Dilemma of Muslim community: How minority politics in India has prioritised 'identity' over issues of actual concern

This year has been dubbed the year of electoral “semi-finals” with as many as nine states (Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram) set to go to the polls over the next few months ahead of the 2024 general elections, the so-called “finals”. Muslims are very carefully watching how the “semi-finals” pan out as their outcome is likely to set the tone for the next year’s grande finale. They will also be a critical test of their place in the electoral system and of their own strategy,if any, to deal with their progressive political marginalisation. Because at the moment they don’t appear to have any visible strategy except to go with the flow in the hope that “something will turn up”. I am always amused when I hear the terms like “Muslim politics” and “Muslim leadership”. Because the truth is that there’s no credible Muslim politics or leadership, and indeed for much of the past 70 years the community has existed in a political vacuum with no vision or strategy to guide it. Instead, what it has had in plenty is identity politics with an obsessive focus on supposed symbols of Islamic identity rather than bread-and-butter issues like education, jobs, security, and fighting discrimination. No wonder, it finds itself in the situation it does –targeted by newer and more combative identity-politics warriors, abandoned even by traditional allies, reduced to being a political pariah, facing potential disenfranchisement. Indeed, of all the challenges they face today the hardest, they say, is dealing with their systematic political marginalisation. For a community long used to be courted as an electoral asset — a solid vote bank— it hurts it to be suddenly treated as untouchables. The extent of their political isolation is evident from the fact that in recent Assembly elections there was barely any discussion of the once-prized Muslim vote. The so-called “Muslim factor”, once regarded as crucial to the outcome of an election, especially in north India, was conspicuously missing. Yes, some parties did field Muslim candidates but their nomination had more to do with other considerations such as caste configurations than their Muslimness. It is against this backdrop of frustration and confusion that Muslims approach the coming lot of elections and the big one next year. It says something about the Muslim community’s desperate search for potential allies in its present moment of isolation that many are inclined to return to the Congress having flirted with other centrist parties (Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party et al) and felt let down. The enthusiastic Muslim embrace of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is a classic case of clutching at straws to feel “included” swayed by carefully choreographed images of Rahul walking with a hijab-wearing girl; chatting with ordinary Muslims; and taking time out to meet local Muslim leaders and intellectuals and hear their concerns. Muslims say they have been impressed by his attempt to reach out to them. Yet, this is a man who caused outrage among Muslims a few years ago when he suggested links between Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, and India’s Muslim youth prompting demands for a public apology for what Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind termed his “irresponsible”. The fact that Muslims are still willing to bet on him is an eloquent commentary on a community so down and out that it is quick to seize any perceived friendly gesture. But the Congress being Congress just when Muslims were considering a “ghar wapsi”, senior party leader A.K. Antony threw a spanner in the works with a statement urging the party to focus on winning over Hindu voters as against Muslim voters. Speaking at the Congress foundation day in Thiruvananthapuram, he said: “It’s not just minorities that you require. The majority are Hindus. Here, Muslims can go to mosques, Christians can go to churches; but when Hindu friends go to a temple or apply tilak, it’s labelled as ‘soft Hindutva’.” His gratuitous intervention has suddenly reminded Muslims of Rahul Gandhi’s (RG) and the Congress’s attempted foray into “soft Hindutva”. It is seen as an endorsement of the BJP’s claim about minority “appeasement” at the expense of the majority community. Antony is saying exactly what the BJP has been saying, namely that in Hindu-majority India pandering to minorities is bad politics. Predictably, the BJP has taken a potshot at the Congress accusing it of trying to woo Hindus after losing its Muslim “vote bank”. The awkwardness of the statement’s timing–coming at it just when his boss is leading the much-hyped “Bharat Jodo Yatra”–has not gone unnoticed. It has certainly confused Muslim voters. Besides, it has seriously undermined one of the principal aims of RG’s rally. Which is to appeal to the party’s erstwhile minority vote bank by portraying the Congress as a changed party as a changed party under the miraculously “revamped” leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Even before his intervention it was not clear how much of Muslims’ new-found fondness for RG would translate into vote for his party, but post-Antony it has become a lot more uncertain. So, where do they go from here to make themselves politically relevant again? To be honest they don’t have too many options in the prevailing climate compounded by a lack of a credible Muslim leadership. Several ideas are floating around but they seem more like a knee-jerk reaction than a coherent strategy. These include a Muslim boycott of all elections in future; launching a secular political party/movement in tandem with other marginalised groups; Muslims voting only for Muslim candidates in their constituency; or those who commit to address their concerns. None of this adds up to a coherent, well-thought-out response. Rather, it reflects the confusion, anxiety, and impotent rage of a politically isolated, and leaderless community in the throes of an existential crisis. What Muslims need is not a short-term fix but a long-term plan keeping in mind the changed political landscape and cultural polarisation. A plan focusing on issues beyond the community’s preoccupation with religious and cultural identity. The term “dilemma” in relation to Muslim voters has become a bit of a cliché to describe their struggle to make electoral choices as their options progressively shrink in a polarised political climate. Google “Muslims” and “dilemma”, and you will be inundated with scores of entries like : “The dilemma of UP’s Muslim voters”; “Muslim voters’ on the horns of dilemma”; “The dilemma of Muslims in Bengal”; “Whom to vote for: Muslim dilemma " … I remember that even in the “good old days” when they had choices, they complained of being on the wrong side of prevailing electoral scenarios that they believed were tilted against Muslims and other religious minorities. In recent years, that dilemma has deepened amid a narrowing of political space as their old allies have lost interest in them in pursuit of Hindu votes. So, the bad news is that Muslims enter a crucial phase of another electoral cycle without a clear roadmap. What they need is a long-term survival strategy which must have at its heart a plan to rid the community of its obsession with identity politics. The smart thing to do will be to put their head down and concentrate on issues of real concern to ordinary Muslims. As for election tactics, they should vote for anyone they believe will deliver for them rather than getting bogged down in ideological labels. The colour of the cat is immaterial so long as it catches the mice. The author is an independent commentator. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.