The problem with the Muslim political elite – be it of the so-called upper or backward castes – is that they relish criticising those secular Hindu leaders who have done something for this largest minority community. In contrast, for their personal sake, they did not hesitate to join hands with those who have damaged the interest of the community.
If Asaduddin Owaisi of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is accused of clandestinely supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he is not the first to do so. Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari had at the height of the 2004 parliamentary election campaign appealed to Muslims to vote for the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when the general sentiment of the community was against it as the Gujarat riots of 2002 was fresh in the mind of everyone.
One needs to recall Asaduddin’s father Salahuddin Owaisi’s friendship with fellow Hyderabadi-origin prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991-96). He maintained his relationship even though many Muslims equally blamed Rao for the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. Senior Owaisi’s action led to the split in AIMIM and the formation of Majlis Bachao Tahreek. The rise of N.T. Rama Rao’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which swept the 1994 Assembly poll in Andhra Pradesh, played an important role in bringing Congress and AIMIM close to each other. The ties got strained only in 2012. It coincided with the advent of Narendra Modi at the national level.
Also read: How Are India’s Muslims Feeling?
Syed Shahabuddin’s case
Take the example of diplomat-turned-politician, Syed Shahabuddin, the architect of the Babri Masjid movement in the 1980s-1990s. He was in V.P. Singh’s Janata Dal and continued to be in the party even after Chandrashekar parted ways in late 1990 to become prime minister. But in the middle of 1994, Syed Shahabuddin along with former chief minister of Bihar Abdul Ghafoor were among the prominent Muslim leaders who left the original Janata Dal and sided with Nitish Kumar’s newly formed Samata Party. This party was later named as Janata Dal (United). Like Nitish and his mentor George Fernandes, these two Muslim leaders held not any other Janata Dal bigwigs, but Lalu Prasad Yadav responsible for their resignation. That was several months before the 1995 Assembly election of Bihar.
Syed Shahabuddin, 1935-2017. Credit: Youtube
At that time, there was no allegation of Lalu ignoring the Muslims in government jobs or giving less representation to the community as the first Assembly election under him was due later in 1995.
Contrary to this, the then Bihar chief minister had emerged as a hero among the Muslim community after he got BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani arrested on October 23, 1990 in Samastipur. As Bihar chief minister, he firmly handled the communal trouble in Patna, Biharsharif and Sitamarhi in 1990 and 1992. The state largely remained peaceful after the razing down of Babri Masjid. This was in total contrast to other Hindi heartland states where thousands died or suffered injuries, hundreds of mosques and mazars were destroyed or vandalised and property worth several crores were destroyed.
As if that was not enough Ejaz Ali launched his All India Backward Muslim Morcha a few months after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. Among others who were close to him was Ali Anwar Ansari, a Hindi journalist, who later formed his Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz.
Also read: Remembering Syed Shahabuddin – Muslim Heart, Indian Mind
Lalu ignored their style of politics though Ali was the son-in-law of Ghulam Sarwar, the speaker of the Bihar Assembly during that period.
Annoyed by Lalu, they jumped on the Nitish Kumar bandwagon. They both were rewarded by Nitish after he became the chief minister of Bihar in 2005 and were sent to Rajya Sabha. It is another thing that Ali and Ansari were later suspended and expelled respectively for anti-Janata Dal (United) activities.
Uttar Pradesh scenario
In Uttar Pradesh, the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav shot into fame after his police fired on the Kar Sevaks on October 30, and November 2, 1990. Several people were killed. Though like Lalu, Mulayam too came under heavy criticism from a large section of media and public opinion-makers, yet he was a darling of the common Muslim masses. But the political elite of the community were more interested in seeking their own pound of flesh. Here too Azam Khan, who was promoted by Mulayam wanted to emerge as the leader of the community, at least in the western part of the state. In the process, he did not allow any other Muslim figure to grow from UP. Though haunted and jailed by the present regime Azam is more interested in promoting his own agenda even in 2024 rather than ensuring the defeat of the BJP.
All these gentlemen were in one way or the other beneficiaries of the same secular politics. They may have some genuine personal grievances with Lalu or Mulayam or anyone else. But their main concern was something else. They felt that after the emergence of Lalu and Mulayam in the 1990s, their leadership over the community would be challenged.
Though originally from Gaya in Bihar Shahabuddin was a national-level leader and should have compared the situation of Muslims of his home state in the early 1990s with elsewhere in the country. Yet he chose to denounce the very man who had at least done something for Muslims.
So, the big questions an average Muslim asks: Should Lalu have left Advani go scot-free or are rioters allowed to wreak havoc all over Bihar? Or should he and Mulayam not appeal to their caste men (Yadavs) not to take part in anti-Muslim riots?
Faded away
An interesting aspect of these Muslim leaders is that they all faded away after befriending either Janata Dal (United) or BJP. Syed Ahmed Bukhari lost whatever credibility he had as the BJP was routed in that very election of 2004 in which he had appealed for it.
Syed Shahabuddin and Abdul Ghafoor were the two main Muslim faces of Nitish Kumar’s Samata Party. It contested the 1995 Bihar Assembly election in alliance with the CPI-ML (Liberation). But after its disastrous performance, Nitish joined hands with the BJP. Bewildered Shahabuddin and Abdul Ghafoor resigned as the saffron party was considered a political pariah after the demolition of Babri Masjid. Samata Party was the first secular outfit to give political legitimacy to the BJP, which had only two friends, Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena.
Both Syed Shahabuddin and Abdul Ghafoor faded away though the former tried to make a come
back by joining Congress. Ali and Ali Anwar Ansari could not politically revive themselves after being thrown out of the JD(U).
But the Muslim political elite have not learnt any lesson. Ashfaque Karim, whose Rajya Sabha term ended only last month, had resigned from his party, RJD, and on April 13 joined JD(U). This was simply because the Katihar parliamentary seat went to alliance partner Congress party, which had once again fielded old horse and former Union minister, Tariq Anwar. The latter has been contesting from here for the last four decades. Karim wanted an RJD ticket from here. After being in the Upper House of Parliament for six years now, he has been reminded that Lalu Prasad Yadav had not done anything for the community. He has done so at a time when Muslims across India are heavily inclined towards Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
On the other hand, AIMIM is struggling to get candidates in states where it had announced to contest. Its ouster from power in Telangana, where it was an alliance partner of the ruling Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti has significantly reduced its bargaining position.
