Tufail Ahmad Feb, 16 2017
Editor's note: Uttar Pradesh is home to India's sixth largest
Muslim population, a figure whose magnitude is amplified when viewed in
the context of the sheer expanse of the state and its Byzantine
linkages of identities and communities. Such an examination is rendered
all the more urgent considering Uttar Pradesh is now in the thick of a
tumultuous election. To understand the mind of its Muslim community —
its anxieties, aspirations and animating impulses — political
commentator and journalist Tufail Ahmed set off on the road, sending us
dispatches from its far corners. Firstpost will chronicle his travels in a multi-part series.
The following is the second part of this series titled 'Travels of a political pilgrim'.
An article on the electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh, published in the Urdu Times of 7 February and written by one Muhammad Jaseemuddin Nizami, interprets the secularism-communalism debate by an interesting analogy. A thief entered a temple with full respect and adopting pious manners but to steal the statues of Hindu gods. Soon, he heard footsteps and turned back to see a man entering the temple without removing shoes. The thief was incensed at this sin and warned, "If I were not busy, I would be punishing you for committing this impiety in the temple!" This is the truth of Indian society: the so-called secularism is held aloft by thieves.
Nizami
takes some contrarian positions: "Mayawati's order is that if the BJP
has to be defeated, Muslims will have to vote the BSP. The SP has
succeeded in convincing Muslims that if the BJP captured power in UP,
then situations like the Muzaffarnagar (riots) may occur. The Congress
is by birth engaged in the hubris that the Muslim vote is its ancestral
property." He asks: "Can someone help us understand why the contract for
defeating BJP has been given to Muslims alone? If the defence of
democratic tenets, preservation of secularism, protection of brotherhood
and the country's development are dear to and necessary for everyone,
why are only 'Muslim shoulders' needed take out the funeral procession
of communalism?" But like most Muslim writers, Nizami's arguments soon
start disintegrating and he ends up arguing a case for Muslim
consolidation.
Two pieces in the Lucknow edition of Roznama Sahafat of 6 February merit attention. One reflects on the state of the Muslim intelligentsia, or you can say the sub-state of the Muslim mind. It quotes Justice (retired) Suhail Siddiqui, who has held a status as the Union minister of state in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, a constitutional body. Siddiqui's sole diagnosis for the advancement of Muslims is to forge unity with Dalits.
The report quotes him as saying: "The need of the hour is that Muslims search for a solution to their problems by joining hands with Dalits." He observes: "The Uniform Civil Code is a conspiracy to destroy the identity of Muslims." As per the report, Siddiqui "advised Muslims to do their work by maintaining a low profile" and said that he "silently delivered minority status to hundreds of minority institutions and never in this regard issued a statement to newspapers." [. . .]
FULL TEXT AT: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/travels-of-a-political-pilgrim-secularism-versus-communalism-at-election-time-3285792.html
The following is the second part of this series titled 'Travels of a political pilgrim'.
An article on the electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh, published in the Urdu Times of 7 February and written by one Muhammad Jaseemuddin Nizami, interprets the secularism-communalism debate by an interesting analogy. A thief entered a temple with full respect and adopting pious manners but to steal the statues of Hindu gods. Soon, he heard footsteps and turned back to see a man entering the temple without removing shoes. The thief was incensed at this sin and warned, "If I were not busy, I would be punishing you for committing this impiety in the temple!" This is the truth of Indian society: the so-called secularism is held aloft by thieves.
Representational image. Reuters
Two pieces in the Lucknow edition of Roznama Sahafat of 6 February merit attention. One reflects on the state of the Muslim intelligentsia, or you can say the sub-state of the Muslim mind. It quotes Justice (retired) Suhail Siddiqui, who has held a status as the Union minister of state in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, a constitutional body. Siddiqui's sole diagnosis for the advancement of Muslims is to forge unity with Dalits.
The report quotes him as saying: "The need of the hour is that Muslims search for a solution to their problems by joining hands with Dalits." He observes: "The Uniform Civil Code is a conspiracy to destroy the identity of Muslims." As per the report, Siddiqui "advised Muslims to do their work by maintaining a low profile" and said that he "silently delivered minority status to hundreds of minority institutions and never in this regard issued a statement to newspapers." [. . .]
FULL TEXT AT: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/travels-of-a-political-pilgrim-secularism-versus-communalism-at-election-time-3285792.html
