Salvation is secular

It is true that there are regional variations, especially wherethe Muslims, along with Christians, enjoy benefits in the shape of liberal admission to institutions and scholarships, or in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi where job opportunities have steadily increased after Urdu earned its rightful status. Signs of progress and prosperity are also visible in some parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Yet the overall picture is disconcerting.

The worrying aspect is that they will remain, unless remedial measures are taken, outside the area of state employment and in the unorganised sector either as workers or as self-employed petty bourgeoisie. This was the principal theme of several conferences held at Delhi8217;s India International Centre in recent weeks.

Much anguish was expressed, over generous helpings of qorma, biryani and nan, over the community8217;s woeful underrepresentation in many sectors of the economy and polity. Most participants bemoaned, as their predecessors have done time and time again, thatopportunities for economic advance are specially blocked for Muslims because of official neglect and discrimination. This, they insisted, has contributed to Muslims being the hewers of wood and drawers of waters8217;.

Around the same time some other individuals and groups, far removed from the plush IIC surroundings, floated the idea of launching not one but several Muslim political parties. Such moves are afoot in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi. Who knows, the bubble may burst sooner than later. If not, this may turn out to be an ominous trend. My fears are based in part on past experiences and, in part, on present-day social and political realities.

Among other things, I recount the fate of the Majlis-i Mushawarat in the 1960s in Uttar Pradesh and the imminent collapse of similar outfits that surfaced thereafter. For one, democratic institutions, though easy to work with, do not always lend themselves to being effectively used or manipulated by religious collectivities.

Second, the Muslim share of thevotes is, all said and done, small in most constituencies, though they can tilt the balance in some. So that, as the sole spokesmen of their co-religionists, Muslim political activists, regardless of their tall claims, have not carried much influence in decision-making processes. Nor have they succeeded in acquiring the profile of the backward caste leaders in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. Here the caste configuration has not only altered the political landscape but also ensured that Muslims play second fiddle to the more dominant caste alignments. Although politicians of all hues would continue to court Muslims for electoral gains, the steady decline of the Congress has, in reality, gradually diminished the value of the Muslim vote8217;.

In effect, Muslim leaders, unless tied with progressive political formations, would remain minor players in any electoral or political arrangement in New Delhi as well as in Lucknow and Patna. What they can do best, more so after the collapse of the Congress hegemony, is to maketheir choices from a large number of secular options available in the political marketplace and hitch their fortunes with the secular combinations.

After all, this strategy has paid off in recent decades, though perhaps not to everybody8217;s satisfaction. To give you an instance, Urdu has earned its rightful place in UP and Bihar, despite the lukewarm approach of the Congress and the stout opposition of the BJP, because of the intervention of leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav. An Urdu university was set up in Hyderabad by the United Front government. Similarly, non-Congress governments in several southern states have initiated various compensatory programmes, including reservation in certain sectors, and lent wholesome support to various community initiatives in education.

The broad-based alliances with secular parties in Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, though periodically strained, have paid rich dividends. The moral of the story is that the Muslim communities, whether fortactical or other tangible reasons, must work out, as they have so often done after independence, cross-community linkages, not community-based ones.

In other words, the secular and democratic regime, rather than the Islamist dimension, must provide the overarching framework to build new political networks. Taking refuge in or drawing sustenance from fundamentalist organisations, some of which are unwittingly perpetuating the community8217;s backwardness through their ill-conceived Islamist agenda, is a recipe for disaster.

Nobody can take exception to the pursuit of one8217;s faith. Nobody can object to Muslims starting schools and colleges, including madarsas, reforming charitable endowment auqaf, improving the status of Muslim women, generating employment and energising the defunct Muslim institutions. After all, such activities have been undertaken by the Al-Ameen Educational Society in Bangalore, the Islamic Foundation in Chennai and the Muslim Education Society in Kerala.

Perhaps, many moregroups would surface elsewhere and learn a lesson or two from the constructive engagements of several Christian missions, the Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission.

Why, then, is it necessary to create an exclusive Muslim political front? I think it is patently foolish and counterproductive to do so. Serious and fundamental issues of poverty, education and social emancipation that afflict the Muslim communities cannot be resolved by flexing one8217;s muscles.