During the reign of Caliph Umar, a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had to address Rustam, the Emperor of the Persian Empire. He said, “Allah sent us to remove whoever He wishes from the servitude of men to the servitude of ‘the Lord of men’ and from the unjust nature of other religions to the justice of Islam and from the tight confinement of this world to the vast life of the Hereafter.” Although the statement is straightforward, it has momentous implications when applied to the way politics is conducted in the world’s largest democracy today.
Instead of using meritocracy to decide who should govern the affairs of the state, the contemporary system of sending elected representatives to the legislature and making the government largely depends on the religion and caste of the person. This unfortunate situation will and has led to a majoritarian state where those belonging to the majority religious community use their numerical advantage to dominate political power and policymaking. In political science, “Political marginalisation is the process or condition in which a community is denied equal participation and representation in political institutions, decision-making bodies, and policy outcomes. It involves both institutional barriers (laws, systems, or structures) and informal mechanisms (discrimination, stereotypes, or social exclusion) that limit a group’s political voice”.
If we try to understand the above definition in relation to the condition of the Muslim community in India, we realise that despite making more than 14% of India’s population (2011 census), their representation in the various legislative bodies is negatively disproportionate. In the 2014 general elections for the 16th Lok Sabha, only 23 Muslim MPs were elected out of 543 total seats, representing just 4.2% of the lower house.
In the 2019 elections, 26 Muslim MPs were elected and in 2024 – 24 Muslim MPs entered Parliament making about 4.4% of parliamentary seats. This trend extends beyond national politics to state legislatures. Muslims hold only about 6% of seats across 28 major states (post-2014 data). This is less than half their proportion in the general population.
This issue of the political marginalisation of Muslims once again came to the forefront during the ongoing state elections in Bihar. Muslim representation became one of the key issues during the campaign phase. AIMIM supremo and MP, Asaduddin Owaisi posed the question, “Why can’t a Muslim become chief minister (of Bihar) when the community has 17% share of the electorate? When a much smaller community (Mallahs) gets deputy CM or significant positions, why not Muslims?”
So how and why do Indian Muslims find themselves in such poor shape politically? Is it because of the machinations and conspiracies of those who do not like their presence in this country or is the community alone responsible for this pathetic presence in Parliament and state legislatures? Some say it is the secular parties who ensured the marginalisation of Muslims through the policy of tokenism and ignoring the real issues of the community. “Dosto ne kiye wo karam, dushmanidekhtirehgayi” (Such favours did friendship bestow, even enmity could but stand and admire.)
The BJP’s strategy is to marginalise Muslim representation through structural exclusion. The BJP knows that because of its genesis, ideology and adherence to the policy of Muslim-baiting, it will not get any Muslim votes. So, they follow a policy of giving few or no tickets to Muslim candidates for elections. It is a signal that in a Hindu-majority, Hindu-civilisation country, Muslims should not claim equal rights and just follow the whims and fancies of the majority community.
Research shows that Muslims are spread all over the country where they are a small minority in their respective electoral constituency. The seats in which they are in substantial numbers are relatively few. By creating a bogey of Muslim as a “bad citizen” (with shades of being less patriotic and even anti-national), the BJP hopes to unite the Hindus by projecting itself as the sole messiah of the Hindus who can take care of this “enemy within. This enables them to unite the Hindu community and make it vote for the BJP by rising over caste considerations. By and large it has succeeded in its strategy of “jo Hindu hit kibaatkaregawohideshmeinraajkarega” (whoever will talk of Hindu interests can only rule the country) and this has had a ripple effect on the secular parties.
The Congress’s strategy can be termed as “optics-based secular politics”. Despite its secular and pro-minority credentials, Congress has systematically under-nominated Muslim candidates. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Congress fielded only 19 Muslim candidates compared with 34 in 2019. In certain states Muslim leaders publicly expressed disappointment at having no Congress nominee from their community in key constituencies. The Congress does not have any pan-India tall Muslim leader. It shies away from publicly defending Muslims from the onslaught of Islamophobia in the country. It sways between “soft Hindutva” and cultivating a Muslim leadership that has no ground support or are not “mass leaders”. Its tokenism is symbolised by talking only about Hajj houses and allotting a place for ‘kabristan’ for Muslims. After the Babri Masjid fiasco, Muslims moved away from the Congress and it has yet to recover from that exodus.
So, what should Muslims do to counter their political marginalisation? Muslims must realise that they are “Khair-e-Ummat” (the best community) and so they have a divine task. “You are now the best people brought forth for (the guidance and reform of) mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.” (Qur’an 3:110) The Muslims have been charged with this great responsibility of bringing an end to the evils in society and promoting ethics and morality. For this task they should become the best people in terms of character and morals. These are qualities essential for truly righteous leadership and to nurture the spirit and practical commitment to promoting good and suppressing evil.
Another important work assigned to Muslims by the Qur’an is to “stand up for justice” (Qur’an 4:135). When Muslims discharge these two functions sincerely, the poor, the marginalised and the downtrodden will automatically repose confidence in their leadership. The stories of the Prophets and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ are testimony to this process. Muslims must start becoming “haamil al-Quran”. That is the only way to end their political marginalisation.