Tuesday, March 11, 2014

A 4 year old debate on Congress and political choices for Indian Muslims - Just for a review and reassessment




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Sat, May 14, 2011 at 7:14 PM

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[nrindians] Assam: Newly AIUDF MLAs

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hide details 7:14 PM (18 hours ago)
Assam: Newly AIUDF MLAs
Sl.No.--Names---------------------------Constituency
1. (Hafiz) Rafiqul Islam (Qasmi)----- --- Jania
2. Aminul Islam--------------------------Dhing
3. (Mufti) Abdur Rahman Ajmal-------Salmara South
4. Sheikh Shah Alam --------.------Goalpara West
5. Jahan Uddin---------------------------Dhubri
6. Moin Uddin Ahmed-------------------Jaleswar
7. Ali Hossain-----------------------------Sarukhetri
8. Abdur Rehman Khan------------------Barpeta
9. Monowar Hussain--------------------Goalpara East
10. (Maulana) Ataur Rahman Mazarbhuiya-------Katigora
11. Hafiz Basir Ahmed Qasmi-----------------Bilasipara West
12. Gul Akhtara Begum------------ Bilasipara Eest
13. Abul Kalam Azad---------------Bhabanipur
14. Sherman Ali Ahmed-----------Baghbar
15. Swapan Kar --------- Lumding
16. Mazibur Rahman-------------Rupohihat
17. Gopi Nath Das ---------- Boko
18. Mohammed Sirajuddin Ajmal---Jamunamukh

NB 17 of AIUDF Candidates were second
Total Candidates 75
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Sat, May 14, 2011 at 7:57 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Assam: Newly AIUDF MLAs

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hide details 7:57 PM (17 hours ago)
Congratulations to Maulana Ajmal Badruddin and all his associate for this singular success against heavy odds.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
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Sat, May 14, 2011 at 8:37 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Assam: Newly AIUDF MLAs

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hide details 8:37 PM (17 hours ago) 

While congratulating Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, please don't forget that he was humiliated by none other than Maulana Arshad Madni, president of Jamiatul Ulema-e-Hind. This was one of the classic examples of how we Muslims undermine our own people and leaders. Maulana Badruddin Ajmal was removed as president of Jamiatul Ulema Assam unit in the most humiliating way just before the elections. The one Muslim who must be very upset with Maulana Badruddin Ajmal's spectacular success in Assam is our very own Maulana Arshad Madni. He did everything he could to undercut Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. Listen to this previous interview with Maulana Ajmal on YouTube. It is very painful. wa tu izzu mantasha wa tu zillu mantasha. Did anybody see any reaction from Maulana Arshad Madni in the Urdu media or television? I would love to read it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpimoE7z6nc


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Fri, May 13, 2011 at 5:35 PM

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[nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

  May 13 (2 days ago)

Assam Elections 2011: Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

The Congress said Friday Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi should be credited for steering the party to a third consecutive term in the state.

"I would like to thank the people of Assam, but the credit goes to the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, his style of functioning, his style of governance and his impeccable image. His integrity is widely accepted now," an elated Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said.

"I am extremely happy that Tarun has got a third term," he told NDTV.

In Assam, the Congress was ahead of a divided opposition as the vote count progressed, with Gogoi clearly set for a third term in the state.

Digvijay Singh, who is the party in-charge for Assam, said that although the opposition had levelled various charges against Gogoi, the chief minister had himself handed over all the cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI )) for probe.

"Which other chief minister has done that?" he asked.

On being asked whether Gogoi will become the chief minister for the third consecutive term, Digvijay Singh: "These decisions are taken in the legislature party, so let us leave this to them."


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Fri, May 13, 2011 at 9:01 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

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May 13 (2 days ago)

Assam has 34% Muslim population. AIUDF of Badruddin Ajmal secured 18 seats. A commentator rightly mentioned, Congress could not have piled up such landslide majority without Muslim votes. Congress will never acknowledge that. Even when TIME NOW's Arnab point-blank asked Gogoi how he will deal with AIUDF. In his reply he just ignored to even take the name of AIUDF.

Those who are working to see Muslim get political empowerment, would realise that unless Congress's fraudulent use of Muslim votes to get  majorities, is directly countered, like that in West Bengal against Communists, Muslim will continued to be ignored, sidelined, shortchanged, demonised, ostracised.

Congress game must be exposed with all the power at our command.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

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Fri, May 13, 2011 at 9:40 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh



 May 13 (2 days ago)

Blind anti-Congressism should be avoided at all costs. Gogoi's reaction in the context you have mentioned was more political in nature. We all know that Maulana Badruddin Ajmal hates Gogoi and if Congress had fallen desperately short of majority in Assam the first thing Maulana Ajmal would have asked in return for AUDF support to Congress would have been Gogoi's exit as CM. So there is nothing sinister in Gogoi not mentioning AIUDF. Let us not read what is not written. Let us not suggest what has not been suggested.

As to your other point, Congress may not publicly acknowledge Muslim support but it knows full well that Muslims can, and have indeed in the past (in the Babri aftermath), wreaked political havoc by going against the party. Congress leaders are known for their political astuteness. If they were not astute they would not have plotted such brilliant victories against the BJP in 2004 and 2009. Our priority should be to make the most by consolidating our gains on the educational and political fronts and to ask rather subtly for our share in government.

The other area where we should concentrate is to let our youngsters join Congress in a big way. We should plan ahead and see to it that at least a dozen or so young good and practicing Muslim leaders attract the attention of Rahul Gandhi and other Congress bigwigs. Let these upcoming leaders be groomed by our elders. We will need our men in governance in the next decade. Joining a centrist secular party will make good sense at this juncture. Any takers?

MK
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Fri, May 13, 2011 at 10:28 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

May 13 (2 days ago)

We have been throwing our lots with Congress for last 63 years. In
return, the way they have unleashed communal riots on our communities
all over India, is enough for us, to not get stung by the same
snake-hole again and again.

I can understand some people, who feel security is more important for
Muslims, forced to line up for Congress. But now after Modi's
genocide, Congress will not dare organise similar communal riots
again, even though Gujarat itself has witness similar horrors in
Congress rule in the past.

I am most optimist on the various political parties, promoted by
Muslims in various part of India. The least that will furnish us, is a
class of political practitioners, who have opted for political
careers. They can always regroup, given opportunate moment and become
at least king-maker if not kings.

Since 1875, the Muslim class that had experience and careers in ruling
the country has been taken over by clerks and technicians. This group
cannot lead us to come to power in India. In India, we need Muslims
who are geared to join politics, as full time career.

Of course, there will be Muslims spread out in all professions and
careers. That is not to be regretted. An overall educated population is a
must. However, to optimise our chances for a parallel life with the
oligarch, we have to prepare our people to spread out and try their
luck. Congress can never give them that kind of freedom. The way it
has neutralised our potential leaders, who innocently landed at
Congress doors, is too clear to move in that direction blindfoldedly.

Blind anti-Congressism is the last resort, as all other levels of
interaction with Congress leadership by Muslims have failed miserably.
Congress Brahmins have no repeat no place for Muslim in their ranks.
The earlier we shun Congress and choose alternatives, Congress
hegemony cannot be addressed. And as long as Congress hegemony is
secured, ironically through overwhelming Muslim support, Muslim can
never come up. Unlike BJP, who are upfront with their hatred of
Muslims, Congress is more dangerous as if befriends and betrays.

GM

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Sat, May 14, 2011 at 12:00 AM

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Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh
 
May 14 (2 days ago)

1.      The Congress of Sonia Gandhi and the Congress of Manmohan Singh and the Congress of Rahul Singh and the Congress of Chidambaram and the Congress of Digvijay Singh is very, very different from the Congress of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, and the Congress of Narasimha Rao and the Congress of S.B. Chavan and Sharad Pawar and Arun Nehru. This is a different Congress. We need to differentiate between the Congress of today and the Congress of the past. While the past can be a benchmark it should not and cannot held us hostage forever. Yes, riots were a political tool used and practised skillfully by previous Congress dispensations, especially Mrs Gandhi.

All that was past. Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are good friends of Muslims. So is Digvijay Singh. They have not done anything wrong to invite a rethinking on our part. Yes, we have a problem with a section of the judiciary and the police and the intelligence community that is jaundiced and saffronised ... but then this is the legacy of the BJP and the RSS. Alert Muslim leadership and members of civil society are helping the government to isolate these elements. It is a long-term process. All what I am saying is that the political leadership which is currently ruling India is not against Muslims.

2. You say that Congress has neutralised our leadership. To be fair, we never took Congress seriously. We kept voting for the Congress without asking for anything in return. The riff-raffs among us -- the panwallahs and the rickshawallahs and the clerks -- joined that party. Our intellectuals looked down upon the party. They instead preferred joining Jamaat-e-Islami or Indian Union Muslim League or as in the case of Janab Syed Shahabuddin launching their own party. Having said that let me accept for the sake of argument that Congress sidelined our leaders, then this speaks volumes about the inefficiency of those leaders. Politics is the art of getting the maximum for your constituents. Politics is about diplomatically advancing your goal and achieving it. If we failed we cannot and should not blame others. We should continue with our efforts to create a space for ourselves in the party. It is possible. It is doable provided we have the right people joining the party. If the best among us join Welfare Party or AUDF or IUML or SDPI or MIM, then there is not much scope for us. If Manmohan, a Sardar, can become the prime minister of India there is no reason why a Muslim cannot become a prime minister. If not by 2020 then may be by 2030. Let us not harp on Brahminical hegemony. They are a mere 2 percent and we are 18 percent. However, that 2 percent includes the best of brains and that is why they are successful. Let us create and fill the political space with the best among us, not the riff-raffs please. Yes we will face opposition but we should persevere and not give up. We need IAS and IFS officers but we also need well-groomed and well-spoken conscientious Muslims to represent us in the Congress Cabinet of tomorrow. Think about it. Democracy is our greatest tool for empowerment.

MK
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Sat, May 14, 2011 at 12:21 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

May 14 (1 day ago)

Dear MK Saheb,

We seem to be discussing two entirely different strategies that we think Muslim should follow.

1. You want Muslims to support Congress, giving various reasons.

2. I want Muslims to independently come out with political parties, with the same secular, democratic formula as fine-tuned by Congress, but the helm of affairs have to be in the hands of Muslims.


Why Congress can never do justice to Muslims? And why it should?

Congress is institutionally ruled by a Brahmin oligarchy. Their basic constituent is Hindu vote bank. Muslim votes are marginal, but very important. However, Muslim vote bank and voters are bought up by Congress operators at throw away prices. The main reason for the devaluation of Muslim vote bank is that Muslims have no alternative. We must built up alternatives. If Dalits, Yadavs can form alternative political organisations, by not Muslims? Even if Congress again and again comes at the top, the alternatives give the communities like Dalit, OBC and Muslims a better bargaining power that they will never otherwise have.

(An Indian Express story last week listed AIUDF demands on Congress in case it had to join it in a coalition. Badruddin Ajmal wanted a ministry in the center, among other demands. Can any Muslim group dare to dictat this kind of terms to the arrogant Congress. Muslim should appreciate this new development in Muslim politics. Digvija Singh as a politician, is shrewd enough to give minimum lop service to Muslims and their immediate concerns. All of his interventions on behalf of Muslims, loudly proclaimed as confronting his own Congress Party, had come without any follow through. His pro-Muslim role is a fake posturing. That is very typical of Congress policies in dealing with people.)

Congress secular culture is merely in name. Its heavily weighted by Hindu/Brahmin thinking, aspirations, exclusivity, and historical insecurity at the hands of Muslims.

Congress secular culture is a sham and is used to force Muslims to acquire new watered down identities to fit Congress's essentially Brahmin/Hindu culture. Those with who are not forced to be short-sighted to get along with Congress diktats, will see extreme danger to Muslim identity in 'Secular' India, as long as Congress is allowed to impose its own one-sided interpretation of 'secularism'.

Congress of Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan Singh, chidambaram may be different from Indira Congress. However, the difference is merely of degrees and not of essence. That difference is forced on them by the coalition politics. Once they start getting land-slide majorities, they will again turn arrogant and rough-riding. Corruption will increase manifold. They will get more and more draconian laws passed to crack down on people's dissent. They will loot the budgets for their own vested interest. Currently, through a Muslim leader, Congress is working on Awqaf and Enemy Property --- both meant openly to deprive Muslims any benefits coming to them, even without Congress lifting any finger for Muslims. The real estate boom impact both Awqaf and Enemy Property Act. Congress is moving very swiftly and with great audacity, to plug any loop-hole through which Muslim community may get its hands on some financial bonanza. Will this be called a positive change in Congress from its Indira avatar?

Congress has come out with another eye-wash, with the Sachchar Commission recommendations. The progress is so miniscule in all fields, that it will take another century for Muslims to get any appreciable boost from Sachchar Commission recommendations.

In fact, Muslims are so out of the loop, that Congress cannot help them, even if there are some well-meaning people at the top. The discrimination is institutionalized against Muslims as far as Congress rule is concerned. Muslims will have to leave the clutches of Congress to chalk out their future in democratic India.

A lot can be written on the subject. I will leave it to the readers of this forum to take up further details.

GM
----- ----- -----

zaijaz@hotmail.com

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Ghulam Muhammad Mumbai ,
Mushfiq Khaja

date
Sat, May 14, 2011 at 3:30 PM

subject
RE: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

3:30 PM (23 hours ago)

Dear Ghulam Muhammad sahab
AOA

While I agree with you about the need for the Muslims to join the fray themselves, instead of being exploited as the vote bank by the Congress and other so-called secular political parties, it's easier said than done.  We are so widely and hopelessly scattered all over the country, except for some pockets in UP, Bihar, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, that we are yet to master the numbers game that parliamentary democracy essentially is.   That doesn't mean we should give up our efforts though. The Assam and Kerala examples, not to mention the Majlis experiment in Hyderabad give one hope.  This is why I am all for the Jamaat-e-Islami coming up with the Welfare Party initiative although Jamaat's experience with electoral democracy has been far from successful in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

That said, I am not comfortable with your stand and premise of arguments on the Congress.  While the Congress has repeatedly let down the Muslims and there may be some truth in the Brahmin angle that you often underscore, the party has been equally disloyal to all other communities.  The BJP's rise at the expense of Congress over the past two decades had been driven by the flawed impression that the Congress cares little for the majority community.  So I think we need to be more balanced and reasonable in our approach to the party.  I believe the Congress led by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is different from the one led by Indira Gandhi and Narasimha Rao even though it's yet to deliver on its promises to Muslims.  If the Muslims have returned to Congress in large numbers in many parts of the country, it's essentially because of this sentiment.  Because pitted against the BJP, it still is a healthier alternative. So our battle for the greater representation and say in the nation's affairs must be fought on several fronts, including making our engagement with India's oldest party more fruitful and balanced.

Wassalam
Aijaz Zaka Syed
Dubai
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Sat, May 14, 2011 at 7:37 PM

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Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

7:37 PM (19 hours ago)
On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 3:30 PM,

 GM response to AZS:

Aijaz Zaka Syed wrote:

Dear Ghulam Muhammad sahab
AOA

“While I agree with you about the need for the Muslims to join the fray themselves, instead of being exploited as the vote bank by the Congress and other so-called secular political parties, it's easier said than done.  We are so widely and hopelessly scattered all over the country, except for some pockets in UP, Bihar, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, that we are yet to master the numbers game that parliamentary democracy essentially is.” 

GM: We need not try to tackle the herculean task of uniting Muslims first. We should start with a small pocket and try to dominate it first. Take the cue from Left that concentrated on Kerala and WB. This is one of the strategies, to address our anxieties about OUR numbers. Please do not forget that in a secular polity, we will have to equally depend on other than Muslim votes banks. AIUDF has given tickets to non-Muslims. Muslim Majlis had a longer record of offering tickets to non-Muslims. Even Jamaate Islami's Welfare Party has declared policy to work with all communities and not to become a exclusivist party like the Brahmanical BJP.

In our narrative too, we should start making space for non-Muslims as potential camp followers. Otherwise, we will not be able to achieve the full potential of Muslim initiative.

AZS:
“That doesn't mean we should give up our efforts though. The Assam and Kerala examples, not to mention the Majlis experiment in Hyderabad give one hope.  This is why I am all for the Jamaat-e-Islami coming up with the Welfare Party initiative although Jamaat's experience with electoral democracy has been far from successful in Pakistan and Bangladesh.”

GM : Let us not get discouraged by our past experience politics. There is always a new beginning. Congress is 125 year old party. We cannot come to its standards of success and failure within short time span. Jamaat's Indian experience is heavily tilted in India, towards welfare ---- taking a leaf from Hamas. Turkey's experience too give us insight as how not to become too rigid and uncompromising while dealings in a 'secular' polity.

Jamaat's deeply entrenched moral commitment in politics as well as in social life, will directly offer a better alternative to the monumental corruption that characterizes all current political formations.  

Jamaat's record in Pakistan and Bangladesh suffered from unrealistic assumptions about the state of Pakistan, which turned out to be a mirage. We in India are not disillusioned about where India stands on 'secularism' or religious tolerance. Jamaat here will have an altogether different set of fundamentals to stress while trying to be relevant and serve the people of India of all sections of our polity. The major difference between us and the run of mill politicians will be our constant reference to code of Islamic ethics and morals, generosity and sense of fairness and justice, equality in social interaction. Islam thus has a lot to contribute positively to the present state of affairs in the country that is dragging our society to virtually bestial levels.


AZS: “That said, I am not comfortable with your stand and premise of arguments on the Congress.  While the Congress has repeatedly let down the Muslims and there may be some truth in the Brahmin angle that you often underscore, the party has been equally disloyal to all other communities.  The BJP's rise at the expense of Congress over the past two decades had been driven by the flawed impression that the Congress cares little for the majority community.”

GM: It would appear that you are referring to the compulsion Congress facing in trying to appease to divergent groups, while maintaining a semblance of justice to all. If Congress has been sincere, it would not have resorted to divide and rule manipulations that are the real cause of the present fractured society that it has promoted. Divide and rule had been a British colonial legacy that is not needed in free India, as the need of the British was not to unite the people but tp divide them, so as to rule over them. Congress is a national and nationalist party and not a colonial ruling class that could only survive by dividing people. Congress had failed to evolve a national ethos that could give equal and fair representation to aspirations of all. Instead, with the traditional Brahmin exclusivist hangover working all through the last 63 years, it has remained as a distinct ruling group, that at best keeps throwing crumbs to agitators. Congress Brahmins do not inherit the spirit of generosity and even-handedness from their traditional age-old role in the society. A Brahmin always expects to get something from the society. It is not bound to give back anything to the society, especially in materialist terms. That deeply entrenched high-caste superiority syndrome has virtually kept Congress Brahmin away from identifying with non-Brahmins in a natural way. The established pecking order will not permit it. One hopes Muslims will bring a refreshing change in dealings with their countrymen. It will be easy for them, as they are already reduced to the common denominator in the society.

 AZS: “So I think we need to be more balanced and reasonable in our approach to the party.  I believe the Congress led by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is different from the one led by Indira Gandhi and Narasimha Rao even though it's yet to deliver on its promises to Muslims.  If the Muslims have returned to Congress in large numbers in many parts of the country, it's essentially because of this sentiment.  Because pitted against the BJP, it still is a healthier alternative. So our battle for the greater representation and say in the nation's affairs must be fought on several fronts, including making our engagement with India's oldest party more fruitful and balanced.”

GM : Any large scale return of Muslims to Congress fold, will neither work in favour of Congress as it will only strengthen its corrupt rule, nor for the Muslims, as they could only get their dues by working with their fellow citizen to bring in a paradigm change --- A new Republic  --- A democratic change (if that is not a exercise in futility) --- A revolution on the Gandhian model of non-violence.

Muslims must lead for a change.

 
GM

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date
Sun, May 15, 2011 at 1:00 PM

subject
Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

1:00 PM (1 hour ago)
On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 10:17 PM,

Mushfiq Khaja wrote:

Dear GM Saheb

Yes, we are discussing two different strategies. You are calling for Muslim or Muslim-run secular parties and I am calling for well-educated, well-groomed and highly talented young Muslims to join the Congress of Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Digvijay Singh.

I have enumerated the reasons in my previous mails. You seem to be far too worried and far too concerned about the Brahminical hegemony in Congress. If we Muslims do not join Congress in big numbers at this time then we are simply vacating and even making space for the further stranglehold of Brahmins in this secular party.


GM :Your suggestion that with Muslim joining Congress en mass, should bring in a change in Congress policies, less controlled by Brahmins and more favourable to Muslims. I have 2 observations:

1. We have a long history of Muslims voting en mass for Congress, though more for security reasons being afraid of BJP coming to power ( a partisan propaganda at the minimum) or the carrot of Congress promises which were never kept.

We must first investigate why this betrayal happened. The reason, according to me is that Congress with its history of pre-partition antagonism to Muslims over its freeing of India for a 'Hindu/Brahmin' rule and not giving any quarters to Muslims, lest they overwhelm the 3% Brahmins by their 30% population in British India. Partition was an attempt to 'religious cleansing' of Muslims, so that the Brahmins could rule without fear of any opposition from Muslims. Post-partition, Congress has not changed its basic equation with Muslims. The proof is for the naked eyes to see and not be deceived by political promises and propaganda. Government's own appointed commission reports should help one make correct and unbiased evaluation.

2. Between 3% Brahmins and 15% Muslims, another factor works against Muslims. 3% Brahmins are successful in corralling up to 80% of non-Brahmins with them and thus could claim an overwhelming majority of 85% with them.

[It is another matter that they could get such majorities by directly painting Muslims as outsiders, enemies of India, closet Pakistanis, sons of foreign invaders. All such campaigns are not brought into legal prohibition, as hate crimes.]

The logic within Congress to relegate Muslims to a bottom rung is based on this comparison of 85% to mere 15%.

So the 3% Brahmins are weighted to 85%, while Muslim could hardly go over its own 15%.

This proportionality does work to produce all the twisted and exclusivist policies that Congress party and governments and Brahmin bureaucracy so audaciously stick to. No amount of goodwill by Muslim voters will ever change that.

Only solution is for Muslims to leverage their 15% with other communities like Dalits and OBS, SC/ST, Tribal and other minorities. And that cannot be achieved as long as Muslims remain tied up to Congress apron strings. They will have to go free of Congress bondage, to try their luck as well as their strategies to side with the same array of communities that have boosted Congress majorities.


'making space for the further stranglehold of Brahmins in this secular party' is not a Muslim choice. Brahmins are too entrenched, not merely numerically in key posts, but even with their intellectual and policy contribution to politics and governance.

Sometimes it is better to burn books infested by white ants, then try to salvage them by various ways.


 
MK: Say whatever you want to say about the Congress, it still remains THE major secular party in the country. Our country's politics will revolve around this party for the next decades to come. Muslims have voted for different parties in the past 10-15 years and we have seen how the smaller supposedly secular-regional parties had/have no qualms in joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party. I specifically refer to TDP of Naidu, DMK of Karunanidhi, BSP of Mayawati, Trinamool Congress of Mamta and Janata Dal-United of Nitish Kumar and even the National Conference of the Abdullahs. All these smaller parties have emerged victorious with Muslim vote and have only gone on to strengthening the BJP.


GM: If your most coveted reason to go with Congress is that other smaller parties are more prone to join BJP while Congress being a 'principled' party holding the flag of secularism in India, however much tattered it may be, you should not be blind to the 'cartelisation of Brahmin politics'. It is not an accident that Congress, BJP, Communists, even Dravidian party like AIDMK, is headed and led by Brahmins. We Muslims are not yet aware of the strength of that 'cartelisation' --- not as much as say the Dalits who have struggled long against Brahmins. It is time our thinkers and analysts too study, why Brahminism is the only nemesis of Muslims in India.

As you say and hope that Congress will be around for many many years in India, you must make space for the change the 'Coalition Age' has impacted on Congress and other national parties. Of course Congress will try every trick in the trade to remain on the top, even bringing in AVM that can be managed, we Muslims should have concerns for our future and not that of Congress. Muslim survival should not be tied up with Congress survival. Muslim fought for freedom from British Raj, Muslim must now join others to free India, from the Brahmin Raj.

I hope you will be aware enough to know how much Brahmins are moving towards the US hegemon, to once again render free India to be enslaved by the world's sole superpower.

At one level, Muslim concerns, must not only confined to our own community; we must identify with India, our home, and it’s other people, whose destiny too is tied up with us. We cannot deliberate Muslim prospects, without reference to what is happening around us in wider global perspective.


MK: Regarding Muslim parties, Jamaat-e-Islami has a very limited appeal. Within Jamat people are not convinced. This is basically a venture of two people who nurture political ambitions: Janab Mujtaba Farooq and Janab SQR Ilyas. Senior members of Jamaat, including Maulana Jalaluddin Umri Saheb, are simply not convinced. Politics is not their field and they should have confined themselves to social and educational work which is their forte and where they have done and are doing excellent work. Other communities are suspicious of Jamaat and in such a scenario its message, however secular it is, will not cut ice with other communities. Still I hope and pray that I am proved wrong. Also let it be said that if at all Jamat succeeds anywhere it will only be at the cost of Muslim parties and not Congress. For example, Jamaat may garner good votes in Hyderabad at cost of MIM and good votes in Kerala at the cost of IUML and may be good votes is Assam at the cost of AUDF, etc. So Jamaat will only help cut Muslim votes in a Muslim dominated constituency.

GM: By directly and personally singling out Jamaate Islami officials and putting them down as not capable of promoting and managing a political organization, you are exposing your bias. I am amazed, how much adverse reaction had come out from so many sources, even at the very outset of formation of Welfare Party of India. The more the opposition, the more one's curiosity, as to what Jamaat could hope to achieve that is creating so much threat perception in so many quarters?

You are degrading the Jamaat project as political ambition of 2 people. Today's Sunday TOI carries an article lauding how Maximum Leadership of single leaders has been carrying the entire state behind Mamta, Jayalalitha, Gogoi. Why begrudge 2 people.

As for negation of political role for Jamaat or its affiliates, that is irrelevant in today's India with all its constitutional freedoms; even in Islamic terms, there is no division between religious and political life of a Muslim. Does not the life of our beloved Prophet any relevance in such matters?

Why should Muslims abide by the Western divide between religion and politics. Are we not aware how politics devoid of religious guidance, could degrade into fascism and worst forms of dictatorships. I hope I don't have to bring in Iqbal to bolster my case.

The new team of Welfare Party of India is still testing water. They may pick up questionable practices from the established political parties. But thankfully, they have with them a vibrant group of in-house critics and analysts, unlike other political parties where criticism means oblivion that will keep them on even keel.

MK: A lot is being made of AUDF's victory in Assam. It is a fine victory. No doubt. But then again it is a one-man or one-family party. We can't think of the party without Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. So for Muslims to invest their political capital in such a party may make sense in the shorter term but in the long-term we will have to look somewhere else. Congress. Again this is my personal opinion.

GM: Once again, while one-man/one women party is being now re-evaluated as a measure of strength, as long as it goes, you have put down the success of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. Does that smack of 'blind Congressism' as compared to my supposed 'blind anti-Congressism'?

I would say, after coalition age, a new age of regional identities, will, if properly addressed, will strengthen India's federalism too.

MK: In AP or more specifically Hyderabad, again MIM is a one-family party. The Owaisis run it the way they want to run it. Thankfully, the Owaisi brothers are endowed with good political wisdom and they have always aligned their political fortunes with the Congress and that has been the key factor in that party's continued success. In Kerala, IUML is again a party of the Thangals. Remove them and there remains nothing.

In UP, Ulema Council and other Muslim parties are reactionary parties. They came into being in response to a specific issue. Once that issue has been taken care of then the whole reason for those parties' existence goes away.

GM: Muslim should not worry at this stage in failures of their political ventures. The least that can result is a class of grass-root politicians, with a will to devote their career and live to politics in India. Time was that Muslims after 1857 till recently, were deeply demoralized to even thinking of trying independent initiative in even at local levels to adopt a civic and political career.

MK: Is it not ironical, that now that Communists have lost in West Bengal and Kerala, the rank and file is so demoralised, that a commentator writes in TOI (14/5/11-Is this Left's last chapter in India?):

"Time was when communists aspired for revolution and power. Today they are satisfied writing speeches for CEOs of multinational corporations," said A Farooqi, a former card holding member of CPM, Delhi.


GM: Muslims have been in that demoralised state of hibernation for over 150 years now. Do you want them not to make an effort, however inexperienced, to come out of their state of despondence? 

MK: Congress remains our best option, for now and for the future. This is the only party that still remains committed to India's secular ideals. What happened in the past is past. Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Dijvijay Singh, A.K. Antony are not Brahmins. Let us not create a scare. In any case, Muslims should try and build bridges with the Brahmins. We should be pragmatic and diplomatic. And make the most of a bad situation. Congress is here is stay. Whatever Muslim intellectuals say Muslim masses will remain firmly on the side of Congress. It is time for the best among us, the most talented among us and the young among us to join Congress and assume or at least try to get into leadership position in that party. Articulate and good practicing Muslims will definitely attract the attention of the Congress leadership. There is no way they can put us down. But if we are represented by paanwallhas and rickshawallahs in the party then we will not see our members in tomorrow's Congress Cabinet. If we broaden our horizon and become all-India leaders in that party that will earn us more good will from all sections of society. Why should we Muslims confine ourselves to our own parties? What a proud day it will be to see a smart young Indian Muslim as an HRD minister or I&B minister or Civil Aviation minister or Defense Minister.

GM: I would not like Muslims to abandon Congress en mass. Like Brahmins, we too should remain in all formations and try to lead them.


MK: You see wrong with everything Congress. You say its is not secular. I reiterate that the Congress of today is different from the Congress of tomorrow. You say Digvijay Singh's is fake posturing. You are not happy with anything. If tomorrow Congress announces some sops for Muslims you will see a conspiracy in it. About Waqf Act and Enemy Property Act, we need to be vigilant. If today we had many, many Muslims within the party then there would have been immense pressure on the party to think twice before coming up with such bills.

How wishful can a Congress Muslim be. A single sentence uttered by senior Congressman Abdur Rehman Antulay, about Kerkare's death and he was practically hounded out of the running. He was given Congress ticket but lost due to internal party politics, punishing him for his single mistake of harbouring independent opinion.

Salman Khurshid is handed over Muslim affairs and the Congressman that he is, he is going meticulously stripping Muslim assets so that instead of Muslim prospering, they should be impoverished so that they may never be able to challenge Congress.

MK: In any case, you have made it clear in email that one Muslim minister is behind these sinister acts. Excuse me? Why are we blaming Brahmins then?

With the left disappearing from the political horizon, the chances of the emergence of a Third Front  now looks very remote. We have to be extra careful now as to who we align with. My clear preference is Congress.

We should use the good offices of Congress to advance our political and educational goals. We should join this party in such great numbers that the leadership will never dare take any anti-Muslim stand on anything.

I have already explained about why numbers in Muslim case do not compare with the odds against Muslims.

Learn from the RSS. The moment they realised that BJP is sinking they made a beeline to Congress. All student leaders of BJP are now slowly and gradually trying to enter Congress. We should not be left behind. March on. Let us embrace Congress with full vigour.

GM: If RSS finds a place in Congress, how can Muslims survive in the same camp? If RSS student leaders joining Congress, why not let Congress become another BJP and get sidelined eventually. The current results show where a 'communal' BJP stands in people's estimation. Only a fraudulent 'secular' party can fool the people. But nobody can fool all the people all the time.

MK: When we join Congress nobody blames us for being communal. We are seen as part of the national mainstream. Let the best among us join Congress, not the riff-raffs please. We can keep the riff-raffs in our own Muslim-run parties.

GM: How ironical. Communal Congress giving Muslims a non-communal certificate. Why should Muslim join Congress, just so that they will not be branded communal?

----- ----- ----

szaijaz@hotmail.com

reply-to
nrindians@googlegroups.com

to
Mushfiq Khaja ,
NRI group

date
Sat, May 14, 2011 at 11:53 PM

subject
RE: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

11:53 PM (15 hours ago)

Bravo Mushfiq Khaja sahab...exactly my sentiments!. Even my earlier response about the Congress of Sonia-Manmohan-Rahul being different from that of Indira Gandhi's and Narasimha Rao's was in total agreement with your take, which was apparently sent around the same time. The Congress has a myriad warts and more and I have often written about them.  But let's face it, the party remains the strongest bulwark against the likes of BJP. We cannot afford to ignore its critical role in Indian politics and we should work with it wherever we can, rather than against it, even as we strive to protect our interests.

Best
Aijaz Zaka Syed
----- ----- -----

ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com

to
nrindians@googlegroups.com

date
Sun, May 15, 2011 at 4:00 PM

subject
Re: [nrindians] Credit goes to Gogoi, Says Digvijay Singh

4:00 PM (3 hours ago) 


GM: I recall a couplet by Meer Taqi Meer:

میر کیا سادے ہیں بیمار ہوے جس کے طفیل
اسی عطار کے لونڈے سے دوا لیتے ہیں
 

GM