Tuesday, April 21, 2015

None Can Dare to Revoke Voting Rights of Muslims

None Can Dare to Revoke Voting Rights of Muslims

By: Khursheed Alam Dawood Qasmi



Unquestionably the sacrifices made by Muslims citizens aren’t less than the sacrifices made by any other citizen of the country in the freedom struggle of India. Following the independence, the Muslims have no fewer roles in India’s development and growth than others. Certainly the patriotism and nationalism of Muslims are above the question. It doesn’t need an evidence to prove as it’s as clear as crystal. Having such fact, Muslims are put on acid test by so-called nationalists very often. Whenever an issue related to Muslim community comes in the light, the so-called nationalists begin to accuse and paint the whole Muslim community with something which they have never done. Accusation isn’t just enough, but even they start spreading poison against the whole community stoking a controversy and putting the communal harmony at the risk. To my utter surprise, even some hatemonger people go ahead to suggest revoking the voting rights of Muslims. Such poisonous statement is made from the self-proclaimed champion of the Hindus rights like the Harvard-educated economic scholar, Mr. Subramanian Swamy and a Rajiya Sabha Member of Parliament of Shiv Sena and Executive Editor of the party mouthpiece, “Saamana”, Mr. Sanjay Raut. On the top, such view is backed and supported by another Member of Parliament like Sakshi Maharaj.

On April 12, The Shiv Sena mouthpiece, “Saamana” daily published an editorial by its Executive Editor, Mr. Sanjay Raut, wherein he writes targeting Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi, a Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad and the whole Muslim community: “If Muslims are only being used this way to play politics, then they can never develop. Muslims will have no future till they are used to play vote bank politics and thus Balasaheb (Ex-Chief of Shive Sena Late Mr. Bala Thackeray) had once said to withdraw Muslims voting rights. What he said is right.”

The “secular masks” of all the so-called secular political parties will be worn out, once their voting rights are withdrawn, the editorial said. Taking a dig at All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi for challenging Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to come to Hyderabad, the editorial said, “Owaisi dares us to come to Hyderabad. But we want to ask him if Hyderabad is in India or in Lahore, Karachi or Peshawar….” “By saving the hiding place of snakes, you cannot kill them. Owaisi and his party are like a snake which, if fed, will do no good to the nation. AIMIM is an old snake,” it said as reported in The Times of India.
           
It seems the arrival of AIMIM at the land of Maharashtra in the last year concluded Assembly Elections had made some people like Mr. Raut frustrated; therefore, whatever is coming at the pen and the tongue, they write and publish without care. In the same editorial Mr. Raut has gone to extend to ask the Muslim Community: “Why do the Muslims need such Owaisies? Why they don’t digest some good leaders who work for the development and prosperity?” It shows that Mr. Raut has not deep knowledge about the Muslims’ political affairs. It’s Muslims who have accepted each and everyone as their political leaders without any pre-condition and question since the freedom struggle. If Muslims would have put pre-condition to accept someone as their leader from the beginning, they would not have been in such worst condition today and Mr. Raut would not have dared to write such poisonous editorial. It should also be noted that only few days back the Shiv Sena suggested Muslims to go to Pakistan for special treatment as Mr. Owaisi talked about reservation to Muslims in Maharashtra.

As for Mr. Owaisi, the all Indian Muslims have not chosen him as their leader, rather he is an elected leader from a parliamentary constituency merely. In spite of that, Indian Muslims know well that it’s Mr. Owaisi among few leaders who fight for the rights and against the injustice meted out to the minority entirely from the road to the Parliament. It’s well-known that Mr. Owaisi is not in the Maharashtra Assembly. Maharashtra Muslims haven’t elected him for Assembly or Parliament. They had and have digested the leaders other than Owaisi. Then why are the situations of the Muslims in the same condition like of other states in India? Why has the BJP-Sena government scrapped just five percent reservation to Muslims in education announced by the previous Congress-NCP government; whereas the same BJP-Sena government has passed a law to grant the quota for Marathas, while it was scrapped by the court?

Mr. Raut isn’t alone to write such piece of write-up, but one can find in the great India few more people like him. On 16th July, 2011, the Harvard-educated economist and ex-President of Janta Party Mr. Subramanian Swamy penned an extremely anti-Muslim article in the DNA expressing his poisonous opinion. He wrote: “We need a collective mindset as Hindus to stand against the Islamic terrorist.... If any Muslim acknowledges his or her Hindu legacy, then we Hindus can accept him or her as a part of the Brihad Hindu Samaj (greater Hindu society) which is Hindustan. Others, who refuse to acknowledge this, or those foreigners who become Indian citizens by registration, can remain in India, but should not have voting rights (which means they cannot be elected representative).”

Asked about Mr. Raut’s editorial published in “Saamana”, Mr. Sakshi Maharaj, Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh said on 12th April in the evening, “I have not gone through his statement.” But he said targeting the Muslim community: “I don’t say Muslims and Christians should be sterilised. But there should be family planning and a uniform law for all. When we talk of four-child issue, there is a lot of hue and cry, and when they have 40 children from four wives no one says anything.” Speaking on the population growth as a major challenge before the country, he said, “There should be family planning. When the country gained independence, the population was only 30 crore. Today it is 130 crore. Who is responsible for it?...There should be one law for everyone be it Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians.”

“Whether for one, two, three or four kids... unless we have a common law for everyone, the country will not benefit...So both the government and the opposition should come together to bring a strict law and those who don’t follow it should be stripped of their voting right,” Mr. Maharaj said as reported by the Rediff.com.

Without making a comment at the above statement of Mr. Maharaj who is famous for his controversial statements, just I would like to mention that he is the very leader who had drawn flak for describing the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse as a “patriot” and was forced to apologise in the Parliament only few month ago. It’s him who was earlier at the centre of a controversy when he asked Hindu women to have at least four-child. The BJP on its part had distanced itself from his remarks. Despite that, Mr. Maharaj isn’t controlling his tongue in issuing such communal statement which can harm communal harmony.

As they are posing such bogus questions to Muslims and presenting such opinions regarding Muslims about revoking the voting rights of Muslims, they can also be questioned, why do they are afraid of someone who raises Muslims’ issues? Who has made them the representatives and advocates of the whole nation to utter such poisonous statements? How do they know that Muslims need just the leaders like Mr. Owaisi? How do they know that Muslims don’t digest any good leader who works for development? How and on what basis if any Muslim refuses to acknowledge his Hindu legacy can remain in India, but shouldn’t have voting rights? On what basis the voting right should be stripped of those who don’t follow family planning? Actually such thoughts and opinions are rubbish to be thrown in the bin.

It’s loud and clear that most of the people will never agree with such statements. In fact such leaders have no any place in the Indian society where people have been staying together without discrimination in the most cases. They are just trying to have media’s attention and unfortunately it’s done by the media group. For the information of such leaders, I do want to mention a fact. When India got freedom and unfortunately partition took place, at that time the Muslims had option either to migrate to newly created Pakistan or remain in India. So, Muslims remained in India being Indian citizens with their choice. Had they wanted, they would have migrated to Pakistan. This was the choice of Muslims, not a chance. They have equal rights in India like any other citizen without discrimination according to the constitution. None can dare to revoke the voting rights of Muslims as it’s granted to each citizen of 18-year old. If a particular political party takes Muslims as a vote bank and it plays vote bank politics with them, then such party should be held responsible for such grave mistake not the Muslim community. As the Muslims are concerned, they don’t need suggestion coming out form the poisonous minds, but they have full right to take their own decisions.

It’s said, once an actress ran out on Chaupati without clothes to hit the news headlines as she had gone into oblivion by the media and post the incident, she remained in news for several weeks, our so-called self-claimed nationalist leaders are like of such crazy actress to have media attention and get the level of national leader by spreading hatred. It’s a fact that they will get nothing except being in the news for some days or months. But it’s also a reality that such people pose danger to the nation. If such thoughts are being appreciated and cherished, India will perish. So, such thoughts and persons must be reformed before the damage is made, otherwise the government will be held responsible for it. ***


(The author is a Darul Uloom, Deoband alumnus and presently teacher of Moon Rays Trust School, Zambia, Africa. He can be reached at qasmikhursheed@yahoo.co.in)

No comments: