Siyasi Muslims Read online

  HILAL AHMED

  Siyasi Muslims

  A Story of Political Islams in India

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  Contents

  List of Abbreviations

  FAQs: Muslims and Politics

  A Chronology of Muslim Politics in Postcolonial India

  Introduction: Muslims as a Political Question

  PART I: MAKING SENSE OF SIYASI MUSLIMS

  1. Muslims, We Know as ‘Numbers’!

  2. Muslims as a Religious Community

  3. ‘Islamization’ since Independence!

  4. Why Does Hindutva Need Muslims?

  PART II: UNPACKING SIYASI MUSLIMS

  5. Muslims as a Minority

  6. Muslims as Backward

  7. The Politics of Triple Talaq

  8. The New Muslim Elite

  PART III: THE POLITICS OF SIYASI MUSLIMS

  9. The Metaphors of Muslim Politics: Vote Bank, Good Muslims/Bad Muslims and Muslim Appeasement

  10. Muslims and the Future of India’s Democracy

  Notes

  Select Bibliography

  Acknowledgements

  Follow Penguin

  Copyright

  This book is dedicated to my guru,

  Sudipta Kaviraj

  List of Abbreviations

  ABMAC: All India Babri Masjid Action Committee

  AIADMK: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

  AIMIM: All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen

  AIMPLB: All India Muslim Personal Law Board

  AIR: All India Reporter

  AMP: Association of Muslim Professionals

  AMU: Aligarh Muslim University

  BJP: Bharatiya Janata Party

  BJS: Bharatiya Jana Sangh

  BMMA: Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan

  BMMCC: Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee

  BSE: Bombay Stock Exchange

  CSDS: Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

  FDI: Foreign Direct Investment

  FPTP: First past the post

  IIM: Indian Institutes of Management

  IMCCI: Indian Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  JD: Janata Dal

  JD(U): Janata Dal (United)

  JIH: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind

  JP: Janata Party

  MCQ: Multiple choice question

  MOTN: Mood of the Nation

  NCM: National Commission for Minorities

  NCMEI: National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions

  NDA: National Democratic Alliance

  NES: National Election Studies

  NIC: National Integration Council

  NSS: National Sample Survey

  NSSO: National Sample Survey Office

  OBC: Other Backward Classes

  PBUH: Peace be upon him

  PR: Proportional representation (system)

  RJD: Rashtriya Janata Dal

  RSS: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

  SC: Scheduled Caste

  SCR: Supreme Court Reports

  ST: Scheduled Tribe

  UCC: Uniform Civil Code

  UPA: United Progressive Alliance

  VHP: Vishwa Hindu Parishad

  FAQs: Muslims and Politics

  1. How do we make sense of the Muslims of India? We are often told that they are highly diversified and plural, while at the same time they are treated as a homogeneous community, especially in political terms. Is this not self-contradictory?

  This is a legitimate question. And this book tries to offer a way out. It addresses Muslims not as numbers but as a constitutional category, a religious minority and as a collectivity in two different senses.

  I see Muslims as a collectivity in a positive sense, when individuals with Muslim names and/or groups, who prefer to call themselves Islamic, are recognized as the beneficiary of constitutionally granted rights, such as the right to profess religion and the right to protect culture and heritage.

  However, I see Muslims as a collectivity in a negative sense, particularly when individuals with Muslim names and legally recognized minority institutions with Islamic contents are threatened and attacked, especially by Hindutva essentialists. In both cases, Muslimness is produced as an undifferentiated entity. We are forced to imagine Muslims as one homogeneous community. This book is an attempt to demonstrate that Muslims are divided on caste, class and regional lines, which actually determine their politics.

  2. Is Muslim politics all about Muslim voting behaviour in elections?

  No. Electoral politics is just one form of Muslim politics. This book tries to capture other types of Muslim political engagement as well.

  3. Do Muslims always vote strategically?

  Yes and no. Muslims, like other communities, vote as a group at the constituency level. But there is no evidence which suggests that there is a national Muslim vote bank. In this book, we actually explore the idea of the vote bank as a metaphor of Muslim politics. (See Chapter 9.)

  4. Are Muslim religious institutions—mosques and madrasas—directly involved in politics? Do they instruct Muslims to vote strategically in all elections?

  It would be wrong to make a sweeping generalization in this regard. In some cases, Muslim religious organizations directly advise Muslims to vote for a particular candidate or party at the local level. Certain organizations, such as the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushwarat, and certain individuals, such as the imam of Jama Masjid of Delhi, also issue election appeals. Interestingly, these organizations and individuals are approached by political parties, including the BJP, for favourable statements. In fact, the imam of Jama Masjid issued an election fatwa in favour of the BJP in 2004 (see image on p. xxii).

  5. Why do Muslims not participate in secular political activities?

  This is not correct. Actually, Muslims are always recognized only as Muslims. Their active participation in secular politics is ignored. It is very important to realize the fact that Muslims, like any other community in India, participate in all forms of politics without giving up their identities.

  6. Are there any unwritten norms of Muslim politics in India?

  Yes, there are three such norms of Muslim politics in India, which are followed by all Muslim political groups. First, there is a strong adherence to legal–constitutional discourse. Muslims’ demands are always articulated in a language of rights and laws. Second, there is an emphasis on ‘Muslim contribution’ in the process of nation-building. Third, there is an idea of ‘Muslim unity’, which is always highlighted to assert constitutionally recognized minority rights.

  7. What are ‘Muslim issues’?

  There is this media-driven imagination of a package called Muslim issues. Debatable issues of Islamic identity are called Muslim issues. Hence, the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the protection of Muslim personal law, the protection of the minority status of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, the protection of Urdu and, lately, the inclusion of Muslim

  Dalits in the Scheduled Caste (SC) list are treated as Muslim issues.

  8. Why are Muslims only concerned with their own interests?

  This is not true. The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)-Lokniti surveys show that Muslim communities recognize unemployment, poverty and the lack of educational facilities as serious concerns of everyday life. Muslim assertions of this kind are never recorded and discussed in public discourse.

  9. Are they really nationalists?

  This is an important question. But can we think of a yardstick to measure one’s nationalism? I have tried to engage with this question in the chapter on Hindutva and Muslims in the book.

  10. What is ‘political Islam(s)’? Is it about violence and jihad?

  I use the term ‘political Islam’ to
underline the ways in which Islamic principles are reshaped by postcolonial, secular Indian political processes, such as elections. Since there is no one single form of Islam that prevails in India, the term ‘political Islam’ is used in a plural sense. The chapter on Islamization in postcolonial India deals with this issue in detail.

  Violent, jihadi Islam, in my view, is just one form of political Islam. I do not find it relevant with regard to Muslim politics in India.

  11. Do Indian Muslims admire ISIS or Al-Qaida–type political movements?

  Indian Muslims comprise 18 crore people in this country. How could one make a claim on behalf of this huge and highly diversified population? That said, there is no evidence which suggests that the Muslims of India admire ISIS-type organizations. However, the symbolic presence of these global jihadi entities is always used to nurture anti-Muslim discourse in India.

  12. Why have they formed the Indian Mujahideen?

  Like I mentioned previously, we do not have the adequate resources to really know more about organizations such as the Indian Mujahideen. In my view, media reports and official statements cannot be used as the ultimate source for any systematic study of Islamic radicalism in India. I have tried to discuss the symbolism of radical Islam in relation to other forms of Muslim politics in this book.

  13. Why don’t they accept that Kashmir is an integral part of India?

  The Kashmir dispute began as a regional movement in the 1980s. Gradually, it transformed into an Islamic issue. Direct support from Pakistan to militant organizations in the 1990s is responsible for this. Interestingly, however, postcolonial Muslim leadership did not recognize the Kashmir dispute as a Muslim issue. Actually, the Kashmir dispute goes against the norms of Muslim politics!

  14. Why do they want to follow sharia laws?

  This is a media-driven question! CSDS-Lokniti surveys show that Muslims are not even aware of the idea of sharia itself. Muslim communities follow a highly localized set of norms and rules to manage their everyday lives, which are often described as ‘gair sharia’, or anti-sharia, by the ulema. The chapter on triple talaq goes into this issue in detail.

  15. What is the role of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)? Is it not a separatist body?

  The AIMPLB is not a Muslim representative organization. Muslims do not elect the office bearers of the AIMPLB. It is a registered NGO established by the Muslim religious elite in 1972.

  No, it cannot be called a separatist body as it follows the legal principles set out by the Constitution itself. In fact, the Supreme Court also recognizes the legitimate existence of the AIMPLB as an NGO and/or as a Muslim advisory body in one of its judgements.

  16. What is the problem with singing ‘Vande Mataram’ and/or chanting the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’?

  These questions come from the Hindutva imagination of Muslimness. I have discussed these aspects in Chapter 4.

  17. What is the problem with the Ram temple in Ayodhya? Why don’t the Muslims give it to the Hindus?

  The Ram Temple–Babri Masjid dispute is not a Hindu–Muslim issue. It is a dispute between three parties over a 2.77-acre land, which was acquired by the government in 1993. Since common Muslims and Hindus are not the stakeholders in this case, there is no point in debating this question.

  18. What is the role of Muslim organizations, such as the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) of Asaduddin Owaisi, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, in contemporary Indian politics?

  The AIMIM is a political party, while the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind are the Muslim pressure groups. Hence, they are bound to perform very different functions. As a political party, the AIMIM contests elections and makes coalitions in legislative bodies, while Muslim pressure groups create channels to engage with the government on issues that they call ‘Muslim issues’. The book discusses these forms of engagements in various chapters.

  I recognize the fact that Asaduddin Owaisi has nurtured his image as a religiously committed, modern, secular Muslim leader of the country. However, I strongly feel that his politics does not deviate from the three unwritten norms of Muslim politics, which I have discussed in this book.

  19. Why do Muslims oppose the BJP? What is their problem with Narendra Modi?

  This is not true. On an average, 6–7 per cent of Muslims vote for the BJP at the national level. This went up to 9 per cent in 2014. This reflects the diversity of Muslim politics.

  In 2014, there was a tacit acceptance of Narendra Modi among Muslims. But he himself tried to cultivate the perception that Muslims hate him and do not vote in his name! It has helped him in consolidating the BJP’s pro-Hindutva constituency in the post-2014 scenario.

  Source: Hilal Ahmed.

  बी जे पी की हिमायत के लिए शाही इमाम की अपील

  दिल्ली की जामा मस्जिद के शाही इमाम सय्यद अहमद बुखारी ने मुल्क के मुसलमानों से अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी को फिर से वजीर ए आजम बनाने के लिए बी जे पी को वोट देने की अपील की है । उन्होने कहा है कि ये नामनिहाद सेकुलर सियासी पार्टियां 50 साल से मुसलमानों का इस्तहसाल करती रहीं हैं । लेकिन उन्होने मुसलमानों के लिए कुछ नहीं किया । मुसलमानो को एक वोट बैंक के तौर पर इस्तेमाल करते रहे । न तालीम दी न रोजगार दिया, सिर्फ खोखले वादे किए । शाही इमाम ने कहा है कि बी जे पी ने जब ये महसूस कर लिया है कि 25 करोड़ मुसलमानों को नजरअंदाज करके मुल्क को तरक्की की राह पर नहीं ले जाया जा सकता तो हमे इस तब्दीली को महसूस करना चाहिए । इसलिए मैं मुसलमानों से कहता हूँ कि अपनी अक्ल, दानिशमंदी और अपनी समझ से इन नामनिहाद सेकुलर पार्टियों के खोखले वायदों के बजाय गैर–जज्बाती होकर अपने वोटों का इस्तेमाल करें । मुसलमान किसी के बँधवा मजदूर नहीं हैं । वजीर ए आजम ने कहा है कि गुजरात मे जो कुछ हुआ उसे दोहरने नहीं दिया जाएगा । हमें उनके वायदों पर यकीन करना चाहिए ।

  आप का

  सय्यद अहमद बुखारी

  Shahi Imam’s appeal in support of the BJP

  The Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid has called upon the Muslims of India to vote for the BJP and pave the way for Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee to become the Prime Minister of the country again. He argues that the so-called secular political parties have been exploiting Muslims for the last fifty years. They treated Muslims as a vote bank and did nothing for their educational development and/or employment. The Shahi Imam says that the BJP has realized that India cannot move on the path of development by ignoring the presence of the 25 crore Muslims in the country. We must recognize this positive attitude and mindset. I appeal to the Muslims of India to apply their own mind and not get trapped in the shallow promises of the so-called secular parties. Muslims are not the bonded labourers of any political party. The Prime Minister has already assured us that whatsoever happened in Gujarat would not happen again. We must trust him.

&nbs
p; Yours

  Syed Ahmad Bukhari

  A Chronology of Muslim Politics in Postcolonial India

  August 1947: On the basis of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, British India was divided into two dominions—India and Pakistan. The princely states were given the choice to either merge with the two dominions or remain independent.

  August–September 1947: Massive migration of Muslims from India to Pakistan. Communal riots forced the Muslims of Delhi to take refuge in the big mosques, such as the Jama Masjid.

  September 1947: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad organized the All India Azad Muslim Conference to discuss the future role of Muslims in independent India. Many Muslim League leaders joined the Congress.

  1948: The Muslim League got divided and the Indian Union Muslim League was established.

  1948: Hyderabad state merged with India following police action.

  1949: The Constituent Assembly decided to abolish reservation for minorities in legislative bodies and jobs in the final draft of the Constitution.

  1950: India and Pakistan signed a treaty known as the Nehru–Liaquat pact for the protection of religious and linguistic minorities.

  1951: Azad organized the All India Muslim Convention to appeal to Muslims to give up politics of every kind.

  1952: The first general elections successfully took place. Muslims participated enthusiastically in the electoral process. The overall turnout was 44 per cent, but in Muslim-dominated areas, it was more than 60 per cent.

  1955: The All India Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind decided to give up politics and asked Muslims to participate in the nation-building project.

  1958: Abdul Wahid Owaisi revived the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in Hyderabad.

  1964: The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, a coalition of various Muslim organizations, was formed as a consultative body.

  1965: War with Pakistan.

  1967: The Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat asked Muslims to vote for a few ‘selected’ candidates in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The protection of the life and property of Muslims, the protection of Urdu, the minority character of Aligarh Muslim University and non-interference in Muslim personal law emerged as core ‘Muslim issues’.