Political marginalisation of Muslims in Indian politics

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s statement that if Muslims do not vote for them then they would find it difficult to get her recommendation for jobs did not raise an eyebrow at all.

Today, it is very difficult to distinguish fringe from mainstream politics. Many would argue that the religious fringe has become the mainstream and the mainstream is on the periphery of political discourse, but the fact remains that politics in India is hell-bent on labelling the other in our society.

Muslims have become the new beating boy of Indian politics. Not only they have been dehumanised in the political discourse but anything to do with minority has become a bad word. It has become okay for the political class to arouse sentiments of the majority community of imagined threat posed by the Muslims of India.

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They have been labelled as a community which got better treatment from the government whereas the majority was left to eat the crumbs. BJP-RSS have had a field day in elections whereby every senior politician has used to describe Muslims as a community which has affected the health of the country.

Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad too was reflected from the same perspective. Yogi Adityanath has been consistently using religious idioms to describe those who are with BJP and those against it.

The worst is that the debate on ‘Muslim Exceptionalism’ is constructed on imagined benefits which have been secretly passed on to the Muslim community post-independence at the expense of Hindus.

RSS is playing with fire. Instead of integrating the Muslims in the national mainstream it is politically alienating them. Fact is barring a couple of pockets in India, Muslims have opted for Hindus to lead them politically.

I would say that those who chose to stay behind have never supported a Muslim leader who had a national stature.I call it a Jinnah complex, lest they get accused of cession again. India today is standing at the cusp of creating a huge divide between majority and minority which will stay with us. It cannot be wished away.

Their identity cannot be wished away. Their existence cannot be wished away. They do not need charity nor anyone needs to feel sorry for them. What is required is a political approach which allows them to be part of the system for which they are meant - which is Indian Muslims.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)