Why is the M-Word Taboo?
by Maneck Davar
When the BJP candidate from Mumbai North Central, Mahesh Jethmalani, was trying to establish voting patterns in his constituency to buttress his belief that the ballot box favoured him, he said one of the reasons was that the percentage of voting amongst Muslims, the so-called secular Congress’s traditional vote-bank, was lower than the constituency average. Arnab Goswami, on whose Times Now Channel Jethmalani was appearing post-poll eve, immediately cut him off saying he was being communal. All efforts on Mahesh’s part to point out that he was but stating facts, were brushed aside brusquely as is the wont of all those pompous anchors who don’t entertain unpalatable views, which means anything that does not conform to their narrow definitions.
Yet no objection would have been raised if Jethmalani would have put it differently - the “minority community” which consistently reposes its faith in the Congress and is still uncomfortable with the BJP, did not vote in strength as is their practice. Mahesh’s very sensible argument was that they were dissatisfied with the Congress, and decided to stay at home rather than vote for the BJP which they still viewed with some suspicion. This would have been lauded as incisive analysis but uttering Muslim in the same sentence as vote bank offended Mr. Goswami’s ’secular’ sensibilities.
If we are to progress towards a truly pluralistic and all-inclusive society, it is time we dropped these silly pretensions. The victims of a riot are Muslims, but if benefits are to be given to them they are the minority community. And in no sense is calling someone who believes and professes the Islamic faith a Muslim derogatory, as much as someone who adheres to Hinduism a Hindu.
In Jethmalani’s North-Central constituency where I worked on the campaign, it held little surprise, when Muslim jari workers (or should I say jari workers of the minority community) of the Bharatnagar slum affirmed their total faith and allegiance to their local corporator Bala Sawant of the Shiv Sena because he attends to their problems and is available to them 24 hours. (There were a number of Christians who acknowledged the work done in protecting their churches by the BJP’s Ashish Shelar and Parag Alavani, but that’s another story)
And yet look at the hypocrisy of these same news channels. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at a nationally televised press conference, reaffirms that the poor Muslim had the first right to the resources of the country, there was no uproar. To give the poor man some benefit of doubt he stuttered about the minority community, but then in the pursuit of votes and appealing directly to his vote-bank, uttered the M word. The Congress was let off without even a slight rap on the knuckles and the BJP candidate, pilloried as communal for calling a Muslim a Muslim. Some of you may say what’s in a word and why the brouhaha. The reason is that this is not just semantics but betrays an attitude, one that is dangerous for the Indian Muslim. For years, Congress has used the nomenclature minority community for its selfish use. The effort has been to portray to the Indian Muslim that he enjoys a special status under the Congress that of a “minority community”. But this is just an empty term - the Congress in all these years has done nothing, in fact even perpetuated, the illiteracy, economic backwardness and poverty in the community, increasing its insecurity in a world that is passing it by.
It is time we called the Muslim a Muslim and give him the dignity bestowed on him by his religion and his culture. And it is certainly time that we treat him as the simple Bala Sawant and many of his kind do treat him, not as a vote-bank scared into falling in line, but as a vote which can only be secured by service and by working for his betterment and benefit.
Experience & Youth, Merit or Bequest?
by Maneck Davar
The repeated criticism of the BJP is that it lacks young leadership, with the obvious subtext being that the Congress has many young leaders led by a person who bears the most famous surname in Indian political history.
I have a particular issue with this. I ask myself, would I be more comfortable with the reins of government being in the hands of those who are there because they have been fortunate in a genetic lottery or those who have risen through the ranks purely and solely on merit, talent and ability and on the basis of hard work. To any sane man this questions need no answer.
My friends tell me that I am too fond of history, but I feel a sense of history is the only way to have a keener and clearer perspective. The Bhartiya Jan Sangh, the precursor of the BJP, was established as a cadre based party by the late Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. By its very definition, there is a hierarchy, which commences at the ward/punchayat level and which one must climb to reach to the top. The only way to do this is through consistent effort and sacrifice. Both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani spent most of their lives in propagating party ideology and creating an infrastructure nationwide living out of party offices on paltry monthly allowances. Almost all the top leadership of the BJP spent months in jail during the Emergency. There is no one today in the top rung who is there because of a surname. This is not unique to the BJP, but also to the cadre based Communists. In politics, your ability should count the most, and pedigree very little.
It is also unfortunate that more than six decades after Independence both from the British and the Maharajas we still exhibit a feudal mentality. The only difference, in those days Maharajas handed down their kingdoms from one generation to another, these days fathers create political jagirs and all the assets that go with it to be bequeathed to their progeny. The tragedy is that today in the Congress, almost with little exception, the entire young brigade is there because of where they were born and not for what they have achieved.
As for Mr. Advani’s age, he is but a few years older then the present Prime Minister. He has held many political and administrative posts from the Minister of Information & Broadcasting in 1977 in the Janata Government, to the Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and his record is blemish-free. The BJP has enough bench strength to provide a Cabinet of performers. The BJP is not untried and untested; its record in government for six years, with Mr. Vajpayee as the only non-Congress Prime Minister to last a full term, was creditable and did not propel the country back to the dark ages. Most important, the BJP is, in its own way, a meritocracy and does not have the pack-of-cards foundations of an individual-centric sycophancy, which by its very nature ensures predetermined concentration of power, precluding any other person, no matter how competent, from even aspiring for the top post.
Finally Mr. Lal Krishna Advani’s daughter, Pratibha is not even a primary member of the party. That is the way it should be in a democracy.
Jai Ho!
by Maneck Davar
As I debut on the blogosphere, I am still on an emotional and euphoric high after watching the 2008 Oscar presentation this morning. From the slums of Dharavi to the mansions of Malabar Hill and much beyond, the heart of every Indian must have swelled with pride when the entire Oscar ceremony, watched by a billion people all over the world, rocked to “Jai Ho”. This was yet another defining moment for our country and every Indian. I don’t remember the Oscar stage ever being so crowded in its finale when the best picture was declared. The sea of happy Indian faces, the children who acted in the film, the technicians who worked behind the scenes and A R Rahman who infused rhythm into it was testimony to the humungous talent we possess. Finally, it was the unbounded optimism in the face of crippling circumstance, the unfettered spirit, the triumph over adversity that made the film attractive to western audiences and garnered it international acclaim.
Come to think of it, our country has always had huge potential and, more important, a character that makes it completely unique. It is unfortunate that in the past, there has been very little direction and support to our people to enable them to give their best. In India, it is an individual who has always succeeded, transgressing systemic drawbacks and obstacles. At an urban professional level, or what my friends like to call ‘educated civil society’, to which I have some objections which I will express at another time, we tend to discount the importance of a clear political leadership and how that can help us to achieve a cohesive and holistic success. We are what we are today not because of the political dispensation but in spite of it. This has got to change.
On the part of the political leadership a new consciousness has to emerge that what is of primary importance is the realisation of the aspirations of broad sections of society. These are not contradictory but are inclusive; both the subsistence farmer in a rural milieu and the IT professional in an urban environment are looking for a better quality of life for themselves, their families and their immediate society.
This may sound both utopian and simplistic, but is a given. The unfortunate fact is that this ambition has been repeated by thwarted and is not anywhere close to realization on even after 60 years of Independence. This will not happen overnight but an initiative, no matter how small, has to be taken. In the coming elections, and in every subsequent election, we must vote and for the party or group we think is best equipped to work for us. I have often heard arguments that voting is futile as the choice is between political tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee. This is just a slothful excuse and dangerous to our democratic structure. So for the next election, let us make a commitment to go to the ballot box. Let us in the coming months have an informed debate on which party and group of people will best serve our interests. And then ensure that we do our constitutional duty.
For India certainly deserves better. Jai Ho!!!