S. Athar H. Rizvi

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Fissiparous tendencies and divisive forces are wreaking havoc on the pluralistic and secular fabric of India, the world's largest democracy, and Muslims have the onus of defeating them at all costs, a senior Congress politician feels.



"Ever since the shameful demolition of Babri Masjid, the Hindutva forces represented by RSS (Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh) Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and several other extremist outfits have been emboldened. They are living under the delusion that like what they have done to the historic mosque, they can also do away with the Muslims representing about 21 percent of the total Indian population," Wasim Ahmad, former member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) said in an exclusive interview to Saudi Gazette.



"Muslims in India are passing through a very critical juncture. The extremist Hindutva groups, calling themselves nationalists, are baying for the extermination of minorities, especially Muslims. Day in and day out, one or the other leader issues a statement condemning Muslims and wanting them to go to Pakistan. There have been several incidents of this sort and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is maintaining a stoic silence. Both the provocative statements and the government's silence are shameful and an affront to the peaceful coexistence of all Indians," Ahmad said.



But, he said, Modi cannot do anything to rein in these fanatics because he himself is the orchestrator of anti-minority feelings.



"Look at what happened in Gujarat where hundreds of innocent Muslims were killed, charred to death, maimed and their homes destroyed. It was done at the behest of Modi, who was the state chief minister then," Ahmad said.



"Riding on the crest of that anti-Muslim approach, harping on the issue of development and presenting Gujarat as a model, negatively portraying all that the Congress party under Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi achieved during the last decade, and presenting himself as a messiah of the poor and the downtrodden and promising them the moon, Modi was able to create an impression on the gullible middle and lower classes of Indian society. That put him firmly on Delhi's saddle."



But, he said, the masses have now realized that the Bharatiya Janata Party (the party of Modi) and the prime minister himself do not have a magic wand to correct "all the wrongs of the past" which they harped on during the run-up to the national elections in May this year.



"What has happened to the 'achchay din aanay walay hain!' (good days are coming) slogan of the BJP? Nothing has changed, rather things have further deteriorated in the first 120 days of the Modi government. People are disillusioned, disheartened and depressed. Murmurs of protests have also started coming from the BJP rank and file. If things continue to be the way they are now, the people of India will throw the government out. The disenchantment is already visible in the recent by-elections. In Uttar Pradesh, the state in which the party decimated all its rivals four months ago, the BJP was routed. It has also happened in three other states. Now state election results in Maharashtra and Haryana next month will, I am sure, further erode the popularity of Modi and the BJP," Ahmad predicted.



Now is the chance for the Congress and other secular parties to bury the hatchet and unitedly take on the Hindutva bandwagon and derail its march once and for all. "For that to happen, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Laloo Yadav's RJD, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamul Congress, Mayawati's BSP, and communist groups will have to unite to take on the BJP under the banner of the Congress. They should learn a lesson from the May elections. See what happened immediately after Laloo and Nitish joined hands. They won a majority of seats in the by-elections. The same scenario can be enacted at the national level," he said.   



But, for that to happen, he said, the votes of Muslims will be decisive. "They (Muslims) will have to exercise their franchise judiciously and prudently. Muslims must realize that they are safe only under the banner of Congress. It is the only national party that works for the welfare of minorities, especially Muslims. Even at the risk of being termed pseudo secularists, the party has never hesitated in taking measures that guarantee the protection, progress and development of the Muslim community. The party may have erred somewhere, somehow and made certain mistakes — maybe grave; but its secularism credentials cannot be questioned.



"The party has heard what the people want. Rahul Gandhi has already indicated that more door-to-door contacts with the people have to be initiated to learn about the problems of the common man. Corrective measures will follow. Congress will also launch campaigns to make people aware of the dangers of communalism. It will take time, but it is doable," Ahmad said.



Ahmad lamented the absence of a strong, viable Muslim leadership now. He recalled that the movement started in the early 1970s favoring minority character for Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) threw up some Muslim youth leaders who were "groomed and nurtured under the guidance of selfless and noble souls like Yusuf Siddiqui, Syed Ameenul Hasan Rizvi, Muhammad Muslim and Mufti Ateequr Rehman Usmani."



The young Muslim leaders who rose on the political scene during that period did not last long because of personal family reasons and financial constraints.



But, those who took up politics as a career ended up in ideologically different parties which did not augur well for the emergence of a realistically strong and viable Muslim leadership.



Ahmad, himself a product of AMU, now sits on the executive committee of the university as a presidential nominee.



He was secretary general of the students' union and played a very proactive role in the campaign for the restoration of the university's minority character.



There is always a shine and sparkle in the eyes of someone whenever there is a mention of his/her alma mater. Ahmad's eyes too glistened when talking about AMU.



He reminisced about several touching incidents which occurred during his student days with a look of mischief on his face.



But when he became serious, he said solemnly: "In my own humble way, I want to give back to the university whatever I can. The university made me a human being, taught me what was good and showed me the way to keep away from evil." Ahmad is in the Kingdom on a private visit.