No more silly minority politics Modi Ji, else you’d be booted out quickly
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The ruling BJP runs the risk of losing its goodwill if it continues with the minority politics policy of the Congress!
Years ago when I was a teen and filled with ideas, I had fallen in love. My object of affection was a political party, the Bhartiya Janata Party which had just a couple of MPs. at that time. It didn’t have any takers in those days. To me, a student from a Christian Missionary school, this party promised something that I had longed for years; the concept of equality among men and women irrespective of their faith and varna.
The BJP was anti-minority politics and that was its USP during the 80s, and the 90s.
Equality of Laws
Over the next 3 decades, I held on to my belief that was my love interest could do no wrong. For me, there simply was no place for majority and minority. If I am paying tax, I expected an Abdul or a Joseph to pay tax too, assuming all of us fell in the same tax bracket. If Swayam could marry just one woman, then that rule extended to other Indians too, irrespective to their religion.
The short point was that I loved the BJP because this party promised something that no other party did- that all Indians were equal no matter what their religious or caste identity was.
Justice for All, Appeasement for None!
All these 30 odd years, I watched in disgust when the Abduls and Rashids of the world lined up the streets across India during Eid denying us our right of passage. It was secularism, we were told, and it required us to wait patiently until the Abduls finished with their prayers. Like me, millions of other indians felt offended at the sight of Muhammads and Irfans clogging the roads and praying to Him. For the State, the rest of the Indians had ceased to exist. They were the proverbial blind spot; too close to be seen and noticed.
On our part, I like many others kept voting the BJP in state after state hoping that the party would live up to its promise of ‘Justice for All, Appeasement for None.’ Seriously, we had no other expectation from the BJP other than banning minorityism from India. After all, this was the only party that had opposed sops like Muslim job reservations, Haj subsidies, etc. It was only the BJP that had supported the rights of divorced Muslim women.
The BJP was the only party that had opposed minority politics of all kinds.
Keeping the Faith
It wasn’t easy sticking with the BJP all these years. There was always a nagging doubt about the party’s ability to capture and retain power at the center. Who could forget the sad events of 2004 when the party lost the Lok Sabha elections despite putting up such a sterling performance? Let me remind you, this was the very first time that the BJP had come to power. After its loss in the 2014 elections, I was disappointed but this feeling gave way to resignation in 2009 when the BJP lost the elections yet again!
For me, the BJP was the lantern of hope but there was a real danger of it getting extinguished after the 2009 elections! Nevertheless, I like millions of others kept up my faith in this idealistic party that stood out like a sore thumb in the Indian political scene.
No more minority politics?
In 2014, I was once again on cloud 9! The party that I had stuck with during rain, snow, blood, and tears, had once again occupied center stage in India. With Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister, I was sure that from now on, there would be no minority-majority politics in India. After all, wasn’t this the sole reason why I had voted the BJP all these years?
But I guess, I will have to break-up with my love interest shortly. In the past few days, I am noticing that my BJP is ultimately not very different from the rest of the gang. And no, it’s not to do with the party’s stand on corruption, what is bothering me is the BJP’s open pandering of the Muslim vote bank.
Please don’t assume I am anti-Muslim. The only point that I am making is ; why should people still be treated on account of their religion?
Old Wine in New Bottle?
Take for instance the recent announcement of the BJP government on Muslims. It says that free coaching will be provided to all the Muslim candidates for the Civil Services Exam. Now, why should an honest taxpayer like me fund the career aspirations of an Abdul or Majid? And if the government indeed wants to improve the educational wellbeing of Muslims, then why not give similar benefits to others as well. Why just Muslims? What about Parsis, Jews, and other disadvantaged communities? Don’t these communities need support and attention too?
The other thing that bothers me and many others is the identification of minorities with Muslims. Successive governments including the BJP think that being a minority means being a Muslim and vice-versa. Till date, there is no accepted definition of the word ‘minority’.
Minority politics definition, please !
Who is a minority? Aren’t women not minorities because of the skewed sex ratio? Aren’t gays and transgenders not minorities because of their sexula orientation? And what about the Parsis and the Jews?
Above all, why should minorityism be always connected to religion?
Sorry to say, but it seems the BJP is the new Congress party at the Center. Millions of voters had voted the BJP to bring in real equality in the country but sadly, this party has turned out like the others. Like the Congress party, the Modi government also has a Ministry of Minority Affairs which is always headed by a Muslim!
This isn’t to say that the BJP is 100 percent similar to Congress when it comes to Muslim appeasement. After all, the Modi government has taken steps to cancel the Triple Talaq practice which is anti-women. No other government has shown the political will that the BJP has in terms of the welfare of Muslim women. But you’d agree with me that protecting the interests of minorities does not necessarily mean pandering to Muslims. In my opinion, Muslims are not minorities. No Indian is a minority; neither does he belong to a majority community.
Mr. Modi, you run the risk of losing your support by blindly following the policies of Congress. Stop treating Muslims as vote bank.
