HVK Archives: Promote minority cause
Promote minority cause - The Daily
Asghar Ali Engineer
()
8 May 1997
Title : Promote minority cause
Author : Asghar Ali Engineer
Publication : The Daily
Date : May 8, 1997
When the Congress president Sitaram Kesri withdrew his party's support to the
United Front government headed by Deve Gowda, it appeared that the country had not
only been plunged into a deep political crisis but also that the secular forces
would face a setback. Things were going smooth under the UF government and hence,
everyone, Congressmen included, criticised what Kesri had done. Even the President
Shankar Dayal Sharma was not happy, with the prospects of a snap election looming
large on the horizon..
However, it appears that the crisis one feared luckily did not occur but a better
alternative has, emerged. This does not justify what Kesri did. He expected that
the UF partners would not stick together and that at least some of them would join
his party lured by the prospects of office. His expectations were belied. The
election of Inder Kumar Gujral as the UF leader is the best thing that could have.
happened after Gowda lost the confidence vote.
Gujral's choice as the new prime minister has been welcomed by the whole country.
A soft-spoken politician, he believes in consensual politics. Replying to the
debate on the vote of confidence in his day-old government in Parliament on April
22, he reiterated his belief in taking all with him. He made a strong plea for
the cooperation of all parties to build a strong nation.
After a long time, India has a prime minister who believes in , rising above
partisan politics and carrying all with him. The country is driven by all sorts
of conflicts -- caste, communal and -ethnic, posing a serious challenge to its
integrity. Every party is trying to mobilise a particular caste or community or
region 'and is depending exclusively on it.
Since the late seventies and beginning with Assam, India has been facing a serious
ethnic crisis. The Assam agitation assumed dangerous proportions and Indira
Gandhi' accentuated it for her own political purposes. She manoeuvred the Punjab
situation which became a crisis of national proportions. resulting in large-scale
bloodshed. Kashmir was also mishandled by VP Singh's government though he himself
was not to be blamed as he was under tremendous pressure from the BJP, which was
supporting the government from outside. Punjab became normal but Kashmir and the
North-East continue to have tensions.
Today, no single party can hope to form. the government at the Centre and only
coalitions can come to power in the foreseeable future. In such conditions, it is
only a person who strongly believes in consensual politics can be effective as the
prime minister. Gujral fits the bill.
Since the country went: through a grave communal crisis in the recent past, the
minorities have been, alienated from the Congress and have also lost faith in the
process of governance itself. To capture power at the Centre, the BJP went all
out to me passion among Hindu and the Congress, under the leadership of PV
Narasimha Rao, adopted a soft approach towards the BJP and failed to protect the
Babri Masjid and to prevent the communal violence in Mumbai and, other places.
Thus, it was quite natural for the minorities to lose faith in the system itself.
The minorities were frightened when the BJP formed the government at the Centre
that however lasted only for 13 days. The BJP may no longer he virulently communal
but it has yet to come dean, and inspire confidence among the minorities. It is
still catering to its hard-core Hindutva base. Though the BJP is not talking about
the mosques at Benares and Mathura, the VHP, very much its ally, does talk about
them. The Muslims still think that the BJP will use the temple issues at the
opportune time, the pot. being kept boiling for by the VHP.
In such circumstances, there has to be a person at the helm of affairs who can
heal the wounds and inspire confidence among the minorities. Though Gowda was
looked upon with hope by the Muslims, he cannot match Gujral's commitment as far
as communal harmony is concerned. Gujral is a great sympathiser of the minority
cause. Close to the CPI, he was actively involved with the Progressive Writers
Association. He was also associated with eminent writers and poets such Faiz Ahmed
Faiz, Krishan Chandar and Sardar Jafri and is a lover of Urdu. While replying to
the debate on the confidence motion, he recited Urdu couplets and drew applause
from the House.
Gujral headed a committee appointed by Indira Gandhi to look into the grievances
of the Urdu-speaking people. Known as the Gujral Committee report, it was hailed
by one and all. Unfortunately, Indira Gandhi ignored its recommendations for
reasons best known to her. When Gujral became the foreign minister in the Janata
Dal government in 1989, the demand for implementing the recommendations of the
report was revived. A committee headed by Sardar Jafri was appointed for the job
but the VP Singh government did not survive and the matter did not make much
headway. Now that Gujral has become the prime minister, Sardar Jafri and others
have raised the demand again.
It is expected that Gujral, unlike his predecessors, would not Indulge in mere
symbolism in approaching the minorities problems. Unfortunately, even VP Singh
committed this mistake. He relied more on pseudo-Muslim leaders. The importance
of Shahi Imam, who has no grassroots following among the Muslim masses, was blown
out of proportions by the media, on the one hand and some politicians seeking the
Muslim vote, on the other.
Gujral belongs to the different genre. He would not, let us hope, indulge in
gimmicks and would try to do something substantial, for the uplift of the
minorities and backward sections. Symbolic acts not only do not help the
minorities, they fuel majority communalism on the contrary' What is required is a
balanced and well thought-out approach to repair the relations between the two
communities. Ameliorative steps should not have an eye on mobilising votes but
should help the poor. It is highly necessary to carry the people of both the
communities together. Competitive communalism has spelled disaster. Gujral should
try to promote harmony between the minority and majority communities.
The Muslim masses will benefit if he revives the Gopal Singh Commission report and
appoints a committee to update it and implement its recommendations. Its report is
a valuable document based on authentic research and implementation will be
beneficial not only to the Muslims but also the other minorities as well as the
Scheduled Castes.
The Gujral government can do much by setting up societies such the Maulana Azad
Society and fund them to promote basic skills among the Muslims thus enabling them
to find self-employment It is also necessary to modernise the Madrasas or Muslim
educational institutions so that modern social and physical sciences could he
taught. Special incentives are needed to promote Muslim women's education. It
will he a great service to the Muslims If the Gujral government, unlike its
predecessors, refrains from pandering to the decrepit, conservative leadership and
Instead works for the genuine uplift of the masses.
(The author is a well-known Bohra reformist)
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