No country can claim to be a developed state unless and until minorities and weaker sections feel secure and enjoy equal social and constitutional rights as compared to others and contribute to the growth and development of the country as a single unit. It can only become possible if all political parties work towards welfare of the people and compete for equitable development of all castes and religions without any prejudice attached to it.
The talk of doing something good for the minorities by political parties gains ground when election approaches. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, while speaking at the 4th conference of ETV Urdu in Jaipur on 23 June, said that the government is trying to help Muslims move forward on the path of progress and has also reaffirmed that Equal Opportunities Commission for minorities to be set up soon. On the same occasion, president of BJP, Rajnath Singh said that the BJP is not only interested to form the government but also to build the nation which cannot become possible without winning the hearts of the minority community. Let us hope both the parties stand true to their words and work in the same direction and do not play with the sentiments of the people once again only to garner votes.
This time, the BJP too has decided to come out with a Vision Document for Empowerment of Minorities. But a question may be asked as to whether the vision document for minorities is real or imaginary. BJP can only become acceptable alternate for the people if it can truly change its approach towards minority in letter and spirit which is next to impossible if we go by the ideology the party has followed over the years. And if the party is really contemplating to redefine its ideology and political understanding then it could be the best thing to happen in the history of India. The more the competition between two major political parties for the growth and development of minorities the greater will the community prosper. Religious, political and social communalism instigated by political parties will ultimately get suppressed when the pace of development escalates.
The present layout of the BJP has been amply described by Anil Dharkar in his article, “BJP: a party of contradictions” in The Asian Age, on 28 June, where he has written, “In Advani, the BJP had a leader who preached only Hindutva. In Modi, it has a leader who only talks development, but has the stigma of Hindu extremism attached.” Likewise, Advani has become synonym of Babri Masjid demolition, Narendra Modi of 2002 Gujarat riots and BJP as anti-minority. Furthermore, as per report published in the Hindustan Times on 28 June, both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, as evidence gathered by CBI, had prior knowledge of the staged killing of Ishrat Jahan on 15 June 2004.
With all these impressions, can the BJP even think of wooing Muslims? And if the party does so, it would amount to hollow claims only to gain short term political benefits?