In a recent article "Do Muslims need a separate political party?" in The Nation and the World Mr. Saiyid Hamid, the eminent educationist and administrator, has argued against the establishment by the Muslims of an 'exclusive religion based political party' on the ground that the Muslim party 'will give a fillip to majority extremism and fanaticism', because it will be seen as a 'move towards separatism' and because of this such a step will also `increase the distance between Muslims and other Indians'. I fully endorse his views and I am convinced that there is no scope for another pre-partition Muslim League in secular India.
Mr. Hamid has put forward the alternative strategy that the Muslims should strengthen the political parties which believe in justice and humanity and endeavour to transcend narrow, religious and linguistic prejudices. Unfortunately, there are no such parties on the Indian political scene today. All parties have well defined social constituencies and to that extent although they espouse the cause of secularism, social justice and welfare of all, they in fact promote or endeavour to promote the narrow interests of their specific social constituency, defined in terms of religion and caste and how warfare they finally lose out to the anti-secular forces.
To say the least, the Muslim intelligentsia and the Muslim masses are both dissatisfied with the secular parties and impatient with their internecine. Mr. Hamid has also suggested a third alternative that the Muslim community should prepare a Common Minimum Programme on issues of concern to Muslims, which should be binding on all Muslims MPs. This raises the questions as to who will frame the CMP and how the Muslim MPs, elected on Party tickets and subject to Party whips, can be bound by such a CMP. How can they take a stand different from the programmes and policies laid down in the Party documents including the Manifestos? So long as the Muslim MPs depend on the goodwill of their Party bosses and so long as they care for advancing their political career they are not capable of taking an independent political line on matters of concern to the community, without a green signal from their party bosses, even if their stand falls within the Constitution and the party ideology. Therefore, this alternative also may not work.
Mr. Hamid has observed that the Muslim Indians and their leaders do not generally deliberate over the problems in a cool and objective mantrer, decide the course of action by application of reason but on the basis of emotions and at times act aggressively rather than persuasively, as a weaker participant particularly a minority should. I agree with him.
Mr. Hamid has argued that unless we remove these basic flaws in the collective character and remove the deficiencies in education and development and unless there is inter-sect and inter-class unity among the Muslims. The Muslims cannot be effective in national politics. And I agree with him but I feel that time and tide wait for no one and the political panorama is changing so fast that we cannot set about correcting our basic flaws, making up deficiencies and mastering a new style of politics and remove all misunderstanding about ourselves, as a pre-condition for our entry into the political arena.
Before I proceed, I must also put on record that the political environment is clouded by wide-spread and persistent misunderstanding about Islam, Muslims and Muslim Indians in the Hindu Indian mind, which is continuously and deliberately nurtured by the Sangh Parivar but which forms the intellectual background, even of the Hindu intelligentsia, irrespective of party affiliation. This obviously limits the acceptability and intolerance towards the Muslim Indians by their compatriots and to that extent cramps the style and extent of the Muslims in role in national politics. But participation they must and effectively, if they wish to survive.
Mr. Hamid has sagaciously argued that Muslim Indians must learn to work together with the Hindu Indians for the moral betterment of all Indians, in consonance with their Islamic faith and value system. This implies that Islamically Muslim Indians have a duty to participate in the affairs of the nation with political will and with readiness to make any sacrifices to achieve the objective of Equality, Justice and Dignity - defined in national and universal terms.
There is a case for a Muslim-based secular party also, if every social group with all its flaws and deficiencies is operating in the political arena through a political party; so can Muslims. This would mean Muslim Indians establishing not a Muslims party but a Muslim-based party with a national and not a communal programme, a party with secular and not theocratic ideology, a party whose field of concern and action shall embrace all the deprived groups, nay, all the people, a party which will endeavour to ensure a fair and equitable share of national resources, goods and services as well as just division of the allocations and fruits of development to all social groups in the country, a party which will not demand special rights for any social group and will oppose dominance of the policy, society and economy by any one either, a party which will be as much against Muslimvad as it is against Brahminvad or Yadavavad or Shudravad and a party which will try to solve the problems faced by the Muslim Indians not in exclusivist terms but in terms of a common solution for all Indians who face the same situation.
For example, it will seek to deal with anti-Muslim violence in terms of common measures to be undertaken by the State to prevent and curb and punish all manifestations of inter-group violence. It will seek to protect the rights of Urdu-speaking people in common terms applicable to all national languages wherever they form a minority group. It shall seek educational and cultural autonomy not only for Muslim Indians but for all religious, linguistic, cultural and ethnic groups, with equal access to the national educational system for all. It will seek the expenditure of development outlays at the grass-root level in a manner so as to benefit all identifiable and conscious social groups at the operational level equally and equitably. It will seek freedom of religion from State intervention except at the request and with the consent of the religious group. It shall strive to maintain the identity of every social group in the country whatever its basis - religion, language or race. Such a party will be truly national and secular. Its doors will be open to all without any distinction and therefore it shall be essentially democratic, development oriented, committed to federalisation, decentralisation and social justice.
But the Muslim Indians will have to provide its backbone, without its being an exclusive Islam based political party, if such a party is to help pull them and other marginalised out of the political and economic quagmire they are in today.
The Insaf Party which I had founded in 1988-89 was a short-lived experiment. The experiment failed because the level of political consciousness in the Muslim masses was not high enough to play 'camouflage' politics. Muslim masses respond generally to Muslim dictum, style and manner in politics. However, ten years have elapsed since then and the real nature of all political parties is visible even to the blind. The Muslims have begin to see how froni time to time they have been exploited as vehicles for the promotion of interests of specified social groups, without may equitable quid pro quo.
The Muslims are today looking for a political alternative: There are only two: either to form a non-political forum at the national level which should be a representative body, command the confidence and trust of the community and be in a position to negotiate with political parties which seek Muslim support without itself participating in elections; or it should be a political party with the characteristics, I have mentioned above.
Indeed, several political parties representing various deprived social groups are also looking for Muslim support but they do not know whom to approach, who can speak on behalf of Muslims and deliver the goods. No individual can but the community organized in the above manner and speaking either through a non-political forum or a political party can. This can lead to the evolution of a social coalition, a winning combination, in the fragmented state of national politics today. - Syed Shahabuddin
