‘Mamata deceived Bengal Muslims’ — Furfura Sharif cleric launches party ahead of polls

Abbas Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front ties up with Owaisi’s AIMIM to fight on at least 70 seats. Observers say it might eat up some Trinamool vote.

Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui at the launch of the Indian Secular Front | Photo: PTI

Kolkata: A Muslim religious leader took the plunge into West Bengal politics for the first time Thursday as Abbas Siddiqui, the influential 34-year-old cleric of the state’s most prominent shrine, Furfura Sharif, launched his own outfit, the Indian Secular Front.

Siddiqui’s ISF includes at least 10 more small tribal and Dalit groups from several districts of Bengal, and has tied up with Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM to contest at least 70 of the state’s 294 seats in this year’s assembly elections, a number he said could go up if his partners agree.

“We, the Muslims of West Bengal, misjudged Mamata Banerjee. We trusted her and supported her, but now we feel deceived. Our party will fight for the deceived, deprived and downtrodden people of Bengal,” said Siddiqui.

Siddiqui’s decision is significant, because it could create disruption in what’s shaping up to be a two-horse race between the Trinamool and the BJP.

But Trinamool leaders say no party with a special religious identity can survive in West Bengal. Idris Ali, chairman of the All Indian Minority Forum and senior Trinamool leader, said: “Muslims of Bengal will not forget what Mamata Banerjee did for them. I have nothing to say against Furfura Sharif as I am a disciple. But we believe that Muslims will stand like a rock with Didi in her fight against the BJP.”

Political observers say the ISF’s alliance with AIMIM might not win seats on its own, could cut into Trinamool’s minority vote-bank to an extent, thus impacting the elections. But when Siddiqui was asked about the allegation of being the ‘B’ team of the BJP, he rebuffed the idea strongly.

“BJP is harmful for the country, and we are against them. But BJP won 18 seats (in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls). We did not exist then. So what did Trinamool do to stop them?”

‘Captive vote-bank’ no more 

Around 30 per cent of Bengal’s voters are Muslims, who strongly backed Mamata Banerjee in her two election victories in 2011 and 2016. Siddiqui said Muslims were used as a “captive vote bank” by Mamata and her party, but they are now “free” and “no longer captive”.

“We do not have any religious restriction on floating a political party. Islam does not see politics as sin. Politics is for the upliftment of people, and I took the plunge to uplift the deprived people of Bengal. Mamata Banerjee deceived us and damaged the Hindu-Muslim brotherhood through her appeasement policies. She did no good to Muslims or Hindus,” said Siddiqui.

Jadavpur University professor Abdul Matin, who conducts research on the Muslims of Bengal, said the Furfura Sharif chief’s ISF and Owaisi’s AIMIM together might have an influence in 30 to 40 seats in four districts of south Bengal — North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and East Midnapore. They also have a partial influence in Hooghly, primarily in and around Furfura Sharif, Matin said.

“This is a political experiment; we have to see how it translates to electoral prospects. They may not succeed in winning seats, but they could make a dent in the vote share among Muslims. Abbas Siddiqui’s style of speaking appeals to Muslims living in rural Bengal,” said Matin.

Political analyst Prof. Samir Das said the new alliance will try to recreate a situation from Bihar in the Bengal polls. “I am not sure if they will win seats, but they will make a dent in Mamata Banerjee’s minority votes. Initially, with the advent of the BJP, we thought that Muslims will consolidate behind her, and they did in 2016. But this election may show a different picture,” Das said.

Siddiqui himself categorised Bengal’s constituencies into three segments depending on the number of Muslim voters — those where the community makes up 60-70 per cent of the voters, those with 40-50 per cent, and those with 25-35 per cent. “We researched a lot and assessed the ground situation before presenting these (numbers) to the AIMIM, which is trying to build an alternative force. Mamata Banerjee tries to make the election look like BJP vs Muslims, which is unfair,” the Furfura Sharif chief said.

Defections

Zamirul Hassan, state chief of the AIMIM, added that Muslims in the Trinamool camp are defecting to his party. “We have joined hands with Abbas Siddiqui after doing the field work. Mamata Banerjee claimed that she had done 99 per cent work for Muslims, but in reality, she had done less than 1 per cent. The budget for minorities is used for her appeasement policies. She did not do any development work for the community,” said Hassan.

“Her party is breaking. Every day, some people defect to the BJP, while many of her Muslim leaders are in constant touch with us. Asaduddin Owaisi sahab will come in February. There will be a huge (contingent) joining from Trinamool,” Hassan added.