Can
The Owaisi Brothers Give Their Politics A Non Sectarian Twist?
Saeed Naqvi
Unlike Aam Aadmi Party, which overestimated
its potential after an outstanding debut in Delhi, Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen
led by Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owaisi is expanding cautiously.
During recent state elections in
Maharashtra, they ventured outside the confines of Hyderabad. They made
measured forays in 26 constituencies which were once part of the Nizam’s state.
The experiment succeeded. They won two and in the remaining 24 they performed
with honour intact.
This has caused raised eyebrows all
around. Are they planning to expand? Will they contest the elections in Delhi?
An editor from Srinagar asked: “why are they not helping a party in Kashmir
they consider more honest than others?”
On being asked, they remain silent. This
caution betrays long term planning.
They have, however, decided to take the
plunge in UP where they are in the process of weaving a network. Their
calculation is based on simple logic. The level of polarization the BJP was
able to affect in the 2014 Parliamentary poll, when it won 73 of the 80 seats,
cannot be repeated. The soufflé rises only once. This, because communal
temperature cannot be kept at boiling point indefinitely. Whatever the degree
of religious polarization the BJP achieves, the trick works only when there is
simultaneous division of the Muslim vote. This is where the MIM enters the
game.
The scattering of the Muslim vote is a
function of the community’s helplessness. Muslims had a choice of three
discredited parties – Samajwadi, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.
The situation in Maharashtra during
recent elections was similar. The choice offered to the minority was
unappetizing – Congress or the NCP. The MIM provided the ventilator in the
suffocating situation.
There is great irony in the fact that in
the 67th year of India’s Partition, when the Nation is being invited
to remember Jawaharlal Nehru on his 125th birth anniversary, the
Indian Muslim has in desperation been forced to seek political solace in a
party which has a religious denomination attached to its name.
There were few in India’s first cabinet
whom Nehru admired more for their intellect and grace than Maulana Azad, whose
125th anniversary was observed (was it?) two years ago. These two
stalwarts of the national movement would never have believed in their lifetime
that an avowedly Muslim party would be considered for a role in North India.
When the Congress embraced the Partition plan, Maulana Azad had repeatedly
warned of this possibility. There is no evidence that Nehru ever did.
Whether the MIM will deliver or not is
not the issue. The fact is that large sections of Muslims are looking at it for
want of attractive options. The so called secular parties have ofcourse failed
the world’s second largest Muslim population. But even more worrisome has been
the role of the clergy which has taken upon itself the role of middleman,
between the community and ruling class parties.
A classical example is Imam Bukhari of
Jama Masjid. The first to bestow a political halo on the Imam’s head were
Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna. The fashion caught on. I
found myself addressing a packed hall of Imams of mosques who were demanding a
greater political role for themselves. I have not forgiven the event manager
who had conned me into this congregation.
The need for the clergy to function as
political middlemen arose because of growing alienation between the
communities. A system of uninstitutionalized apartheid required middlemen whom
political parties could contact for the delivery of bulk muslim votes. The Mullah
was the obvious choice.
During the Muzaffarnagar riots, the
Samajwadi Party’s point of contact was Maulana Arshad Madani. His advice to the
homeless riot victims was priceless: accept compensation from the state
government along with the condition that riot victims would never return to
their original villages.
What was the advantage of being
internally displaced in perpetuity? The Maulana said: “This way our boys and
girls would be shielded from the prosperous Jat boys.” In his book, the ghetto was
the panacea of all social evil.
Surely, the MIM promises freedom from
strict clerical supervision. But does it not perpetuate the ghetto? Will not
the apartheid system derive strength from MIM politics?
The Owaisi brothers are creatures of
their social circumstance. They grew up in old Hyderabad, in a family with
memories of the Razakars, Deshmukhs and the harsh military action, details of
which have only recently become available after the Pandit Sunderlal report was
released.
They are both outstanding public
speakers. Asaduddin, who studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, is the more
sophisticated strategist. Akbaruddin can at times be a rabble rouser. It may
have suited their politics in Hyderabad. But as they prepare to step out into
the wide world they will, of their own accord, become more circumspect. They
have already taken baby steps into non sectarian, temporal politics by fielding
several Hindu candidates in Maharashtra. If they are to survive the rough and
tumble of Indian politics they will have to transcend sectarian politics. The
word “secular” has been so profaned by the politics of the last six decades
that a quest for a synonym would be in order.
#
#
# #
No comments:
Post a Comment