“In Azamgarh, top priority for voter is security”

In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the first election after the controversial Batla House encounter in Delhi that saw two alleged terrorists, who were from Azamgarh, and one police officer killed, the constituency saw the birth of a new political party, the Ulama Council (now known as the Rashtriya Ulama Council). Born in protest against the Congress-led UPA government’s refusal to order a judicial inquiry into the shoot-out and against the BSP government for not taking up the issue, Ulama Council fielded a much-loved doctor and well-regarded social worker Javed Akhtar as its candidate from Azamgarh. Akhtar, an orthopaedic surgeon, bagged 60,000 votes, costing the sitting BSP MP his seat. But it had the unintended consequence of helping the BJP, which had never won from Azamgarh before, emerge victorious. [caption id=“attachment_1514413” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Javed Akhtar. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost[/caption] Five years on, the Lok Sabha election in Azamgarh has turned into a high-profile affair with the entry of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh into the fray. Akhtar is no longer with the Ulama Council, dedicating himself instead to his NGO. The main agenda of the Association for Welfare, Medical, Educational and Legal Assistance, he says, is to provide legal assistance to youth from Azamgarh who have been implicated in terror cases — his own son being a case in point. Since the Batla House encounter of 2008, over a dozen youth from Azamgarh have been arrested in different parts of the country by the police for their suspected links to the Indian Mujahideen and their alleged role in terror activities. Firstpost caught up with Akhtar at his busy clinic to talk about the political climate in Azamgarh and the impact Mulayam Singh Yadav and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was were having on voters. Excerpts from the interview: How is the political situation in Azamgarh? How is the election progressing? It is going well. When a national leader stands, people’s interest also increases. Media’s attention is also heightened. It has become a high-profile election. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, you were actively involved in politics… I am still actively involved. It is not necessary that one should contest elections to be actively involved. After the last election, we started an NGO (Association for Welfare, Medical, Educational and Legal Assistance). We were more comfortable in that. In a way, that too is political. It needs political support. And one has to be political. We hope that we will be able to do good work through that NGO. I suppose you want to know what the opinion of the Muslim community is ahead of the elections. As far as the BJP is concerned, the Muslim community is not a conventional voter of the BJP and so I don’t want to talk too much about them. As for the Congress, we feel it is a party that is equally bad for us. It is just like the BJP. They have been deceiving the Muslim community for a very long time. In future, we want to stay as far away from them as we do now from the BJP. Two parties remain — the BSP and the SP. We have no permanent attachment with either. We feel we shouldn’t attach ourselves permanently. We look at the past record, not at the future because all parties make tall promises. Judging the party based on its record in government is the best solution when it comes to deciding whom to vote for. What is your assessment of the SP’s and BSP’s past record? One good thing has happened this time. Earlier, Muslim voters talked a lot and did nothing. Last time, when I fought an election, I learnt something. There is a constituency called Mubarakpur. Its voters attend every political rally but do not propagate their opinion. I feel we should not propagate our opinions through the media. Ultimately, we don’t know which party will win. We are not in a position to create enmity with any party. We have to be very clever. The criteria should be ‘who is good for you’. And propagation should be through proper channels. What do you make of Mulayam Singh’s decision to contest from Azamgarh? He is a big leader, the party supremo. His party is running the state. And legally, it is allowed to fight from two seats. If he has chosen Azamgarh, it is good. Has Mulayam Singh delivered on his promises to the Muslim community? We don’t want to target any one party. None of the political parties have kept their word. None of them have done as they promised. Were there specific promises that Mulayam Singh made that he didn’t meet? There was one specific promise regarding the arrest of innocent youth in other states. While the government cannot interfere in those cases, the SP government had promised to look into the case Khalid Mujahid and Hakim Tariq (accused by the police of involvement in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh blasts) and whom the RD Nimesh Commission constituted by the previous BSP-led government (to inquire into the involvement of Mujahid and Tariq) had concluded were innocent (the Commission had said their involvement “appeared doubtful”). It is very unfortunate that Khalid Mujahid is no more in the world (he died in police custody in 2013). In the case of Tariq because of litigation or some other problem that promise too has not been fulfilled. What impact is Modi having on this election? I personally feel he doesn’t have much impact here. Do you think Modi is a successful politician? Take my example as a doctor. I run a hospital. If I make only my Muslims patients happy and not the Hindu patients and if they are upset with me, I will never consider myself successful. I would be ashamed. Like there are cut-offs in competitions, it should be so in elections too. In competitions, while the overall is considered, if you don’t get a minimum cut-off in one subject, you are declared a failure. The same formula should be applied to politicians as well. If he is very popular in one community but he is not able to cross the cut-off in another community, he should not be considered successful. Rather he should not be elected. Your response to Amit Shah’s recent remark that Azamgarh is a “base of terrorists”. To tarnish an entire community is something I would never do. There may be individuals in a community who are bad but an entire community cannot be labelled as such. To target an entire district, or a community — I would not do it and I don’t like people who do it. Bomb blasts have happened but it is not clear who is doing it. No one has been caught placing a bomb. Cases are going on in the courts. Till the verdict comes, you cannot attach this with any particular community, district or place. To target a particular district or community is not right. In the last Lok Sabha election, the Batla House encounter was the main issue. What is the main issue in 2014? Batla House continues to be important. It is just that voters are not talking about it. The main anger is against the Congress. In the last election, when I contested, the Congress got very few votes. This time too, I feel they will get less votes. In the neighbouring districts too there is a lot of anger against the Congress. With the Congress-led government’s refusal to conduct a judicial inquiry into the Batla House encounter and with so many youths wrongly arrested, there is a permanent anger with the Congress party. Until and unless, something big happens and that is done by the Congress party, that gap is not going to be filled. What do you make of the BSP candidate Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali? He is a very good candidate. He helps the poor and makes time for them. He certainly is popular and has local support. He is fighting a good election. How is the Ulama Council faring in this election? Only the results will tell. To presume results beforehand is not good. The expectation is that we should surpass last time’s record. When Azamgarh goes to polls on 12 May, what will be topmost on mind of voters? The main issues are water, food, clothes. But more important today is that they get security. Security is a very big factor, especially for the Muslim community, which after the Batla House encounter is feeling insecure. Youth are picked up in secret, they are slapped with all kinds of charges. In the German Bakery blast case a lot of serious charges, including Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Explosives Act, were foisted on Himayat Beg. We have full belief in the court but the intelligence agencies mislead the court, they present false evidence. Himayat Beg was given the death sentence by the trial court. Now the same agency that investigated him has started saying that it was not Himayat Beg but someone else who was involved. Had Himayat Beg not gone to the High Court, he would have been hanged. If that had happened, how bad it would have been for our democracy. My appeal to all candidates is to address issues of development, security, education and health. They should keep God in mind. We all have to face him one day.