As if three elections within a span of four years were not enough, we have laid the foundations of a forth general election ..

... The UP Muslims in spite of whatever was being said about a change in their attitude and their policy of tactical voting appear to have demonstrated that in respect of gratitude public memory is not so short. They refused to waver in their loyalty to Mulayam Singh ...

... Whatever may have been the impact of Muslim voting in UP and Bihar, the fact remains that Muslims have faded, albeit temporarily, out of political reckoning.

They have failed to count and no one from among their leaders was privy to the strategy formulated by different political parties ... Nor can the Muslims claim that they stand for values and morality in politics. They too have not kept their political ranks clear of muscle men or mafia dons. It is a pity that the kind of moral influence they could have exercised has been conspicuous by its absence.

The dissension and demoralisation in their ranks is evident from the fact that they could not muster courage to press or redressal of their long-standing grievances and to put forward demands for their essential progress ...

... The election results emphatically suggest that (Muslim community) should set its sights afresh. AT this moment a massive attitudinal re-orientation is called for. It has to choose wisely between the two major national parties. Parleys with the BJP, which seems to be in the ascendant, should not be ruled out. The party that declares coalition as its dharma has evidently, under stress of circumstances, mellowed and seems to have forsaken its extremist stance. One wouldn't be surprised if it agrees, for the sake of a political compromise, to preserve (or not to meddle with) the aspects which Muslims have come to consider as crucial to their identity. What we are making bold to suggest ... may be dubbed either as defeatism born of panic, or day-dreaming optimism. Let us explain that there is no occasion for panic. Twelve per cent of India's population - perhaps more - can neither be obliterated nor ignored; irrespective of whether, it is organised or disorganised. We are not suggesting that we jump from the Congress frying pan into the BJP fire. Let us open the communication channels with the Sangh Parivar; let us explore.

Let us remove the taboos and complexes that have outlived their utility. Let us have a dialogue with the BJP. Let us sound them. If we find them intransigent or elusive we can get back to our original position. Try, however we must. The process of ungrooving, re-learning and re-aligning should start. (Source: The Nation and the World, 1 November, 1999)