The apparently disturbing political developments last week prompted the Mira Road wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to organise a lecture on our responsibilities vis-à-vis the current political scenario by the state president of Movement for Peace and Justice, Siraj sahib at Islamic Centre, Mira Road on 18 March.
After the customary recitation of a passage from the Qur’ān exhorting Muslims to seek help with patient perseverance and prayer, Siraj sahab began his address by urging the audience to accept and come to terms with the BJP’s win in UP and elsewhere instead of living in denial and blaming EVMs and giving in to other conspiracy theories. Unless we accept the situation, there is no way we can lead ourselves to the solution, he averred.
He noted that the Muslims are currently demoralised and depressed and blaming the Muslims there for not voting strategically. However, it should be realised that Muslims had no role to play in either the BJP’s win in UP or their previous loss in Bihar. Contrary to what is being suggested, the BJP’s win should be attributed to the Hindu electorate’s unprecedented united vote (along caste lines) in BJP’s favour rather than the division of the Muslim vote.
The emotionally charged rhetoric of Muslim politicians and the hatred spread by social media platforms further alienated the Muslims, which in turn helped the BJP in polarising the vote in its favour.
Also, we shouldn’t look at the results with jaundiced eyes. The majority community did not necessarily vote for communalism. Rather, they voted for the development and promises of better days that the BJP convinced them of. They probably saw the BJP leadership as formidable and clean.
Now, instead of resorting to blame games, we need to:
- Encourage non-communal leadership to counter the saffron onslaught.
- Plan at the grassroots, at the ward and constituency level.
- Cultivate true Islamic values in our leaders and politics.
- Adopt new approaches in our Dawah strategy and make it more practical, not merely verbal.
- Focus on common social issues and not merely on ‘Muslim community issues’, targeting the government’s policies objectively.
- Reform the Muslims.
- Develop strong communication channels with other communities and like-minded organisations.
While replying to queries, the learned speaker lamented that a major factor behind the BJP’s win in UP and the Maharashtra civil elections was that there was no pragmatic alternative available to the public, given the corrupt and self-obsessed images of other parties in the electoral fray. Quoting Maulana Maudoodi’s Madras address of 1947, he suggested that we should step back from the political arena, let the dust settle down, allow the fascist forces to crumble upon their own edifices and wait for the right opportunity to realise our dream of establishing a society based on truth and justice.