Saturday, September 16, 2006
A PITCH FOR MUSLIM MAJLIS E MUSHAWARAT
Friday, March 7, 1997
The recent Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections again repeated the same pattern of polarization of Muslim votes that had given 2 previous victories to Sena-BJP alliance in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The breaking of moorings with Congress was certainly the top-of-mind grass-root Muslim obsession, but the vote failed to form a positive and cohesive factor, that could have easily made inroads into the successes of the Sena-BJP alliance, as Muslims did have the numbers to achieve an impressive showing.
The field organisations who traditionally are active in forming public opinion, had once again failed to inspire any confidence within the community. Besides, they came out with differing assessments and preferences. Ulama Council which had shown some single-mindedness in previous elections miserably failed to achieve any consensus within their own ranks and damaged its credibility in appearing to show favoritism to individuals, even though its recommendations were most well-considered. Jamat e Islami and Milli Council, both had taken leave of absence. The result was the further strengthening of the Fascist forces and complete rout in secular arena. The Samajwadi Party did make some impressive gains, but would have doubled their tally, if there would have been unity in secular and Muslim ranks.
The general, country-wide trend for the future, is favouring Sangh Parivar and we will have to blame ourselves if we do not make a last ditch attempt to stem the Saffron tide. We are writing to you today, to seek your opinion, guidance and cooperation in the formation of Muslim Majlis -e- Mushawarat, Maharashtra. We have held some consultations, and there appeared to be a consensus towards desirability of forming a state level body to bring all organisations in Maharashtra together, not only for the future challenges in the state, but to contribute and influence the country level strategies to confront the menace posed by fascist forces. Mumbai is the power-house of the country and all major All India movements get their crucial backing from Mumbai. While Muslims all over the country are in serious disarray, the lead given by Maharashtra could come as a fresh breeze for the community.
#244
The recent Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections again repeated the same pattern of polarization of Muslim votes that had given 2 previous victories to Sena-BJP alliance in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The breaking of moorings with Congress was certainly the top-of-mind grass-root Muslim obsession, but the vote failed to form a positive and cohesive factor, that could have easily made inroads into the successes of the Sena-BJP alliance, as Muslims did have the numbers to achieve an impressive showing.
The field organisations who traditionally are active in forming public opinion, had once again failed to inspire any confidence within the community. Besides, they came out with differing assessments and preferences. Ulama Council which had shown some single-mindedness in previous elections miserably failed to achieve any consensus within their own ranks and damaged its credibility in appearing to show favoritism to individuals, even though its recommendations were most well-considered. Jamat e Islami and Milli Council, both had taken leave of absence. The result was the further strengthening of the Fascist forces and complete rout in secular arena. The Samajwadi Party did make some impressive gains, but would have doubled their tally, if there would have been unity in secular and Muslim ranks.
The general, country-wide trend for the future, is favouring Sangh Parivar and we will have to blame ourselves if we do not make a last ditch attempt to stem the Saffron tide. We are writing to you today, to seek your opinion, guidance and cooperation in the formation of Muslim Majlis -e- Mushawarat, Maharashtra. We have held some consultations, and there appeared to be a consensus towards desirability of forming a state level body to bring all organisations in Maharashtra together, not only for the future challenges in the state, but to contribute and influence the country level strategies to confront the menace posed by fascist forces. Mumbai is the power-house of the country and all major All India movements get their crucial backing from Mumbai. While Muslims all over the country are in serious disarray, the lead given by Maharashtra could come as a fresh breeze for the community.
#244
