Muslims Celebrate Secular Congress Win

Congress Gets a Free Hand: Congress workers celebrate party's historic victory in New Delhi (Picture courtesy: Hindustan Times)

NEW DELHI — Many Indian Muslims are content with the victory of the Congress-led alliance in the general elections, saying it upholds the country’s secular values.
"It’s a historic moment for us," Nazia Erum, a Muslim student from the capital New Delhi, told IslamOnline.net on Sunday, May 17.
With some results still being counted, the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is winning 260 seats in the 543-seat parliament.
The Congress Party, which leads the alliance, was expected to end up with 200 seats alone, its best performance since 1991.
"Muslims are extremely happy with the election result," Khurshid Ansari, of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), told IOL.
Ansari, whose party is part of the UPA, said Muslims have largely voted for the UPA, in spite of previous speculations that they would be supporting the newly-emerged regional parties.
"Initially, there was a feeling that Muslim political loyalty is compartmentalized into many zones."
In a statement mailed to IOL, the umbrella All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat (AIMMM) welcomed the results.
"The results are to a large extent due to a clear Muslim swing, especially in the north," it stressed.
There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, the world's third-largest Muslim population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan.
The month-long, five-stage election was of special importance for Muslims who have long complained of being discriminated against in all walks of life.

Secularism

Like many Muslims, Erum believes that the Congress's win was a victory for secularism.
"Despite its flaws, Congress is the only party whose pendulum swings very close to the idea of secularism."
Ansari, the NCP official, agrees.
"It has become abundantly clear that Muslims have voted for secular parties especially the UPA."
AIMMM President Zafarul-Islam Khan says that while Muslim voters have long rejected the divisive politics of Hindu nationalist parties, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the UPA secular agenda offered a much better alternative.
He noted that Muslims’ lean towards the Congress party comes for the first time since the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992.
Many of India's Muslims have voted for the Congress in the first five general elections after independence in 1947.
But the demolition of the 464-year Babri mosque in Ayodhya by militant Hindus and the Congress government’s reluctance to use force to protect the mosque was a turning point in relations between the Congress and the Muslim community.
The incident has since drained the Congress of the Muslim community's support.
Maulana Abdul Hameed Azhari, a scholar, says Muslim candidates did not fare well in the election because of a double standard of secularism.
"We feel that people expect us to prove our secularism but other people are not required to prove their secularism," he told IOL.
"When there is a non-Muslim candidate, Muslims vote for him."
Apart from the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) and the Muslim League of Kerala, dozen-odd Islamic parties did not do well in the election.
Azhari asserts that any candidate should be voted on the basis of his/her agenda rather than religion.
"Proportionate representation was our right and we should have got it."

Popular Singh

Others believe secularism was not the only reason Muslims voted for the UPA.
"The UPA has won not because of the Congress but because of the charismatic personality of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Mufti Mohammed Ismail, president of Indian Muslim Congress Party, told IOL.
The election victory means a second term for Singh, whose calm, pragmatic persona appealed to voters looking for political stability.
Ismail says the 77-year-old premier appeals to Muslims because he knows how it feels being from a religious minority in Hindu-majority India.
"The Congress understands the sentiments of minorities because Manmohan Singh comes from Sikh minority."
Singh has long called for Muslims to be given top priority within the development matrix of the country, drawing fierce criticism from Hindu nationalists.
He has appointed a high level Committee, known as the Rajinder Sachar committee, to investigate the social, economic and educational status of Muslims.
Singh has declared a 15-point welfare program to address Muslims grievances, especially in education.
Ismail maintains that although the Congress has miserably failed to implement the 2006 Sachar report, still Muslims have faith in Congress because of Singh.
"UPA has not done much to implement the recommendations of Sachar Committee report but Manmohan Singh’s 15-point program is one of the key-reasons that Muslims voted for the Congress on national level."
IslamOnline.net May 17 2009

The Question of Palestine

Map of Palestine: Law of diminishing returns!

The siege will last in order to convince us that we must choose an enslavement that does no harm in fullest liberty.

(Late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish)

As Palestinians mark Nakba, the catastrophe, signifying the 61st anniversary of occupation of Palestine by the Jewish state of Israel, a question needs to be asked: Is 61 years of Palestinian suffering akin to the holocaust suffered by Jews? In the above question lies the irony of Israel; a nation carved out by the oppressed has become a nation of oppressors.

Theodore Herzel, a journalist, is the father of modern Zionism who toured the world extensively to propagate the idea of a nation for Jews. He worked hard in a mission to explore the possibility of establishing a state for Jews in Palestine. He promoted Zionism through his writings on the international stage. In June 1896, he met the Abdul Hamed II, 34th Sultan of Ottoman Empire in Istanbul, to convince him that Palestine should be handed over to Zionists. But Sultan refused to cede Palestine to Zionists and said,

“If one day the Islamic State falls apart then you can have Palestine for free, but as long as I am alive I would rather have my flesh be cut up than cut out Palestine from the Muslim land.”

In 1898, after meeting with German Kaiser Wilham II, Herzel wrote about Palestine,

“a perfect beautiful woman, fulfill all our requirements but married.”

The words of Abdul Hamid II came true when Ottoman Empire crumbled in 1918, nine years after his death. Abdul Hamid was the last Ottoman Sultan to rule with absolute power. Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 is seen by many historians as a turning point in Western Arab relations. According to one of the terms of the agreement, Arabs were promised a “national homeland” through T.E. Lawrence for their support to the British forces against the Ottoman army. British never kept their word. In fact, they negated this promise by issuing Balfour Declaration in 1917 promising “a national home for the Jewish people.” The declaration read,

“His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

The Arabs and Christians of Palestine together disapproved of any such move arguing that it could have serious political consequences.

The seed of Israel as planted by Theodore Herzel was watered by fervent Zionist Winston Churcill, who went on to become Prime Minister of United Kingdom in 1940. The seed took shape of a full-fledged tree on November 29, 1948 when United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish territories. Out of 56 members, 33 voted in favour, 13 against and 10 chose to abstain.

Thus was born the Jewish state of Israel in 1948; 44 years after the death of Theodore Herzel.

The tide of history turned against the Arabs and Muslims once again but Muslims all across the world should not be disheartened. Islamic concept of power can be summed up in three words: rise, fall and renewal. Muslims all across the world are undergoing the second phase of Islamic concept of power. Muslims have ruled Palestine from 630 CE to 1918 with a brief Christian rule lasting only 88 years (1099 to 1187).

With the creation of Israel in 1948, 7 lakh Palestinians became refugees. Dispossessed Palestinians were substituted with Jews who come from different parts of the world carrying knives, guns and explosives against the civilian population. A religious propaganda and allegations based on the myth and the falsification of history and heritage, to form that particular ideological falsehoods peddled by the Zionists provide energy to achieve the necessary human colonial project on the land of Palestine.

In the last 61 years Palestine-Israel conflict, Jewish state has annexed thousands of acres of cultivable land and now it almost holds 78% of Palestine.

It is in this context that Nakba must been seen. Commemorating the anniversary of Nakba, is not merely an occasion to remember those who experienced bleeding, homelessness and fear, killed, burned and jailed throughout the sixty one years, but to raise the voices of millions who refuse to accept the basis on which Israel was created as a state. It is a rejection of the project called a “Jewish state “and a determination for the right of return of the Palestinian people to their homeland.

The tragedy which started with the expulsion of 7 lakh Palestinians now affects the plight of at least 10.5 million Palestinians all across the globe. It is a catastrophe, the largest and the most heinous crime committed against a nation. It is against right and reason, human rights and freedom of people.

When Arabs took the initiative of peace in 2002 Arab Summit in Beirut, they demanded that Israel must go back to June 1967 line of control. There must be an establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem at its capital and right of return of Palestinian refugees as per United Nations Security Council resolution 194. All of this was rejected by Israel.

What more, all these years Israel has secretly continued “Judaization” of Al-Quds (Jerusalem). It is not only Palestinians Muslims who have no access to religious sites but also Palestinians Christians are not allowed to visit their holy shrines.

Everybody knows the role United States has played in Israel-Palestine conflict. Will there be a tilt in President Obama’s administration? Going by the recent news item, one thinks Obama is surely going to change US policy although it may not amount to radical change. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s first planned meeting with President Obama has been called off. Netanyahu was keen to capitalize on his attendance at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington to visit the White House but officials have ruled out any meeting because President will not be “in town.” Experts speculate that Obama would not like to continue the Bush legacy of hosting Israeli prime ministers sometimes with just a phone call’s notice!

Jews have always enjoyed special favour under Muslim rule. When Umar, second caliph of Islam entered Jerusalem on foot, he did an agreement stipulating the rights and obligations of all non-Muslims in the holy land of Palestine. Jews were permitted to return to Palestine for the first time since the 500-year ban enacted by the Romans and maintained by Byzantine rulers. The same tradition was followed by was followed by Harun al-Rashid (786-809) who established the Christian Pilgrims’ Inn in Jerusalem, fulfilling Umar’s pledge to Bishop Sophronious to allow freedom of religion and access to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims.

Jews have forgotten the humane angle of the Muslim rule. How can a people who have witnessed holocaust in the hands of Adolf Hitler tolerate the same kind of madness being leashed by their own government on hapless Palestinians?

Sunday Inquilab, May 17, 2009

India Muslims Aspire for Al-Quds

Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem: Third holiest site in Islam

MUMBAI — More than six decades after Israel's creation on the rubble of Palestine, Indian Muslims are remembering the predicament of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) and Al-Aqsa Mosque under the yoke of Israeli occupation.
"How should I describe the pain of occupied Jerusalem and Palestine? It is ingrained deeply in collective Muslim sub-consciousness," S. S. Shaikh told IslamOnline.net on Thursday, May 14.
"My inner self desires to visit the holy land of Jerusalem. It is connected to my soul."
Israel captured and occupied Al-Quds in the six-day 1967 war, then annexed it in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.
The city is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine, and represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Shaikh said Al-Quds binds Muslims the world over together.
"There is a strong invisible bond. It cannot be seen by the naked eye," he said.
"Nakba runs deep in Muslim consciousness. Indian Muslims are naturally moved by the very mention of Jerusalem and Palestine."
On April 18, 1948, Palestinian Tiberius was captured by Menachem Begin's Irgun militant group, putting its 5,500 Palestinian residents in flight. On April 22, Haifa fell to the Zionist militants and 70,000 Palestinians fled.
On April 25, Irgun began bombarding civilian sectors of Jaffa, terrifying the 750,000 inhabitants into panicky flight.
On May 14, the day before the creation of Israel, Jaffa completely surrendered to the better-equipped Zionist militants and only 4,500 of its population remained.

Israel's Brutality

Indian Muslims lament that Palestinians are still unable to have their own state six decades after Israel's creation on the rubble of Palestine.
"Palestinians should be given their land. It is their birthright. It is their human right," said Burhanuddin Qasmi, editor of Eastern Crescent, a Muslim monthly magazine, and spokesman for Maharashtra United Democratic Front.
"Israeli occupation is barbaric. It is against the humanity. Israel is against United Nation's human charter."
Many Muslims grieve that brutal Israeli practices against the Palestinians have never been punished.
"There is complete a disregard for world opinion," Mustafa Khan, a retired professor, told IOL.
"Israel has got this impunity because of America. If America does not support, Israel will be most likely prosecuted in any world court."
Israeli troops killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and wounded 5,450 in 22 days of attacks in Gaza in January.
The United Nations and several human rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes during the Gaza war.
"The greatest need, we feel in our country, is that Palestinians should be helped. But one way of helping is legal prosecution at the international criminal court and Israel must be brought to book," said Khan.
"An international platform is the best way to promote legal prosecution. India is an ideal place to launch this movement because of its active civil society."

Shift

Many Indian Muslims regret the complete U-turn of Indian position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"Initially Indian government was pro-Palestinian and aligned with the Palestinian cause," Shameem Tariq, a Mumbai-based research scholar, said.
"Things radically changed during Narasimha Rao government," he said, referring to the country's 12th prime minister.
"Ever since then, we have a very strong Jewish lobby in India which has done much harm to the Palestinian cause."
A founder of the Non-Alignment Movement, India had been a staunch supporter to Arab issues.
But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Indian-Israeli relations have seen a U-turn.
In 1992, full diplomatic relations were set up between the two countries and since then bilateral relations have grown exceedingly.
Indian-Israeli relations have further blossomed under the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
"A new kind of situation developed in India where the right-wing parties like BJP and the RSS came to the fore," Khan, the retired professor, said.
"They believed that Israel and America are much closer to us in terms of cultural affinity."
"Therefore their help of Israel became all the more important," he said.
To put a brake on the booming Indian-Israeli rapprochement, a group of Indian parties and NGOs have formed a forum to draw support to the Palestinian cause.
"One of the primary objectives was to pressurize and thus influence the Government of India to follow a policy that clearly espouses the Palestinian cause," Feroze Mithiborewala, the head of the Awami Bharat party, told IOL.
"Our Palestine People's Solidarity Forum will campaign for a more proactive and concerted action on the part of the Indian government for solidarity with Palestine and demand an end to India's diplomatic and strategic ties with Apartheid Israel, as we did in the case of South Africa."
IslamOnline.net May 15 2009

India’s Obama Inspires Muslims

Mayawati: The Big sister

NEW DELHI— Just as the election of Barack Obama for African Americans, the rise of Mayawati, India’s star woman politician, from the lowest rung of the social hierarchy is bringing hope of change for Indian Muslims.
"This Maya is no illusion," M.J. Akbar, a veteran journalist and former lawmaker, told IslamOnline.net, referring to the nickname Mayawati is known with among Indians.
"Maya is heaving against prejudice that has congealed over many thousands of years."
Mayawati, chief minister of India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh and leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), is a daughter of "Dalits," the lowest rung of the Hindu social caste system commonly known as the "untouchables."
But the woman, whose party is now a front runner in at least 10 states across India, is an inspiration for Muslims as well as millions of India's lower-caste people.
Akbar compares Mayawati to Obama citing her once unlikely rise from the margins and her extraordinary political skills.
"The Dalits are the blacks of India…and Mayawati is their Obama."
Mayawati became a national figure in 2007 after her party won a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh state election.
"She has proved herself to be a leader of the people who she has chosen to represent," says Zohra Javed, a political activist.
The Dalits, meaning broken people, have long endured the prejudice and discrimination of India's caste system which separates people into Brahmin priests, warriors, farmers, laborers, and those beyond definition including, the Dalits.
Though caste discrimination is outlawed, many of the 180 million Dalits, who make up one-sixth of India's 1.1 billion population, insist bias against them persists.

Inclusive

Shafeeque Ansari, a Muslim businessman, believes Mayawati represents millions from the lower and marginalized sections of India from all religions and castes.
"The rise of a regional leader like Mayawati symbolizes the empowerment of India’s marginalized lot."
For many Muslims, Mayawati brings hopes for more inclusive politics to engage their own long-marginalized community.
In the 2007 state elections, she fielded more Muslim candidates than ever before.
"In the Uttar Pradesh elections, Maya fielded 403 BSP candidates. Of these 61 were Muslims," Seema Mustafa, editor of India’s only political fortnightly magazine Covert, told IOL.
"Thirty Muslims won."
In the ongoing, month-long parliamentary elections, Mayawati’s BSP is fielding more Muslim candidates than any other party, including the ruling Congress and the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mayawati's unique character, being a woman who knows about the plight of discrimination, and her vows to end religious divide in Hindu-majority India is also appealing to many others.
"She has been able to add a slice of the minority vote bank to her kitty too," notes Javed.
"Being a Muslim I would certainly want someone who would look sympathetically into the problems my community is facing."
Indian Muslims, who account for more than for 13 percent of the total population, have long complained of being discriminated against in all walks of life.
Christians make up less than three percent and minorities such as Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis account for nearly four percent.

Premiership

Mayawati's spectacular rise left many predicting that she might do like Obama by rising to the top post in the country after the general polls.
"A woman and a Dalit, somebody from a doubly disadvantaged group, becoming our Prime Minister would definitely be a sign that India has matured as a democracy," Sharifa Siddiqui, a Muslim civil rights activist, told IOL.
"It means we have cocked a snook at the US in terms of choosing a leader from groups other than the traditionally elitist groups."
Mayawati’s party is part of the newly-formed Third Front, a coalition of 10 regional parties, which has 84 out of the 543 seats in parliament.
Third Front is taken seriously by many, especially those hoping for a non-Congress, non-BJP prime minister.
"The old cartelization of Indian politics, monopolized by high-caste leadership, is giving way to a new set of players from the lower strata of Indian polity," argues Ghulam Muhammed, a political analyst.
But many doubt that the Barack Obama scenario can be repeated in caste-based India.
Javed, the political activist, believes that a premier Mayawati is easier said than done.
Though he is a strong supporter of the BSP leader, Ansari, the businessman, also shrugs off the possibility of premier Mayawati as unrealistic.
"To suggest her as a prime minister is akin to daydreaming."
But Akbar, the veteran journalist and former MP, says nothing is impossible in politics.
"All options are possible. The turbulence and direction of change can never be certain."
IslamOnline.net May 3 2009

Indian Democracy: Need for a radical change

Two elderly ladies going to cast their vote in Madhya Pradesh

Now that the electoral dust seems to have settled in Maharashtra with the end of phase III, it’s time we turn our attention to some serious issues plaguing politics, voting and democracy.

The average Indian still does not understand the power of voting. He thinks that a single vote is not going to make much difference because rarely does in India a single vote decide the fate of aspiring politicians. Not many Indians would have heard of Saifuddin Soz whose single vote toppled Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government in 1999. The average Indian voter interprets national politics through the narrow prism of his individual problem. He forgets that his micro problem is part and parcel of India’s macro problem. He is fed of the same old politicians making same old promises. He thinks the only way out is to skip voting. In some areas including Sonia Gandhi’s Amethi constituency, people have boycotted polls. Boycott is a legitimate tool of protest in a democracy but poll boycott is not driven by mere hopelessness alone; it is fuelled by illiteracy. The Indian voter has started believing in the saying ‘If voting changed anything, they would make it illegal’. The only way to remove this erroneous perception is by mass awareness regarding the power of just one vote.

A careful reading of history reveals that one vote has changed fate of many nations across the world. Indians have forgotten that Adolf Hitler became president of Nazi party of Germany in 1934 just because of one vote. Indian Muslims seem to have forgotten this but Jews still remember it. It was the power of just one vote that caused the execution of Charles I, King of England, in 1649. It was just because of one vote that France became a republic from monarchy in 1875. It was because of a single vote that Texas became part of United States in 1845. It was one vote that saved Andrew Johnson, 17th President of America from impeachment in 1868. One vote per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon, rather than John Kennedy, President of America in 1960. And finally it was the power of one vote that brought down Atal Bihari government in 1999. Indian Muslims must remember these historical instances because those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

Given the importance of just one vote, should voting be made mandatory?

Making it mandatory may have some merits; like people would be compelled to vote out of no choice. But it has some demerits as well. Indian democracy would edge towards authoritarianism. Only on two conditions voting must be made mandatory. Firstly there must be inclusion of the concept of negative voting like negative marking in competitive exams. Secondly, there should be an option where a voter can press the button ‘none of the above’. In simple words, he can register his protest that he does not find any of the candidates suitable for the job of representation. If this option gets the maximum number of votes, there should be a reelection in the concerned constituency.

This provision will certainly empower an ordinary voter who feels let down by politicians all the time.

Now to balance our argument we must ask this question: how should we deal with political parties and politicians who go on making lengthy promises which read like a scroll of honour?
Political manifestos are inaugurated with much fanfare; but once the parties form government, it goes in the dustbin of history. Can we apply some provision of Indian Contract Act, 1872? Can political manifestos be accorded the status of a civil contract? In simple words, the contents of a manifesto should be treated like an offer; a proposal made with the intention to fulfill it. Anybody who votes for a particular party would be accepting the proposal laid down in the manifesto. Once such a ‘contract’ takes place, it should be enforceable in a court of law! Voters will have the right to implement the contents of political manifestos!

Some might term this as impractical political romanticism; but something urgently needs to be done in this regard because politicians take voters for granted. The current voting system does not encourage voters because he can’t do anything after pressing the voting button. Arundhati Roy had raised this issue in an interview once. She had said, “The stupid thing about democracy is that you go into the voting booth and push the button and you have fulfilled your duty. Now for the next five years you can sit back and allow your candidate whatever he wants.”

These matters are of serious nature and in the interests of the voters. Whoever comes to power at Centre, these issues must be raised, discussed and debated in Indian parliament because essence of democracy lies in welfare of the people.

The mood of the voter in the ongoing election can be summed up thus: Don’t vote for the best candidate, vote for the candidate who will do the least harm!

India Muslim District Votes for Attention

Kishanganj - India's largest Muslim constituency

KISHANGANJ — While religious and communal lines usually mark election battles across Hindu-majority India, development is the key word in the northernmost district of Kishanganj, India’s largest Muslim constituency.
"What we need here is an educational movement," Mohamed Mudassir Alam, one of the residents, told IslamOnline.net on Thursday, April 30.
"Education is directly linked to development," noted the 27-year-old Muslim.
Voting in the third of five stages of the India's marathon general elections got underway on Thursday in many regions, including the Muslim-dominant constituency of Kishanganj in the northern state of Bihar.
Kishanganj has about 1.2 million eligible voters, among some 144 million voters in the Asian giant nation.
here are 16 candidates contesting the polls in the constituency, with two front runners from the ruling Congress party and the National People's Party (RJD).
Many of Kishanganj residents will be giving their votes to the candidate who gives more priority to development programs.
Realizing that, competing candidates have shunned religious and ethnic rhetoric, largely employed by candidates across the country, and promised to implement social and economic projects if elected.
"Each one of the candidates is playing the development card to woo the voters," a government official told IOL.
"The people of Kishanganj are not communal. This election is fought on the issue of development."
The election results are due on May 16, and no party is expected to win a clear majority with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) going head-to-head in many areas.
Ignored

Like his main contenders, Maulana Asrar ul Haque, the Congress candidate, pledges swift development reforms if elected.
"By not connecting adjoining villages to Kishanganj through roads and bridges, Public representatives have thrown Kishanganj into an abyss of darkness," he told IOL.
Lush-green Kishanganj, where Muslims constitute almost 80 percent of the population, is known as the most backward district in the country.
Many residents have migrated lately because of the lack of employment opportunities and the large scale poverty and malnutrition.
Kishanganj is also known as the region with the least female literacy in the country.
"Only 30% of the total population is literate here."
Many Muslims believe that Kishanganj has been a victim of institutionalized bias like many other Muslim-dominant areas.
"The area has its special place on the country’s map due to its closeness to international borders with Bangladesh and Nepal," notes Alam.
"But sadly, despite its important position… the area never got proper attention from the state or the central government."
He has stopped believing in politician's promises.
"Only Muslims have been elected from this constituency but still it lags behind in almost all walks of life," he fumes.
"They have connived with the government in order to continue their lavish lifestyle."
But Imran Aslam, another resident, has not lost all hope in politicians to give attention to their much ignored district.
He supports the Congress candidate and hopes this time promises would not end up as empty words.
"We need change. At least Kishanganj desperately needs change."
IslamOnline April 30 2009

India Muslims See Hope in Regional Parties

An old Muslim lady going to cast her vote in Malegaon on April 23

MUMBAI — Fed up of the alienating politics of the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Congress, Muslims are seeing a glimmer of hope in the more reconciliatory regional parties, seen by experts as a potential threat to the traditional powers.
"Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin. We need a new coin," Ravish Zaidi, a political activist from the financial hub Mumbai, told IslamOnline.net.
"For a change anything different would do."
Coalitions of small regional parties have emerged on the political landscape lately, with the aim of ending the monopoly of the BJP and Congress.
The Third Front, a coalition of ten regional parties from various ideological backgrounds united under the banner of offering a new political alternative, was launched in March at a massive rally in the southern state of Karnataka.
The Fourth Front, another coalition of three regional parties, also came to surface earlier.
For many Muslims, the rise of regional parties offers a chance to challenge the reign of the Congress and the ultra-Hindu BJP, whose politics have long alienated India's some 140 million Muslims.
"I am fed of Congress and BJP," says Zaidi.
Muslims also credit the pro-poor, pro-women and pro-minorities regional parties for reaching out to them, something they complain the main political parties never did.
In Mumbai alone, the Third Front is fielding two Muslim candidates in the ongoing, month-long general elections, while the ruling Congress has none.
"For sixty years, the Congress has exploited Muslim sentiments," Maulana Hameed Azhari, a Muslim scholar who campaigns for the Fourth Front, told IOL.
"In this election, a major chunk of Muslim vote will move away from Congress and vote for smaller regional parties."
A five-stage polling to elect a new Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament, began on April 16 and ends in mid-May.

Threat

Analysts believe the new regional alliances are the result of the national parties’ arrogant policies.
"Third Front and Fourth Front are a phenomenon because of the Congress arrogance," M.J. Akbar, a veteran journalist and former lawmaker, told IOL.
He explained that a few months ago the Congress, the main faction of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), refused to make any pre-poll fronts.
"[This] paved the way for the formation of Third and Fourth Front."
Analysts believe the new regional alliances pose a serious threat to both the Congress and the BJP in the parliamentary election.
"Regional and potential Third Front partners are increasingly going independent," notes Ghulam Muhammed, a political analyst.
"[They] are loath to give space for the two national parties to attain their high count of seats, to be able to lead any coalition."
Akbar, once a spokesman for late premier Rajiv Gandhi, agrees.
"The Third Front and the Fourth Front may not agree on much," he noted.
"But… if they get together to patch a post-poll alliance, they will not accept a Congress Prime Minister."
IslamOnline.net April 26 2009

Master, Queen and Slave

When Queen met the 'Slave': Sonia Gandhi with L.K. Advani

Is the Congress only party which works on the basis of master-servant relationship? Sonia Maino Gandhi has challenged that assumption by breaking the sound of silence. All these years, her long and stoic silence was being considered as a sign of acquiescence. Sonia has proved that she is indeed the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi, who dealt her opponents with an iron fist.

So, is Lal Krishna Advani, a slave of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as Sonia Gandhi has termed at a poll rally in Margao? Anybody who is aware of India’s political history will bear witness that L.K. Advani has indeed been a ‘slave’ of the RSS. There is nothing new in this utterance but yet it will find a unique place in the political history. Sonia’s lips have given it Congress affiliation. The vacuum left behind by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has finally found an echo in the voice of his grand daughter-in-law!

If Congress is a budiya (old lady) then RSS is by no means a gudiya (doll). Congress was born in 1885, an old political party indeed. RSS breathed life in 1925. If one applies Narendra Modi logic, RSS too will fall under the category of budiya! What more, this ‘budiya’ has given birth to ‘gudiyas’ legitimate as well as illegitimate. BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal can claim to be legitimate while Abhinav Bharat, Ram Sene will be ‘branded’ as illegitimate although both have been begotten by RSS, the gudiya-in-chief of Sangh Parivar!

RSS was founded in September 1925 at Nagpur on Dussehra day by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a medical doctor. Hedgewar was a disciple of Balkrishna Moonje who had sent him to Calcutta in 1910 to pursue medical studies. His unofficial mission was to learn terrorist techniques from the Bengal secret societies. He joined Congress after returning to Nagpur, following in his mentor’s footsteps. Both the master and servant were “disenchanted” with the Congress soon.

In their book The Brotherhood in Saffron, Walter K. Anderson and Shridhar D. Damle record how Hedgewar began to lay intellectual foundations of RSS at a time of escalating Hind-Muslim animosity in Nagpur. They write,

“Hedgewar began to develop the intellectual foundations of the RSS. A major influence on his thinking was a handwritten manuscript Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s Hindutva, which advanced the thesis that the Hindus were a nation. The central propositions of Savarkar’s manuscript are that Hindus are the indigenous people of the continent and that they form a single national group.”

RSS was succeeded by Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar after the death of Hedgewar on June 21, 1940. RSS did grow under his leadership but yet remained on the margins of Indian politics. It was known as a militant Hindu group notorious for its role in communal riots.

An understanding was reached between Golwalkar and the Hindu Mahasabha leader S.P. Mookerjee which led to the formation of the political arm of RSS, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh on October 21, 1951. Jana Sangh merged into Janata Party in 1977. After the fall of the government in 1979, Jana Sangh broke away with Janata Party and renamed it as The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 5, 1980.

After the shameful defeat of BJP in 1984 general election, BJP was given a new lease of life by Rajiv Gandhi government when it opened the locks at the gates of Babri Masjid in February 1986. BJP adopted a resolution on Ayodhya on June 11, 1989 at Palampur which demanded that “the sentiments of the overwhelming majority in this country – the Hindus be respected and the site in dispute must be handed over to the Hindus and a mosque built at some other place.” The resolution did not specify what will happen to the Babri Masjid; it was demonstrated only on December 6, 1992.

Construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya is one of the first demands of a ‘cultural’ and ‘fascist’ RSS ‘budiya’. BJP is the 29-year old ‘gudiya’ of the same ‘budiya’!

RSS, as it claims, is apolitical cultural organisation but it has floated its political arm in the form of BJP! The BJP policy has always been dominated and influenced by RSS agenda. Immediately after Palampur resolution, L.K. Advani said, “I am sure it will translate into votes.” After the November 1989 election, he expressed satisfaction that the issue had contributed to the success of BJP. In 1991 election, Advani was confident that Ram Temple movement will influence voters. On June 18, 1991 he proudly said,

“Had I not played the Ram factor effectively, I would have definitely lost from the New Delhi constituency.”

And immediately after the demolition of the Babri Masjid and subsequent riots that followed, he wrote that if the Muslims were to identify themselves with the concept of Hindutva there would not be any reasons for riots to take place. In July 1992, he argued in Lok Sabha speaker’s chamber:

“You must recognise the fact that from two seats in Parliament in 1985 we have come to 117 seats in 1991. This has happened primarily because we took up this issue (Ayodhya).”

From 1999 to 2004, BJP had convened many meetings just to convince the RSS top brass their helplessness over Ram temple because numbers in parliament didn’t add up to pass legislation for the same. Anderson and Damle put it thus,

“It is questionable if the BJP could survive politically without the RSS cadre, and the cadre will not stay unless the leadership of the party stays firmly in the hands of the ‘brotherhood’.”

The Italian scholar Marzia Casolari has documented, on the basis of archival evidence, the RSS’s links with and admiration for Mussolini’s fascist regime.

Doesn’t this brief Advani pattern resemble that of a slave of the master? The sole job of a slave is to serve the interests of his master no matter how despicable and abominable the assigned job is. All through his life Advani has tried his best to please the RSS top brass.

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who once proudly said – the Sangh is my soul – had worked hard to woo Sanghis. On his visit to Nagpur on August 27, 2000, he had literally surrendered the post of prime minister to a swayamsevak. He had said,

“The post of (prime minister) may go tomorrow, but I will always remain a humble swayamsevak.”

Sonia Gandhi, the queen of Congress, has highlighted the BJP-RSS relationship though there are RSS-sympathisers within the Congress as revealed by RSS general secretary Ram Madhav recently.

Slavery was officially abolished in Britain in 1833 but it is still prevalent in Indian politics.

Sunday Inquilab, April 19, 2009

India Muslim Vote Between Rock, Hard Place

MUMBAI — As India marathon general polls begin, many Indian Muslims find themselves caught between voting for the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an "open enemy" to their community, or the ruling Congress party, an "unfaithful friend".
"It's certainly a tough choice," Zohra Javed, a political activist, told IslamOnline.net on Thursday, April 16.
India's voters started casting ballots on Thursday in the first part of a five-stage election that will end in mid-May.
But for Muslims who live among India's 1.1 billion population, the vote is an impasse as the two main front-runners are seen as least-tempting.
"If BJP is guilty of sins of commission, then Congress is guilty of sins of omission," says Nihal Ahmed, a Muslim leader of the center-left Janata Dal party.
"One party, BJP, accuses us of being appeased while the other, Congress, does very little in the name of appeasement."
Javed agrees that the Congress’s so called "appeasement" of Muslims is an eyewash.
"Muslims have to choose between the Congress that betrayed our trust and the regional parties that promise to keep up their promises of delivering justice," she said.
"The BJP is certainly not in the running as far as Muslim votes are concerned.
"The BJP and its likes use it for Muslim bashing and projecting Congress as being soft on Muslims while Muslims really don’t gain anything in essence and nothing changes for the better for the community on the ground."
There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India and they have long complained of being discriminated against in all walks of life.

Third Party

Many Muslims believe that both Congress and BJP have more or less the same policies and have used Muslims for political purposes.
"Both the Congress and the BJP have similar economic and foreign policies and represent for the most the same caste and elite class," says Feroze Mithiborwala, of Muslims Intellectuals Forum.
Mithiborwala believes the solution for Muslims is in finding a third party.
"Muslims especially in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madya Pradesh, Chattisgargh and Rajasthan will have to take the initiative or join the initiatives challenging the Congress /BJP polarity."
Maulana Abdul Hameed Azhari, a Muslim scholar, also sees that abandoning both parties will be the answer.
"In this election, Muslims will prove that they will not be used as a vote-bank anymore,”" he told IOL.
"Now there are new avenues in the form of regional parties."
But M.J. Akbar, a veteran journalist and former lawmaker, believes the solution is in Muslims own hands.
"For sixty years they have voted out of fear, so that is what they have got from those they elected: the politics of fear."
He also says the problem is that Muslims never tried to think of their own leadership.
"Indian Muslims don’t have leaders, they have pleaders. They plead with their mentors for crumbs; and they plead with their electorate once every five years for survival.
"Indian Muslims will get development the day they vote for development."
IslamOnline.net April 16, 2009

Diagnosing Dr. Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh: India's mutest prime minister

How will history judge Dr. Manmohan Singh, India’s non-political prime minister? Will he be remembered as an opportunist who agreed to become prime minister when Sonia Gandhi’s ‘inner voice’ prevailed over her outer voice? Will he be remembered as a ‘night watchman’ performing his nocturnal duty and waiting for the daybreak? Will he be remembered as Madam’s appointee and yes-man-prime minister? Or will he be remembered as a credible man who lost his credibility in political dealings of July 2008 trust vote? Will he be remembered for his do-or-die threat to Leftists over Indo-US nuclear deal? Will he be remembered for reciprocating a measured and sensible response to Pakistan over 26/11? Will he be remembered for not uttering a word over Sikh protests against Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Singh? Or will he be remembered as India’s only minority prime minister who gave Indian Muslims Sachar Committee report? Or will he be remembered for buckling under political pressure and happily allotting time to L.K. Advani to explain his government’s stand on Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thankur?

Dr. Manmohan Singh’s five years of power cannot be diagnosed with the help of above questions alone. Doctor’s dissection must be supplemented by his connivance and silence.

Manmohan Singh, no doubt, is a wearer of many hats. He is not only a sharp bureaucrat but also an astute economist who performed an economic ‘bypass’ to a dying Indian economy and dared to do the unthinkable: open gates of India to foreign direct investment (FDI) and ending an era of license raj. In a stirring speech he had predicted the days of a rising India. Manmohan Singh’s historic budget of 1991 changed the course of India’s economic history. Singh’s radical economic shift was not like Harry Potter’s magic wand but it gradually saved India from extending a begging bowl to IMF (International Monetary Fund). PC Chidambaram’s 1997 “dream budget” was nothing but a legacy of Manmohan Singh. NDA capitalised and strengthened the basic policies of Manmohan Singh. It was only in 2006-07 Time and New Statesman portrayed India on their cover pages and recognised the potential of India’s economic march. Manmohan Singh had said the same 15 years ago: an idea whose time had come.

Political sincerity and commitment cannot be gauged from speeches but it reflects in the legislature. The two most prominent decision of Manmohan Singh government are passing of RTI (Right to Information Act) and NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). UPA’s common minimum programme is indeed praise-worthy but Manmohan Singh government has failed to fulfill aspirations of the common man. As activist Aruna Roy has rightly remarked, “In a strange schizophrenia, the Manmohan Singh government remembered to bring the non-shining India to the table, but forgot to serve it.”

Manmohan Singh has spent his early days in a village (now in Pakistan) but his heart only beats for the rich and the corporate India. NREGS was passed after much deliberation and discussion while SEZ (Special economic zone) bill was passed without any debate.

It has been rightly said that Manmohan Singh was in office but never in power. His tenure as a PM has been dominated by his ministers. PC Chidambaram never listened to Mannohan Singh. Just one example of the union budget would suffice. In a letter dated November 24, 2006 just after the submission of Sachar committee report, the Prime Minister’s Office directed to the finance ministry that “wherever possible, 15 per cent of targets and funds be earmarked for the minorities in the schemes included in the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme.” Finance Ministry completely ignored this directive. The post-Sachar Union budget was a major disappointment for minorities. After acknowledging that only a ‘modest’ contribution of Rs 16.47 crore was made to the equity of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC), Finance Minister (FM) said, “following the Sachar Committee report, NMDFC would be required to expand its reach and intensify its efforts”. So a paltry sum of Rs 63 crore was added to its share capital. And Rs 108 crore was allotted to the districts with a concentration of minorities. FM did not mention the actual number of those districts to avoid the embarrassment. There are a total of 155 such districts. You need not be a mathematician to figure out that only bureaucratic leftovers will be bestowed to the minorities. Out of the Union government's total expenditure of Rs 680,521 crore, the total allocation for minorities (it includes Sikhs and Christians too) was less than Rs 320 crore. The total number of minorities in India is 200 million (Muslims 150m, Sikhs and Christians 50m).

Rs 320 crore for 200 million people? Manmohan Singh, who himself belongs to Sikh minority, didn’t utter a single word over this. He must have felt guilty but he didn’t have political will power to raise this issue. Swapan Dasgupta has rightly said,

“His total inexperience with electoral politics and his awareness that he was just a proxy made him adaptable.”

This is what happens when a fine economist is turned into a politician.

Manmohan Singh government’s foreign policy has been dominated by America and Israel. If Indo-US nuclear deal took place in full public view then the recently concluded arms deal with Israel worth 10000 crore was a closed door affair. Manmohan Singh was the face of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Why didn’t he publically acknowledge the arms deal with Israel? That would have certainly increased his ‘credibility’ ratings because PM is known for his honesty!

Honesty is a commendable trait but it is not enough to run a country of more than a billion aspirations. To quote Tarun Tejpal would be apt,

“Decency and efficiency are laudable traits, but they are also routinely found in army officers and swayamsewaks. In the leader of a billion people you may want to look for more.”

Dr. Singh will go down in history as the mutest prime minister of India. He has asserted his authority only once when he had threatened to resign if Indo-US deal doesn’t sail through. That was only time he reminded the politicians that he is the prime minster of India.

Manmohan Singh is not even taken seriously in his own cabinet perhaps because he has never won a parliamentary election. According to Pratap Bhanu Mehta he is “not an actor in his own cabinet.”

Apart from running a coalition government, Manmohan Singh doesn’t have leadership skills. Tarun Tejpal is right when he wrote,

“Without the PM’s tag he would lead a procession that would scarcely fill a corridor of South Block leave alone Ramlila Maidan.”

Sunday Inquilab, April 12, 2009

The Old Men of Indian Politics

Old Namaskar! When will we retire from politics?

Old age may be equated with wisdom but in politics wisdom evaporates with old age. “The older I grow”, wrote American journalist and writer H.L. Mencken, “the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.” So is there any similarity between Manmohan Singh and L.K. Advani apart from their prime ministerial ambition? Yes, both the politicians have tuned grey. Manmohan Singh is 77; Advani is 82. That brings us to an interesting question: Why do we Indians – whose half population is under 25 – have prime ministers and political leaders on the wrong side of the age?

Consider this: Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first and longest serving prime minister, was 58 when he took charge of the country in 1947. Lal Bahadur Shastri was 60 when he became prime minister in June 1964 after the death of Nehru. Indira Gandhi was only 49 when she became the first and the only woman prime minister of India in 1966. Rajiv Gandhi was barely 40 when he became the prime minister following Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Vishwanath Pratap Singh was 58 when he succeeded in becoming prime minister in 1989. Chandra Shekhar was 63 when he took over prime ministership in 1990. H.D. Deve Gowda was 63 when he became prime minister in 1996.

So what were Manmohan Singh and L.K. Advani thinking when they exchanged verbal volleys? Was this an attempt to distract public attention? Nobody disputes the fact that Manmohan Singh is a meek prime minister. But is L.K. Advani a strong candidate for prime ministership as advertisements portray him to be? (A point worth-noting: L.K. Advani is the only Indian prime minister aspirant who is perhaps spending millons of rupees on advertisements) L.K. Advani may not have undergone heart surgery like Manmohan Singh but in essence he is weaker than the prime minister. In a press conference recently, he flexed his muscles by lifting a pair of dumbbells! This strategy was to diffuse the public perception that Advani is an old man. But wrinkles on his forehead cannot be straightened with a shot of botox injection! Advani is essentially a week man although he has been billed as India’s “iron man”. Why is Advani silent on Varun Gandhi’s communal outburst? It is not the first time that he has adopted the conspiracy of silence. Is that a sign of an iron man? Or has he become a man of irony?

If Manmohan Singh underwent a heart surgery then Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a knee replacement in the year 2000 as a prime minister. It was a replacement of the knee of nation! Can we imagine that the “heart” and “knee” of nation are so weak that it requires an operation to fix them?

Then there are politicians who can’t even walk: Arjun Singh (79), our HRD minister, walks on a wheelchair. A.K. Antony (69), defence minister, recently fainted while attending a parade in Pune. Pranab Mukherjee (74), who still dreams to become prime minister, can be seen catching forty winks at campaign rallies. BJP stalwarts Jawant Singh and Yashwant Sinha are above the age of 70.

Jyoti Basu, the longest serving chief minister of Bengal, was part of the CPI (M) Polit bureau till April 2008, at the age of 94! Karnanidhi is 85 but still heads DMK! M.K. Naraynan, our National Security Advisor, is 75! What kind of security can we expect from him?

Why can’t we have a legislation to put restriction on the age of politicians? We already have a legislation by which bureaucrats retire at the age of 58. Although both politicians and bureaucrats are public servants but we treat them with a different yardstick. Alas, no such legislation is going to come forward from any political party because all parties are united on this: they intend to rule India till the last breath! India will not witness the dawn of professional politics as long as this “democratic freedom” is curtailed. Perhaps this tradition of rewarding old men of politics is borrowed from Joint Hindu Family Firm (JHFF) where ‘Karta’ remains the head of the family as long as he is alive!

One cursory look at other democracies reveals that the politicians are far younger. Barack Hussein Obama, president of United States, is only 48; Gordon Brown, prime minister of United Kingdom, is 58. Nicholas Sarkozy, French president, is 54.

The Indian politicians will rebuke the idea of political retirement because politicians never ‘retire’; they are only ‘tired’! There must be an age for political retirement, say, 65. Politicians will have 7 grace years as compared to bureaucrats! Isn’t this a good hypothesis for politicians? For those who don’t agree on 65 as the age of retirement, consider this:

After 65, Alzheimer’s disease is very common in developed countries like America. Indian politicians have been victims of Alzheimer’s disease as well. From Ranganath Misra to Sri Krishna to Sachar Commission, Indian politicians have literally “forgotten” the real issues of Indian Muslims.

Isn’t this a result of Alzheimer’s disease?

Sunday Inquilab, April 5, 2009

Varun and the Ghost of Sanjay Gandhi

A United Gandhi Family: Varun Gandhi on Indira Gandhi's left

What happens when the ghosts of a powerful past return to haunt a man whose father was the de facto prime minister of India in the 70s? Varun Gandhi could have learned a lesson history taught his father but instead he chose venom over the history. Varun Gandhi could have become the Rahul Gandhi of today had history been on his side. But alas, history is not a narration of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. History does not allow anybody to remain permanently powerful. Sanjay Gandhi, Varun’s father, was an extremely powerful politician and Indira Gandhi’s “favoured son.” He was a man in great hurry. On the fateful day of June 23, 1980, Sanjay was flying a single-engine plane for fun. He did three loops in the air but probably was not satisfied. He tried a fourth but lost control. The young dream came crashing down; so did the aspirations of his wife Maneka and son Varun Gandhi.

The fate of Sanjay Gandhi’s family can be summed up in one line: Power followed by powerlessness.

Indira Gandhi’s elevation of her son has been described as ‘feudal’. Eminent historian Ramchandra Guha has rightly remarked, “And just as sons of Mughal emperors were once given a suba (province) to run before taking over the kingdom itself, Sanjay was asked to look after affairs in India’s capital city.”

29-year old Varun Gandhi’s life journey has been characteristically marked by a steep decline of his family. Varun Gandhi was barely three months old when Sanjay Gandhi died in the accident. Sanjay’s death marked the beginning of an era dominated by Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv’s miraculous rise eclipsed Maneka and Varun Gandhi. A feeling of loss must be etched in the memory of Varun Gandhi.

So what was Varun Gandhi thinking when he spew venom against Indian Muslims and Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation? How can a man – who studied in the liberal tradition of London School of Economics and Political Science – be communal? Perhaps he was following in his father’s footsteps whose obsessive preference was to be always in the news.

Sanjay Gandhi was the darling of Indian media in the 70s. Sanjay’s “chief cheerleader and trumpeter” was none other than Khushwant Singh himself who devoted pages and pages of photographs accompanied by flattering text in the famous The Illustrated Weekly of India. All India Radio (AIR) and the state-run television channel Doordharshan also used to pay much more attention to Sanjay. Facts would put AIR and Doordharshan to shame. In a single year alone, 192 “news items” were broadcast about Sanjay from the Delhi station of AIR. In the same period, Doordharshan telecast 265 bulletins about Sanjay’s activities. What more when Sanjay made a 24-hour-trip to Andhra Pradesh, the Films Division made a full-length documentary called A Day to Remember whose commentary ran in three languages!

Which media organisation will provide such coverage to Varun Gandhi today? Of course, none. Varun was trying to imitate his father in order to create news around himself. Varun had forgotten that the days of a golden bygone era are over.

Varun Gandhi’s only claim to fame is that he belongs to the Gandhi family. He joined BJP following in his mother’s footsteps in a mad race for power. His five years in BJP has been frustrating. In 2004, he could not contest elections since he was not 25; now he is eligible. Varun wanted to make sure that his debut electoral entry was akin to big bang theory. This is precisely for this reason that he intentionally opted for a provocative poll speech. Varun wants to be like his powerful father who was the centre of attention as well as attraction for even union ministers. It is a well-known fact that Bansi Lal, the then Defence minister, took the two candidates for admiral to be questioned by Sanjay. And When Sanjay Gandhi visited Jaipur; on his way 501 arches were erected in his honour! And at Lucknow airport when Sanjay stumbled on the tarmac and lost the sleeper, it was picked up by UP chief minister. He very reverentially handed it back to Sanjay. Today, Varun is trapped in such a political quagmire that his sleeper will not handed back to him even by an airhostess of a third class airline!

Varun Gandhi’s plight and stature is exactly opposite of Sanjay Gandhi. Sanjay Gandhi wielded so much influence in Indian politics that anybody opposing his diktat was doomed. When Kishore Kumar refused to sing for programmes organised to raise money for Sanjay Gandhi’s notorious family planning, coercion and force were used by Sanjay’s men to boycott Kishore Kumar. Kishore’s songs were banned from Vividh Bharati, AIR channel that used to broadcast film music. The Film Censor Board was instructed to hold up release of movies in which Kishore acted or sang! Sanjay’s supporters also warned record companies against selling Kishore’s songs!

Sanjay Gandhi was a man of obsession: ‘The Man Who Used to Get Things Done’ by hook or by crook. Varun Gandhi is following the same path in order to carve out a niche for himself. There is a fundamental difference between the two: The father was arrogant and haughty but he had at least apologised once on the instructions of his mother, Indira Gandhi. In an interview, Sanjay had lambasted the Marxists and accused them of being corrupt. He later retracted his statement and said that leaders in Jana Sangh and Swatantra parties were even more ‘corrupt’ and that CPI must be saluted for its support to “progressive policies, especially those affecting the poor people.”

Varun’s unapologetic mood conveys that he is being backed by his mother Maneka and the BJP. Chief Election Commission must ban him from contesting the upcoming general election from Pilbhit.

In his press conference, Varun claimed to be a ‘Gandhi’ but he has forgotten the ideals of his own family, at least of his grandmother. “All my father’s works”, said Indira Gandhi in 1962, “have been written in prison. I recommend prison life not only for aspiring writers but for aspiring politicians too.”

Is there any message for Varun? Yes, prison is the only place where he can wear the mantle of political maturity.

Sunday Inquilab, March 22, 2009

Gandhi's Hate Speech Angers Muslims

Varun Gandhi: Venom runs in my veins!

NEW DELHI — Indian Muslims are outraged by a communally charged-up hate speech made by Varun Gandhi, the grandson of the late premier Indira Gandhi, who reportedly made derogatory remarks against Muslims.

"The blood of Gandhi family has been contaminated. Varun Gandhi has proved that it is the right-wing blood that is running in his veins," advocate S.S. Shaikh told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday, March 18.

Varun, 29, made offensive remarks against Muslims at campaign speech in Pilibhit, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), on Sunday.

"If someone thinks Hindus are weak or leaderless, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand," he threatened in the video-recorded speech.

Communal violence has flared between Hindus and Muslims in Pilibhit, where the young Gandhi is making his political debut in next month's general election on the ticket of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Varun also reportedly compared a Muslim politician to Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda.

The Election commission has pressed charges against him under Section 153 (a) of the Penal Code on "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony."

He is also facing charges under Section 125 of the People’s Representative Act which addresses "offence of promoting enmity between classes in connection with the elections."

If convicted, Varun, the great grandson of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first premier, could be disqualified from contesting the election and face imprisonment.

Although he is a descendant of the influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Varun belongs to a side of the family that has disowned them.

Three out of India's 14 premier belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Election Tactic

Some Muslims have played down the issue.

"It is the most stupid and childish outburst of a young bright man," says Hasan Kamaal, a noted columnist and lyricist.

He said that it was the arrogance and political inexperience that prompted Varun to make such a statement.

"Varun has inherited the same arrogance of his late father Sanjay Gandhi. He is a political naiveté and the controversial statement is going to cost his political career."

But many others see this episode as part of a larger political game.

"This is an attempt to win votes and instill a sense of insecurity and fear among Hindus. And this can be only done by attacking soft targets," Professor Mustafa Khan told IOL.

"BJP will get votes only by communalizing the situation," he believes.

"BJP doesn’t have hopes of winning the election because of self-division and like the old tiger they will go for soft targets."

Javed Anand of Muslims for Secular Democracy agrees.

"On all available indications, prospects of a return of NDA (National Democratic Alliance headed by BJP) rule are quite dim," he believes.

"So the BJP and its individual candidates have to think of desperate measures. Varun Gandhi’s case looks like one such ‘cynical’ move.

"This could well be Varun’s sick strategy of endearing himself with the Hindu voters and hopefully ensure victory. What better way to create news around yourself."

Muslims want Varun disqualified from contesting the upcoming general election, scheduled to take place in April-May.

"He must be banned from contesting the election," says Shehla Masood.

"I am a Muslim and proud to be one. I thank my ancestors and God that they did not choose Pakistan and chose to stay back in India," she added, referring to the creation of India and Pakistan 60 years ago after the end of the British mandate.

"India is my country more than that of Varun Gandhi."

IslamOnline.net March 19, 2009

Cricket and cocktail terrorism

Pakistan's cocktail terrorism: Can Pak look into the mirror?

Murray Walker, the renowned British sports commentator who had once said – you can cut the tension with a cricket stump – should be thinking to retract his verbatim. Murray had probably said this in a South Asian context knowing well that cricket, the white man’s British burden, can unburden South Asian tension especially between India and Pakistan. Till March 3, his statement was considered a witty and convincing idiom in the dictionary of cricket commentary. The Lahore terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team will change the language of cricket commentary forever.

The audacious broad daylight attack on Sri Lankan cricketers marks the beginning of cocktail terrorism in South Asia. The so-called ‘Jihad’ merged with modern day accessories popularised by Hollywood culture: sneakers, backpacks, big guns etc. The attack was the Pakistan’s Mumbai moment. The Mumbai syndrome has finally travelled to the place from where it had actually originated. The syndrome has spread like epidemic among a few home-grown bedbugs that have begun the task of eating up Pakistan; making it hollow from the inside.

Pakistan has suffered the fate of United States of America. It has been struck by the men with whom it had mushroomed and sympathised for years. The bad boys in the backyard have gone out of control. The parallel with United States is strikingly similar. The world’s lone superpower has a history of sympathising with ‘bad boys’ all across the world.

In 1970s and 80s, United States, armed and funded Muslim militants fighting against 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan; popularly known as Afghan Jihad. The American money and arms were directed and channalised through Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency ISI. Osama bin Laden is the American product of Afghan Jihad. The concept of jihad was legitimised and widely propagated as long as it suited America’s foreign policy. Afghan jihad was merely an extended exercise to contain America’s only rival: Russia. America’s love for mujahideen diminished the moment Russia withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. The point worth-noting here is this: Muslims still call this war as jihad while in American lexicon this was merely a cold-war exercise!

America’s understanding of the word ‘jihad’ improved with the 9/11. The men who allegedly flew planes into World Trade Centre followed a tradition long supported by the America. This was the first time that Americans experienced the biting of the feeding hand. Pakistan is undergoing the same phase for quite sometime now.

Cricket is a unifying game; the antithesis of the word ‘Partition’, an Afro-Asian phenomenon. Pakistan was always famous for the two things: Cricket and hospitality. These two assets were some of the positive elements that bound Pakistan to the rest of the world. A single attack has eroded the credibility of both. Jinnah (the Qaud-e-Azam) would have wept over this; Asif Ali Zardari does not even have tears. Pakistan is not a failed state; it has been paralysed by its leaders. It neither became an ideal Islamic state nor a model secular nation. Isn’t it a classical paradox of the Indian subcontinent? Pakistan has always dangled between autocratic theocracy and corrupt democracy.

Pakistan was born on the basis of a divisive idea called Partition. Partition has been the fate of this Indian blood brother separated at birth. 1947 was merely the beginning whose end is not in sight. 1971 saw the second partition of Pakistan which resulted into the birth of a new nation called Bangladesh. Pakistan has witnessed many partitions after the creation of Bangladesh. The third quite partition took place in North West Frontier Post where tribalism is the order of the day. The fourth partition began among murmur and metamorphosed into an uproar when Pakistan entered into an agreement with Taliban in Swat valley. If the first four partitions were physical, the fifth partition is ideological in nature. It is taking place inside Pakistan; implemented by the men carrying Kalashnikovs on their shoulders.

The crisis of failed leadership has plagued Pakistan for years. Pakistanis are fed up of new promises of the old faces. Corrupt leaders have provided vacuum for not only fundamentalists but also Army Generals. General Pervez Musharraf was tolerated for 8 long years because patriotism comes easily to army uniforms. The current political dispensation is not led by pious men. Pakistan is the world’s only country headed by “two former convicts.” It was the crisis of failed leadership that forced Fatima Bhutto to remark that “Pakistan remains a rich and diverse country held hostage to a government chock full of ill-equipped and unqualified carpetbaggers.”

The Lahore attack will have far-reaching consequences notably in South Asia which is witnessing a stream of violence. A cursory glance on the map of South Asia will make one’s blood freeze. Sri Lanka is engaged in a dangerous war against LTTE; an organisation dubbed as “terrorist” by United States but yet long supported by India. Bangladesh has just awakened to the horrors of an army rebellion unparalleled in the history of South Asia. Nepal has been a victim of Maoist violence. India faces a real threat to its internal security from Naxals who control at least 140 Indian districts. Pakistan – which should have become a land of the pure – has become a nightmare for men of purity. It has become “an international migraine” to borrow Madeline Albright’s words.

The body of South Asian does not merely suffer from a minor injury. It suffers from the cancer of violence which threatens to paralyse the entire body. The US and UN – famous for administering injection of reform – have done very little to restore the confidence of people in South Asia.

Coming back to cricket, one question that has baffled security experts and analysts is this: why did terrorists choose Sri Lankan cricket team which took a bold initiative of touring Pakistan amidst grave threat? Sri Lankan cricket team had gone to Pakistan perhaps to prove that law and order still reign supreme in a feudal country. They have been permanently proved wrong by a bunch of ‘bad boys’.

So why did terrorists target a cricket team?

The answer is truly European. The terrorists were perhaps inspired by the 18th century Irish poet called Oscar Wilde who breathed his last in the year 1900. Oscar Wilde didn’t like the idea of playing cricket because of the “indecent” cricket postures. He had once said,

“I never play cricket. It requires one to assume such indecent postures.”

Both Oscar Wilde and the terrorists who fired at the Sri Lankan cricket team shared the same point of view. The former employed his wit to express it while the latter believed in the weapon.

Sunday Inquilab, March 8, 2009

A Lucid Dream and Reality

Congress-BJP Alliance? Political mating of strange bed-fellows! Picture Courtesy: Associated Press

The 2009 general election is going to witness a dawn of professional politics where political parties will be marketed as commodities to lure potential voters. It will not be merely a traditional competition between Congress and BJP but a plethora of small parties with regional interest will compete to get a share of people’s sympathy. Isn’t it good news for the general voter? The potential voter will get to choose from a variety of political parties thus making an end to the politics of ‘either or’ (read Congress or BJP). Welcome to the era of coalition politics where the interests of two mainstream political parties will be subject to strict scrutiny of smaller parties. The threat from smaller parties is so strong that some politicians are flouting the idea of a Congress-BJP alliance! The days of political monopoly are over!

The five years of UPA rule was supposed to benefit Aam Aadmi (Common Man) but it has only served the interests of Khaas Aadmi. UPA’s Common Minimum Programme was replaced by Uncommon Minimum Programme based on four ‘achievements’: Indo-US nuclear deal, Chandrayaan moon mission, 9% growth and Slumdog Millionaire Oscar win! None of this is directly related to the common man.

Indo-US nuclear deal is still no-clear deal to many; it will take at least 8 years to generate nuclear power. Chandrayaan moon mission is part of a satellite programme which any government would have followed it. The “9% growth rate” is indeed related to the fellow Indians but nobody is asking this: what percentage of Indians have benefited from the 9% growth rate? Merely 10%! This figure sums up the economic policy of the UPA government which is ironically headed by an economist and has the “dream economic team.”

The government of “Aam Aadmi” has shown remarkable generosity in subsidising big business houses and SEZs (Special Economic Zones). UPA has tacitly ignored small and medium enterprises which constitute the majority of Indians. The rich-poor divide has widened but yet UPA is singing a tune of good times! In the last five years India has not witnessed economic prosperity but economic regression. This fact can be gauged from Human Development Index of United Nations Development Programme where India’s rank has slipped from 124 to 132 in 2008. Even countries like Bhutan, Algeria, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iran have performed better than India!

What is the role of UPA government in a British movie with Indian actors? The euphoria over Slumdog Millionaire at best can be described as an act of individual creativity. The movie depicts the story of India’s poor and the bottom-line is the survival spirit of Mumbai. The movie must remind our shameless politicians a fact that gathers dust in government files that at least 30% of India’s population still leaves below the poverty line. There are at least 260 million Indians who still go to bed hungry every night.

The UPA, very subtly, is doing an NDA. It is building a momentum similar to NDA’s India Shining campaign. NDA had pumped 4000 million rupees of Indian taxpayer’s money in the form of advertisement just to communicate Indians how good they are feeling! P. Sainath, rural editor of The Hindu had commented then, “The fastest growing sector in India Shinning is not IT or software, textiles or automobiles. It is inequality.” His comment still holds relevance.

If Congress has miserably failed in its economic policy then BJP has floundered in making it a real issue which affects fellow Indians irrespective of their caste and religion. BJP is still trapped in its stone-age politics despite the fact that its allies have made it abundantly clear that they don’t support BJP’s Ram Janambhoomi movement. The BJP’s poll strategists have forgotten a fact that Indian economy was performing better in NDA’s rule.

None of the political parties have a slogan to communicate what they stand for. Congress does not have a stand to stand on. It is in self-congratulatory mode. BJP reeks of infighting and its Prime Ministerial candidate is behaving like Alice in Wonderland! Mayawati, the touchable politician of India’s untouchables, is doing a Hillary Clinton. Mulayam and Amar Singh Company do not belong to anyone; they only understand the politics of selfishness. Sharad Pawar is a man of vested interests. He can go to any extent to save his party’s interests; even an alliance with Shiv Sena can not be ruled out. Shiv Sena, which used to be like a family managed business has suffered partition. Raj Thackeray, the “stray cub” has begun to bite in order to save Marathi interests.

Slogans have altered the course of history but our political parties are indulging in mud-slinging. None of the parties have a slogan to define themselves and their party’s ideology. In the recent history, two slogans had a profound impact on people all across the world. George Bush Senior, a strong contender for retaining American presidency in 1992, was defeated by a young and charismatic Bill Clinton who coined the famous slogan ‘it’s the economy stupid!’ It highlighted a deteriorating economy which had undergone recession. Bush senior had emerged successful in Cold War and first Gulf war against Iraq but yet it was only on the basis of a powerful slogan his government was brought down.

The second slogan consumed Republican Party of George Bush Junior. Obama’s slogan ‘We need change’ captured the imagination of ordinary Americans who were fed up with a war-infested President and an economy that was on the verge of collapse.

Indira Gandhi knew her party’s slogan; Sonia Gandhi does not have a slogan. L.K. Advani does not know the art of sloganeering! Leftist parties have an old slogan which Prakash Karat is not very keen to modify. Mulayam Singh has fresh slogan for fellow politicians: Hum Saath Saath Hain!

Isn’t it slightly confusing for the fellow Indian voters? The voters want to identify with political parties but not a single party is willing to identify itself with a cause! Each political party is trying to shine its old and rusty ideology but as P. Sainath wrote, “All the shine we work up will not conceal the darkness.”

Is a new light in the form of Third National Front needed to illuminate a new India?

That remains a lucid dream.

Sunday Inquilab, March 1, 2009