virodhi Twitter, etc. They have lost their minds. If you are not anti bjp and anti congress you are not accepted as Dalit leaders. No wonder Dalits and Muslims like one another.
No muslim leader is acceptable to (most) Muslims unless they hate BJP. But whether one may believe it or not, majority voters irrespective of caste now believes BJP stands for Nationalism. Liberals may try their best to twist it as Hinduism or creates a narrative that “Nationalism is a threat” etc.. But for common voter, when they see Modi, they feel the assurance that country is safe in his hands.
Now this is a catch 22 situation that muslims brought upon themselves. The moment they oppose BJP so vociferously, it is easy for leftist forces to exploit them, the ones who even support tukde tukde gang in the name of “freedom of expression”. And Muslims left out with no choice but to rally behind them, because the left denounce any moderate muslims who oppose these anti India forces. So its upto the muslims to decide where to draw the line. unfortunately, even if they can draw, they dont have a choice, a party which maintains that balance. Either they should stop hating BJP or wait till a party that identifies the distinction between hating a PM and hating a country.
Why not make Modi,leader of Indian Muslims who is doing so much for them,specially in Jammu and Kashmir?Where milk and honey will be flowing shortly.I think leaders like Tharoor are wolves in sheep clothing.
Well said Ali bhai.
Well said Akbarji. Priyankaji is already there who is a true leader to Muslims. Why should temple hopping Sashi tharoor lead muslims.. Priyankaji time and again has proven that she is the only person to go to for Muslims.
Few of My heroes,
A P J Abdul Kalam, Bharat Ratna
Brigadier Mohammad Usman, MVC
Havildar Abdul Hamid, Param Vir chakra
Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (Bar)
Salute to these brave sons of mother India.
You have missed the bus by calling Arif Mohammad Khan.as seasonal turncoat. What Muslims need is modern people like him to lead as he would be acceptable to non-Muslims. other leaders like Omar Abdullah lost their chance by staying local rather than becoming national.
Unless the Muslim Community wants to reform itself any number of Tharoors will not be helpful. The regressive mindset and sheepish mentality is not in tune with the time and harms them most. By the way the reach of Shashi Tharoor is limited to his Trivandrum constituency and he has monkey balanced on Sabarimala issue for his political survival. It is hard to believe that he changed his stand out of conviction. Another turncoat.
The million dollar question is whether a secular Muslim leader can emerge from the Muslim community. A Muslim who is secular can never carry the community with him. Only a fundamentalist will be accepted as a leader by the Muslim masses and that is the basic problem.
Aptly said. Islam and Secularism are like crude oil and water.
India voted BJP to power for many reasons.
By implying all those who vote for BJP must be for ideological ground shows you are trying to ignore all other issues.
Question yourself who is the alternative, Did schemes to improve middle class benefit it election etc
Coming to the point of representatives, problem with Muslim leadership is different than others and yes we all need someone like Sashi Tharoor at head of all opposition parties.
There is no law against fantasizing. Go ahead.
There are lot of progressive Muslim leaders in India like Arif Khan but you guys always try to discredit them…
Well, to be fair even the hindus could use a few more Shashi Tharoors and a lot less Sambit Patras. My personal theory is that till we get to per capita gdp of $5000 we will continue to have leaders like Giriraj Singh, after that things should start to improve a bit. That should mean a decade more of nonsense about ‘beef’ and ‘go to pakistan’ etc. If we get lucky some company may manufacture synthetic beef before then and we can end that lunacy at least.
I don’t think India’s 170 million Muslims need a gentleman with a posh accent to lead them. They need access to better secular education, less discrimination in the matter of jobs, more presence in public affairs. There is a solid middle class which is creating role models for all of them. The Indian Muslim I admire the most is Shri Azim Premji.
You have not seen anything yet!
The Muslim leadership will emerge through Muslim resistance.
The awakening is happening.
These quislings that claim represent Muslims in India will disappear.
Just like the Abdullahs and Mufti in Kashmir.
A new leadership forged in iron will emerge.
Like it’s happening now all over Kashmir
The Oppression of Hindutva is the unifying Force for all Indian Muslims
Brother read the whole article. Jest of it is not to divide is to unify
If Muslim majority countries are any examples to go by, it is very unlikely that a true liberal, secular and democratic leader will emerge in the Muslim community. And if you think that this is a communal comment just ponder on this issue – both India and Pakistan had the same background in 1947. Why is it then that they two countries are unrecognizable from each other 70 years later?