How Salman Khurshid lost himself in the Muslim ghetto

Look closely in the bylanes of small towns in Uttar Pradesh that are going to the polls, and you might just find the lost soul of Salman Khurshid wandering about. Notionally, the man is the country’s Law Minister, who even up until last year wasn’t afraid to speak out against the “ghetto-isation” of Muslims, and had the intellectual honesty and the courage of his convictions (so rare among Congress politicians) to argue that Muslims should look beyond their narrow interests and become “mainstreamed”. Today, with a mad scramble under way for Muslim votes in Uttar Pradesh, Khurshid has sold his secular soul, and is looking for permanent residence for his shrunken mind in the Muslim ghettos of Uttar Pradesh. [caption id=“attachment_178272” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Salman Khurshid is defiantly playing the politics of Muslim identity. AFP”]  [/caption] Khurshid has gone rogue, asking to be martyred in the cause of job and education quotas for Muslims, which he himself once argued against. And he has now fallen foul of the Election Commission for daring it to “hang him” for making repeated promises about reservations for Muslims, despite an unprecedented reprimand by the EC. Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi has sought President Pratibha Patil “immediate and decisive” intervention, noting that Khurshid’s dare – which it called an “improper and unlawful action” - had “created a disturbing situation” where the Law Minister had “chosen to be defiant and aggressive” despite being hauled up for violation of the Model Code of Conduct governing elections. In a letter to the President, Quraishi noted that the Election Commission had earlier reprimanded Khurshid for the violation, and observed that the Law Minister, who has a direct responsibility to uphold and strengthen the Election Commission, was instead denigrating its authority. “The Commission is quite concerned that the delicate balance of functions between constitutional authorities has come under a strain, because of the Minister’s improper and unlawful action,” he added. ( Read the full text of the Chief Election’Commissioner’s letter to the President.) President Patil has forwarded Quraishi’s letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for “appropriate action”. It’s hard to say if Khurshid will face punitive action, since the promise of the 9 percent sub-quota for minorities (with an eye on the Muslim vote) is an important plank in the Congress’ election manifesto in Uttar Pradesh, and the government of the day hasn’t exactly burnished its reputation in the defence of constitutional niceties. But even for a government so brazen in its defence of the indefensible, Khurshid’s ‘dare’ may prove too much of a political hot potato. Khurshid cannot claim he wasn’t warned. Only two days ago, the EC had taken the unprecedented action of censuring him for violation of the model code – and had warned him not to repeat such a violation. In its censure order, which it delivered after giving Khurshid a formal hearing, the EC noted that it had “come to the inescapable conclusion” that Khurshid’s promise of the 9 percent sub-quota for minorities was a “new promise” to “a distinct targeted group of the electorate among the minorities.” Noting that Khurshid had made his promise as a Union Minister for Law and Minorities Affairs, the EC conveyed its “deep anguish and disappointment” over his violation of the model code. But as much as it is a violation of the model code, for which he may only pay a small price as penance, it also represents for Khurshid a personal regression, a slide down the slippery slope of political opportunism, for which he will be tainted for eternity. This is the same man who last year courageously urged Muslims to break out of the ghetto mentality and claimed that he was not in favour of focussing delivery of economic benefits exclusively to the Muslim community – as opposed to “ensuring an equitable share”. For his candour, he was pilloried by rent-seeking members of the Muslim community. Political commentators have argued in the past that Khurshid was a misfit in the Congress, which has perfected the politics of caste and communal identity to the point of absolute perversion. Yet, today, the same Khurshid has sold his liberal soul - and is unabashedly, even defiantly, seeking sanctuary in the politics of the Muslim ghetto. With this fall from grace, he is showing himself to be a true Congressman at heart.