Muslim India

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Salman Khursheed starts on a wrong note

Even if we give Congress under Manmohan Singh's second term as PM, the benefit of doubt over its willingness to prefer affirmative action for Muslim upliftment rather than a legislated guarantee of reservations to Muslims, the recent series of measures after elections in which Muslims have made a crucial contribution to the political victories, are proof enough that Congress will always short-change its Muslim constituency. 

The real reason for such mistreatment of Muslim lies in Congress culture that is dominated by Brahminical order of managing the affairs of the nation as a whole. The Brahmin thought, even in its secular garb, does not want to risk giving Muslims any grounds to challenge its own hegemony over the politics of power and pelf. 

The more Congress achieves supremacy in political power arena, the more dictatorial and self-centered it becomes. In a way, Muslims by supporting Congress are themselves empowering Congress to ride roughshod over their destiny. 

In this context, Salman Khursheed's line of argument should not come as a surprise. Merely because he is a Muslim (albeit married to a Christian), he is not supposed to follow the best interest of Muslims, if that conflicts with Congress culture on Muslims. 

Even though Commission after Commission have recommended reservations for Muslims, as the only means to an assured and time-bound delivery of a pack of affirmative action at all levels to the discriminated and deprived Muslims, Congress cannot digress from its time-honoured role of running with hares and hunting with the hounds at the same time. 

Even though now that BJP has been practically on the sidelines, Salman Khursheed feels no need to rise above the old trite objections of appeasement, envy, hostility, resistance as it is still handy for Congress leaders to discriminate against Muslims. 

One fails to understand, if Khursheed feels the hostility and resistance coming from the ranks of Congress Party itself. 

After all, however loud Congress may proclaim its secular and inclusive ideals, it does harbour rank communalists and caste-ists at the highest level of its high command. 

The need for reforms in Congress to bring it to imbibe the genuine ideals of secularism and inclusive social engineering has to be the first order of business for Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, if it is sincere in governing the nation with justice and fairness, rather than through politics of religion and caste differentiations and discriminations. 

Muslim demand on affirmative action and reservation, though popularly identifiable as religious in intent and content, in fact, it is a direct attack on the 60-year old Congress culture of pseudo-secularism that has no qualms in allowing Brahmin culture and hegemony to be peddled as 'the' ideal of Indian secularism. Why so many religious symbolism of Brahmin culture are so manifest in all areas of public life?

For once Minister Khursheed should do his homework and sincerely take up the upliftment and empowerment of Muslims, as legitimate sons of the soil and not merely as Muslim vote banks that should be rewarded or punished for their leaderless anarchic dispersion across the political landscape. India's 150 million Muslims deserve that indulgence.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com

# posted by Unknown @ 11:54 PM