Should Muslims have their own political party?

A couple of weeks ago, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid in New Delhi exhorted Muslims to launch their own political party, as the existing ones are merely using Muslims as a vote bank and not working for the welfare of the community.

But is it really a good idea to have such a party on religious lines?

Though ‘Muslim parties’ such as the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), and the newly started Maharashtra United Democratic Front (MUDF) are already in the fray in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the consensus amongst Muslims themselves seems to be against the idea.

Says Burhauddin Qasmi, president, MUDF, “This time the Muslims have decided to go for elections on their own strength. The Congress is calling us communal but we want a voice and this is the first step.”

Irshad Ilmi, the editor of the Kanpur-based Urdu newspaper, Siyasat Jadid, believes that the concept of the Muslim political party will not work outside Assam where the AUDF is popular. “The community needs to become more active in politics and join mainstream parties and assimilate. You cannot lock the community into a religious straitjacket like this,” he says.

Qasmi and the other Muslim leaders also agree that although this year the Muslims have, out of frustration, fielded their own candidates, this is not the solution for getting them into the political mainstream. Muslims across Maharashtra say there is a crying need for a stronger leadership within the community, for leaders who can take the voice of the common Muslim to the national level.

 “We have been ignored for 40-50 years. We definitely want a pressure group so that Muslims are taken seriously at the national level and their issues handled well.” says Ansari Muktar, head master of Jammat-E-Islam school, Malegaon.

Athar Siddiqui of the Lucknow-based Centre for Objective Research and Development, an organisation which carries out surveys of problems within the Muslim community, holds that Muslims do not have the ability to develop a middle-class leadership. “They are simply not allowed the freedom and space to grow, as they are crushed by both the religious leaders as well as the political parties. This is why Muslims won’t be able to develop a party of their own,” he says.

Ishtrat Siddiqui, founder, Movement for Empowerment of Muslims, a Kanpur-based group, believes that a purely Muslim political party is a bad idea as it would end up polarising polls along communal lines. “I am aware of the fact that in some parts of the country like Assam and some parts of UP an experiment is on in this regard but personally I think that they will fail. The whole concept of representation of Muslims in political parties has been a complete failure,” he says.

Mohammed Anwar Hussain of the Jamiat Ulema I Hind, an organisation of Islamic scholars headquartered in Delhi, is more optimistic. “Muslims are becoming shrewd. They are voting for whoever is promising them development, not community-based agendas. The AUDF in Assam may seem like a Muslim party but it is headed by a secular, deeply-rooted Assamese. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar is popular because of his work. The Shahi Imam is a man confined to a grand old mosque. What would he know of the world outside? How does he claim to represent the community?”

With inputs from Arati Jerath and Malini Nair in Delhi.